Still keeping Stannart and Serbot covered with his guns, Nara shifted his elbow toward his hip pocket to indicate a coil of rope that projected there.
“Take that rope,” Nara told the boys, “and tie them up tight. Gag them, too, with their handkerchiefs. If they don’t have any, use your own. Make a good job of it. I want them to be here when I send around for them.”
Biff and Kamuka followed Nara’s instructions eagerly. They did a good job with the gags, too, while Nara, brandishing his guns, kept talking to Stannart and Serbot in an accusing tone.
“I figured you out before I ever met you,” declared Nara, “because I knew I’d be meeting up with rats some time, and you just happened to be it. You figured you’d get rid of me if you could, and even if you couldn’t you’d jump my claim. After all, who was Joe Nara? Just some crazy guy who thought he’d found El Dorado.
“Crazy, yes, but like a fox. I came down the Orinoco more than once to make sure my claim was registered after each political shakeup in Venezuela. I didn’t even take any chances on this last trip.”
Nara paused, then chuckled as he turned to the boys who had finished tying Stannart and Serbot in their chairs.
“Remember how I dropped from sight in Puerto Ayacucho?” asked Nara. “Do you know where I was most of the day? Having lunch with His Excellency, the governor of the Amazonas Territory, that’s where. I told him some people were trying to steal my claim. He said he wouldn’t let them get away with it.
“After I left his office, I snooped around and happened to be handy when you ran into trouble with Urubu. I’d finished my business with the governor. He said if he didn’t hear from me, he’d send some soldiers downriver to look me up.”
Nara examined the knots that the boys had tied and gave an approving nod. He beckoned them out through the cabin door, which he closed behind him. The yacht’s crew suspected nothing, for they helped Nara and the boys over the rail and down into their waiting monteria.
As they started up the broad Orinoco, Nara pointed to some boats that were coming toward them.