ke. For two hours he kept
catching odd bits of no importance through long intervals. Then suddenly
he sat up and, reaching over, poked Gus with his crutch. After two or
three hard pokes Gus opened his eyes.

"Say, somebody's calling for help! I can't get it right, I reckon
they've taken Tony away and out to sea again. Can't tell who it's from;
it's all jumbled, anyway. Done now, I guess."

"But what was it?" asked Gus, now very wide awake.

"It came like this, in code," said Bill. "The 'S.O.S.' several times.
Then: 'Aground. Rounding inlet, east channel, headed out. Hurry.' There
was a lot of stuff in between, but not intelligible."

"Can it be Tony?"

"Who else?"

"But would they let him broadcast anything?"

"Gave them the slip, maybe."

"What'll we do?"

"You say it."

"Well, then--rounding east channel of inlet, eh? Tide going out. Likely
they'll stick on the shoals. If only Dan were here now."

"What then?"

"Why, we'd take his catboat and overhaul them. They'll probably stick
going about and the wind's dead against going out. But Dan----"

"Isn't here, but I am. I'll go forward with the gun and you can handle
the _Stella_. Let's go!"

They went. It was but the work of a few minutes to gain the landing,
hoist sail, cast off and reach down the bay, the wind abeam. Bill got
into a snug place at the mast, Gus held the tiller, each boy firmly
determined to do something that might call for the utmost daring and
swift action.

Turning into the wind at the inlet, the boys went about first on the
starboard tack and then luffed a half dozen times to get through into
the broader water; but the sand bars were erratic. Gus knew two that
were fixed from the set currents; other might change every few days.
Bill crept to the rail and gazed ahead; there had been a moon, but it
was cloudy.

Fortune favored them, however. At the moment that they were about to hit
a narrow sand bar, the clouds parted and Bill gave a yell. Gus also saw
the line of white and shoved over his tiller, missing the bar by the
closest margin. In deep water again they swept across the inlet as the
clouds darkened the moon and they were suddenly confronted by a splotch
of white. They swerved once more just in time to avoid striking the
stern of a small schooner fast on a bar, only her jib flapping in the
breeze, not a light showing.

Gus put the _Stella's_ head into the wind and close-hauled the boom, but
she fell away slowly. He told B