"But you're safe!" cried Allen, who had both Betty's hands. Whether or not it had been a continuous performance I cannot say. Probably it had. Betty was a very nice girl.
"Oh, yes, we're safe," she said, trying to control her voice.
"But those awful men; that—that horrid woman!" gasped Amy.
"You needn't worry about them any more," Allen assured her. "We'll see that they get what's coming to them."
Whether or not he would have been able to put this into operation is a question. But unexpected help arrived. It would not have been easy for the little force in the motor boat to cope with the larger crew of men on the schooner. Besides, there were three girls to be considered, and, though they were equal to most emergencies, both Betty and Amy were now rather unnerved.
There was a sharp whistle outside—a boat signal, evidently.
"What's that?" asked Allen, who, with Henry, Roy and the girls, was in the cabin, so recently a prison.
"It's a revenue cutter," bawled Tin-Back down the hatchway. "They want to know if we need help."
"We'll take it, anyhow," chuckled Allen. He felt like laughing now. "But how in the world did they come, and in the nick of time?"
"Maybe Will sent them," suggested Mollie. "They may be down here after the smugglers."