CHAPTER XXII.

“NOT JUST YET, STETSON!”

Ralph was interrupted in his reverie by the sound of a swift, cat-like footfall behind him. He was conscious of a sudden thrill that was not exactly fear but rather apprehension, as whoever was pussy-footing through the dark cock-pit drew closer.

No man on an honest errand, as he well knew, would have adopted that stealthy method of approach. For an instant Ralph regretted that he was not armed. But it was only a momentary thought.

He turned his eyes, till out of their corners he could see a dark form drawing close to his chair.

Ralph gave no sign that he had heard anything unusual. He kept his gaze apparently riveted on the shore and sat motionless, without the quiver of a muscle. But for all his seeming calmness, he sensed that a crisis of some kind had arrived.

Then out of the darkness emerged the figure of Malvin. The man was a very different being from the obsequious creature he had hitherto appeared to be. His voice rang harsh and stridently and in his hand Ralph could catch the glint of a pistol.

The weapon was aimed at the boy’s head.

“See here, Stetson,” the fellow grated, “you’re alone on this boat and in my power. Are you going to do what I say without making trouble?”

Ralph did not turn. There was not the flicker of an eyelid to show the great bound his heart had given as he realized his situation. That Malvin was a desperate man, the boy knew well enough; but just the same, he had not believed that the man would ever dream of adopting the tactics he had now assumed.

“Well?”

Malvin’s grating voice, a very different one from the honeyed accents he had hitherto used to address the young commander, came again in tones of impatient interrogation.

“Supposing, as commander of this boat, I don’t choose to take orders from you?” questioned Ralph.

“In that case, jig is up for you, young fellow.”

“Going to kill me?” asked Ralph without a quiver in his voice, although a very unpleasant feeling had taken possession of him.

He felt that Malvin meant what he said. And he was in the fellow’s power absolutely.

“Yes,” spoke Malvin. “I mean to use this little piece of hardware unless——”

He paused as if uncertain of his next words.

“He’s nervous,” thought Ralph, “he doesn’t like this job. He’s doing it at the orders of somebody else, probably Hawke, who appears to exercise an influence over him.”

“Well, unless?” asked the boy aloud.

“Unless you obey orders absolutely. Just as I have had to obey your orders since you sneaked your way into command of this craft.”

“You forget that this is my father’s boat,” reminded Ralph.

“Yes, your father,” sneered Malvin. “Your father, who is in jail in Montreal!”

“So you know that?” cried Ralph, startled out of his assumed calm.

“Know it? Why, yes. Men with whom I am associated engineered his arrest. Cleverly done, wasn’t it?”

“You contemptible sneak!” burst out Ralph. “So it was your gang that did this?”

“I don’t see any reason to deny it. We wanted him out of the way and sent that message summoning him to Montreal. Once there, our agents saw to it that he was put where he wouldn’t trouble us for a while.”

Words failed Ralph utterly. He saw red for a minute. But almost simultaneously he steadied his nerves to meet the crisis.

“I may as well tell you, Malvin,” he said, “that it will pay you better in the long run to desert these men with whom you are associated and array yourself upon the side of law and order. Do this and I’ll promise you that, when the authorities descend upon you, I will do what I can to make things easier for you.”

It was a forlorn hope and—it failed.

Malvin hesitated for one instant, and Ralph’s mind swung pendulum-wise between hope and apprehension. But the man’s next words showed him that Malvin was irrevocably tied to the diamond smugglers.

“As if I’d be fool enough to listen to such stuff!” he sneered. “Come now, youngster; no more nonsense. We know what your two chums went ashore for. To get the authorities, didn’t they?”

“Since you must have it, they did,” shot out Ralph.

“I thought so. We know every move you have made. Now you’re going to learn that it doesn’t pay to butt in where you are not wanted.”

“What are you going to do?” demanded Ralph.

“Get right out of here with this boat. You’ll work her out. Do you understand?”

“Your words don’t admit of any misconstruction,” was the calm reply.

“Mosey up on the bridge, then. Look sharp! Do you hear?”

“I hear. Suppose I don’t choose to obey?”

“In that case——”

Malvin emphasized this with a poke in the ribs from the revolver.

“See here, Malvin,” asked Ralph, eying the fellow without flinching, “have you been drinking to-night, or are you simply ill-advised by bad companions?”

“No more trifling,” warned Malvin sullenly. “You’ve robbed me of my job as commander of this boat. Not content with that, you’ve tried to interfere with my business. Do what I say at once, or let me give you a straight warning. You’re playing with your life.”

Ralph tried another tack.

“Well,” he said, “of course I don’t want to get shot. Let’s get down to cases. What do you want me to do?”

“Navigate this boat out of here. Hansen and—and—somebody else will attend to the engines.”

“The somebody else being the man who put the sand in our carburetors—Hawke.”

Malvin was perceptibly startled.

“Hawke! What do you know about him?” he demanded.

“Oh, quite a good deal. You’re a fool to travel with such a man, Malvin. We met him on Windmill Island. We know that you picked him up there and have kept him concealed on the _River Swallow_. I more than suspect, moreover, that he is a certain notorious diamond smuggler for whom the authorities on both sides of the border have their nets spread. Is that enough?”

“Yes, it’s more than enough. You’re too flip. Now get up on that bridge or take the consequences.”

“All right. Tell your men to get the anchor up.”

Malvin uttered a peculiar whistle. It must have been a signal, for the clank of the windlass was heard almost immediately. The _River Swallow_ began to swing her bow as the current turned her down river.

Again came a whistle from Malvin and the engines began to rumble and shake the craft with their revolutions. They were running “free.” That is, the clutch that caused them to engage the shafts had not yet been “thrown.”

Ralph had a plan in his mind. It was a desperate chance to take, but his seemingly ready agreement with Malvin’s orders had proceeded from this same wild plan he had suddenly formed.

“Get up on that bridge. Remember, I’m behind you. One false move and——”

Malvin did not finish the sentence. He did not need to. His tone was sufficiently eloquent.

The boy ascended the few steps that led to the bridge. Malvin was right behind him. Ralph could see in his mind’s eye that menacing pistol held close to the small of his back.

They reached the bridge. The moment for Ralph’s plan to be put into execution had arrived.

He turned swiftly.

“Look!” he cried. “There comes a boat—a customs house boat!”

Malvin, startled, off his guard, turned his head for an instant toward the shore.

With a loud cry, Ralph leaped for the man. He seized his pistol wrist and wrenched it backward. Then he threw himself on the fellow with the whole force of his vigorous young strength.

As Malvin crashed backward down the steps, Ralph leaped for the pneumatic whistle. It was operated by a lever.

“Now for a police call!” he exclaimed pantingly as he grasped it. In another moment a cry for aid would have gone shrieking out from the _River Swallow’s_ siren.

Ralph’s fingers trembled on the lever and he had just given it the first move toward him when something happened.

He felt himself seized from behind in a powerful grasp and his arms pinioned to his side.

“Thought you’d get the police, eh?” snarled a voice in his ear. “Not just yet, Stetson.”