They had for two or three hours been moving about in the dense woods that surrounded the Hotel Amsterdam, and hid the sea beach from the highroad, when Nick Carter took a seat on a rock overlooking the water, with the porter by his side, and remarked that it was time to rest a while.
“I’m not tired,� protested the porter, Mike Corrigan. “I wouldn’t mind betting you are not, either, colonel. You are stopping here because you think it a good place to look around.�
The head porter grinned as he said this, and in the faint light that came from the cloud-veiled moon Nick returned the grin. He was pleased to note that Mike Corrigan was of an observant kind.
“You’re not far off, Mike. I see there is a place here where a boat has landed, and it is just possible another one may come. See those furrows in the sand above tide line on the beach, and do you notice that those soft shells have been ground by something, and left, all broken, where they have been pressed into the sand?�
“That’s right,â€� agreed Mike. “I see it, just where the moon strikes. But I’ll confess I wouldn’t have noticed them if you hadn’t spoke—not in this poor light. Think that was done by a boat?â€�
“I am sure of it,� was Nick’s quick reply. “It was the keel of a boat that ground these shells, and the round bottom made the wide mark on either side. It isn’t hard to see where a boat has been before the signs are washed away.�
“I don’t see any other place where a boat could be run up on the shore, either,� observed Mike.
“That’s why I am expecting we shall see another boat—or perhaps the same one—come up here, if we stay for a while. But get back into the woods. We can watch there without being seen.â€�
“The moon is in its last quarter,� remarked Corrigan. “So there isn’t much light. If it wasn’t for the stars, I don’t think we could make out anything at all.�
“We’ll get to the other side of this point,� went on Nick. “We can see all over the bay from there, and still not be too conspicuous.�