“Howdy, Mr. Bob!” he exclaimed. “We goin’ cotch dem thieves now, shore ’nough.”
“Not if we don’t hurry!” said Joe nervously; and they all got aboard and paddled out into the current.
CHAPTER VIII
THE RIVER ISLAND
Talking over his shoulder as he paddled, Joe explained the events of the past days more fully to his cousin, and described his discovery of the rosin mine.
“If we win out, of course we’ll share it,” he added. “As a matter of fact, I expect you have an equal right in it with me. That was the old family distillery, you know.”
“Not a bit of it,” Bob returned. “You found the thing, and you certainly deserve all that comes out of it. I wouldn’t take a cent. But, as a matter of fact, I doubt if either of us has any right in it. Burnam bought the place. He gets whatever is in the ground, whether it’s a coal mine or a rosin mine.”
“I don’t know about that!” returned Joe, with irritation. “Anyway, I’ll hold that rosin as security for what he owes me.”
“Dat’s right!” Sam approved. “An’ we’re goin’ cotch ’em. Dey’ve got a long start, but we’ll cotch em, an’ when we do cotch ’em, why, dey’ve got all dat rosin dug up for us. Won’t be nothing for us to do but tote it away.”
“Pretty heavy toting,” said Bob. “That boat must have carried several loads, to clean out the big hole you speak of.”
“Yes, I expect she loaded up at night and floated down the river to some spot where they’ve hidden the stuff, and then got a tow back with the steamboat. But Sam’s right. Those pirates really have done the heaviest part of the work. And we ought to be able to locate where they’ve gone. That black houseboat’s too big a thing to hide.”