"I don't think he was joking or drunk, now. You said yourself he seemed to know something. I wish we'd mentioned it to dad. It might have been a good clue."
"You could write him a line."
"We'll wait until we get back from our trip to-morrow. We might have bigger news to write then."
"Here's hoping. There's only one thing bothers me and that is, will the Mary be the beat of the Nancy? If so, we ain't got much chance of keepin' in her company."
"Well, as it's a short trip and she's not due till eleven p.m. it's not likely that they'll drive her much. That ought to give us a chance to keep in with her."
"It won't be easy," said Ben, "and that's a fact. But there, we've had the luck so far, and it may hang on to us. I expect she'll leave around dusk," he went on to say. "That'll give her plenty of time. Payter won't risk not turnin' up on the hour. Like as not he'll be ahead of time. He'll draw in to the land, douse his lights and stand by."
"All the better for us if he does. If the place is near Saltern we might get a chance to slip into the harbour and give the warning."
"And the cap'n laid up in his bed!"
Dare's face fell.
"It had slipped my mind. Well, there's no use in meeting trouble half-way. The thing to do is to manage by hook or by crook to get some idea of where that cache is. We can think about what we'll do then afterwards. Our best chance is in trying to dog the Mary like we did her skipper."