through.

Clumsily kneeling, Stuart put his ear to the wounded man's heart. It was
beating strongly. The bullet seemed to have struck the collar bone and
glanced off, stunning the nerves, but not doing serious injury.

For a moment, the four men stood dazed.

Whence came these bullets that made no sound? Could the Englishman be
shooting? They stared out to sea.

The "chug-chug" of the motor boat was deafening, now. It stopped,
suddenly, and, standing in the bow, the figure of Cecil could be plainly
seen. He held no gun in his hand, however.

Never was the Englishman's quiet power more strongly shown than in the
fact that, in this tense moment, the conspirators waited till he landed.
Leborge shuffled his feet uneasily. Manuel, his face twisted with pain,
and holding his wounded arm, glared at his fellow-conspirator,
undauntedly.

"My friend," said Cecil to him, calmly, "I have many times instructed
you that nothing is to be done until I give the word."

The Cuban cursed, but made no other answer.

"As for you," the Englishman continued, turning to Leborge, "I have told
you before that the time to quarrel about the sharing of the spoils was
after the spoils were won. Why have you posted men to murder Manuel and
me, in the granadilla wood, between here and Cap Haitien?"

The giant would have liked to lie, but Cecil's determined gaze was full
on him, and he flinched beneath it, as a wild beast flinches before its
tamer.

"If you had waited for me," the calm voice went on, "I might have helped
you to escape, but now----"

He raised his hat and passed his hand over his hair, as though the sun
had given him a headache.

At the same moment, as though this gesture had been a signal, from the
low bushes a hundred yards away burst a squad of a dozen men, rifles at
the "ready," in the uniform of American marines.

Manuel and Leborge cast wild glances around, seeking some place to flee,
but there was none. They were cut off.

"Quick, Cecil!" they cried, together. And Leborge added, "Your boat! She
is fast!"

"Not as fast as a rifle bullet," was the quiet answer.

At the double the Marines came over the scrubby ground, and, running
beside the officer in command was a figure that Stuart recognized--his
father!

The officer of the Marines came up.

"Seize them!" he said briefly.

The boys in blue disarmed and bound the four, one of the Marines freeing
Stuart's arms the while. The second he was free, Stuart spr