"
The man proceeded and told how another of their crew had met
the island mystery, and had been half drowned by him.
"I tell you," said the man, "it's going to stand us in hand to
get that fellow on; the game is all dead against us, and we'll
whistle for our share of prize-money."
"Come along with us and we may find our man; you can identify
him?"
"Identify the devil! let me see him just one second."
The men, as a fact, failed to discover the island mystery, and
different parties returned and reported to Ike Denman.
When the master of the "Nancy" heard of the laying out of
another of his sentinels, his rage knew no bounds, and calling
his men around him he declared;
"We must find out this fellow. He cannot have left the
island."
One of the men suggested:
"We may never get a sight of him."
"If it is Ballard we can recognize him."
The men were sent away once more, and many of their passive
confederates on the island were aroused and started out on the
search; indeed the island became alive with secretly armed
men.
Ike Denman was satisfied that the detective had not got away,
and he was determined to find him. Hundreds of thousands of
dollars were at stake; the fact that the detective had trailed
down to their rendezvous meant ruin.
The master of the "Nancy" did not for one moment believe in
his own mind that the mystery was, Ballard; his common sense
suggested that it was impossible that the fellow could have
escaped, unless by some strange fatality he had been picked
up, and as there were no vessels near enough to see him at the
time he went over from the yacht, the latter chance did not
seem probable.
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