-father and son--and
Jarrow, had made all speed to the point where the motor craft had been
left and had hastily made off in her. They knew that the search for Jack
would be hot and wished to get as far away from Bill as he treacherously
wished to get from them. In their case there was certainly none of the
proverbial honor among thieves.

The black motor boat was left at Clayton and afterward claimed by a
relative of Bill, who, by reason of "circumstances over which he had no
control," was unable to claim her himself. As for the Judsons, they
vanished, leaving no trace behind them. The same was the case with
Jarrow.

A message had been sent to Uncle Toby, telling him of the reason for the
boys' delay at Musky Bay, _via_ a small mail steamer that plied those
waters. His reply was characteristic:

"Them buoys is as hard to hurt as gotes, and as tuff as ship's
biskit on a Cape Horner. Best wishes to awl. Awl well here at eight
bells.

"Cap'n Toby Ready,

"_Inventor and Patentee of the Universal Herb Medicine, Guaranteed
to Cure All Ills, Both of Man and Quadruped._"

CHAPTER XX.

THE "CURLEW" IN TROUBLE.

"Looks as if we might have a blow, Jack."

The _Curlew_ was lazily moving along, with all sail set, carrying the
boys back to Pine Island from their adventurous visit to Musky Bay. But,
although every bit of canvas was stretched on her spars, she hardly
moved. Her form was reflected in the smooth water with almost
mirror-like accuracy.

"A blow? Pshaw," scoffed Noddy, "there isn't a breath of wind. I wish we
could get a blow and cool off."

"Well, your wish is likely to come true before very long," said Jack,
who was at the tiller.

"How's that?"

"See that cloud bank over yonder, that ragged one?"

"Yes, what's that got to do with it?"

"Well, that's as full of wind as an auto tire," said Jack. "I've been
watching it for some time. It'll be a nasty storm when it hits us."

"Hadn't we better run in for shelter somewhere?" asked Billy.

"There's so little wind now that I doubt if we could get inshore before
the squall hits us," replied Jack. "I'll try to, though."

He headed for the distant shore, where the outlines of some sort of a
wooden structure could be seen.

"If it gets very bad we can take refuge there," he said.

"That's so. I've no great fancy for getting wet," said Billy.

"Nor have I. We've had enough experiences of late to last us a long
tim