The man's two companions in the boat sprang to his aid. Junard found himself engaged in a desperate struggle with three men, and shoved himself away from the side of the craft.
He held fast to the package, a metal cylinder, tightly wrapped in canvas, and at the same time struggled out of reach of the men above him. The man he had pulled overboard regained his strength, and, grasping the life belt with one hand, grabbed at the package with the other. The package tied to the life belt could not be gotten out of his reach, and Junard was struggling with one hand and fighting and grasping alternately at the life belt with the other.
"Give it up, you scoundrel!" hissed the fellow. "What do you know about this package? Give it to me—do you hear?"
"I hear well enough," snarled Junard, struggling farther out of the reach of those in the motor boat. "But I'm the captain of that ship there—and the papers are in my care. Let go, or I'll do you harm!"
The man glared at him savagely. Then he turned to the men above him in the boat, now a dozen feet away.
"Shoot, Jim—shoot quick—kill the fool if he won't let go!" he said.
The man addressed was a tall, dark fellow with a sinister look. That he was Colombian, Junard knew from his accent and appearance. The other, who had stopped the engine, and who seemed to be the engineer, looked askance. He evidently did not like the shooting part. This man was also a Colombian, but his features were those of a man who works outdoors at a simple trade. The other two looked like desperate men, and Junard felt that they would stop at nothing to get the papers from him. The man who was called Jim hesitated, and then, seeing the small boat approaching from the steamer, reached behind his back and brought forth a long, blue revolver. Junard waited until the barrel came within a line with his eye; then he ducked, and swung the life belt around, coming up with it in front of him, and raising it partly before his face. The pistol cracked sharply, and the bullet tore through the cork. Junard let go the package, and seized the man in the water with both hands, whirling him about and holding him squarely in front of himself.
"Start that engine!" called the man, struggling vainly to get away.
The man who had stopped it whirled the wheel over again, and the rumble of the motor began. The two waited, without throwing on the clutch.
Junard grasped the man firmly, and forced him down under the sea, going under with him, and holding his breath to the limit of his great lungs.