“Then don’t you think we could get out the poles and work the boat closer in?”
“I’m afraid to try, Pete. The stream seems running so strong that we might be swept away.”
“Oh, I don’t know, sir, close inshore like this. I think we might manage it. Hadn’t we better try?”
“Well, yes,” replied Archie, after a little hesitation. “We must use the poles when we go away, unless we try going down-stream.”
“Oh, that wouldn’t do, sir. It would be running right into Rajah Hamet’s nest, even if we didn’t meet Suleiman’s men; and if we didn’t do neither we should have to carry the boxes through them who are surrounding the Residency.”
“We must get them somehow,” cried Archie impatiently.
“Yes, sir. But we ain’t getting them like this.”
For answer Archie seized one of the poles that lay along under the thwarts of the sampan, passed it over the side, and, to his great delight, found that close in to the bank the eddy was so strong that there would be no difficulty in working against the current. This discovery made, the grapnel was pulled up and the sampan thrust in close under the bank at the bottom of the Doctor’s garden.
“Nothing like trying, sir,” said Peter; and landing, he carried the grapnel in to the full extent of the rope and pressed its flukes down into the earth.
This was not done without noise, and the two lads stood listening for a few minutes before proceeding farther. Once satisfied that there were no fresh occupants in the bungalow, Archie led the way in, and the rest of their task proved delightfully easy.