re he could even struggle the door was wrenched open and two figures
darted out and joined in the melee. It was soon over. Three to one are
heavy odds. The sentry, gagged and securely bound, was hustled inside
the cabin. His hat, overcoat, and automatic were appropriated for Jim
Spurling, who took his place. So skilfully had the coup been conducted
under cover of the disturbance in the cove that none of the other
smugglers had taken the slightest alarm.

Spurling assumed his post none too soon. Hardly had the door been
closed, with Lane, Stevens, and Percy on the alert just inside, when the
other guard came hurrying anxiously back. He had been unable to fathom
the meaning of the tumult on the _Barracouta_.

"I don't like this at all, Herb," growled he as he drew near Jim. "Dolph
and the skipper have gotten into some kind of a scrape, but what the
trouble is I can't figure. I'd have gone out to them in the other dory,
but I couldn't find any oars. We'd better call Shane and Parsons away
from guarding those Chinks and decide what it's best to do. We don't
know the lay of the land here, and any mistake's liable to be
expensive."

By the time he had finished his remarks he was close to Spurling. The
latter's silence apparently roused his suspicions. He stopped short.

"What--"

He got no further. Jim's left hand was over his mouth and Jim's right
grasped his right wrist. Out burst reinforcements from the camp. It was
a repetition of the case of the first sentinel, only more so. Presently
Number Two lay on the cabin floor beside his comrade, unable to speak or
move. Jim was a good hand at tying knots.

The five boys gathered in a corner and took account of stock. Two of the
six white men prisoners; two others marooned on the sloop and _hors du
combat_, at least temporarily; two still at large and in a condition to
do mischief, but at present entirely ignorant of the plight of their
comrades. Two automatics captured, and the dories of the foe useless
from lack of oars. Best of all, the boys themselves free and practically
masters of the situation. Matters showed a decided improvement over what
they had been a half-hour before.

But the victory was as yet incomplete and Jim was too good a general to
lose the battle from over-confidence. At any minute Dolph and Brittler
might burst their way out through the double doors of the _Barracouta_
and establish communication with the two men guarding the Chinese. So
once more t