oat and then
stand off from the shore for a while and keep our eyes on this place with
spyglasses--have you got a pair?"

"Yes," Mr. Perry replied; "two good strong pair."

"Then we'd better get busy at once before they suspect what has become of
this boy we have here."

"All right, let's get busy at once," said Mr. Perry. "The boys, however,
must stay here on the boat. We don't want to run any risk of their
falling into the hands of the enemy."

"Oh, Mr. Perry, let me go along with you and get my radio outfit,"
Hal begged.

The yachtsman looked at the pleading youth for a few moments in
hesitating manner.

"I don't know," he replied slowly. "Still, I suppose we could protect
one of you if anything happened. Well, inasmuch as we men don't know
anything about disconnecting a radio hook-up. I guess we'll take you for
one trip. Come on; no more delay. Keep a good lookout, Cub and Bud, and
set up a holler if anything goes wrong. And, Bud, be careful not to
mistake us for the enemy when we return; we don't want to be hit by that
sling of yours."

"We ought to have a signal, so we could be sure to recognize each other,"
Bud suggested.

"All right, what'll it be?"

"The Catwhisker ought to have an official signal," said Hal. "Why not
make it 'meow'?"

"Very good; it's adopted."

The first trip was made without incident worthy of special note. Hal and
Mr. Baker brought all of the radio set except the aerial, and Mr. Perry
and Mr. Buckley each carried a load of camp equipment on their return
trip. Then Mr. Perry insisted that Hal remain on the yacht, and the three
men went ashore again for another load.

But from this trip they came back sooner than looked for, and the manner
of their return alarmed the boys, who expected momentarily to hear pistol
shots fired at them from the shore. The three men came down the hill to
the landing almost at a run, and as they reached the deck, Mr. Perry
announced in cautious tones:

"Boys, we'll have to leave that camp as it is for a while. Those men are
up there watching for us. We don't want to get into a gun battle with
them; so we're going to back out of here as fast as we can."

CHAPTER XXVIII

A Radio Eavesdropper

The Catwhisker was backed out of the narrow inlet or strait, in which she
had been moored, without interference on the part of the hostile men on
Friday Island. Whether or not the latter knew of the departure of the
yacht, the men and boys on board