'Get a move on then,' growled the mate.
Hawkeye noted Ruff observing Lopey's prostate form. The mob-leader grunted, then turned angrily to Hexler.
'What's the matter with this dope?' he demanded.
'Drunk,' informed Hexler. 'Got hold of some grog that was aboard. First thing I knew, he'd gone blotto.'
'Making you one man short?'
'I've got this mug' - Hexler turned to indicate Hawkeye - 'and he'll fill in for Lopey. Says he can handle a gat.'
'Can you?' demanded Ruff.
'Sure,' acknowledged Hawkeye.
'He shipped aboard at Charleston,' explained Hexler. 'He's not one of the regular bohunks in the crew. This is a guy we can use.'
'Looks all right,' admitted Ruff. 'But that doesn't help. We're still short-handed.'
'How come? I've got six -'
'The chief wants more. Two, anyway. But coming out here, I began to figure it would be tough to get them. We can't yank off the regular members of the crew. The captain would put up a squawk -'
'Say' - Hexler had an idea - 'There were two other birds came on at Charleston. Buddies of this guy. What about 'em, Ruff?'
'What are they like?'
'Tough eggs.'
HAWKEYE put in a clincher of his own.
'We was hiding out in Charleston,' he confided to Ruff. 'The three of us. We ain't seamen; we just bluffed it. We used to be with Cozy Doman's mob.'
'Yeah?' quizzed Ruff, in surprise. 'A bunch of bank workers.'
'Sure,' acknowledged Hawkeye, with a nod. 'We cut loose from Cozy after he pulled that job in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was getting too hot. That's why we was laying low.'
'Go get your pals,' ordered Ruff.
Hawkeye turned and hastened off, as though heading for the hold. But he changed direction as soon as he was out of sight. Running to the stern, he came upon a boat that was hanging loose from the davits.
'Cliff!' whispered Hawkeye, hoarsely. 'Harry!'
The two agents popped into view. They had ducked into a companionway at the sound of Hawkeye's footsteps. Quickly, Hawkeye gave them the news.
'Duck down into the hold,' he suggested. 'I'll tell Hexler you're coming up.'
Returning, Hawkeye found Hexler impatiently awaiting him. Ruff had gone away to confer with the captain. What he was doing was arranging for the Dalmatia to stand by until a cargo came from shore.
'Where are the other guys?' demanded Hexler.
'Coming up,' replied Hawkeye. 'You'll see 'em in a minute.'
THE last of the boxes had come from the hold. Immediately following came Cliff and Harry, up through the open hatchway. They slouched over as Hawkeye beckoned. Hexler studied the new recruits. He had not noticed Harry and Cliff carefully before. Now he nodded, convinced that they would measure up to Ruff's requirements.
Boxes were being lowered into the boats; some into Ruff's cabin launch; others into the boat that the Dalmatia had dropped. Ruff's crew was exchanging greetings with the men in the Dalmatia's boat. These outfits had met before.
Ruff came back from his confab with the captain. He eyed Harry and Cliff, then nodded approvingly to indicate that they were satisfactory.
'We're coming out again,' he told Hexler. 'Bringing back the boat to the ship here and loading some stuff aboard. We'll arrange all that later. Let's go.'
Cargoes were loaded. Hexler motioned to the rope ladder. Harry and Cliff descended; then Hawkeye followed. The little man got snarled in the rope. That seemed to please Ruff.
'That bird's no seaman,' chuckled the mob-leader, speaking to Hexler. 'You can tell it from the way he tangled. You hit a ten strike, getting these three bimboes. They're just the ones we'll need.'
'More work ahead?'
'Plenty. You'll get the dope later.'
Ruff leaned over and motioned Hawkeye into the Dalmatia's boat, separating him from Harry and Cliff. Hexler descended, stepped aboard Ruff's boat and shifted over into the other boat as Hawkeye had done. Ruff was the last to come down the ladder.
The two boats pushed off from the heaving side of the Dalmatia. Ruff's boat began to chug toward the island, its motor throttled low. The Dalmatia's boat followed, propelled by the strokes of brawny oarsmen.
Combined crews of crime were on their way to accomplish evil. Timour Isle was threatened with armed invasion as the first step toward a fiendish purpose. But with those invaders were coming men prepared to strive for right.
Though outnumbered by their dangerous companions, The Shadow's agents were grimly prepared to play their part when the time of conflict came.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE ATTACK
THE power boat was the first to meet the lower inlet. Passing the sand dunes, the craft veered toward a channel which Ruff, at the tiller, picked with accuracy. The boat came to a stop with its prow wedged in a muddy landing place.
Ruff ordered all ashore. Harry and Cliff followed the other members of the crew. Ruff led the way through heavy underbrush, while his men brought the boxes from the boat.
Stacking the spoils, Ruff ordered his crew toward the beach. They skirted a sand dune, then waited on a little point. Ruff swung a lantern; an answering glimmer came from the inlet. The boat from the Dalmatia was heaving toward this portion of the shore.
Hexler and his henchmen landed. Ruff ordered his own men to take the boxes that had come from this second boat. The shore crew lugged their burdens off through the darkness, toward the spot where they had left the first load.
Cliff and Harry remained with Hexler's crew. Ruff held confab with Hexler. Nods of agreement were exchanged beneath the dull moonlight. Ruff turned and took the path along which his burden carriers had gone.
HAWKEYE sidled over beside Cliff and Harry. The Shadow's three agents were again united. Yet the situation was not entirely to their liking. Though they exchanged no comments, all held the same idea.
They knew that danger was abroad. Two crews of thugs were ready to deliver an attack somewhere. If Hexler's crew should strike, The Shadow's agents would be in the proper place. But if Ruff's outfit intended trouble on its own, that mob could move unmolested.
One thought alone was saving. Ruff's outfit had a definite task; to store the boxes that had been brought from the Dalmatia. That signified that the criminal work would probably be shifted to Hexler and his outfit. As members of that band, The Shadow's agents might find opportunity to counteract trouble.
There were eight men besides Hexler. Lopey had been left in the boat, which was drawn high on the shore. Thus The Shadow's agents were outnumbered two to one. But such odds did not trouble them. Like the rest of the crew, they were armed. They felt capable of tendering a good account should the pinch arise.
'We're going up the island.' Hexler growled this information as he joined his men. 'Don't worry about those other fellows. This is our job. We're heading for a house at the upper inlet!'
Harry nudged Cliff. This was the kind of news they had been waiting for. It meant that Hexler, not Ruff, was scheduled to attack some place on Timour Isle.
'The house is in a clearing,' continued Hexler. 'When we get there, plant yourselves on the edges. Ready for a rush when I give the word.'
Affirmative growls from the band. The Shadow's agents joined in the comment. Hexler was about to start the march when a thick voice called from the shore. 'Lopey,' a trifle unsteady, was coming to rejoin the invaders.
'Get back in the boat!' ordered Hexler, in a rasping tone. 'Stay there until we get back!'
