CHAPTER XII.

DORY DORNWOOD RESORTS TO STRATEGY.

"Do you mean to rob me, Squillipod?" demanded Angy, and he kicked away at the legs of his conqueror. "Is this a Sunday-school accomplishment?"

"I said I was going to keep the money for you. Besides, as I said before, it is better to have two thousand dollars than one thousand," replied Dory, with his usual good nature.

"But you are stealing it from me!" gasped the angry robber.

"You appear to have forgotten where you got this money, Angy."

"That is nothing to do with it. What is mine belongs to me."

"All right; and it belongs to me just now."

"Do you mean to rob me of my money?" demanded the vanquished chief, who did not seem to be capable yet of realizing his situation.

"Not exactly; but if you insist upon using that ugly word, I am only going to rob you of what you stole from my uncle," replied Dory, as he put the pocket-book into the inside of his vest.

Without another word, the desperate chief rushed upon Dory, and made an effort to upset him by lying down upon him, and kicking his shins. Of course he could not accomplish any thing, though he made his captor dance a jig in his attempts to escape the savage kicks of his prisoner. But he was soon tired of this fruitless labor, and he stood still again. It looked as though he had just begun to understand that Dory was in earnest, and that he had lost the battle. Both of them looked at each other, and then out upon the lake, which could be seen across the neck of land.

The La Motte had got up her anchor, and under a reefed foresail was standing towards the shore. When Angy saw her, he gave a yell that could be heard half a mile. His companions heard him, and immediately headed the schooner in the direction from which the cry had come. One of those on board gave an answering yell.

"It is useless to wait for her," said Dory, who would not have denied that he felt some anxiety.

"I think I shall wait for her," replied Angy.

"You will have to wait till the end of the year, then; for that schooner will be aground in less than five minutes if she keeps on that course."

One of the burglars was at the bow, sounding. The vessel was within the eighth of a mile of the shore. Suddenly she came about, and the anchor was let go. They had found they could come no nearer to the shore. Then they began to shout the name of Angy.

"I think we won't wait here any longer," said Dory, placing his hand on the collar of his prisoner.

"I think we will," replied Angy, as he began to kick again.

Dory was obliged to knock him down again. Taking hold of his coat-collar with both hands, he dragged him away from the inlet. By taking frequent rests, he succeeded in moving him out of hailing-distance of the schooner, though he could just hear the yells of the robbers on board of her. Angy did not yell any more. The mode of transportation adopted by Dory was not an agreeable one, and Angy promised to walk if his captor would allow him to get up.

"You have knocked the skin all off my legs," said he, as Dory assisted him to rise.

"I want you to understand that I am going to take you to the Beech Hill Industrial School, Angy, and if you get hurt on the way, it will be your own fault," said Dory impressively.

"I can't stand being dragged like a dead snake, and I will walk," answered Angy. "But you don't mean that you are going to hand me over to old Squalipop?"

"I am going to hand you over to Captain Gildrock, the principal of our school."

"But this was nothing but a lark on the part of our fellows, the members of the Nautifelers Club. We are up here to have some fun; and you ought not to make a serious thing of it," said Angy, trying to be amiable again.

"Blow up a safe in the night, and take over two thousand dollars from it, and that is nothing but a lark! You can present that argument to the principal; and he will hear it, for he is not deaf. What's that? I heard voices," said Dory, looking about him.

Dory was a little alarmed; for it occurred to him that the other robbers, or some of them, had swum ashore. He listened, and heard the voices again; but it came the wrong way to be from the crew of the schooner. A moment's reflection assured him that it must be some party from the school. Then he shouted, and received an answer to his hail. It sounded like the voice of Mr. Jepson.

Dory resumed his march with the prisoner. He began to feel as though he was getting out of the woods. In a few minutes more he saw the engineer and the carpenter hurrying towards him. Angy could not help seeing them also; and he breathed a sigh, which was perhaps the knell of his hopes, if he had had any hopes.

"What have you got there, Dory?" called Mr. Brookbine, as soon as he discovered the prisoner and his custodian.

"One of them," replied Dory.

"Where is the other one?" asked Mr. Jepson.

"The other four are off on the lake, on board of that schooner which came into the river yesterday. I am glad to see you, for I am very tired," said Dory.

As he spoke, he seated himself on a log. In as few words as possible he related what had occurred, and described his conflict with his prisoner. Angy could not help putting in a few words to explain how he happened to be beaten.

"We have examined the shore so far, and were following the road when we heard shouting in this direction," said Mr. Jepson.

"It was the voice of the prisoner, hailing his companions on board of the schooner. I shouted as soon as I heard you," replied Dory.

"It is all right, then; and we have nothing to do but take this fellow back to the school," added Mr. Brookbine.

"Can't you do that alone, Mr. Brookbine?" asked Dory. "I brought him so far alone."

"Certainly I can," replied the carpenter. "I think we shall find a team as soon as we reach the road. There must be other parties out before this time, for Captain Gildrock sent to all the officers in town. I will send some of them over here."

"Don't do it, if you please, Mr. Brookbine. If Mr. Jepson will stay with me, we will see where that schooner goes," added Dory.

"The storm is over, and the principal will be up here before long in one of the steamers," said the machinist.

"You may take this pocket-book to my uncle, if you please, Mr. Brookbine. It contains all the money taken from the safe," continued Dory, as he handed it to the carpenter.

"The principal told me he had lost four five-hundred-dollar bills and some other money," added Mr. Brookbine.

"It is all in that pocket-book."

The master-carpenter took the prisoner by the arm, and marched him off in the direction he had come, leaving Dory still seated on the log. After the kickings, after the constrained positions he had been compelled to keep, to say nothing of the battle he had fought, and the excitement to which he had been subjected, Dory was almost worn out. But in half an hour he was well rested, and able to take any step that the occasion might require.

"But why do you remain here, Dory?" asked Mr. Jepson, after he had given him more minute details of the experience of the morning than he had been able to give before.

"I have been remaining here, so far, for the purpose of getting a little rested, and to wait for the next move on the part of the robbers on board of the schooner," replied Dory, as he rose from his seat. "We will go down to the lake now, if you please."

"Are these burglars very desperate fellows?" asked the engineer.

"The fellow Mr. Brookbine has in charge is the worst one; but they are a hard lot, any way."

The instructor in mechanics took from his pocket the revolver with which he had armed himself, rather to show that he was ready for an emergency, than for any other purpose; and Dory was not sorry to see that he was prepared for the worst that was likely to happen. He had some very distinct views of his own, though he was not at all inclined to undertake any hazardous enterprise.

Dory led the way to the inlet where he had left the boat. From this place they could see the masts of the La Motte. She had anchored off Camp-Meeting Point, which was in the shape of a pear, with the small end next to the main land. The La Motte lay on the edge of the shoal which extended all the way along the shore to Bluff Point. She might have gone nearer to the shore, but her crew seemed to be afraid to risk it.

Dory asked the instructor to get into the boat, and he pulled down nearly to the entrance of the inlet. Then they hauled the boat into the bushes, and landed. Carefully keeping themselves out of sight, they obtained a fair view of the vessel. Something seemed to be going on upon her deck. The crew were lowering something into the water.

"What are they doing?" asked Mr. Jepson.

Before he had time to answer the question, one of the burglars shouted three times, calling "Angy." Dory ran to the head of the inlet, through the trees, for all the shore was wooded. He expected the call to be repeated, but he heard nothing for some time. Then he ran in the direction of the point. Disguising his voice as much as he could, he called to Mack. The answer came at once, and Dory hastened back to the entrance of the creek. The burglars had a good right to suppose their missing leader was on shore at the place where Dory had hailed them.

"They were putting the hatches into the water," said he, when he joined his companion.

"They have just dropped another into the water, and they are holding them with lines," added Mr. Jepson. "What are they going to do with them?"

"They are going to use them as rafts, and they are going ashore to look for their missing chief. They won't find him," replied Dory, laughing.

"But they will find us," suggested the instructor.

"I don't believe they will; for as soon as they are fairly on the shore, we will make our next move. There they go! Two of them are going to leave the schooner; and, according to my reckoning, there will be but two left on board of her."

They watched the movements of the two men as they embarked on their floats. The heavy sea had subsided to a great degree, but it was still rough. One of the rafts soon tipped its man off, and he continued his voyage by simply clinging to it. The other was soon compelled to resort to the same expedient.