"Is that you, Lewis?" the man asked.
Clancy's response was quick and to the point: With a tigerlike leap he gained the man's side and pressed both hands about his throat.
CHAPTER XI.
ABOARD THE "SYLVIA."
Clancy's shoulder received a hard wrench and a tingling pain shot through his arm. The man who had hailed him was of medium height and stocky build, and well muscled. Clancy was in no physical condition to keep up his end in such a set-to, and the result would probably have been disastrous had not Katz leaped over the side and taken a hand.
Katz, remembering the way his pal had treated him was as venomous as a rattlesnake. The motor wizard had all he could do to keep him from going too far, and seriously injuring the man. With very little commotion the fellow was overcome, gagged with a handkerchief, and tied with a rope which Clancy picked up on the deck.
This rough work finished, the two intruders stood breathlessly in the shadow of the awning, and waited and listened. They could hear a drone of voices forward. The monotonous sound kept going without a break, which seemed to prove that the slight noise aft had not been overheard.
"So far, so good," muttered Katz. "What next, Clancy?"
"Our next move is to look around and see who's aboard," was the reply.