ss than suicide to go
there after the Indians have been so thoroughly aroused."

"We shall not make the attempt for several months, perhaps a year,"
Cummings added.

"Where would you propose to stop? Here?"

"How far do you intend to go in this schooner?"

"To the nearest port where we can find a steamer bound for the United
States."

"That is Progresso, and if you have no objections Poyor and I will
accompany you there. We need some supplies from Merida, and if Mr.
Walters is of the same mind when we arrive I shall be more than pleased
to have him go with us."

"The vessel is at your disposal. We will land you at any point, and I
yet have sufficient money with me to pay Walters' wages and make him a
slight advance if he needs it."

"Very little will be required if he joins Poyor and myself. The cost of
living in this country is small, for nature provides bountifully."

The captain of the schooner, a full-blooded negro, was told to head his
craft for Progresso as soon as the wind should spring up again, and then
Mr. Emery asked many questions concerning the city the boys had seen,
while their answers only made the sailing master more eager to remain
with Cummings.

"This is hardly fair," Neal finally said. "All the time we have been
telling you of our adventures, and not one word have we heard regarding
your movements. I would like to know where the three boats we out-sailed
went to on the night after leaving the yacht, and where this schooner
was found?"

"It is not a long story," Mr. Emery replied. "When you disappeared in
the darkness we continued on the same course, and succeeded in keeping
the three boats well together. At sunrise your craft was not in sight.
We held on all that day and the next, finally arriving at Cozumel where
we stayed three days in the hope you would appear. Then this schooner
touched at the island, and I chartered her to search for you. We have
been cruising up and down the coast ever since, for it seemed positive
your boat reached the land in this immediate vicinity."

"How long would you have stayed here?"

"Not many days more, for we had begun to believe you were picked up by a
vessel. Knowing Jake could handle a small craft better, perhaps than any
other member of the crew, and also that she was the most seaworthy of
the four tenders, it did not seem reasonable she had foundered while the
others went through in safety."

"Then we came out just in time."

"Yes, for I had