He had gone
less than a hundred feet, when he met the girl coming toward
him.
The detective was both amused and pleased. He realized that
in case of an emergency the girl would be of great help.
"Never mind, my child, I've settled 'em!" he said:
Still the girl made no reply, and it was then the detective
discovered that she had been gagged. He also discovered that
her arms had been secured, so she could not raise them to her
head.
It took him but a moment to release her with his knife, when
she exclaimed:
"I thank you for coming to my aid; but where are the villains?"
"I reckon they've gone off to their boat; but come, we will
see. With such a noble and brave ally I would not hesitate to
invite a scrimmage with half a dozen of them."
The detective's guess proved correct. The two men whom he had
first dropped had evidently recovered their senses, and had
joined their pals on the beach, as a boat bearing four persons
could be seen moving off toward the yacht.
As our readers can well imagine, it was not because of the
detective's warning that the men pulled away to their boat.
Garcia remembered that he had stricken down the old smuggler,
and it was the consequences of that act which made him anxious
to get away.
"There they go, Renie!"
"Yes; thanks to you, I am not going with them;" answered the
girl.
"Why was the assault made upon you, my child?"
"You are my friend; I will tell you all now. That man Garcia
is a villain! He has made all manner of propositions to me to
induce me to leave the coast and go to the city with him, but
I knew the man to be a villain, a murderer, and criminal of
the worst sort, and I refused all his offers.
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