When he came back he announced:

"I've just flashed the wireless word back to Mr. Seaton's lawyer about
the message we got, advising the lawyer that it probably shows
Dalton, or Lemly, or both, to be in Beaufort. And the lawyer was able
to send me news, received just after we left."

"What?"

"The schooner, 'Black Betty,' has just been seized, thirty miles down
the coast, by United States officers. She'll be held until the customs
men have had a chance to look into the charges that the schooner has
been used in the smuggling trade."

"Was Lemly caught with her?" asked Tom, eagerly.

"No such luck," retorted Joe.

"I'd feel better over hearing that Dave Lemly was the prisoner of the
United States Government," remarked young Halstead. "If he keeps at
liberty _he_ is the one who is going to be able to make Anson Dalton
dangerous to us."

"Then you're beginning to be afraid of that pair, are you?" asked Joe
Dawson, looking up.

"No, I'm not," rejoined Tom Halstead, his jaws firmly set. "A man--or
a boy, either for that matter--who can be made afraid of other people
isn't fit to be trusted with the command of a boat on the high seas.
But I'll say this much about my belief concerning Dalton: For some
reason we've been in his way, and are likely to be much more in his
way before we're through with him. If Dalton got a chance, he wouldn't
hesitate to wreck the 'Restless,' or to blow her up. For any work of
that sort Dave Lemly is undoubtedly his man."

"What can make them so desperate against Mr. Seaton?" queried Joe.

"We can't even guess, for we don't yet know the story that's behind
all this mystery and the list of desperate deeds."

"I wonder if Mr. Seaton will ever tell us?" pondered Joe.

"Not unless he thinks we really need to know."

"But he has already hinted that it's all in a big fight for a
fortune," urged Hank.

"Yes, and we can guess that the fight centers in South America, since
that is where Clodis was bound for when this business started,"
replied Skipper Tom.

"I wonder if there's any chance that our cruise will reach to South
America?" broke in Hank Butts, eagerly.

"Hardly likely," replied Tom, with a shake of the head. "If there had
been even a chance of that, Mr. Seaton would have arranged for an
option extending beyond the end of this month."

"Just my luck," grumbled Hank, seating himself on the edge of the
deck-house. "Nothing big ever happens to me."

"Say, you're hard to please