acon riles him up considerable."

"I should think it would," agreed Mr. Wilton. "Well, if we can catch
these fellows we'll put 'em where they can't do any more harm. And I
hope we'll get back in time, so Mr. Stanton won't have to stay up all
night."

"I hope so, too," put in Tom Cardiff. "He isn't equal to the task."

"We're getting close to the place now," said Blake, in a low voice a
little later.

"Then you boys come up here," ordered Tom Cardiff, who, in a measure,
was a sort of leader. "And everybody keep quiet. Don't talk, except in
whispers, and make as little noise as you can."

Cautiously they advanced, the boys in the lead. The lads recognized,
even in the darkness, some of the larger landmarks they had passed in
their flight that afternoon.

"Hold on a minute, and listen," suggested the life saver. "Maybe we can
hear them talking."

They paused, but the only sound that came was the booming of the surf on
the rocks below.

"Can you see anything of a light?" asked Mr. Boundley.

"Not a thing," replied Joe, glancing all about him.

"Look up," directed Tom Cardiff. "That's the best way to locate a light
that you can't see directly. You may catch its reflection on the night
mist."

But the night was black all around them. Not a gleam could they make
out. Once more they advanced until Joe and Blake recognized the place
where they had been hiding, and whence they had looked into the open
place where the wreckers had been putting up their false light.

"It's here!" whispered Blake.

"Just ahead there," added Joe.

"Get ready, men!" exclaimed Tom Cardiff, in a tense whisper. "We'll rush
'em before they know it--if they're here."

Stout clubs had been brought along in anticipation of a hand-to-hand
struggle, it being decided that these weapons were best, safest and most
effective at close quarters.

"All ready?" asked the leader.

"Yes--yes!" came the answers.

Blake leaned forward, cautiously parted the bushes and looked toward the
open space. He had heard nothing, and seen nothing, and yet he knew that
the men might be hidden about, and that the lantern might not yet be
lighted.

"Come on!" cried Tom Cardiff, and together they leaped from their place
of concealment.

There was a moment of silence, and then a disappointed exclamation burst
from the lips of the assistant lighthouse keeper.

"They're not here!" he declared. That was evident, for there had been
no response as the searchers bu