"You could not if you would. Every movement of yours is watched. Be careful what you say or——"
Francisco de Caprian did not stop to finish his sentence, though his unspoken words were very well understood by the anxious trio, who saw him among the most active of the mixed crew a moment later.
Then they were witnesses of the embarkation of a small squad of Venezuelan soldiers under charge of an officer who appeared in a supercilious mood.
"Whoever he is," whispered Jack, "he stands pretty near the head, and he evidently intends that every one shall know it. Our stop is going to be short. Well, the shorter the better, perhaps, for us. If we should succeed in getting ashore we should find ourselves in the power of the insurgents, which, it may be, we are at present," he added, with a smile. "All we can do is to keep our eyes open and await further developments."
Jack realized that his companions knew this as well as he, so he did not expect a reply, while they watched the following scenes in silence. They saw the last of the little party of insurgents on shipboard, and soon after the Libertador was once more ploughing her way through the blue water of the Caribbean. Their course was now south-southwest, but nothing occurred during the rest of the day to break the monotony of the voyage. The newcomers went below immediately, so that our friends saw nothing of them. Toward night Francisco found opportunity to speak a few words to the three.
"We are steering directly for the Venezuelan shore," he said. "I overheard Captain Willis say that he intended to land somewhere near Maracaibo, where, I judge, our passengers are going. We may find opportunity to escape then."
"Do you think we shall touch port again soon?" asked Ronie.
"The officer and his followers whom we took aboard at Curacao are to be left somewhere near Maracaibo. That is all I have been able to learn. They are extremely careful what they say."
The following morning it was found that the Libertador was flying signals, which Jack declared were intended to attract the insurgents.
"Mark my words, we are approaching the shore so closely that we shall soon sight land."