The boys remained concealed in the high grass for some time. They watched the men moving about on the sloop and near the hut, but the thieves seemed to pay little attention to the motor boat.
“I wonder if they’re getting ready for a trip?” said Bob. “That will make it easier. If they leave we can go down there and get something to eat.”
“Oh, Chunky!” exclaimed Ned. “You—” but he could think of nothing appropriate to say, and so stopped short.
“They’re all boarding the sloop,” Jerry remarked, as he saw four men come from the shack and go on the sailing vessel. “Going out of the cove maybe.”
“Can’t, with the water as low as it is.”
“I only hope they go to sleep in the shack,” Ned remarked. “It will be easier for us then.”
Through the long afternoon the boys waited. The little camp on the shore of the hidden cove seemed deserted. None of the men was to be seen. Toward evening there arose a thin column of smoke from the galley of the sloop.
“They’re getting supper,” remarked Bob, with a sorrowful note in his voice.
“Never mind, Chunky, you’ll get yours sooner or later,” said Jerry as comfortingly as he could.
As it grew darker the boys noticed that the water in the cove was agitated. The sloop, and the motor boat rocked at their anchorages.