CAPTAIN LAWLESS TRIES TRICKERY.
“Do you intend to let them get away from us like this?”
It was Mate Durkee, of the Tropic Bird, who asked the question of Captain Lawless, as the two stood leaning on the schooner’s rail, watching the fast-diminishing form of the Motor Rangers’ capable craft.
The wind had fallen, and the schooner was dipping and rolling on the swells, with her canvas flapping idly. The crew, grouped in a mass forward, were watching their superior officers with some curiosity. Plainly they were anxious to see how the situation was to be met.
“Well, what are we going to do about it?” demanded Lawless.
“I’ve got a plan, but it involves a good deal of risk,” was the reply. “Are you willing to take a chance?”
“I’m willing to do almost anything to get even on that outfit,” was the response, in a vicious tone.
“Then listen to me. I happen to know that we are not far from an island where I’m pretty sure we can sell the schooner to the old chief for a good price. When that is done, we can get a canoe from him and have some of his men paddle us out into the track of that line of Dutch steamers that run from Manila to Callao. If we spin a good enough yarn, we can get passage all right.”
“Well, what then?” grunted Captain Lawless.
“Why, can’t you see? We’ll get from Callao to that Chilean port for which that outfit is bound in very little time. Once there, we can use our own judgment as to how to proceed. But I must admit, that I, for one, mean to get a chance at the treasures of the lost city.”