"Looks like this is the first time she's seen us," said Vinton, taking the marine glass from Alec. "But it can't be the same craft we sighted back yonder, last night. Anyhow, if they're wavin' signal flags,—-and they are, sure enough!—-they must want to speak the Arrow. That's plain. I'm goin' to ease in more and see who's aboard. Look! the dinged old boat is comin' out from behind the bar now."
Pondering some contingency which he did not explain to the boys, Vinton shifted the helm; and his sloop, hitherto heading in a southwesterly direction, now began to edge closer to the line of keys. Had Vinton not known his course so thoroughly from long experience in sailing these channels, inlets, and lagoons, it would have been dangerous; but he dexterously eluded the various reefs and oyster bars and brought the Arrow safely into smoother water. Meanwhile, the boys noticed that the wind, which had blown so strongly, was beginning to slacken, thus allowing the steamer to gain on the Arrow quite perceptibly. They saw then that she was a small steamer, like a steam yacht, and light gray in color,—-perhaps one of the United States revenue cutters.
Captain Vinton was astonished. He had already begun to have serious doubts that this could be the same mysterious vessel he had seen cruising about the islands the night before. All at once, unexpectedly, his doubts were resolved into a certainty that it was not the same, for even while he was wondering, a strange thing happened:
A long, low, gray shape, something like a built-for-speed tug-boat with a short funnel, darted into view from between two keys, and, crossing the wake of the revenue cutter, glided swiftly along the very course the Arrow had taken, heading back toward Snipe Point. Before the sloop and the steamer had come within hailing distance of each other, the strange craft, not depending on the dying easterly wind, was well along the course, sending back—-toward a trail of darker smoke.
CHAPTER II
A CONTRABAND CARGO
"Well, what d'you know about that?" queried Billy, easily relapsing into slang when the first few minutes' surprise had worn off.
"Dunno much about it," Captain Vinton answered in a somewhat gruff tone, "but it looks to me mighty like a filibuster's craft, or p'rhaps a smuggler's."
At the word "filibuster," the boys—-figuratively speaking—-pricked up their ears.
"What on earth can they be trying to smuggle?" was Hugh's eager question, to which the captain replied promptly: