"That black bird wasn't from anywhere but the Orion," said Norris. "That schooner of Duran's can't be far away—down the coast a few miles behind some point, I'll bet."
"Say," spoke up Ray, who had hitherto been a silent listener, "and I'll bet that poor pickaninny will be telling the other pickaninnies what a narrow escape he had, and how he's sure it was I and Norris that got after him."
We began now to think upon the next move. Robert was for making a trip to the Pearl, to see how Julian Lamartine and Rufe fared, and give them the news; and incidentally, he would add something to our stock of provisions. But Norris maintained that, while he felt it too bad to keep Julian so long in suspense, he felt more that there was no time to be lost. "Some roaming, black voodoo may happen to get an eye on us," he said, "and then we'd likely have a regular swarm of them about our ears. And we've already seen evidence that Duran's sailors must be getting restless."
Captain Marat agreed with Norris. "Julian weel be ver' patient," he said. "And there ees no time to lose."
And then, while we three boys and Carlos busied ourselves with making a cache of a portion of our belongings, the two elders set themselves to discuss, in some detail, a plan of action.
It must have been near midnight when we moved, all in single file. On our hands and knees, one after the other, we scurried through that vale of water and passed into the cavern in the cliff; then up that steep slope within, and again down the more gentle, rocky slope without, on the other side of the high wall.
Each carried, mostly in his pockets, some little portion of the food that remained; and Norris had insisted on taking along his rifle with several rounds of ammunition.
"We're not looking for any of that kind of trouble," he said, "but if—"
"Yes," interrupted Ray, "it's sure to rain if you don't carry an umbrella."
We found Duran's rope ladder tucked up in the cedars, held by the halliard, which was taut, having been fastened among the vines on that sloping ledge down below. It took some tugging to tear loose the piece of vine to which the halliard was knotted down there; but at last it came away, and we got the ladder slung down the cliff-side.