Feverishly these startled ones pressed on to the lake’s edge. As they came down to the water they saw no craft out yonder—nothing but the morning mist over the surface of the lake and the many small islands visible from where they stood.
“Great Scott!” roared Joe. “Look at the pier! The launch is gone—taken from under our very noses!”
It did not require a second look to make sure that the motor boat was, indeed, gone!
CHAPTER XII
WHAT BEFELL THE YOUNG SKIPPER
MINDFUL of the danger from rattlers, which makes the section near the Everglades a dangerous one to travel by night, Tom Halstead proceeded into the forest with great caution.
Every here and there, too, were boggy bits of land in which the feet would sink.
So much care did his choice of path need that the motor boat skipper did not have time to give much heed to anything else.
“Hss-sst!”