A bright light had flickered for an instant or two somewhere on the island and the way in which it had disappeared caused Stan to say, “That light was on the far side of the cove, John, I’m sure, and it was the eastern edge or hill at the entrance that cut it off! Ease off the sheet and head for there!”
John did as Stan said, for he had great confidence in his chum’s ability and hunches, and the Water Witch heeled lively and spryly right between two high banks of woods, through a clear channel into the darkness of the cove!
The light, which had been the cause of their success in finding the entrance, had gone and there was neither sight nor sound in the darkness. The hills seemed to surround the spot and the lighter blue of the sky overhead, now starlit, seemed to rest upon the edges of the hills.
“Pheww!” breathed John, deeply, from the wheel, as the sloop rounded to and the anchor was dropped with a low splash into the deep waters. “This place gives me the honorable creeps! Creeping skeletons, and bleached bones—I’d rather go to live with Blackbeard the Pirate than spend the night in Black Cove!”
“I’m afraid,” said Stan, and his voice was not too steady, “that we’re here to stay for the night—for I can’t even guess where the entrance is now!”
CHAPTER II
The Night in Black Cove
AS JOHN was afterwards to remark, that night in Black Cove turned out to be “A night as was a night!” The anchor had barely hit bottom when a flickering light, as from a half-covered flashlight appeared in the bushes of the Island. Stan gripped John’s arm suddenly.
“There’s that light again! Maybe we ought to shout a greeting——”
“Nix, Stan,” John whispered tersely. “I’ve a hunch this is a poor spot for innocent sailor men to be! Just keep mum.”
“Me too, now that I think about it! Look! The light is going up in the darkness!”