But John Garrison Rayne was both nimble and unterrified.
He gave one glance at the ladder, saw that the motor boat was made fast to it at the bottom, and over he went!
He was not quick enough to elude Nick Carter, however.
The detective surmised what he intended to do before he did it.
So it came about that, when Rayne was nearly at the bottom of the ladder, the detective had already begun to climb down, and was three or four rungs on his way.
Rayne feverishly began to untie the painter.
“Ha! ha!” he shouted, with laughter that had a touch of hysteria in it. “Fooled you again, Carter!”
“Not yet, my friend!” was the detective’s rejoinder. “Look out! I’m coming!”
“If you do you’ll drop into the water!”
Rayne had the boat loose by this time. Then, turning the engine over, he got it to moving as he took the wheel to steer toward the shore.