So saying, he and his companion pa.s.sed by, and Alec, who had heard every word, breathed a sigh of relief. He wished the two men were not going in the same direction Dave and Billy had taken; but he felt sure that the latter could give a good account of themselves if discovered in hiding.

"But that would upset the whole scheme," he reflected. "Perhaps I'd better sneak around, ahead of those two rascals, and warn Dave and Billy to lie low? Or shall I---no, I've been stationed here, and it's up to me to stick to this post."

As he watched the two men stumbling on over the uneven ground, he wondered with a little thrill of apprehension whether they would run across any of the other pickets, or even meet Billy and Dave returning from their quest.

However, no such undesired event came to pa.s.s, and the two smugglers finally disappeared behind a row of trees covered with vines.

After that, the watchful young pickets waited in silence, with only a low-spoken word now and then as they paced back and forth under cover to emphasize the stillness. An hour pa.s.sed,---another hour,---the sun began its slow descent into the broad bosom of the ocean. Long before this, the _Arrow_ had slipped away a little farther up along the coast, so that she would be out of sight behind one of the numerous islands in case the _Esperanza_ drew near Durgan's cove.

Once the dog's barking sounded louder, and nearer, but after a minute or two it ceased, and silence reigned over all.

"What's become of Dave and Billy?" wondered Chester.

The same question was troubling the minds of Roy Norton and Mark Anderson, in their respective station-points; but there seemed to be no answer to it at present.

Twilight crept upon them apace, then deepened into the shadows of night. As they had arranged, they left their posts and a.s.sembled at the place chosen for their landing. After hours of more-or-less solitary watching, it seemed good to be together in council, to eat their simple supper, and to compare notes.

In the midst of their evening meal, the faint purring of a motorboat's engine reached their ears, and after a few minutes a boat with two figures in it was seen approaching them, gliding almost noiselessly along one of the waterways. The occupants of the boat were Billy Worth and Dave. Reaching the place, they stopped the engine, ran the boat's nose into the soft bank, and sprang ash.o.r.e.

"Where---how----did you get it?" asked Norton in surprise.

"The boat? Oh, we just borrowed it from Joe Durgan and his friends!"

Billy declared. "We saw the boat tied to a little trestle over there at the deserted settlement, and when we saw Durgan and two other men go into one of the cabins, we sneaked up quickly and took the boat from them without asking permission and got away with it!"

"Didn't they see you, or hear the engine?"

"No," answered Billy.

"That's strange! Are you sure?"

"There were no windows in the cabin, that we could see," explained Billy, "and when they got inside, they made a lot of noise."

"Gee! won't they be wild when they find their boat gone!" said Mark.

"They may think it slipped its moorings and drifted away on the tide.

At least, that's what Dave says."

The Seminole grinned. "Anyhow, they look for boat soon," he said.

"Something doin' tonight, you bet!"

Alec had risen and was standing erect, his face turned toward the ocean.

"What are you staring at?" queried chester. "See any stars?"

"There's just one," replied young Sands, pointing southwest. "Mighty low down---there! Now it's out."

"No, it isn't. I see it!"

"So do I!" exclaimed Billy and Norton.

"There it is again!"

"What a queer star!"

"Perhaps it's a lighthouse. Captain Vinton said that there is one somewhere near this locality."

The sky was cloudy; there was no moon. Overhead, a few large stars glittered brilliantly, but the seeming star at which they were gazing was unlike any of those celestial lights. It steadily grew larger, yellower. Finally two lower gleams appeared, and then all three vanished, as if they had been snuffed out.

"What is it?" asked Norton, turning to Dave.

But the Seminole guide apparently did not hear the question. He was staring in the direction of the three cabins, whence arose in the murky darkness a shower of sparks, then one---two----three shooting green stars.

"Look!" he exclaimed hoa.r.s.ely.

"By Jove! a Roman candle!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Norton. "It's a signal!"

"No star out to sea," Dave said. "No star, but um boat."

"Boat? You mean-----"

"_Esperanza_! She come here to-night."

CHAPTER VIII

THE BLAZING BEACON

Had it been daylight, the boy scouts on picket duty would have seen the same long, low, gray craft something like a built-for-speed tug boat, which had surprised Captain Vinton when it first appeared among the Keys, now coming to anchor outside Durgan's Cove, in the darkness.

As it was, however, they could see nothing after the _Esperanza's_ lights went out; but, waiting impatiently, they presently heard the dip of oars, the faint rattle and squeaking of row-locks, and then a low whistle which seemed to come out of the quiet that brooded over the ocean.

"It's a boat from the _Esperanza_!" muttered Norton. "One of us had better steal back to the camp, and see what our friends are doing.

Dave, you-----"

"Oh, let me go!" interposed Alec. "I can run the motor boat over to our camp and bring the soldiers here in about twenty minutes---or less."

"My dear boy, those fellows out there who are coming ash.o.r.e would be sure to hear a motor boat," declared Norton. "Even with a m.u.f.fler on, the sound would reach them."

"But it's the only boat we have, .sir," said Mark, "and, when all's said, that's why Billy and Dave took it---to bring the men over sooner than they could tramp across these flats."

"You're right, Mark; but-----"

Again he was interrupted by one of his eager young friends---Chester, this time.

"Perhaps Dave could pole the motor boat over," he suggested.