he trap was set and baited. Roger put on the hat and coat of
the second sentry and joined Jim on guard.

Crash! Crash! Crash! A succession of heavy, splintering blows, echoing
over the cove, announced that the pair imprisoned on the sloop had at
last discovered some means of battering their way to freedom.

_Crash-sh!_

Speech, low but intense, came floating over the water. The smugglers
were out and evidently looking for their dory. Baffled in their search,
they began shouting.

"Hilloo-oo! On shore! Shane! Parsons! Herb! Terry! Are you all dead?
Come out and take us off! Somebody's scuttled the sloop and locked us
down in the cabin! Just wait till we get ashore! We'll fix those boys!
Ahoy there! Our boat's gone! Come and get us!"

Jim pressed Roger's arm.

"Ready! Here comes one of 'em!"

Somebody was running toward them from the fish-house. A black figure
suddenly loomed up, close at hand.

"What's the trouble out there, Herb? Dolph and the cap are yelling like
stuck pigs! Hear 'em! Guess I'd better go out to 'em in the other dory,
don't you think? Shane can handle the Chinos--"

His voice shut off in a terrified gurgle. A strong hand forcibly sealed
his lips and two pairs of muscular arms held him powerless, while Percy,
darting from the cabin with a coil of rope, relieved him of his
automatic and tied him firmly under Jim's whispered directions. Soon he,
too, lay beside his comrades.

"Shut the door a minute, Filippo!" ordered Jim. "Now," he continued,
briskly, "I guess we've got 'em coppered. We'll do up that man in the
fish-house in short order. By the way, Throppy, did you raise the
cutter before the captain smashed your instrument?"

"Don't know," answered Stevens. "I was so busy calling for help that I
didn't wait for any reply."

"We'll know before midnight," said Jim. "Take Parsons's automatic,
Perce, and come along with Budge and myself. Throppy, you stay here with
Filippo and help guard these fellows."

He glanced at the sullen three lying bound on the floor.

"Don't look as if they could make much trouble. Still, it's better for
somebody to keep an eye on 'em."

Jim, Budge, and Percy stepped out and closed the door. The shouting from
the _Barracouta_ kept on with undiminished vigor. Appeals and threats
jostled one another in the verbal torrent.

"Let 'em yell themselves hoarse," whispered Jim. "It won't do 'em any
good."

The fish-house was near. A lighted lantern hung just inside th