Page:Dave Porter on Cave Island.djvu/293

Rh "Yes, and that fellow Jasniff was with them."

"But your ankles are hurt, too?" went on Dave.

"We hurt them when we fell into one of the beastly caves, or holes. We were following Jasniff and the Englishmen, and also looking for you and the others. Then those rascals got behind us in some way, and the first thing I knew I got a whack behind the ear that knocked me unconscious."

"And I got the same," said Smiley. "Oh, I wish I had my hands on those villains!"

"They have sailed away," said Roger.

"Away!" cried the captain. "How?"

In a few brief words our hero and his chum told of the advance to the beach and of what they and the others had witnessed. Captain Sanders shook his head, soberly.

"That's too bad," he said. "They've got a good start and it will be hard to follow them."

"How can we follow them, when the Golden Eagle isn't here?" said Dave.

"But she is here—on the other side of the island."

"Oh, are you sure?" cried our hero.

"Yes. I saw her coming in,—when we were on one of the hills. She was minus her foretopmast,