Then I noticed a boat put out from shore, and make for that other boat where the dead men lay. Eagerly I watched it, wondering what it meant. On the shore a crowd had gathered, and was fast increasing. Some one had given notice of the killing. Again I looked at the boat as it rowed out from the land. In it were three men; officers, to judge by their uniform. They soon reached their destination, and for a long while seemed to be examining the corpses. But at length they hauled in the anchor and towed the deadly freight back to the shore, where I soon lost the party in the crowd. I was all the more anxious now for Dirk's return. It seemed foolish delaying here; some incriminating evidence might lead to our being suspected. It wasn't till this moment that I realized that there was any danger threatening us from the law. So with added anxiety to wear down my spirit I waited through that harrowing day. At length with the evening Dirk returned, and gave orders for sailing with the dawn. He called for me before I went below, and closing the door of the cabin said, "Wull, Tommy, I've paid my debt at last." I thought for a moment, and answered, "Yes, you said you would save my life some day." "An' it seems I've done it, kiddy," he replied, and shook my hand. I was too full of doubts and questionings to be moved by the sentimental aspect of the affair. I merely said, "Thank you, Dirk," and went on, "But why don't you sail quick?" "Mustn't seem to be running away," he answered, biting at his quid and commencing to chew. "They might get thinking things." "What do they think?" I asked. "Mighty little," he answered. "Don't seem to have no sort of a scent. At any rate, kiddy, we're free of it. We can clear out all straight and easy to-morrow. But it's lost me a day again." "Has he gone?" I asked. He stopped in his chewing and spat viciously. "Slipped clean through my fingers, blast him!" he replied. He clenched his fist in the way I knew, and his face grew dark and ugly. "But I'll haul him in short," he added. "The v'yage an't over yet." After a pause I said, "How was it you found me?" "Dunno quite," he told me. "Some one pushed up against me an' said 'There's Tommy in that boat there. They'll kill him.' I couldn't see the cove what said it; he'd slipped clear away. An' for a bit I thought it were a gag to have me. But I reckons it out that if you were there I must see you clear again. So I dips in an' swims quietly up, an' that's all about it." I knew it must have been Picardino who had sent Dirk to the rescue. I had told him of Dirk, and doubtless he could have easily identified him. But that meant he must have been following me after I left him. Had he any premonition that I might be attacked? Or was it just kindly shepherding, or even mere luck? I mentioned nothing of this to Dirk, for I wished first to unravel the mystery for myself.