Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-11


pulling at the. long steering oars they had
found fastened to the stern, but without
effecting their purpose
Lalnce had ceased pelting with missiles the
crew. partly for the reason that by so doing
he was exhausting the supply Of necessary
and useful articles and partly because he
understood that the boys could not leave the
harbor.
m afraid we've done a foolish thing this
time, Bob said, in tone Of regret. ''lf the
others come back now, they can shoot us
down without difficulty, and we can do moth
ing toward"
Look there-look! The island is on frel
interrupted Dudley, who, not being able to
do anything IN the way Of working the raft,
was keeping watch for the return of Gomez
and his men.
The boys had been so excited by the at
tempt at escape that they had paid no atten-
ton to anything save what was happening
in their own immediate vicinity, but now
they saw that which caused both surprise and
fear.
Dense clouds of smoke were floating across
the key, and had already begun to settle over
the harbor, while long tongues of lurid flames
could be seen darting high in the air, as if
the entire island was doomed to destruction.
The 6onfires, we built" Bob and Percy
exclaimed, simultaneously, as they piled the
oars more vigorously but with little chance
of making good their escape.
lhere could be no question but that the
cause of the conhagration had been the fires
started by the boys. The brush had been
piled high near the bushes, and as the wind
sprang up the embers had been carried here
and there, until now it seemed as if every
living thing on the key would be destroyed
Launce appeared to have discovered the dan
ger at about the same time as did those on
the raft, for, he was running back and forth
on the beach, as il alarmed but undecided
as to what should be DONE
In ten minutes after they had started the
boys were rather more than halfway across
the bay, but so far TO the west of the passage
that there was no longer the slightest chance
of reaching it.
''This is about the worst scrape we have
been in since we made fools of ourselves by
coming out treasure hunting" Bob said as
he glanced anxiousy first at the inlet and
then at the shore. cts likely that fire will
make clean sweep of the key, and if it does
our chances of keeping out of the clutches OF
those men will be very slight"
What are we going to do?" Dudley asked
with trembling lips
eve shall strike the shore about five hun
dred yards from the channel we couldn't
reach, and if they don't shoot us down al
| once we shall have our hands full trying al
the same time to keep out of their way an(
the track of the fire. Fill your pockets will
those biscuit, and drink all the water yol
another opportunity"
Percy and Dudley both saw the wisdom o
obeying this last order, and they were busil,
engaged gg in so doing when Bob shouted:
., get forward OF the canvas and lie fiat OF
! the raft! Here comes Gomez!"
! At the same moment the captain. leavint
the awkward craft to drift wherever the WING
might carry her, seized the water-breaker and
crawled beneath the sail to not very safe
position, but the, best that could be assumed
The boys could now see the men bursting
through the underbrush. as if they had been
1 making long and rapid fight
| Gomez stopped In his approach for mo.
ment and Launce appeared to be. telling him
the story of what had happened. Then il
was that they thought the Spaniard would
at the very least, empty his revolver in Their
| direction. But he did nothing of the kind
He gave some order to his companions, and as
the result of it all hands began to pull down
the tent at the same time that they gathered
into one pile their goods.
Using the sail as a sling in which to carry
their possessions, the men filled it with as
great load as two could manage, and started
off around the beach directly toward where
the raft would probably come ashore
The boys would land on narrow neck OF
land, with the fire coming directly toward
them, cutting off all hope of escape in that
direction and it surely seemed as if they
would fall easy prey to their enemies.
eve have gone so far now that we have to
continue the fight" Bob said. as he turned
to see how near they were to the land Go
mez will just about kill us, and his good friend
Launce will finish up the job; so we can't be
any worse off if we make bold stand Take
all the provisions you can carry, boys, and be
ready to jump ashore the instant she strikes"
The flames were advancing toward the har-
Dor with the speed OF the wind. Already a
broad sheet of fire could be seen close to the
beach, Ashes and cinders were falling in
every direction, and the smoke had become
so dense as to be almost sitting.
On the shore, the four men, laden with
their goods, were making the best of their