“Either of you got a screw driver blade on your jackknife?” he asked. “I closed the cabin door, but the lock sticks and when I wrenched at the knob to open it again, the screw was loose that holds the knob to the shackle, and it just turned in my hand and I had to screw in the threads with my finger nail to get it to turn at all.”"I have one," said Cliff, but as he produced his knife he went on, "but I'd like to have you listen to a different plan."

"All right," agreed Nicky and Tom.

"The trouble with the cabin is that they can come at it from the after deck, at the blank rear bulkhead back of the engines, and we can't cover the decks."

"That's so," Nicky conceded.

"So I think we ought to do some other way," Cliff urged. "And I wish you'd tell me what you think of this: Suppose we take it for granted that they won't come back for at least an hour—they will scatter and hide because they don't know but that the cutter may be coming. In that time we can swim over to that island with the heavy trees, after we've dumped the guns into the water and flung things around to make them think the cutter's men have searched a little."

"That's a corker!" exclaimed Nicky. "Much better than my plan. They will think the cutter took us off and we were too scared to tell where they were, and then they won't come back or bother us any more."

"That's my idea," Cliff nodded.

They lost no time carrying it out. Tossing a good deal of dunnage out of cupboards, to simulate the result of a hurried search for liquor or evidence, and dropping the rifles overboard where they showed on the clear bed of coral, as they supposed the officers would do, the chums, carefully making certain by shinning up the short mast that no boat was within immediate range, leaped over the side.

The deeper channel was not wide; they made for an island on the far side, and there, wading up through the ooze covered bed-stone, they got on fairly firm ground and selected good spots in which to lie in case of need for hiding.

Then, by turns, they took up a watch toward the Gulf, alternating with a look once in a while toward the channel and the wrecked boat.

But for some reason the hi-jackers did not return. All day the chums watched, but without result.

"They must have decided that we 

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