"I'll empty these guns into the crowd of you," he said, in a low, even voice, "if there is one move on deck. We are coming aboard, and the better you use us the better we shall use you. Just sit still, boys,"

he added, addressing his men, "until I get on deck."

He was lithe and strong, and was on the deck in an instant, without opposition, his guns threatening the amazed boys and their visitors.

Captain Joe gave forth a volley of ugly growls, and would have attacked the man, but Clay ordered him back.

"Never mind the dog," he said. "He won't bite!"

"If he does, he'll get a chance to bite lead!" the robber exclaimed.

"Now, men," he went on, "climb up into the boat. Leave the rowers where they are."

Four husky negroes, all with traces of whisky in their breath, began climbing over Alex. and Gregg to reach the motor boat. As they were steadying the rocking craft, they carried no weapons in their hands.

Then something happened which was as much of a surprise to the boys as it was to the men who were trying to capture the _Rambler_!

A rope with a wide noose at one end came whirling out of the sky and fell over the robber's head, resting for an instant in a neat coil on his shoulders!

He clutched his weapons closer and looked up. Then the line tightened about his muscular neck until his feet left the deck and his face grew red with the blood of strangulation, then grew white. The revolvers clattered to the floor, and the man's figure toppled and fell as the rope slacked.

When this strange thing happened, Alex. and Gregg were bending their heads down to permit the negroes to clamber over them. Still they saw the rope fall, saw the man gasp as it closed about his neck, and felt the negroes springing back in dismay.

Then they arose with their heavy oars in their hands and struck slashing, crunching blows at the heads below them! One negro lifted an arm to shoot, but it fell with the bones of the shoulder crushed to pulp. One by one they dropped out of the boat, some with broken arms, some with broken heads. After they had all disappeared, either under the surface of the lagoon or into the darkness of the swamp, a shrill voice came from the tree where Mose had taken refuge from the snakes and the alligators:

"Go on, white folks," it said, "Ah goin' hang dis immitation c.o.o.n up on dis tree!"

CHAPTER XXI

DODGING A POLICE BOAT

"You little c.o.o.n!" Clay gasped.

"Hurrah for Mose!" cried Alex.

"If you'll come down here I'll hug you!" shouted Gregg.

"How did you ever think of it?" Case called out.

Mose, now the happiest little negro boy in the United States, sat astride of his limb and grinned until it seemed that the top of his head would drop off backward!

In the meantime, the river pirate had remained unnoticed on the deck, the rope so deftly dropped by Mose still around his neck. Case finally bent over him.

"Why!" he exclaimed, shrinking back. "The man is dead!"

"Dead!" echoed Clay. "What killed him?"

Then they all bent over the still figure for a closer examination.

Just as Case had declared, the robber was dead. His neck had been broken by the rope when Mose had drawn him off his feet! Alex. looked up at the boy.

"You must have a good pull in your arms!" he cried. "How did you manage to swing him up? You're a wonder, Mose!"

Mose only grinned in reply, but Clay explained the matter by saying that the boy had thrown the rope over a limb higher up and used that as a pulley.

"Still," he added, "it took a lot of muscle to jerk that heavy man off his feet. I didn't think the boy had it in him."

Then came the question as to what disposition should be made of the body. There was no hard ground near at hand so that a decent grave could be prepared. There were marshy knolls, it is true, but any excavation made there would instantly fill with water.

"Well," Gregg said, "the best we can do is to bury him in the water. I don't mean in the lagoon or in the river, but in a grave which will fill with water. There he will at least be out of the reach of reptiles and wild animals when the water subsides."

"But how are we ever going to get out there and dig a grave?" asked Jule, who was not inclined to waste much effort on the body of a man who, in life, would have robbed, perhaps murdered, them!

"With your permission," Gregg said, "we'll take the body out and bury it. I haven't much use for men of his type, but he's dead, and that settles all accounts!"

"We may be able to get a couple of birds for supper while we are away," suggested Eddie Butler. "We have been so busy lately, that we haven't eaten, or provided anything to eat! I'm empty clear to my toes!"

"And I'll catch a fish off the boat!" Jule volunteered. "I saw some big ones jumping up not long ago! They've been driven out of their nests by the flood."

So Gregg and his friends went away in the rowboat to bury the outlaw and get a couple of ducks for supper, while Jule and Alex. angled over the stern of the boat for a fish. The first rush of the flood was past, but the water was still high. There was a strong current rushing past the stern of the _Rambler_, and this indicated that there must be a channel open to the main river not far below.

The boys caught a great catfish and two awkward-looking buffalo-fish and turned them loose in the stream before they succeeded in getting anything they wanted for supper. Then they caught a dozen perch of good size and proceeded to clean them.

By the time the fish were ready for the pan Gregg and his friends were back from their expedition with half a dozen fat ducks, already dressed.

"We'll have some for breakfast, and some for dinner!" Eddie declared.

"I feel now as if I'd never get enough to fill me up again!"

Something long and twisting dropped on the man's shoulders and fell off to the deck.

"Holy smoke!" he shouted. "Look at the snake!"

A shout from up the tree told of the trick Mose had played on the man, and the rope was coiled away. In a short time Mose came sliding down the trunk.

"He smells supper!" explained Clay. "I've a notion to set Captain Joe on him!"

"Dat dog don't bite dis c.o.o.n!" Mose replied. "Ah'm in lub wid dat dog!"

Captain Joe and Teddy came forward and looked the three visitors over approvingly.

"That bear would make a good meal!" Gregg declared, with a wink at Case.

Mose's eyes stuck out for a minute, and then he tickled his own chin and gave out a sound like a goat.

"B-a-a-a-a-a-a! B-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a!" he bleated.

"What's the matter with the c.o.o.n?" asked Gregg, with a look of surprise.