CHAPTER X.

ARCHIE PROVES HIMSELF A HERO.

“Look there,” whispered Archie. “Could any little boy do that?”

Frank looked, and was greatly astonished at what he saw. There lay Waters, fast asleep on his mattress in front of the cabin door, but he was a prisoner, his hands and feet being securely ironed. Frank could scarcely believe that his eyes were not deceiving him.

“That’s why I didn’t want the tarpaulin taken off the skylights,” continued Archie. “Bob could have looked right down into the cabin and seen everything I did. I slipped down here and put the irons on him and never woke him up. It was the hardest piece of work I ever did, too,” he added, drawing his hand across his forehead, on which the perspiration stood in great beads.

Frank could well believe it. His cousin’s face bore unmistakable evidence that the ordeal through which he had passed had been a most trying one. What if the first touch of the cold irons had aroused the giant from his slumbers! Archie probably never would have lived to tell what he had attempted to do. He had more nerve than his cousin had ever given him credit for.

“I am glad it is done,” continued Archie. “I don’t know whether I could do it again or not. I’m afraid I couldn’t. I took his tools, too,” he went on, drawing a huge revolver from each of the outside pockets of his coat. “I’ll give you one and keep the other. The next thing is to make sure of our friend Bob, and then we’ll pay our respects to the other fellow on deck. He said he was tired, so I made him up a good bed and told him to go to sleep on it.”

By this time Frank had fully recovered from his amazement and was prepared to act. He saw the necessity of promptly completing the good work so well begun. Without saying a word he opened the door, stepped over the slumbering giant, and led the way to the quarter-deck. At the head of the ladder he encountered the ticket-of-leave man.

“What have you been doing?” demanded the latter, addressing himself to Archie. “I was just coming down after you. The next time you go down there I want to know it, so that I can go with you, do you hear? I don’t like the way you have been skipping about the vessel to-night, and I won’t have any more of it.”

“All right,” said Archie. “I don’t see any reason that you should get on a high horse simply because I went down to call the captain. Do you want me to tell you when I want to wink or sneeze? Any man with half an eye can see that the breeze is freshening. Hallo! What’s that over there? Looks like something.”

While this conversation was going on, Frank had thrown back one corner of the tarpaulin so that the light from the cabin lamps could shine through the skylights. He had a dangerous piece of work to perform, and he did not want to operate in the dark. As Bob turned to look at the object which Archie pretended he had discovered off the weather beam, Frank stepped quickly around the corner of the skylights and laid his hand upon his shoulder. The ticket-of-leave man faced about and saw the muzzle of a cocked revolver looking him squarely in the face. He saw more. He saw three figures come out from the shadow of the galley, and range themselves on both sides of him. They were the negro cook, and two of the sailors belonging to the crew of the Stranger. They all carried handspikes, and their presence there indicated that Archie had neglected no precautions to insure the complete success of his undertaking. How he had managed to lay his plans so well when almost every move he made was closely watched by his keeper, was a great mystery to his cousin.

The ticket-of-leave man shrank away from the muzzle of Frank’s revolver, and brought his head in contact with another six-shooter with which Archie had covered him on the opposite side. “Don’t shoot!” he gasped.

“We don’t intend to shoot, unless you make it necessary,” replied Frank. “We have things all our own way now, and if you will quietly submit, we will treat you as well as you have treated us with this exception: we can’t allow you your liberty. Brown, you and the Doctor take hold of his hands. Stevens, go through his pockets, and if you find any weapons there, throw them overboard. Bob will have no further use for them.”

“Where’s Waters?” demanded the ticket-of-leave man, who showed a disposition to resist when he saw Archie put up his revolver and draw a pair of handcuffs from his pocket.

“He’s in the cabin, and in irons, too.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“That doesn’t trouble us any, for we know he is. He sleeps like a log, as you are aware.”

This was all Bob cared to hear. He knew now how the giant had been secured, and without another word or the least show of resistance, he allowed Archie to lock the irons about his wrists and ankles. This being done, and the revolvers which Stevens found in his pockets having been tossed over the side, the ticket-of-leave man was commanded to sit down on the deck and remain there quietly under guard of the negro cook, while Frank and his companions went forward to secure the other convicts. The one who belonged to the starboard watch was fast asleep on the mattress which Archie had provided for him. He was ironed before he was fairly awake, and was marched to the quarter-deck and ordered to sit down by the side of the ticket-of-leave man. His revolvers were also consigned to the care of Old Neptune, for Frank did not think it safe to have too many of these dangerous weapons on board. The two convicts who were asleep in the forecastle were also secured without difficulty. One of them made a feeble resistance at first, but a sharp punch from Brown’s handspike brought him to his senses. The work was all done in five minutes, and then Frank and his cousin looked at each other and drew a long breath of relief.

“This relieves me from answering a very disagreeable question,” said the young captain—“one that I could not bear to think of; that is, what would have become of Uncle Dick and the rest if we had been obliged to take these fellows to ’Frisco, and what would we have done with the schooner after we got there? I thought our voyage was ended sure enough.”

The two convicts in the forecastle having been secured, Frank ordered them on deck and marched them into the cabin, picking up Bob and his companion on the way. Waters was still fast asleep on his mattress, and each of the prisoners gave him a hearty kick as he stepped over him. This finally aroused the giant, who started up with an angry exclamation on his lips, but he sank back on his mattress again when he saw Brown standing over him with uplifted handspike. Then his eyes wandered to his companions, who in obedience to Frank’s orders had seated themselves in a row against the after bulkhead, and from them they came back to the irons on his wrists and ankles. Archie expected him to go into a perfect tempest of fury, but Waters did nothing of the kind. He had probably had the bracelets on him often enough to know that they render a man utterly powerless for mischief. He leaned his elbow on the mattress and rested his head on his hand. “Who done it, cap’n?” he asked.

“I did,” replied Archie.

“You!” exclaimed the giant. He ran his eyes over Archie’s slender little figure, and then looked down at his own colossal proportions. “Well, you’re the pluckiest little chap I ever saw. There isn’t a man in Tasmania who could be hired to do such a thing. Did you know that you ran the biggest kind of a risk?”

“I did, but I took the chances.”

“I might have knowed that I’d have some Yankee trick or another played on me before I got through with this business,” growled Waters.

“Get up and sit with the rest,” said Archie. “You are right in the way there.”

He hardly expected that the giant would obey, but he did, and that, too, without an instant’s hesitation. He arose and took his place with his companions, who at once began to upbraid him for being the cause of their misfortunes. “If he had not slept so soundly, that little Yankee never would have thought of putting irons on him,” they said. “Why couldn’t he keep one eye about half open when he knew that his liberty was the price of vigilance?” Waters replied in an angry tone, and the debate grew hotter and louder until Frank commanded silence.

“We’re not going to have bedlam here,” said he, emphatically. “If you want to stay in the cabin you must keep quiet; if you don’t you’ll all go in the brig.”

“What’s the matter out there?” demanded a voice from one of the staterooms.

“Oh! my young cockney friend, is that you?” exclaimed Archie. “We’ve got something to show you; here it is.”

Once more Frank had occasion to wonder at the forethought displayed by his cousin. The latter raised one corner of the cloth that covered the table, and brought out a pair of handcuffs, with which he went into the clerk’s stateroom. At the sight of the irons Fowler bounded out of his bunk, and made an effort to thrust Archie aside so that he could run out into the cabin.

“Easy, easy,” exclaimed Archie, standing his ground in spite of the clerk’s efforts to push him away; “it will do no good to raise a rumpus now.”

“What’s the meaning of this, and where’s Waters?” demanded Fowler, as soon as he could speak.

“It means that you have had charge of the vessel long enough,” answered Archie. “Our little pleasure trip is ended now, and we are going back to Hobart Town. If you want to see Waters, there he is.”

Archie stepped aside so that Fowler could look out into the cabin. The latter was almost overwhelmed by the sight that met his gaze.

“You might as well give in, Gus,” said the giant. “The Yankees have the upper hand.”

“Don’t put those things on me,” cried the clerk. “I won’t do a thing. I—I—”

“Of course,” interrupted Archie. “I know all about it; but you can’t be trusted, and it must be done.”

It was done, too. The clerk resisted and remonstrated, but all to no purpose. With the Doctor’s assistance the irons were put on, and Fowler was led out into the cabin, and commanded to sit down with the rest.

The enemy were now all secured, and Frank had the vessel to himself. He meant to keep her, too, so he lost no time in providing for any emergency that might arise. He knew that his prisoners would not permit themselves to be carried back to Hobart Town if they could help it, and if the opportunity were presented, they would make a desperate effort to regain control of the schooner. If Frank had had full confidence in his crew, he would have felt no uneasiness whatever; but there were the three foremast hands, who had once betrayed their trust! True, they had repented, and assisted him in securing the convicts; but might they not also repent of that act, and try to undo it? There was no dependence to be placed in such men. There was one he could trust, and that was the Doctor. Him Frank armed with a loaded musket, and placed as a guard over the convicts, with instructions to shoot the first one who made any effort to free himself from his irons. Then he went on deck, feeling perfectly safe.

Frank’s first care was to bring the schooner about, and shape her course toward Hobart Town, as nearly as he could guess at it, and his next to put it out of the power of the convicts to do any great damage, even if they should succeed in freeing themselves from their irons, and gaining a footing on deck. He and Archie had possession of the only loaded firearms on board, and he did not intend that anybody else should get any without considerable trouble. The mess-chests were emptied of the pots and pans they contained, and the muskets and other small arms belonging to the vessel being packed away in them, the chests were closed and locked. The keys were hidden where no one but himself would ever think of looking for them, and the lids were further secured by being nailed down. The keys to the magazine, which were kept hung up in Uncle Dick’s stateroom, were also concealed, and then Frank told himself that he was master of the vessel. If Waters and his companions should succeed in regaining their liberty, either by stratagem or through the treachery of some of the crew, they would find nothing but handspikes and belaying-pins to fight with, and he and Archie, with their brace of revolvers apiece, could easily overcome them.

When he went into the cabin he told himself that he had been wise in taking all these precautions, for Waters had already been trying to bribe the guard to procure a key and release him. He had offered him a thousand pounds for the service.

“Whar’s you gwine to get so much money to give dis niggah?” the Doctor was saying just as Frank came in.

“Oh, it’s in the strong box,” replied Waters, not at all abashed by the presence of the captain.

“Dat money in dar ’longs to Cap’n Gaylord,” said the Doctor. “’Pears like you’s makin’ mighty free wid oder folk’s money.”

“Go on, Waters,” said Frank. “You told me not to tamper with the men, and I didn’t; but I’ll give you permission to try all your arts on the Doctor. He’s true blue.”

“I call him black,” said Waters.

The Doctor laughed heartily at this joke, and Frank, after glancing at each of the prisoners in turn, went on deck satisfied that he had left them in safe hands. He did not go to bed again that night, and neither did Archie. They and the Doctor relieved one another every two hours in keeping watch over the prisoners; and when not on guard, they stood alternate tricks at the wheel in order to give the three foremast hands a chance to rest.

“Have me and my mates made amends for striking hands with them fellows, cap’n?” asked Brown, when Frank went aft to take his place at the helm.

“Yes, I think you have,” was the answer.

“What will the old man do with us when we get to port?” continued Brown.

“I don’t know. If I were in his place, I should call the thing square. You helped take the vessel, but you helped get her back again, and so you’re even.”

“If you was the cap’n would you take us back into the crew again?”

“Yes, I would.”

“You wouldn’t mind saying that much to the old man, would you, sir? We want a chance to show him how sorry we are.”

Frank replied that he would bear the matter in mind, and the repentant sailor went forward feeling as if a mountain had been removed from his shoulders. The other two approached Frank on the same subject, at the first opportunity, and were both sent away with the assurance that Uncle Dick should hear a full account of the services they had rendered, and if a word of recommendation from himself and Archie would benefit them in any way, they should certainly have it. While he was at the wheel his cousin came up.

“I declare, it seems delightful to be able to talk to you once more without having some one around to hear what I say,” exclaimed the latter. “I hope we shall always get out of the scrapes we get into as easily as we got out of this.”

“You have done wonders,” answered Frank. “The honor all belongs to you, and I hope no one will rob you of any portion of it.”

“Who’s going to rob me,” demanded Archie.

“Why, after what has been done, we ought to take the vessel and these prisoners back to Hobart Town without help from anybody. But if that steamer we saw last night was a man-o’-war—and I think she was, for she didn’t show lights enough for a merchantman—she will soon discover the trick we played upon her, and be back after us.”

“Well, suppose she does come back after us! She’ll not trouble us. There is no need of it, for we are in a position to take care of ourselves.”

“You’ll see,” said Frank. “Her captain probably has orders to take charge of the vessel, and if he comes up with us he’ll do it.”

Archie did see, and so did Frank. Shortly after daylight, while the latter was taking his turn guarding the prisoners, Archie suddenly appeared at the head of the companion-ladder and shouted:

“Here she comes. Shall I send the Doctor down to relieve you?”

Frank replied in the affirmative, and when the Doctor came down, he hurried to the deck. The steamer they had seen the night before was a little way in advance of them, and about three miles distant. She was following a course almost at right angles with the one the Stranger was pursuing, and that looked as if it was her intention to intercept the schooner.

“When I first saw the smoke, she was bearing away to the southwest,” said Archie. “Then the mist lifted a little, and when she caught sight of us, she changed her course at once. That means business, doesn’t it?”

Frank was quite sure it did. He went down into the cabin after Uncle Dick’s trumpet, and wanted to see what the steamer was going to do. When she had approached within half a mile, the English flag was run up to the peak, and all her broadside ports were dropped. Through their glasses the boys could see that her crew were at quarters.

“She couldn’t make greater preparations if she were about to come alongside a hostile frigate,” said Archie. “I wish she’d sheer off and let us alone. She is of no use here.”

“Brown, show that captain that we float a prettier flag than he does,” said Frank.

Brown hurried to the signal-chest, and presently a little round ball, that one could almost cover with his hands, went travelling up to the Stranger’s peak. Then a little twitch with one of the halliards unfastened the bundle, and the American colors streamed out to the breeze. The young captain was as proud of that flag as the English commander was of his.

Having placed himself directly across the schooner’s path, the steamer stopped her engines, and presently her whistle was blown three times. Frank replied by bringing his vessel up into the wind, this being a signal that the British captain had something to say to him.

“What schooner is that?” shouted a hoarse voice from the steamer’s deck.

“The Stranger, bound to Hobart Town,” replied Frank, through his trumpet.

“I’ll send a boat aboard of you,” shouted the voice.

“Very good, sir,” said Frank.

“I don’t think it is very good,” exclaimed Archie. “I think it is very bad. We’ve got to give up the vessel now, and we’ll be taken into port as if we were prisoners ourselves.”

“We’ll have the satisfaction of going in under our own flag,” said Frank, “you may depend upon that.”

“Won’t you haul it down if they tell you to do so?”

“By no means. We are not prisoners of war. If an English officer sails our craft into port, he will do it with our flag floating over him.”

“Perhaps he will haul it down himself.”

“Perhaps he will, and then again perhaps he won’t touch it. Did you never hear about those young English middies who pulled down the flag that was floating over the American consulate in Honolulu? They put it back again in short order, and with an apology, too.”

The steamer’s boat came in sight while this conversation was going on, and Archie, who levelled his glass at it, informed his cousin that there were two officers sitting in the stern sheets, and that it was crowded with men, who were all armed. It came alongside in a few minutes, and the old gray-headed lieutenant who was in charge looked a little surprised when Frank handed the man-ropes to him. He had doubtless expected a very different reception. He clambered aboard, followed by his men, who handled their weapons nervously, and looked all about as if expecting an attack from some quarter. The expression of astonishment their faces wore was reflected in the countenances of their officers, who acted as if they thought they had got a little out of their reckoning.

“Are you the captain, sir?” asked the gray-headed lieutenant, returning Frank’s salute.

“At present, yes, sir.”

“There must be some mistake,” continued the officer. “We are in search of the American yacht Stranger, who is reported to have been seized by escaped convicts and taken to sea.”

“This is the vessel, sir, but I am glad to say that the convicts no longer have control of her. They are safe under guard in the cabin. Step this way, if you please.”

The officer, lost in wonder, followed Frank into the cabin, and his astonishment increased when he saw the convicts seated in a row before him, and all securely ironed. “How did you ever manage to do this, captain?” he asked.

“It was done before they knew what was going on,” replied Frank.

“How did you get the irons on Waters?”

“They were put on while he was asleep.”

“While he was _asleep_!” exclaimed the officer.

“That’s the gospel truth,” said Waters. “It couldn’t have been done no other way. The Yankees didn’t give us no chance at all.”

“They probably knew you too well. My orders are to leave an officer and crew in charge of the yacht, and to take the prisoners aboard our own vessel,” added the lieutenant, turning to Frank.

“I protest against such a proceeding, sir,” said the young captain, quickly. “Your government has a claim upon these prisoners, but it has no claim whatever upon this yacht. With the crew I have, I am able to take care of her myself.”

The lieutenant drew himself up and looked at Frank without speaking.