“I called to him softly,” Bob went on, “and he answered. ‘I’m one of the fellows from the _Vagabond_,’ said I. ‘Is the captain on board?’ ‘No,’ said Spencer, ‘he’s at the head of the wharf, in the office.’ ‘Can you get by without his seeing you?’ I asked, and Spencer said No. Then I asked him if he still wanted to get away and he said he did, and from the way he said it I guess he meant it! So I said: ‘We’ll come alongside to-night in the launch and get you if you think you can get away.’ ‘What time?’ he asked. ‘Any time,’ said I. ‘Whenever you think best.’ ‘About half-past nine, then,’ said he. ‘I’ll watch for you.’ ‘All right,’ said I. ‘But don’t let them suspect anything.’ He was just starting to say something else when one of the sailors yelled at him to keep away from the rail or he’d knock his head off. I didn’t turn around, but I walked back and forth a couple of times as though I was admiring the _Two Brothers_. Then I sauntered away along the wharf toward the street. I thought I was pretty well through with it when a man came out of a building ahead of me and walked toward me. I saw at once that he was Captain Sander. At first I thought I’d turn around and go back to the _Two Brothers_ until he was out of the way. Then I thought that that would be too raw; he’d think I was trying to avoid him. So I put my hands in my pockets and passed him, kicking at the boards and looking at my feet. I only glanced at him once. He saw me but I don’t think he paid any attention to me. So there you are. That’s how matters stand.” “Bully for you!” cried Dan. “Talk about your Sherlock Holmeses and your—your——!” “Yes, indeed, Dan,” said Nelson soothingly. “But what we want to do now is to——” “Eat luncheon,” interrupted Tom. Before that meal was over their campaign was fully planned out. It was simple enough and depended for success on their ability to reach the _Henry Nellis_ undetected and Spencer Floyd’s ability to reach the _Vagabond_ in the same way. “If we get him,” said Nelson, “we’ll make a bee-line for Mullen’s Cove.” “How far is it?” asked Bob. “About eighty miles. We won’t try to get there to-night, I guess, but we’ll go far enough to throw the captain off the scent; maybe to Hempstead; we can do that in two hours.” “It isn’t likely the old pirate will try to chase us this time,” said Dan. “He won’t have a tug handy as he did at Sanstable.” “Well, we won’t run any risks,” said Nelson. “As soon as Spencer’s aboard we’ll make tracks.”