how we've been robbed of our most cherished possessions,"
declared Teddy, sadly, "that job isn't going to take us very long, I'm
sorry to say."

"To think that the chance has come to snap our fingers in the faces of
that ugly crowd!" observed Jimmy, who could hardly keep his feet still
through joy.

"They'll be as mad as anything when they come aboard in the morning to
find us gone," Frank remarked.

"And as they've got sentries posted, like as not, to give the alarm, if
we try to slip away, up or down the shore, they'll never be able to
guess what became of us all," Jack gave as his opinion, at which they
all laughed again, feeling in a particularly merry mood.

Then up came Mate Plunkett, waving some yellow papers in his hand.

"Found 'em all right, Captain Bill!" he called out; "a little tough
lookin', to be sure; but wuth the same money to me, all the same. And
now, lads, if so be you're ready to quit this old wreck, say the word,
and we'll clear out."

There was not a single dissenting vote, for while the hulk had offered
them an acceptable asylum during the downpour and had proved to be a
pretty serviceable fort when Sol Griggs and the men connected with the
fake copper mine had attempted to effect their capture, none of them
cared to remain a minute longer aboard the old whaler than was
necessary.

So they embarked, not finding it very difficult, while the boat lay on
the leeward side of the stranded wreck. There was plenty of room for
all, just as the men had stated; and after starting away the scouts saw
the last of their late refuge merged with the dim outlines of the shore.

Apparently, the miners could not have had any suspicion with regard to
what was transpiring; for they made no move. This would make their
surprise all the more overpowering, when they found in the morning that
their birds had slipped out of the trap.

As all of the boys had often been upon the sea before in various places,
there was no particular novelty about their sensations now. The relief
from the recent strain was so great that Jimmy insisted on shaking hands
all around several times, while they were moving over the mile that
separated them from the first of the floating lights, aboard the
anchored vessels of the fleet.

"Mebbe, we'll be apt to learn all about this wonderful disappearing
fleet now, since we expect to be aboard one of the vessels till we reach
some port, where we can telegraph and take a train," Teddy wen