CHAPTER VIII
THE BLAZING BEACON
Had it been daylight, the boy scouts on picket duty would have seenthe same long, low, gray craft something like a built-for-speed tugboat, which had surprised Captain Vinton when it first appeared amongthe 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 thedip of oars, the faint rattle and squeaking of row-locks, and thena low whistle which seemed to come out of the quiet that brooded overthe ocean.
"It's a boat from the _Esperanza_!" muttered Norton. "One of us hadbetter 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 overto our camp and bring the soldiers here in about twenty minutes---orless."
"My dear boy, those fellows out there who are coming ashore wouldbe sure to hear a motor boat," declared Norton. "Even with amuffler on, the sound would reach them."
"But it's the only boat we have, .sir," said Mark, "and, whenall's said, that's why Billy and Dave took it---to bring the menover 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.
"Could you, Dave? It's not a large boat by any means."
"Uh-huh, sure!" assented the guide. "But slow work---lose heaptime."
"No matter. Anyway, we've got to give those fellows time to land andto get to the cabins before we surround them. Go ahead, Dave; andAlec, you go with him to run the boat back. I guess you know moreabout a gasoline engine than any of us. Hurry now---and good luck!"
The intrepid young scout needed no urging. Before Dave had found asuitable pole, Alec had taken his place at the stern and was pointingher in the direction of the peninsula on which Lieutenant Driscolland his men were waiting.
In a few minutes Dave was pushing the light but substantial launchalong the waterway, and almost immediately it disappeared from sight,swallowed up in the darkness.
It returned in about half an hour, crowded to the gunwales, carryingthe dozen men. In the meantime, a rather startling incident hadoccurred.
Dave and Alec had been gone only ten minutes or so, when the assembledpickets observed a bright light burst forth from the surroundinggloom and rapidly increase until it assumed the proportions of alarge bonfire.
The outlaws were carrying out the first part of their plan, which wasto attract the revenue men away from the vicinity of the cabins whilethey effected a loading of their munitions or other contraband goodsupon the _Esperanza's_ boat. They counted on the probability that therevenue men would hasten to put out the fire on the coast---which wasquite a little distance from the cabins---and would be unaware ofother operations at the same time.
But in this scheme they reckoned without their pursuers; for the crewof the _Petrel_---even now hurrying to the scene of action---hadreceived information of this very ruse, and had decided to ignore itand to make directly for Durgan's Cove.
Not knowing that the _Arrow_ was lying near, or that the dozen menfrom the fort, with the scout pickets, were already on the scene,those energetic seamen of the _Petrel_ were bending every effort toreach the smugglers' headquarters on time.
Captain Bego, of the _Esperanza_, however, knew that the _Petrel_was on his trail, and he was all the more anxious to make "a getawaywith the goods."
The bonfire, instead of dying down at last, seemed to rise higherand higher, casting a lurid glow over the marshes and streams, andeven upon the dark waters of the ocean. Made of driftwood, bundlesof dried saw-grass and withered cypress boughs---industriously piledon by Max, the half-breed, who had been sent there for that verypurpose---it blazed merrily, and a shower of sparks swirled around it,veering toward the cabins. To all appearances, the three cabinsseemed doomed to take fire; in which case nothing could save them ortheir contents.
The soldiers from the fort and Dave had disappeared into the darknessof the deeper shadows.
Eager to see the fire and to find out what was going on in thatvicinity, Billy, Alec, and Roy Norton crept forth from their hidingplace and approached the glowing beacon.
For the most part, they followed the bank of a creek or inlet which,like all its fellows, wound and zig-zagged through the springy turfof the marsh. This particular waterway reflected the glow of thebonfire more brightly than the others, from which fact they deducedthat it would be the most direct path.
On getting nearer, the hum of human voices showed them that a numberof men had assembled, some of whom were engaged in throwing waterover the blaze, others in patrolling the beach. Evidently thebonfire was burning too high and casting too much light to suit theirpurposes.
"Who are they?" queried Alec in a whisper.
"I don't know," answered Norton as quietly.
"Look!" Billy exclaimed softly. "There are three mulattoes in thatbunch over by the dune. And see that tall, skinny, dark man withthe oilskin coat over his left arm? That must be Captain Bego."
"He certainly looks like Vinton's descriptions," Norton observed.
"And he's giving orders as if he-----"
"Hark! What's that noise?"
Breathlessly they waited and listened.
After another full minute they again heard the sound---a low rumbling,like distant thunder.
"Gee! it sounds dangerous," said Billy.
"I wish we knew what it was."
"I can make a pretty good guess," Norton added, still whispering."It's a-----"
In the middle of his sentence he was interrupted by a shout from oneof the mulattos.
"Boat! Boat comin'!" cried the man, running toward the others, who bythis time had almost extinguished the bonfire. His announcement wasdistinctly heard by the three hidden scouts.
"Wonder if he has seen our captured launch or a boat out at sea?"said Alec.
"Boys, he means---the _Petrel_!"
"Oh!" the other two exclaimed dubiously.
"How do you know?" demanded Billy. "How can you tell?"
"It's just a guess on my part," Norton admitted readily; "but beforewe came ashore today, Vinton told me that he wouldn't be at allsurprised if the _Petrel_ came cruising back this way by evening;and so, when that fellow came running up with the news, my firstthought was that the _Petrel_ was not far off."
"But where are the soldiers all this while?" asked Alec. "Why haven'tthey followed us here?"
"They may have gone to the cabins, instead," replied Norton.
"Perhaps Dave has guided them to the bonfire by another way, andthey're just waiting to make an attack when that fire-raising gangstart toward the cabins."
"I guess you're right, Billy. Come on, let's get nearer."
With one accord, the three moved forward.