“Identify the devil! let me see him just one second.”

The men, as a fact, failed to discover the island mystery, and different parties returned and reported to Ike Denman.

When the master of the “Nancy” heard of the laying out of another of his sentinels, his rage knew no bounds, and calling his men around him he declared;

“We must find out this fellow.  He cannot have left the island.”

One of the men suggested: 

“We may never get a sight of him.”

“If it is Ballard we can recognize him.”

The men were sent away once more, and many of their passive confederates on the island were aroused and started out on the search; indeed the island became alive with secretly armed men.

Ike Denman was satisfied that the detective had not got away, and he was determined to find him.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars were at stake; the fact that the detective had trailed down to their rendezvous meant ruin.

The master of the “Nancy” did not for one moment believe in his own mind that the mystery was, Ballard; his common sense suggested that it was impossible that the fellow could have escaped, unless by some strange fatality he had been picked up, and as there were no vessels near enough to see him at the time he went over from the yacht, the latter chance did not seem probable.

It was well toward morning when several of the crew, according to orders, returned and joined the captain, and the latter went aboard the “Nancy” and sailed her back to where she had previously anchored.

One man was left in charge of the yacht, and the balance, with the captain, rowed ashore and proceeded afoot to the rendezvous, and at length daylight came.

The search had proved a failure, and when it was well on in the morning all hands were assembled at the rendezvous.

A majority of the men were sent aboard the “Nancy,” while the master and some of his most reliable confederates remained ashore.

The men had made a thorough search, and all hands were still of the opinion that the detective, or whoever it was that had been tracking them, still remained secreted somewhere on the island.

One of the men, a shrewd fellow, offered several singular suggestions.  He had accurately measured the tracks of the man who had laid out two members of the crew, and he had found duplicate foot imprints down around the rendezvous.

A more dazed and bewildered set of men were never engaged in an illegal traffic.

Meantime the daring detective was lying low right in their very midst.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Spencer Vance had not been idle while in the subterranean warehouse; but, with his masked lantern, he had gone about, and, in a regular business-like manner, had made an inventory of the merchandise scattered about; and he had also copied all the shipping-marks and also all the hieroglyphic brush signs.  He furthermore opened some of the cases, and put identification marks on some of the goods indeed, he did his work in a thorough and masterly manner.  He had accomplished wonders; but he was not yet safely off the island.