It was Deputy King who checked his ill-advised determination.
“You can’t get anywhere near the shore with the motor boat,” he said. “It is so shallow a few yards from here that the rowboat just barely floats. Will the dog go straight to Alex as you call him?”
“He will if he is not interfered with,” answered Clay, moodily.
“Then we’ll watch the dog,” King went on. “Do you know, kids, that I have a hunch that this Don Durand, the thief, is with Alex? I believe they left the Rambler together. I don’t know why, or when, or how they first came together, but that’s the hunch, and I can’t get it out of my mind.”
The Mexicans who had deserted the deputy were now landing on a low, sandy stretch of beach, back of which ran a natural levee of sand, perhaps six feet in height. Beyond that, and only a few hundred paces from the water’s edge, a spur of the foothills ran out to the east.
The Mexicans saw the dog swimming toward them and deployed on the beach to capture or kill him. This was, perhaps, the very best move they could have made in the interest of the boys, for Captain Joe sensed danger and turned south, swimming swiftly down with the current.
The Mexicans bred a dozen shots at him and then turned their attention to a commotion in progress between the sand levee and the mountain spur. The men who had fired from the foothills were advancing across the level, and the men who had been left on shore by King were lined up to meet them. Those on the Rambler could not see what was going on, but, presently a crowd of Mexicans came out on the beach, as if to keep watch of the Rambler.
“I’d like to know what the mischief is going on there,” exclaimed Case, as Captain Joe, already far down stream, crept out of the water and trotted out of sight, after looking back over his shoulder to see that no guns were pointed at him.
“I think I can tell you what’s going on,” King suggested. “The men I left there have come to terms with the native Indians, who are always ready for a fight or a race! It looks bad for us!”
“I don’t understand,” Clay ventured. They have nothing against us.”