t---would waste no more time trying to
attract the cutter to that spot, but would proceed boldly, under
cover of darkness, to run their goods from the cabins to the _Esperanza_.

Such seemed to be Bego's decision, also; for as Roy, Billy, and
Alec drew nearer, they heard the swarthy leader directing most
of his men to "shoulder arms and march over to Durgan's headquarters."

Presently the group near the bonfire was diminished by the departure
of eight or nine men, who picked their way gingerly over the uneven
ground, muttering directions to one another as they went Billy could
hardly restrain his impulse to follow them.

At one time they passed so close to the ambushed pickets that the
latter could distinguish the words "after midnight" and "set the
boy loose."

"They're talking about Hugh," said Billy to himself, and his heart
beat fast with excitement. The words gave him assurance that his
chum was alive, which was some comfort.

"I think I'll just have to follow them," he mused a few moments
later; and telling Norton and Alec that he would be back very soon,
he slipped away, trailing Bego's men, before Norton could prevent
him from going.

It would have been better for Billy had he remained in hiding; but he
was eager to know how Durgan and his confederates would manage to run
their cargo on board the _Esperanza_, having no motor boat to use;
and he was even more eager to find out what had become of Hugh.

Without stopping longer, therefore, in the neighborhood of the
bonfire, he hurried away toward the spot at which he had heard the
men propose to run the cargo.

He must have crept onward for ten minutes or so, when he head a
pistol fired.

The shot was followed by two or three others in quick succession.

This made him more than ever eager to find out what was happening.
He doubled his speed. Fortunately, by mere chance, he had stumbled
upon the very stretch of ground which he and Dave had traversed
earlier in the day; the trail was fairly good, and he knew just how
to proceed.

All this while he had not seen a single person, and he had not been
seen by any of the smugglers.

After a few minutes he heard more shots sounding much nearer, then
shouts and hoarse yells, mingled with the sharp staccato of pistols
and rifles. He felt sure that by this time the soldiers under
Lieutenant Driscoll had come up and were having a lively fight with
the outlaws, the latter trying to defend their property, and