"Gracious! how hard they are!" continued the boy, trying to dig his fingers into them.
At this, Frank and William, who, of course, had heard every word of the conversation, and had sat fairly trembling with excitement, fearful that their trick would be discovered, could scarcely refrain from laughing outright. Had it been daylight, the ruse of the smugglers would certainly have been detected, but, as it was, the coast-guards never mistrusted that any thing was wrong. The night was rather dark, and the sham provisions were so neatly tied up, and so carefully stowed away, that the deception was complete.
"I guess they are all here," said one of the boys, at length.
"Well, come ashore, then," said Charles, "and let's be off."
The boys pulled back to the wharf, and Charles continued,
"I didn't think that the Alert would hold all of the refreshments, did you?"
"No," answered one of the boys, whom the smugglers recognized as James Porter; "I guess it was a tight squeeze; I could hardly get my hand in between the baskets."
"What do you suppose the smugglers intend to do?" inquired another.
"I don't know," answered Charles, "unless they propose to get up in the morning before we do, and slip over to the island before we know it. I wonder how they felt when they saw us taking our positions."
"But what do you suppose made them put the provisions in the Alert?"