It was nearly sunset, and Jim's feast had been ready for the table fully an hour when Bob and Joe came out of the thicket and launched the boat once more.

The boys, who were on deck watching for their return, could see that both the men were nearly exhausted. They rowed as if it was a great exertion even to lift the oars, and on reaching the steamer sat in the yawl some time before coming aboard.

"You'd better hurry!" Jim said warningly. "I've had a swell dinner ready so long that it must be pretty nigh dried up by this time, an' if you fool 'round much more everything will taste like chips!"

"I couldn't hurry, lad, if a month's grub rolled together was waitin' for me," Bob said as he mopped his sun-burned face with his shirt-sleeve. "That last job was a tough one, an' I feel as though all the marrow in my bones was toasted brown. This 'ere's the only shady place with any air stirrin' we've found since mornin', an' I mean to scoop in all the comfort I can for the next half-hour."

Joe was equally as unwilling to move from the side of the tug, where slight but cooling draughts of air afforded the long-needed relief from intense heat, and Jim's feast was but little more than a cold lunch when the weary ones were ready to sit at the table in the stuffy cabin.

Bob exerted himself but once more that night after the meal was finished, and then he went below to make sure the treasure had been stowed according to his directions.

It was yet light when the tired crew stretched themselves on the mattresses which had been spread under the awning aft, and although there was such a fruitful topic, but little conversation was indulged in, because slumber came so quickly.

But however tired Jim was, he could not refrain from speaking of the treasure they had so unexpectedly found.

"What are you fellers goin' to do with your share of the gold?" he asked in a low tone, to avoid being overheard by Joe or Bob.

"Give it to father, I suppose," Harry replied, displaying but little enthusiasm because of his weariness.

"You can bet I'll keep what comes to me right in my own trousers-pocket!" Master Libby replied very decidedly. "I'm goin' to buy a vessel like the Mary Walker, an' make a voyage fishin' all by myself!"

"But you'll have to take a crew," Walter suggested with a yawn.

"Of course I'll have somebody to do the work an' stand watch; but I'll be the boss, an' won't so much as go on deck when it rains! I'll have a heavin'-line in my pocket, so's to whale the cook if the grub ain't first-class! I tell you the crew'll have to jump 'round when I'm aboard, or there'll be fun!"

"I should think you had enough of that kind of work when those men were aboard," Harry said after a pause.

"Well, you see I want to take my turn at floggin' once in a while, so's to know what it's like. I haven't had a chance yet; but I will when we get this money home."

Neither Harry nor Walter made any reply to this rather cruel project, and in the silence which followed they soon fell asleep, leaving Jim his choice of indulging in more air-castles or that of benefiting by their example.

The first rays of the rising sun failed to awaken them next morning, and all hands might have slept a good portion of the forenoon if Jim had not been aroused by a sensation of numbness in his arm, caused by the fact that Harry had unconsciously used it as a pillow.

"It's early yet, an' I reckon I'd better take one more nap instead of callin' the other fellers," he muttered to himself as he sat bolt upright an instant for the purpose of restoring the circulation of blood to his misused limb.

As he did this, however, mechanically glancing seaward, he saw that which drove from his eyelids all desire for sleep.

A boat had just come into view from around the northern point of the cove, and was heading directly toward the steamer, rowed by two men who looked strangely familiar, although for a moment he could not clearly distinguish their features.

"Bob! Bob!" he cried in a low tone as he shook the unconscious sailor. "There's a yawl comin' in here, an' I believe – "

He did not finish the sentence, for Joe was on his feet by this time, and cried, before Jim could speak another word:

"I'm a Dutchman if that red-nosed villain an' the Mexican haven't come back! What deviltry are they up to, I wonder?"

Now the remainder of the crew were awake and peering out over the rail at the rapidly-approaching boat, the occupants of which could be clearly distinguished as two of the party for whom those on the schooner from Nassau were in search.

"What are we to do?" Joe asked in a whisper. "They mustn't be allowed to come on board or we may have trouble in getting rid of them; and, besides, I don't fancy being shipmates with murderers."

"Of course they can't come over the rail," Bob replied angrily. "Bring anything on deck that will serve in the place of weapons, an' we'll keep them at a distance. It's only two against two – without countin' the boys – an' I reckon we can hold our own!"

Just as Joe disappeared inside the engine-room the new-comers, having arrived within thirty or forty yards of the steamer, ceased rowing, as he with the red nose shouted:

"Ahoy, on the tug!"

"What do you want?" Bob asked gruffly.

"We've come to make a trade! The brig is aground on the shoal to the nor'ard of here, an' things shall be made fair an' square if you'll help us float her. I'll come aboard, where we can talk comfortable-like."

"That's exactly what you won't do while I've got strength enough to break your head!"

"Now don't get grumpy over the little trick we played," the man said, in a wheedling tone.

"Do you call it nothin' but a trick to steal a vessel an' leave five of us on a disabled tug, after we'd done what we could to keep you from starvin'?" Bob shouted fiercely.

"We knew there was plenty of grub aboard; you couldn't 'a' handled both crafts, so what we did was only dividin' things up. The Bonita is stranded now, an' will go to pieces in the first gale if you can't fix the tug to tow her off. We'll – "

"The steamer couldn't be repaired in a month; but if she was in workin' order we wouldn't raise a hand toward savin' the brig while you were on board!"

As Bob ceased speaking Joe came on deck with four lengths of iron pipe, each about three feet long, and the old sailor seized one of these with a look of exultation as he said to his companions:

"I reckon they won't get over the rail while we can swing sich a handy club as this!"

"They may have fire-arms," Joe suggested.

"That ain't very likely, or they'd 'a' set us ashore ten minutes after we took 'em off the key."

During this short conversation the two men were whispering together, and as the old sailor ceased speaking, he with the red nose cried, in a threatening tone:

"You sea-lawyers want to be mighty careful with your tongues, or there'll be trouble. I've come here to make a fair trade, an' you'd better listen to it. We'll help repair the tug, an' give up an equal share of the brig if you'll turn to with us an' get her off the shoal."

"We wouldn't lift a finger if she was sinking with all three of you on board!" Joe shouted, unable to remain silent any longer. "There's been a schooner up here from Nassau since that trick, as you call it, was played on us, and if her crew ever get hold of your crowd it won't make any difference whether the Bonita goes to pieces or floats!"

For an instant the two men sat motionless and silent, staring at the engineer as if stupefied by the information; and then the one with the red nose cried hoarsely, as he shook his fist in impotent rage:

"We was willin' to give you a fair show, an' do our share toward repairin' the steamer; but if that can't be done, look out for squalls. We'll pull the brig off the shoals; and, what's more, it will be done with that steamer!"

"Come an' take her!" Bob cried derisively. "You've got to get rid of us first, then repair the machinery, an' afterwards learn to run it. By that time I reckon there'll be more gray hairs in your heads than there are now!"

The angry man looked at the old sailor an instant as if about to make another threat, and then, evidently changing his mind, he spoke a few words to his companion, after which the two began to row leisurely toward the shore.

The crew of the Sea Bird watched them in silence until the boat's bow grated on the sand, and as the men left her to go into the woods, Joe said:

"If we worked lively it might be possible to tow that yawl out here before they knew what was being done. Then those two would be harmless, an' the one they've left on the brig wouldn't be able to do much mischief alone."

"It could be done, I s'pose," Bob replied, thoughtfully; "but I'd rather let 'em go away than stay so near."

"But we shall have to be on guard all the time, for no one knows when they'll make an attempt to steal this steamer."

"I can't see that we should be as well off to coop 'em up on the island. We've got to take in a supply of water from there before it'll be safe to leave the harbor, an' they'd interfere with sich a job mightily."

This was a view of the case which Joe had entirely overlooked, and it was sufficient to show the folly of his hastily-formed plan.

"They may try to stave our boat when they come back," Jim suggested. "It could be done before we'd have a chance to stop 'em."

"There's some truth in that, lad," Bob replied, quickly. "It won't do any harm to take her out of the water, so jump in an hook on the falls."

When the yawl was hoisted inboard all hands seemed to realize that an encounter was extremely probable, even though the murderers could gain but little advantage in getting possession of a disabled steamer, and they gathered around Bob to learn what measures for defence he had to propose.

"It's certain they won't try any game until the other man is here," he said after a long pause, during which he scrutinized the shore closely, "an' we'd better get ready for a fight. Jim, you an' Harry cook breakfast. Walter is to go on watch, and Joe an' I'll set about the work. Now that there is so much treasure aboard we must push the repairs for all we're worth."

When the two cooks went below and the sentry took up his position in the pilot-house, Bob began making such preparations for defence as were possible with the limited means at his command. The pieces of iron pipe were laid near the rail aft, where they could be most conveniently reached; the boat-hook and oars were taken from the yawl that they might be ready for use, and then the old sailor brought on deck the largest rocks he could find among the ballast.

"There's about a dozen below that'll weigh ten or fifteen pounds apiece," he said grimly in reply to Joe's question of what he intended to do with such primitive weapons. "One of 'em would make some disturbance if it struck a boat's plankin' below the rail inside, an' I reckon we can pitch 'em pretty true if the villains should be foolish enough to make an attack."

By the time the steamer had been put in a state of defence Jim announced that breakfast was ready, and the two men went below while the cook and Walter stood guard to give an alarm at the first appearance of the enemy.

CHAPTER XXIII.
PREPARATIONS

While it was not possible that those who had stolen the Bonita could gain possession of the tug so long as her crew exercised ordinary care, nor probable that they would make any very desperate effort to do so in her disabled condition, every precaution was taken for the defense of the steamer and the safety of the treasure.

Immediately after breakfast Bob, Joe and Harry went into the hold, and the work of stowing the bags among the ballast where it would escape observation was begun.

The gravel and rocks were first dug away until the keelson was exposed, and on this timber the gold was packed, after which everything was replaced as before, leaving the bags buried to the depth of six or eight inches. The hoard was thus hidden so securely that there was little chance that it would be found unless the searchers had positive information of its being on board.

This work was hardly finished when Walter came below with the information that the two men were leaving the key, and Bob and Joe hurried on deck, for it was by no means certain some demonstrations against the steamer would not be made.

In this, however, they were happily mistaken. Neither he with the red nose nor the Mexican had any idea of trusting their precious bodies within reach of possible harm; but they stopped the boat fifty or sixty yards away while the leader shouted:

"Do you still say that you won't lift a hand toward helpin' the brig off the shoal?"

"There's nothin' we're able to do," Bob replied. "The tug is as useless as a raft, an' it'll be three weeks at the very soonest before the screw can be turned. I'm willin', though, to say we wouldn't help you if we could, so it's no use to do any chinnin'!"

The red-nosed man appeared to think that some vent for his anger was absolutely necessary, and he catered to this feeling by shaking his fist threateningly, after which the two rowed out of the cove.

"I don't reckon them kind of monkey-shines will do us much harm," Bob said philosophically as he walked slowly aft to where Joe had recommenced his long task of repairing the engine, as if time was too precious to be wasted on such villains as those in the boat.

"If they're wise we sha'n't see so much as their noses again," the engineer said. "This craft wouldn't be of any service if we should offer to give her up, and the scoundrels ought to be in too much of a hurry to leave the vicinity, where the schooner from Nassau may put in at any moment, to waste much time on spite-work!"

"I reckon you're about right; but at the same time, it stands us in hand to be ready if they should take it into their ugly heads to kick up a row. After we've made sure they're really gone I'll take two of the boys ashore an' bring off a cask of water. It's got to be done before we can leave, an' now's as good a time as any."

There was nothing the remainder of the crew could do to help Joe, however disposed they might be for the task, and he made no objection to the plan.

The yawl was lowered, an empty cask put on board, and, with Harry in the stern-sheets, Bob and Jim pulled the little craft out toward the open water until it was possible to see the enemy fully a mile away as they rowed around the key.

"We're all right now," Bob said after one glance at the two men. "There's no chance of them villains getting back before we fill the cask; so head her for the shore, lad."

It was a difficult job to get the water-butt, after it had been filled, from the spring to the boat, and the forenoon was well-nigh spent when the task had been accomplished. The only thing in the laborers' favor was the fact that the sun no longer sent down such fervent rays upon the parched land. At about ten o'clock clouds began to gather, and had continued to do so until the entire heavens were covered as by a veil, much to Bob's disquietude.

"There's more than rain in them, lads," he said with an ominous shake of the head when they emerged from the thicket with the unwieldy burden. "If I ain't 'way out of my reckonin' we'll get a capful of wind from the east before mornin', an' the Sea Bird stands a slim chance of keepin' off the shore."

"With both anchors down I don't see how any harm can come to her, no matter how much of a gale we have," Harry replied as he gazed toward the trim little steamer, which was moored so securely bow and stern.

"I'm afeared you'll have a chance of seein' how it can be done. This sandy bottom ain't the best holdin'-ground for an anchor, an' once she begins to drag nothin' can stop her. Howsomever," he added in a more cheerful tone, "we needn't croak till the trouble comes; but it's best to get aboard lively an' make preparations for a dirty night. It won't take much of a wind to knock the brig to pieces if she's on the outer edge of the shoal, so we can reckon on that red-nosed villain an' his mates comin' ashore about sunset."

It was necessary for the rowers to exert all their skill and strength on the oars to prevent the yawl from being swamped during the return to the steamer. Already had the sea begun to rise, and the white-capped waves which now beat heavily against the shore gave token of what force they would exert when roused to fury by the east wind, which was causing the trees to wave helplessly to and fro against the gray sky.

The little boat was loaded to the gunwales, and despite every effort the green water rushed in over the rail very often, much to Harry's alarm. By pulling around to the starboard bow of the steamer, where they would be partially sheltered from both wind and wave, it was possible to get the heavy cask on board without mishap, after which the yawl was hooked on the falls and hoisted up; otherwise she would speedily have been stove to pieces against the larger craft.

"It looks as if we were to have a bad night," Joe said when the work was finished and all hands went aft once more.

"The worst we could have," Bob replied gloomily. "The chances are the steamer will be driven ashore, and there's no question about those villains leaving the brig; so unless this wind takes a different slant before sunset we can count on bein' penned up on the island with them as jolly companions. But we can't afford to moon 'round very long tellin' what's goin' to happen, for there's plenty of work to be done. The awnin' must be taken down an' the cables overhauled."

Then he called for the boys to "bear a hand," and soon all were busily preparing for what was apparently the inevitable.

By the time the deck had been cleared and everything made snug the Sea Bird was dancing about like a cork, flinging the spray fore and aft as she came up on the cables with a thud that caused the timbers to creak, or plunging her bow under until the deck was awash.

At five o'clock in the afternoon the gale was full upon them, coming directly out of the east, and so furiously did the little craft toss and pitch that Bob took the precaution of stretching life-lines fore and aft. The cables had been slackened to give plenty of scope; but she overrode the bow anchor until one would have fancied, from the savage jerks which the steamer gave, that it had been hove short.

There was no thought of cooking. Jim could hardly have remained on his feet in the galley, for the swell was shorter and more violent than it would have been on the open ocean; therefore the anxious ones were forced to eat dry ship's-biscuit with the poor consolation in mind that before morning all their stores might be at the bottom of the sea.

The boys were in the pilot-house, where they could have a view of all that was going on and yet be in a position to render immediate assistance if it was needed. Joe and Bob remained on deck despite the spray which fell like rain; and the former said to the old sailor toward night, as he made his way forward after great difficulty:

"We can get some pleasure out of the fact that the men haven't come ashore from the brig. There's no chance of their making harbor in the teeth of this wind, and we can count on having got rid of them."

"That's where you make a mistake, my hearty. They most likely landed two or three hours ago, runnin' down the western shore, where they'd find sheltered water. Them men ain't fools if they are villains, an' by noon knowed the brig couldn't hold together much longer. The chances are she was bilged two hours ago, an' has gone to pieces by this time."

Joe went aft again, looking more disconsolate than ever. He had felt positive the enemy had not abandoned the vessel, and his disappointment was all the greater because this hope had been so strong.

When the gray light of day gave place to the darkness of night the anchors still held; but the steamer was laboring so much on account of the bow hawser that Bob decided it would be necessary to shift the strain, despite the danger attendant upon such an undertaking.

"All hands on deck!" he shouted at the door of the pilot-house, adding warningly, as the boys crept out, "keep a firm hold of the life-lines, lads, for he who falls overboard will stand a poor chance of saving himself."

To make the proposed change it was necessary to carry the cable astern after it was cast off the bitt, for all the slack had long since been let out, and rapidity of movement was as essential as strength.

"Wait till she buries her nose once more, an' then rush when she rises," Bob shouted as he threw off two or three turns of the rope.

Up, up the little craft rose as the great green waves swept beneath, and then when the hawser chucked her and the fall began, the signal was given:

"All hands with a will now!" the old sailor shouted; and in an instant the crew were rushing madly aft, the heavy cable nearly dragging them from their feet.

Bob had been correct as to the precise time when this maneuver should be executed; but he failed to give due consideration to the force the under-tow would exert in such shoal water. The hawser had but just been loosened from the bitt when the drag of the waters began. All hands clung with a force born of desperation; but their efforts were vain.

A crew of giants could not have resisted the strain upon the wet, iron-like rope, and Bob shouted wildly when he was almost at the taffrail:

"Let go! For your lives let go!"

Fortunately this order was obeyed before any one had been injured in the rush, and as the hawser disappeared over the stern Joe muttered half to himself, but so loud that Harry could distinguish the words:

"We've done all we could to wreck the little craft. It would have been better to let her labor with the risk of chafing the rope apart, rather than deliberately throw one anchor away when two hardly held her!"