Just before the first streaks of the brief tropical dawn appeared over the dark outlines of the mangroves, Captain Hiram Adams appeared on deck.
It was now close on high water. Although the tide was still making, there was a considerable quantity of turgid fresh water coming downstream.
Giving instructions to the chief officer to bring a strain upon the wire hawser, the skipper telegraphed for the port engines to stop and the starboard for "Full Astern." The hull of the Bronx City quivered. For a brief, anxious period her fate hung in the balance. Then, with a squelching sound as tons of shiny black mud were shifted bodily, the vessel slithered into the trench and began to gather sternway in midstream, held only by the stern kedge.
With the least possible delay the wire hawser was hove taut and the kedge broken out. Then, at "Easy ahead," the Bronx City made for the open sea.
Meanwhile the Alerte had gone upstream, arriving well before nightfall at an anchorage five miles above the spot where she had left her latest capture. Here Pengelly, accompanied by two of the hands, went ashore, the new captain taking with him a prismatic compass.
Selecting a suitable spot, he took bearings on three conspicuous objects, making the necessary data in his pocket-book. His assistants watched the operation with semi-torpid interest. They had a vague idea of what he was about, which was what Pengelly wanted.
Returning on board, he mustered the crew. They crowded round in a disorderly mob—a striking contrast to the orderly way in which they fell in under Captain Cain's orders.
"I've fixed the spot for burying the booty, my lads!" he announced. "The sooner we get to work the quicker we'll be able to make ourselves scarce. In a week the place will be overgrown——"
"Then 'ow the blazes are we to find it again?" interrupted one of the audience.
"Quite a natural, intelligent question," rejoined Pengelly. "I've taken a three-point bearing. With either a sextant or a compass it will be as easy as winking to fix the spot to a yard. This is a mutual concern, my lads, so I'll chalk up the angles so that you can make a note of them in case anything happens to me. That's fair enough, isn't it? Now, fall in half a dozen of you with spades, nip ashore and begin digging like Hades. Yes, the ivory won't hurt if it's well covered with canvas."