Adventure stories; Puget Sound Region (Wash.) -- Juvenile fiction; Ranch life -- Juvenile fiction; Young men -- Juvenile fiction
"What are you going to do about it?" Mr. Oliver asked.
"Wait and keep my eyes open. If it appears advisable I may communicate
with the Canadian authorities later on, though, of course, we must
contrive to get our hands on the fellows in American waters. I've an
idea it can be done."
Mr. Oliver said nothing further, and by and by, when a thin haze rolled
down from the hillside and night closed in, they strolled toward the
rancherie, where they were given a strip of floor space not far from the
entrance. The boys came in a little later and lay down apart from them
and nearer the door, but Frank did not go to sleep. The rancherie was
hot and the dull roar of the combers on the reef came throbbing in and
made him restless. He lay still for what seemed a considerable time, and
at last there was a low sound which might have been made by somebody
rising stealthily, after which a dim black object flitted out of the
door. Then Harry, who lay close to him, touched his arm.
"Are you asleep?" he asked very softly.
"No," answered Frank. "Where's that fellow going?"
"Get out as quietly as you can," was Harry's reply.
Frank had kept his shirt and trousers on, and after feeling for his
boots he arose cautiously, holding them in his hand. In another moment
or two he had slipped out into the cool night air and was crossing the
shingle in his stockinged feet. Once or twice a stone rattled, but he
supposed the sound was lost in the clamor of the reef, for nobody seemed
to hear it. When they had left the rancherie some distance behind they
sat down.
"Now," said Harry, "I'll tell you my idea. They're expecting the
schooner and don't want her to run in while we're about. They've
probably had a man on the lookout down by the entrance, and I expect the
fellow who went out has been sent by the boss or Tyee to learn if the
other one has seen her."
"It's curious some of them didn't hear us," Frank observed thoughtfully.
"I'm not sure that they didn't," Harry admitted. "Anyway, they couldn't
stop us without some excuse, and, if I'm right, they certainly wouldn't
want to tell us why they wished us to stay in. Of course," he added, "it
might make them suspicious, but I don't know any reason why we should
point that out to Barclay. The great thing is to keep out of sight in
case they follow us."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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