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diff --git a/28449.txt b/28449.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5d4694 --- /dev/null +++ b/28449.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7548 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Motor Boat Club and The Wireless, by +H. Irving Hancock + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Motor Boat Club and The Wireless + The Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise + +Author: H. Irving Hancock + +Release Date: March 30, 2009 [EBook #28449] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTOR BOAT CLUB *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Dawson Sent the Chair Spinning Across the Room. +_Frontispiece_.] + + + + +THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB + +AND THE WIRELESS + +OR + +The Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise + +By + +H. IRVING HANCOCK + +Author of The Motor Boat Club of the Kennebec + +The Motor Boat Club at Nantucket + +The Motor Boat Club off Long Island, Etc. + +Illustrated + +PHILADELPHIA + +HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY + + + + +Copyright 1909, by Howard E. Altemus + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. A Spark Puts Three Boys and a Boat on the Jump 7 + II. Some of the Mystery Unraveled 26 + III. Invisible Hands at the Wireless 39 + IV. Taking a Great Chance 50 + V. Tom Matches One Trick With Another 61 + VI. Carrying Dangerous Live "Freight" 70 + VII. Powell Seaton's Bad Case of "Forget" 78 + VIII. The Red Message 85 + IX. Mr. Seaton Unburdens Himself 92 + X. The Traitor at the Aerials 105 + XI. The Drab Boat Shows Her Nose 114 + XII. The Searchlight Finds a "Double" 127 + XIII. Tom Halstead--Ready! 139 + XIV. Grit Goes up the Signal Mast 151 + XV. Playing Salt Water Blind Man's Buff 160 + XVI. A Gleam of Hope Through the Shroud of Fog 171 + XVII. When the Motor Boat Club Boys "Went Daffy" 179 + XVIII. The First Kink of the Problem Solved 187 + XIX. Helpless in the Northeaster! 196 + XX. "C.Q.D! C.Q.D.!--Help!" 207 + XXI. The Spark Finds a Friend Through the Gale 219 + XXII. Tom Halstead Springs the Climax 230 + XXIII. Hank Becomes Really Terrible 244 + XXIV. Conclusion 249 + + + + +THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AND THE WIRELESS + +CHAPTER I + +A SPARK PUTS THREE BOYS AND A BOAT ON THE JUMP + + +"Ho, ho, ho--hum!" grumbled Hank Butts, vainly trying to stifle a +prodigious yawn. "This may be what Mr. Seaton calls a vacation on full +pay, but I'd rather work." + +"It _is_ fearfully dull, loafing around, in this fashion, on a lonely +island, yet in plain sight of the sea that we long to rove over," +nodded Captain Tom Halstead of the motor yacht "Restless." + +"Yet Hank just put us in mind of the fact that we're getting paid for +our time," laughed Joe Dawson, the least restless of the trio of young +Motor Boat Club boys. + +"Oh it's all right on the pay end," agreed Hank, readily. "But just +think of a young fellow, full of life and hope, with a dozen +ambitions and a hustling nature, taking up with a job of this kind!" + +"What kind of job?" inquired Captain Tom. + +"The job of being bored," answered Butts, solemnly. "I could have had +that kind of job back on Long Island." + +"Without the pay," amended Joe Dawson, with another quiet smile. + +"But ten days of being bored _does_ grow rather wearisome, even with +the pay for a solace," agreed Tom Halstead. + +Ting-ling-ling! The soft jangling of a bell from one of the rooms of +the seashore bungalow, on the porch of which the boys sat, broke in on +them. + +"Hurrah, Joe! Hustle and get that message," begged Hank, almost +sitting up straight in the porch chair, with a comical pretense of +excitement. "It's sure to be from Mr. Seaton this time." + +"Likely," grinned Joe, as he rose and crossed the porch in leisurely +fashion. The jangling of the bell continued. The bell was a rather +clumsy, yet sufficing device that young Dawson had attached to the +wireless telegraph apparatus. + +For, though this bungalow on a little island southwest of Beaufort, +North Carolina, had an appearance of being wholly out of the world, +yet the absent owner, Mr. Powell Seaton, had contrived to put his +place very much "in the world" by installing wireless telegraphy at +the bungalow. On the premises was operated a complete electrical plant +that furnished energy enough to send messages for hundreds of miles +along the coast. + +For Joe, the mechanical genius of the Motor Boat Club, had always had +a passion for telegraphy. Of late he had gone in in earnest for the +wireless kind, and had rapidly mastered its most essential details. + +The bell told when electrical waves were rushing through the air at +marvelous speed, though it did not distinguish between any general +wave and the special call for this bungalow station, which was by the +letters "CBA." + +When Joe Dawson went into the room under the tall aerials that hung +from the mast, he expected to listen only to some message not in the +least intended for this station. + +Seating himself by the relay, with its Morse register close at hand, +Joe Dawson picked up and adjusted the head-band with its pair of +watch-case receivers. He then hastily picked up a pencil, shoved a pad +of paper close under his hand and listened. + +All this he did with a dull, listless air. He had not the slightest +forewarning of the great jolt that was soon to come to himself and +his comrades out of the atmosphere. + +The call, whatever it was, had ended. Yet, after a pause of a few +seconds, it began to sound again. Joe's listless air vanished as the +new set of dots and dashes came in, clamoring in clicking haste +against his ear drums. + +"To Every Wireless Station--Urgent!" ran the first few words. Joe's +nimble fingers pushed his pencil, recording letter after letter until +these words were down. Then, dropping his pencil for the sending key, +young Dawson transmitted a crashing electric impulse into the air, +flashing through space over hundreds of miles the station signal, +"CBA." + +"Have you a fast, seaworthy boat within immediate call?" came back out +of the invisible distance over the ocean. + +"A twenty-six-mile sea-going motor boat right at the pier here," Joe +flashed back, again adding his signature, "CBA." + +"Good!" came back the answer. "Then listen hard--act quick--life at +stake!" + +Joe Dawson not only listened. His thoughts flew with the dots and +dashes of the wireless message; his right hand rushed the pencil in +recording all of that wonderful message as it came to him. It was +tragedy that Dawson wrote down at the dictation of this impatient +operator far out on the Atlantic highways. Almost in the midst of it +came a feverish break-in from land, and another hand was playing in +the great game of life and death, fame and dishonor, riches and +intrigue. All was being unfolded by means of the unseen, far-reaching +wireless telegraph. + +As Joe listened, wrote, and occasionally broke in to send a few words, +the dew of cold perspiration stood out on his brow. His fingers +trembled. With a great effort of the will this motor boat boy steadied +his nerves and muscles in order to see through to the end this +mysterious thing coming out of space. + +While this was going on, Joe Dawson did not call out to either of his +comrades. With an instinct that worked as fast as the wireless +messages themselves, young Dawson chose to put off calling the other +motor boat boys until he had the whole startling tale to tell +them--until he had in complete form the coming orders that would send +all three of them and the "Restless" on a tireless sea-chase. + +While this flood of dots and dashes is coming in from seaward, and +from landward, it is well that the reader be put in possession of some +information that will make clearer to him the nature of the dramatic +events that followed this sudden in-pouring of wireless messages to +the little "CBA" bungalow station on this island off the North +Carolina coast. + +Readers of the preceding volume of this series, "THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB +OFF LONG ISLAND," will at once recall that story, throbbing with the +interest of human life--will remember how faithfully and wisely Tom +Halstead, Joe Dawson and Hank Butts, all members of the Motor Boat +Club, served that leader in Wall Street finance, Francis Delavan, and +the latter's nervous, wavering friend, Eben Moddridge. To such former +readers the tale is familiar of how the Motor Boat Club boys aided +materially in frustrating a great conspiracy in finance, aimed against +their employer. Saved from ruin by the grit, keenness and loyalty of +these three members of the Motor Boat Club, Messrs. Delavan and +Moddridge had handsomely rewarded the boys for their signal services. + +As Hank Butts preferred, for family reasons, to spend his summers, and +much of his other time, on Long Island, he had been presented with a +thirty-foot launch, a shore lot at East Hampton, and a "shack" and +pier. Tom Halstead and Joe Dawson, fast friends and both from the same +little Kennebec River village, preferring always the broad ocean, had +been made the owners of the "Soudan," a fine, sea-going, fifty-five +foot motor cruising yacht built for deep sea work. Though the +"Soudan" had a very comfortable beam of fifteen feet, she was +nevertheless equipped with twin gasoline motors that could send her +over the waters at some twenty-five or twenty-six miles an hour. + +With the gift of the boat to Tom and Joe came also a present of money +enough to make the two new young owners able to put her in commission +and keep her going for awhile. + +It was not intended by Messrs. Delavan and Moddridge that Tom Halstead +and Joe Dawson should be able to keep their new prize and property +running for their own pleasure. On the contrary the givers of this +splendid present believed that the two boys would ply under charter +for wealthy pleasure seekers, thus making a splendid living. In summer +there were the northern waters; in winter the southern waters. Thus it +was believed that Captain Tom Halstead and Engineer Joe Dawson would +be in a position to earn a handsome income from their boat the year +around. At any time, should they so choose, they could sell the boat. + +Sell her? It would almost have broken honest, impulsive, loyal Tom +Halstead's heart to sell this precious boat! Joe Dawson, quiet though +he was, would have flown into a rage at any suggestion of his parting +with his interest in the handsome, capable little craft! + +The owners had re-christened the boat the "Restless." Within ten days +after the boys had left the employ of Mr. Delavan, Captain Tom had +encountered Mr. Powell Seaton in New York. A few hours after that +meeting the boys had had their boat chartered for at least the month +of September. Then, after receiving their orders, they proceeded south +to their present location on Lonely Island, five miles off the +mainland. They were accompanied by Hank Butts, who had left his small +boat in other hands and accepted temporary employment on the +"Restless." + +The island possessed an area of about half a square mile. The bungalow +itself, a shed that was used as an electric power station, and a third +building that contained a telescope and some other astronomical +apparatus were the sole interesting features of this island. + +After the chartering, and the payment of half the hire-money in +advance for the month, not one of these Motor Boat Club boys had laid +eyes on Mr. Powell Seaton. After cruising down from New York, and +taking possession of the bungalow, as ordered, they had remained there +ten whole days, idle and wondering. Idle, that is, except for running +the electric power plant as much as was needed, making their own beds +and doing their own cooking. + +For what purpose had Powell Seaton wanted them and the "Restless"? +Now, as Dawson's active fingers pushed the pencil through the mazes of +recorded messages, that active-minded young man began to get a +glimpse. + +"Sounds like something big, Joe," smiled Captain Tom, his eyes +twinkling under the visor of his uniform cap as he thrust his head in +through the doorway. + +"It is," muttered Joe, in a low but tense voice. "Just wait. I've got +one to send." + +His fingers moved busily at the key for a little while. Then, +snatching up the sheets of paper on which he had written, Joe Dawson +leaped to his feet in such haste that he sent the chair spinning +across the room. + +Such impulsiveness in Dawson was so utterly unusual that Captain Tom +Halstead gasped. + +"Come on!" called Joe, darting to the door. "Down to the boat!" + +"Where----?" began Tom Halstead, but he got only as far as that word, +for Joe shot back: + +"To sea!" + +"How----" again essayed Halstead. + +"At full speed--the fastest we can travel!" called back Joe, who was +leaping down the porch steps. + +"Any time to lock up?" demanded Tom, half-laughingly. + +"Yes--but hustle! I'll get the motor started and be waiting." + +Hank Butts was leaning indolently against one of the porch posts. + +"Look at old Joe sailing before a fair wind," he laughed, admiringly. + +"Turn to, Hank! Help lock the windows and the doors--full speed +ahead!" directed Captain Tom, with vigor. "Joe Dawson never goes off +at racing speed like that unless he has his orders and knows what he's +doing." + +"I thought you were the captain," grinned Hank, as he sprang to obey. + +"So I am," Halstead shot at the other boy. "But, just as it happens, +Joe has the sailing orders--and he can be trusted with 'em. +Now--everything is tight and the keys in my pocket. For the dock, on +the run!" + +Chug-chug! Joe had surely been moving, for, by the time the other boys +reached the dock, Dawson had the hatchway of the motor room open and +the twin motors had begun to move. The young engineer, an oil-can in +hand, was watching the revolutions of the two handsome machines. + +"Stand by the stern-line to throw off, Hank," called Captain Tom, as +he raced out onto the dock and made a plunge for the bow hawser. With +this in hand he sprang aboard. + +"How soon, Joe?" called the young skipper, throwing the canvas cover +from the wheel down onto the bridge deck. + +"As soon as you like," was Joe's answer, as he threw more speed into +the twin motors. + +Hank had the stern hawser in his hands by this time. Halstead threw +the wheel over slightly, warping the boat's graceful bow away from the +dock under just a touch of speed ahead. + +"Come aboard, Hank!" called the young skipper. As soon as Butts had +obeyed with a flying leap, Tom rang for half speed ahead, moving +smoothly out of the little sand-bound harbor. + +"Coil the hawsers, Hank," directed the young skipper. "Put the wheel +cover away. Then relieve Joe. I want to hear from him." + +These three separate orders Hank had executed within less than two +minutes, and jumped down into the motor room. Joe came on deck, +holding the sheets of paper in his hand. + +"Now, let's understand what the business is, anyway," suggested Tom +Halstead. "Who signaled us? Mr. Seaton?" + +"Yes, but he wasn't the first one," Dawson answered. "The first hail +came from out of the sea, from the Black B liner, 'Constant,' +addressed to any wireless station and tagged 'urgent.' Here it is." + +One hand on the wheel, the young skipper received the sheet held out +to him. It read: + + Can you send fast boat instantly to take off badly injured + passenger for medical treatment? Passenger A. B. Clodis, + believed to be wealthy man from New York, discovered + unconscious, perhaps dying, from fall. Fractured skull. + Believe passenger or family to be able to pay handsomely + for services. + + (Signed) Hampton, _captain_. + +"Here's another sheet giving the ship's position at that moment," Joe +continued; "also her course and speed." + +"And you answered?" demanded Halstead. + +"Just as I started to, the wireless at Beaufort broke in. It seems +that Mr. Seaton is at Beaufort, and that he heard, at once, of the +trouble. Here is Mr. Seaton's order." + +Joe Dawson held out another sheet, on which he had transcribed this +wireless message: + + Halstead, Lonely Island: Clodis is my man on important + matter. Get him off ship, and with all speed. Take him + to Lonely Island, where I will arrive with surgeons and + nurses. Get all his baggage and papers off with him, and + take greatest care of same. Whole thing plotted by enemies. + If they succeed it spells ruin for me and more than one + tragedy. I depend on you boys; don't fail me! Act at + full speed. + + (Signed) Powell Seaton. + + P. XXX S. + +"That comes from Mr. Seaton, all right," nodded Captain Tom. "That's +his private signal, below his name, that he told us to look for on all +orders of his. Now, let me have a look again at the position and +course of the 'Constant.'" + +After studying the dispatch intently, Captain Halstead nodded to his +chum to take the wheel. Facing about, Tom swung open the small +chart-case secured to the top of the deck-house. With a small, +accurate pocket rule he made some measurements. + +"At twenty-five miles an hour, Joe, if you can keep it up, a straight +sou'east by east course should bring us right in the path of the +'Constant' on the course and speed she reports." + +"Oh, we can keep the speed up," predicted Joe, confidently. "But I +can't fool with the engine, unless you insist. I ought to be back in +the cabin, at the wireless instrument." + +"Hank can keep at the motors, then," nodded Captain Tom. "Go along, +old fellow." + +Joe paused but an instant to give Hank the needed orders, then raced +aft. At the after end of the cabin were two snug little staterooms; at +the other end, forward, a table had been fitted up with wireless +apparatus, for the twin motors of the boat generated, by means of a +dynamo, electricity enough for a very respectable wireless spark. + +Hardly had Joe vanished when Hank, satisfied with the performance of +the motors, appeared on deck. The signal mast stood just behind the +bridge deck. It was of light, hollow steel, with two inner tubes that, +when extended, made an unusually high mast for such a boat. + +"We can run the extension mast up to full height in this light breeze, +can't we, Tom?" asked the Long Island boy. Halstead nodded. + +So simple was the arrangement that, within a few moments, Hank had the +aerials well aloft. Nor was he too soon, for this query came promptly +through space from Powell Seaton, up at Beaufort: + +"Are you starting at once?" + +With a quiet grin, all alone there by the wireless apparatus, young +Dawson sparked back through the air: + +"Three miles east, and running to intercept the 'Constant.'" + +"Good!" came clicking into Joe Dawson's watch-case receivers against +his ears, a moment later. "Then I won't bother you further. I trust +you. But, oh, if you should fail! You don't know what failure +means--to me!" + +All this, of course, was clicked out in the dot and dash code of the +Morse alphabet, but to Joe Dawson it was as plain as words spoken by +the human voice. + +"You're right, Mr. Seaton." Joe's busy right hand fingers clicked out +the message on the sending key, while the electric waves sped from the +aerials aloft outside. "We don't know what 'failure' means. We won't +fail you. Good-bye." + +Then Joe turned his attention to the "Constant." The big Black B liner +answered promptly. She was on the same course, and glad to know that +the "Restless" was speeding over the sea to seek her. + +Having finished in raising the extended signal mast, and glancing into +the motor room to see that the motors were running smoothly, Hank +leaned against the raised deck top. The Long Island boy was hardly to +be expected as a member of the crew of the "Restless" on this cruise, +but he had wound up the summer season at East Hampton, and now, with +idle September coming upon him, he had found the longing for the broad +sea too powerful for him. Family conditions at home being +satisfactory, he had promised himself this one month away from home, +and was aboard as steward and general helper. + +"I wonder if our work for Mr. Seaton has started in earnest?" ventured +Hank. + +"It has, for a few hours to-day, anyway," smiled Captain Tom. "We're +cruising at full speed, and under orders from the man who chartered +the 'Restless' for this month." + +"But who can this Clodis be?" + +"I don't know," Tom Halstead admitted. + +"I wonder why Mr. Seaton is so mightily interested in him? What does +Seaton mean by hinting at ruin and tragedies?" + +"Do you know what I think, Hank?" queried the young skipper, quietly. + +"What?" + +"I think it would be downright impudence on our part to get too +inquisitive about the affairs of the man who employs us. We looked Mr. +Seaton up, and found he had the reputation of being an honest man. +That's as much of his business as we have any right to want to know." + +Hank colored, though he went on, in an argumentative way: + +"I s'pose that's all true enough, Tom. Still, it's human nature, when +you smell a big mystery, to want to know the meaning of at least some +of it. And I'm mighty curious, because I scent something unusually big +in the air." + +"So do I," admitted the young skipper, giving the wheel another turn +in order to hold the fast-moving boat to her course. + +"Then what----" + +"Hold on, Hank! Don't be downright nosey. And, as for guessing----" + +"Why, Seaton as good as hints that there's been a downright attempt to +kill this man Clodis," broke in Hank, who could not be repressed +easily. "And Seaton is surely mightily worked up about it. And sending +us out to take a passenger off a steamer bound for South America! Tom, +do you s'pose that criminals are----" + +"Hank," broke in the young skipper, half-severely, "there's something +squeaking on one of the motors. For goodness' sake don't let us break +down on what we've been told is a life-and-death trip! Get below and +see what's wrong. Stand by to watch the performance of the motors." + +Hank vanished, inwardly grumbling, for his curiosity was doing two +hours' work every minute. + +Captain Tom, after measuring on the chart, had figured on meeting the +"Constant" in two hours and twenty minutes. Now, at every turn of the +twin shafts the young skipper's blood bounded with the desire to do +his full duty in arriving on time. Yet there was not wanting pleasure, +mixed with the anxiety. How good the fresh, salty air tasted, out here +on the broad sea, with the low coast-line already nearly out of sight! +Tom Halstead sniffed in breath after breath. His eyes danced as they +beheld the spraying of white water cut and turned up by the boat's +fast prow. Oh, it was great to be out here on the deep, one hand +guiding the course of one of the nimblest yachts afloat! + +Joe, as he came forward, felt this same wild exhilaration. Quiet, +dutiful and law-abiding as both these Motor Boat Club boys were, there +must have been much of the old Norseman Viking blood in their veins, +for this swift dash over the rolling swell of the ocean was like a +tonic to them both. + +"Say, isn't it all grand?" demanded Joe, his cheeks glowing, as he +paused on the bridge deck, taking in great whiffs of the purest air +supplied to man. + +"Great!" admitted Skipper Tom, in a tone that was almost a cheer. Then +he asked, gravely: + +"Any news?" + +"Mr. Seaton knows we have started, and expresses his pleasure. I've +signaled the 'Constant,' and she's still keeping to the same course, +and will so continue." + +"And the patient, Clodis?" + +"Still alive, Tom; but the ship's surgeon offers no hope, and will be +glad to have us take him onto the 'Restless.'" + +"It must be something terrible to make Mr. Seaton so anxious about +the man," observed Tom, thoughtfully. + +"Yes," nodded Joe. Then: "Say, Tom, I've just struck an easy scheme +for connecting one of the armatures of the Morse register, aft, to a +buzzer in the engine room. Then if I happen to be in the engine room +when wireless messages are traveling through the air I shall know +it." + +In the next hour all three of the boys, though they did not talk much +about it, were wondering about this tragedy of the deep sea that had +called them into action. Though they could not as yet guess it, this +present affair of theirs was but the start of a series of adventures +more amazing than any they had ever dreamed of. Now, at the most, they +were curious. Soon they were to know what it meant to be astounded; +they were soon to know what it felt like to feel haunted, to find +themselves assailed by dread after dread. Undoubtedly it was merciful +for them that they could not, at this moment, peer behind the curtain +of the immediate future. + +So, ignorant of what fate and destiny held in store for them, they +were mainly intent, now, upon intercepting at the right point the big +liner cruising swiftly southward. + +In another hour they made out smoke on the horizon where Skipper Tom +judged the "Constant" to be. Later the spars of the steamship were +visible through the marine glasses. Then the hull appeared. A few +minutes later Captain Tom ran the "Restless" dashingly in alongside +the great black hull of the liner, along whose starboard rail a +hundred or more passengers had gathered. + +Turning the wheel over to Hank, Captain Tom Halstead snatched up the +megaphone as the larger vessel slowed down. + +"'Constant,' ahoy!" bellowed the young skipper. "This is the yacht +'Restless,' sent to receive your injured passenger, Clodis." + +"'Restless' ahoy!" came the response from the liner's bridge. "We'll +lower our starboard side gangway, if you can come alongside safely." + +The Motor Boat Club boys were at the threshold of their strangest, +wildest succession of adventures! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SOME OF THE MYSTERY UNRAVELED + + +"IF we can come alongside safely," echoed Hank, disgustedly. "I'll +show 'em--and in a smooth swell of sea like this, too!" + +As the big steamship lay to, Hank steered in until Captain Tom, +boathook in hand, made fast temporarily. Then Hank hurried up with a +line with which he took a fast hitch. + +"Hey, there, you'll pull away our side gangway," roared down a mate, +whose head and uniform cap showed over the rail above. + +"You don't know us," grinned Joe Dawson, quietly. + +By this time Tom Halstead was running lightly up the steps of the +gangway. He reached the small platform above, then passed to the +deck. + +He was met by Captain Hampton, who inquired: + +"Where's your sailing master, young man?" + +"Right before you, Captain." + +"You?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Who are your owners?" demanded Captain Hampton, much astonished by +Tom's quiet assurance. + +"I'm captain and half-owner of the 'Restless,' sir," Halstead +continued, still smiling at the other captain's very evident +astonishment. "The other owner is the engineer, Joe Dawson, my chum." + +Captain Hampton swallowed something very hard. Several of the +passengers were smiling. A man who has followed the sea for years +knows the capacity and efficiency that boys often display on +shipboard, but it is unusual to find a boy acting as master of a +yacht. + +However, there was the "Restless," and there was Tom Halstead in the +captain's uniform. These were facts that could not be disputed. + +"You have a passenger, a Mr. Clodis, that you want to have me take +off?" resumed Tom. + +"Yes; you have come for him, then?" + +"Not only that, but Mr. Seaton, the gentleman who has our boat in +charter, has very urgently ordered us to bring Mr. Clodis ashore; also +his baggage complete, and any and all papers that he may have brought +aboard." + +"You have a comfortable berth on your boat?" + +"Several of them," Tom answered. + +"Then I'll have some of my men make the transfer at once. Our ship's +surgeon, Dr. Burke, will also go over the side and see that Mr. Clodis +is made as comfortable as possible for his trip ashore." + +"Steward Butts will show your men to the port stateroom, aft, sir." + +A mate hurried away to give the order to Dr. Burke. A boatswain was +directed to attend to having all of Mr. Clodis's baggage go over the +side. + +"Come to my stateroom, sir, if you please," requested Captain Hampton, +and Tom followed. + +"When you take a man with a fractured skull ashore, the authorities +may want some explanation," declared the 'Constant's' sailing master, +opening his desk. "Here is a statement, therefore, that I have +prepared and signed. Take it with you, Captain----" + +"Halstead," supplied Tom. + +The motor boat boy glanced hurriedly through the document. + +"I see you state it was an accident, Captain Hampton," went on +Halstead, lowering his voice. "Our charter-man, Mr. Seaton, intimated +that he believed it might have been a deliberate assault. Have you +anything that you wish to say on this point, sir?" + +"I don't believe it was an assault," replied the ship's master, +musingly. Halstead's quick eye noted that Hampton appeared to be a +sturdy, honest sea-dog. "Still, Captain Halstead, if you would like to +question the steward who found Mr. Clodis at the foot of the main +saloon companionway----" + +"Have you made the investigation thoroughly, sir?" + +"I think so--yes." + +"Then nothing is likely to be gained, Captain, by my asking any +questions of a steward you have already questioned." + +The mate came back to report that Mr. Clodis had been carried over +the side, and that his baggage had been taken aboard the "Restless." + +"I know you don't want a liner held up," Tom went on, slipping Captain +Hampton's report of the accident into his pocket. "I'll go over the +side, sir, as soon as you can ascertain whether Mr. Clodis had any +papers that ought to be sent ashore with him." + +"There are none in the injured man's pockets," replied the steamship's +sailing master, "and none were deposited with the purser. So, if there +are any papers, they must be in Mr. Clodis's trunk or bag." + +"Thank you, sir. Then I'll bid you good-bye and hurry over the side," +said Halstead, energetically. + +As they stepped out of the stateroom a passenger who had been +lingering near stepped up. + +"Oh, one moment," said Captain Hampton, suddenly. "Captain Halstead, +this gentleman is Mr. Arthur Hilton. Since leaving New York he has +received some wireless news that makes him anxious to return. He wants +to go ashore with you." + +Arthur Hilton had stepped forward, holding out his hand, which Tom +took in his own. Mr. Hilton was a man of about thirty, smooth-faced, +with firm set jaws. Though evidently not a Spaniard, he had the +complexion usual to that race. His dark eyes were keen and sharp, +though they had a rather pleasant look in them. He was slender, +perhaps five feet eight inches tall, and, although his waist and legs +were thin, he had broad, rather powerful looking shoulders. + +"You can set me ashore, can't you, young man, for a ten-dollar bill?" +inquired Hilton. + +"Certainly, if Captain Hampton knows no reason why you shouldn't leave +the vessel," Tom answered. + +"Mr. Hilton has surrendered his passage ticket, and there is nothing +to detain him aboard," replied the steamship's master. + +"Your baggage ready, sir?" asked Tom. + +"Nothing but this bag," laughed Hilton, stepping back and picking up +his hand luggage. + +"Come along, then, sir." + +As Tom Halstead pressed his way through the throng of passengers +gathered on deck, he heard several wondering, and some admiring, +remarks relative to the youthfulness of the skipper of so handsome and +trim a yacht. + +Hilton followed the young skipper down over the side. Tom turned to +help him to the deck of the "Restless," but Hilton lightly leaped +across, holding his bag before him. Tom Halstead, as he turned, got a +good look at that bag. It was one that he was likely to remember for +many a day. The article was of dark red leather, and on one side the +surface for a space as large as a man's hand had been torn away, +probably in some accident. + +"Here's the passage money, Captain," said Hilton, passing over a +ten-dollar bill. Murmuring his thanks, the young skipper crumpled up +the bill, shoving it into a trousers pocket, then hurried aft. + +Clodis was a short, almost undersized man of perhaps forty-five, stout +and well dressed. His head was so bandaged, as he lay in the lower +berth of the port stateroom, that not much of his face was visible. + +"He's unconscious, and probably will be for hours," stated Dr. Burke, +as Captain Tom appeared in the doorway. "If he comes to, I've left +some medicine with your steward, to be given the patient. Of course +you'll get him ashore and under medical care as promptly as possible, +Captain." + +"Surgeons are on the way from Beaufort to meet us," the young skipper +nodded. + +"Then I'll return to my ship," declared Dr. Burke, rising. "But I'm +glad to know that Mr. Clodis is going to be met by a friend." + +As the doctor hurried over the side, Hilton turned to walk aft. + +"Stay forward, if you please, sir," interposed Captain Tom. "No one is +to go into the cabin until the patient has been removed under a +doctor's orders." + +There was a frown on Hilton's face, which, however, almost instantly +vanished. Joe brought a deck arm chair and placed it for Mr. Hilton on +the bridge deck. + +"Good luck for you and your patient, sir," called down Captain Hampton +over the rail, as he prepared to get under headway. + +"Thank you, sir," Tom acknowledged. "We'll take the best care of Mr. +Clodis that we know how." + +With Hank on duty in the cabin, Tom Halstead had to cast off and make +his own start as best he could. He managed the double task neatly, +however, and, as he fell away the "Constant's" engine-room bell could +be heard for half-speed-ahead. + +The little auto-whistle of the "Restless" sounded shrilly, to be +answered with a long, deep-throated blast from the liner's steam +whistle. With this brief interchange of sea courtesies the two craft +fell apart, going on their respective ways. + +"Full speed on the return?" called Joe, from the doorway of the motor +room. + +"Yes," nodded Captain Tom. "But look out for vibration. Our sick man +has had his skull cracked." + +By the time the yacht had gone scooting for more than a mile over the +waves, Captain Halstead, left hand on the wheel, turned to Hilton. + +"Did you hear how our sick man came to be hurt, sir?" + +"I didn't hear of it until a couple of hours after it happened," +replied Hilton. "I understand that Mr. Clodis fell down the stairs +leading to the main saloon, and was picked up unconscious. That was +about all the word that was given out on board." + +Captain Tom nodded, then gave his whole attention to making Lonely +Island as speedily as possible. There was no land in sight, and the +trip back was a long one. Yet the young skipper had his bearings +perfectly. + +They were still some eight miles off Lonely Island when Hilton roused +himself at sight of a low-hulled, black schooner scudding north under +a big spread of canvas. + +"You're going to pass close to that boat, aren't you, Captain?" asked +the bridge deck passenger. + +"Yes, sir; pretty close." + +"As I understand it, you're going to land at an island some miles off +the coast, whereas I wish to reach the mainland at the earliest +possible moment, and catch a railway train. So, Captain, if you'll +signal that schooner and put me aboard, I shall feel under sufficient +obligation to hand you another ten-dollar bill." + +That looked so much like earning money rapidly that Halstead called +Joe up from the motor room to set the signal. The schooner lay to +until overtaken. Hilton discovered that the schooner was bound for +Beaufort, and the bargain was quickly completed. A small boat put off +from the sailing vessel and the bridge deck passenger, his noticeable +bag included, was transferred. + +The "Restless" was nearer Lonely Island, and the schooner was hull +down, when Captain Tom suddenly started as Joe Dawson stepped upon +deck. + +"Blazes, Joe!" exclaimed the young skipper. "I'm afraid we've done +it!" + +"I'm afraid so, too," came quietly from the young engineer. + +"That fellow Hilton, so anxious to get ashore, may be the very chap +who struck down Mr. Clodis!" + +"The thought had just come to me," admitted Joe. + +"Yes! You know, Mr. Seaton hinted that the 'accident' might have been +an attempt to kill." + +Captain and engineer of the "Restless" stared disconcertedly at each +other. + +"Now, why did I have to go and make such a fearful stumble as that?" +groaned Tom. + +"You didn't, any more than I did," Joe tried to console him. + +"We should, at least, have kept Hilton aboard until Mr. Seaton had had +a chance to look him over." + +"I could send a wireless to the Beaufort police to grab Hilton on +landing," suggested Joe, doubtfully, but Tom Halstead shook his head +energetically. + +"No; the Beaufort police wouldn't do that on our say-so, Joe. And, +even if they did, we might get ourselves into a lot of trouble." + +The "Restless" kept smoothly, swiftly on her way, bounding over the +low, gentle swell of the calm ocean. Tom shivered whenever he thought +of the possibility of the motors becoming cranky. With such important +human freight aboard any mishap to the machinery would be extremely +serious. + +"Joe," called Tom, at last, as the yacht came in sight of Lonely +Island, "there's a tug at our dock." + +Dawson came on deck, taking the marine glass from his chum's hand. + +"I guess Mr. Seaton has been hustling, then. He couldn't have come +from Beaufort on the tug, after all the trouble of rounding up +doctors. He must have come down the shore in an automobile, and then +engaged the tug near the island." + +As the "Restless" went closer, the tug, with two short toots of its +whistle, moved out from the dock. Powell Seaton, in broad-brimmed hat +and blue serge, waved his hand vigorously at the boys. With him stood +three men, presumably surgeons. Captain Tom Halstead sounded three +short blasts of the auto-whistle to signal the success of his errand, +while Joe swung his uniform cap over his head. + +"Get down to your engines, Joe," called Captain Tom. "I'm going to +make a swift landing that will be in keeping with Mr. Seaton's +impatience." + +Up to within nearly two hundred yards of the dock the "Restless" +dashed in at full speed. Then signaling for half speed, next for the +stop, and finally for the reverse, Captain Tom swung the yacht in +almost a semi-circle, running up with bare headway so that the boat +lay in gently against the string-piece. In that instant Tom, leaving +the wheel, bounded up onto the dock, bow hawser in hand, and made the +loop fast over the snubbing post. In the same instant Joe Dawson, +cat-footed, raced aft, next leaping ashore with the stern hawser. + +"Jove, but that was a beautiful bit of boat-handling--a superb piece +of seamanship!" muttered one of the surgeons, admiringly. + +Powell Seaton, however, stopped to hear none of this. He gripped Tom +by the arm, demanding hoarsely: + +"You brought Clodis ashore? How is he? Where?" + +"Still unconscious, sir, and the ship's doctor offered no hope. You +will find your friend in the port stateroom, sir." + +Signing to the surgeons to accompany him, Mr. Seaton vanished aft, the +medical men with him. Ten minutes passed before Hank came up, alone. + +"What do the doctors say, Hank?" demanded Tom, instantly. + +"One chance in about a million," replied Hank, in a very subdued +voice--for him. + +Five minutes later Mr. Seaton, hat in hand, also came up on deck. + +"Mr. Seaton," murmured Tom, eagerly, "I've been waiting for you. +I--we've something to tell you." Then the young skipper detailed the +affair of taking Arthur Hilton from the "Constant" and transferring +him to the Beaufort-bound schooner. + +"Describe the fellow!" commanded Powell Seaton, suddenly, hoarsely. + +Captain Tom did so. + +"Arthur Hilton he called himself, did he?" cried Mr. Seaton, in a +rage. "Anson Dalton is the scoundrel's real name!" + +"Who is he, sir?" Tom asked, anxiously. + +"Who is Anson Dalton?" cried Mr. Seaton, his voice sounding as though +he were choking. "Who, but the scoundrel who has engineered this whole +desperate plot against me! The dastard who struck down Allan Clodis! +The knave who has striven for the badge of Cain!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +INVISIBLE HANDS AT THE WIRELESS + + +In a rear bedroom, the furthest apartment from the wireless room of +the bungalow, Allan Clodis, barely alive, was placed when they bore +him up from the boat. Then the three surgeons, retaining only Hank +Butts, drove the others from the room. + +"Back to the wireless!" breathed Seaton, tensely. "Dawson, get +Beaufort on the jump." + +"I have the Beaufort operator," reported Joe, after a few moments. + +"Then rush this message, and ask the operator to get it in the hands +of the chief of police without an instant's loss of time," directed +Mr. Seaton, speaking in jerky haste. + +The message described Anson Dalton, also the black schooner on which +he had last been seen. The police chief was asked to arrest Dalton on +sight, on the authority of Powell Seaton, and hold him for the United +States authorities, for an attempt at homicide on an American ship on +the high seas. + +Within ten minutes back came the reply from Beaufort to this effect: + +"I have men out watching for the schooner. Man Dalton will be arrested +as you request. Will notify you." + +"Good!" cried Mr. Seaton, rubbing his hands vengefully. "Oh, Dalton, +you scoundrel, you can't escape us now, for long! You knew that, if +you continued down the coast, there was danger that a United States +revenue cutter would intercept the ship and take you off. At best, you +knew you would be arrested at Rio Janeiro, if I suspected you, as I +was bound to do. So you tried to steal ashore here, to be swallowed up +in the mazes of this broad country at least an hour or two ahead of +pursuit. And, but for the wireless spark that leaps through space, you +could have done so. But we shall have you now." + +"Unless----" began Tom Halstead, hintingly, then paused. + +"Unless--what?" insisted Mr. Seaton. + +"Suppose Dalton is shrewd enough to pay the captain of the schooner to +land him at some other point, where there is neither a policeman nor a +telegraph station?" + +Seaton made a noise that sounded as though he were grinding his teeth. +Then he picked up a pencil, writing furiously. + +"Send this to the police chief at Beaufort," he ordered. Joe Dawson's +fingers made the sending-key sing. The message was one warning the +police chief that Dalton might attempt to land at some point outside +of Beaufort, and asking him to cover all near points along the coast. +Mr. Seaton offered to make good any expense that this would entail. + +Once more, in a few minutes, the answer was at hand. + +"Chief of police at Beaufort says," Joe translated the dots and +dashes, "that his authority does not extend beyond the city limits." + +Again Mr. Seaton began to show signs of fury. Then, as though to force +self-control, he trod softly out of the room, going toward the door of +the sick-room, where Hank Butts stood guard. + +"No news, sir; no change," Hank reported, in an undertone. + +"I'm afraid Mr. Seaton is pretty angry with us," said Tom Halstead, +gravely, "for allowing Hilton--Dalton, I mean--to get away from us." + +"Then he may as well get over it," commented Joe Dawson, quietly. +"We're hired to furnish a boat, to sail it, and, incidentally, to run +a wireless telegraph apparatus. We didn't engage ourselves as +policemen." + +"True," nodded young Captain Halstead. "Still, I might have done some +quicker thinking. My! What would Dalton have felt like if I had run +straight for this dock, refusing to put him aboard any other craft?" + +"If you had tried to do that," retorted Joe, with another quiet smile, +"do you know, Tom, what I think your friends would have been doing and +saying of you?" + +"No; of course not." + +"Your friends would have been sending flowers, and bringing tears. +They would be looking at you, to-morrow, and saying, in undertones: +'Goodness, how natural he looks!'" + +Halstead was puzzled for a moment or two. Then, comprehending, he +grinned, though he demanded: + +"You think Dalton would have dared anything like that?" + +"Well, you notice what kind of a rascal Mr. Seaton thinks Dalton is. +And you know we don't go armed aboard the 'Restless.' Now, I'm pretty +certain that Dalton could have displayed and used weapons if we had +given him any cause to do so." + +Ten minutes later, when Powell Seaton entered the room, he beheld +Captain Tom Halstead seated at the operator's table, sealing an +envelope that he had just directed. + +"What are you doing, Captain?" asked the charter-man. + +"You know that miserable twenty dollars that I took from Anson Dalton +for passage money?" inquired Halstead, looking up. + +"Yes." + +"I've just enclosed the money in this envelope, with a note." + +"Going to return the money to Dalton when you find his address?" +smiled Mr. Seaton, wearily. + +"No, sir," retorted Tom, in a voice sharp with disgust. "Dalton seems +to have more money, already, than is good for him. I've addressed this +envelope to a county institution down in the state that I come from." + +"A public institution?" + +"Yes, sir; the home for feeble-minded youth." + +"Don't take it so hard as that, Halstead," urged Mr. Seaton. "Had you +had a suspicion you would have done whatever lay in your power. I +might have warned you against Dalton, but the truth is, _I_ did not +imagine he would be right on the scene." + +Saying which, Powell Seaton walked away by himself. He was gravely, +even sadly preoccupied. Though Captain Halstead could not even guess +what the underlying mystery was, he knew that it seriously affected +Mr. Seaton's plans and fortune. Their charter-man was worried almost +past endurance, though bravely trying to hide the fact. + +After the consultation of the surgeons, two of them departed aboard +the tug, the third remaining to care for the patient. Hank, despite +all his bluntness of manner, was proving himself valuable in the +sick-room, while Joe spent most of his time in the wireless room of +the bungalow, waiting to receive or send any word. So, as evening +came, Tom Halstead bestirred himself with the preparation of the +evening meal. + +By dark there was a considerable wind blowing. Halstead left his +cooking long enough to run down and make sure that all was snug and +tight aboard the "Restless." The young skipper had fairly to fight his +way against the wind on his return to the bungalow. + +"There's going to be a tough old gale to-night," Tom muttered to +himself, as he halted, a moment, on the porch, to study the weather +conditions. + +As yet, it was blowing only fairly hard. As the little group at the +bungalow seated themselves at supper, however, the storm broke, with a +deluge of rain and a sharp roar of thunder. + +"This will bother wireless conditions to-night, won't it?" queried Mr. +Seaton, as they ate. + +"Some, perhaps, if the gale and the storm keep up," replied Joe +Dawson. "But I imagine the worst of the gale is passing now." + +And so it proved. An hour later the rain was falling steadily, though +only in a drizzle. The wind had moderated a good deal. + +As all hands, save Hank, sat in the sitting room of the bungalow, +after the meal, the warning bell from the apparatus room suddenly +tinkled. + +"You see, sir," said Joe, rising quickly, "the wireless is still able +to work." + +He passed into the next room, seating himself by the instruments and +slipping on the head-band that held the receivers. + +"From Beaufort, sir," Joe said, presently, looking up. "The police +report that no such schooner has landed at that city." + +"Acknowledge the message of the police," directed Mr. Seaton, "and ask +them not to give up the lookout through the night. Tell the chief of +police that I'll gladly meet any expense that may be incurred." + +Joe's right hand reached out for the sending-key. Then a blank look +flashed across his face. + +"Something wrong with the sending-key connections," he explained, in a +low voice, leaping up. He examined the connections closely, yet, the +more he looked, the more puzzled he became. + +"The storage batteries can't have given out," he muttered, snatching +up a lighted lantern. "But I'll go and look at them." + +Out into the little dynamo shed he darted, followed by Powell Seaton +and by Tom. The doctor was dozing in an arm-chair. + +Joe gave two or three swift looks at the dynamo, the storage battery +connections and other parts of the apparatus. Then his face went white +with rage. + +"Look here, Mr. Seaton," he panted, hoarsely. "There's been some +infernal work here--someone else has been on the island, for none of +our crowd would do such a trick! Not even in fun! Look, sir, at where +the parts have been tampered with. Look where pliers have been used to +cut the wire connections. See where these two bolts have been neatly +removed with the help of wrenches. Look at----" + +Joe paused, then glanced wildly around. + +"Great Scott!" he groaned. "Just the parts removed that can't be +replaced. The whole generating plant crippled! Mr. Seaton, until we +get in touch with the mainland, and get some needed supplies there, we +can't use this wireless plant again. We can receive messages--yes, up +to any limit, but not a word can we send away from here." + +"But who can have done this trick?" gasped Powell Seaton, looking as +though amazement had numbed him, as, indeed, it almost had. + +"Someone has landed here, since dark," broke in Tom Halstead, all +a-quiver with dismay. "While we were at supper some sneak or sneaks +have landed on this island. They have pried their way in here, and +they've crippled our connection with the outside world." + +"They could do it all easily enough, without making any noise," +confirmed Joe. "Yes--they've done a splendid job, from a scoundrel's +point of view!" + +"Then you can't make this apparatus work for the sending of even a +single message?" demanded Mr. Seaton. + +"Not until we've landed some necessary repair and replacement +materials from the mainland," replied Joe, with a disgusted shake of +his head. + +"But you can still send messages from the 'Restless,'" hinted Powell +Seaton. + +Tom Halstead bounded for the door of the dynamo shed with a sudden +exclamation of dread. + +"We can use the boat's wireless," nodded Joe, following, and speaking +over his shoulder, "unless the same crowd of rascals have broken into +the boat's motor room or cabin and played us the same trick there." + +In the big sitting room, beside the large open fire-place, was a pile +of long sticks of firewood. Tom Halstead stopped to snatch up one of +these, and Joe quickly followed suit. + +"I'll go down to the boat with you, boys," said Mr. Seaton, who had +followed them. "If there's anyone around to put up a fight you'll want +some help." + +But Captain Tom, acting, for the moment, as though he were aboard the +yacht, suddenly took command. + +"Mr. Seaton," he said, "you'd better remain here to guard your +unconscious friend. Doctor, wake up! Better go in and send Hank Butts +out on the trot. We'll take him with us." + +Dr. Cosgrove, awaking and realizing that something important was +happening, swiftly moved off to the sick-room. Hank was speedily out +with his comrades. + +"If there are rascals on this island, who have designs against you, +Mr. Seaton, then mount guard over your friend," Tom added. "Better be +in the sick-room at any moment when Dr. Cosgrove leaves there. Hank, +get a club from that pile. Now, come along, fellows, and we'll see +what infernal mischief may have been done to the 'Restless.'" + +With that, the young skipper bounded out onto the porch, thence +running down the board walk toward the dock. + +Tom Halstead had some vague but highly uneasy notions as to the safety +of his beloved boat. Yet, alarmed as he was, he was hardly prepared +for the shock that met him when he arrived at the edge of the little +wharf. + +"Say, can you beat that?" panted young Halstead, halting, +thunderstruck, and gazing back at his stupefied comrades. "The +rascals--whoever they are--have stolen the 'Restless.' Joe, our +splendid boat is gone!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +TAKING A GREAT CHANCE + + +Joe, with a voiceless gulp, sprang forward once more, pausing at the +string-piece only, and peering hard out into the black, wet night. + +Hank Butts brought his club down over a snubbing post with such force +as to shatter the weapon. + +For a few moments Tom Halstead stood looking about him in an uncertain +way, as though trying to arouse himself from a hideous nightmare. + +"They've stolen our boat!" he gasped. + +Whoever had done this deed might almost as well have taken the young +captain's life. The "Restless" was a big part of that life. + +"Oh, well," muttered Hank, thickly, "whoever took the yacht must leave +it somewhere. You can't hide a craft of that size. We'll hear from the +'Restless' all right, in a day or two--or in a week, anyway." + +"Whoever took the yacht away from here may know next to nothing about +handling a boat," choked Tom, hoarsely. "We may find the dear old +craft again--yes--but perhaps wedged on the rocks somewhere,--a +hopeless wreck. O-o-oh! It makes me feel ugly and heartsick, all in +one!" + +"The 'Restless' can't have broken loose during the storm, can it?" +asked Hank Butts. + +"No," retorted Tom and Joe in the same breath, and with the utmost +positiveness. + +"Well, what are we going to do?" asked Hank. + +The answer to the question was hard to find. Lonely Island lay five +miles off the shore. Wireless communication was out of the question. +They were out of the track of passing vessels, nor was any stray, +friendly craft at all likely to show up on this dark, forbidding +night. + +"Come on back, fellows," said Tom, chokingly. "There's nothing we can +do here, and Mr. Seaton must know the whole situation." + +The owner of the bungalow listened to them with a blank face when the +Motor Boat Club boys again stood before him. + +"I can't even guess what to make out of this," he confessed. + +"It would help Dalton greatly if Mr. Clodis died to-night, wouldn't +it, sir?" inquired the young skipper. + +"It would help Dalton much, and be of still greater value to the +wretches behind Dalton," replied Mr. Seaton, grinding his teeth. + +"Then, sir, as the tug went back to mainland with two of the doctors, +isn't it possible that some spy may have concluded that _all_ the +doctors had returned until summoned again?" + +"That seems very likely," nodded the owner of the bungalow. + +"Then perhaps Dalton--and those behind him--hope that Mr. Clodis will +become much worse, and die before you can again summon help from the +mainland." + +"That looks more likely than any other explanation of these strange +happenings," agreed Mr. Seaton, studying the floor, while the frown on +his face deepened. + +"And the scoundrels," quavered Tom, "may even come back during the +night and try to make _sure_ that Mr. Clodis dies without ever +becoming conscious." + +"I don't quite see why they need care so much," replied Mr. Seaton, +slowly. "Dalton got all of Clodis's papers--the ones that I wanted +preserved from the wretches back of Dalton." + +"Are you sure they have _all_?" propounded Captain Halstead. + +"Why, Clodis carried the papers in a money-belt, and, in undressing +him, we found that belt gone." + +"Have you looked through the baggage that we brought ashore with Mr. +Clodis?" + +"I haven't thought of it. Haven't had time," replied Mr. Seaton. "But +I will now. Mr. Clodis's steamer trunk is in the room with him. We'll +bring it out, and search." + +Tom and Hank brought the trunk out. + +"The lock hasn't been tampered with, you see, sir," suggested +Halstead. + +"Here are Clodis's keys," replied Powell Seaton, producing a ring. One +of the keys he fitted to the trunk lock, next throwing up the lid. +After rummaging for a few moments, Mr. Seaton brought up a sealed +envelope from the bottom of the trunk. + +"Dalton _would_ have been glad to get this," he cried, with a near +approach to delight. + +"Lock it up tight in your innermost pockets then, sir," counseled Tom +Halstead. "The contents of that envelope must be what Dalton has come +back here for, or sent someone else for. And, until he gets it, he +must plan to keep Lonely Island out of touch with the whole world. +We'll hear from him again to-night, I'm thinking." + +"Will we?" flared Mr. Seaton, stepping briskly across the room. +Unlocking a cupboard door, he brought out a repeating shot-gun. From +an ammunition box he helped himself to several shells, fitting six of +them into the magazine of the gun. + +"Buckshot talks, sometimes," said the owner of the bungalow, more +quietly. "I shall be awake to-night, and have this gun always with +me." + +"Have you any other weapons, sir?" asked Tom. + +"Yes; a revolver--here it is." + +Powell Seaton held out the weapon, but Halstead shook his head. + +"Dr. Cosgrove is the one who'll want that, since he must stay by Mr. +Clodis to-night. And, see here, Mr. Seaton, impress upon the doctor +that he mustn't take a nap, even for a moment. As for you, you'll want +to be watching the house in general." + +"Why, where will you young men be?" inquired Mr. Seaton. + +"We couldn't stay indoors, with our boat gone, sir," Tom answered. +"The first thing we must do is to explore all around the island. Even +if we don't get a sign of the 'Restless,' we may find out something +else. We may be able to catch someone trying to land on this island +later to-night." + +"Yes; it will be best to have guards outside roaming about the +island," admitted Powell Seaton, readily. Then, lowering his voice as +he signed to the Motor Boat Club boys to draw closer to him, Mr. +Seaton added: + +"Something, of some nature, _will_ be attempted to-night. There is no +other sound explanation of the crippling of the wireless and the +stealing of the boat. So be vigilant, boys--as I shall also be while +you're gone." + +Hank helped himself to a fresh club--a stouter one than that which he +had broken over the snubbing post at the dock. Then out into the black +night fared the three Motor Boat Club boys. + +"Shall we keep together, or spread?" asked Joe Dawson. + +"Together," nodded Tom Halstead. "If there are prowlers about, we +can't tell how soon three of us may be even too few. Remember, we have +only firewood to fight with, and we don't know what kind of men we may +run up against." + +So Tom led his friends down to a point but little south of the dock. +From here, following the shore, they started to prowl slowly around +Lonely Island, all the while keeping a sharp watch to seaward. + +"If the boat is in any waters near at hand we ought to get some sign +of her whereabouts by keeping a sharp enough watch," Tom advised his +comrades. "They can't sail or handle the boat without the occasional +use of a light in the motor room. The gleam of a lantern across the +water may be enough to give us an idea where she is." + +Peering off into the blackness of the night, this seemed like rather a +forlorn hope. + +"If whoever has stolen the boat intends to land later to-night," +hinted Joe, "it's much more likely that the thieves are, at this +moment, a good, biggish distance away, so as not to give us any clew +to their intentions." + +In the course of twenty minutes the Motor Boat Club boys had made +their way around to the southern end of the island. + +Somewhat more than a mile to the southward lay a small, unnamed +island. It was uninhabited, and too sandy to be of value to planters. +Yet it had one good cove of rather deep water. + +Tom halted, staring long and hard in the direction where he knew this +little spot on the ocean to stand. It was too black a night for any +glimpse of the island to be had against the sky. + +"That would be a good enough place for our pirates to have taken the +'Restless,'" he muttered, to his comrades. + +"If we only had a boat, we could know, bye-and-bye," muttered Hank, +discontentedly. + +"We have been known to swim further than that," said Joe, quietly. + +"But never in such a sea as is running to-night," sighed Tom Halstead. +"Even as the water is, I'd like to chance it, but I'm afraid it would +be useless. And it would leave Mr. Seaton and the doctor alone against +any surprise." + +"I'd swim that far, or drown, even in this sea," muttered Dawson, +vengefully, "if I had any idea that our boat lay over that way." + +For two or three minutes the boys stood there, talking. Not once did +Tom Halstead turn his eyes away from the direction of the island to +the southward. + +"Look there!" the young skipper finally uttered, clutching at Joe's +elbow. "Did you see that?" + +"Yes," voiced Joe, in instant excitement. + +"That" was a tiny glow of light, made small by the distance. + +"It's a lantern, being carried by someone," continued Captain Tom, +after a breathless pause. "There--it vanishes! Oh, I say--gracious!" + +Joe, too, gave a gasp. + +As for Hank Butts, that youth commenced to breathe so hard that there +was almost a rattle to his respiration. + +Immediately following the disappearance of the distant light, four +smaller, dimmer lights appeared, in a row. + +"That's the same light, showing through the four starboard ports of +the motor room," trembled Joe Dawson. "Starboard, because the lantern +was carried forward, before it disappeared briefly in the hatchway of +the motor room." + +"That's our boat--there isn't a single doubt of it," cried Tom +Halstead, enthusiastically. "And now--oh, fellows! We've simply got to +swim over there, rough sea or smooth sea. We've got to get our own +boat back unless the heavens fall on us on the way over!" + +"Humph! What are we going to do," demanded Hank Butts, "if we find a +gang aboard that we can't whip or bluff?" + +"That," spoke Captain Tom, softly, "will have to be decided after we +get there. But swim over there we must, since there isn't anything on +this island that even looks like a boat. See here, Joe, you and Hank +trot up to the bungalow and tell Mr. Seaton what we've seen. The +'Restless' is at anchor in the cove yonder. There are plenty of logs +up at the bungalow. Come back with one big enough to buoy us up in the +water, yet not so big but what we can steer it while swimming. And +bring with it a few lengths of that quarter-inch cord from the dynamo +room. Don't be too long, will you, fellows?" + +After Joe and Hank had departed, Tom Halstead watched the light +shining behind the four distant ports until it disappeared. Then he +looked at the waves long and wonderingly. + +"It's a big chance to take. I don't know whether we can ever get out +there in a sea like this," he muttered. "Yet, what wouldn't I do to +get control of our own boat again? Our own boat--the good old +'Restless'! Joe isn't saying much of anything; he never does, but I +know how he feels over the stealing of the boat and the chance that +bunglers may leave her on the rocks somewhere along this coast!" + +A few minutes passed. Then the young skipper heard hurrying footsteps. +Joe and Hank hove into sight out of the deep gloom, bearing an +eight-foot log on their shoulders. + +"Good enough," nodded Halstead, eyeing the log approvingly. "Now, wade +into the water with it, and let's see whether it will buoy us all up +at need." + +All three waded out with the log, until they were in nearly up to +their shoulders. + +"Now, hang to it, and see if it will hold us up," commanded Captain +Tom Halstead. + +The log bore them up, but the crest of a big wave, rolling in, hurled +them back upon the beach. Tom dragged the log up onto dry ground. + +"Now, first of all, let's lash our clubs to the log," suggested the +young skipper. This was soon accomplished. Then each of the Motor Boat +Club boys made a medium length of the cord fast around his chest, +under the arm-pits. + +"The next trick," proposed Halstead, "is to make the other end fast to +the log, allowing just length enough so that you can swim well clear +of the log itself, and yet be able to haul yourselves back to the log +in case you find your strength giving out." + +This took some calculation, but at last the three motor boat boys +decided that eight feet of line was the proper length. This decided, +and accomplished, they carried the log down into the water, and pushed +resolutely off into the blackness. + +Even Tom Halstead, who allowed himself few doubts, little believed +that they could accomplish this long, dangerous swimming cruise over a +rough sea. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +TOM MATCHES ONE TRICK WITH ANOTHER + + +At the outset Joe swam at the rear, frequently giving a light push to +send the log riding ahead. Tom and Hank swam on either side, +half-towing the timber that was to be their buoy when needed. + +All three, reared at the edge of salt water, as they had been, were +strong, splendid swimmers. This night, however, with the rough waves, +the feat was especially dangerous. + +"Swim the way a fellow does when he knows he's really _got_ to," was +the young skipper's terse advice as they started. + +It became a contest of endurance. Tom and Joe, the two Maine boys, +were doggedly determined to reach their boat or perish in the attempt. +Hank Butts, the Long Island boy, though perhaps possessing less fine +courage than either of his comrades, had a rough way of treating +danger as a joke. This may have been a pretense, yet in times of peril +it passed well enough for grit. + +Any one of the three could have swum a mile readily on a lightly +rolling sea, but to-night the feat was a vastly sterner one. Hank was +the first to give out, after going a little more than an eighth of +the distance. He swam to the log, throwing his right arm over it and +holding on while the two Maine boys pushed and towed it. Finally, when +young Butts had broken away to swim, Joe closed in, holding to the log +for a while. At last it came even doughty Tom Halstead's turn to seek +this aid to buoyancy. + +Nor had they covered half the distance, in all, when all three found +themselves obliged to hold to the log, as it rolled and plunged, +riding the waves. Worst of all, despite their exertions, all three now +found their teeth chattering. + +"Say, it begins to look like a crazy undertaking," declared Hank, with +blunt candor. "Can we possibly make it?" + +"We've got to," retorted Tom Halstead, his will power unshaken. + +"I don't see the light over there any more," observed Hank, speaking +the words in jerks of one syllable, so intense was the shaking of his +jaws. + +"Maybe the boat isn't over yonder any longer," admitted Captain Tom, +"but we've got to chance it. And say, we'd better shove off and try to +swim again, to warm ourselves up. We're in danger of shaking ourselves +plum to pieces." + +There was another great peril, on which none of them had calculated +well enough before starting. When they were clear of the log, +swimming, it pitched so on the tops of the waves that it was likely, +at any instant, to drive against the head of one of the swimmers and +crack his skull. + +"If we had known all this before we started----" began Hank, the next +time the three swimmers were driven to cling, briefly, to their +movable buoy. + +"We'd have started just the same," retorted Tom, as stiffly as his +chattering teeth would let him speak. + +"Humph!" muttered Hank, unbelievingly. "It's a fool's dream, this kind +of a swim." + +"It's less work to go ahead than to turn back, now," broke in Joe, his +teeth accompanying his words with the clatter of castanets. + +"No; the wind and tide would be with us going back," objected Butts. +"We could almost drift back." + +"And die of chills on the way," contended Tom, doggedly. "No, sir! +We've got to go ahead. I'm swimming to the tune of thoughts of the +galley fire aboard the 'Restless'!" + +"Br-r-r!" shook Hank, as the three cast loose from the log once more +and struck out, panting, yet too cold to stay idle any longer. + +It was tantalizing enough. The longer they swam, the more the boys +began to believe that the island they sought was retreating from +before them. Hank was almost certain they were moving in a circle, +but Halstead, with a keen sense of location, insisted that they were +going straight, even if very slowly, to the nameless island. + +"I see it," breathed the young skipper, exultantly, at last. + +"What--the island?" bellowed Hank Butts. + +"No; but I'd swear I saw the 'Restless' the last time we rode a high +wave," Halstead shouted back. + +Ten minutes afterwards all three of the Motor Boat Club boys caught +occasional glimpses of something dark and vague that they believed to +be the hull of their yacht. The belief gave them renewed courage. Even +Hank no longer had any desire to turn back. His whole thought centered +on the lively times that were likely to begin when they tried to +regain control of their boat from whomever had stolen it. + +Then, bit by bit the trio worked their log buoy into the cove. Once +they were inside, the water was very much smoother. Resting a few +moments for breath, they then made a last dash forward, to get +alongside. + +In this smoother, more shallow water, the "Restless" rode securely at +anchor. As they swam closer, the boys found that they could discover +no human presence on the decks. Had the boat-stealers gone ashore on +the nameless island? If so, it would be a comparatively easy matter to +get aboard and cut out of the cove with their own craft. + +Close up alongside they went. Tom Halstead was the first to be able to +reach up at the hull and draw himself up over the side. Then, with his +pocket-knife, as he lay at the rail of the "Restless," the young +skipper slashed the cord that still held him bound to the log. +Reaching over, he passed the knife to Hank. In utter silence the Long +Island boy cut the clubs free, and passed them up. Next Hank drew +himself aboard, after passing the jackknife to Joe Dawson. + +Just a little later all three of the Motor Boat Club boys found +themselves standing on the deck, each grasping his own firewood +weapon. They made no noise, for they knew not who, or how many others +might be on board below. If they had a desperate gang of thieves to +contend with, then their troubles had not yet even begun! + +Joe and Hank stood where they were, shaking as though in the last +ditch of ague, while Halstead went forward, with the soft tread of a +cat, to peer down into the motor room, the hatchway of which stood +open. + +"Wonder if there's anyone down there, asleep, or playing possum?" +thought the young skipper as he peered into the blackness and +listened. No sound of any kind came up to him. At last, a short step +at a time, Halstead descended into the motor room, groping cautiously +about. Finally, he became confident enough to feel in the galley +match-box, extract a match and light it. The tiny flame showed him +that the motor room was empty of human presence other than his own. + +"No one down forward," he reported, in a shaking whisper, when he +rejoined his chilled companions on deck. + +"I believe there are plenty of folks in the cabin, though," reported +Joe. "They've drawn the port-hole and transom curtains, but they've +got a hidden light down there, and I can hear voices." + +"Wait a moment, then," said Captain Tom, apprehensively. "I've an +idea." + +He crept back into the motor room, again striking a match. By the aid +of this feeble light he found his way to the passageway that connected +the motor room and the cabin under the bridge deck. After a brief +inspection he hurried back to his comrades. + +"The passage door is padlocked on the motor room side," he whispered. +"Our pirates had no key to unlock that with. Now, can you walk the +deck as though your shoes were soled with loose cotton?" + +"Yes," grumbled Hank, disjointedly, "but the snare-drum solo my teeth +are doing may make noise enough to give me away." + +"Cram your handkerchief between your teeth," retorted Captain Tom, +practically. "Come along, fellows. But hold your clubs ready in case +your feet betray you." + +Stealing along, each holding to the edge of the deck house with one +hand, the motor boat boys approached the after hatchway. This, +evidently for purposes of ventilation, had been left partly open. + +Nudging his comrades to pause, Joe, bending so low as to be almost +flat on the deck, prowled further aft. + +There, in the darkness, he used his eyes to find out what might be +down in the cabin. Then he came back. + +"Eight tough-looking men in the cabin," he whispered, in Tom +Halstead's ear. + +"Is Anson Dalton one of them?" + +"Yep." + +"Hurrah! Then we've bagged him, at last!" + +"Have we, though?" muttered Joe Dawson, dubiously. + +"Well, we're going to," declared Tom, radiantly. "My boy, we're going +to cut out of this cove with, the whole crew held in down there." + +"Hope so," assented Joe, not very enthusiastically. + +"Why, we've got to," argued Halstead. "If we don't, then that crew +would have the upper hand, instead, and make penny jumping-jacks of us +until they saw fit to let us go. But wait a moment. I must get back +and have a look at them." + +This time it was the young skipper who crawled aft. Joe and Hank +followed part of the way, holding their sticks in readiness in case +Dalton and his men discovered their presence. + +"I reckon, Cap, you'll find you've got the right crowd for to-night's +work," a rough voice was declaring, as Halstead came within ear +range. + +"Now, don't you men misunderstand me," replied Anson Dalton in a +smooth yet firm voice. "I'm not paying you for any piratical acts. I +have to give a little heed to the laws of the land, even if you +fellows don't. What I want is this: At about two in the morning, when, +most likely, everyone will be asleep except the one who is nursing the +fellow Clodis, it is my plan to run in at Lonely Island's dock. We'll +get quietly up to the house, suddenly force the door, and rush in. +But, mind you all, there's to be no riot. Your numbers, and your +rough appearance, will be enough to scare the folks of the bungalow. +The two of you that I've already picked out will rush in with a +stateroom door and one of the stateroom mattresses. With this for a +stretcher, you two will get Clodis carefully and gently down to this +boat. Then we'll sail away, and I'll tell you what to do next. But +remember, no violent assault on anyone--no lawlessness, no hurting +anyone badly. Trust to your numbers and suddenness. There's some +baggage, too, in the bungalow, that I mean to bring away with me. I'll +make off with it in the confusion." + +"Oh, will you?" wondered Captain Tom Halstead, his jaw settling +squarely. + +Then, tiptoeing softly over to where Hank waited, the young skipper +whispered something in that youth's ear. Hank fled quietly forward, +but returned with a snap-padlock, the ring of which was open. With +this in his hands Tom stole back aft, this time going close, indeed, +to the hatchway. + +"Hey! Someone on deck," roared an excited voice below. + +There was an instant babel of voices, a rushing of feet and a general +rumpus below. Two men in the van raced for the hatchway. + +Slam! snap! click! Tom Halstead swung the hatchway door shut, forced +the stout hasp over the staple and fastened the padlock in place! + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +CARRYING DANGEROUS LIVE "FREIGHT" + + +"Cooped!" chuckled Joe Dawson, jubilantly. + +Yet his voice could not much more than be heard above the racket that +sounded below. Anson Dalton and his seven rough men were raising a +hubbub, indeed. + +"Smash the door down!" roared Dalton. + +"Maybe we kin do it, boss, but the hatch is a stout one, and we ain't +jest 'zactly fixed for tools," replied another voice. + +After a few moments the fruitless hammering with mere fists subsided. +In that time Hank Butts had raced forward, and now was back again with +a prize that he had caught up from a locker near the motors. This was +nothing more nor less than the hitching weight that Hank had once made +very nearly famous, as described in the preceding volume, "THE MOTOR +BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND." + +"Let 'em get out if they can," advised Hank, grimly. "This for the +feet, or the head, of the first roustabout that shows himself!" + +Joe now raced forward to set the motors in motion. Though the young +trio had temporary command of the deck, there was no telling how soon +they would be overwhelmed. Every moment must be made to count. + +Captain Tom, grasping his stick, stood by to help Hank in case the +furious ones below succeeded in breaking out. + +Hardly any time passed before the rhythmic chugging of the motors came +to the young skipper's delighted ears. Then Joe waved his arms as a +signal from the raised deck forward. Halstead swiftly joined his chum. +Together they got the anchor up, stowing it well enough for the +present. + +"Now, you'd better get back to Hank, hadn't you?" quivered Joe. "I can +handle speed and the wheel, too." + +"Bless you, old Joe!" murmured Captain Tom, fervently, and raced aft. +Dawson leaped to the wheel, at the same time setting one of the bridge +controls so that the "Restless" began to move forward under slow +speed. This move came just in time, for, even in the cove, the water +had motion enough to threaten the yacht with grounding. + +But now alert Joe Dawson swung the boat's head around, pointing her +nose out of the cove. + +"Get that hatch down in a hurry!" sounded Anson Dalton's hoarse +voice, imperiously. "If you don't, we'll all be tight in a worse trap +than this." + +Blows with fists and feet resounded once more. Then, after an +instant's pause, came the slower, harder thump-thump which told that +one of the strongest of those caught below was using his shoulder, +instead. Soon two cracks seamed the surface of the hatch door. + +"Good! Go at it hard!" encouraged the voice of Dalton. "Batter it +down. It will be worth money--and freedom--to you and to us all!" + +"Yes, just clear a passage, and see what happens!" roared back Tom +Halstead, as soon as he could make his own voice heard distinctly. + +"Don't mind the talk of those boys!" warned Dalton, angrily, as there +came a pause in the shoulder assaults against the hatch. + +With a grin Hank raised his iron hitching weight above his head, +hurling it down to the deck with crashing force. Then, still grinning, +he stooped to pick it up again. + +That noisy thump on the deck timbers caused a brief ensuing silence +down in the cabin. It was plain that Dalton and his fellows were +wondering just how dangerous their reception would be in case they +succeeded in breaking out. + +The cabin was lighted, in day time, by side ports and a barred transom +overhead. The ports were too small to permit of a man forcing his way +through. Even though they broke the glass overhead, the prisoners in +the cabin would still have iron bars to overcome. Tom Halstead, with +his club, could hinder any work at that point. + +In the meantime, the "Restless," once out of the cove, was bounding +over the waves like a thing of life. Though the water had been hard to +swim through, it did not present a rough sea for a fifty-five foot +power boat. + +In less than three minutes Engineer Joe Dawson was sounding his auto +whistle like mad as he neared the dock at Lonely Island. + +Just as the boat glided in, under decreased headway, to the dock the +bungalow door was seen to open. Powell Seaton, shot-gun in hand, +appeared on the porch. He watched, not knowing whether friend or foe +commanded the "Restless." Mr. Seaton, himself, was made to stand out +brightly in the middle of the searchlight ray that Joe turned upon +him, yet he could not see who was behind that light. + +Running the boat in, bow-on, Joe leaped ashore with the hawser. Making +fast only at the bow, he next raced up the board walk, shouting the +news to Mr. Seaton. The latter, with a hail of delight, darted toward +the dock, arriving barely behind Dawson. + +Down in the cabin the din of the men trying to escape had redoubled. +Powell Seaton tramped hurriedly aft, while Tom and Joe fell in behind +him with heavy tread, to give the rascals below an idea that numerous +reinforcements had arrived. + +Bang! Pausing before the hatch Mr. Seaton raised the shot-gun to his +shoulder, discharging a single shell. Hastily slipping one into the +magazine of the weapon to replace the fired one, Seaton shouted +sternly: + +"Stop your nonsense down there! If you get out it will be only to run +into the muzzles of fire-arms. You fellows are fairly caught!" + +There was a startled silence, followed by indistinct mutterings. Not +even Anson Dalton, it appeared, cared to brave what looked like too +certain death. + +Tom held a whispered consultation with his employer, then stepped over +to young Butts. + +"Hank, we're going to leave you on shore. Mr. Seaton will come along +with the gun. Keep your eyes open--until you see us again! Don't be +caught napping. Remember, you and Dr. Cosgrove have the whole +protection of that helpless man, Clodis, _in_ your hands." + +Hank Butts made a wry face for a moment. He would have much preferred +to see the present adventure through. Yet, a second later, the Long +Island boy bounded to the dock, then stood to cast off the bow-line. + +After the line had come aboard, Joe Dawson again took his place at the +wheel, turning on the speed gradually as the boat rounded out past the +island, then turned in toward the mainland. + +It was about five miles, in a direct westerly course, to the shore, +but by an oblique, northwesterly course a fishing village some nine +miles away could be reached. + +"Steer for the fishing village," nodded Powell Seaton. Captain Tom +hurried forward to give the order, adding: "Make it at full speed, +Joe. If you have to go to the engine, call me forward to take the +wheel." + +Soon afterwards Tom slipped into the motor room, rubbed down and got +on dry clothing. Joe, in turn, did likewise, afterward returning to +the wheel. + +Down in the cabin all had been quiet for some minutes after the +discharge of the gun on deck. Yet Captain Tom, by peeping through the +transom, discovered the heads of Dalton and some of his rough men +close together in consultation. + +"I'll annoy them a bit," chuckled the young skipper, moving swiftly +forward. Dropping down into the motor room he switched off all the +cabin lights. An instant roar of anger came from below. + +"Funny we didn't think of that before," grinned Dawson, as Halstead +came up out of the motor room. + +"It'll bother the rascals a bit," chuckled Captain Tom back over his +shoulder. + +With such a boat as the "Restless" ordinary distances are swiftly +covered. It was barely twenty-five minutes after leaving the dock that +Joe reached the entrance to the little harbor around which the houses +of the fishing village clustered, nor had much speed been used. + +Now the whistle sounded steadily, in short, sharp blasts. Moreover, +Dawson managed to send the distress signal with the searchlight. By +the time he slowed down speed, then reversed, to make the little +wharf, a dozen men had hurried down to the shore. + +"What's wrong?" hailed one of them. + +"Get the sheriff, or a sheriff's officer!" shouted back Powell Seaton. +"Be quick about it, one of you, please, and the rest of you stay here +to help us." + +Joe sent the bow hawser flying ashore, Tom doing the same with the +stern line. Willing hands caught both ropes, making them fast around +snubbing posts. As two men started away on the run, the rest of the +bystanders came crowding aboard, filled with curiosity. + +"What happens to be wrong on board?" demanded one bronzed fisherman. + +"We've a cabin full of pirates, or rascals about as bad," returned Mr. +Seaton, grimly. + +"Men of this coast?" asked another speaker. + +"Yes, evidently," nodded Mr. Seaton, whom the new-comers had +recognized as the owner of Lonely Island. + +"Then they must be the crew of the 'Black Betty,'" commented the first +speaker. + +"Is that a black, fifty-foot schooner, low in the water, narrow and +carrying tall masts with a heavy spread of canvas?" interposed Tom +Halstead. + +"Yes," nodded the fisherman. "That's the 'Black Betty.' She claims to +be a fishing boat, but we're ready to bet she's a smuggler. She +carries nine men, including Captain Dave Lemly." + +"I reckon we've got most of the 'Black Betty' outfit below, then," +declared Captain Halstead. "Or else--gracious!" + +For, at that moment, the cracked hatch gave in with a smash. Powell +Seaton had neglected to remain on guard closely. There was a surge of +the prisoners below. + +"Halstead, you'll hear from me again--and so will your crew!" shouted +Anson Dalton out of the press of struggling men that formed on the +after deck. "I won't let you forget me, Halstead!" + +There was a splash past the rail. Dalton had gone overboard, followed +by two of his companions. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +POWELL SEATON'S BAD CASE OF "FORGET" + + +"Don't let any more get away!" called Powell Seaton, excitedly. + +Tom Halstead promptly leaped at one of the rough fugitives just as the +latter was trying to reach the wharf. Another one Joe Dawson grabbed. +Several of the fishermen sprang to help. For a minute or two there was +a good deal of confusion. When matters quieted down, it was found that +Halstead and Dawson, with the fishermen helping, had secured five of +the rough lot. + +Powell Seaton, by threatening with his shot-gun, had induced a sixth +to swim ashore. But Anson Dalton and another man, believed to be +Captain Dave Lemly of the "Black Betty," had escaped, swimming under +water in the darkness. They must have come to the surface at some +point not far away, yet, in the black darkness of the night, they +managed to escape safely for the time being, at any rate. + +The six men thus arrested were forced inside a ring of the fishermen, +whose numbers had been greatly increased by new arrivals. Powell +Seaton, his shot-gun on his shoulder, now patrolled close to the human +ring. Three or four men hurried with Tom and Joe on a quest for Anson +Dalton and the latter's companion in flight. + +In less than a quarter of an hour one of the messengers who had first +hurried away returned with a deputy sheriff, who brought several pairs +of handcuffs. A justice of the peace was aroused at his home, and held +the prisoners over for trial, after Powell Seaton had preferred +against them a charge of stealing the yacht that was under his +charter. + +The search for Dalton and his companion was given up, for it became +plain that both had succeeded in their effort to get away. + +"It's altogether too bad," sighed Mr. Seaton, on coming out of the +justice's house. "However, we can be thankful for what success we have +had. We have the boat back and have balked Dalton's rascals in what +they were planning for to-night." + +"Are you going back to Lonely Island now, sir?" asked Captain Tom. + +"We must, very soon," replied Mr. Seaton. "Yet, Halstead, I've been +thinking that I cannot afford to take any further chances, with Anson +Dalton still at large. These fishermen are a rough but honest lot of +splendid fellows in their way. I'm going to see if I can't hire a +special guard of eight men for Lonely Island for the present. I'll +engage the deputy sheriff to vouch for the men I engage. So go down to +the boat and be ready for me as soon as I arrive." + +Joe was aboard, waiting, when the young skipper returned. Several of +the men of the village were still about the dock. + +"We're to be ready to cast off as soon as Mr. Seaton gets here, Joe," +Captain Tom Halstead announced. "Better look to your motors. If you +want any help, call on me." + +It did not take Mr. Seaton very long to recruit the guard of eight men +that he wanted. Carrying rifles or shot-guns, borrowed in some +instances, the men tramped along after their new employer. They came +aboard, two or three of them going below, the others preferring to +remain on deck. + +"Cast off, Captain, as soon as you can," directed Powell Seaton. + +Two or three of the new guards sprang forward to help in this work. +Halstead rang for half speed, then threw the wheel over, making a +quick start. Once under way, he called for full speed, and the +"Restless" went bounding over the waves, which were running much lower +than a couple of hours earlier. + +During the first half of the run Captain Halstead remained at the +wheel. Then Joe came up from below, relieving him. Tom strolled back +to take a seat on the deck-house beside Mr. Seaton. + +"I'm on tenterhooks to get back," confessed the charter-man. + +"Anxious about your friend, Clodis, of course," nodded Tom, +understandingly. + +"Partly that, yes. But there's another matter that's bothering me +fearfully, too. You remember the packet of papers I took from Clodis's +trunk?" asked Mr. Seaton, lowering his voice. + +"Yes," murmured Tom. "But you have those in an inner pocket." + +"I wish I had!" uttered Powell Seaton. "Halstead, the truth is, after +you young men went out, this evening, to patrol about the island, I +became a little uneasy about that packet, and took it out and hid +it--under some boxes of ammunition in the cupboard where I keep my +gun. Then I locked the closet door. When Dawson called me from the +porch, in such haste, and I was needed on board with my gun, I clean +forgot the packet for the instant." + +"Oh, it will be safe, anyway," Tom assured his employer. "Even if +Dalton had been able to get a boat at once, in this neighborhood, +there's no other craft in these waters capable of reaching Lonely +Island earlier than we shall do it." + +"I _do_ hope that packet is safe," muttered Mr. Seaton, in a voice +tense with anxiety. "Halstead, you've no notion of the fearful blow it +would be to friends and to myself to have it disappear." + +Hearing a slight noise on the opposite side of the deck-house top, +Seaton and Tom Halstead turned together. They were just in time to see +one of the new guards leaning toward them, one hand out as though to +steady himself. + +"It's rough footing on deck to-night," said the guard, with a pleasant +laugh, then passed on aft. + +Tom took the helm again as the "Restless," after picking up the +landing place with the searchlight, moved into the harbor and went to +her berth. + +Powell Seaton led all of his guards but one up to the bungalow. The +eighth man, armed with a rifle, was left aboard the "Restless," with +the searchlight turned on, ready for use at any moment. Tom and Joe +went up to the bungalow with their employer. + +"Wait out on the porch for just a little while," called Mr. Seaton, in +a low voice. "And be careful to make no noise that will disturb the +sick man." + +Five minutes later Mr. Seaton returned to the porch. + +"I've been looking for that packet," he whispered to the young +skipper. "It's safe, so I've left it in the same place." + +Then, after a moment, the owner of the bungalow added: + +"Captain, you can have your friend, Butts, now, as we can do without +him in the house. I think you three had better turn in on the boat and +get some sleep. Then, soon after daylight, I can have the guard at the +wharf rouse you, for I want you to go over to Beaufort and get +supplies for repairing the wireless outfit at the earliest hour. +Things are likely to happen soon that will make it dangerous for me to +be without wireless communication with land and sea." + +Twenty minutes later the three Motor Boat Club boys were stretched out +in their berths in the motor room. It was considerably later, though, +ere sleep came to them. When slumber did reach their eyes they slept +soundly until called by the guard. + +Hank prepared a breakfast in record time. After eating this, and after +Hank had been sent up to the house to learn whether there were any +further orders, the Motor Boat Club boys were ready to cast off. + +Once they were under way, Hank, not being needed, went aft to stretch +himself on one of the cabin cushions. Joe, having his motors running +smoothly, followed Hank into the cabin. Dawson, however, did not seek +further sleep. He wanted to make a more thorough test than he had done +a few hours before, in order to make sure that the vandals locked in +there the night before had not thought to destroy his beloved wireless +instruments or connections. + +"The whole wireless plant is in shape for instant use," he reported, +coming back at last to the bridge deck. + +"That's mighty good news," declared Tom Halstead. "With the man we are +working for now we're likely to need the wireless at any minute in the +twenty-four hours." + +"Say," ejaculated Joe, after a few moments of silent thought, "there's +something hugely mysterious and uncanny back of all these doings of +less than twenty-four hours. I wonder what that big mystery really +is?" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE RED MESSAGE + + +When the boys reached Beaufort and had tied up at a wharf, it was +still too early to expect to find any shops open. They left Hank on +watch, however, and went up into the town, Joe to look, presently, for +a dealer in electrical supplies, while Captain Tom sought a ship's +joiner to fit and hang a new hatch to replace that smashed in the +affair of the night before. Both boys were presently successful, +though it was noon before the joiner had his task finished. + +While the last of the work on the new hatch was being done, Tom and +Joe went once more uptown to get a message from Mr. Seaton's attorney +regarding the date when the formal hearing of the men arrested the +night before would take place in court. Hank Butts was left to watch +over the boat and keep an eye over the joiner. + +"Any strangers around here?" queried the young skipper, after the +joiner, his work completed, had gone aboard. + +"Only a young black boy," Hank replied. "He seemed curious to look +over the boat, but he didn't offer to go below, or touch anything, so +I didn't chase him off." + +"Cast off, Hank. Give us some power, Joe, and we'll get back to Lonely +Island," declared the young captain, going to the wheel. + +Hardly more than a minute later the "Restless" was gliding out of the +harbor. + +"Guess Hank's young negro visitor left a note," called up Joe, showing +in the doorway of the motor room and holding forth a note. Hank took +it, passing it to Halstead. + +"Mind the wheel a minute, Hank, please," requested Tom, looking +closely at the envelope. + +It was addressed only to "Halstead," the writing being in red, and +thick, as though laid on with the point of a stick. The message on the +sheet inside was crisp and to the point. It ran: + + If you think your doings have been forgotten, you'll soon know + differently! + +"Humph!" muttered Joe, following up, and taking the sheet as his chum +held it out. "That must be from Anson Dalton." + +"Or Captain Dave Lemly, of the 'Black Betty,'" returned Tom, without a +trace of concern in his tone. + +"It's a threat, all right," muttered Hank Butts, his hair bristling +when the sheet came into his hands. "Confound 'em, I hope whoever +sent this tries to make good--when we're looking!" + +Just then Captain Tom changed the course abruptly, the bows of the +"Restless" sending up a shower of spray that sprinkled Hank from head +to foot. As he turned to get out of the way the wind caught the sheet +written in red from his hand, blowing it out across the water. + +"Let it go," laughed Tom. "We know all the red message had to say." + +"The negro that I allowed on deck came on purpose to drop the note +where it would be found," muttered Hank. + +"No matter," smiled Tom. "We're always glad to know that we're +remembered by nice people." + +"I'd like to have that black boy here for a minute or two," grunted +Hank, clenching his fists. + +"What for?" Tom Halstead queried. "He probably didn't have any guilty +knowledge about the sender." + +"That reminds me," broke in Joe. "Stand close by the motors a few +minutes, will you, Hank?" + +With that Dawson vanished aft. When he came back he announced: + +"I've just flashed the wireless word back to Mr. Seaton's lawyer about +the message we got, advising the lawyer that it probably shows +Dalton, or Lemly, or both, to be in Beaufort. And the lawyer was able +to send me news, received just after we left." + +"What?" + +"The schooner, 'Black Betty,' has just been seized, thirty miles down +the coast, by United States officers. She'll be held until the customs +men have had a chance to look into the charges that the schooner has +been used in the smuggling trade." + +"Was Lemly caught with her?" asked Tom, eagerly. + +"No such luck," retorted Joe. + +"I'd feel better over hearing that Dave Lemly was the prisoner of the +United States Government," remarked young Halstead. "If he keeps at +liberty _he_ is the one who is going to be able to make Anson Dalton +dangerous to us." + +"Then you're beginning to be afraid of that pair, are you?" asked Joe +Dawson, looking up. + +"No, I'm not," rejoined Tom Halstead, his jaws firmly set. "A man--or +a boy, either for that matter--who can be made afraid of other people +isn't fit to be trusted with the command of a boat on the high seas. +But I'll say this much about my belief concerning Dalton: For some +reason we've been in his way, and are likely to be much more in his +way before we're through with him. If Dalton got a chance, he wouldn't +hesitate to wreck the 'Restless,' or to blow her up. For any work of +that sort Dave Lemly is undoubtedly his man." + +"What can make them so desperate against Mr. Seaton?" queried Joe. + +"We can't even guess, for we don't yet know the story that's behind +all this mystery and the list of desperate deeds." + +"I wonder if Mr. Seaton will ever tell us?" pondered Joe. + +"Not unless he thinks we really need to know." + +"But he has already hinted that it's all in a big fight for a +fortune," urged Hank. + +"Yes, and we can guess that the fight centers in South America, since +that is where Clodis was bound for when this business started," +replied Skipper Tom. + +"I wonder if there's any chance that our cruise will reach to South +America?" broke in Hank Butts, eagerly. + +"Hardly likely," replied Tom, with a shake of the head. "If there had +been even a chance of that, Mr. Seaton would have arranged for an +option extending beyond the end of this month." + +"Just my luck," grumbled Hank, seating himself on the edge of the +deck-house. "Nothing big ever happens to me." + +"Say, you're hard to please," laughed Joe, turning and going down into +the motor room. + +They were not long in making Lonely Island, where the "Restless" was +tied up and the hatchways locked securely. The boys were not required +to remain at the boat, one of the guards being stationed, night or +day, at the wharf. + +Powell Seaton was much interested in the account Tom gave him of the +red message, though he did not say much. + +There was no change or improvement in the condition of Mr. Clodis, who +still lay in a darkened room, like one dead. + +That afternoon Joe, with some help from his comrades, repaired the +bungalow's wireless plant and got in touch with the shore once more. + +Through the night four men were kept on guard, one on the porch, +another at the wharf, and two others patrolling the island. No attempt +of any sort on the part of Dalton or the latter's confederates was +discovered. + +The next morning brought still no change in the condition of Clodis. +He was alive, breathing feebly, and Dr. Cosgrove was attempting to +ward off an attack of brain fever. + +Through the forenoon Joe was kept rather busy sending messages ashore +to the authorities, for Powell Seaton, though not leaving the island, +was waging a determined campaign to get hold of Dalton. + +"I don't need Dalton, particularly," confessed Mr. Seaton, as he sat +with the three motor boat boys at the noon meal. "But it would be +worth a very great deal of money to get back the papers that Dalton +must have stolen after assaulting my sick friend, yonder, on board the +'Constant.'" + +"Do you--do you know--what was in the stolen papers?" asked Captain +Tom Halstead, hesitatingly. + +"Very well, indeed," rejoined their employer, with emphasis. "But the +real trouble is that I don't want to have that knowledge pass to the +gang that are behind Anson Dalton." + +"Yet Dalton must have had time to join his principals, or +confederates, by this time, and turn the papers over to them," +hazarded Halstead. + +"That's hardly likely," murmured Powell Seaton, "since the gang of +rascals behind Anson Dalton must be, at this moment, somewhere in the +interior of Brazil." + +"Oh!" said Tom, reflectively. + +"You're curious, I see, to know what all this great mystery means," +smiled Mr. Seaton. + +"I--I don't want to let myself be curious about what is none of my +business," declared Tom Halstead, bluntly. + +"I'm going to tell you the story now, just the same," replied Powell +Seaton, in a still lower voice. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MR. SEATON UNBURDENS HIMSELF + + +"Really, I see no reason why I shouldn't tell you," went on the +charter-man of the "Restless." "When I first engaged you youngsters +and your boat for this month I had little more in mind than using your +boat for pleasure cruising about here. Yet the fact that you had a +wireless equipment aboard the 'Restless' _did_ influence me not a +little, for I had at least a suspicion that big affairs might come to +pass, and that telegraphing from ship to ship might be wonderfully +convenient. + +"At the same time, I was careful to look up the references that you +gave me, Captain Halstead. Those references were so wholly +satisfactory that I know I can trust you to serve me as bravely and +loyally as you have, in the past, been called upon to serve others. +And now, just for the reason that you may be called upon to take some +big fighting chances for me, I'm going to tell you what lies back of +the curtain of mystery that you've been staring at." + +As his voice died out Powell Seaton arose, locked the door and glanced +out through the windows. Then he returned to the table, motioning to +the boys to incline their heads close to his. + +"Probably," began their host, "you've regarded me as a wealthy man, +and, until the last two or three days, as one of leisure. I am +reasonably well-to-do in this world's goods, but most of my life, +since I was twenty, has been passed in storm and stress. + +"It is not necessary to tell you all about the life that I have led. +It will be enough to tell you that, three years ago, not satisfied +that my fortune was large enough, I went to Brazil in order to learn +what chance there might be of picking up money fast in that country. + +"In Brazil there are many ways of making a fortune, though perhaps not +as many as right here at home. However, there are fewer +fortune-seekers there. In coffee, rubber and in many other staples +fortunes may be made in Brazil, but the biggest, wildest, most +desperate and scrambling gamble of all is found in the diamond-digging +fields. + +"Most of the diamond fields have, perhaps, been discovered, and their +working has become systematized to a regular, dividend-paying basis. +There are still, however, some fields not yet located. It was a small +field, but one which I believe may be worth millions, that I located +somewhat more than a year ago. See here!" + +From an inner pocket Powell Seaton drew forth an ordinary wallet. +Opening it, he dropped out on the table six diamonds. Though none was +of great size, all of the stones were of such purity and such flashing +brilliancy that the motor boat boys gazed at them in fascination. + +"They must be worth a fortune," declared Hank Butts, in an awed, +subdued tone. + +"Not exactly," smiled Mr. Seaton. "These stones have been appraised, I +believe, at about twelve thousand dollars." + +After passing the gems from hand to hand, the owner of the bungalow +replaced them in the wallet, returning the latter to the same pocket +before he resumed: + +"This new diamond field, a patent to which has not yet been filed with +the Brazilian Government, is in the state of Vahia. There is no harm +in telling anyone that, as Vahia is a state of great area. It is in a +section little likely to be suspected as a diamond field, and the +chance that someone else will accidentally discover and locate it is +not large." + +"Yet you know the exact location--can go right to it?" breathed Tom +Halstead, his eyes turned squarely on Mr. Seaton's. + +"Yes, but I don't dare go to it," came the smiling answer. + +"Oh! May I ask why not, sir?" + +"The Government of Brazil is, in the main, an honest one," replied +Powell Seaton. "The President of that country is an exactly just and +honorable man. Yet not quite as much can be said for the governments +of _some_ of the states of that country. The governor of Vahia, +Terrero, by name, is probably one of the worst little despots in South +America. + +"Now, as it happened, before I came to know anything about this new +diamond field I had the bad fortune to make an enemy of Governor +Terrero. Some American friends were being shamefully treated by this +rascally governor, and I felt called upon to become mixed up in the +affair. I even went so far that I incurred the deadly hatred of +Terrero. It was right after this that I came upon my diamond field. +But Terrero's enmity was pressing upon me, and I had to flee from +Brazil." + +"Why?" asked Tom, wonderingly. + +"Do you know how things are done in South America?" demanded Powell +Seaton, impressively. "If a man like Terrero hates you, he has only +to inspire someone to prefer a serious charge against you. The charge +may be wholly false, of course, but officers and soldiers are sent, in +the dead of the night, to arrest you. These wretches, when they serve +wicked enough officials, shoot you down in cold blood. Then they lay +beside your body a revolver in which are two or three discharged +cartridges. They report, officially, that you resisted arrest and did +your best to kill the members of the arresting party. This infamous +lie all becomes a matter of official record. Then what can the United +States Government do about it? And the governor, or other rascally +official, has triumphed over you, and the matter is closed. Though an +honest man, Halstead, you are officially a desperate character who +_had_ to be killed by the law's servants. It was such a fate that +Terrero was preparing for me, but I escaped his wicked designs." + +"That must be a nice country!" murmured Hank Butts. + +"Yet you say the President of Brazil is an honorable man?" asked +Halstead. "Can't he remove such a governor?" + +"The President would, in a moment, if he could be supplied with +proofs," rejoined Powell Seaton, with emphasis. "Governor Terrero is a +wily, smooth scoundrel who is well served by men of his own choice +stamp. Terrero is wealthy, and backed by many other wealthy men who +have been growing rich in the diamond fields. In fact, though they are +wonderfully smooth about it, the Terrero gang are terrors to all +honest diamond men in that one part of Brazil." + +"So, then," hinted Captain Tom, "you know where to find one of the +rich diamond mines of the world, but you don't dare go to it?" + +"I'd dare," retorted Mr. Seaton, his eyes flashing. "But what would be +the use of daring? I am almost certain to be killed if I ever show my +face in Vahia while Terrero is alive. So, then, this is what I have +done: Since my return to this country I have been arranging, ever so +quietly, with moneyed men who have faith in me and in my honesty. +After much dickering we have arranged a syndicate that is backed by +millions of dollars, if need be. And we may need to spend a good deal +of money before we get through. We may even have to try to turn +Terrero's most trusted lieutenants against him. We won't, if we can +help it, but we may have to. The stake is a big one! + +"Through turning this business over to the syndicate I am bound to +lose the greater portion of the fortune that might have been mine from +this great enterprise. Yet, even as it is, I stand to reap rich +returns if ever the syndicate can locate and secure the patent to the +diamond fields that I discovered. + +"At this moment three members of our syndicate are in Rio Janeiro. +They are big, solid American men of moneyed affairs. As far as they +permit to be known, they are in Brazil only as a matter of vacation +and pleasure. In truth, they are awaiting the arrival of Albert Clodis +on the 'Constant.' When he had arrived, with the papers from me +showing where and how to locate the diamond field, they were to have +moved quickly, spending plenty of money, and filing a patent to the +fields. Under the law the Brazilian Government would be entitled to a +large share of the find in precious stones, but even at that our share +would have been enormous. Once the patent to the diamond field was +filed, the President and the whole National Government of that country +could be depended upon to protect the owner's rights, even against the +greed and treachery of Terrero. So all that appeared to be left to do +was to get to my friends of the syndicate the two sets of papers that +would enable them to locate the unknown diamond field. Neither set of +papers is worth anything by itself, but with the two sets the field +can be promptly located. + +"My first thought was to send the two sets of papers by two different +men. Yet, strange as it may appear to you boys, I could not decide +upon two men whom I felt I could fully trust under all circumstances. +You have no idea how I have been watched, the last year, by agents of +Terrero. Dalton, though an American, is one of the worst of these +secret agents of the governor of Vahia. _I_ knew how thoroughly I was +being watched, and I, in turn, have had others watching Anson Dalton +as effectively as it could be done in a free country like the United +States. + +"Well, to make this long story short, when I had all else in readiness +I decided upon Bert Clodis as the one man I could fully trust to +deliver the two sets of papers to the members of the syndicate at Rio +Janeiro. I believed, too, at the time, though I could not be sure, +that my relations with Bert Clodis were unknown to Anson Dalton. + +"Yet, not for a moment did I trust too thoroughly to that belief. I +had Dalton watched. If he engaged passage aboard the 'Constant,' my +suspicions would be at once aroused. We now know that he secured +passage, by mail, under the name of Arthur Hilton. Beyond the +slightest doubt Dalton, that infernal spy, had succeeded in +discovering that I was sending Clodis with the papers. Yet Dalton, or +Hilton, as he chose to call himself, did not go aboard the 'Constant' +openly at New York. I can only guess that he boarded from the tug that +took off the pilot when the liner had reached open sea. + +"I had impressed upon Bert Clodis the importance of keeping the two +sets of papers apart, and had advised him that it might not be safe to +deposit either in the purser's safe, from which they might be taken +through the means of a deep-sea burglary. + +"So the probability is that Bert Clodis had one set of papers +concealed on his person. The other set of papers--the one I now have +safe--he seems to have put away in his trunk, believing that no one +seeking to rob him would think him simple enough to leave valuable +papers in a trunk that could be rather easily entered in the hold of a +liner. + +"As I have already told you, I had the ship watched at New York, and +received a message, after her sailing, which told me that no one +answering Dalton's description had boarded the 'Constant' at her +pier. + +"As the liner entered this latitude Bert Clodis was to send off a +wireless message which, though apparently rather blind, would be +enough to advise me that no one answering to Dalton's description had +appeared among the passengers or crew of the 'Constant.' This news I +awaited at the wireless station at Beaufort, and you can imagine my +anxiety." + +"That was why, then," broke in Joe, suddenly, "when I received that +message about the injury to Mr. Clodis, you were able to break in so +quickly?" + +"Yes," nodded Mr. Seaton. "I was waiting, and was on tenterhooks. I +would have joined you, and would have gone out in haste to receive +Bert Clodis myself, but I realized that, if I delayed you, the big +liner would get past us, and Bert Clodis must most likely die on the +way to Brazil." + +"Why weren't you out here, sir, at this bungalow, where you could have +received the message as well, and then have gone out with us on the +'Restless'?" inquired Tom Halstead, with deepest interest in this +strange narration. + +"I was at Beaufort," responded Mr. Seaton, "because I felt it very +necessary to be where I could use a private wire to New York that I +had reserved. I was, at that time, waiting for word from New York of +any possible discovery that could be made concerning the movements of +the infamous Dalton, whom I did not then know, or believe, to be on +board the 'Constant.'" + +There was silence for a few moments, but Powell Seaton at last went +on, thoughtfully: + +"We now know that Bert Clodis did _not_ deposit any papers with the +purser of the ship. One set of the papers, therefore, must have been +tucked away in his clothing. Dalton, after assaulting Bert Clodis, or +having it done, must have rifled his pockets and found one set. He +even had time to look through them and discover that that set was +incomplete. Then, on seeing Clodis's trunk go aboard the 'Restless' +with the injured man, Dalton guessed that the remaining papers might +be in the trunk. That was why Dalton decided to leave the 'Constant.' +But your flat refusal to let him go down into the cabin, where the +baggage had been taken, foiled the fellow at that point. Then, fearing +that he would run into me, and that I might even resort to violence, +Dalton hailed that schooner, the 'Black Betty,' and made his momentary +escape." + +"No doubt," interposed Halstead, "Dalton has had plenty of chance to +put _his_ set of the stolen papers in safe hiding. But isn't it barely +likely that he had already engaged Captain Dave Lemly to be hanging +about in these waters with that little black schooner?" + +"Wholly likely," nodded Mr. Seaton, thoughtfully. "However, boys, I +have trusted you with as much as my very life is worth in telling you +all this. I would rather lose my life than see my friends, as well as +myself, beaten in this great diamond game. As the matter now stands, +Dalton has won the first step, but he hasn't enough knowledge to +enable his employer, Terrero, to locate my precious find. I can +duplicate the missing papers, and the other set, which I have here +secure, I must also send to Rio Janeiro by some other most trusted +messenger, should Clodis, poor fellow, die, or prove unfit to make +another attempt." + +"And do you think, sir, that there's only one honest man on earth?" +asked Tom Halstead, in considerable surprise. + +"There are several men that I _believe_ to be honest," returned the +owner of the bungalow, "yet only one that I know to be _honest_, and +who possesses at the same time the judgment to undertake a mission +like the one I have been telling you about." + +"Then it won't really do Dalton any good to start for Brazil unless he +can get hold of the contents of the other set of papers?" Halstead +asked, after a pause of a few moments. + +"Not until the fellow can get his clutches on the papers that I have +secretly locked in that closet over there," confirmed Mr. Seaton. "And +I have told none but you trustworthy youngsters that the other set +_is_ hidden in such an easy place to get at." + +Then, as though struck by a thought, Powell Seaton crossed the room, +drawing his key-ring from a pocket. He fitted the right key to the +door, and swung the latter open. An instant more, and there came from +Mr. Seaton's lips a cry much like the frightened howl of a wild +beast. + +"The second set of papers is gone--stolen from here!" + +There was an almost simultaneous gasp of consternation from the three +Motor Boat Club boys as they rushed forward. But they had no need to +search. Seaton had done that thoroughly, and now he turned to eye +them. As he stared--or glared--a new thought came into Seaton's mind, +reflecting itself in his eyes. The boys could see him fighting against +his own new suspicion. + +"Halstead," cried Powell Seaton, clutching at the side of the doorway, +"I told you all about this hiding place. I trusted you!" + +It was Tom Halstead's turn to go deathly white and stagger. + +"Do you mean, sir, that YOU SUSPECT ME?" demanded the young skipper, +in a voice choked with horror. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE TRAITOR AT THE AERIALS + + +"Wait! Don't take anything too seriously. I've--got to--think!" + +Powell Seaton had stood, for two or three moments, staring from +Halstead to the other motor boat boys. + +"Humph! Well, this is good, but I don't like it," grimaced Hank Butts, +taking two steps backward. + +Powell Seaton began to pace the room, his hands at his head. He looked +like one who suddenly found it impossible to think. + +Hank opened his mouth to say something angry, but Captain Tom checked +him with a look and a gesture. + +"May we search in that closet for you, sir?" called Halstead, when a +thud told that the owner of the bungalow had dropped heavily back into +his chair. + +"You may look there, if you want to. Anyone may look there--now!" +uttered the amazed one. + +Without saying more Tom, in deep agitation, began the task he had +invited upon himself. Joe Dawson came and stood looking quietly over +his chum's shoulder, ready to help if necessary. As for Hank, he +stood, a picture of injured pride, staring at the distracted man. + +"No; there's nothing here," admitted Halstead, at last. "At least, the +only thing we're interested in isn't here." + +"Of course it isn't," moaned Seaton. "Yet you boys were the only ones +I told. And, the only time I left the house, it was safe upon my +return. I also told you boys that." + +"If he keeps on talking in that strain," muttered Hank, half-aloud, +"I'll make his head ache!" + +"No, you won't," uttered Captain Tom, gripping his comrade's arm +almost fiercely. "There's trouble enough on the premises as it is. +Hold your tongue, Hank, until we're all in a good mood to say pleasant +things." + +Thereupon, with a snort, Hank dragged a chair into a far corner, and +seated himself in it. + +Halstead walked slowly to the table, on which Mr. Seaton was resting +his elbows, his face buried in his hands. + +"There must be some explanation for this, Mr. Seaton," began the young +motor boat skipper, more calmly. "I don't mind your first suspicion of +me, because----" + +"Not you, more than the others," broke in the bungalow's owner, +excitedly. "All of you young men knew about the hiding-place. You +were the only ones besides myself who did know." + +Again Hank gripped his fists tightly, but a stern look from Joe Dawson +prevented Butts from giving any further expression of his feelings. + +"Don't sit there like that, Mr. Seaton," broke in Tom Halstead, once +more. "Whatever has happened, something must be done--and it must be +the right thing, and at once." + +"You can search us, if you want----" began Hank's growling voice, but +Joe Dawson stood before him, towering in grim purpose. + +"Don't you open your mouth again, Hank, until you've collected some +sense," warned Joe. "Let Tom do the talking. He's the captain, +anyway." + +"You're right," responded Powell Seaton, looking up in a good deal of +a daze. "I must do something--quickly--yet what?" + +"If anyone has stolen the final set of papers," advanced the young +skipper, "it must have been either Dalton or someone working for him. +In either case, Dalton must now have the papers, or he soon will +have." + +"But what does this lead to?" inquired Mr. Seaton, regarding his young +captain dubiously. + +"Why, sir, it must be plain that the best course is to drop all other +steps and concentrate every bit of your energy and ingenuity on +getting hold of Anson Dalton." + +"Yet what can I do to him, if I do?" + +"In the first place, you might charge him with being the man who +struck Albert Clodis over the head. That would be enough to have your +man arrested on, even if you couldn't prove the charge. A charge that +you _can_ fight on is that of having helped to steal the 'Restless' +the other night. If you can only get the fellow locked up, then you'll +have more time to find out whether there's any way of getting the +missing papers away from him, or from any hiding place in which he has +put them." + +"Lock the fellow up?" jeered Powell Seaton. "Bah, boy, you don't seem +to realize the money that's behind him. Ten thousand dollars, or a +hundred thousand, it would all be the same, and Dalton, out on bail, +could flee in whatever direction he wanted to." + +"Then what _are_ you going to do?" demanded Captain Tom, incisively. + +In this instant of utter uncertainty a tinkling of a bell broke in +upon them. It was the call bell that Dawson had attached to the +wireless apparatus. + +"Remember, _you_ keep quiet," almost whispered Joe to Hank, then +quitted the room hastily. Butts suddenly began to grin sheepishly. +Rising, he sauntered over to a window. + +Joe had hurried to the wireless room on the mere chance that it might +be a message for Lonely Island. It was much more likely to be the +regular business of ships passing on the sea. But as he entered the +room Dawson heard the clicking call from a receiving instrument: + +"CBA! CBA!" That was Lonely Island's call surely enough. + +Breaking in at the key, Joe sent the sparks chasing each other up the +aerials. Having answered, he slipped on the head-band, fitting the +watch-case receivers over his ears. Picking up a pencil, he wrote. + +It was a rush telegram from Mr. Seaton's lawyer, up at Beaufort, and +it read: + + Man much resembles description of Dalton has just been + reported embarking on seventy-foot cruising motor boat + ten miles above this city. Man in command of boat + positively said to be Captain Dave Lemly. + +"Remain at wire for further talk," Joe's trembling fingers signaled +back. Then, leaping up, he bounded into the next room. + +"Read it to me," Powell Seaton begged. + +Tom Halstead took the sheet, reading rapidly yet clearly. The young +skipper was excited, though he forced himself to remain cool. + +"There's your call to action, Mr. Seaton," he wound up with. + +"Yes, but what action?" demanded the owner of the bungalow. Ever since +the discovery of the loss of the papers this man had seemed all but +unable to speak. + +"We've got to overhaul that other motor boat, though her length will +have to be description enough if we can't get a better one," declared +the young skipper. "Hank, go down and open up the motor room. Start +the motors going, though be gentle. Don't break anything, or put the +motors out of business. Joe, go back to the wireless, and see whether +you can get a more exact description of that boat--especially the +course she is believed to have sailed on. Hustle! Mr. Seaton, hadn't +you better inform Dr. Cosgrove that you'll be absent for a while?" + +The owner of the bungalow moved as though glad of directions that +saved him the trouble of thinking. + +Joe promptly sent a wireless back to Beaufort asking for a better +description of the seventy-footer and the last course upon which she +had been seen. + +The only further word the lawyer's informant could furnish, as Joe +ascertained ten minutes later, was that the boat was painted a drab +tint and had a "smoke-stack" ventilator. When last seen the boat was +heading out nearly due east from her starting-point. + +"Going out to meet a liner, for some port," clicked Tom, as he heard +the news. "Well, it's our business to find that drab motor boat." + +As Joe caught up his cap, Mr. Seaton looked rather uncertainly from +one boy to the other. + +"You say we're to go out on this jaunt over the water," remarked the +owner of the bungalow. "But I don't know. Perhaps you want me to go +too badly. There may be something behind----" + +"Stop right where you are, if you please, sir," broke in Tom Halstead, +a decided trace of bitterness in his tone. "You're still more than +half-inclined to suspect us boys of causing the loss of the papers you +had hidden in the closet. I am not blaming you altogether, Mr. Seaton, +though you are doing us a great injustice. But you _must_ believe in +us just at the present time, for going with us offers you your only +chance of catching up with Dalton and saving your own friends of the +syndicate. Come along, sir! Try to trust us, whether it seems wise or +not, since it's your only chance." + +The young skipper seized his charter-man by one arm, almost dragging +him along. Yet Powell Seaton, who was in a state of horrible +uncertainty, permitted this forcing. + +Outside, on the porch, Captain Tom hesitated for a moment, then, after +glancing at the guards, went on briskly: + +"Mr. Seaton, I know you don't want to carry an armed force for +purposes of attack on anyone, and you wouldn't have a right to do it, +anyway. But, as we may be attacked, if we run afoul of Dalton and his +friends, won't it be much better if you take at least a couple of your +armed guards from this place?" + +Nodding curtly, Mr. Seaton called to Hepton and Jasper, two of the +guards, explaining that they were needed for a cruise on the +"Restless." The pair followed along after the others. + +"You can keep your rifles, just as well, in the motor room," suggested +Captain Tom, and the fire-arms were placed below. + +Hank had everything in readiness for casting off. Within forty-five +seconds after boarding, the "Restless" was under way, poking her nose +in a north-easterly direction. + +"We'd better loaf later on, rather than now, Joe," proposed the young +skipper. "See how much speed you can crowd out of the motors." + +Powell Seaton chose to go aft, all alone, dropping into one of the +deck arm-chairs. For a long time he remained there, moody and silent. + +"What liner do you figure on Dalton trying to overtake and board?" +queried Joe, coming up at last out of the motor room. + +"Why, I don't just know," confessed Tom, pondering. "But I'll tell you +what you can do, Joe. Leave Hank to watch the motors. You go to the +wireless apparatus and send out the longest spark you can get. Direct +your call to any vessel bound for Rio Janerio, or Brazil in general. +If you get an answer from such a craft, ask her latitude and +longitude, course and speed, so we can make for her directly." + +As Joe nodded, then dropped down into the motor room, intending to go +by the passageway under the bridge deck, Tom noted a lurking figure a +few feet behind him. + +"Hullo! What are you doing there, Jasper?" queried the young captain. + +"Jest mindin' my own business," replied the man, with a half-surly +grin. + +"I'm minding mine, in asking you," retorted Halstead, quietly. "I +don't like passengers so close to me when I'm handling the boat." + +"I s'pose mebbe you don't," rejoined Jasper, yet making no move. + +"Won't you take a hint?" asked Tom, rather bluntly. + +"Where d'ye want me to stand?" asked the fellow, sulkily. + +"You could go further aft, for instance," replied Tom. One hand on +the wheel, he stood half-turned, eying this stubborn guard. + +"Oh, all right," came gruffly from Jasper, as he started slowly aft. + +"Maybe I'm wrong for thinking much about it," muttered Tom, under his +breath, "yet it was this same man who was so close to us the other +night when Mr. Seaton and I were talking about the papers hidden in +the closet at the bungalow." + +Two or three minutes later a slight sound caused the young skipper to +turn with a start. He saw Jasper in the very act of fitting a +wire-nipper to one of the parallel wires of the aerial of the +wireless. + +In an instant Captain Tom Halstead jammed his wheel and locked it. +Then he dashed at the fellow. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE DRAB BOAT SHOWS HER NOSE + + +"You keep off!" snarled Jasper, drawing back on the defensive, holding +the wire-nippers so as to use them in defending himself. + +But, if the young captain of the "Restless" knew any fear, at such +moments, he didn't permit others to see it. He neither stopped nor +swerved. Ducking in under Jasper's extended right arm, Tom closed with +the fellow, grappling. + +"Confound ye! I'll have to throw ye over into the water!" growled +Jasper, fighting for a hold around the boy's waist and behind his +back. But Halstead fought to break the grip, at the same time +yelling: + +"Hank! Here, mighty quick!" + +Jasper fought, trying to force the young commander to the rail. He had +half succeeded when Hank Butts raced on deck. Hepton, the other guard, +who had been lounging in the engine room, was right behind Butts. Both +of them raced to reach the struggling pair. Hank caught Jasper at the +waist-line, while Hepton took a hold at Jasper's neck, forcing the +fellow back. + +Then Tom sailed into the melee with renewed energy. Jasper was a +powerfully-built fellow, but the three were too many for him. They +tripped Jasper, throwing him to the deck, and Hepton sat upon his +comrade's chest. + +"Halstead! You others! What does this violence mean?" + +Powell Seaton shouted the question sternly. He had been disturbed by +the racket and now stood amidships. + +"Get him over, face down," panted Tom. "We'll make sure of the fellow +before we begin to explain. Hank, run for a pair of handcuffs!" + +Butts was up and off like a shot, wholly liking the nature of his +errand. + +"Halstead!" raged Mr. Seaton. "I insist upon an answer." + +"It's a case of sea-bullying--that's what it is," growled Jasper. +"It's an outrage." + +"Hepton," warned the charter-man, "get up off of Jasper's chest. Let +him go." + +"Don't you do it," countermanded Tom Halstead. "It won't be safe. This +fellow is a snake in the grass. I caught him at his tricks." + +Hepton had acted undecidedly for a moment. Now, he concluded to stand +by the young captain. + +In a trice Hank was back. Now the three assailed Jasper, rolling him +over on his face. Tom Halstead, himself, fitted the handcuffs. + +"Take the wheel, Hank, until I'm through with this," panted Tom, +leaping up from the treacherous guard. The locked wheel was now +steering the "Restless" over an erratic course, but Hank swiftly had +the boat on her true course once more. + +"I insist on knowing what this shameful business means," cried Mr. +Seaton, glaring at his young skipper. + +[Illustration: Tom Halstead Fitted the Handcuffs.] + +"I should think you might. It's an outrage!" shouted Jasper. + +"This fellow," charged young Captain Halstead, "was in the very act of +cutting the aerial wires with a wire-nipper when I caught him. Why, I +can show you the nippers he had." + +Tom wheeled, to make a quick search along the deck. Jasper grinned +covertly for he had thrown the nippers overboard in the struggle. + +"You see!" flared the prisoner. "He talks about nippers--but where are +they?" + +"Halstead," demanded Mr. Seaton, "do you intend to obey me by setting +this man free until I've had an opportunity to investigate all sides +of this remarkable charge?" + +"No, sir, I do not," rejoined Halstead, quietly though firmly. + +"Do you forget that I command here?" raged the charter-man. + +"Pardon me, but you don't command," retorted Skipper Tom, +respectfully. "It is true that you have this boat under charter, but I +am the captain and one of the owners, and I must handle trouble aboard +in the manner that seems best. I caught this man in a treacherous +attempt to make our errand this afternoon quite useless. Jasper stays +in irons until we reach port. I'm sorry to be so stubborn with you, +Mr. Seaton, but, just now, you've a queer idea that I'm working +against you. I must save you, sir, even from your own blindness. +Hepton, will you help me take this fellow aft?" + +"Surely," nodded the guard, who, while he had not seen the start of +the trouble, much preferred believing Halstead to Jasper. + +Seeing that resistance might bring him nothing but a beating, Jasper +sulkily allowed himself to be led along the deck. Down into the cabin +he was taken, there to be thrust into the starboard stateroom. Joe, +from his wireless table at the forward end of the cabin, looked up +with much curiosity. + +"He was trying to snip the wires in your aerial," Halstead explained, +after turning the key in the stateroom door. + +"Glad you got him, then," nodded Dawson. + +Mr. Seaton had followed as far as the doorway. There he halted, well +convinced that he could not, at present, persuade the young skipper to +change his mind. + +"Now, if you'll be good enough to come up to the bridge deck, Mr. +Seaton, I want to explain matters to you, sir," proposed the captain +of the "Restless." + +Rather stiffly the charter-man followed. Hepton, as though to show +further good faith, took pains to remain aft. + +"Do you remember the other night, when we were coming back with the +guard for Lonely Island," began Tom, in a low voice, "that we found +one of the new guards leaning well over the deck-house behind our +backs?" + +"I do," nodded Powell Seaton, coldly. + +"That man, sir, was Jasper. To-day, when we are out trying to trace +Anson Dalton over the open sea, I find that same fellow, Jasper, +trying to cut the parallel wires of the aerial. Why should he do that +unless he means to try to prevent our catching up with Dalton? Now, +sir, putting two and two together, doesn't it seem mighty reasonable +to suspect that Jasper overheard what we were saying the other night, +and then watched his chance to steal the papers that you and I thought +were so safely hidden in the cupboard at the bungalow? I know, Mr. +Seaton, you feel that you have some reason for suspecting us boys. In +view of what happened the other night, and again this afternoon, isn't +it a whole lot more sensible to trace your misfortunes to Jasper?" + +Powell Seaton, whose daze had continued ever since starting on this +cruise, now pondered deeply, with knitted brows. At last, however, he +looked up quickly, holding out his right hand, as he exclaimed: + +"Halstead, I begin to believe that I have been too hasty and +suspicious. I have hated myself for distrusting any of you boys, and +yet----" + +"And yet," smiled Tom, "you are beginning to feel that there is not as +much reason for suspecting us as there is for believing that the guilt +of a mean theft lies at someone else's door." + +"I beg you to forgive me, Halstead, you and your mates. But I hardly +know what I am thinking or saying. My mind is in too deep a turmoil." + +"We'll forget it, Mr. Seaton," continued Halstead, as he pressed the +other's hand. "_I_ can, easily, and I hope you'll do your best to +believe that you can trust us as fully as others have done." + +"You may just as well come forward, Hepton," hailed Captain Tom, a few +moments later. "And I want to thank you for the way you stood by me +when I needed help so badly." + +"Ever since we've been at the island I've felt that I didn't believe +any too much in that man Jasper," muttered Hepton. "He has been acting +queer some of the time." + +"How?" asked Mr. Seaton. + +"Well, for one thing, he always wanted the night guard duty. And he +growled at taking the porch or the dock. What he wanted to do was to +roam off about the island by himself. Whenever he came back he wanted +to sit in your sitting-room, at the bungalow, and the fellow scowled +if some of the rest of us showed any liking for staying in that +sitting-room." + +"What do you make of that, sir?" asked Captain Halstead, looking +significantly at Powell Seaton. + +"It sets me to thinking hard," replied that gentleman, gravely. + +Hepton glanced with natural curiosity from one to the other. Then, +finding that he was not to be enlightened as to what had happened +ashore, he soon stepped aft again. + +"Here's what you want to know, I reckon," announced Joe, in a low +voice, as his head bobbed up out of the motor room. In one hand he +held a slip of paper on which he had just taken down a message. +"Twenty miles north of us is the Langley Line freighter, 'Fulton.' +She's headed this way, and coming at fourteen knots." + +Skipper Tom received the paper, studying the position and course as +Joe had jotted them down. + +"The Langley boats run to Rio Janeiro, don't they?" asked Halstead. + +"Yes, and every boat of that line carries a wireless installation now, +too," Joe continued. "She's the only boat that answered my hail." + +"Take the new course, Hank," called the young skipper to the boy at +the wheel, and rattled it off. The "Restless" swung around to a nearly +northerly course. + +"At her speed, and ours, it needn't be many minutes before we sight +the 'Fulton,'" judged Halstead. "Hank, you keep the wheel. I want a +chance to handle my glasses." + +With the marine binoculars in his hand Skipper Tom soon began to sweep +the horizon. + +"There's what the wireless did for us," he chuckled to Mr. Seaton. +"Without our electrical wave we wouldn't have known, for sure, that +there was a Rio boat in these waters this afternoon. And, but for +getting the 'Fulton's' position and course by wireless, we'd have +swept by to the eastward, away out of sight of the freighter." + +Within a few minutes more the young skipper, by the aid of his +glasses, got a glimpse of a steamship's masts. A few minutes later the +upper works of her high hull were visible. + +"That's the 'Fulton.' I know the Langley type of freighter build," +Halstead explained, eagerly. "We'll soon be close enough to see her +name-plate through the glass. And--oh!--by Jove!" + +Tom waved the glasses with a flourish, pointing, then handed them to +Powell Seaton. + +"Look right over there to the north-westward, sir, and you'll make out +that drab-hulled seventy-footer. She's just coming into sight." + +"I see her," nodded Mr. Seaton. + +Captain Halstead took the glasses again, studying both the +seventy-footer and the freighter intently, judging their relative +speeds and positions. + +"Dalton, or his friend, Lemly, has nicely calculated the drab boat's +run," declared the young skipper of the "Restless," "Dalton's craft is +in fine position to stop the freighter. But we'll reach the 'Fulton' +first, and by some minutes, too, sir. The drab boat looks like a good +one, but I believe we're a shade faster in the stretch." + +"What are we going to do when we overhaul both craft?" wondered Powell +Seaton, aloud. + +"Why, sir, it will be easy enough to make the 'Fulton's' captain +refuse to take any such passenger as Dalton." + +"How?" demanded Mr. Seaton. + +"Just inform the 'Fulton's' captain that Anson Dalton is a fugitive +from justice. If you do that, the freighter's captain isn't going to +take any chances on getting into subsequent trouble with Uncle Sam. +The captain will simply decline to receive him as a passenger on the +high seas." + +Powell Seaton looked very cheerful for a moment. Then a look of dark +doubt crossed his face. + +"That will be all right, Halstead, unless it happens that the captain +of the 'Fulton' is a man on the inside of some official affairs down +in Brazil. If that be so, then your freighter's captain may recognize +Dalton as a man of consequence--one to be served at all hazards. For, +if a steamship captain of the Langley line must be careful to stand +well with the United States authorities, he must also be no less +careful to keep in the good graces of some of the cliques of Brazilian +officers. So what if Dalton goes aboard the freighter, and her captain +sends us a derisive toot of his whistle?" + +Tom Halstead's face showed his instant uneasiness. + +"If that turns out to be the case, sir," he whispered, "you've lost +your last chance to stop Anson Dalton. He goes to Brazil with all the +papers for locating the diamond mine, and you and your syndicate +friends lose the whole big game!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SEARCHLIGHT FINDS A "DOUBLE" + + +Yet, though his confidence in success had received a severe jolt, +Captain Tom reached out for the megaphone. + +"Run in straight and close, Hank," he ordered. "I want every possible +second of conversation before that drab boat gets within talking +distance of the 'Fulton.'" + +The "Restless" and the freighter were now within a mile of each other, +and almost head-on. The drab boat, about two miles away, had altered +its course so as to pick up the freighter at a more southerly point. + +"Run to your table, Joe," commanded the young skipper, "and notify the +'Fulton' that we are going to hail her for a brief pow-wow." + +The speed with which young Dawson worked was shown by the fact that, +when still half a mile away, the big freighter, hailed by wireless, +began to slow down speed. It was plain that she was going to lie to in +order to hear the whole of the hail from the "Restless." + +"Great Scott, though! Look at that!" suddenly ejaculated Tom +Halstead. + +The drab seventy-footer had suddenly gone about, making fast westerly +time for the shore. + +"Go about after the seventy-footer, Hank," almost exploded Halstead, +in the intensity of his excitement over this new move. "Dalton doesn't +seem to want to try the freighter now. Follow Dalton back to shore." + +"But the 'Fulton's' slowing down. You're going to show him the +politeness of telling the freighter's captain what it was all about, +ain't you?" + +"Let Joe do it," replied Tom, tersely. "What's the wireless for?" + +Just at this moment Joe Dawson appeared from below. + +"Our apologies to the freighter, Joe," called Skipper Tom. "Tell him +we're after the drab boat. Tell him that our game is to stop a +fugitive from getting out of the United States." + +Joe again appeared just as the freighter began to make full headway +once more. + +"Captain Carson sends you his compliments from the 'Fulton,' Tom, for +chasing the fugitive off." + +"And now, we're going to chase that fugitive in," uttered Halstead, +grimly. "By George! Look at the way that drab boat is beginning to +travel. Joe, we can't let her lose us in this fashion." + +As the "Fulton" passed out hull down, and then finally vanished on the +southern horizon, the chase after the drab seventy-footer became +lively and exciting. + +"Can you make out Dalton aboard of her?" asked Powell Seaton, as Tom +stood forward, leaning against the edge of the forward deck-house, the +marine glass as fast to his eyes as though glued there. + +"No, sir. If Dalton is aboard, he's keeping out of sight in the +cabin." + +"Did you see, when the drab boat was more head-on, whether Lemly was +at the wheel?" + +"The man at the wheel wasn't Lemly, sir, though I believe that fellow +is on board as the actual captain," Halstead answered. + +"Humph! Is the Drab going to get away from us?" questioned Hank, +wonderingly. "My, look at her bow cut water!" + +"She's a faster boat than I thought," Tom responded. "But we don't +mean to let her get away. Joe, how are we going on speed?" + +"I couldn't get another revolution out of the twin shafts without +overheating everything," Dawson replied, seriously. "Honestly, Tom, if +this speed doesn't suit, I'm afraid we'll have to make the best of +it." + +"Then don't lose a single inch by bad steering, Hank," Halstead +directed, looking around at his helmsman. "Whenever you want relief, +let me know." + +For five miles the drab seventy-footer kept her lead, though she did +not seem able to increase it. That craft was still heading shoreward, +and now the low, long, hazy line of the coast was in sight, becoming +every minute more plain. + +"They're going to head straight for the shore, unless they've some +slicker trick hidden up their sleeves," declared Tom Halstead. + +"I wonder that they're running so hard from us," mused Powell Seaton. + +"Most likely, sir," responded the young skipper, "because Dalton and +Lemly believe we have officers aboard. Of course they know--or +suspect--that warrants are out charging them with stealing the +'Restless' the other night." + +"Suppose Dalton and Lemly are not aboard that boat?" challenged Mr. +Seaton, suddenly. + +Tom Halstead's lower jaw sagged for just an instant. + +"Of course, there's that chance. We may have been fooled, and we may +be chasing a straw man in a paper boat right at this minute, sir. Yet, +if Dalton were out on the water, with his stolen papers, he'd want to +get nowhere else but to Brazil. If he isn't on the water, then he's +not trying this route to your Brazilian enemies, and we might as well +be out here as on Lonely Island." + +As the boat in the lead neared the coast Halstead again kept the +marine glass to his eyes. + +"There's a little river over yonder," he observed. + +"Yes; I know the stream. Hardly more than a creek," replied Mr. +Seaton. + +"Any deep water there, sir?" + +"For only a very little way in. Then the stream moves over a pebbly +bottom like a running brook." + +"Then it looks, sir, as though Lemly--if he's aboard--plans to run in +there and hustle ashore." + +"Or else stay and fight," hinted Powell Seaton. "The place is lonely +enough for a fight, if the rascals dare try it." + +"Hepton!" summoned Halstead, a few moments later. "Don't you think +you'd better get up your rifle? You don't need to show it, but someone +may send us a shot or two from the drab boat." + +Hepton sprang below, bringing up both rifles. Crouching behind the +forward deck-house, he examined the magazines of both weapons. + +"We're carrying load enough for a squad o' infantry," laughed Hepton, +showing his strong, white teeth. "Let those fellers on the Drab try +it, if they want to see what we've got." + +The seventy-footer was shutting off speed now, going slowly into the +mouth of the little river. Almost immediately afterwards her reverse +was applied, after which she swung at anchor. + +Tom, too, without a word to Hank, who stood by the wheel, reached +over, slowing the "Restless" down to a gait of something like eight +miles an hour. + +"What's the order, sir?" he asked, turning to Mr. Seaton. "Are we to +go in and anchor alongside?" + +"I--I don't want to run you young men into any too dangerous places," +began Powell Seaton, hesitatingly. "I--I----" + +"Danger's one of the things we're paid for," clicked Tom Halstead, +softly. "It'll all in the charter. Do you want to go in alongside?" + +"I--I----" + +Bang! + +The shot came so unexpectedly that the motor boat boys jumped despite +themselves. Hepton cocked one of the rifles, and was about to rise +with it, when the young skipper of the "Restless" prodded the man +gently with one foot. + +"Don't show your guns, Hepton," murmured Tom. "Wait until we find out +what that shot was meant for." + +No one now appeared on board the drab seventy-footer. There had been +no smoke, no whistle of a bullet by the heads of those on the bridge +deck of the "Restless." + +"That was intended only to make us nervous," grinned Captain Tom. + +"Or else to show us that they have fire-arms," suggested Seaton. + +"Well, sir, I'm headed to go in alongside, unless you give me other +orders," hinted the young skipper. + +"Cover about half the rest of the distance, then reverse and lie to," +decided Powell Seaton. He now had the extra pair of marine glasses, +and was attentively studying both the boat and the shore nearby. + +Tom took the wheel himself, stopping where he had been directed. So +neatly was headway corrected that the "Restless" barely drifted on the +smooth water inshore. + +There was now remaining less than an hour of daylight. + +"I think I understand their plan, if Dalton is on board," whispered +Mr. Seaton to his young captain. "Dalton is waiting until it is dark +enough to slip ashore." + +"Hm! There's one way you _could_ stop that, if you want to take all +the risk," ventured Halstead, grinning thoughtfully. + +"How?" + +"Well, if it's the plan of anyone aboard the drab boat to slip on +shore under cover of darkness, then I could put our tender overboard +and row Hepton to one bank of the river with his rifle. Returning, I +could row you to the other shore, you to carry the other rifle." + +"That would be a bold and open move," agreed Mr. Seaton, gasping at +first, then looking thoughtful. "But look at that shore, Halstead. See +the thick trees on either bank of the river. Hepton and I couldn't +watch a lot of stretch on both banks." + +"With our help from the boat you could, sir." + +"Again, how?" + +"Why, it's shallow enough to drop anchor right here, Mr. Seaton. Then, +as soon as it grows the least bit dark, we boys could keep our +searchlight turned on the drab boat so that you and Hepton could see +every movement on her decks. From a quarter of a mile off you could +see anyone swimming ashore and run to stop him. There's no difficulty +about it, sir, except the risk." + +"Hepton, I must talk that over with you," cried Powell Seaton. "I +don't feel that I have any right to run you into too certain +danger." + +But Hepton smiled again in a way to show his white teeth. + +"Don't worry 'bout me, Mr. Seaton. I feel big 'nough to take care of +myself, and I enlisted for the whole game, anyway." + +"You could keep watch right from this deck," Halstead added. "But +then, if anyone slipped ashore from the Drab, you couldn't get on +shore fast enough to follow through the woods. You'd lose the trail +right after the start." + +"Even if I were on shore, and Dalton walked right by me, what could I +do?" pondered Powell Seaton. "Of course, I know the sheriff of the +county would take him, for going aboard this boat and breaking it +loose from the dock the other night. A United States marshal might +arrest Dalton, on my request, for piracy in sailing away with the +boat. But would I have a right to seize Dalton and hold him--even if +able?" + +"You can follow him until you _do_ run Dalton into one of the law's +officers," proposed Halstead. + +"I believe I'm going ashore, anyway, to see what happens," announced +Mr. Seaton, after giving the matter a little more thought. + +"But let me go ashore, first, on the other bank," begged Hepton. "Then +you can take second chance, sir." + +"Very good, then," agreed the charter-man. + +With the aid of his mates, Captain Tom had the anchor overboard, and +the small tender alongside in a jiffy. Hepton stepped down into the +smaller craft, carrying his rifle so that it could be seen. Tom +himself took the oars to row. + +"I'd better put you in on the bank to the left," whispered Halstead, +and Hepton nodded. + +They passed within forty yards of the stern of the drab boat, yet not +a single human being appeared on that mysterious craft. + +Having put Hepton on shore, Halstead rowed back for Mr. Seaton. +Embarking this second passenger, Tom, this time, rowed a little closer +to the seventy-footer lying at anchor in the river's mouth. Now, the +head of a man unknown to either of them showed aft. + +"Where you-all goin' with so many guns?" this man asked, in a +half-jeering tone. + +"Night hunting," retorted Tom, dryly, not feeling guilty of a lie +since he was certain the other would not believe him. + +Landing Mr. Seaton on the other river bank, the young captain of the +"Restless" returned to his craft. + +By now it was nearly dark. + +"We may as well see how the searchlight is working," Joe Dawson +suggested. + +"Turn it on them, and sweep it around," responded Halstead. + +The strong glare of light was found to be working satisfactorily. Dark +came on quickly, still without any more signs of life aboard the Drab +than had already been observed. + +"Supper time, surely," announced Hank, in a glum voice. + +"Don't bother about that to-night," objected the young skipper. "Slip +down into the galley and make sandwiches enough for all hands. We can +eat and watch--_must_, in fact, if we eat at all." + +After the sandwiches had been made and disposed of the Motor Boat Club +boys began to find the swinging of the light on the drab boat, on the +water and on either river bank, to be growing rather monotonous. + +"I wish something would happen," grumbled Hank. + +"Now, don't start a fuss about that," yawned Joe. "Something is likely +enough to start up at any second." + +"It has started," whispered Tom Halstead, swinging the searchlight, +just then, across the Drab's hull. "Look there!" + +Two much-muffled figures, looking nearly identical, and each of the +pair carrying a bag, appeared on deck amidships, one standing on each +side of the deck-house. Then, as quickly, by their sides stood two +other men who sprang to lower the two small boats that hung at davits. +One muffled man and one helper embarked in each boat, the helper in +each case rowing swiftly to either bank of the river. + +"That's a queer game, but a clever one," muttered Captain Tom, +swinging the glaring searchlight and watching. + +"It'll mix up Mr. Seaton and Hepton all right," grimaced Joe Dawson. +"Each will wonder whether _he_ has Dalton on his side of the river, to +follow." + +Now, as quickly, the two boat-tenders rowed back to the Drab, and the +boats were triced up in a twinkling. + +"Say, they've got their anchor up!" cried Hank Butts, in a breathless +undertone. "They're going to scoot out on us." + +"Then I'm ready to bet," muttered Tom Halstead, "that neither of the +muffled men that went ashore was Anson Dalton. They must be trying to +throw our crowd off the trail, and now that seventy-footer is trying +to get off with Dalton still aboard!" + +Whatever the plan was, the Drab was now backing out of the river mouth +and swinging around. So far none of her sailing lights were in +evidence. She looked more like a pirate craft slinking out into the +night on an errand of dire mischief. + +Once out of the mouth of the river, the Drab swung around, then began +to move ahead. By this time her prow was head-on for the "Restless," +as though aimed to strike the latter craft amidships. + +Then, as the Drab's speed increased, Tom Halstead vented excitedly: + +"Jupiter! They're out to cut us in two while we ride here at anchor!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +TOM HALSTEAD--READY! + + +There was no time to raise the anchor. Even had this been possible, it +would have been out of the question to get the motors started and +running in time to get out of the Drab's way. + +Captain Tom Halstead was taken wholly by surprise, yet he was not +caught with his wits asleep. + +"Make a dive for those sticks, fellows!" he shouted, bounding for the +motor room hatchway. "If we get a chance we'll give 'em at least a pat +for a blow!" + +The sticks of firewood that they had used on the night of their long +swim were in the motor room. Tom caught up his, wheeling to bound +outside again. Joe Dawson was barely a step behind him. + +But Hank--he went as though by instinct for the hitching weight that +had already made him famous in the annals of the Motor Boat Club. + +Swift as they were, the trio were back on deck just in time to witness +the final manoeuvre of the seventy-footer. That craft, not moving very +fast, suddenly veered in its course. + +Instead of cutting through the "Restless," the larger motor boat swung +suddenly so as to come up alongside, rail to rail. And now the whole +intention was manifest at a glance, for the figures of six men, with +their caps pulled well down over their eyes, appeared at the Drab's +rail. + +"All hands to repel boarders!" sang out Captain Tom Halstead, his +voice ringing defiantly. "Show 'em the best you can!" + +Joe swung, with a single-stick trick he had learned and practiced. It +was a feint, aimed at the first of the Drab's crew to try to leap +aboard. The intended victim threw up his hands to ward off the blow +from the top of his head, but he received, instead, a stinging, +crushing slap across the face. + +Tom thrust one end of his stick for the face of another of the +boarding strangers. The fellow strove to protect his face, and would +have guarded easily enough, but, instead, the other end of Tom's +bludgeon struck him in the pit of his stomach, depriving him of all +his wind. + +"Woof!" grunted Hank, at the first sign of onslaught. + +In both hands he clutched that business-like, though not formidable +looking, hitching weight. One man set his foot on deck. Hank, almost +with deliberation, dropped the weight on the toes of that foot. + +There was a yell of pain. Snatching up the weight instantly, Hank let +it fly forward and fall across the toes of another of the boarders. + +Two of the strangers were limping now. Another was nursing an injured +face, from Joe's heavy blow. Captain Tom's victim had fallen back +aboard his home craft, gasping for breath. + +The other two of the invaders got aboard the "Restless"--then wished +they hadn't, for Hank pursued one of them with his terrifying hitching +weight, while Tom and Joe divided the sole remaining enemy between +them. + +Hardly had the affair begun when it ended; it was all over in an +instant. The two who had escaped injury leaped back aboard the Drab. +Those who needed assistance were helped back. The Drab drifted away, +her vagrant course unheeded at first, for it looked as though all +aboard had taken part in that disastrous boarding enterprise. + +Tom and Hank sprang for their own anchor, while Joe, as soon as he saw +the big motor boats drift apart, dropped into the small boat of the +"Restless" and rowed swiftly for shore. Hardly had he touched the +beach when Powell Seaton, rifle in hand, bounded forth from cover. + +"Put across, and see if we can get Hepton, too," directed the +charter-man, in a low voice. "I stepped right up out of the bushes, +almost into the face of the fellow who landed on my side of the river. +It was neither Dalton nor Lemly. As soon as the fellow saw me he +laughed, put a chew of tobacco in his mouth, and went on." + +Hardly had Seaton finished speaking when Joe Dawson shot the bow of +the little boat against the further bank. During this time Mr. Seaton +had kept his eyes on the drab boat, holding his rifle in readiness in +case another effort should be made to ram or board the "Restless." + +"Oh, you-u-u-u!" called Joe, hailing. There was a sound in the woods, +and then Hepton came into sight. + +"Did you see the man who landed on your side?" whispered Powell +Seaton, as Hepton reached the beach. + +"Yes; he was just an ordinary roustabout chap," grunted Hepton, +disgustedly. "I had no orders to follow _him_, so I didn't take the +trouble." + +"That's right. Jump in and we'll get aboard the 'Restless.'" + +Hank had the motors working long before Joe returned with his two +passengers, and was standing by. Captain Tom was at the wheel, but +keeping the searchlight inquisitively on the Drab. + +Now, the seventy-footer began to move off slowly down the coast, going +at a speed of perhaps six miles an hour. Halstead, without waiting for +orders, went in chase, keeping his place two hundred yards behind the +other craft. All the while he kept the searchlight swinging over the +Drab, from her port to starboard sides. + +"That must annoy those fellows," observed Powell Seaton, with a +chuckle, as he stood by the young skipper. + +"I reckon it does," returned Tom, dryly. "But it also prevents their +letting anyone off the boat without our seeing it. You see, sir, +they're only about a quarter of a mile off the coast here. Their small +boat could make a quick dash for the shore. Even a good swimmer could +go overboard. I don't intend to let anyone get off that seventy-footer +without our knowing all about it." + +Halstead had not been silent long when he saw a bright flash from the +Drab, aft. It was followed, almost immediately, by the sound of a gun. +Then a bullet went by about two feet over their heads. + +"That was meant for our searchlight," laughed Tom Halstead, coolly. +"Those fellows want to put it out of business." + +With an ugly cry Hepton leaned over the edge of the forward +deck-house, sighting. + +"Don't do that," called Captain Tom, sharply. Then he added: "I beg +your pardon, Mr. Seaton, but I don't believe you want any shooting to +come from us unless it's necessary." + +"No, I don't," replied the charter-man, thoughtfully. "Dalton and +Lemly seem willing to take desperate chances, acting like pirates, in +fact. But we don't want to kill anyone, and, above all, we want to be +very sure we have the law on our side." + +"They fired our way," urged Hepton, rather stubbornly. "We have a +right to defend ourselves." + +"But they sent only one shot," replied Seaton. "They might afterwards +claim that it was an accidental discharge. Unless they make it very +plain that they're playing the part of pirates, we'd better take the +best of care not to put ourselves wrong before the law." + +"That's all right, sir," admitted Hepton. "But, while I'm willing to +take any chances that go with my job, it doesn't seem just fair to ask +me to be exposed to bullets from that other boat without the right to +answer their fire." + +"You can get down before the forward deck-house, Hepton," nodded +Halstead, pleasantly. "You can't be hit through the deck-house." + +"But you can be hit, fine," objected Hepton. + +"Like Mr. Seaton," answered the young skipper, "I'd rather take the +chance than do anything to put us in the wrong." + +Grumbling a bit, though under his breath, Hepton seated himself where +the forward deck-house would protect him. Joe remained leaning +nonchalantly over the edge of the house. + +"I wonder if they _will_ dare to keep up a fusillade?" he presently +said, watching the deck of the drab boat in the glare of light that +Halstead now held steadily on it. + +"If they fire another shot at us," replied Powell Seaton, "then Hepton +and I will crouch over the forward deck-house, rifles ready, and fire +at the flash of the third shot. We'll keep within the law, but we +won't stand for any determined piracy that we have the power to +resist." + +"Take the wheel, Hank," called Tom, presently. Then the young skipper +signed to his employer that he wanted to speak with him aft. + +"Mr. Seaton," began Tom, "I want to ask you a few questions, with a +view to making a suggestion that may be worth while." + +"Go ahead, Halstead." + +"You trust me now, fully? Have you gotten wholly over your suspicions +of early this afternoon?" + +"Halstead," replied the charter-man, in a tone uneasy with emotion, +"I'm wholly ashamed of anything that I may have said or thought. +You've shown me, since, how perfectly brave you are. I don't believe a +young man with your cool, resolute grit, and your clear head, _could_ +be anything but absolutely honest." + +"Thank you," acknowledged the young motor boat captain. "Now, Mr. +Seaton, though the two sets of papers describing and locating your +diamond field are out of your hands, don't you remember the contents +of the papers well enough to sit down at a desk and duplicate them?" + +"Yes; surely," nodded Mr. Seaton, slowly. + +"You feel certain that you can seat yourself and write out a set of +papers that would tell a man down in Brazil just how to locate the +diamond field?" + +"I can, Halstead. It would be a matter of some hours of writing, +that's all. But why are you asking this? What plan have you in your +mind?" + +"Well, I've got a hunch, sir," replied Tom Halstead, quietly, "that +you're never going to see the lost papers again. If Anson Dalton found +you getting close to him, and knew you could seize the papers, he'd +destroy them. It seems to me that our sole game must be to prevent his +ever getting those papers to Brazil ahead of a second set that you can +just as well write to-night." + +"If we trail him all the time," replied Powell Seaton, thoughtfully, +"we can know whether the fellow succeeds in getting away on a ship to +Brazil. He can't go on that drab boat ahead, can he?" + +"The seventy-footer would be quite good enough a boat to make the +voyage to Brazil," Halstead answered. "So would the 'Restless,' for +that matter. The only trouble would be that neither boat could carry +anywhere near enough gasoline for such a voyage." + +"Then Anson Dalton, if he gets away to Brazil, will have to board some +regular liner or freighter? Well, as long as we keep him in sight, +we'll know whether he's doing that." + +"But Dalton will get desperate," Tom warned his employer. "While +holding onto the papers he has succeeded in obtaining, he can make a +copy, and he may very likely determine to send the copies to your old +enemy, Terrero, by mail. Now, Mr. Seaton, it seems to me that your +best hope is to duplicate the missing papers at once, and, if you +can't find in haste a messenger you'll trust, then you had better send +the papers by registered mail to your friends in Rio Janeiro." + +Powell Seaton stared at the young skipper, going deathly pale. + +"Captain Halstead, don't you understand that the possession of such a +set of papers, at Rio Janeiro, would mean that the possessor could +locate and file a patent to the diamond field, of which no one, save +myself, at present knows the exact location? Why, even if the postal +authorities do their very best to put the papers in the proper hands, +anyone like a dishonest clerk might get the papers in his hands. The +temptation would be powerful for anyone who had the papers to locate +the mine at once for himself." + +"I understand, fully," agreed Captain Tom. "But the whole thing has +become a desperate case, now, and some desperate chances must be +taken if you're to have a good chance to win out against Terrero and +his crooked friends." + +"Then you--you--honestly believe I'd better make out another set of +papers and mail them to my friends of the syndicate, at Rio Janeiro?" +faltered Mr. Seaton. + +"Yes; unless you prefer to be almost certain of losing your fight for +the great fortune. For Dalton, of course, knows that you can send a +set of the papers by mail. He'll feel like taking the same desperate +chance in order to have a better chance of getting in ahead of you." + +"By mail--even registered mail?" groaned Mr. Seaton. "It seems an +awful--desperate chance to take. Yet----" + +"Prepare a duplicate set of the papers," proposed Tom Halstead, "and, +if you'll trust me, I'll board the first Rio-bound steamer that we +meet, and go through for you. I'll give you every guarantee that's +possible to find your people in Rio and turn the papers over to +them." + +"Will you?" demanded Seaton, peering eagerly into his young skipper's +eyes. + +"Then you'll trust me to go as your messenger to Rio?" + +"Yes, in a minute, Halstead! Yet I'm thinking of the great danger +you'd be running. At this moment Terrero's spies must be plentiful in +Rio Janeiro. Why, even every steamer that leaves New York for Brazil +may carry his men aboard, alert, watchful and deadly. You don't know +what a man like Terrero is like. The constant danger to you----" + +"Constant danger," laughed Tom Halstead, softly, "is something that +most men learn readily to face. Otherwise, wars would be impossible." + +"But that is very different," retorted Powell Seaton, quickly. "In war +men have the constant elbow-touch, the presence and support of +comrades. But you would be alone--one against hundreds, perhaps, at +the very instant when you set foot ashore in Brazil." + +"I'll take the chance, if you let me," declared Captain Tom. "But, +now, sir, you're losing time. Why don't you go below, get writing +materials, and start in earnest to get out the duplicate papers?" + +"I will," nodded the charter-man. "Should I change my mind, it will be +easy enough to burn the sheets after I have written them." + +As Powell Seaton turned to go down into the cabin Joe Dawson called +sharply: + +"Tom, something's up ahead! Come here, quickly!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +GRIT GOES UP THE SIGNAL MAST + + +Even before Captain Tom turned he heard the sudden throb of the twin +screws of the propellers, and felt the speed being reversed. That told +him, instantly, that Joe had found some reason for stopping the +"Restless" in a hurry. + +As the young commander bounded forward the steady ray of his own +searchlight showed him that the seventy-footer had also stopped her +headway. + +Hank was still at the wheel, but young Dawson was beside him on the +bridge deck. + +"There they go--dropping their anchor overboard," cried Joe, pointing. +"The water's shallow along this coast, of course." + +"We'll move right in, between that boat and the shore, and drop +anchor, too," decided Captain Halstead, taking the wheel and reaching +for the engine control. He sent the "Restless" slowly forward into +place, then shut off headway, ordering: + +"Joe, you and Hank get our anchor over. Dalton can't get anything or +anybody ashore, now, without our knowing it." + +"But what can his plan be, anchoring on an open coast?" demanded young +Dawson, as he came back from heaving the anchor. + +"Our job is just to wait and see," laughed Captain Halstead. + +Mr. Seaton came on deck again, to learn what this sudden stopping of +the boat meant. + +"It's some trick, and all we can do is to watch it, sir," reported the +young skipper of the "Restless," pointing to the anchored Drab. "Yet I +think the whole situation, sir, points to the necessity for your +taking my recent advice and acting on it without the loss of an +hour." + +"Either the registered mail, or yourself as a special messenger," +whispered Seaton, hoarsely, in the boy's ear. "Yes, yes! I'll fly at +the work." + +"Don't hurry back below, though," advised Halstead. "Stroll along, as +though you were going below for a nap. A night glass on the +seventy-footer is undoubtedly watching all our movements." + +As the two boats swung idly at anchor, on that smooth sea, their bows +lay some three hundred yards apart. The night air was so still, and +voices carried so far, that those on the deck of the "Restless" were +obliged to speak very quietly. + +Over on the seventy-footer but one human being showed himself to the +watchers on the smaller boat. This solitary individual paced the drab +boat's bridge deck, puffing at a short-stemmed pipe. + +"I'd give a lot to be smart enough to guess what their game is," +whispered Joe, curiously. + +"It's a puzzle," sighed Captain Tom Halstead. "It looks, now, as +though Dalton and Lemly are trying to hold us here while someone else +does something on shore." + +"Then you think the two who landed on either bank of the river----" + +"We know that neither of them was Dalton or Lemly, but I'm beginning +to suspect that one, or both, of those fellows carried messages, +somewhere and of some nature. In that case, we're letting our +curiosity hold us up here while the enemy are accomplishing something +at some other point." + +"Confound 'em!" growled Joe, prodding the bulwarks with his toe. +"They're clever rascals!" + +"Meanwhile," whispered Tom, "I've just been thinking of something else +that we ought to be doing." + +"What?" + +"There may be another steamship for Rio Janeiro passing somewhere in +these waters at any time. We ought to send out a call on the wireless +at least once an hour. There's something else in the wind, old fellow, +and we _do_ want to know when the first steam vessel for Rio passes +through these waters." + +"Then I'll go below and get at work at the sending key," proposed +Dawson. "Send out the wireless call once an hour, you say?" + +"Yes; yet we don't want to forget that we're being watched all the +time from that old drab pirate yonder. Don't let the enemy see you +going to the cabin." + +"I'll drop down into the motor room and use the passageway through." + +Dawson was gone ten minutes. When he returned he shook his head, then +stood looking out over the sea. Excepting the "Restless" and the drab +seventy-footer there was no craft in sight. Not so much as a +lighthouse shed its beams over the ocean at this point of the coast. + +"Say, it's weird, isn't it?" muttered Joe Dawson. "We can't see a +thing but ourselves, yet down in the cabin I've just been chatting +with the Savannah boat, the New Orleans boat, two Boston fruit +steamers, the southbound Havana liner and a British warship. Look out +there. Where are they? Yet all are within reach of my electric wave!" + +"There are no longer any pathless roads of the sea--not since the +wireless came in," declared Tom Halstead. "If there were enough +vessels to relay us we could talk direct with London now. The next +thing will be a telephone in every stateroom, with a wireless central +on the saloon deck or the spar deck. But gracious! We've been +forgetting all about our poor prisoner in the starboard stateroom. He +must have a royal case of hunger by now. Tell Hank to take him in some +food and to feed the poor fellow, since he can't use his own hands." + +Later time began to drag by. There were few signs of life aboard the +seventy-footer. Sending Joe and Hepton down to the motor room berths +as watch below, Tom kept Hank on deck with him. Bye-and-bye Joe and +Hepton took their trick on deck, while Halstead and Hank Butts went +below for some sleep. Through most of the night Powell Seaton remained +hard at work over his writing, often pausing to read and make some +corrections. + +Morning found the two boats still at anchor. With sunrise came a +stiffer wind that rocked the "Restless" a good deal. + +"Now, look out for one of the sudden September gales," warned Captain +Tom Halstead, as, after the second short sleep of the night, he came +up on deck, yawning and stretching. He stepped over to read the +barometer, then turned quickly to Joe. + +"Looks like something's going to happen, doesn't it?" queried Dawson. + +"Yes; there's a disturbance heading this way," admitted Tom, looking +around at the sky. "Yet it may be hours, or a day, off yet. If we were +going under canvas, though, I'd shorten it." + +"The captain of the Drab evidently believes in being prepared," hinted +Joe, nodding in the direction of the other craft. Two men were now +visible on the deck of the seventy-footer. They were taking up anchor, +though not doing it with either speed or stealth. + +"I reckon we have to take our sailing orders from them," nodded the +young skipper. "You'd better get the motors on the mote, Joe. I'll +have Hank and Hepton help me up with our anchor." + +Soon afterwards the Drab was heading north at a ten-mile gait; half a +minute later the "Restless" started in leisurely pursuit. + +After half an hour or so the Drab headed into another open roadstead, +anchoring a quarter of a mile from shore. Tom dropped anchor some +three hundred yards to the southward. + +"Keep your eye seaward, Hank," directed the young skipper. "Joe, if +you'll see whether Mr. Seaton wants anything, Hepton and I will keep a +keen eye on the shore." + +"Mr. Seaton is asleep in the port stateroom," Dawson reported back a +moment later. "I've made eight calls through the night, but I'll get +at the sending key again, and see whether there's anything in our line +within hail." + +Hardly had Joe Dawson vanished below when Skipper Tom uttered a sudden +exclamation. A sharp, bright glint of light from under the trees on +shore caught his watchful eye. + +"Look there!" the young captain called, pointing to the flash. + +"There's another," muttered Hank Butts, pointing further up the +coast. + +"By Jimminy, there's a third," cried Hepton, pointing. + +"Signals for the Dalton-Lemly crew," uttered Tom, disgustedly. "_They_ +are getting news, now, and of a kind we can't read. Hank! Call Mr. +Seaton. _He_ ought to be on deck, watching this." + +The charter-man was speedily up into the open. + +In the meantime Joe, at the powerful sending apparatus below, sent the +spark leaping across the spark-gap, and, dashing up the aerials, there +shot into space the electric waves intended to be gathered in by any +other wireless operator within fifty or sixty miles. + +Crash-sh! Ass-ss-ssh! hissed the spark, bounding, leaping to its work +like a thing of almost animal life. + +Bang! This last note that came on the air was sharp, clear, though not +loud. Whew-ew! A bullet uttered a swift sigh as it sped past the +signaling mast twenty feet over the heads of the watchers of the +"Restless." + +"Confound it! Rascals on shore are shooting at us," exclaimed Powell +Seaton, turning swiftly to peer at the forest-clad shore line. + +"No; they're shooting at our aerials!" retorted Captain Tom Halstead. + +Bang! Whe-ew-ew! Clash! Then there was a metallic clash, for the +second rifle shot from the land had scored a fair bull's-eye among the +clustered aerial wires. There was a rattle, and some of the severed +wire ends hung down. + +With an ugly grunt, Hepton bounded down into the motor room, passing +up the two rifles. + +"We must be careful, though," warned Mr. Seaton. "This time they're +not shooting at us." + +"Load and be ready, though!" uttered Captain Tom, dryly. "They soon +will be shooting at us." + +Several more shots clattered out, and two more of the bullets did +further damage among the aerial wires. Then Joe came dancing up on +deck, his eyes full of ire. + +"The infernal scoundrels have put our spark out of business," he +cried, disgustedly. "We haven't wire enough left to send five miles. +Where do the shots come from?" + +"From the shore," Halstead replied, "but see for yourself if you can +locate the marksmen. We can't. They're using smokeless powder, and are +hidden so far in under the trees that we can't even make out the +flashes." + +"It's out of my line to locate them," announced Joe Dawson, with +vigor. "It's mine to see that the aerials are put on a working basis +again." + +He vanished, briefly, into the motor room, soon reappearing with a +coil of wire and miscellaneous tools. + +"Good!" commended Halstead, joyously. "Mr. Seaton, we have wire enough +to repair a dozen smashes, if need be. On up with you, Joe. I'm at +your heels." + +Joe started to climb the mast, using the slightly projecting footholds +placed there for that purpose. Tom let him get a clear lead, then +started up after his chum. + +From the shore broke out a rapid, intermittent volley. Steel-clad +bullets sang a song full of menace about that signal mast. + +"Come down, boys! You'll be killed!" roared Mr. Seaton, looking up +apprehensively. + +While Joe kept on climbing, in silence, Skipper Tom looked down with a +cool grin. + +"Killed?" he repeated. "Well, if we're not, we'll fix the aerials. We +can't allow strangers to put us out of business!" + +Joe found his place to go to work. Tom halted, with his head on a +level with his chum's knees. From the shore there came another burst +of rifle-fire, and the air about them was sternly melodious with the +pest-laden hum of bullets. Two of the missiles glancingly struck wires +just above Dawson's head. + +In the lull that followed Joe's voice was heard: + +"Hold the wire, Tom. Pass me the pliers." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +PLAYING SALT WATER BLIND MAN'S BUFF + + +"I've got to do something!" growled Hepton, his teeth tightly shut. + +Raising his rifle to his shoulder, making his guess by sound, the man +let two shots drive at the shore, not far back from the beach's edge. +Then, after a pause and a long look, he let three more shots drive, +slightly changing his sighting each time. + +"Come on, Mr. Seaton," he urged. "They're firing on your skipper and +engineer this time. It's up to us to answer 'em--clear case of +self-preservation. The first _law_ that was ever invented!" + +Bang! bang! rang Seaton's rifle, twice. He, too, fired for the forest, +near the beach. It was like the man to hope he had hit no one, but he +was determined to stop if possible this direct attack on Tom Halstead +and Joe Dawson. + +Evidently the first sign of resistance was not to stop the bothering +tactics of those on shore, for one wire that Joe was handling was +zipped out of his hands. + +"They mean business, the enemy," called down Skipper Tom, softly, to +the tune of a low laugh. "But we'll get rigged, in spite of them. All +we ask for is that they let us get the wire fixed often enough for a +few minutes of sending and receiving once an hour." + +Hepton and his employer continued to fire, using a good deal of +ammunition. The guard was much more vengeful in his firing and in his +attempts to locate the hidden marksmen than was Seaton. + +"That's what those two men went ashore for last night," called down +Halstead, quietly. "First of all, to fool us and get us guessing, and, +next, to hunt up some of their own rascals for this work. The +seventy-footer led us into this trap on purpose. Finely done, wasn't +it?" + +"It shows," retorted Mr. Seaton, wrathily, "that along this sparsely +settled shore there is a numerous gang organized for some law-breaking +purpose." + +"Smuggling, most likely," guessed Tom. "And it must pay unusually +well, too, for them to have such a big and so well-armed a crew." + +Three more shots sounded from the shore. All of the trio of bullets +went uncomfortably close to the young skipper and engineer, though +doing no actual damage. Hepton, with his ear trained to catch the +direction of the discharge sounds, changed his guess, firing in a new +direction. + +"There, it's done, until it's put out of business again," muttered +Joe, finally. "Slide, Tom." + +Almost immediately after Dawson disappeared the crash of the spark +across the spark-gap and up the wires was heard. The young wireless +operator of the "Restless" was making the most of any time that might +be left to him. + +"How about that storm that threatened last night, captain?" inquired +Mr. Seaton. "Has it come any nearer?" + +[Illustration: "There, It's Done," Muttered Joe. "Slide, Tom."] + +"No, sir," replied the motor boat captain, shaking his head. "It acted +the way many September storms do on this coast. It passed by us, out +to sea, and ought to be down by Havana by now. The barometer has been +rising, and is at nearly the usual pressure. But I don't like the +looks of the sky over there"--pointing. + +"Why not?" queried the charter-man, following the gesture with his +eyes. + +"We'll be playing in great luck, sir," answered the young captain, "if +a fog doesn't roll in where the storm threatened to come." + +"Fog?" Mr. Seaton's tone had an aghast ring to it. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Are you sure, Captain?" + +"No, sir. It's only a possibility, but a good one." + +Hepton was making his rifle bark again, deep, snappy and angry in its +throat, in answer to a challenge from shore, but Powell Seaton stood +surveying the weather with a look of deepest concern. + +Then he turned to regard the drab seventy-footer at anchor near by. + +"It would be the enemy's real chance, wouldn't it?" he inquired. + +"Just what I dread, sir," Captain Tom admitted. "Let us be wrapped in +a thick bank of fog, and the Drab would be out of our vision and +hearing in a very short time." + +"Shades of hard luck!" groaned the charter-man, growing pallid. + +Off on the seaward horizon an indefinite haze was soon observable. To +the untrained eye it didn't look like much. Though Mr. Seaton spoke of +it, he didn't appear much concerned. + +"It'll be a pity to bother him until the time comes when he throbs +with worry," thought Captain Tom Halstead, sympathetically. "But if +that low-hanging haze doesn't spell t-r-o-u-b-l-e, then I've been +raised among a different breed of sea fogs!" + +The crashing of sparks over the spark-gap had ceased for the present, +and Joe, reporting that there was no wireless craft within reach of +his limited aerials, was on deck once more, waiting until the time +should come around for another trial. + +Hank had gone below to start the motors, connecting them with the +dynamo, to renew the supply of electrical "juice" in the storage +batteries, which was running low, as proved by the last message sent. + +The chug-chug of the twin motors was heard over on the seventy-footer, +and soon an unknown man, his cap pulled well down over his eyes, +appeared at the stern of the Drab. He took a long, keen look at the +"Restless." + +"He's wondering if we're going to hoist the mud-hook," smiled Tom. + +"And hoping that we are," grinned Joe. "Oh, but we must be an eyesore +to those wistful scoundrels!" + +Powell Seaton now spent most of his time gazing at the line of haze, +which, by degrees, was growing bigger and coming nearer. + +"Captain Halstead," he faltered, "I'm beginning to feel certain that +you're a prophet." + +"Or a Jonah?" laughed Tom, though it was not a very cheerful sort of +laugh. + +"No, no, no!" cried the charter-man, earnestly. "Never that! The +little luck that I've had in these trying days has all come through +you youngsters. Without you I'd have been flat on my back in the +fearful game that I'm playing with such desperate hopefulness against +hope. But I see our fog is coming in as a sure thing. If it envelops +us, what can you do with regard to that drab-tinted sea-monster over +yonder?" + +"It depends upon the depth and duration of the fog, sir," Halstead +answered. "We have our motors going. At the first strong sign of our +getting hemmed in by it we'll lift our mud-hook [the anchor] and move +in closer. If the fog isn't too thick we may be able to take up a +position where we can at least observe her dimly. If she starts to +pull out into a fog-bank, we'll follow at her heels, keeping as close +as necessary to keep the Drab's stern flag-pole in sight. We won't +lose her if there's any way of stopping it." + +The advance guard of the fog was in upon them by the time that Joe +went once more to his sending table in the forward end of the cabin. +The light mist extended to the shore, though it did not altogether +screen it. But the lookout on the Drab's deck appeared wholly watchful +at the weather side of the craft. + +"Not in touch with any other wireless boat yet," reported Dawson, +coming on deck, presently. + +"Look at that heavier white curtain rolling in," uttered Powell +Seaton, in a tone near to anguish. + +Whoever was in the drab boat's pilot house took occasion to toot +derisively twice on the auto whistle. + +"That's as much as warning us that their turn is coming," declared Mr. +Seaton, wrathfully. + +Their faces were wet, now, with the fog as it rolled in. Slowly the +nearby shore faded, wrapped in the mist. + +"We'd better get up anchor," decided Skipper Tom. "Come along, Hank, +and you, Hepton." + +As the anchor came up and was stowed, Captain Halstead moved the deck +speed control ever so little. The "Restless" began to barely move +through the water. They overhauled the seventy-footer, passing within +a hundred feet of her starboard rail. Yet only the same deck watch +appeared in sight. He favored those on the bridge deck of the +"Restless" with a tantalizing grin. + +Halstead slowly circled the drab seventy-footer, Mr. Seaton keeping +ever a watchful eye on the stranger. + +"There! They're hoisting anchor!" muttered the charter-man, at last. + +"I saw 'em start," nodded the young skipper. "And the fog is growing +thicker every minute." + +"How are you going to beat them, if they try hard to get away?" + +"I don't know," confessed Halstead, honestly. "We may keep 'em in +trail, but the chances are all in favor of the drab boat." + +Presently the seventy-footer slipped slowly away from her anchorage. +Halstead promptly closed in, keeping not more than a hundred feet +behind her drab stern. If the fog grew no heavier, and the enemy's +speed no greater, he could maintain his position. + +But the sea-born fog continued to come, looking as though it arrived +in ever-increasing billows. + +Once the seventy-footer's stern vanished for a moment or two. Tom, +cautiously increasing the speed, soon came in sight of that drab stern +once more. + +"I don't want to croak, sir," warned the young motor boat skipper, +"but, luck aside, it looks as though we're about done for in this salt +water blindman's buff." + +"I realize it," nodded Powell Seaton. + +Just then the seventy-footer crawled ahead again into the fog, and was +lost to the pursuer. Throwing the wheel somewhat to port, Captain +Halstead tried to come up on the Drab's quarter. A full minute's +anxious suspense followed, but the enemy's stern did not show through +the white shroud of the atmosphere. + +Then Halstead threw off the power without applying the reverse. The +"Restless" drifted under what was left of her headway. + +"They've done it," uttered Tom Halstead, grimly. "They've given us the +slip--gotten away in this white mass of mystery!" + +Shaking, Powell Seaton leaned against the deck-house, his face pallid +with sheer misery. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A GLEAM OF HOPE THROUGH THE SHROUD OF FOG + + +Resting one hand lightly on the top spokes of the wheel, young +Halstead turned to his employer with a look of keenest sympathy. + +"Is there any order you wish to give now, Mr. Seaton?" + +"What order can I give," demanded the charter-man, with a piteous +smile, "unless it be to say, 'find the drab boat'?" + +Tom made a grimace. + +"Of course I know how senseless that order would be," pursued Seaton, +with a nervous twitching of his lips. In fact, at this moment it +filled one with pity, just to witness the too-plain signs of his +inward torment and misery. + +There was a pause, broken, after a few moments, by the charter-man +saying, as he made a palpable effort to pull himself together: + +"Halstead, you've shown so much sense all along that I leave it to you +to do whatever you deem best." + +Skipper Tom's brow cleared at once. A look of purpose flashed into his +eyes. + +"Then we'll keep eastward out to sea, sir, or a little bit to the +northeast, until we get out in the usual path of the southbound +steamers." + +"And after that?" demanded Powell Seaton, eagerly. + +"All we can do, sir, then, will be to wait until we get a wireless +communication with other vessels." + +"Go ahead, lad." + +Tom moved the speed control slowly, until the "Restless" went loafing +along at a speed of six miles an hour. Heading weatherward, he gave +more heed to the wheel, for there were signs that the water was going +to roughen somewhat. + +"Hank!" called the young skipper, and Butts came to the bridge deck. + +"Sound the fog-whistle every minute," directed Halstead. + +"Too-whoo-oo-oo!" sounded the melancholy, penetrating note through the +mist. + +"Are you going to keep that up, Captain Halstead?" inquired Mr. +Seaton, in instant apprehension. + +"Got to, sir. It's the law of the ocean in a deep fog." + +"But it signals our location to the enemy on the drab boat." + +"If it keeps the seventy-footer within sound of our horn all the +time," laughed Halstead, "so much the better. Then the Drab will be +within range of our marine glasses when the fog lifts." + +"It shows those rascals the direction of our course, too," cried +Seaton, in a still troubled voice. + +"We've got to observe the law, sir, even if _they_ do break it," Tom +gently urged. "That other boat's people have been acting like pirates +all along, but that would be no excuse for us. What if we cut into a +lumber-laden schooner, and sank her at once?" + +Mr. Seaton was obliged to nod his assent. + +"It's a fearfully tough piece of luck for us, this fog," Tom +continued, feelingly, "but we've got to make the most of it." + +"And, if Anson Dalton gets aboard any Brazil-bound steamer while we're +in this fog, the whole great game for myself and my friends is lost," +faltered Seaton. + +"If that steamer has a wireless installation," retorted the young +motor boat skipper, "then we've every chance in the world to reach her +before the Drab possibly can. Joe will hear her wireless two hours or +more before the other fellows can hear or locate a fog-horn." + +"It's--it's a dreadful uncertainty that this fog puts upon us," +groaned the unhappy charter-man. "Dalton may take advantage of this +white shroud to run straight for the nearest post office and mail the +papers that he stole." + +Captain Tom's mildly warning look checked Mr. Seaton ere he had time +to say more in the hearing of Hepton. + +"If you'll come aft, sir, we'll talk this over," suggested Halstead, +in a low voice. + +"Gladly," murmured the charter-man. + +"Now, then, sir," almost whispered the motor boat skipper, as he and +his employer stood on the deck aft, "you've written out a duplicate of +the papers that were stolen." + +"I have the duplicate set in an inside pocket," responded Seaton, +tapping his coat. + +"Are you ready to chance the mailing of them?" + +"It's--it's a fearful risk, a terrible one, even to think of sending +such priceless papers by registered mail." + +"At least, sir," urged Tom, "you would be sure the documents were +properly started on their way." + +"Yet with no surety that they wouldn't fall into wrong hands at the +other end," shuddered Seaton. + +"Then, since your life would undoubtedly be the forfeit if you +attempted to take the papers yourself, will you trust me, or Joe, to +board the first steamer we pick up by wireless?" + +"Wh--what do you advise, Halstead?" queried Seaton, with the air and +tone of a man tortured by uncertainty and hesitation. + +"I advise, sir, your making a very definite move of one kind or +another, without the loss of another hour," rejoined young Halstead, +almost sharply. "Simply drifting in a fog won't settle anything." + +"Oh, I know that only too well," replied Powell Seaton, desperately. + +"Let us," proposed Skipper Tom, "take a northerly course. We'll try to +pick up a Rio-bound steamship. Failing in that, let us put in for +land, you to send the papers off by registered mail--or I'll take +train for New York and go by the first boat." + +"I--I'll do it," agreed Powell Seaton, falteringly. "Halstead, my boy, +I've pondered and worried over this until my brain almost refuses to +act. I'm glad to have your clearer brain to steady me--to guide me." + +"Are your papers sealed?" asked Captain Tom, after a little further +thought. + +"No; but I can soon attend to that." + +"I'd go below and do it, then, sir." + +"Thank you; I will." + +Powell Seaton, as he started down the after companionway, trembled so +that compassionate Halstead aided him. Then, returning, the Motor +Boat Club boy stepped steadily forward to the bridge deck. + +Studying the time, Tom determined to keep to the present course for +fifteen minutes more, and at the same speed, then to head about due +north. This, he figured, would keep him about in the path of +southmoving coast steamships. + +Hank, who was still at the wheel, took the orders. Joe, after a glance +at the bridge deck chronometer, dropped below on his way to his +sending table. The crash of his call soon sounded at the spark-gap and +quivered on its lightning way up the aerials. + +"Nothing happening in my line," announced Dawson, soberly, when, some +minutes later, he returned to deck. + +Captain Tom stood by, almost idly attending to the fog-horn, though +Butts would have been able to do that as well as steer. + +"Did you get anything at all?" Halstead inquired. + +"Nothing; not a click by way of answer," Joe Dawson responded. "I had +half a hope that I might be able to pick up a ship that could relay +back to another, and so on to New York. If that had happened, I was +going to ask the companies direct, in New York, when their next boats +would leave port. I'll do that, if I get a chance. I'm bound to know +when to look for the next Rio boat." + +"If this fog seems likely to last," resumed Halstead, "I've been +thinking about increasing to ten miles and keeping right on toward New +York." + +"Bully!" enthused Dawson. "Fine!" + +"Yes; so I thought at first, but I have changed my mind. If we get +wholly out of these waters we might put a messenger aboard a steamship +bound for Rio Janeiro, and then Dalton, by hanging about in these +waters, might find a chance to board. If he suspected our +messenger--and it may be you or I--it might be the same old Clodis +incident all over again." + +Joe's face lengthened. + +"It's growing wearing, to hang about here all the time," he +complained. "I'm near to having operator's cramp, as it is." + +"Don't you dare!" Skipper Tom warned him. + +"Well, then, I won't," agreed Dawson. + +For four hours more the "Restless" continued nearly due north, at the +same original speed of six miles an hour. Halstead began to think of +putting back, slowly retracing his course. Joe went down for his +regular hourly "sit" at the sending table. + +"Hurrah!" yelled Dawson, emerging from the motor room several minutes +later. + +He was waving a paper and appeared highly excited. + +"Picked up anything?" called Tom Halstead, eagerly. + +"Yes, sirree!" uttered Joe, delightedly, thrusting a paper into his +chum's hand. "The Jepson freight liner, 'Glide,' is making an extra +trip out of schedule. Here's her position, course and gait. We ought +to be up to her within two and a half hours." + +Tom himself took the news to Powell Seaton. That gentleman, on hearing +the word, leaped from the lower berth in the port stateroom. + +"Glorious!" he cried, his eyes gleaming feverishly as he hustled into +an overcoat. + +Then he whispered, in a lower voice: + +"Tom Halstead, you're--you're--It!" + +"Eh?" demanded the young motor boat skipper. + +"You'll take the papers on to Rio!" + +A gleam lit up Halstead's eyes. Yet, in another instant he felt a +sense of downright regret. He was not afraid of any dangers that the +trip might involve, but he hated the thought of being weeks away from +this staunch, trim little craft of which he was captain and +half-owner. + +"All right, sir," he replied, though without enthusiasm. "I'll +undertake it--I'll go to Rio for you." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +WHEN THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB BOYS "WENT DAFFY" + + +All this had been spoken in whispers. Both Mr. Seaton and Tom Halstead +were keenly aware of the presence of the prisoner in the starboard +stateroom. + +"You don't seem as overjoyed as I thought you might be," observed +Powell Seaton, in a tone of disappointment. + +"I'm going through for you, sir, and I'll deliver the papers into the +proper hands, if I live," replied Tom Halstead. + +"And you're not afraid of the big chances of danger that you may be +running?" persisted his employer. + +"Why, I believe every human being has times when he's afraid," Skipper +Tom replied, honestly. "But I shan't be any more afraid than you've +seen me once or twice since this cruise began." + +"Then I'll bet on your success," rejoined Mr. Seaton, holding out his +hand, which the young motor boat captain grasped. + +"Suppose we go on deck where we can talk a little more safely, sir," +whispered Tom. + +They made their way above and forward. + +"Any further word, Dawson?" inquired the charter-man. + +"I haven't signaled since I brought up that last message," Joe +replied. + +"Oh, of course not," retorted Powell Seaton. "It was an idiotic +question for me to ask, but I'm so excited, boys, that I don't pretend +to know altogether what I'm talking about." + +Captain Halstead bent forward to look at the compass. He found Hank +Butts steering as straight as the needle itself pointed. + +"What on earth can I do to pass the time of waiting?" wondered Mr. +Seaton, feverishly. + +"Eat," laughed Tom. "You haven't had a meal since I don't know when. +Give me the wheel, Hank, and see what you can fix up for Mr. Seaton in +the way of food." + +Yet, poking along at that slow rate of speed, cutting through the fog +but not able to see a boat's length ahead, proved an ordeal that +tested the patience of all. + +After awhile Joe returned to the sending table, in order to get in +touch with the "Glide" and make sure that the two vessels were still +approaching each other head-on. + +"It's wonderful--wonderful, this wireless telegraph that keeps all the +great ships and many of the small ones in constant communication," +declared Powell Seaton, coming up on deck after having finished his +meal. "Yet it seems odd, doesn't it, to think of even freight boats +carrying a wireless installation?" + +"Not when you stop to consider the value of the freight steamships, +and the value of their cargoes," rejoined Tom Halstead. "If a ship at +sea gets into any trouble, where in older times she would have been +lost, now all she has to do is to signal to other vessels within two +or three hundred miles, and relief is sent on its way to the ship that +needs it. In the case of a freight steamer the wireless aboard means +greater safety for the crew and often saves the owners the cost of +ship and cargo. The Standard Oil people were among the first to think +of the wireless for cargo-carrying boats. They installed the wireless +on their tank steamers, and it wasn't long before the owners of other +freight vessels realized the value of such an installation. Now, every +freight boat that amounts to much has the wireless aboard." + +"You speak of the wireless being used at a distance of two or three +hundred miles," pursued the charter-man. "Dawson can't send the +electric wave that far, can he?" + +"No, sir; because our signal mast is shorter than that on a big +steamship. The length of our aerials is less. Still, we can handle a +message for a pretty good distance." + +"What distance, Halstead?" + +"Why, our ideal distance is about sixty miles; we can make it seventy +easily, and, under the best conditions, we can drive a message, so +that it can be understood, for about ninety miles. But that doesn't +really hold us down to even ninety miles. If there's a wireless ship +within our radius we can ask her to relay for us. With a few ships +spread out at proper intervals we could easily wire direct from the +'Restless' to the coast of England." + +"Joe," called Tom to his chum as the latter came on deck between +wireless performances, "do you notice that the fog is lightening off +to weatherward?" + +"Yes; the fog is heaviest off to westward, and we've been working out +of that." + +"By the time we reach the 'Glide' I believe we're going to have some +open weather around us." + +"It will be fine if we do," nodded young Dawson. "It's nasty work +going up alongside of a big ship when you can't see fifty feet away." + +As they watched and waited, while the "Restless" stole slowly along, +the fog about them became steadily lighter, though off to the westward +it remained a thick, dense bank. + +"Say, it'd be great to have four or five miles of clear sea around us, +so that we could see whether the seventy-foot boat has kept to +anything like our course," declared Hank. + +At last the "Restless" came to within twenty minutes' hailing distance +of the "Glide," as the young motor boat skipper figured it. Then, a +few minutes later, a deep-toned fog-horn came to them faintly. As the +minutes passed, now, this blast became heavier and nearer. + +"I've only a few minutes left with you, Joe, old chum," declared +Captain Tom, with a half-sigh. "You'll take great, good care of the +dear old craft, I know, while I'm gone." + +"As soon as Mr. Seaton is done with the boat I'll tie her up until you +get back--that's what I'll do," grunted Dawson. "No sailing without a +skipper for me." + +"You needn't look so bad about it, Cap," grinned Hepton. "I wish it +was me, cut out for a long trip to Rio and back. Maybe I wouldn't jump +at such a chance. Some folks are born lucky!" + +Too-woo-oo! + +The oncoming steamship's deep fog-horn sounded loud and sullen, now. +Tom Halstead, still at the wheel, was peering constantly forward for +the first glimpse of the freighter, for the fog had lightened much by +this time. + +"There she is!" hailed keen-eyed Joe, on the lookout for this sight. +"You can just make out her bow poking up through the fog. She must be +a thousand feet off yet." + +With two boats approaching each other, this distance was, of course, +quickly covered. Finding that he could see the other craft at such a +distance, Skipper Tom threw on a little more speed, making a wide turn +and so coming up alongside on a parallel course. + +"Take the wheel, Hank," directed the young skipper, seizing the +megaphone and stepping to the port rail. + +"'Glide,' ahoy!" bawled Halstead through the megaphone. + +"'Restless,' ahoy!" came back from the freighter's bridge. + +"Lie to and let us come alongside, won't you? We want to put a +passenger aboard." + +"Passenger? Where for?" + +"Rio, of course. That's where you're bound, isn't it?" + +"You'll have to be mighty quick about it," came the emphatic answer. +"We can't afford stops on our way." + +"We may want to delay you a few minutes," began Tom. + +"Few minutes, nothing!" came the gruff retort. "We can't be held up in +that fashion." + +"We can pay for all the trouble we put you to," retorted Halstead. +Powell Seaton produced and waved a bulky wad of banknotes. + +"Oh, if you want to pay extra, above the fare, it'll be a little +different," came, in mollified tones, from the bridge. The captain of +the "Glide" was now much more accommodating. The fare received from a +passenger put aboard in mid-sea would go to the owners of the +freighter. But any extra money, paid for "trouble," would be so much +in the pocket of the "Glide's" sailing-master. + +Several new faces appeared at the rail of the freighter, as that big +craft slowed down and one of her mates superintended the work of +lowering the side gangway. + +"Hullo, lobster-smack!" roared one derisive voice above the +freighter's rail. + +"Say," called another voice, jeeringly, "it may be all right to go +lobster-fishing, but it's no sort of good business to leave one of +your catch of lobsters in command of even a smack like that!" + +Tom Halstead reddened angrily. One of his fists clenched unconsciously +as he shot a wrathful look upward at the rail. + +"Say, you mentally-dented pilot of a fourth-rate peanut roaster of a +boat, do you go by craft you know without ever giving a hail?" +demanded a mocking voice, that of the first derisive speaker. + +Standing at the rail of the "Restless," Tom Halstead almost dropped +the megaphone overboard from the sheer stagger of joy that caught +him. + +"Hey, you Ab! You worthless Ab Perkins!" roared the young motor boat +skipper, in huge delight. "And you, Dick Davis!" + +The two who stood at the "Glide's" rail overhead, and who had called +down so mockingly, stood in uniform caps and coats identical with +those worn by Halstead and his mates aboard the motor boat. They wore +them with right, too, for Perkins and Davis were two of the most +famous of the many youngsters who now composed the Motor Boat Club of +the Kennebec. + +"Hey! What's this?" roared the usually quiet Joe Dawson, his face +wreathed in smiles. He almost danced a jig. + +Hank Butts had never before seen either Davis or Perkins, but he knew +about them, all right. He knew that uniform, too, the same that he +wore. + +"Now, then--altogether!" yelled Hank. "Give it with a roar, boys!" + +Powell Seaton stared in bewildered amazement. So did officers, crew +and others at the "Glide's" rail and on her bridge. + +For five lusty young Americans, all wearing the same uniform, all +bronzed deeply with the tan that comes of the gale and the sun, all +keen-eyed, quick and sure as tars ever are, roared in mighty chorus: + +"M-B-C-K! M-B-C-K! Motor Boat Club! WOW!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE FIRST KINK OF THE PROBLEM SOLVED + + +Again the roaring chorus rang out. + +"What's this? College boys' joke on me, or a floating mad-house?" +huskily roared down the freighter's captain from the bridge. + +"It's all right, captain," sang back Tom Halstead. "We'll make it +plain to you as soon as we get a chance. We're neither as bad nor as +dangerous as we seem." + +The "Glide's" headway had all but ceased by this time, and the side +gangway was at last in place. The "Restless" was run in close, while +Hank stood up on the top of the forward deck-house with a coil of +line, waiting until it came time to leap across onto the platform of +the freighter's gangway and make the line fast. + +As quickly as the line was secured Captain Tom Halstead followed +Butts, and dashed on past him up the steps of the gangway. Ab and Dick +came down to meet him, each grabbing one of the young skipper's hands +and wringing it. + +Then they turned to give the same greeting to Joe Dawson, who gasped: + +"Gracious, but it _does_ seem good to meet fellows of the Club and +from the old home town at that!" + +Mr. Seaton, though following in more leisurely fashion, now passed +them, going on up to the deck. There he met Captain Rawley. + +"Don't mind what my young men do, captain," begged the charter-man, +"and don't mind if they delay you for a few minutes. I'll make good +the damage." + +"Help yourself to a little of my time, then, sir," grimaced the +freighter's captain. "Anything that I can spare from the proper time +of the run, you understand." + +"How on earth do you fellows happen to be on this ship, of all places +in the world?" demanded Tom Halstead. + +"Easy enough to explain," laughed Dick Davis. "Port authorities at Rio +were good enough to order six motor boats for harbor purposes. My dad +got the chance of building the boats at his yard at Bath. The Rio +motor boats are on board, down in the hold, and Ab and I are sent +along to deliver the motor boats, put them in running order at Rio, +and, if necessary, teach the natives how to run such craft." + +"Did you fellows know we were signaling you by wireless?" Joe was +asking Ab Perkins. "Did you know that you were going to see us?" + +"Didn't know a blessed thing about it," admitted Ab Perkins, almost +sheepishly. "Dick and I were asleep in our stateroom. We were getting +ready to come out on deck when we felt the old tub slackening speed. +Then we came out to see what was happening. We looked over the rail, +and--_wow_!" + +Ab again seized Joe Dawson's hand, giving it another mighty shake. +Then the irrepressible Ab reached out for Tom's hand, but Dick Davis +was drawing Halstead up on deck. + +Readers of the first volume of this series will remember both Ab and +Dick well. They, too, were boys born near the Kennebec River, and took +part in the stirring adventures narrated in THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OF THE +KENNEBEC, just before Tom and Joe left for the next scenes of their +activities, as related in THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT NANTUCKET and THE +MOTOR BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND. Ab Perkins and Dick Davis were two of +the most valued of the early members of the Club. + +All in a twinkling, Tom Halstead was seized by an idea. He looked +about for Powell Seaton, saw that gentleman talking with Captain +Rawley, and caught the charter-man's eye. + +"See here, Mr. Seaton," whispered Halstead, as soon as he had gotten +his employer aside, "there's no great need for me to go to Rio." + +"No?" + +"Of course not. Give the papers to Dick Davis, with exact instructions +as to who is to receive them at Rio Janeiro, and those papers will get +into exactly the hands for which you intend them." + +"You feel certain of that, Halstead?" demanded Powell Seaton, his +voice tremulous with anxiety. + +"Absolutely sure, sir. Dick Davis can be trusted as long the world +holds together. There isn't the faintest yellow streak in him, either. +Square, straight, keen, brave--that's Dick Davis. And Ab Perkins would +go through the jaws of anything with Davis! Why, Mr. Seaton, they're +Motor Boat Club boys! You can trust them to the same degree as you're +willing to trust me. Moreover, they're going down to Rio on a mission +to the Government. They've got a better chance to get ashore, +unmolested and unwatched, than any other stranger would have." + +"Get your friends together, then, somewhere where we can have a +private corner," begged Powell Seaton. "We'll talk this matter +over--we've got to talk like lightning, at that." + +While Mr. Seaton sought Captain Rawley, Tom shot back along the deck +to where Joe, Hank and the two Rio-bound members of the Motor Boat +Club stood talking. + +"Hank," said Tom, in a low voice, "Hepton is all alone down on the +'Restless,' except for our prisoner aft. Hepton may be all right, and +I think he is--but one of our own crowd ought to be on board our +boat." + +"I'll be the one, then," half-sighed Hank Butts, turning to descend +the side gangway. + +Captain Rawley promptly agreed to turn his own cabin over to the +friends who wanted a private chat. + +"But only for five minutes, mind you," he insisted. "Then I must be on +my way." + +Behind the closed door of the captain's room Powell Seaton and Tom +Halstead swiftly explained what was wanted. + +"Will we do it?" said Dick Davis, repeating the question that had been +asked him. "Why, of course we will. There's only one answer possible. +Tom Halstead is fleet captain of the Motor Boat Club, and a request +from Captain Tom is the same thing as an order." + +"You will go straight to the American consulate at Rio Janeiro, then," +directed Mr. Seaton. "From the consulate you will send a messenger to +bring to you Shipley D. Jarvis, whose address is the American Club. +The American consul will be able to assure you that it is Shipley D. +Jarvis who comes to you. You will turn over these papers to Mr. Jarvis +in the presence of the American consul. A letter from me is in the +envelope with the papers. That is all, except----" + +After a brief pause Mr. Seaton went on to caution Dick Davis and Ab +Perkins as to the dangers against which they must guard on the way. +This Tom Halstead supplemented with an exact description of Anson +Dalton and of Captain Dave Lemly, of the now seized "Black Betty." + +"Either, or both, of the rascals may board this ship a little further +along," cautioned Mr. Seaton. "Night and day you must be on your guard +against them." + +Then Tom Halstead quickly outlined to Davis a system of apparently +common-place wireless messages by means of which Davis might be able +to keep Mr. Seaton informed of the state of affairs, for some days to +come, on board the "Glide." + +Some further last instructions were added. Powell Seaton wound up by +forcing a few banknotes into the hands of both these unexpected +messengers. + +"Wait until we've succeeded," proposed Dick Davis. + +"This is for expense money, for sending wireless messages, and other +things," replied Mr. Seaton. "Your real reward will come later on." + +"When we've succeeded," nodded Davis. + +So much time had been taken up by this talk that now all had to step +out on deck. + +"We're ready to go aboard our boat, sir," Skipper Tom reported. + +"You and Dawson go, Halstead," nodded Mr. Seaton. "I want not more +than sixty seconds with Captain Rawley in his own room." + +When the charter-man of the "Restless" came out once more the thick +pile of banknotes in his pocket had grown a good deal thinner, but +Captain Rawley had been enlisted as a friend to the cause. + +"Good-bye, old chums," cried Dick Davis, gripping a hand of Tom and +Joe with each of his own. + +"Good-bye! Good luck now, and all the way through life!" murmured Tom, +earnestly, and with a hidden meaning that Davis caught. + +As speedily as Tom and Joe had assisted Powell Seaton aboard the +motor boat, Hank cast off, while the crew of the "Glide" began to +raise the side gangway. + +There were more rousing farewells between the two groups of Motor Boat +Club boys. Then the hoarse whistle of the "Glide" sounded, and the +freighter began to go ahead at half-speed. + +The "Restless" fell away and astern, yet she followed the freighter. +That she should do so had been understood with Captain Rawley, and +with Dick and Ab. Powell Seaton intended to keep the "Glide" within +sight for at least thirty-six hours, if possible, in order to make +sure that the seventy-foot drab boat did not attempt to put Anson +Dalton or any other messenger on board. + +"If we stick to the sea for a hundred years, Joe," laughed Skipper +Tom, as he followed the bigger craft at a distance of eight hundred +feet, "nothing as lucky as this is likely to happen again. I was +afraid I was booked for Rio, for sure, and it made me heartsick to +think of leaving the 'Restless' so long and living aboard a big tub of +an ordinary, steam-propelled ship!" + +"I've taken the step, now, and can't very well change it," declared +Mr. Seaton, who looked both pale and thoughtful. "Halstead, all I can +hope and pray for is that your comrades on the ship ahead are as +clever and watchful, as brave and honest as you think." + +"If wondering about Dick and Ab is all that ever worries me," laughed +Tom Halstead, easily, "I don't believe I shall ever have any wrinkles. +I know those boys, Mr. Seaton. We were born and raised in the same +little Maine seacoast town, and I'd trust that pair with the errand if +it were my own diamond field at stake." + +The fog had lifted sufficiently, by this time, so that clear vision +was to be had for at least a quarter of a mile. + +Skipper Tom whistled as he handled the wheel. Joe Dawson was so +relieved in mind that, after a careful look at the motors, he threw +himself upon one of the berths opposite and dozed. Hank put in his +time looking after preparations for supper. + +"What ails you, Halstead?" demanded Seaton, pausing abruptly beside +the young skipper. + +For the boy had turned, suddenly, to a sickly pallor. + +"It has just struck me, sir," confessed the young motor boat skipper, +"that, if Dalton has the slightest suspicion of what we've done to +outwit him, he's just the man who will be desperate enough to put his +whole set of papers in at the nearest cable office for direct sending +to Rio Janeiro!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +HELPLESS IN THE NORTHEASTER! + + +"I've already thought of that," nodded Powell Seaton. + +"And it doesn't worry you, sir--doesn't make you anxious?" questioned +Captain Tom Halstead. + +"No. Of course, Dalton might cable the full contents of the papers. If +the paper could fall only into Governor Terrero's hands it would be +well worth the cable tolls. But if such a cablegram were sent, openly, +to Terrero, or one of his representatives, it would have to go, first +of all, through the hands of the Government officials who have charge +of the cable." + +"But couldn't Terrero fix that?" asked Halstead. + +"No; Rio is out of his state, and beyond the sphere of his strongest +influence. Now, if I were to land in Rio Janeiro, I would be arrested +on a warrant issued by Terrero's judges, up in the state of Vahia, and +I would have to go to Vahia for trial. Undoubtedly Terrero's rascally +officers would shoot me on the way, and report that I had tried to +escape." + +"Then what harm could it do to Terrero's chances for Dalton to send +him the cablegram direct?" + +"Why, either the cable officials in Rio are very great rascals, or +else they are honest officials. If they are rascals, they might hold +the cablegram long enough to act for themselves on the information it +contained. On the other hand, if they are honest officials, then they +would undoubtedly notify the Government of such a stupendous piece of +news. The Government would then very likely take charge of my diamond +field itself, which would be wholly legal, for the Government already +owns many, if not the greater number, of the producing diamond fields +of that country. So, if the Government, acting on information from its +cable officials, took possession of the news and of the diamond field, +what good would the cablegram do Governor Terrero? No; you may be very +sure that Dalton won't send the contents of the papers by cablegram. +He undoubtedly has the strongest orders from Terrero against doing +that." + +"I feel better, then," Tom admitted. "For the moment it came over me, +like a thunderbolt, that Dalton might nip all our work in the bud by +sending a cablegram. Still, couldn't he send it by code?" + +"No; for only the ordinary codes can go through the Brazilian cable +offices, and the Government officers have the keys to all the codes +that are allowed. Rest easy, Halstead; Dalton won't attempt to use the +cable." + +"Then, if he doesn't get aboard the 'Glide,' we'll beat him out to +Brazil--that's the surest thing in the world!" cried Tom, with as much +enthusiasm as though the great fortune at stake were his own. + +They were still following in the wake of the "Glide." Once in a while +Dick Davis or Ab Perkins had the operator on the freighter flash back +a wireless message of a friendly, personal nature. Joe answered all +these. + +For thirty-six hours this pleasant stern-chase lasted. By night the +helmsman of the "Restless" kept the searchlight enough in use to make +sure that the drab boat did not appear. + +"Dalton and Lemly lost the 'Glide,' if they were looking for her, in +the fog," chuckled Halstead, in huge satisfaction. "Any Rio-bound boat +they can catch now is hopelessly to the rear of the 'Glide,' I +reckon." + +Joe, by wiring back, and asking other wireless vessels to relay, from +time to time, had ascertained that there was no other steam vessel, +bound for Rio, in close pursuit. + +Mr. Seaton took his trick at the wheel occasionally. So did Hepton. +Joe gave most of his time to the wireless installation, though he +maintained charge of the motors, Hank doing most of the work there. +All had sleep enough during the cruise south. Joe used some of his +spare time in carrying out his former plan of connecting the wireless +table with the helmsman by means of a speaking tube. + +They were well down the coast of Florida when even anxious Powell +Seaton declared that there was no need of cruising longer in the wake +of the "Glide." He felt certain that the freighter had entirely eluded +the vigilance of those on board the drab boat. + +By this time the supply of gasoline was nearly out. Tom had cautioned +the charter-man that so long a run would use up about the last of +their oil. There was, however, a small sail fitted to the signal mast. +Now, when the crew of the "Restless" turned back, the sail was hoisted +and power shut off. + +"We've oil enough to run perhaps three-quarters of an hour, sir," the +young skipper explained. "We'll have to use that up in making port +when we get in sight." + +Sailing aboard the "Restless" proved lazy work at the outset. With +this small sail there was not wind enough to carry the boat at much +more than two miles per hour on her northwest course for the nearest +Florida town where gasoline was likely to be had. + +"We'll have a jolly long sail of it," laughed Skipper Tom, "unless the +wind should freshen." + +"Well, we don't care," smiled Mr. Seaton. "At least, you won't be +overworked. And our minds are easier--mine especially." + +"All of us have easier minds," Halstead retorted. "Don't you +understand, sir, that the rest of us have taken this whole business to +heart? We couldn't be more concerned than we are to see the affairs of +our charter parties come through all right." + +"Oh, I believe that," nodded Powell Seaton. "You boys have been the +strongest sort of personal friends to me in my troubles. You couldn't +possibly have made my affairs, and my dangers, more thoroughly your +own troubles." + +Two hours later a wireless message came back from the "Glide." It was +from Dick Davis, and couched in vague terms, but meant to inform those +aboard the "Restless" that the drab seventy-footer was still out of +sight. An hour after that a second message reached the motor boat. +Soon after the "Restless" found herself unable to answer, though still +able to receive. + +"Hank, are you feeling particularly strong to-day?" inquired Mr. +Seaton. + +"I'm always strong, sir," replied the young steward. + +"Then why not rack your pantry stores in order to supply the biggest +thing in a meal for all hands this evening? I feel more like eating +than I have any day in a month." + +"You'd have to go to a sure-enough number-one hotel to find a better +meal than I'll put up for this evening," retorted Hank, grinning +gleefully, as he started for the galley. + +In such lazy weather Tom Halstead felt that he could go below for a +nap, especially as Joe was around. Hepton was left at the wheel. Tom +speedily closed his eyes in one of the soundest naps he had enjoyed in +many a day. He was awakened by Hank, who came into the stateroom and +shook him by the shoulder. + +"Weather's all right, up to now," Butts informed the young captain. +"Still, we don't like the looks of the sky, and the barometer is +beginning to show signs of being eccentric. Won't you come up on deck +for a minute, anyway?" + +Tom was out of his berth in a twinkling. There was enough of the +sea-captain in him for that. The instant he reached the deck his gaze +swept around anxiously, inquiringly, at the sky. + +"The clouds up on the northeast horizon don't look exactly friendly, +do they?" he inquired of Joe. + +"Don't know," replied Dawson. "Haven't seen enough of them yet." + +"I'm thinking you will, soon," replied Halstead. "How's the wind +been?" + +"From the east, sir," replied Hepton, who was at the wheel. + +"It's working around to northeast, now," muttered Halstead. "And it +was almost from the south when I turned in." + +Tom stood by the barometer, watching it. + +"Trouble coming," he said, briefly. + +Within half an hour his prediction began to be verified. The darkish, +"muddy" clouds first seen on the northeast horizon were looming up +rapidly, the wind now driving steadily from that quarter. Even with +all the smallness of her single sail the "Restless" was heeling over +considerably to port. + +"Lay along here, Hank, and help me to put a double reef in the sail," +Tom ordered. "I don't want this little bit of canvas blown away from +us." + +As Tom called, he eased off the sheet, and Hepton lounged away from +the wheel. + +"Too bad," muttered Hank Butts. "We've been making a good four knots +since the wind freshened." + +"I'm out of a guess if there isn't a wind coming that'd take a sail +out of its fastenings in ten seconds," rejoined Halstead, working +industriously with the reeves. + +A light squall struck them before the boys had finished their task. + +"A September northeaster along this coast is no laughing matter, from +all I've heard of it," Tom explained as the two boys took the last +hitches. "Now, come on, Hank. We'll hoist her." + +With long rhythmic pulls at the halyards Tom and Butts got the +shortened sail up, making all secure. + +"You'd better take the wheel, Joe," sang out the young skipper. +"Hepton, stand by to give a hand if the helm moves hard." + +"You seem rather excited over a pleasant breeze like this," observed +Powell Seaton. + +"Wait," said Tom, quietly. "I only hope I am taking too much +precaution. I've never handled a boat along the Florida coast before, +you know, sir, so it's best to err on the side of caution." + +Hank was sent off on the jump, now, to make everything secure, while +Skipper Tom took his place on the bridge deck at starboard to watch +the weather. + +"I guess there'll be time, now, Hank, to rig life lines on the bridge +deck," hinted Halstead, coolly. "Never mind about any aft. Whoever +goes below can go through the motor room." + +Catching a look full of meaning in the young commander's eye, Butts +hustled about his new task. + +"You seem to be making very serious preparations," suggested Powell +Seaton, seriously. + +"Nothing like being a fool on the wise side," answered Skipper Tom, +calmly. + +Within ten minutes more the wind had freshened a good deal, and the +"Restless" was bending over considerably to port, running well, +indeed, considering her very small spread of canvas. + +Now, the sky became darker. The weather was like that on shore in +autumn when the birds are seen scurrying to cover just before the +storm breaks. + +"I reckon there's going to be something close to trouble, after all," +observed Powell Seaton, when it became necessary for him to hold his +hat on. + +Tom nodded in a taciturn way, merely saying: + +"If you're going to stay on deck, Mr. Seaton, you'd better put on a +cap, or a sou'wester." + +Mr. Seaton started below, through the motor room. While he was still +there the gale struck, almost without further warning. + +"Watch the wind and ease off a bit, Joe," bawled Skipper Halstead in +his chum's ear. + +Joe Dawson nodded slightly. The gale was now upon them with such fury +that making one's self heard was something like work. + +Despite the prompt easing by the helm, the "Restless" bowled over a +good deal as the crest of the first in-rolling wave hit her. + +Powell Seaton, a cap on his head, appeared at the motor room hatchway. +Tom motioned him to remain where he was. + +Clutching at the rail, Tom Halstead kept his face turned weatherward +most of the time. He knew, now, that a fifty-five-foot boat like the +"Restless," weather-staunch though she was, was going to have about +all she could do in the sea that would be running in a few minutes +more. + +Nor did he make any mistake about that. A darkness that was almost +inky settled down over them. Bending through the hatchway, the young +sailing master yelled to Powell Seaton to switch on the running +lights. + +"For we'll need 'em mighty soon, if we don't now," Captain Tom added. + +Hank reappeared with rain-coats, and with his own on. Hardly had those +on deck so covered themselves when, accompanied by a vivid flash of +lightning and a crashing peal of thunder, the rain came down upon +them. At first there were a few big drops. Then, the gale increasing, +the rain came in drenching sheets. The decks began to run water, +almost choking the scuppers. + +The heeling of the "Restless" was no longer especially noticeable. She +was rolling and pitching in every direction, accompanied by a +straining and creaking of timbers. + +Powell Seaton, standing below, clutching for support, and not much of +a sailor at best, began to feel decidedly scared. + +"Are we going to be able to weather this, Captain Halstead?" he yelled +up, as the young skipper paused close by the hatchway. + +Though the noise of the now furious gale prevented Tom from making out +the words very clearly, he knew, by instinct, almost, what had been +asked of him. + +"Weather the gale, sir?" Tom bawled down, hoarsely. "Of course! We've +got to!" + +There was a new sound that made the young sailing master jump, then +quiver. With a great tearing and rending the single canvas gave way +before the roaring gale. In a trice the sail was blown to fluttering +ribbons! + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +"C.Q.D! C.Q.D.!--HELP!" + + +"Lay along with me, Hank!" bawled the young skipper, hoarsely, in the +steward's ear. "We've got to cut away what's left of the sail." + +Neither helmsman could wisely be spared. Though the boat now had no +power of her own she was being driven sharply before the gale, and +some fine handling of the wheel was needed in order to keep the boat +so headed that she might wallow as little as possible in the trough of +the sea. + +Nor was the work of the young captain and Hank Butts anything like +play. Making their way out along the top of the cabin deck-house was +in itself hazardous. They were forced to clutch at any rigging that +came to hand to avoid being washed overboard, for the waves were +dashing furiously over the helpless boat. + +It was not much of a task to haul in the sheet, making fast. Then, +using their sailor's knives, they slashed away. + +It was needful for one of them to go aloft. + +"I can do it," proposed Hank, summoning all his courage. + +"I know you can," Tom bawled in his ear. "But I'm not going to send +anyone where I wouldn't go myself. It's mine to go aloft." + +Thrusting his knife securely into the sheath at the end of its +lanyard, Tom Halstead began to climb. Hank watched him closely. The +pair at the wheel had no time to observe. All their attention was +needed on their own work. + +As he climbed, Tom Halstead had a sensation of being in danger of +being pitched overboard. + +Next, as the "Restless" lay over harder than she had yet done, it +seemed as though the mast were bent on touching the water. Halstead +had to halt in his climbing, satisfied to hold on for dear life. + +"Oh, if we only had enough gasoline aboard!" groaned the young +skipper, regretfully. "It would be a tough storm, even then, though +nothing like as bad as this!" + +As the boat partially righted herself, he went on with his climbing. +At length he found himself where he could bring his knife into play, +slashing away the fragments of the wind-torn canvas. When the work was +done Halstead let himself to the deck again, half-expecting that the +force of the pitching and fury of the gale would catch him and sweep +him over into the dark, raging waters. + +Yet he reached the deck in safety, finding himself beside Hank Butts, +who, by this time, looked more like some water-logged thing than a +natty steward. + +"Come on below to the sail-locker," roared Captain Tom in the other +boy's ear. "Be careful to hold to the life lines and go slow when the +boat heels over. We'll get the new sail out and rig it--if we can." + +Hepton, seeing them coming, made a sign to Joe, who stood doggedly +braced at the wheel. Joe did all he could--it was little enough--to +swing the boat's head a trifle so that she would ride more easily, if +possible, in that terrible sea. + +Slowly Tom and Hank made their way to the motor room door and slipped +down below. There Powell Seaton, his face white, confronted them. + +"Captain, this is awful. I don't see how the 'Restless' rides such a +sea at all." + +"She'd not only ride but steer well, sir, if we had gasoline enough to +run her by her propellers," Halstead shouted back. "I'd go all the way +to Havana in a gale like this if I could use the twin propellers. The +'Restless' is a sea boat, and she can't sink unless the watertight +compartments are smashed." + +"But she can turn over and ride keel upward, can't she?" demanded Mr. +Seaton, with a ghastly grin. + +"She can, sir, if she heels enough," Tom admitted. "But that's why +Joe's at the wheel--because we need a fellow who can make the most out +of such headway as the force of wind and waves gives us. And now, sir, +Hank and I must try to rig a new sail." + +Out of the sail-locker they dragged the new canvas. It was all in +readiness for rigging. In calm weather they could have done this +readily--but now? Only time could tell. + +"Lend 'em a hand, Hepton!" roared Joe, as he saw the young captain and +helper appear with the bulky canvas. + +It was all the three of them could do, in the rolling, high seas in +which the "Restless" pitched like a chip of wood, to get that sail on +top of the cabin deck-house. Bit by bit they rigged it in place, +working fast, straining muscle and sinew to hold the sail against the +gale that strove to carry the canvas overboard. At last, they had it +in place, ready for hoisting. + +"Stand by to hoist," sang out Captain Tom. "The two of you. Go slow! +I'll watch for trouble as you shake it out." + +All the reefs had been taken in the sail before hoisting. Tom Halstead +had made up his mind to be satisfied with just a showing of canvas to +catch the high wind--enough to keep the boat steady. + +As the sail went up, flapping wildly in the breeze, Halstead began to +have his doubts whether it would last long. It was their last chance, +however, for the control of the "Restless." + +"Lay along here!" roared Tom, through his hands as a trumpet, when he +saw that they had made the halyards fast. Now he signed to them to +help him haul in on the sheet. Joe, watching, just making out the +white of the canvas through the darkness, threw the wheel over to make +the craft catch the wind. In a few moments more the gale was tugging +against the small spread of canvas, and the "Restless" was once more +under control--while the sail lasted! + +All but exhausted, the trio found their way forward. For a brief space +they tumbled below into the motor room, though Halstead stood where he +could see Joe Dawson and spring to his aid when needed. + +"Hank," called Halstead, five minutes later, "your trick and mine on +deck. We'll give Joe and Hepton a chance to get their wind below." + +Small as was the spread of canvas, Tom found, when he took the wheel, +that the good little "Restless" was plunging stiffly along on her +course. She was a wonderfully staunch little boat. The young sailing +master bewailed his luck in having hardly any gasoline on board. It +should never happen again, he promised himself. + +Again? Was there to be any "again"? The motor boat captain was by no +means blind to the fact that the "Restless" hadn't quite an even +chance of weathering this stiff gale. At any moment the sail might go +by the board in ribbons, as the first had done. Hank was not even +watching the sail. If it gave way it must. + +Joe presently came on deck for his next trick at the wheel. Hepton was +with him. + +"I've been thinking about the prisoner in the starboard stateroom," +announced Joe. "It's inhuman to leave him there, locked in and +handcuffed, in such a gale. He must be enduring fearful torment." + +"Yes," nodded Tom. "I've just been thinking that I must go down and +set him free as soon as I'm relieved." + +"Go along, then," proposed young Dawson. "I have the wheel, and Hepton +by me." + +Taking Hank Butts with him, Tom Halstead made his way below. + +"Dawson was just speaking to me about our prisoner," began Powell +Seaton. "Dawson thinks he ought to be turned loose--at least while +this gale lasts." + +"Yes," nodded Captain Halstead. "I'm on my way to do it now." + +"Will it be safe?" + +"We can't help whether it is, or not," Skipper Tom rejoined. "It's a +humane thing to do, and we'll have to do it." + +Powell Seaton did not interpose any further objections. It would have +been of little moment if he had, for, on the high seas, the ship's +commander is the sole judge of what is to be done. + +Even below decks, going through the electric-lighted passage and +cabin, Tom and Hank made their way with not a little difficulty. They +paused, at last, before the starboard stateroom door, and Tom fitted +the key in the lock. + +Jasper, the man locked within, faced them with affrighted gaze. + +"We're going to the bottom?" he demanded, hoarsely, tremulously. His +very evident terror gave the young skipper a new idea. + +"Are you prepared to go to the bottom, Jasper?" demanded Halstead. + +"Am I fit to die, do you mean?" asked the man, with a strange, sickly +grin. "No, sir; I'm not. At least, not until I've cleared myself by +telling a few truths." + +"Come out into the cabin, man," ordered Halstead, leading him. "Now, +sit down, and I'll get your handcuffs off." + +The young captain of the "Restless" unlocked the irons about the +fellow's wrists. Jasper stretched his hands, flexing his wrists. + +"Now, I can swim, anyway, though I don't believe it will do much +good," he declared. + +"No; it won't do much good," Halstead assented. "We're something more +than forty miles off the coast. But what do you want to say? What's on +your mind? Be quick, man, for we must be on deck again in a jiffy. I +don't want to lose my boat while I'm below with a rascal like you." + +"I haven't always been a rascal," retorted Jasper, hanging his head. +"At least, I have been fairly straight, until the other day." + +"What have you been doing for Dalton and Lemly?" demanded Tom +Halstead, fixing his gaze sternly on the frightened fellow. + +"Never anything for Dalton," whined Jasper. + +"Well, for Lemly, then?" + +"Oh, I've been snooping about a bit, for two years or so, getting tips +for Dave Lemly." + +"What has Lemly been smuggling in the 'Black Betty' all this time?" + +"Diamonds," admitted Jasper, sullenly. + +Tom Halstead felt like giving a great start, but controlled himself. + +"Smuggling diamonds under Anson Dalton's orders, eh?" insisted the +young skipper. + +"Yes; I reckon so." + +"How did you come into our matter--as a guard and a traitor?" + +"I was on hand when Mr. Seaton was getting his guards together," +replied Jasper. "So was Dave Lemly's mate. The mate told me to jump in +and get my chance with the guard." + +"What other orders did you have?" + +"I was to watch my chance to do anything nasty that I could," +confessed the fellow, hanging his head. + +"That was why you tried to ruin our aerials?" + +"Yes." + +"You also listened to Mr. Seaton and myself, the night we were going +over to Lonely Island?" + +Jasper squirmed, his face growing more ashen. + +"You heard what was said about papers hidden in a cupboard at the +bungalow. Did you? Answer me, confound you!" + +With an appearance of utter rage Tom bounded at the fellow, as though +about to attack him. Hank closed in, to be ready in case the attack +turned out to be a genuine one. + +"Yes, I stole an envelope full of papers," admitted Jasper. + +"What did you do with them?" + +"I turned them over to Dave Lemly." + +"Where? On Lonely Island?" + +"Yes; Lemly visited the island twice, at night, while I was on duty +there," confessed the fellow, whining and letting his head fall +lower. + +"What else have you done against us?" + +"Nothing, except trying to disable your wireless." + +"Are you telling the whole, full truth?" demanded Captain Tom +Halstead, surveying the fellow suspiciously. "As much of the truth as +you want to lay bare before going to the bottom in this wild storm?" + +"Yes! Oh, yes, yes!" insisted Jasper, easily. "Now, I've cleared my +conscience of its load!" + +"Humph!" muttered Tom Halstead, dryly. + +At that moment a snapping sound overhead reached their ears. The +"Restless" veered about, then heeled dangerously. + +"Our second and last sail has gone!" cried the young skipper, starting +forward. "Jasper, I hope you have told me the whole truth, for there +is no knowing, now, how soon you'll start for the bottom--how soon +we'll all go down. Helpless in this sea, the 'Restless' may 'turn +turtle.'" + +Nor was Tom speaking in jest, nor in any effort to scare the recent +prisoner into a fuller confession. Indeed, the motor boat captain was +paying no further heed to the wretch, but making his way forward. +Jasper started to follow, Hank bringing up the rear. + +As they reached the motor room the pitching and rolling of the boat +were awesome enough. It seemed incredible that a boat the size of the +"Restless" could live even a minute in her now helpless condition. + +Joe still stood at the wheel, white-faced but calm. + +"I don't see what we can do now, Tom," he shouted. + +"Nothing but get down to the wireless, and do anything you can in the +way of picking up some steamship," Halstead answered. "We might get a +tow, or, at least, another spread of canvas for a third try to ride +out the gale. The chances aren't big for us, but--well, Joe, we're +sailors, and can take our medicine." + +Joe smiled grittily as he edged away from the wheel after his chum had +taken it. + +"At least, if we go down, we go down in command of our own ship!" he +yelled bravely in Tom's ear through the wild racket of the gale. + +Then Joe went below. The storage batteries held electricity enough to +operate the few lights and keep the wireless going at intervals for +some hours yet. + +Once, in the minutes that dragged by, Hank Butts thought of the fine +spread he had been instructed to serve all hands that night. But no +one else was thinking of food now. Coffee would have been more to the +purpose, but to start a galley fire was to take the risk of adding +fire at sea to the already more than sufficient perils of those aboard +the "Restless." + +Every few minutes Captain Tom Halstead called down through the +speaking tube that connected him with Joe Dawson at the sending table. +Always Joe's calm answer came, the same: + +"Our wireless spark hasn't picked up any other ship yet." + +Then, just as frequently, Joe would rest his hand on the sending key +again, and send crashing off into space the signal: + +"C.Q.D.!" The three letters that carry always the same message of +despair across the waves. + +"C.Q.D.!"--the wireless signal of distress. "Help wanted, or we +perish!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE SPARK FINDS A FRIEND THROUGH THE GALE + + +The time had dragged on far into the night. Joe was still at the +wireless sending table, sleepless, patient, brave--a sailor born and +bred. + +Jasper, like many another rascal a superstitious coward in the face of +impending death, was seeking to appease the sting of his conscience by +doing everything in his power to make amends in these grave moments. +He stood by, pallid-faced yet collected enough to obey any order +instantly. + +Captain Tom remained on deck all the time now, though Hank often +relieved him briefly at the wheel. Both Hepton and Jasper stood by to +help as deck-hands. Powell Seaton came up on deck occasionally, though +he remained more in the motor room. + +Again and again Joe signaled--always that desperately appealing +"C.Q.D.!" It was all the signal he needed to send out. Wherever heard, +on land or water, the first operator to catch it would break in at +once with a demand for further particulars. + +Yet Joe's soul grew sick within him as time passed, and no such break +came through the storm-laden air. For Dawson, as well as had he stood +on deck, knew that this endless, malignant fury of the gale must +sooner or later start the seams of the staunch little craft. Or else, +struck by a wave bigger than any others, she would lie so far over on +her beam ends that she must finish the manoeuvre by "turning +turtle"--lying with her keel uppermost, and the crew penned underneath +to drown in haste. + +"Nothing to report yet, Joe, old fellow?" came down Captain Tom's +brave though anxious voice for perhaps the fortieth time. + +"No reply to our signals, Tom," went back the answer. + +"Do you think our spark is still strong enough to carry far?" + +"Plenty of electric 'juice' left," Joe responded. "The spark is as +strong as ever. Oh, if we only had as much gasoline!" + +"Oh, if we only had!" + +But ten minutes after that last call Joe again sent forth: + +"C.Q.D.! C.Q.D.!" + +Then down the receivers traveled a click--not loud, yet unmistakable. + +"Where are you? Answer!" came the response, out of the air from some +quarter. + +In frantic haste Joe Dawson fell upon his key once more. + + Motor yacht "Restless!" Under no power whatever. + Gasoline almost gone--saving the last for any emergency + chance that comes to us. All canvas blown overboard. Do + you get this? + +It seemed to frenzied Joe Dawson as though many minutes passed, yet +the response came promptly: + + Give us your present position, "Restless," as best you + know it! + +Joe obeyed with fingers that seemed themselves to be worked by +electricity. The receiver of the message repeated Joe's response, to +make sure that it was correct. + +"Who are you?" Joe now broke in to answer. + + Havana liner, bound north, and, we believe, within thirty + miles of you. Have you been signaling long? + +"Seems as though I had been signaling for years," sent back Joe, +laughing nervously to himself. The answer came: + + We'd heard you before, then, but there was a little mishap + to our installation. You keep at your table to send and + receive. I'll do the same at my end. Keep up your courage + until we reach you. Be ready to burn Coston lights + when we ask you to. + +Then how fast Joe Dawson managed to talk up through the speaking tube! +Tom Halstead, after first announcing the great news to the deck with a +wild cheer, put Hank at the wheel and hurried below. Shortly, however, +the young skipper was back on deck, bearing the wonderful news. + +In smooth weather the Havana liner, ordinarily a fifteen-knot boat, +would have reached them in two hours. Under the weather conditions of +this wild night it was much later when the two craft were within +hailing distance by signal lights. Hank was now in command of the +deck, Skipper Tom and Powell Seaton being with Joe. + +"Shall we try to send you a line for a tow?" came the demand from the +liner. + +"Yes," replied Halstead. Then, with a grimace he added: + +"But the salvage charge for such a tow will call for more than we can +raise, Joe, old fellow. I reckon the 'Restless' will have to be put up +for sale to pay her own bills." + +"Do you think I'd let you boys stand the towing charges?" demanded +Powell Seaton, indignantly. "Whatever charges there are are mine to +pay, and I'm at least good for the entire purchase price of a few +boats like even this good little old salt water wizard!" + +Tom soon afterwards made his way to the deck, but Mr. Seaton, weak and +almost ill after the hours of anxiety, threw himself upon a cushioned +seat near the wireless sending table. + +As Tom stood on the bridge deck he studied the liner's lights as that +larger craft manoeuvred in to the leeward of the motor craft. + +Once she had gained this position at a sufficient distance to make any +collision on this wild sea unlikely, the liner steamed ahead. + +"Stand ready to receive our line!" came to Joe in clicks through the +watch-case receivers over either ear. He swiftly transmitted the order +through the speaking tube to Halstead on the bridge. + +Then the liner burned another light. Tom answered with one held in his +own hand. It was the signal to look for the line, and the answer. + +Through the darkness came a sudden, red flash from the after deck of +the liner. The wind was so heavy that those on the bridge deck of the +"Restless" could not be sure that they heard the report of the gun. +But a missile whizzed over their heads, and to this blessed projectile +trailed a thin line that fell across the top of the cabin deck. + +Tom and Hank made a simultaneous bolt to get hold of that line. It was +young Butts who secured it. He passed it on to the young captain, +and, together, they leaped to the bridge-deck with it. From there they +crawled forward over the raised deck, slipping the line, at last, +between the two raised ends of the towing bitt. + +"Now, haul in with a will," glowed the young skipper, as they crept +back to the bridge-deck. A great wave swept over them on their way +back. Tom saw it coming, and braced himself. Hank was caught by the +rush of waters; he would have been swept overboard, but Halstead +grabbed at one of his ankles, holding on grimly. + +At that moment the late prisoner, Jasper, saw what was happening. +Projecting himself forward over the raised deck, he, too, caught hold +of Hank Butts, while Powell Seaton held to Jasper. + +It was a sort of human chain by which Hank was pulled to safety. Tom, +throughout the excitement, held the "thin line" in one hand. + +"Haul in this thin line, quickly," shouted the young commander, who +could barely make himself heard above the tumult of the gale. + +As the line was some four hundred feet long, it used up precious +moments to haul it and coil up the slack. As the last of the "thin +line" came into their hands there came with it the first of a stouter +hawser, the two lines being knotted securely together. + +"Hold on to me, now! Form a chain again," ordered Skipper Tom. "I'll +make the hawser fast forward." + +All this while the Havana liner, some four hundred feet away, was +going through a complicated bit of manoeuvering under the hands of her +officers. Alternately she moved at half-speed-ahead, at stop, or on +the reverse, in order that, despite the high-rolling waves, she might +not go too far ahead and snap the thin line. But now young Halstead +soon had a stout hitch about the towing bitt at the bow. A few more +turns, then he signaled to those behind holding him to help him back +to the bridge deck. A dozen great waves had rolled over him on that +smooth raised deck, but the members of the human chain hauled him back +to safety. + +"Signal to our friends that they can apply full speed ahead, Joe, if +they want to," directed the young motor boat captain, briefly, as he +reached the comparative safety of the bridge deck once more. + +Over the noise of the gale the answering blast from the liner's +whistle came to them as a far-away sound. But now the big boat ahead +started on at a ten-knot speed. + +"Gracious, but this seems good, once more!" glowed Tom Halstead, +taking over the wheel as the towing hawser tautened and the "Restless" +began to move forward under a headway that could be controlled and +directed. + +"We couldn't have stood this racket much longer, without a tow," +chattered Joe. "I've had moments at the wheel, to-night, when, on +account of our helplessness, I've felt sure we were going to 'turn +turtle.'" + +"What ails your jaws, old fellow?" demanded Tom, looking curiously at +his chum. "Say, you're shaking to pieces, and I don't wonder. Get +below and get dry and warm. Get below all of you, except one to stand +by me. Who can best remain on deck for a few minutes more?" + +"I can," proposed Jasper, starting forward with an odd mixture of +sullenness and eagerness in his tone. + +"I'll trust you--now," nodded Captain Halstead, after eyeing the man +keenly. "The rest of you get below. We want a few dry folks aboard." + +On board there was clothing in abundance, enough to enable everyone to +make at least a few changes. Now that the "Restless" could be held to +a course, Hank Butts cautiously made a small fire in the galley stove, +and then stood by to watch the fire. After a while he had coffee +going--this with a "cold bite" of food. + +Hepton came up, bye-and-bye, to take the wheel. As he was wholly +capable, Tom surrendered the helm to him, then dropped down below for +some of that coffee. + +"We've found out to-night what a wireless is good for," declared Joe. +"But for it, we wouldn't have kept the 'Restless' afloat and right +side up through the night." + +"Until we got this tow I didn't expect ever to see port again," Tom +Halstead admitted, quietly. "Do you know, the worst thing folks will +have against row-boats in the future will be the fact that row-boats +are too small to carry a wireless installation!" + +"You feel wholly safe, now, do you, captain?" demanded Powell Seaton. +"It rather seems to me that the gale has been getting heavier." + +"It has," Halstead admitted. "If we were adrift, now, we probably +couldn't keep right-side up for ten minutes. But give the 'Restless' +real headway, and she'll weather any gale that a liner or a warship +will." + +"If the towing hawser should part!" shuddered Mr. Seaton. + +"We'd hope to get another line across, and made fast, before we +'turned turtle,'" replied Skipper Tom. + +No one could venture from below on the bridge deck without being +quickly drenched. For that reason the wheel-reliefs were short. Hank, +by staying right by his galley fire, was able to keep heat at which +anyone coming down from the bridge deck could dry himself. + +By daylight the gale and sea were lighter. For one thing, the Havana +liner had carried her tow so far north that they were out of the worst +of it. Half an hour after daylight the wireless operator aboard the +larger craft telegraphed Joe: + +"We've taken you in four miles off the town of Mocalee. You can get +gasoline there. Do you want to cast off our line now?" + +"Yes," flashed back Joe, after consulting Captain Halstead. "And our +greatest, heartiest thanks for your fine work for us." + +There was further interchange of courtesies, then the line was cast +off as soon as Joe and Hank had started the twin motors going on the +little that was left of the gasoline. There was no way, or need, to +settle the liner's towing charges now. These could be collected later, +for the "Restless" was a boat registered by the United States +authorities. She could be found and libeled anywhere if her young +owners failed to settle. + +"Hooray! But doesn't it feel great to be moving under one's own power +again!" chortled Captain Tom, as he felt the vibration of the +propellers and swung the steering wheel. + +Though the coast had been visible from daylight, the town of Mocalee +was not in sight until the boat neared the mouth of a river. Up this +stream, half a mile, nestled a quaint little Florida town, where, as +one of the natives afterwards expressed it to Joe, "we live on fish in +summer and sick Yankees in winter." + +"We'd better get on shore, all hands, and stretch our legs," proposed +Powell Seaton, after Skipper Tom had made the "Restless" fast at the +one sizable dock of the town. "I see a hotel over yonder. I invite you +all to be my guests at breakfast--on a floor that won't rock!" + +"I'll stay aboard, then, to look after the boat," volunteered Hepton. +"And you can rely on me to keep a mighty sharp eye on that man, +Jasper," he added, in Halstead's ear. + +It was after seven o'clock in the morning when the shore party from +the "Restless," after strolling about a little, turned toward the +hotel. + +As they passed through a corridor on the way to the office Tom +Halstead glanced at a red leather bag that was being brought +downstairs by a negro bell-boy. + +"Do you see the bag that servant has?" asked Tom, in a whisper, as he +clutched Powell Seaton's arm. "Scar on the side, and all, I'd know +that bag anywhere. It's the one Anson Dalton brought over the side +when he boarded the 'Restless' from the 'Constant'!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +TOM HALSTEAD SPRINGS THE CLIMAX + + +"Can that fellow be here?" demanded Powell Seaton, his lips +twitching. + +"He must be--or else he has sent someone else with his baggage," Tom +Halstead answered, in an undertone. + +None of the party had paused, but had passed on into the office. + +"We've got to know," whispered Powell Seaton, tremulously. + +"Then you go ahead, sir, and register us for breakfast, and I'll +attend to finding out about this new puzzle." + +While Mr. Seaton went toward the desk, Tom signed to Hank Butts to +follow him aside. + +"About all you can do, Hank, is to get outside, not far from the door, +and see whether Dalton goes out," Halstead declared, after having +briefly explained the situation. "If Dalton leaves the hotel, give us +word at once." + +"Here, you take charge of this bag of mine, then," begged Hank, +turning so that the clerk at the desk could not see. + +Butts had come ashore in a long rain-coat drawn on over his other +clothing. Now, he quickly opened a small satchel that he had also +brought with him. + +"That old hitching weight of yours!" cried Tom, in a gasping +undertone, as he saw Hank slip that heavy iron object from the bag to +a hiding place under his coat. "How on earth do you happen to have +that thing with you?" + +"It must have been a private tip from the skies," grinned Hank, "but I +saw the thing lying in the motor room and I picked it up and slipped +it into this satchel. Take the bag from me and I'll get out on the +porch." + +All this took place so quietly that the clerk at the desk noticed +nothing. Halstead now carried the empty bag as he sauntered back to +the party. But he found chance to whisper to Joe: + +"Anson Dalton must be in this hotel. Hank is slipping out to watch the +front of the house. Hadn't you better get around to the rear? If it +happens that the fellow is about to leave here, it might be worth our +while to know where he goes." + +Nodding, Joe quietly slipped away. The negro with the red bag had now +entered the office. The bag, however, he took over to the coat-room +and left it there. + +"Breakfast will be ready at any time after eight o'clock, gentlemen," +announced the clerk. + +Powell Seaton lighted a cigar, remaining standing by the desk. Tom +stood close by. The door of the office opened. Anson Dalton, puffing +at a cigarette, his gaze resting on the floor, entered. He was some +ten feet into the room before he looked up, to encounter the steady +gaze of Captain Halstead and the charter-man. + +Starting ever so little, paling just a bit, Dalton returned that +steady regard for a few seconds, then looked away with affected +carelessness. + +"Going to leave us to-day, Mr. Dalton?" inquired the clerk. + +"I don't know," replied the scoundrel, almost sulkily. Then, lighting +a fresh cigarette, he strolled over by one of the windows. Presently, +without looking backward at the captain and charter-man of the +"Restless," the fellow opened a door and stepped out onto the porch. +There he promptly recognized Hank Butts, who stared back at him with +interest. + +"I wonder if Lemly is with this fellow?" whispered Halstead to his +employer. + +"I'm going beyond that, and wondering what the whole fact of Dalton's +presence here can possibly mean," replied Powell Seaton. + +The office door from the corridor opened again. Through the doorway +and across the office floor stepped, with half-mincing gait, a young, +fair-haired man who, very plainly, had devoted much attention to his +attire. + +"Where is Mr. Dalton?" demanded this immaculate youth, in a soft, +rather effeminate voice that made Halstead regard him with a look of +disfavor. + +"You'll find him out on the porch, I think, Mr. Dawley," answered the +clerk. + +"Oh, thank you, I'm sure," replied the soft-voiced one. As though he +were walking on eggs young Mr. Dawley turned, going toward the porch +door. + +"Oh, good morning, Dalton, dear fellow," cried the fair-haired dandy, +in the same soft voice, as he came upon Seaton's enemy, who was +walking up and down the porch utterly ignoring Hank Butts. + +"Good morning, Dawley," replied Dalton, looking more than a little +bored by the interruption. + +"Now, who and what, in the game, is Dalton's Elizabeth-boy friend?" +wondered Hank, eying the latest arrival. + +"Have a cigarette, Dawley?" asked Dalton, in a voice almost of +irritation, as he held out his case. + +"Charming of you, indeed," declared Dawley, helping himself to a +cigarette and lighting it. + +"Look out the tobacco doesn't make you sick, babe," muttered Hank +Butts under his breath. + +"Now, my dear Dalton, about the business we were discussing here last +evening----" began the soft-voiced one, but the other broke in on him +with: + +"If you don't mind, Dawley, I want to think a bit now." + +"Oh, that will be quite all right, I am sure," agreed the soft-voiced +one. "Then I'll just stroll down the street a bit and be back in time +to breakfast with you." + +Dalton nodded and the fair-haired fashion plate stepped down into the +path and strolled away. + +"All of which tells us," reflected Hank, "that our friend Dalton has +been here at least since yesterday, and that he and the Elizabeth-boy +dude are not very well acquainted." + +Butts looked up, almost with a start, to find Dalton close at hand, +scowling into the boy's face. + +"I suppose you're out here to watch me," growled Dalton, glaring. + +"If I am, you wouldn't expect me to grow confidential about it, would +you?" asked Hank, grinning into the other's face. + +"Oh, I don't want any of your impudence," snapped the rascal. + +"I wouldn't give you any, or anything else belonging to me," clicked +Hank Butts, decisively. + +"If you're standing out here to watch me," continued Dalton, "I am +willing to tell you that I am not leaving the hotel for the present." + +"That, or any other information you are willing to offer me, will be +treated in the utmost confidence, I assure you," promised Hank. + +"Don't be too frolicsome with me!" warned Dalton, wrathily. + +"I?" echoed Hank, looking astonished. "Why, I didn't say anything +until you spoke to me." + +With a snort Anson Dalton strolled away to a chair, seating himself +and blowing out great clouds of smoke. + +"He isn't exactly glad to see us here--I can guess that much," thought +Hank. "But I wish I could guess how Anson Dalton comes to be here. I +didn't see anything of his drab boat in the river." + +In the meantime Tom Halstead and Powell Seaton, after dropping into +chairs in the office, were talking most earnestly in undertones. From +where they sat they could see Dalton's red bag resting on a shelf in +the coat-room. + +"I'd give the world to know whether the rascal has the stolen papers +still in that bag!" cried Seaton, anxiously. + +"Would he be likely to leave the bag around the hotel carelessly, if +it contained anything so important?" asked Tom. + +"He might have been willing to do so before he knew we were about +here," replied the charter-man. + +"But even when he knows we're here the fellow doesn't seem anxious +about the matter." + +"Because the clerk is behind the desk, where he can see everything," +hinted Mr. Seaton. + +"Yet, for all Dalton knows, the clerk might leave the room for a +minute and give us our chance." + +"I've an idea," muttered Mr. Seaton, rising so quickly that Tom stood +up with him. "You keep the best eye possible over the rascal. Don't go +in to breakfast unless he goes. Never mind whether I come to breakfast +or not." + +"All right, sir," nodded Halstead. + +As Powell Seaton crossed the porch without even looking in Dalton's +direction, the young motor boat captain also stepped outside, going +over to Hank. + +"Watch that fellow, Hank," whispered Tom. "Don't let him get away from +you." + +"Not if I have to steal his cigarettes," promised Butts, with vim. + +Then Skipper Tom vanished, though not for long. He merely went to find +Joe Dawson, at the opposite side of the building. The two chums +returned together. + +"Now," said Tom, in a chuckling whisper, "if Anse Dalton wants to get +away from us, he'll have to run in four different directions at the +same time." + +"But did you see the nice plush boy that's with Dalton?" asked Hank, +dryly. Butts, more than any of the others of the party, had taken a +great dislike to the soft-voiced one. + +Dalton turned, once in a while, to scowl in the direction of the three +motor boat boys. That, however, was all the attention he gave them. A +little later Dawley returned and seated himself beside his friend. + +"Breakfast is ready, gentlemen," called the clerk, opening the door. + +Not one of the Motor Boat Club boys stirred until after Dalton rose +and stepped inside. Then they followed, close in the rear. + +Dalton and his companion stepped into the dining room, installing +themselves at a table not far from the door. Tom led the way for his +party at the second table beyond. Two waiters appeared, one attending +to each of the tables. + +Dawley was evidently in bubbling spirits. He insisted on talking much, +in his soft voice, to Anson Dalton, who was plainly annoyed. Tom +Halstead glanced over at his enemy with an amused smile. + +Yet no word passed between the tables. Food and coffee were brought, +after some minutes, and at both tables the meal was disposed of +slowly, excellent appetites being the rule. + +Powell Seaton, in the meantime, had hastened to the telegraph office. +From there he wired, "rush," to the chief of police at Beaufort, +advising the latter that Anson Dalton was in Mocalee, and asking +whether Dalton was wanted by the United States or state authorities on +any charges growing out of the seizure of the schooner "Black Betty." + +This dispatch sent off, Mr. Seaton, though remaining at the telegraph +office, sent a messenger in haste for James Hunter, who represented +Mocalee as chief of police and the entire police force. + +"Jim Hunter," as he was locally called, a raw-boned, taciturn man, +came speedily to the telegraph office. He was in his shirt-sleeves, +chewing a straw, but he wore his police badge on his coat, while a +short "billy" appeared in a hip pocket. Jim Hunter listened quietly +while the operator, at Seaton's request, displayed the original of the +telegram that had been sent to Beaufort. + +Telegraph companies give quick service on telegrams relating to police +business. So it was not long ere the operator's receiving instrument +began to click with the local call. + +The first dispatch that the operator passed out through the grated +window was addressed to Powell Seaton, and signed by the chief at +Beaufort. It read: + + Thank you for information. Have wired chief of police, + Mocalee. + +The second telegram, following almost instantly, was addressed to the +chief of police of Mocalee. It ran: + +Arrest Anson Dalton, wanted by U. S. authorities on +charge of smuggling. Powell Seaton will point him out to +you. Notify me when arrested. Be careful to get all Dalton +baggage. Hold for orders. + +"That's all I wanter know," said Hunter, laconically, biting off the +end of his straw and spitting it out. "Lead me to your friend Dalton, +Mr. Seaton." + +"I ought to warn you that he's a desperate fellow," murmured Mr. +Seaton, as the pair left the telegraph office together. + +"I've seen that kind before," nodded Mr. Hunter, curtly. + +"Pardon me, but I notice you carry a club. Dalton will undoubtedly +have a revolver, and he's likely to be ugly enough to attempt to use +it," explained Mr. Seaton, apprehensively. "May I ask if you have a +pistol, too?" + +"I always carry all the tools I need," answered Jim Hunter. "I don't +gen'rally 'low any man to pull a gun on me, though. Sometimes I'm +quicker'n I gen'rally look." + +There was an air of quiet, forceful reserve about this Florida +policeman that made Powell Seaton feel more confident that the +business in hand would not be defeated for lack of preparation. They +made their way quickly to the hotel. + +Anson Dalton and his soft-voiced companion were still at table, though +evidently near the end of their meal. + +Hank Butts, at a signal from his captain, had left the table. Hank had +donned his rain-coat again, and was now waiting in the corridor +leading to the stairs, in case Dalton should pass that way. + +A moment later Joe left the table, stepping through the office and out +onto the porch. + +[Illustration: The Table Struck Hunter Amidships.] + +Dalton and Dawley were just rising when Halstead, seated where he +could see out into the office, saw Seaton and a stranger enter. + +"Now, the music will begin," thought Tom Halstead, throbbing. + +"There he is, officer--the dark one!" cried Powell Seaton, leading the +way into the dining room. + +Jim Hunter lost no time. He made a spring in the direction of Anson +Dalton, whose eyes flashed fire. Trained in a hard, desperate school, +Dalton was fuller of tricks than the police chief had expected. + +As Hunter rushed at him, Dalton forcefully pushed one of the small +tables toward him. It struck Hunter amidships, most unexpectedly, and +had the result of sending Mocalee's police force sprawling to the +floor. + +"You can't stop me--you shall not!" roared Anson Dalton. He made a +dash for the doorway leading to the office. Swift as he was, Tom +Halstead darted through ahead of him. + +"He'll try to get that red bag--and he'll put up a fight with a +pistol!" flashed through the young motor boat skipper's brain. "I'll +fool him so far as the bag is concerned." + +Diving into the coat-room, the door of which stood open, Halstead was +in season to snatch up the bag. He turned, to find Dalton rushing at +him, hands reached out. + +Ducking under, Tom eluded Dalton, and darted across the office. + +"Let some of the others catch him," gritted Halstead, inwardly. "What +we want most to know may be in this bag!" + +It was all done so quickly that Skipper Tom was across the office, +pulling open the door into the corridor, before Anson Dalton bounded +after him. + +Joe Dawson rushed in from the porch, but too late to be of immediate +help. Officer Hunter had sprawled badly, and Mr. Seaton had halted to +aid him to his feet. + +"Drop that bag, or you'll wish you had--no time for this nonsense," +blazed Dalton, angrily, thrusting his right hand at his hip pocket. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +HANK BECOMES REALLY TERRIBLE + + +Bump! Whack! + +Tom Halstead tried to slam the door shut in his pursuer's face, but +one of Dalton's feet barred the closing, then thrust the door open. + +As Halstead raced into the corridor Anson Dalton was close behind him, +his hand yanking a revolver from his pocket. + +There would have been a shot in another instant. Halstead might have +been badly hit. + +But Hank Butts, on duty in the corridor, had heard the cries. + +As the door was thrust open Hank leaped forward. Out from under his +rain coat he brought that same old hitching weight. + +There was an instant, only, for action, but young Butts was an expert +with the weapon he had made his own. + +His hands flew aloft, then descended, just as Anson Dalton's left foot +was thrust forward in his running. + +"Halt, you----" roared Dalton. + +Bim! Down came the hitching weight, and landed squarely across the +left foot of the pursuer. Dalton let out a fearful yell, while his +revolver fell to the floor. There was a flash and a crashing explosion +in that confined space; the weapon had been harmlessly discharged. + +As for Dalton, he swayed dizzily for a few seconds, trying to lift the +injured foot. Then, with a groan and a burst of ugly language, he sank +to the floor. + +Hank darted in, securing his hitching weight and backing off with it +once more. + +Though he had heard the discharge of the pistol, Jim Hunter did not +stop to reach for his own revolver. He leaped through into the +corridor, his pocket police club in hand. + +"There he is, but you won't have to club him any," announced Hank, +dryly, pointing to the groaning Dalton. "He'll eat out of your hand, +now--will Anson Dalton." + +Pausing only to drop his club to the floor, Jim Hunter whipped out a +pair of handcuffs from a cavernous pocket, bent over Dalton, and---- + +Snap-click! The troublesome enemy of the motor boat boys was not only +badly hurt, but a secure prisoner as well. + +Now, Seaton and the boys gathered about the law's captive. + +"I reckon you'll have to git up," announced Jim Hunter, putting a +helping hand under one of Dalton's arms. + +"I can't--oh, stop! Let up! My foot's crushed. I can't stand on it!" +yelled Dalton. + +Hunter came quickly to realize the fact that Dalton could not stand +with much comfort. Joe came up with a chair, onto which the prisoner +was allowed to sink. + +"Oh, you boys think you've finished things for me, don't you?" leered +Dalton, glaring around him in a rage. "But you haven't. You'll soon +find that you've just begun to stir up trouble for yourselves." + +"Go easy, man--do!" begged Hunter, soothingly. "Of course yer pet corn +feels bad just now. But, say! That's the niftiest way of stopping a +bad man, I reckon, thet was ever invented." + +"Is it?" groaned Dalton. Then, catching the trace of a smirk in Hank's +eyes, the rascal shook his fist at the steward of the "Restless," +snarling: + +"I'll find my own way to settle with you!" + +"Take your time--when you're feeling better," Hank begged, +cheerfully. + +Fair-haired, soft-voiced young Dawley had followed the crowd out into +the corridor. The hotel clerk, the proprietor and three or four of the +servants all had increased the crowd there. Dawley rapidly learned +what had happened. + +"It's a beastly outrage," he announced, his soft voice sounding almost +harsh in the indignation that he felt. + +"Oh, take a fan, Dolly, and go out on the porch to cool off," growled +Joe Dawson. + +One of the servants, in the excess of excitement, actually took the +fair-haired youth by the shoulders, and, though the latter protested, +thrust him out through the open door onto the porch, slamming the door +after him. + +"That's too bad," grinned Hank. "I'll go out and see if the poor +fellow has fainted." + +As Butts stepped out on the porch, closing the door shut after him, +Dawley, his cheeks very red, leaped out from the chair into which he +had sunk. + +"It was you who played that mean trick on my friend," cried Dawley, in +a voice which he fondly believed trembled with rage. + +"Yes," admitted Hank, meekly. + +"I'll punish you for that!" quivered the soft-voiced one, stepping +forward. + +"Don't strike me on the wrist," pleaded Hank. "I have rheumatism +there." + +But Dawley, too angry, or else too dull to understand that he was +being made a mark for ridicule, continued to advance upon Butts, who +retreated, a look of mock alarm in his face. + +"Keep away from me--please do, while you're angry," begged Hank, still +retreating. + +"I won't!" snapped Dawley. As Hank now retreated rapidly backward, +Dawley went after him with corresponding speed. + +"If you must have it, then, why--take it!" cried Hank, in a tone of +desperation. + +One of his hands had been held under his rain-coat all along. Now Hank +thrust the other hand inside, as well, to reach for some object +concealed there. + +"Oh. O-o-oh! Don't you drop that weight on my foot!" yelled Dawley, +blanching and falling up against the wooden wall. + +But Hank, ruthlessly, as one whose blood is up, brought both his hands +swiftly into view as he sprang at Dawley. There was a yell from the +fair-haired one as Hank bent forward, then dropped squarely on the +toes of Dawley's right foot--his _pocket-handkerchief_! + +"There, now!" mimicked Hank Butts, turning on his heel. + +A roar of laughter came from Mr. Seaton, Tom, Joe and two or three of +the bystanders who had followed outside. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +"I'm sorry, young man," said Powell Seaton, resting a hand on Dawley's +collar, "but the chief of police wants to see you." + +"I'm not arrested, am I?" demanded the soft-voiced one, in a tone of +great alarm. + +"I think not. But come along. The chief wants to see you in the +office." + +There they found Hunter and his manacled prisoner, who had been +carried into the office just as he sat on the chair. + +"Where's that red bag that started all the trouble?" demanded Chief +Hunter. Joe Dawson produced it. + +"You can't open that," leered Dalton, though he spoke uneasily. + +"If we can't unlock it, we'll cut it open with a sharp breadknife," +mocked Hunter. "Yet I reckon thet we'll find the key in yer pocket." + +This guess turned out to be correct. The key was inserted in the lock +and the bag opened. Powell Seaton pushed forward to help the police +official in the inspection of the contents. + +"There are my papers," cried Powell Seaton, grabbing at two +envelopes. + +"Look 'em over, ef you want, but I reckon I'll haveter have 'em to go +with the prisoner," assented Chief Hunter. + +"They're the same papers that this fellow stole--one set from Clodis, +and the other from my bungalow through a helper," cried Mr. Seaton. + +Anson Dalton watched Seaton with a strange, sinister look. + +"Gracious! Look at these, here!" gasped Chief Hunter, opening a small +leather case. Nearly a score of flashing white stones greeted his +eyes. + +"Di'munds, I reckon," guessed the police chief. + +"Yes; Brazilian diamonds," confirmed Powell Seaton. "Probably this +prisoner's share or proceeds from smuggling in diamonds. That +business, then, was what the 'Black Betty' was used for." + +"Those are the diamonds I came down here to negotiate for," broke in +Dawley, wonderingly. + +"You?" demanded Hunter, surveying the soft-voiced one. + +"Yes; my father is Dawley, the big jeweler at Jacksonville," explained +the youth. "Here's his card. I'm the buyer for the house, and your +prisoner wrote that he had some fine stones to sell." + +"They're fine, all right, or I'm no judge of Brazilian diamonds," +nodded Powell Seaton. "But I guess the United States Government owns +them, now, as a confiscated prize." + +A carriage was brought around to the door, and Anson Dalton was driven +to the county jail, eight miles away, to be locked up there pending +the arrival of United States officers. + +Dawley easily proved his innocence, and the truth of his own story. +Despite his effeminate manners and soft voice, it afterwards developed +that the youth was a skilled buyer of precious stones, and a young man +of no little importance in the business community of his home town. + +Following the swift succession of events at the little Florida town, +there came a lull in the long strain of excitement and danger. + +Every now and then Dick Davis and Ab Perkins, aboard the Rio-bound +"Glide," found a chance to have a wireless message relayed back to the +United States. + +These messages came in veiled language, according to instructions, but +they conveyed to Powell Seaton the joyous news that these two far-away +members of the Motor Boat Club were proceeding safely on their long +journey, and that no harm was happening to them, nor to the precious +papers in their care. + +One fine day a cablegram came all the way from Rio Janeiro which told +that Dick and Ab had reached that Brazilian city, and had turned over +the papers in their care to the waiting American for whom they were +intended. + +A week after that came another cablegram, announcing that the American +syndicate had succeeding in locating the lost diamond field, and that +papers for a proper patent were being filed with the Brazilian +Government. + +Right on top of that came the news, in the daily press, that Governor +Terrero, of Vahia, had been shot and killed by an escaped prisoner--a +former enemy whom the governor had greatly and wickedly harassed. + +Captain Dave Lemly was captured about this time. He and Dalton, it +developed, had been the principal American agents in a big scheme for +smuggling Brazilian diamonds into the United States. The gems, it was +shown, were secretly shipped in quantities from Rio, aboard a sailing +ship. This ship, carrying a general cargo, was always met near +Beaufort by Lemly, in the "Black Betty," and the diamonds were taken +on the little black schooner. As the "Black Betty" sailed as a fishing +boat, Dave Lemly had always been able to evade the American customs +authorities, and a hugely profitable business in diamond smuggling had +been built up. + +Governor Terrero, of the state of Vahia, Brazil, it is supposed, was +behind the southern end of the smuggling scheme, though this has not +been proved. Dalton, acting as the governor's go-between and spy, had +played his part well and desperately. Yet now, in the end, Dalton was +convicted on the evidence furnished by some of the members of the late +crew of the "Black Betty." So was Lemly, and both are now serving long +sentences in prison, along with the members of the crew of the +smuggling schooner. + +Clodis recovered, after a few weeks. He was handsomely rewarded by the +new diamond syndicate for the dangers through which he had run. He +last remembered descending the stairs to the "Constant's" stairs, and +had no recollection of having been struck down. + +All the members of the guard over at Lonely Island were more than +handsomely paid. Even Jasper was forgiven, and well rewarded. + +After he had been in prison some length of time Anson Dalton one day +confessed to Mr. Seaton's attorney that, while at sea on the drab boat +(which was afterwards found and confiscated by the revenue people), +he, Dalton, had copied the stolen papers, intending to send one set +southward and retain the originals. + +After losing both the "Restless" and the "Glide" in the fog, Dalton +had had Lemly put in to shore. There they had been met by a trusted +Brazilian spy for Governor Terrero. The Brazilian, with the copies of +the papers, had hurried to New York by train. This Brazilian did not +succeed in starting for Rio until some days after the "Glide" had +sailed, and, moreover, he went on a slower boat. So, by the time the +Brazilian spy arrived at Rio, the American syndicate had located the +lost diamond field, had filed patents with the Government, and Terrero +had died. So all of Anson Dalton's plotting had come to naught. + +One of Powell Seaton's first acts was to adjust fully the claim of the +Havana line for the towing of the "Restless" through that fearful +northeast gale. + +While waiting for the final news of the success of his plans, the +charter-man cruised much up and down the coast with the boys of the +"Restless." Then afterwards, through the month of November, Seaton +enjoyed another cruise with them. + +The charter money was not all that Captain Tom, Engineer Joe and +Steward Hank received for their splendid work. + +As soon as the final plans of the great new American diamond syndicate +at Rio Janeiro had been established on a safe and firm basis, the +charter-man of the "Restless" was prepared to talk of a splendid +reward. His plans were so big, in fact, that all three of the boys +felt bound to call a halt. Yet the reward that they _did_ finally +accept made very important additions to the bank accounts of all three +of these daring young motor boat navigators. + +Dick Davis and Ab Perkins, on their return from Rio, were "remembered" +by Mr. Seaton with bank drafts the size of which almost took away +their breath. + +Then came a new cruise, a new set of adventures in new surroundings. +It was a cruise which the many friends of our Motor Boat Club boys +will agree was the most wonderful, the most exciting, and certainly +the most mysterious lot of adventures through which any member of the +Club ever passed. The details of what happened, however, must be +reserved for the next volume in this series, which will be published +under the title: "THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB IN FLORIDA; Or, Laying the Ghost +of Alligator Swamp." + +[THE END] + + + + +HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S + +CATALOGUE OF + +The Best and + +Least Expensive Books + +FOR + +Real Boys and Girls + +THESE FASCINATING VOLUMES + +WILL INTEREST BOYS and GIRLS + +OF EVERY AGE UNDER SIXTY + +Sold by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price + +Henry Altemus Company + +507-513 CHERRY STREET + +PHILADELPHIA + + + + +THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB SERIES + +By H. Irving Hancock + +The keynote of these books is manliness. The stories are wonderfully +entertaining, and they are at the same time sound and wholesome. The +plots are ingenious, the action swift, and the moral tone wholly +healthful. No boy will willingly lay down an unfinished book in this +series, at the same time he will form a taste for good literature and +the glory of right living. + +1 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OF THE KENNEBEC; Or, The Secret of Smugglers' + Island. + +2 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT NANTUCKET; Or, The Mystery of the Dunstan + Heir. + +3 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND; Or, A Daring Marine Game at + Racing Speed. + +4 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AND THE WIRELESS; Or, The Dot, Dash and Dare + Cruise. + +5 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB IN FLORIDA; Or, Laying the Ghost of Alligator + Swamp. + +6 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT THE GOLDEN GATE; Or, A Thrilling Capture in + the Great Fog. + +Cloth, 12mo, Illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50 cts. + +Sold by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price + +Henry Altemus Company + +507-513 CHERRY STREET + +PHILADELPHIA + + + + +SUBMARINE BOYS SERIES + +By Victor G. Durham + +These splendid books for boys and girls deal with life aboard submarine +torpedo boats, and with the adventures of the young crew, who, by +degrees, become most expert in this most wonderful and awe-inspiring +field of modern naval practice. The books are written by an expert and +possess, in addition to the author's surpassing knack of story-telling, +a great educational value for all young readers. + +1 THE SUBMARINE BOYS ON DUTY; Or, Life on a Diving Torpedo Boat. + +2 THE SUBMARINE BOYS' TRIAL TRIP; Or, "Making Good" as Young Experts. + +3 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES; Or, The Prize Detail at + Annapolis. + +4 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SPIES; Or, Dodging the Sharks of the Deep. + +5 THE SUBMARINE BOYS' LIGHTNING CRUISE; Or, The Young Kings of the + Deep. + +6 THE SUBMARINE BOYS FOR THE FLAG; Or, Deeding Their Lives to Uncle + Sam. + +Cloth, 12mo, Illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50 cts. + +Sold by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price + +Henry Altemus Company + +507-513 CHERRY STREET + +PHILADELPHIA + + + + +PONY RIDER BOYS SERIES + +By Frank Gee Patchin + +These tales may be aptly described as those of a new Cooper. As the +earlier novelist depicted the first days of the advancing frontier, so +does Mr. Patchin deal charmingly and realistically with what is left of +the strenuous outdoor West of the twentieth century. In every sense +they belong to the best class of books for boys. + +1 The Pony Rider Boys in the Rockies; Or, The Secret of the Lost Claim. + +2 The Pony Rider Boys in Texas; Or, The Veiled Riddle of the Plains. + +3 The Pony Rider Boys in Montana; Or, The Mystery of the Old Custer + Trail. + +4 The Pony Rider Boys in the Ozarks; Or, The Secret of Ruby Mountain. + +5 The Pony Rider Boys on the Alkali; Or, Finding a Key To the Desert + Maze. + +6 The Pony Rider Boys in New Mexico; Or, The End of the Silver Trail. + +Cloth, 12mo, Illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50 cts. + +Sold by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price + +Henry Altemus Company + +507-513 CHERRY STREET + +PHILADELPHIA + + + + +HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SERIES + +By H. Irving Hancock + +In this series of bright, crisp books a new note has been struck. + +Boys of every age under sixty will be interested in these fascinating +volumes. + +1 THE HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN; Or, Dick & Co's First Year Pranks and + Sports. + +2 THE HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER; Or, Dick & Co. on the Gridley Diamond. + +3 THE HIGH SCHOOL LEFT END; Or, Dick & Co. Grilling on the Football + Gridiron. + +4 THE HIGH SCHOOL CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM; Or, Dick & Co. Leading the + Athletic Vanguard. + +Cloth, 12mo, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + +GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SERIES + +By H. Irving Hancock + +This series of stories, based on the actual doings of grammar school +boys comes near to the heart of the average American boy. + +1 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS OF GRIDLEY; Or, Dick & Co. Start Things + Moving. + +2 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SNOWBOUND; Or, Dick & Co. at Winter Sports. + +3 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN THE WOODS; Or, Dick & Co. Trail Fun and + Knowledge. + +4 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER ATHLETICS; Or, Dick & Co. Make + Their Fame Secure. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + +WEST POINT SERIES + +By H. Irving Hancock + +The principal characters in these narratives are two sound, wholesome, +manly young Americans who go strenuously through their four years of +cadetship. Their doings will prove an inspiration to all American boys. + +1 DICK PRESCOTT'S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Two Chums in the Cadet + Gray. + +2 DICK PRESCOTT'S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Finding the Glory of + the Soldier's Life. + +3 DICK PRESCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Standing Firm for Flag + and Honor. + +4 DICK PRESCOTT'S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Ready to Drop the Gray + for Shoulder Straps. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + +ANNAPOLIS SERIES + +By H. Irving Hancock + +The Spirit of the new Navy is delightfully and truthfully depicted in +these volumes. + +1 DAVE DARRIN'S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Plebe Midshipmen at + the U. S. Naval Academy. + +2 DAVE DARRIN'S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Midshipmen as Naval + Academy "Youngsters." + +3 DAVE DARRIN'S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Leaders of the Second + Class Midshipmen. + +4 DAVE DARRIN'S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Headed for Graduation and + the Big Cruise. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + +BOYS OF THE ARMY SERIES + +By H. Irving Hancock + +These books breathe the life and spirit of the United States Army of +to-day, and the life, just as it is, is described by a master-pen. + +1 Uncle Sam's Boys in the Ranks; Or, Two Recruits in the United States + Army. + +2 Uncle Sam's Boys on Field Duty; Or, Winning Corporal's Chevrons. + +3 Uncle Sam's Boys As Sergeants; Or, Handling Their First Real + Commands. + +(Other volumes to follow rapidly.) + +Cloth, 12mo, Illustrated--Price, per Volume, 50c. + +BATTLESHIP BOYS SERIES + +By Frank Gee Patchin + +These stories throb with the life of young Americans on today's huge +drab Dreadnaughts. + +1 The Battleship Boys at Sea; Or, Two Apprentices in Uncle Sam's Navy. + +2 The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward; Or, Winning Their Grades as + Petty Officers. + +3 The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service; Or, Earning New Ratings in + European Seas. + +(Other volumes to follow rapidly.) + +Cloth, 12mo, Illustrated--Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + +THE CIRCUS BOYS SERIES + +By Edgar B. P. Darlington + +Mr. Darlington is known to all real circus people along every route +that big and little shows travel. His books breathe forth every phase +of an intensely interesting and exciting life. + +1 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; Or, Making the Start in the + Sawdust Life. + +2 THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; Or, Winning New Laurels on the + Tanbark. + +3 THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; Or, Winning the Plaudits of the Sunny + South. + +(Other volumes to follow rapidly.) + +Cloth, 12mo, Illustrated--Price, per Volume, 50c. + +THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SERIES + +By Jessie Graham Flower, A.M. + +These breezy stories of the American High School Girl take the reader +fairly by storm. + +1 GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or The Merry Doings of the + Oakdale Freshmen Girls. + +2 GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Record of the + Girl Chums in Work and Athletics. + +3 GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, Fast Friends in the + Sororities. + +4 GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Parting of the + Ways. + +Cloth, 12mo, Illustrated--Price, per Volume, 50c. + +THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS SERIES + +By Laura Dent Crane + +No girl's library--no family book-case can be considered at all +complete unless it contains these sparkling twentieth-century books, +written for present-day girls. + +1 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; Or, Watching the Summer Parade. + +2 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; Or, The Ghost of Lost Man's + Trail. + +3 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; Or, Fighting Fire in Sleepy + Hollow. + +(Other volumes to follow rapidly.) + +Cloth, 12mo, Illustrated--Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + +THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS + +By Frank Gee Patchin + +Have you any idea of the excitements, the glories of life on great +ranches in the West? Any bright boy will "devour" the books of this +series, once he has made a start with the first volume. + +1 The Range and Grange Hustlers on the Ranch; Or, The Boy Shepherds of + the Great Divide. + +2 The Range and Grange Hustlers' Greatest Round-up; Or, Pitting Their + Wits Against a Packer's Combine. + +Cloth, Illustrated--Price, per Volume, 50c. + +THE YOUNG ENGINEERS SERIES + +By H. Irving Hancock + +Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton, the heroes of the stories in this series, +are already well known to readers of the Grammar School Boys Series and +High School Boys Series. In this new series Tom and Harry prove +themselves worthy of all the traditions of Dick & Co. + +1 The Young Engineers in Colorado; Or, At Railroad Building in Earnest. + +2 The Young Engineers in Arizona; Or, Laying Tracks on the + "Man-Killer" Quicksands. + +Cloth, Illustrated--Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + +THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS SERIES + +By H. Irving Hancock + +In this series Mr. Hancock gives the American boy a complete knowledge +of existing political conditions. + +These books are full of intense interest, with stirring plots. They +will teach our boys to think, to vote properly, and make them better +citizens. + +1 The Square Dollar Boys Wake Up; Or, Fighting the Trolley Franchise + Steal. + +2 The Square Dollar Boys Smash the Ring; Or, In the Lists Against the + Crooked Land Deal. + +Cloth, Illustrated--Price, per Volume, 50c. + +THE BOYS OF STEEL SERIES + +By James R. Mears + +In this splendid series the great American steel industry is exploited +by a master pen. The information given is exact and truthful, and full +of fascination for the American youth. + +1 The Iron Boys in the Mines; Or, Starting at the Bottom of the Shaft. + +2 The Iron Boys as Foremen; Or, Heading the Diamond Drill Shift. + +Cloth, Illustrated--Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Motor Boat Club and The Wireless, by +H. 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