“I know that; but it isn’t much to depend on in a tight corner.” In a moment we were within a hundred feet of the rocky shore. Nothing was to be seen of a boat of any kind. “It is evident that Mr. Norton didn’t land here,” I said, “unless he pulled his boat ’way up in the bushes; and that I don’t believe, for the Catch Me is a heavy craft to handle.” “Shall we go around to the east or west?” asked my companion. “Suppose we go to the west. It really doesn’t matter much.” So we set our course for the west coast of Rock Island. We had hardly gone half a dozen rods before Ford caught me by the shoulder. “We made a lucky choice!” he cried. “There is the spot where the man we are after landed!” “How do you know?” I questioned eagerly. “Because there is the Catch Me in the bushes beyond.” “Has he left her, do you think?” I asked in considerable excitement. “I think so. I will go ahead and see. Hold your gun in case he intends to surprise us.” I did so; and Ford went forward and landed on the rocks. He was gone fully five minutes. “No one around,” he said, upon his return. “Maybe Mr. Norton has gone off to warn the others,” I suggested. “Perhaps he has. Any way I didn’t see a soul.” “Hadn’t we better get the Catch Me out into the lake? Then we can land and hide the Mary in another place.” “That’s a good plan,” said Ford. “Come ahead.” It was no easy job to get out the larger boat. But finally it was accomplished, and the big craft was anchored fully quarter of a mile away from the shore. “Now, if they haven’t another boat, they are prisoners,” I said. “That is, if we can hide the Mary where they can’t find her.” “I know a spot, a little farther up the shore,” said my companion. “Let us try that.” We hoisted the sail once more and stood up the shore fully an eighth of a mile. Then Ford took the tiller, and headed the craft for a deep and narrow inlet, guarded on both sides by high rocks and heavy bushes. “Now, if they haven’t seen us, I guess they will never find the Mary.” “I think I’d have a job finding her myself,” I laughed. “It’s so dark I can hardly see a thing!” We lowered the sails and pushed the Mary as deep into the bushes as possible. Then we jumped ashore, tied fast, and hurried back to the spot where the Catch Me had been beached. “There ought to be some tracks in the mud,” I said. “See how soft the rain has made the soil.” “It would be easy enough to follow the man if it wasn’t for the rocks,” returned Ford. “But we will do what we can, and that, too, without waste of time. It will be a feather in our cap if we capture the whole crowd.” “Here are footprints,” I went on. “Do you see, they lead from this place where the Catch Me struck over those rocks to the north?” “That’s so. Let us see if we can catch them again beyond the rocks. Come, don’t make any more noise than you can help.”