Looks of cupidity passed among the men as he reached the part of his narrative concerning the sapphires. Morello's eyes glistened greedily as he heard.
"Then they have not altogether eluded us," he said, as if he was busy with some private thoughts. "If only we could—however, that is neither here nor there. What concerns us most now is that the Motor Rangers are at Santa Inez and that we are within reaching distance of the lads we have to blame for all our troubles."
"I'd give a whole lot to get even on them," growled Swensen savagely.
But Morello checked him.
"That can all be discussed later," he said. "The thing to be done now is to ascertain if that schooner can be chartered. If she can, we have the money to pay for her, and if she can't——"
He did not finish, but paused significantly. His eyes wandered out over the mountainside and rested on the "Nomad" as she lay at anchor on the sun-lit bay. A small boat could be seen putting out from her side and the two men in it were giving way with a will for the shore.
"I suppose that those are the men who brought her here from wherever she came from," mused Morello. "If only we had a craft like that now."
"Well, we haven't," cut in Ed. Dayton, "so the thing to do now is to see if we can't get the hire of that schooner. We could easy sail her. Swensen here is an old navigator, and the one or two of the others have been sailors. I know something about ships myself."
"What do you propose, then?" asked Col. Morello.
"That you and I set out for Santa Inez at once and find out the lay of the land. If we can charter the schooner, well and good. If not—why then we'll have to find some other way of getting out of this hole."