“Ah nebber did cotton to no work!” the negro replied.
“Well, then,” Alex promised, “if we get the boat, we’ll give you twenty-five dollars. Now, you’ll do your best to get us through, won’t you? We’ve just got to get that craft and slide out of this country.”
“That’s about what I thought!” Peck whispered to his companion. “All the boys want is to get their boat back and get out of the country.”
“What was it that kid said about pirates?” asked the other.
“Perhaps the pirates stole their boat,” suggested Peck.
“If we keep still, we’ll soon find out, probably.”
“Before we leave this country,” Clay said in a moment, “we ought to get even with those pirates in some way. They tried to shut us into the lagoon so they could get possession of the boat, and we got away from them. Now they’ve actually captured the _Rambler_, and may do a lot of harm to the motors before we can get it back. I don’t believe they know how to run a boat like the _Rambler_!”
“There!” Peck exclaimed, nudging his companion in the side. “Them pesky pirates are to blame for the boys being here. Now if these boys have seen anything that might make us trouble, these river robbers are to blame for it. I wish we hadn’t sent the two kids we found here up to the house. They are having troubles enough of their own.”
“Well,” Peck’s companion observed, “I don’t see any necessity for us to remain here after this. We’ve got to see a lot of the boys to-day, after we find out exactly what is to be done to-night, and so we may as well go on about our business.”
Peck hesitated for a long time before he replied.
“The boys,” he said then, “seem to be bribing the old nigger to show them the way through the cut-off.”
“And the old coon’s been telling them that the pirates have a rendezvous somewhere near the end of the cut-off. Is that the way you understand it?”
“That’s what the boy said,” was the answer. “Anyway, they’re expecting the nigger to take them to the pirates’ rendezvous and help them get their boat back.”
“Then,” Peck continued, “if you’re satisfied that it’s the right thing to do, I’ll go back to the house, turn the other boys loose, and tell them where they can find their friends.”
“That’ll be all right so far as I’m concerned.”