“Jerry has nerve!” Mr. Parker commented. “He’s safely through now.”
Nervously the publisher and Penny kept attentive watch of Lookout Point, fearful lest Ezekiel launch a boat and try to capture them. To their intense relief, the swamper made no such move. Occasionally, they caught brief glimpses of him as he shifted his position.
Directing all their attention upon Ezekiel, Penny and her father paid less heed to the channel. Near them was a passage so narrow a boatman could have reached out to touch bushes on either side.
A slight rustling sound close by suddenly startled Penny.
“What was that, Dad?” she whispered.
“Only the wind,” he reassured her. “Ezekiel’s still over there on the point. We’re safe enough.”
Even as he made the observation, a boat moved out from behind the screen of leaves. Penny and her father found themselves gazing directly into the barrel of a gun.
“Safe, are ye?” Coon Hawkins shouted in glee. “We got ye now, ye sneakin’ snoopers! Ye won’t do no more spyin’ in this swamp!”
With him in the boat were his brother and Danny Deevers.
“Git in!” Coon ordered sharply.