They could not have had enough gasoline in the tanks to risk a very long voyage; that was the reason he did not think they would try to get to the Southern States and risk themselves in strange waters with no way to carry the gold from the vessel to their Northern headquarters, wherever that might be.
With all of this the older heads of the party agreed.
Their first plan, then, was to get the Libertad pocketed and surrounded; this they must do before the treasure could be hidden.
Without a small boat it was not probable that the hi-jackers could get into the Everglades, but they might know the Seminoles and might be able to get hold of a canoe.
A day, and a good part of the night before had passed since they went away in the Libertad, but Lieutenant Sommerlee and Mr. Neale decided that they had probably gone into the Shark River and laid up. They had no reason to be afraid: they left the Libertad’s owners in the water; they left three boys and a Negro in another rowboat. There was not much danger, from their way of looking at it, in anything that these people could do.
If they had seen the signal smoke of the day or the fire and the rockets and lights at night, it would be too late for them to run out in the Libertad; and, unless they had already hidden the treasure, they could not very easily do so in the darkness. They would be more apt to believe themselves well hidden, and would not make any move before daylight, because they would be waiting for their two men in the sloop to get Southeast and bring help from inland. They did not know, of course, that the men had been captured.
First of all, Sam and a patrol sailor went over the side of the Senorita, in the dark, with ropes under their arms and fastened to the rail. They searched about on the reef at the side of the ship where Nicky and his chums had thrown the rifles and pistols. Lieutenant Sommerlee did not think that these had been in the water long enough to be severely damaged or made useless; he wanted them for a purpose.
Sam and his companion by dint of much searching brought up both submerged rifles and several pistols.
They were set to work cleaning and drying and oiling them at once.
“Cliff,” ordered Lieutenant Sommerlee, taking command, “you—with Sam and Jim and one of my sailors, will stay on the Senorita. Jim has had a night and a day to rest in and he is pretty strong again. You four are the guardians of this Shark River channel.”