It was now quite dark, and the lights of the saloon boat showed that those on board were holding some sort of conference with those on board the tug in charge of the tow. The boats were some distance apart, yet even in the gathering darkness the boys could see the crew of the barges racing over the coal in order to do business with the bartender on the steamer.
“Before morning,” Case observed, “those saloon pirates will have every dollar there is in that bunch of rivermen. I wish there was some way to separate the two crews.
“What do we care?” laughed Alex. “Either bunch would rob us if they could.”
“Now,” Clay said in a moment, “turn the boat in toward the entrance to the lagoon, keep all the lights off, and let her drift. They’ll think we’ve gone downstream on the other side of the island.”
“That lagoon looks pretty good to me,” Jule observed. “I feel like I hadn’t had any sleep for a week. We’ll just tie right up in that little pond and sleep all we want to.”
“That will be a nice place to tie up!” laughed Case. “Alex won’t run any risk of being towed down the Mississippi if he goes fishing again.”
And so, with no lights showing, the Rambler, under the impetus of the last push of the propeller, glided noiselessly into the mouth of the lagoon. Both arms of the island were heavily wooded and in a moment, the boys were out of sight of the tow and the saloon boat. It was dark and still along both shores of the lagoon. Wild birds settling for the night called to each other across the narrow stretch of water, but otherwise all was silent.
“Nice and quiet,” Jule declared, “but just look ahead there, if you will. You can all see the three blue lights, now, if you want to! The ghost of the Mary Ann must have lost his bearings.”
CHAPTER XIII.—EXPLORING A LAGOON.
“Are those blue lights on the water or on the shore?” asked Clay.