“Yes, and they were no turtle hunters or spongers either,” blurted out Ballyhoo, desirous of having a hand in divulging the great news. “The boat was a small launch that could be rowed, and had one of those overboard motors at the stern. Yes, and when it swerved Oscar here, through our glasses, saw the name painted at the bow. It was Dauntless, Captain; what d’ye think of that, now?”
The gruff skipper said something pretty strong, but it seemed to express the state of his feelings to a fraction. From the way in which he glanced down at the relic just recovered from the wreck, it was plain to be seen he felt doubly furious to have such a thing as this happen just when they had commenced to strike “pay dirt.”
“They’ve been keeping tabs on us, then, the snakes!” he growled.
“All day long, I reckon,” admitted Oscar, “and finally, after making sure that we meant business, and had found a wreck of some kind, they’ve started off to tell that Badger man, so he can come bullying around here, and chase us away by a show of force.”
Ballyhoo looked disconsolate. Already in imagination he possibly saw the black steam yacht tied up to their float, with divers going down to loot the prize at the bottom of the sea, which had lain there hundreds of years, and might have continued to defy all the efforts of ambitious mankind to locate the same only for the enterprise of the “Argonaut Submarine Diving-Boat Company.”
“Which way were they heading?” demanded the skipper, grinding his teeth hard together, and looking as though he could “bite a ten-penny nail in two,” as Ballyhoo would have put it.
“Trying to keep the land between themselves and our float here,” explained Oscar, “but we guessed they meant to swing around some, and put for that other Key after they thought they were so far away we wouldn’t hear the putter of the motor when muffled.”
“And using only the oars, you say?” continued the other, eagerly.
“Yes, sir, not making any desperate hurry,” replied Oscar.
“That settles it,” ground out the skipper. “We’ve got to overtake that crowd unless we want to have all our plans knocked galley-west.”