"All right, then; get aboard of your own boat and we will go on," continued Baxter.
"What's doing up there, Pick?" called another man, from the launch.
"Remember, we haven't got all night to waste here."
"That other boat is coming!" cried a third man. "Boys, we are trapped as sure as guns!"
"Not much we ain't," said the Kentuckian who had boarded the houseboat.
"Sculley!"
"What next, Pick?"
"You've got a new job. This chap here wants somebody to tow him down the river."
"Well?"
"You start to do the towing, and be quick about it. Hamp, get on board at once! Remember, Sculley, you ain't seen or heard of us, understand?"
"All right, Pick."
The gasolene launch came close once more, and the fellow called Hamp leaped on board. He carried a rifle and was evidently a desperate character.