"Then we must lose no time in getting up the anchors. Luckily the breeze is just right."
"Wait until they are ashore and have disappeared," answered the first mate, nervously. He was really a coward at heart, and now fairly under the thumb of Van Blott.
It took but a few minutes for the captain, Dave, and Billy Dill to gain the stretch of sand. Then those on the Stormy Petrel saw them draw the small craft up to a safe place and disappear in among the trees.
"Now then, act as quickly as you can," said Jasper Van Blott.
An order was issued for the sailors to come on deck, and all did so, and the second mate, a young man named Bob Sanders, also appeared. Then Paul Shepley issued orders to hoist the anchors and raise some of the sails.
"What does this mean, Mr. Shepley?" asked the second mate, in surprise.
"The captain has found a passageway and wants me to take the ship out and around to the other side of the island," replied the first mate. "He wants us to be lively, too."
Bob Sanders was mystified, but, as he was not on particularly good terms with the first mate, he asked no more questions. Soon the sails were up, and Paul Shepley himself steered the bark toward the passageway he had discovered.
"You are sure of what you are doing?" asked Jasper Van Blott, coming to the wheel. "We don't want to strike and go to the bottom."
"I wish I was as sure of the future as I am of the passageway," answered the first mate, somewhat grimly.