Tom turned away with something of a groan. "Dick must be on board of that craft, along with the Baxters. Oh, what luck we are having! Now what ought I to do next?"
His wisest move would have been to have informed the authorities, but Tom was too much upset mentally to think of that. With all speed he returned to the Swallow.
"The Peacock has sailed!" he cried. "We must follow her!"
"You are certain?" queried Sam.
"Yes, I saw her in the distance. Come, let us get after her before it is too late."
As Luke Peterson was now doing fairly well, all of the others ran on deck, and soon the Swallow was in pursuit of the schooner. At first but little could be seen of the Peacock, but when the sun came up they saw her plainly, heading toward the northwest.
"We must keep her in sight," said Tom.
"Yes, but supposing the Baxters are on board, how can we capture them?" came from Sam. "We are but three, or four at the most, counting Peterson, while that craft must carry a crew of five or six."
"We can hail some other boat to help us. The main thing is not to lose track of the rascals."
The breeze was all that could be desired, and
