“Wait till the boat gets up to the yacht. Then, before they can make fast, knock as many of them overboard as you can and jump for the ladder. Get that?�
“Sure! I wish there was another one to help.�
“There is,� put in a low voice, behind the detective. “I’m not clear in my mind. But I believe I could do something in a pinch.�
Lord Vinton, slowly recovering from the effects of Valeria’s poisonous gas, and helped back to reason and strength by the invigorating sea air, had heard what Nick Carter and Drago had been saying, and was anxious to take a hand.
The detective welcomed him with quiet enthusiasm.
“If you can lay out only one of the men with a boat stretcher,� he whispered, “you’ll be doing a great deal. Here is the stretcher right here!�
The detective had found a loose piece of wood, some three feet long, lying near him, and he had known it for one of the braces against which oarsmen place their feet to help their pull on the oars.
It would make a most effective weapon, even in the rather weak grasp of the half-poisoned Lord Vinton.
“Think you can fix one of them with this?� asked Carter.
“I’ll give him a rap that he’ll remember,� promised Vinton.