"Well, if she came in she can get out, and so can we, Ben. Keep this quiet till I speak to the captain about it. It will be just as well not to have every one know it, and have it talked about all over the vessel."
"Shouldn't wonder if it would, sir," and as Jack walked away the old sailor continued his own passage up and down the deck.
"There are probably places to hide that we have not seen," thought the boy, as he took a turn of the deck, and then started to go below, "and we may not be able to see this vessel in the morning. I shall have a look for her, nevertheless. If there is to be a bargain made and I don't see why there should not be, unless we trade directly with lawbreakers and assist them. That we could not do, of course, but if we hire a pilot we are not supposed to know whether he is honest or not."
The question was a puzzling one, and Jack had not solved it when he went below, turned in and quickly fell asleep.
In the morning, nothing having been seen of any strange vessel from the deck of the yacht, Jack told Percival quietly what he had heard, and after breakfast they went ashore and set out for a search for the stranger.
"If she is here," Jack said, "she is one of the smugglers, and will not want to be seen. If we can find her it may mean that we can get out of our strange prison."
"How are we going to find her, Jack? There are probably plenty of hiding places about here that we don't dream of."
"I know it, Dick, but we must find them if we want to leave here. I do not think that Smith will be able to get us out, and if we can do it ourselves, so much the better."
"Yes, and all the more credit to us, Jack."