a Boy Scout will up and go right home."

"Evidently he doesn't believe any such thing, but just to be on what he
calls the safe side, he's sent this warning."

"What did he sign it? Does he leave any address for an answer?"

"Not an address," declared Jack. "It's a pretty poor thing to scare a
lot of Boy Scouts with, but I suppose it was the best he could do. It
wasn't quite up to his standard of boring holes in boats, though. This
is rather mild for Wyckoff."

"That reminds me," announced Tom. "We'd better have them drop the
Fortuna into the water as quickly as we can, for she won't improve any
where she is and we may want to make a quick getaway."

"Bright boy," Jack responded. "We'll do that same and then go uptown for
some more supplies. I wonder where we can get some gasolene. We ought to
have a wagon load of the stuff."

"Yes, we surely need it and if we get any more of that Madero lad on
board we'll need to have a wagon go along with us."

"Wonder where he is now," Frank mused. "He certainly was a great lad. He
didn't look so bad at heart. He looked to me as if he had gotten into
bad company and didn't know the way out."

"He's a bright fellow, surely," agreed Jack. "Now let's get to work.
Where is the foreman? We'll need him first."

In due course the necessary steps were taken and the Fortuna was again
in the water. Not even an expert could have discovered the place where
Wyckoff had bored the hole that so nearly cost the lives of the lads
aboard the trim craft. She was again seaworthy.

A trip to the business part of town was made to select necessary
supplies and order a stock of fuel. This occupied the better part of the
day, for the lads were careful in their buying. They were well posted as
to value and refused to allow the local merchants to overcharge them for
any goods.

At length the supplies were all aboard and stowed in their places. The
gasolene wagon had driven away and the boys felt more confident with
full lockers and gasolene tanks.

"We're ready for a night's rest and a long cruise," declared Tom, as the
boys sat down to a supper of fried fish, sweet potatoes and coffee. A
bone from the nearby butcher shop had been provided for Rowdy who lay
upon a newspaper spread in a corner of the cabin, munching in peace. His
manner recently had been quite composed. Everything about the Fortuna
seemed to speak of peace.

How little the boys knew what a few more hours held in store for them.