of them in a lump, and with considerable on his side of the ledger after
that, Jack."

"Yes, so he is," agreed Jack.

"And now we will simply have to wait, I suppose?"

"I don't see anything else. The window is too small for us and the door
seems to be very strong and heavy, and securely locked. No, I considered
these points before I let the boy go."

"But suppose our man with the white mustache should return and miss him?"
asked Percival.

"Well, we will put the bar back in its place, put the chest in the corner,
and place our coats in a neat pile over there where it is darkest. There
are things that we can put under them, and there is the boy fast asleep
after his tramp through the woods."

"A good idea, Jack! You are full of resources. Now I would never have
thought of a way out of the trouble, but only of the trouble itself."

They replaced the bar so that no one would know by a casual glance that it
had been tampered with, put the chest back where they had taken it from,
and, gathering up a few loose articles from the floor, made a bundle of
them and spread their coats over it.

"A mere reference to the boy being asleep will be enough," said Jack. "The
look of the thing is enough to carry out the idea, and they will accept it
without question."

"To be sure, and in the meantime the plucky young fellow is hustling to
get back to the vessel and bring us help."

Having settled all this the boys sat down and waited, now and then
conversing, and occasionally listening for any sound that would denote the
return of the so-called Rollins and the men with him.

It was getting on toward sunset when Jack heard Rollins and another man
talking outside, although he could not see them when he went to the little
window and looked out.

"You say there is a vessel in the bay?"

"Yes, inside the reefs."

"Government vessel?"

"No, private yacht, the one these boys belong on. It's a school on a
vacation or tour or something."

"Do they know the way through the reefs!"

"I guess not. They were washed in the other night when there was a cyclone
or tidal wave."

"They did not come here after us?"

"No, they didn't know anything about us. They have been here for some
time, a week I guess, and can't get out."

"H'm! let them stay here then!" growled the man with the white mustache.
"They can't bother us any. If they don't know the way out, which very few
do, they'll have to stay here for all I can see."

"But