“What’s to be done?” asked Ned. “We didn’t count on this. Those are fierce dogs.”
“Indeed they are,” replied Mr. De Vere. “It would not be safe to risk getting too close to them.”
“But what can we do?” asked Jerry. “If we wait here too long, Blowitz may appear.”
“We’ve got to do something,” said the boy’s employer. “The only thing I can see to do is to shoot the dogs. I’ll get my rifle,” and he went into the cabin, where he had left his weapon, one of several he had brought aboard.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A MYSTERIOUS INFLUENCE
“One of you boys will have to do the shooting,” said Maurice De Vere, as he came out on the small forward deck with his rifle. “I’m a pretty good marksman, but I can’t do anything when I have this broken arm.”
“Let Jerry try,” suggested Ned. “He’s the best shot of us three.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” spoke Jerry modestly, but Mr. De Vere handed him the rifle.
“We have no time to lose,” he said. “Blowitz may be here at any hour, and, as he said, possession is nine points of the law. I want to get aboard.”
Jerry looked to the loading of the weapon, and then, at his suggestion the motor boat was backed off some yards.