Chase, needing no second invitation, arose to his feet and stole up the bayou in the direction Bayard and his friends had gone, closely followed by Wilson. They moved very cautiously, and presently arrived within hearing of the voices of the three conspirators, for such they believed them to be. A few seconds afterward they came within sight of them, and found them seated in a little thicket which grew on the bank of the bayou, engaged in an earnest conversation. So deeply interested were they in what they were saying that they thought of nothing else, and the two eavesdroppers approached within twenty yards of them, and took up a position from which they could observe their movements and hear every word that was said. Bayard was talking rapidly, and the others were listening with an expression of intense astonishment on their faces; and Chase and Wilson had not been long in their concealment before they began to be astonished too.
“Everything I tell you is the truth,” said Bayard, emphatically. “There is scarcely a person in the settlement who does not know that there is such an organization in existence; but I do not suppose there is any one outside of the band who knows who the members are except myself. I know three of them, and I found them out by accident. They are the ones who must do this work for us.”
“Yes, they _must_, whether they are willing or not.”
“Why, you said you had got matters all arranged!” said Will.
“I told you that in less than two days Walter Gaylord would find himself miles and miles at sea, with a fair prospect of never seeing Louisiana again,” replied Bayard. “It’s lucky I didn’t tell you any more, for you, Seth, came near blabbing it on two different occasions. You never could keep anything to yourself.”
“I didn’t intend to tell them what we are going to do to them,” retorted Seth, with some spirit. “I only wanted to give them to understand that we have laid our plans to punish them in some way.”
“And so put them on their guard!” snarled Bayard. “That’s a pretty way to do business, isn’t it? Now, unless you promise faithfully to keep everything I tell you a profound secret, I won’t say another word.”
“Well, then, I will tell you how I came to find out about these smugglers,” continued Bayard, settling back on his elbow. “It happened last summer, shortly after that boat-race. I felt so mean over our defeat that I wanted to keep away from everybody, and you know that I left the Academy and came home. One day I took my gun and strolled out into the swamp. At noon I found myself about ten miles from home, and on the bank of a little stream which emptied into the bay. I stopped there to rest, and after eating my lunch, stretched myself out on the leaves and was fast going off into a doze, when I was aroused by the sound of oars; and, upon looking up, saw a large yawl just entering the bayou. There were three men in it, and they were Coulte and his two sons.”