“Our boatman—”
“Gone. Either he went off while we were below, or more likely, Captain Carter dismissed him.”
“We’re stranded here then!”
“We are, unless we can ride in on the tender. So maybe we should wait a bit and pretend to play along.”
The Scouts clustered together, silently watching. Approximately half of the boxes containing weapons had been lowered onto the tender, when Willie heard the splash of oars.
“What was that?” he demanded in an undertone. “Our boatman coming back maybe?”
Peering out across the rail into the darkness, the Scouts at first could see no one. Then, they made out a small rowboat coming directly toward the Shark.
“Ahoy!” called a cheery voice. “Anyone aboard?”
“That sounds like Hap’s voice!” War cried excitedly.
Captain Carter also had heard the approaching boat. Speaking rapidly in Spanish, he ordered the sailor in the tender to shove off.