The Hilltop Boys on Lost Island by Cyril Burleigh

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The boys returned to the chamber they had left and then went back along
the way they had come without seeking to explore any other passages.

Getting out into the light at last, they proceeded with their search for
the smugglers, resolving not to enter any more mysterious caves, but to
look for places where a vessel might be able to hide.

"There must be a lot of coves along here," said Jack, "that we have not
been able to find on account of the difficulty of making one's way along
the rocks, but now we are looking for them we don't mind doing a lot of
scrambling."

"No, we are used to that, and, besides, we are alone, and haven't young
Smith with us. I suppose he would have been delighted to come, for he
likes being with us, but it would have been too much of a task for him."

"And yet he would not have complained, Dick. He is a plucky little chap.
Just think of his going into the cabin of the wreck, up to his knees in
the water, to get that bag of gold just because he said he would."

"Yes, it was a nervy thing to do, and there are bigger boys in the Academy
who would not have done it. But I say, Jack, it is getting pretty rough
along here. I am afraid we may have to change our route."

They had come upon a mass of high rocks over which it was well nigh
impossible to make their way, and Jack stopped, looked around him and
said:

"It seems a pretty tough job, Dick. Suppose you give me a boost, however,
and let me see if I can get to the top of this one. I am lighter than you,
and perhaps I can make it."

"All right, Jack, just as you say," and Dick bent his back so that his
companion could get upon his shoulders, and then straightened up slowly,
Jack holding on by some of the projections in the rock and going up with
him, being able to reach a bit higher when Percival was at his full height
and saying, with some satisfaction:

"That is fine, Dick. I should reach the top now. Catch me if I come
tumbling down, however."

"I don't think you will, Jack. You are a regular cat to keep your feet,
and I guess you are all right."

Clinging with toes and fingers to the rock and going up inch by inch, Jack
at length reached a point whence it was easier climbing, and here he
advanced more rapidly than before, Percival watching him closely, and
standing ready to catch him in case he happened to lose his footing.

Jack did not, however, and at last, as he reached the top of the rock,
threw himself forward and found himself on a flat, but somewhat rough
surface a few yards in extent with higher rocks on one side, but nothing
in front of him.

Beyond, at some little distance, there were other rocks, but he judged
that if he went to the edge of the rock to which he had climbed he might
see something, and he, therefore, crept along cautiously for fear of being
seen, until he reached the edge.

Here he looked over and saw that there was water below him, quite a good
sized cove, in fact, which ran up from the shore to a considerable
distance, apparently, but had a turn a few rods farther up in shore.

Looking the other way Jack could see the bay in which they lay, and said
to himself:

"That is the way they could come, but now let us see if they did, and if
there is room beyond for a vessel of any size to pass."

The higher mass of rock on his left prevented his going much farther,
however, and he was thinking that he might be obliged to climb to the top
of this, being unable to get around it, when he heard a suspicious sound
below him, and lay flat on his face, peering cautiously over the edge.

There were some bushes and coarse grass here and these hid him somewhat
from observation, while they did not prevent his seeing anything going on
below.

The sound he had heard was the splash of oars and the hum of voices, and
in a few moments he saw a boat containing two men appear around a corner
of the higher rock, which descended sheer to the water's edge, and make
its way slowly toward the open bay.

"I tell you there is one, Davis," Jack heard one of the men say,
recognizing the voice as that of the man with the white mustache, as he
always thought of him, and not as his stepfather.

In fact, he had long since repudiated any relationship whatever with the
man, and regarded him as a stranger who had come into his life without any
wish of his own, and whom he would willingly put out of it, and be
satisfied never to see or hear of again.

"But weren't you in here the other night when I signaled?" asked the other
man, who was rowing. "You answered and told me to come in."

"Me?" with a laugh. "I tell you I was not. I don't know the way in any
more than you, though I know that there is one."

"But I saw lights, and I got flashes from some one on deck, in the regular
code, too."

"They were from the deck of this yacht I told you of, and I will show her
to you if you are patient. Go easy, though, for we may come in sight of
her at any moment."

"But how about the signals I got? How could any one know I was out there,
and how would they know the code?"

"They got you by accident, perhaps, and then were smart enough to take
your signals and answer them. I know a boy who is clever enough for that.
He is on the yacht, too. She has a lot of schoolboys who are on a trip to
these seas. They were carried in here by a tidal wave, and now cannot get
out, not knowing the passage."

"Well, I don't know it myself, and I never would have come in only for
finding a pilot who knows the ins and outs of all the islands in the
Caribbean, but if I noticed any lights when I came in I must have thought
they were yours."

The men rowed on out of sight, for Jack did not care to lean over too far,
partly from fear of falling and partly because he might be seen if any one
else should happen to pass that way.

There had a vessel come into the bay, then, and she was now probably up
the cove out of sight, and the man in the boat with the other was her
captain.

"That is the man whose vessel I signaled the other night," thought Jack.
"Rollins must have come over to this side and met him. They know each
other, it seems. Birds of a feather flock together."

Not caring to expose himself to the risk of being seen by the men when
they returned, Jack now crept back to the other side of the rock and began
to descend carefully, Percival being at length able to help him.

"Well, Jack," said the latter when his friend was safe on the ground, "did
you discover anything!"

"Yes, I did," and Jack told him briefly what he had seen and heard.

"H'm! then there was a vessel coming in last night, and old Ben was not
mistaken?" exclaimed Percival.

"No, he was not, and she is in a cove somewhere on the other side of the
rocks. I don't know how far up it goes, but there is one there. I could
not see the vessel either."

"We must try to find it, Jack."

"Yes, and we must get around these rocks. There is no way of getting to
the cove this way, unless we climb another high rock, and it is dangerous
and we might be seen also."

"Then let's look for another way."

They went back for a distance, and then began clambering over masses of
other rocks they came to, getting higher and higher, but at last coming to
a great mass of ledge rock, which rose sheer above their heads for twenty
feet without a single projection upon which they could rest their feet and
without a crevice where they might get a finger hold.

"There is no use trying to get up there, Jack," murmured Percival in
disgust. "A goat could not climb up there. Nothing without wings could
manage it, in fact."

"No, there is clearly no getting around this way, Dick. We shall have to
go back and try some other place. There is a vessel on the other side of
those rocks, but how to get a sight of her is the question. I think we
would better try to find the head of the cove."

They went back, therefore, to where they had tried to ascend the rocks,
and pushed on toward the interior of the island, finding the way
difficult, but at length getting clear of the rocks and after struggling
through a perfect jungle coming out upon one of the paths they had
themselves made in their explorations.

"Well, we know where we are now!" exclaimed Percival with considerable
satisfaction, "but we seem to be no nearer the head of the cove than
before. What are you going to do, Jack?"

"Look for the cove," said Jack tersely.

"All right, my boy, I am with you," said Dick with a chuckle, as if the
idea was a most amusing one.

"Seems funny, doesn't it?" said Jack, smiling. "Well, we have had a lot of
trouble, I admit, but you are not the one to give up when you undertake a
task, and you know that I do not like to."

"Not only that you don't like to, Jack, but that you don't do it."

They set out toward the shore again, determined to find the cove if it
were a possible thing, and looking for every possible clue to its
whereabouts, and plunging into what seemed the most impassable thickets in
their efforts, halting at nothing, in fact.

"We should have brought axes, Jack," muttered Percival in disgust, as both
boys paused at length, tired and hot in a little glade where the way was
clearer than before, and yet having no assurance that they were anywhere
near the place they sought.

"Yes, but that is just like a couple of boys who are bound to do a thing
and don't make all their calculations ahead. Our hind thought is better
than our forethought, Dick."

"Yes, but we could not think of everything. I think we have done pretty
well, considering."

"Yes, I suppose so, but it rather takes the conceit out of a fellow to
meet with so many obstacles. Why, I always thought I was good in making my
way through tangled woods, but I begin to think that I am not."

"There is one thing you have forgotten, Jack. We are in the tropics, the
woods here are regular jungles and the temperature is something
considerably above what you have been used to. You must not scold yourself
too much, Jack. I think we have done very well--'sh, what's that!" in a
hoarse whisper, and looking around him with alarm.

"Some one coming, Dick. Hide, quick!"

CHAPTER XVIII

IN THE LAIR OF THE FOX

The boys quickly secreted themselves in the high grass, and in a few
moments several men came into the glade, evidently in great excitement.

"We've got to get him quick," said one. "Is this the right way, do you
think? We can't waste no time waiting around here with that revenue cutter
hanging around."

"Him and Davis went over to this side 'cause he wanted to show Davis that
there was a vessel in the bay, and now this here other one is hanging
about, and she may come to our side and find us," said another. "This here
is the way, I think, but I ain't sure."

"Well, come on and find him," growled a third man. "As you say, we'd
better not waste no time with a revenue cutter hanging about and looking
for us. Come on!"

The men hurried on, and when there was no longer any sign of them Jack
arose and said:

"They have seen a vessel outside, probably from one of the hills, and have
taken the alarm. It is likely that this is the vessel Mr. Smith has sent
to get us out. I hardly believe she is a revenue cutter, although these
men would hardly be deceived on that point."

"They might," said Percival. "They would take alarm at anything. I think
myself that it is likely to be the vessel sent to get us out. She should
be here by this time, according to our calculations. Let us get on the
hill, Jack, and have a look at her ourselves. We may be able to tell what
she is if we can get a good look at her."

"Very good," and the boys at once struck out in a direction which they
judged would take them into one of the paths leading to the northern end
of the island.

They reached one in five minutes, and then pushed on till they came to the
open, and in another few minutes came out upon a higher level whence a
fairly good view of the open sea could be obtained.

"There she is!" cried Jack, pointing out to sea. "She is a cutter, Dick.
The men were right. She is under a good head of steam, too, as you can
tell by the smoke pouring from her funnels. She is cruising about here,
and is evidently in search of some one. Perhaps she suspects that Davis is
in here, and is trying to locate him."

The boys watched the cutter for ten minutes, and then saw her alter her
course, and take one which would bring her around to the other side of the
island.

"I wonder if Storms has seen her?" said Jack. "I don't believe she knows
the way in here. If she did she would have come in. She is going away. We
won't see her in a short time."

"I don't wonder that the smugglers were alarmed. Well, if she goes to the
other side Rollins may leave unless he is hidden in a cove, the same as
Davis is. The latter will have a good chance to get out if the coast is
clear. She is getting farther and farther off, Jack."

"Yes, and we won't see her in a little while. She is probably going to the
other side to look for these fellows. Well, we have not seen exactly what
we came out to see, but we have seen something, and I think we had better
go back. It is getting later than I thought."

The boys, accordingly, set off toward the shore, and at length reached it,
finding Ben Bowline waiting for them with the boat.

"Your Flying Dutchman was a real vessel, Ben," said Jack, "and she is
hiding in a cove along shore, but just where I can't tell you. I would
have to look for her. Did you see the revenue cutter outside?"

"No, we did not. Revenue cutter, hey? Not the vessel that's coming to take
us out, sir?"

"No, but a revenue cutter. She is looking for your Flying Dutchman, I
imagine, or for another smuggler. This place seems to be a favorite hiding
place for such craft."

"Well, they're welcome to it, sir, for if we get out all right they can
have it to themselves, for all o' me."

"The trouble is how to get out, Ben," said Percival. "Whichever way you
turn there seems to be some difficulty ahead of you."

"Yes, and that reminds me of a time when I was sailing around the coast of
Africky lookin' for slavers. Ever heard tell about it!"

"No, but you must be older than I thought, Ben, to have been alive at that
time. There have been no slavers for sixty years or more around these
parts, and you wouldn't----"

"Well, there was slavers for all that," persisted Ben. "I didn't say I was
chasin' American slavers. They is others, or was. Portuguese an' other
fellows was in the business in them days. Well, anyhow, talking about
meetin' trouble wherever you turn, this here adventure o' mine was that
sort."

"What was it, Ben? We have time to listen to it before having to start
back, I guess, or you can tell it to us while you are rowing us out to the
yacht."

"Well, we was cruisin' around the Guinea coast, and one day I went on
shore to look about and got separated from the other fellows, and all to
once got so tangled up in the jungle that I didn't know which way to go
nor nothing."

"That's interesting," said Percival.

"Then all of a sudden about forty black niggers jumped out of the jungle
and gave chase, for I didn't stop to calc'late which way I orter go when I
seed them, but just laid a course what would take me away from 'em the
quickest.

"I just put through the jungle as tight as I could jump, and suddenly come
face to face with a scrouching lion as big as a elephant, all ready to
pounce upon me, and there I was between two fires.

"You might say three, because I was on the edge of a swamp and there was a
big alligator with his mouth wide open, ready to swaller me the minute I
got into the swamp."

Percival gave Jack a knowing wink and said:

"Well, that was a dilemma. What did you do?"

"Well, I just didn't know what to do, 'cause whichever way I went there
was danger. The lion and the 'gator was in front an' the savage niggers
behind, and it was as bad to stand still as to run and no port in a
storm."

"Well?" and Dick gave Jack a wink.

"I just didn't do nothin', 'cause good luck did it for me. The niggers run
plump into the jaws of the lion or smack into the 'gator, an' in a brace
o' shakes one an' t'other was so stuffed full o' meat that they had no
appetite for me, an' I just laid a course down the river an' found my
mates in a jiffy."

"That's another steal from Baron Munchausen with a few variations,"
laughed Percival. "Did you ever hear of him, Ben?"

"Huh! they's no 'arthly use o' spinin' any yarns to you, young gentlemen,
'cause you don't believe 'em nohow," muttered Ben in a disgusted tone, and
then he gave way upon the oars and did not say another word.

When the boys reached the vessel, shortly before dinner, Jack told the
captain of what he had heard and seen, the officer being greatly
interested, and saying shortly:

"If the fellow in the cove has a pilot on board maybe we can hire him to
take us out or maybe force him to do it. You couldn't signal to the
cutter, I suppose?"

"No, we had no means. She has gone to the other side of the island now,
probably in search of the other vessel. You have not had any message from
the one that is coming to our assistance?"

"No, I have not, but I expect her to-day or to-morrow. Could you find the
cove where the smuggler is hidden?"

"I might," answered Jack thoughtfully.

"If I can find her before she gets out," the captain continued, "I'll
catch him, and make him take us out of the bay to the open. Then I'll turn
him over to the cutter, and get the reward. These fellows captured one of
our vessels, and it'll be only turn about, which is fair play for
everybody."

"Are your men armed?" asked Jack. "Remember, these men are ready for fight
at any moment. They always expect it, and are prepared. They act in
defiance of the government, and know that if caught they will be
imprisoned, and they are always on the defensive."

"Yes, I know that, but if I can take them by surprise they won't have a
chance to fight."

"Well, I will try to find the cove for you, sir, but, of course, I cannot
join in any fight you may have with the smugglers. The doctor would not
allow it."

"No, I suppose not, and quite right, too. I'll see that you don't get into
trouble on our account, but I do want to catch this chap, and make him
take us out of here."

"I heartily hope that you will, Captain," said Jack.

After dinner the yacht steamed out into the open bay, inside the reefs,
and a lookout was kept for the cutter, which might still be in the
neighborhood, and at the same time Captain Storms told the doctor what he
had contemplated, and asked his permission to take Jack as a pilot to
discover the whereabouts of the smuggler.

"He will be in no danger, I trust?" asked Dr. Wise, glaring at the
captain, as was his wont when greatly interested.

"I will look out for that, sir," replied the captain. "He and his chum
were looking for this fellow this morning, and found out where he lay,
from the shore. I think he will be able to locate him from the water, and
if he does I'll have the rat out of his hole in a brace of shakes,
provided you will let me have him."

"Why, yes, I think so," rejoined the doctor, looking as wise as his name
would indicate. "I am most anxious to get away from here, and if you think
there is a chance of it I am quite willing to let you use your own
judgment. You know best about such matters."

A boat was lowered containing the captain, Jack Sheldon, Dick Percival and
six stout sailors, the entire party with the exception of the boys, being
heavily armed.

A second boat, in charge of the mate, was lowered, and followed the first
at a little distance, the officer having orders to close up quickly in
case it became necessary.

Jack sat in the stern with the captain, and, as they skirted the shore,
kept a sharp lookout for any possible inlet to the cove where the smuggler
lay in hiding.

There was a full tide, and this enabled them to go closer to the rocks
than if it had been low, and Jack peered into every opening in the hope of
finding the right one at last.

At length as they were proceeding slowly at a safe distance from an ugly
looking mass of rocks, which projected to some distance into the water,
and where there were dangerous looking eddies, Jack noticed a steeple
shaped rock higher than the rest, and at some little distance in shore.

"That is the rock I could not get around, Dick," he said to Percival. "Of
course, I cannot from here see the rock from which I looked down on the
men in the boat, but I know that rock well. Keep on, Captain, and watch. I
think I can find the way now."

"There was a turn in the passage, wasn't there, Jack?" asked Dick.

"Yes, but there may have been others, and I think that the general
direction of the inlet was about east. I shall look for it at any rate."

They kept on slowly, Jack directing them closer in to shore, and looking
sharply for any sign of the channel, which he presently detected by
keeping his eye on the water.

At a point where the rocks seemed to have no opening he detected a motion
toward the bay, and, knowing that the tide was now on the ebb, had the
captain steer closer in to the rocks.

"You won't run us onto them, sir?" whispered Storms.

"No, sir. Look toward them. Can't you see that the tide is setting this
way, that there is no eddy, but the regular flow of the tide?"

"By gravy! yes, I do," exclaimed the captain hoarsely. "Keep on, my boy,
and I believe you'll find the place."

Jack watched the water, steered in closer, and suddenly, in rounding a
blunt point, saw the entrance to the cove before him, and noticed that the
tide was running steadily out of it toward the sea.

"Here we are, sir," he said to the captain, and at once the other boat was
signaled, and came up in a few moments.

Both proceeded up the creek side by side, and at length Jack saw the rock
whence he had watched the men in the boat, and pointed it out to Percival,
together with the one like a steeple, which had first called his attention
to the place.

There was room for the two boats abreast, the passage being wide enough
for a good-sized vessel to pass, and they kept on side by side, past the
bend in the inlet, and then on and around another, suddenly coming in
sight of a vessel at anchor.

"That's the _Circe_, the steamer that was taken by the smugglers," said
the captain. "I know her well, though I never sailed in her. They've
painted out her name, but that's her, I'll take my oath."

At a signal from the captain the two boats dashed forward, and were
alongside the steamer before any one on board knew of their approach.

The captain and mate, followed by four men from each boat, scrambled up
the side like monkeys, and made a dash for the cabin as a man came out and
demanded gruffly:

"Hello! who are you, and what do you want?"

"That's Davis," said Jack. "I know his voice. We have made no mistake."

"Of course not," said Percival "Do you see that fender hanging over the
side? These fellows have forgotten it. There is your name _Circe_, as
plain as you please."

"Yes, I see it."

"There are lively times up there, Jack," Dick continued. "I'd like to join
in it."

"Let the men go instead," laughed Jack. "We can look after the boats."

"All right. Up with you, men!" and the invitation was accepted in a
moment.

CHAPTER XIX

THE WAY OUT FOUND

The men scrambled out of the boats and on deck as soon as they had the
boys' permission, and for a minute or two there was the liveliest sort of
fracas on the deck and in the cabin of the _Circe_, but this shortly
ceased, and the mate coming to the side leaned over and said:

"We've got 'em! They put up a fight, but everything is dead against them.
This is our company's vessel, and we've found enough unstamped stuff in
the cabin to give 'em a good long rest in jail. We've got Davis, the
captain, but the other fellow is over on the other shore, unless he has
made his escape by this time. Come on board, boys."

The boys quickly accepted the invitation, and went on board where they
found Davis and his men prisoners.

There was not a large crew, and some of them had been asleep at the time
of the surprise, these being captured before they knew what was going on.

"Go aboard with the boys and all the men you need," said the captain to
the mate. "I am going with the pilot. Follow us and do exactly as we do.
I've got this fellow under my thumb. He knows he'll get a good long term
for smuggling, but I can get some of it taken off if he pilots us out, and
I've promised him to do my best for him. It'll be as hard as finding a
needle in a haystack to get a pilot and we have him, so what's the use of
looking?"

"Quite right, sir."

The captain stood in the pilot house with a pistol at the head of the
pilot, and told him to give his orders, and to give wrong ones at his
peril.

"If you sink us you'll sink yourself," he added, "so mind your chart and
steer straight."

"All right, Captain," said the other. "I'll do as you say. I am not over
fond of Davis, who has done me many a dirty turn, and as for Rollins,
there is no more trusting him than there is a wolf, and I shall be glad to
be shut of both of them and the business at the same time."

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