Charley stood up and surveyed the shore-line. "I took a landmark before I left," he said. "There's a great, dead, pine tree standing up amongst a clump of palmettoes just to the south of the creek. I believe I can see it ahead there a couple of miles."
At the end of ten minutes, he could make out the big, dead pine plainly.
He awakened his chums and the three sat tense and impatient waiting to see if all their hopes and trouble had been in vain.
When within a few hundred yards of the creek, Charley could stand the suspense no longer.
"Stop the engine," he requested, in a fever of impatience.
Bill threw off the battery switch. The four wondering captains trailing behind followed his example and the throbbing of the engines ceased.
The lad stood up and listened intently. His quick ear could just distinguish a faint, peculiar noise, like the soft smacking of thousands of lips.
He sank back into his seat with a sigh of relief.
"It's all right," he exclaimed, delightedly. "I can hear them. Run in close to shore and anchor."