“They must be,” said Darrow, as we allowed my sloop to forge ahead again. “If not, how could they have his boat?”
“They might have hired it, and left him waiting for them on the island,” I suggested.
But I did not believe such to be a fact, and Darrow agreed with me. The three were evidently banded together, and for no good purpose.
At length the sloop ahead disappeared up the mouth of a long inlet. Seeing this, we allowed my craft to come up to the bank some distance behind, and here I tied fast, and we went ashore.
“Now let us be careful,” I whispered. “I want to see what the three are up to without being seen.”
“All right; I’ll be as careful as a cat,” responded Darrow.
We picked our way around the rocks and through the bushes silently. Presently the murmur of voices broke upon my sharpened ears, and I knew we were drawing close to our objective point. I placed my hand on the fisherman’s shoulder as a signal for him to halt, and listened with all attention.
“Hullo, Carney!” some one suddenly called.
There was no answer, and the cry was repeated.