"Look!" he exclaimed hoarsely.
"By Jove! a Roman candle!" ejaculated Norton. "It's a signal!"
"No star out to sea," Dave said. "No star, but um boat."
"Boat? You mean——-"
"Esperanza! She come here to-night."
CHAPTER VIII
THE BLAZING BEACON
Had it been daylight, the boy scouts on picket duty would have seen the same long, low, gray craft something like a built-for-speed tug boat, which had surprised Captain Vinton when it first appeared among the Keys, now coming to anchor outside Durgan's Cove, in the darkness.
As it was, however, they could see nothing after the Esperanza's lights went out; but, waiting impatiently, they presently heard the dip of oars, the faint rattle and squeaking of row-locks, and then a low whistle which seemed to come out of the quiet that brooded over the ocean.
"It's a boat from the Esperanza!" muttered Norton. "One of us had better steal back to the camp, and see what our friends are doing. Dave, you——-"