For at least a minute neither of the boys spoke. They knew that Roberts and his gang had planned on coming there to the cabin that morning, but it had not occurred to them that they could be there so soon. Moreover, they had rather taken it for granted that they had possession of the only boat in the swamp.

Scott realized now that he had been grossly careless. There was no possible justification for their staying in that cabin after they learned whose it was and knew that the others were planning on coming there. He was filled with remorse now and would have given anything to be out of the scrape, but it was too late. They were trapped like a couple of rats and the ferrets were rapidly approaching the only possible way out. Scott fairly groaned. Possibly they would not get out and no news would ever reach the outside world as to what had become of them, but if the truth should ever become known it was maddening to think that they would be reported as having lost out on a most important mission through carelessness and a few hours of hunger.

But trapped and hopelessly outnumbered as they knew themselves to be they had no idea of giving up without a struggle. Scott slipped noiselessly from the bench and grabbed an iron bar which was leaning against the door frame and was evidently intended to bar the door.

“Get that ax-handle over there in the corner,” he whispered to Murphy, “and take your place on the other side of the door. We’ll get as many of them as we can. I’ll take the first one who comes in the door and you take the next.”

They took up their stations and waited grimly with nerves on edge. They expected every instant to hear the boat bump the landing and the thud of feet on the steps. But they did not come. The suspense was terrific. Suddenly Scott remembered their boat tied to the landing. No wonder they did not land. They knew that there were strangers within and probably suspected who it was. They were probably holding a council of war now to determine the best method of attack, for they would not know that the boys had lost their guns in the quicksands.

Scott felt that he must know what was going on at all hazards and he slipped cautiously over to the window in the front of the cabin and peeped out. At first he could see nothing and thought they must have gone around to the other side, but just as he was turning away a moving object quite a distance off in the swamp caught his eye. It was two darkies in a bateau paddling straight away from the cabin. He heaved a sigh of relief. For the moment they were saved. The next instant he realized what it meant and groaned inwardly.

“There goes the news!” he exclaimed bitterly, as he pointed out the rapidly disappearing boat to Murphy. “It may be a long chase now before we ever locate those fellows again, if we ever find them.”

“Oh, we’ll find them all right when the time comes,” Murphy replied cheerfully. “The thing to do now is to get out of this trap as fast as we know how before any one else comes. If we can get away I’m not worrying about the rest of it.”

Scott realized the wisdom of the suggestion, but he thought it best to cover up their tracks as best they could. They quickly straightened up the cabin, put everything as nearly as they could just as they had found it, took one cautious glance around the swamp and hurried out to their boat. They half expected to hear a shot from the back of the cabin. There was no window on that side of the house and they had no assurance that there had not been two bateaux, one of which might be lying in wait for them. But there was no sound and a hurried survey discovered no boat in sight.

“Now for it!” Murphy exclaimed, bending to his pole with all his might. “I wouldn’t stop to eat anywhere else before I get to headquarters if I was starving.”

They did not realize how badly they had been scared in that cabin till they found how hard they were working to get away from it. They were headed due north by the compass and going as fast as they could. Scott had caught up a fishing pole off the landing and was doing his best to help. It was not till they were far out of sight of the cabin that they relaxed a little in their efforts. They were at least a mile from the south edge of the swamp and still there was no intimation that they were approaching the other side.

“Good thing we found this boat,” Murphy commented; “we’d have drowned before this if we had tried to cross this place without it.”

Scott did not reply. He was wondering how far it was from the north edge of the swamp to the railroad track and how long it would be before they could get a train going in their direction. When he had discovered the log canal and the hidden mill he had thought his work in Florida was about completed, and successfully completed. The scare at the cabin had showed him how easy it would be for him to fail completely even yet. He was anxious now to get back to headquarters and place his information where it would be safe.

They had covered at least another mile and were beginning to think that the swamp must extend clear up into Georgia when............