Page:Dave Porter on Cave Island.djvu/244

228 Not without difficulty the man was freed of the rope and helped to get out from between the rocks. Then Dave and Roger half carried him down to the cave proper. The crowd had a canteen of water and the man drank, eagerly.

"So your friends robbed you?" said Captain Sanders, curiously.

"Do not call them friends of mine!" returned Giles Borden. "They are not friends—they are vipers, wolves! Oh, if ever I meet them again at home I'll soon have them in prison, or know the reason why!"

"Hadn't you better tell us all about it?" went on the master of the Golden Eagle.

"Wait a minute!" cried Dave. "Do you suppose those men are anywhere near here?"

"I don't know. They said they would be back, but they did not come."

"They may have seen us and skipped out," ventured the senator's son.

"More than likely," groaned Giles Borden. "Now that they have my money they won't want to stay here. They'll take passage on that ship as soon as she comes in and leave me to shift for myself."

"Tell us your story, so we can understand what you are talking about," said Captain Sanders.

In a disconnected manner the Englishman related his tale, pausing occasionally to take another