The men were tied almost before they knew what had happened, and the three boys, sitting in the boat behind the little elevation, were instantly on their feet.
After thanking the lieutenant over and over again, they turned their thoughts to the missing Jule.
“We’ve just got to find him!” Clay cried. “We have been chums too long to be parted so!”
Before anyone could make a suitable reply the Rambler again became the center of the scene. The lads could scarcely believe their senses. The outlaws were deserting the Rambler!
CHAPTER XXIV
AND THE LAST
There followed a moment’s silence, and then, rising clear and high, came the voice of the parrot.
“A dead man’s chest! A dead man’s chest! Yo, ho, and a bottle of rum! And a bottle of rum!”
“The men who are deserting the Rambler certainly have heard the parrot before!” whispered Case. “What does it mean?”
While the boys and the soldiers wondered over the strange happening, another voice came from the Rambler.