experience in sailing these channels, inlets, and lagoons, it
would have been dangerous; but he dexterously eluded the various
reefs and oyster bars and brought the _Arrow_ safely into smoother
water. Meanwhile, the boys noticed that the wind, which had blown
so strongly, was beginning to slacken, thus allowing the steamer
to gain on the _Arrow_ quite perceptibly. They saw then that she
was a small steamer, like a steam yacht, and light gray in
color,---perhaps one of the United States revenue cutters.

Captain Vinton was astonished. He had already begun to have serious
doubts that this could be the same mysterious vessel he had seen
cruising about the islands the night before. All at once, unexpectedly,
his doubts were resolved into a certainty that it was not the same,
for even while he was wondering, a strange thing happened:

A long, low, gray shape, something like a built-for-speed tug-boat
with a short funnel, darted into view from between two keys, and,
crossing the wake of the revenue cutter, glided swiftly along the
very course the _Arrow_ had taken, heading back toward Snipe Point.
Before the sloop and the steamer had come within hailing distance of
each other, the strange craft, not depending on the dying easterly
wind, was well along the course, sending back---toward a trail of
darker smoke.




CHAPTER II

A CONTRABAND CARGO