CHAPTER XXVII

NED AND BOB CAPTURED

It was a little lonesome for the two boys after Jerry had gone. For as long as possible they listened to the exhaust from the motor boat. When that died away, and silence, broken only by the lap of the water, and the occasional note of a bird getting ready to seek its nest for the night, settled down, that part of the lake was not the most pleasant place in the world.

“Well, we’ll have supper, go to bed, and it won’t seem so long,” said Bob. “I wish this robbery business was all cleared up. I’m afraid something may happen.”

“Oh, you’re getting nervous,” remarked Ned.

“Well, maybe I am,” admitted Bob, “but I can’t help feeling that something is going to happen.”

After a simple but substantial meal the boys brought some blankets up from the bunks and made beds on the deck, in the shelter of the awning which stretched from the forecastle to the galley amidships. They were not long in falling asleep, as they were worn out by the events of the day, as well as being rendered drowsy by the open air and wind.

It was about an hour past midnight when there echoed over the lake, in the vicinity of the island near which the schooner was hidden, the muffled throbbing of a motor boat. It was not speeding, as could be told by the intervals between the explosions. Sometimes they died away altogether, and silence ensued.

It was in one of these intervals, which betokened that the engine had stopped and that those in the boat were listening intently, that some one in the craft dropped an object that awoke the echoes.

“What’s the matter back there?” exclaimed a harsh voice.

“Oh, Noddy dropped his gun butt,” some one replied.

“I couldn’t help it, Bill, honest I couldn’t,” whined Noddy. “It slipped out of my hand.”

“Keep quiet!” exclaimed the one who had first spoken. “If you don’t know how to handle a gun let it alone. Then keep still. Do you want to bring the whole lake down on us? Above all, don’t yell out names like that.”

“All right, I’ll be careful,” said Noddy in a whisper.

“It’s so fearful dark I can’t see where the channel is,” said the man who was steering the motor boat. The craft, which was a large one, held five men, besides Noddy Nixon, who, if he had been kidnapped by the “River Pirates,” seemed to enjoy being in their company.

If Ned and Bob had been on watch they would have seen, coming over the water toward the sailing vessel a small dark object. They would have heard the throb of the motor in the boat, which was more plain, now that it was in the open. But they were both, snoring away, blissfully unconscious that their enemies were so close at hand.

Nearer and nearer came the boat, the man in the bow watching with eagle eyes as the schooner loomed out from the dark shadows of the woods.

“Any signs of anything suspicious?” asked Bill Berry, who stood near Noddy.

“Not as I can see,” came the whispered answer. “But we’ll take no chances. I’ll stop the engine now and we can row up the rest of the way. Then we’ll go aboard cautiously.”

Propelled by the oars, which were kept aboard the motor boat in case of emergencies, the craft made scarcely a sound as it slipped through the water. A few minutes later it slid alongside the schooner.

“Hold her steady,” said the man in the bow. “I’ll go up the ladder and see if the coast is clear.”

Over the side he stepped, dropping softly to the deck. Then every sense on the alert he moved forward. As he came around the galley he dimly saw, stretched out under the awning, the sleeping boys.

He listened a moment, and then softly crept nearer. Now he could hear the heavy breathing of the sleepers that told they were soundly slumbering.

“I’m going to chance it,” the man said softly to himself. “I’ve got to know who they are.”

He struck a match and, shading the flame with his hands, held it as close as he dared to the sleeping ones. At once the man started back with a half-smothered exclamation.

“Two of the boys!” he muttered. “They found us after all, and are on guard. Lucky for us they’re asleep. What shall we do?”

It did not take the man long to make up his mind. He went softly to the side of the schooner, and was soon back in the motor boat.

“Well, Paxton, what’s the verdict?” asked Bill Berry. “Any one aboard?”

“Softly!” exclaimed Paxton. “We’ve got our work cut out for us. Two of those boys are asleep on deck. Now here’s my plan.”

“Hadn’t we better get out while we have the chance?” asked one of the gang. “This game is getting too hot. There may be only two boys asleep on deck, but who knows but what there are some police in the cabin?”

“With the hatches shut on this hot night?” asked Paxton. “I guess not. I’m sure there are only the two lads, and we’ve got ’em just where we want ’em.”

“What you goin’ to do?” asked Bill.

“We’re going to tow the schooner away from here,” replied Paxton. “Look lively now. Some of you go ashore, and cast off the lines. We’ll need ’em for a tow rope.”

“What about the boys?” asked Bill.

“We’re going to take ’em along with us,” replied Paxton. “If they walk into the spider’s web they can’t complain if the spider eats ’em. Lively now, but walk as though you were treading on eggs.”

In a few minutes two men who went ashore, the motor boat having been moved so they could easily land, had cast off the ropes. Then they were unbent from the cleats, and reeved together to make a long tow line. One end of this was fastened to a capstan in the bow, and the other to bitts in the motor boat.

“Now if you’re all ready go ahead,” said Paxton in a whisper to his crew. “I’m going to stay aboard the schooner to attend to the boys when they wake up. Bill, you’d better steer. Pull the schooner right out into the middle of the lake. If they raise a row there it can’t be heard.”

The motor boat was worked around, by means of the oars until it was in the narrow channel through which the schooner had come. Then it was propelled ahead by the same means until the tow rope was almost taut. This was done so that when the engine was started the noise of the explosions might be farther away, and so less likely to wake up the sleepers.

Waiting aboard the sailing craft, Paxton heard the distant sound of the motor getting into action. Then the rope stretched out, and the schooner began moving slowly through the water. As it gathered headway, Paxton went to the wheel and kept her on the course, taking sight by means of a lantern he had directed Bill Berry to place on the stern of the motor craft. In ten minutes the schooner was well out on the lake, which at that late hour, or rather early one, for it was about three o’clock in the morning, was deserted.

Leaning against the wheel Paxton filled his pipe with tobacco and applied a match. It was drawing good, and he was beginning to feel more comfortable in spite of the cold and the hard work he had done that night, when one of the sleepers stirred.

“I guess we’ll have a scene now,” muttered Paxton, as he lashed the wheel to keep the schooner on a straight course down the lake, in which direction the motor boat was towing it. A second later Bob sat up.

“Hello!” he exclaimed. “What’s up. I say, Ned, wake up! We’re adrift!”

“What’s that?” cried Ned, rubbing his eyes, and jumping to his feet. “Adrift? Why so we are. We’re out in the middle of the lake.”

It was getting a little lighter and the mist was lifting somewhat.

“In the middle of the lake?” repeated Bob in bewilderment as he too got on his feet and stood beside Ned. “Why I didn’t know there was current enough in the lake to carry us this far out.”

“There isn’t!” exclaimed Ned. “There’s something wrong here. Hark! Isn’t that a motor boat?”

The faint throb of the craft towing the schooner could be heard.

“It is, sure enough,” came from Bob. “Can’t be Jerry back already.”

“No, it isn’t Jerry,” spoke Paxton, from where he stood at the wheel, being somewhat hidden from the sight of the boys. “It’s some friends of mine.”

“Who are you?” asked Ned, walking in the direction of the voice.

“Never mind who I am,” replied the man. “You’ll learn soon enough. But first you’ll have to learn a little bit about how we do things aboard ship. So stop just where you are, young man. If you come any nearer it might be dangerous for you. This part of the vessel is sacred to the captain and his friends. For the present you represent the crew, and the crew’s place is forward.

“So just march over to the fo’castle, and stay there until I tell you to come aft. Take your beds with you, if you like, and bunk there.”

“You seem to be running things with a pretty high hand,” said Ned.

“Well, I guess I’ve got a right to. This is my ship. I didn’t invite you to come aboard. But now you’re here you may not find it so easy to get away. I may like your company.”

“Are you aware that we have proof that you and your gang was concerned in the robbery of my father’s store?” asked Ned.

“I’m not good at answering riddles,” replied Paxton, composedly smoking away. “Now you do as I say before I get mad and cause you trouble.”

The schooner was now well out in the middle of the lake. It was getting quite light, but the boys could see no help at hand. The motor boat was steadily towing away.

“What shall we do?” asked Bob of Ned, in a low voice.

“I don’t see anything but to do as we’re told,” answered Ned. “No chance of help now.”

They moved forward. At that moment Paxton placed his fingers to his lips and gave a shrill whistle.

A few minutes later the motor boat was alongside the sailing vessel. Bill Berry and another man scrambled aboard.

“Help me tie up these lads,” said Paxton. “Then we’ll take them aboard the motor craft. When that’s done start towing again.”

For an instant Bob and Ned had a wild thought of resisting the gang, or at least jumping overboard and swimming to escape. But a moment’s reflection showed how futile this would be.

Believing discretion the better part of valor at that time, they submitted quietly while the three men bound their arms. Then they were led to the side, helped over and were soon seated in the stern of the motor boat.

Paxton and Bill Berry remained on board the schooner, and were joined by Noddy, who said he did not want to stay in the smaller craft. Then, as the sun was peeping up over the distant hills, the towing was resumed, the schooner being pulled directly up the lake, and approaching the western shore in a long curve. Bob and Ned were in the hands of their enemies.