“Oh! We must save him!” panted the girl. “But you, Mr. Carter! What will you do if----” “Never mind about me. Up with him!” It was with an almost superhuman effort that the detective managed to get the upper part of Prince Marcos across the gunwale of the launch. Fortunately, the craft was strong and firm in the water, so that it did not tip much. “Can you push a little more, Mr. Carter?” “I’ll try!” Getting underneath the unconscious Marcos, Nick gave another tremendous heave. Claudia pulled with all her strength at the same moment, and the helpless man lay across the launch. His legs were hanging over the side, but not enough to drag him out. “Swing the boat around!” called out Nick. “Put your wheel over to the left as hard as you can! That’s right! Make a wide circle! You’ll get there all right!” The girl maneuvered the little craft neatly until it was headed downstream. Nick saw it with strong approval. “That’s the way! Now put on all the power you can and hustle down to New York! We’ve fooled them, after all!” “But, Mr. Carter!” she called out. “Go ahead!” was all he said. “Get to New York! That’s all you have to do!” Claudia Solado would have liked to stay and pick up the detective. But she was a girl of real sense, and she knew better than to fly in the face of a man who had saved her cousin against almost overwhelming odds. So she opened the throttle wide, and, with the unconscious Marcos lying across the boat--his head on a mat at her side, and his feet occasionally dipping in the choppy waves as she raced along--she soon left Nick Carter and her pursuers far behind. She had not gone far, however, before the skiff ran up to where the detective was swimming hard toward the shore. With an oath the gruff-voiced man seized him by his water-soaked coat collar. CHAPTER IX. RASCALITY TRICKED. “Aha! You didn’t get away, after all, did you?” was the fellow’s triumphant shout, as he turned the light of his flash light full upon the detective’s face. “It’s no use, Marcos! You may have things your own way in Joyalita, but you can’t do it here.” He tried to drag Nick into the boat. But the light craft had not the steadiness of the launch, and it was evident that if he persisted, there must inevitably be an upset. “Get in, Marcos!” growled the man. “You can help if you will. No matter what happens, you are better off in the boat than swimming around in that cold river.” “Think so?” jeered Nick. “Why, yes. Even if you swim to shore, we shall be by your side and catch you as you come out of the water.” “What would be the use of my going with you to the yacht?” demanded Nick. “You would keep me there, and you know I have to be in Joyalita on the eighteenth.” The gruff man gave vent to a loud guffaw. “That’s just what we don’t want,” he returned. “We are going to keep you till the eighteenth is past. But come on! You may as well argue in the boat as in the water. Better, I should say. It will be more comfortable for you.”