"Keep quiet! Listen! Don't you hear some one swimming down there?"
The voices died down. Joe could see the figures leaning over the side as the sailors intently peered down into the darkness. He ceased swimming to tread water quietly.
"Take a shot at him!" advised some one.
Joe let himself sink beneath the surface and hardly had he gone beneath the waves than he heard the muffled report of a revolver and a splash near by. He swam beneath the water until his lungs were almost bursting. Then, when he could stand it no longer, he came to the surface again. He was deep in the shadow of the ship and he had left the sailors behind, still watching the place where he had gone down.
"I don't believe there was any one there," muttered one of the men in a disappointed tone.
"No, I guess they both got away," agreed another. "We scared 'em off, anyway."
"Did they steal anything?"
"No. They didn't have time. I nailed the first one before he'd been on the ship long. I guess he just went on ahead to see if everything was clear."
"Aw, I'm goin' to bed. As long as we scared 'm off—"
The voices died away.