“Neither could I—neither could anybody,” replied Bayard, “not even if he were a member of the organization, because there is no sense in it. But there was _use_ in it, for the man on the other side of the bushes knew that Coulte was one of the smugglers by the way he answered the questions; at least I thought he was satisfied of it, for he pulled aside the bushes and showed himself. He shook hands with the men in the yawl, and began a conversation with them. I heard every word that was said, but the only information I gained was, that Coulte’s two sons were employed as foremast hands on board the vessel in which the smuggling is carried on. When the conversation was ended, Coulte passed out some bales and boxes he had brought in his yawl, and then got out his oars and pulled down the bayou.”
“What do you suppose was on the other side of those bushes?” asked Will, after a long pause.
“I am sure I don’t know, unless it was a cave where the smugglers stowed away their goods.”
“What’s the reason you have never told this before?” inquired Seth. “Why didn’t you go straight to your father with the news, and have him put the authorities on the lookout? Don’t you know that there is a heavy reward offered for any information that will lead to the breaking up of this band?”
“I do,” replied Bayard, leaning toward his cousins and sinking his voice almost to a whisper, “but I don’t want the band broken up. I may join it myself sometime.”
“You!” cried his auditors, starting back in surprise.
“Yes, I; that is if they will take me; and if they won’t, I will blow the whole thing. Here’s where I have the advantage of them, and that’s the way I am going to induce Coulte to help us carry out our plans against Walter Gaylord. We’ll ride over and call on the old fellow this very afternoon, and tell him that we want him and his boys to make a prisoner of Walter at the very first opportunity, take him on board their vessel, carry him to the West Indies, and lose him there so effectually that he will never find his way home again.”
As Bayard said this he settled back on his elbow and looked at his cousins, and Seth and Will, too astonished to speak, settled back on their elbows and looked at him. They had always known that Bayard was cruel and vindictive, but they had never dreamed that he could conceive of a plan like this. How coolly he talked about it, and how confident he seemed of success!