Chapter 8

A SLENDER CHANCE

Ross was quickly followed by Bill and Teddy. Lester and Fred waited only until they had fastened the two boats securely together, then they followed the example of their mates.

"She isn't full of water or anything like that, is she?" remarked Teddy, as he saw the water sloshing from one side to the other as the boat rocked on the waves.

"Two feet at least," judged Bill.

"Not more than eighteen inches," was the verdict of Lester, who was accustomed to measure depths where water was concerned. "But that's enough and more than enough. She's a pretty good seaworthy boat, or she'd have shipped a good deal more."

"She must have ridden the waves like a cork," said Fred in admiration.

The motor boat was not quite as large as the _Ariel_, being perhaps two feet shorter, and also narrower in the beam. In the stern there was a gasoline engine of the newest type, bearing the name of a celebrated maker. Amidships, there was a tiny cabin that one had to stoop to enter. On one side of this were small lockers, one designed to hold tools and spare parts of the engine, the other serving as a pantry. On the other side was a low, broad seat extending the whole length of the cabin, and on this was a cushion which at night served as a mattress for the owner of the boat.

Everything about the little craft was trim and plain, the only ornament in sight being some brass work that surrounded the binnacle. It was clear that it had been built with an eye to usefulness rather than beauty.

"The first thing now, fellows," said Lester, after a quick glance around had satisfied his curiosity, "is to get the water over into the sea where it belongs. We'd better get off our shoes and socks and roll our trousers up high."

In a twinkling, the boys were ready for wading.

"I have a bailer here," said Ross, producing it from the locker.

"That's all right but it isn't enough," said Fred. "I'll get Lester's, and you fellows can rustle up something else that will do the trick."

The boys were rather restricted in their choice, but the articles they finally got together for the purpose served well enough. As Teddy put it, the collection was "neat but not gaudy." He had the frying pan, Bill handled the coffee pot, Lester used a huge sponge, while Fred and Ross did effective work with the bailers.

Before the onslaught of five sturdy pairs of arms, the water went down quickly and was soon so low that only the sponge could be used. Five minutes more, and the last drop had been squeezed over the side.

"There," said Lester, as he flung the sponge back into the _Ariel_. "She's empty now and the hot sun will soon dry out the planks. But I wouldn't advise you to sleep on those cushions to-night, unless you want to get rheumatism or pneumonia."

"I'm not going to," answered Ross. "As soon as I get the engine going, I'll beat it to Oakland, and I'll sleep between sheets to-night in a regular bed."

"It won't be a bad place, either, after last night on the sand," replied Teddy.

"Are you staying at Oakland right along, when you're not cruising around?" asked Lester.

"Yes, I've been there for the last two months. I have relatives there."

"If there's nothing special to call you there now, I'd be glad to have you come along with us to Bartanet Shoals," said Lester hospitably.

"That would be great!" exclaimed Fred. "Then we could talk more about the missing money. There'll be a hundred things come up that we'll want to ask you about."

"It's very kind of you," responded Ross warmly, "and I'd like nothing better. But just now I'm looking for my mother to come down from her home in Canada. She may be here any time now, and I want to be on hand when she comes. She's going to stay for several weeks. But the very first chance I get, I'll come over to the Shoals."

"All right," said Lester. "The latch string hangs outside the door, and we'll be glad to see you."

"How's the engine?" asked Bill.

"Right as can be, as far as I can see," was the answer. "I'll have to dry it and polish it. There wasn't anything serious the matter with it yesterday--just a little trouble with the ignition--and I was just getting it into shape, when that big wave came aboard and took me over."

"We'll stand by anyway for a few minutes to make sure," said Lester, as he rose to return to the _Ariel_.

"Don't wait another minute," urged Ross earnestly. "You fellows have done enough for me already, and I know you're just aching to get home to relieve your father's mind."

"We'll cast off anyway," was the reply. "It'll take a little time to run up the sheet and get ready to sail, and by that time you'll know better how things are."

"What do you call your boat, Ross?" asked Teddy, as the rest of the boys rose to follow Lester.

"I've named her the _Sleuth_," answered Ross.

"It's a mighty suitable name, considering what you're using her for," laughed Teddy. "Let's hope she'll be sleuth enough to get on the trail of the smugglers."

"She will," said Ross with decision; and a look of determination leaped into his eyes, while his lips compressed themselves into a straight line.

His chums drew in the fenders and ran up the sail, while Lester took his place at the tiller and eased the _Ariel_ off, until a space of twenty feet separated the two boats.

"We'll run a few rings around you, while you get the engine to working," called out Lester.

"All right, if you insist upon it," laughed Ross. "That's easy enough to do now, but some day we'll have a race, and then it may be a little tougher job.

"Here it comes now!" he exclaimed a moment later, as the engine gave a few preliminary barks.

The sparking was fitful at first, but it soon settled down into a smooth steady buzz.

"Listen to that music," cried Ross jubilantly. "Richard is himself again!"

He started the boat, and she darted ahead like a bird. He tested the steering gear and it worked perfectly.

"Capital!" cried Fred delightedly.

"Hurrah!" echoed Teddy.

"She's a pippin!" exclaimed Bill enthusiastically.

Ross flushed with pleasure at the praise of his craft.

"Well," he called, "I owe it all to you fellows that I'm on board of her to-day. I hope you'll never get into similar trouble, but if you do, I only hope that I'm on hand to help you out."

Their courses lay in opposite directions and amid a chorus of good wishes and hand wavings they rapidly drew apart.

"Well!" remarked Teddy, drawing a long breath when they were out of ear shot, "this has been an adventure with a great big A."

"Who'd ever have thought when we started out yesterday that we'd run across anything like this?" added Fred, as he settled down with his hand on the sheet.

"That's the beauty of the sea," remarked Lester, as he brought his boat up a little more into the wind. "On the land, things jog along steadily and there aren't so many surprises. But at sea, anything can happen. You never know what's going to turn up."

"I don't know about that," replied Bill, moved to a defence of his beloved prairies. "Plenty of unexpected things turn up on land too. I guess Fred and Teddy didn't find things very tame out at the ranch this summer."

"We surely did not!" returned Fred. "What with ghosts and rattlesnakes and bears and cattle rustlers, we didn't find time hanging heavy on our hands."

"Not so that you could notice it," chuckled Teddy.

"Of course there are exceptions," admitted Lester, "but I was speaking in a general way. My father was a sailor and the sea is in my blood. I never get tired of it and I'm always finding in it something new and exciting."

"How do you like our new friend?" asked Fred.

"Fine," said Teddy promptly.

"All to the good," was Bill's verdict.

"He seems to be the real thing," agreed Lester.

"He's certainly had hard luck," said Fred. "If his father had been able to carry through his plans, life would be a mighty different thing to Ross from what it is."

"It must be an awful strain on a fellow to be on a still hunt like his," mused Bill.

"Yes, and with so little to work on," chimed in Teddy. "If he had anything definite to go on, like a map or a letter or a confession, it would be another thing. But he seems to be relying altogether on chance and the ravings of his father. And a crazy man may say anything. What does his speaking about Bartanet Shoals mean? It might have been just chance that he didn't mention Cape Horn or Baffin Bay or any other place."

"Do you think," asked Lester slowly, "that Ross has told us everything he knows?"

The others looked at him in surprise.

"Why, what makes you ask that?" inquired Teddy.

"I don't know just how much there is to it," was the answer; "but did you notice how he checked himself last night, when some one asked him whether those were all the clues he had?"

"Now that you speak of it, I do remember that he said he hadn't anything else, and then he used the word 'except,'" said Fred. "Then he stopped suddenly and didn't explain what that 'except' meant."

"He acted as though something had slipped out before he thought," volunteered Bill.

"You can hardly blame him, if he felt a little doubtful about us," observed Teddy. "He had never seen us before, and I think he went pretty far in telling us even as much as he did."

"You're right there," said Lester. "How did he know that we wouldn't blurt out the whole thing to any one who would listen. It might spoil all his chances of recovering anything. There are plenty of fellows who would spy on his every act and make life a burden to him. Others might plan to follow him and take the gold away from him by force if he should find it."

"It would be a big temptation," agreed Bill. "There are some fellows who would sell their souls for a ten dollar bill. How much more, if the reward were a chest of gold!"

"I don't blame Ross a bit under the circumstances," said Fred, "but I'm sorry just the same. We have so little to go by that we can't afford to lose the slightest thing that may help us out."

"We'll see him again before long anyway," put in Teddy hopefully, "and he may grow to know us well enough to put us wise to all that he's been keeping back."

"We'll live in hopes," said Lester. "But look over there, boys, and see a sight to gladden your eyes. We are almost home."

They followed his gaze and saw the Bartanet Shoals Lighthouse, its great reflector sparkling in the rays of the morning sun.