CHAPTER XXIV.

THE DEFENDERS OF THE PIRATE-SCHOONER.

Mr. Fred Ripples seemed to be very much surprised when he found himself in the lake instead of on the deck of the La Motte. He had come out of the cabin-window backwards, so that he could get hold of the taffrail above his head, without turning his body. The instant he placed his hand on the rail, Dory delivered the blow with his stick. He did not strike hard enough to break his hand, but only with force sufficient to make him let go.

As this hand, after he had passed out of the window far enough to reach the rail, was all that supported him, he rested upon nothing the moment he released his hold. When he went down into the water, he manifested his surprise by a loud yell. As he appeared to be alarmed, Dory was afraid he would be drowned, for the rough water was not favorable to the restoration of one's lost self-possession.

"Get hold of the boat!" shouted the skipper, when he realized the situation.

Ripples had already seized upon the painter, which happened to be within his reach; but, instead of moving towards the boat, he went the other way, and, with the aid of the rope, set about climbing over the stern of the schooner. But Dory could not watch him any longer; and he returned to the tiller, for the vessel's sails had begun to shake in the wind.

Mr. Jepson seemed to be busy in chopping away at the sticks which the prisoners forward were still thrusting through the openings in the coverings of the hatchway. The machinist thought he must have cut up about all the wood they had provided below for use; but no decided impression had been produced by their labors upon the substitute for the hatches.

Ripples worked desperately in his attempt to climb over the stern, and Dory saw his head above the taffrail. He procured a couple of lines, and then went to the assistance of the fellow. Taking him by the collar of the coat, which was within his reach, he dragged him over the rail of the stern, and deposited his carcass upon the deck. The moment the machinist saw him, he rushed aft. Dory put his foot on the enterprising climber, and held him down while his associate secured his arms behind him. Standing him up by the side of Mack, the instructor hurried forward, to make sure that there was no break at the hatches.

The last comer upon the deck was so exhausted by his struggles in climbing over the stern, that he puffed like a grampus, and was not in condition to make any remarks upon the situation, even if he had been disposed to do so. Having righted the helm, and secured it again, Dory took a look over the stern. Another head was out of the window, and it was evident that the rest of the party intended to come on deck in the same manner as the first two. The skipper placed his stick where it would be available.

There were seven more of them in the cabin and hold: but Dory felt that he held the key to the situation as long as the covering of the hatchway did not yield to the force applied to it below. He was perfectly willing the party should come on deck one at a time over the stern. As no one had attempted to use any revolvers, he concluded that they had none.

It was a difficult matter to make the ascent from the cabin-window to the taffrail; and those who had done it, came up more or less exhausted, which gave Dory and the machinist all the advantage. The vessel was close in with the entrance of the bay, and it was necessary to tack again. As soon as he had done so, he took another look over the stern. There were two heads in sight this time. The operators had taken out the other window, and evidently intended to come up two at a time.

"On deck, there!" shouted Chuck, when he heard Dory's step on the deck above him.

"What is it?" asked the skipper, stepping back, and putting his hand over his mouth so as to change the tone of his voice.

"Is that you, Mack?"

"All right," answered Dory.

"Haven't you knocked those two fellows over yet?" demanded Chuck impatiently; and it was evident from the question, that he expected assistance from the deck by this time.

"All right: we have knocked them both over, and secured them," answered Dory, adding a fit of coughing to his muzzled voice; but he did not deem it necessary to define more particularly the identity of the two fellows who had been knocked over.

Chuck seemed to be satisfied with the answer, and immediately he called to his companions in the hold; though Dory did not understand what he said. The machinist had been strengthening his works at the hatches, by piling on the boards over the opening, all the heavy articles he could find on the deck. While he was thus engaged, all the party in the hold left, doubtless at the call of Chuck, who appeared to have succeeded Mack in the command.

The two prisoners on deck had been placed in the waist, and they were too far off to hear what passed between Dory and Chuck. As soon as the departure of the fellows in the hold would permit, Mr. Jepson hastened aft. Dory gave him the helm, and went to the stern, though he was careful not to show himself to the operators below.

At the stern of the vessel was a pair of davits, at which the tender was usually hoisted up. A glance at them, and a knowledge of their use, suggested the means of preventing the rest of the party below from coming on deck.

"On deck! Why don't you open the doors of the cabin so that we can come out?" shouted Chuck, who had retreated to the cabin, considering it no longer necessary to risk the necks of his followers in the difficult ascent from the cabin through the window. "Why don't you let us out? Open the cabin-doors!"

"They won't open," replied Dory.

"Then, take that stuff off the hatchway! We don't want to stay down here all day," added Chuck, very much discontented with the situation, and especially with the failure of his companions to do any thing.

"Only two of us here on deck. We have to work the vessel, and that is all we can do," added Dory, coughing again with all his might; while the machinist stood at the tiller, laughing at the farce, as it seemed to him.

"Open the doors, and let us up, and we will help you," persisted Chuck.

"You keep quiet where you are! We will let you out as soon as we have time to clear the stuff from the hatchway," said Dory.

"We can't keep quiet: the keg of beer is empty.--But we can tap another," answered Chuck; and the last remark seemed to indicate a sudden new idea.

Dory was not willing to encourage him to drink any more beer; and he left his place at the stern, to end the conversation. At this moment he took a survey of the lake, and discovered the Sylph coming out of the river. He had been expecting to see her for the last two hours, and her appearance was a source of intense delight to him.

"Our troubles will soon be over," said the skipper to the machinist, as he pointed up the lake at the steam-yacht.

"Our troubles!" exclaimed Mr. Jepson. "Why, Dory, I had made up my mind that you rather enjoyed this circus."

"I am sure, I don't enjoy it a bit more than you do, sir," replied the skipper, somewhat astonished at the remark.

"You certainly need not have engaged in this affair if you had not been so disposed."

"I think I speak the honest truth when I say that I believed these villains would escape if I did not do something; and that was my only motive in undertaking to capture them, or at least in watching to see where they went," replied Dory, as though he were defending himself from a criminal charge. "Perhaps I did more than was necessary, but I could not very well help doing it."

"Two-thirds of the students would have considered it as a jolly time, if they could have taken part in the affair. At any rate, we shall hand over the whole of the crowd to the principal, and he can do as he pleases with them."

"He will put them through, you may be sure of that."

Dory went forward to see if there was any further movement to remove the cover from the hatchway. But he felt, now that the Sylph was in sight, that the battle had been fought, and that the victory had been won. He could not help thinking of what the instructor had said to him, and he began to look back at the events of the morning. If he had returned to Beech Hill with the carpenter, when he conducted Angy to the school, Mack and Chuck would certainly have found the tender where he left it, returned to the schooner, and made their escape. This was the way it looked to him, and he was satisfied with what he had done.

"I should like to know what all this means," said Ripples, as Dory passed him in the waist on his return from the hatchway.

Dory looked at him, not being able to understand what he meant; for he thought he ought to be able to comprehend his situation. But the fellow looked as though he had a grievance.

"It means that you are bound with your arms behind you, and are made fast to the rail. I should think you would be able to take that in," he replied.

"But for what reason am I bound? Are you and the other fellow lake-pirates?" demanded Ripples.

"I rather think not; and it seems to me that the boot is on the other leg. Your party were engaged in a robbery, and you have all come to grief," added the skipper.

"Engaged in a robbery!" exclaimed Ripples. "Do you mean to say that I was engaged in a robbery?"

"The fellow alongside of you certainly was, as I shall be called upon to testify in court. You were found in his company, and did your part in defending the pirate-schooner," replied Dory.

Ripples looked intensely indignant.