“Ah, you are here,” he said. “Is it not time that the boys came back?”
“Nearly,” said the skipper quietly.
“No, no,” said Don Ramon; “they have been twice too long. Something must have happened, or they would have come by now.”
“Pst! Look out!” whispered the carpenter, and he cocked his rifle. “No: all right,” he continued. “It’s not from the enemy’s side.”
He was quite right, for directly after the two boys trotted up.
“All right, father,” cried Poole. “The boat’s back.”
“We thought she would never have come,” added Fitz. “They have had a very hard pull up stream, for the water has risen, and they thought that they’d never get to the landing-place.”
“But they are there!” cried the skipper eagerly. “What about the others? Have they got on board?”
“Everything was going right, father. I had a few words with Butters, and he was very eager to know how soon I could get you all down.”
“And you couldn’t tell him?”