"What will I tell him?" Jack asked in a disappointed tone.
"Don't tell him anything," his uncle ordered. "I know just how you boys feel about it and I'm not saying that I don't feel much the same way but it isn't worth the price we might have to pay. They probably haven't got forty in their crew but they have got a lot more than we have and if it came to a fight someone would be sure to get hurt and I can't risk it," he explained.
The boys knew he was right and told him so.
"We've got enough pearls now to give all hands a tidy sum and if we get away from those fellows without any one getting hurt I'll be satisfied so far's that part of it is concerned. Some day I'll find that rascal Kelley and then there'll be a day of reckoning."
"Mac says he's all ready," Captain Ole cried from the wheel house.
"Then up anchor."
"Right."
Three minutes later the propeller began to revolve and the boat slowly swung around. It was evident that the others had expected such a move for hardly were they in motion before they saw the enemy's anchor come out of the water and, at the same time, clouds of smoke poured from the stack.
"They're not losing much time," Jack declared.
Around the end of the island swept the Valkyrie and soon the other boat was lost to sight but they knew it would be only a matter of a few minutes before they would see it again.