ant now dispatched a man to the shelf of rock on the mountain
which Ned had previously occupied, instructing him to report the
progress of the gunboat, supposed to be bringing in her prize. From time
to time the watchman called out that the two boats were rapidly nearing
the harbor, and Ned listened to the reports with varying emotions. Now
he was certain that the officer in charge of the gunboat would
understand the situation; now he was almost sure that the officer and
Carstens had had an understanding with each other from the first.

Two chiefs, evidently men of distinction among the native tribes, now
approached the Lieutenant and spoke to him in Spanish. After replying
Carstens turned to the son of the senator.

"Clem," he said, "perhaps you would better bring the box from the cabin.
These men are satisfied with the goods they have received, and are ready
to sign."

And so the treaty was to be executed there--after the receipt of
sufficient arms and ammunition to make the revolt against the government
formidable. Ned saw the craft with which the game had been played, and
wondered if the officer who was coming on the gunboat could be induced
to make an examination of the boxes on the beach and the box about to be
brought from the cabin.

If he could, that would end the trouble so far as Ned and his companions
were involved in it. If he stood hand-in-glove with Carstens, however,
he would pretend to doubt the statements offered by the prisoners and
refuse to make any investigation at all. In this case, there was likely
to be murder done before morning.

"Gunboat rounding the point!" called the lookout.

The critical moment was near at hand, and Frank and Ned looked into each
other's faces with apprehension in their eyes. Still, there was no
weakening, no outward sign of the mental commotion within.

Presently the gunboat rounded the point to the north and slid into the
harbor between the Tusks, followed closely by the _Manhattan_. Ned saw
that the boys were still on the _Manhattan_, but that two men in uniform
were there with them. It looked to him as if the lads had been placed
under arrest, for they did not appear as jubilant as they would
doubtless have looked if their story had been taken at its full face
value.

Lieutenant Carstens appeared to be astonished and decidedly out of
temper when the commander of the gunboat stepped out on the north Tusk.
He was nervous, too, and cursed roundly at one of the m