"He weel not harm them, I theenk," said Captain Marat, "for he know we suspect him."
"He'll keep them hid," said Robert; "and while we're looking for them, he'll up and run off to the gold mine. That's his game."
"And I, for one," declared Norris, "will stay and hunt for them, gold or no gold."
We rowed back to the Pearl for breakfast, and to prepare for the search. It was arranged that I remain on board with Rufe, and if anything should occur, to require the others to return, I was to hoist a red ensign; for back of the town were hills all round, and they would be never far from a vantage-point whence they could have a good view of every vessel in the harbor.
They went, intending to scour the region all about town, beginning the search where we lost that trail beyond the pine grove. They hoped to discover the boys locked in some hut. That they were not over-sanguine was plain. Even Norris must have some notion of the sagacity of Duran.
I used a slit in the awning for my view-port. My binoculars were powerful, and I kept a sharp eye on the Orion. Duran I saw using his ship's glasses to observe the Pearl's boat going to shore. And some time in each hour I would see him training them on some particular point landward. I speculated much on what might be the object of his interest.
The heat of the afternoon was stifling; the pitch bubbled in the seams of the deck; and the barefoot sailors stepped only on the shadowed places.
It was nearing four o'clock, when I saw Duran go into a boat and start shoreward. Instantly I sent aloft the red ensign.
Twenty minutes must have passed. Cats' paws began to show on the bay, suggesting a squall. I observed a skiff making directly to the Pearl. It had but one occupant—a black boy. He came alongside, and held up some paper, folded. I reached down and took it. And the boy was for making off at once. I told him to come aboard, speaking in French. He did not understand, so I tried him in Spanish. No, he said, he was told not to remain. I showed him a handful of silver, at which his expression changed, and he tarried.
"Wait a moment," I said. And I opened the paper. Inside was a small sheet bearing writing, and signed by Wayne. I read hastily.