CHAPTER XXIII
SMUGGLED DIAMONDS
Slowly the mysterious schooner gathered headway. Her sails creaked andgroaned as the ropes slipped through the sheaves, and the chainssqueaked around the drum of the steering wheel. There was a rattle ofblocks, hoarse cries from several sailors on deck, and then, down in thecabin, where the horrid old woman slipped the pieces of cloth from themouths of Betty and Amy, had the two girls the strength to utter criesit is doubtful if they would have been heard a hundred feet away.
There was no other craft within a mile of the vessel that was moving upthe bay toward the more open water.
"There you are, my dear," leered the fishwife. "All nice and snug andcomfortable."
"Oh--oh!" gasped Betty, as the creature stretched out her hands towardher. "Don't--don't you dare touch me!"
"Jest goin' to take the ropes off your pretty hands, dearie," was thesmirking answer. "You don't need them now. You can't run away, you know.Tee-hee!" and she tittered in glee.
Betty felt it better to submit to the ministrations of the crone, forthe sake of being released from the bonds, which hurt her cruelly. Forthey had been pulled tight by the fishermen. It was some time after theropes were taken off her ankles and wrists before Betty felt the bloodcirculating normally.
Amy lay inert on the rude bunk where she had been placed. Betty noticedthere were sleeping accommodations for three in the place, and with ashudder she wondered if the old woman was to be their companion on thevoyage that seemed to have begun. For the schooner was pitching andtossing on a ground swell, that seemed to presage a change of weather.
"Oh--oh, Betty! What has happened?" faltered Amy, as she opened hereyes. The cloth had been removed from her mouth and the ropes loosed.Having done this much the old woman crouched on the third bunk, smiling,muttering to herself, and looking from one girl to the other.
"Oh, Betty--what does it mean?" repeated Amy.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out soon," declared the LittleCaptain, with a return of her usual courage. She felt better now thatshe had the use of her arms and legs. She started toward the door.
"It's locked--on the outside, my dearie!" chuckled the old woman. "Andit won't be opened until I call to 'em. So there's no use in makin' afuss, my dear!"
"Stop your senseless talk!" snapped Betty. "Don't dare call me by thatname, you--you horrid creature."
"No use gettin' mad," said the crone, and she showed a change of temper."You're here, and you're goin' to stay until we put you on shore, so youmight as well make up your mind to that."
"We demand to be put on shore at once!" cried Betty. "Evidently youand--and those with you have made some mistake. We will not make troublefor you, if you set us ashore at once. If not----"
"Well, what will you do, dearie?" sneered the old woman.
"My father will deal with such as you!" declared Betty, her eyesflashing. "You must put us ashore."
"The men will have to attend to that," the crone said. "One of 'em willbe here pretty soon, and you'd better answer 'em fair, or it may be theworse for you."
Her tone was fierce now.
"Oh--oh, I--I feel faint," gasped Amy. "It is so close in here----"
"Get her some water," ordered Betty, authoritatively.
"It's right here," said the old woman. "I thought you'd want a drink.And you can have somethin' to eat as soon as you like. It sha'n't besaid we starved you."
"Eat! I couldn't bear the sight of food!" said Betty, with a shudder."Here, Amy, drink this. It seems to be--clean!" and Betty tried toexpress the contempt she felt for the slovenly appearance of the oldwoman.
Fortunately the water did seem to be drinkable, and it was quite cold,as though it had been on ice. Both girls drank gratefully, for theirmouths were parched and dry.
"Are you better?" asked Betty, smoothing back the hair of her chum.
"Oh, yes, much. But, Betty dear, what does it all mean? Why are we here?I--I seem to be in a sort of daze."
"I feel that way myself. I don't know what has happened, Amy, exceptthat we were kidnapped, and brought to this schooner."
"Kidnapped? Oh, no, my dear!" interrupted the old woman. "We only wantyou to tell us something, and as soon as you do that you can go whereyou please."
"Tell you? Tell you what?" demanded Betty, though she felt she couldanswer that question herself.
"I don't rightly know what it is, my pretty!" protested the crone withan evil glance. "My man will be here pretty soon and tell you. He has toget the sails up, and all of that, first."
The creaking of pulleys on the deck told that the operation of gettingthe schooner under way was not yet completed. There was a regular swingto the vessel now, however, that told she was getting into more openwater. Fortunately both the outdoor girls were good sailors.
The old woman was putting back in a box the bottle of water and the tincup from which she had given Amy and Betty to drink. For a moment herback was turned, and Betty decided on a bold move.
Quickly she darted over toward the door, and pulled with fierce strengthon the knob. It resisted her efforts. The old woman turned with amocking smile on her wrinkled face.
"I told you it was locked," she jeered. "It won't be opened until Iknock in a certain way. I'll do it soon, for we must be getting prettywell out."
She peered through a dirty round window that gave light to the cabin,which seemed to be located in the after part of the schooner, thoughneither Betty nor Amy had noticed to which part they had been taken.
"I demand that you let us out of here!" cried Betty, stamping her foot.
She looked around as though for some weapon with which to enforce herorders, and the woman evidently guessed this, for she chuckled grimly.
"You can't have your own way here," she said, with a grin that showedher almost toothless gums. "My man is captain of this boat, and out atsea, you know, the captain has to be obeyed."
"Oh, are you going to take us out to sea?" gasped Amy. "Please don't!I'll do anything if you will release us. See, I have money," and shebrought out a little gold purse from a skirt pocket. At the sight of thegleaming metal the crone's eyes glittered.
"Don't be afraid," she said. "You won't be harmed. All we want to knowis----"
A knock interrupted her. She glided quickly between Betty and Amy andthe door was opened a crack. Betty had a wild idea of forcing her wayout, but she had a glimpse of two rough looking men through the opening,and she dared not approach. There was a whispered talk between the oldwoman and one of the men.
Then, in an instant the old crone slipped out, and the door was lockedagain, leaving Betty and Amy alone in the cabin.
"Oh--oh!" cried Amy, and a moment later she was sobbing in the strongarms of Betty.
Meanwhile Allen and Henry had come out from the fisherman's cottage,having satisfied themselves, by a quick search, that no one was in theupper story, or down in the cellar.
"They were here, though," Allen said.
"Yes, my sister's handkerchief proves that," agreed his chum. "Now wemust go back to the others."
"But Grace and Mollie will have a fit when they know we haven't foundBetty and Amy."
"It can't be helped. There has been some mix-up somewhere. I have anidea, but I won't spring it now. Come on."
They hurried back to where the motor boat had been left.
"Were they there?" asked Grace, eagerly.
"Yes, they--_were_," said Allen, slowly. "But they've gone home."
"How do you know that?" asked Henry in a low voice.
"I don't know it!" came the reply in a whisper. "But we've got topretend that until we find it isn't so. I'm hoping it is, though. Yousee," he went on, aloud, "we found they had been there. Amy dropped herhandkerchief."
"But where are they now?" demanded Mollie.
"They probably hurried back to the cottage."
"But without coming to tell us?" objected Grace.
"They probably had no time," said Allen. "My idea is," he went on,spea
king rapidly so he would not be interrupted, "that they got somenews about the diamonds, and had to act on it quickly. I think that iswhy they didn't wait to tell you girls. They knew if they didn't comeback that you would know enough to come home, or they may have plannedto return to you later."
"What had we better do?" asked Grace.
"Get back to Edgemere as soon as we can," was Allen's opinion. "We'llprobably find them waiting for us."
They piled into the motor boat, and used all speed in getting back. Nosooner had they reached the little dock, where Tin-Back tied his boats,than Will Ford came racing down from the cottage.
"I thought you would never come back!" he cried, his face showingexcitement.
"Why, have you found them? Are they here?" asked his sister, wonderingwhy her brother had returned from Boston.
"Here? Of course they're here!" he answered. "Where else would they be.And I've found them."
"I don't see how----" began Allen.
"Oh, it wasn't easy, I assure you. I had to work on a lot of clues. ButI came out all right. I've found out all about 'em. Those diamonds weresmuggled, and there's a good reward offered for the capture of the men,as well as something due for turning the diamonds over to Uncle Sam."
"The diamonds!" cried Mollie.
"Yes. I've found out their secret!" Will said.
"We--we thought you meant you had found Betty and Amy," returned Grace,in a strange voice. "They--they're lost! They're gone!"
The Outdoor Girls at Ocean View; Or, The Box That Was Found in the Sand Page 23
