"You!" shouted the colonel. "Lay to until we come alongside!"
"Come on," responded the man, "and you will get more than you are looking for!" at the same time displaying a pistol, which he pointed toward the larger boat.
"Drop that!" commanded the colonel, going forward and covering the man with the gun, while Rand took the helm. "If you make any attempt to use that pistol I will disable you at once."
With a muttered imprecation the man let the pistol fall and, seizing the oars, began rowing for the shore.
"Shall we follow him?" asked Rand.
"There is a sand-bar there, I think," replied the colonel. "If you pull up the centerboard, perhaps we can slide over it. It's no use," he added a moment later as the boat fell off, "we shall have to go round."
By this time the small boat had been pulled in close to the shore, where the man, picking up a package from the bottom of the boat, sprang over the side and, followed by the boys, ran up the shore and disappeared in the woods, leaving the boat to drift.
"Shall we follow them?" asked Rand.
"I don't want them," said Donald.
"Better let them go, I think," added the colonel.