“I’ve found something of a door!”
“Good for you,” answered Tom. “Can you open it?”
“No, there seems to be a bar or something on the other side.”
The others rejoined the youngest Rover, and made out the door quite plainly, for there was a broad crack at the top and at the side opposite the hinges. There was a bar, true enough.
“If we had something that we could slip into that crack, we might move the bar,” observed Dick.
“I slipped on a sheet of tin a while ago,” said Tom. “Perhaps I can find that.”
His hunt was successful, and soon they had the tin in the crack under the bar. The latter gave way with ease, and then they pulled the door open. Beyond was the passageway leading to the cabin.
“Now what’s the next movement?” whispered Sam.
“Let us try to arm ourselves first of all,” answered Dick. “Then, if we are cornered again, we may be able to make some kind of favorable terms.”
He tiptoed his way into the cabin and found it deserted. On the table rested the remains of a breakfast served to several people, and he picked up half a loaf of bread and put it in the pocket of his jacket. Several boiled eggs followed.
On one of the walls of the cabin hung two old-fashioned swords and a brace of pistols. Without hesitation he took all of the weapons and returned with them to his brothers.
“Here are pistols and swords, and something to eat,” he said. “There seems to be nobody around, so you can come into the cabin, if you wish.”
All entered the compartment. Both water and a little coffee were handy, and they made a hasty repast. While eating, Tom hunted around the room and also looked into an adjoining stateroom. In the latter place he found a bunch of keys on a nail.
“If only one of ‘em fits these handcuffs,” he murmured, and they tried the keys without delay. One did fit, and in a few seconds they were free of their fetters.
“Now ‘lay on, MacDuff!’” quoted Tom, as he swung aloft one of the swords. “We’ll give them a warm reception, eh?”
“We’ll do nothing of the kind,” replied Dick hastily. “In this case silence is the better part of valor. We’ll lay low until the time comes to make a move.”
“What, do you mean to go back to the hold?” asked Sam.
“We may as well, for the present. It is broad daylight now. Perhaps we can escape at night.”
“Do you suppose they took our rowboat along?” came from Tom.
“I shouldn’t wonder. We can—— Hist! somebody is coming!”
Dick was right; Captain Langless was descending the companion way. On tiptoes the three boys hurried to the door leading to the hold. As they flung it back they found themselves confronted by Arnold Baxter and Dan.
CHAPTER XI
GAINING A POINT
The sudden turn of affairs chagrined the Rover boys greatly, and for the moment none of them knew what to say.
Arnold Baxter and Dan grinned at the trio sarcastically, and the bully was the first to break the silence.
“Didn’t get away that time, did you?” he sneered.
“Ha! so they are here!” came from Captain Langless, who had just stepped into the cabin. “And without the handcuffs, too.”
“Let us alone,” cried Tom hotly. “If you touch me again, I’ll shoot somebody.” And so speaking, he raised one of the pistols taken from the cabin wall.
His aim was at Dan, and the bully fell back with a cry of terror, for, as old readers know, Dan was a coward at heart.
“Don’t—don’t shoot!” he faltered. “Don’t!”
“My pistols!” burst out the captain of the Peacock, in a rage. “Hand those weapons over to me, do you hear?”
He took several steps forward, when Dick brought him to a halt by raising one of the swords.
It was a dramatic scene, of intense interest to all concerned. Arnold Baxter gazed at the armed youths in alarm, and Captain Langless grated his teeth.
“This is foolishness,” said the owner of the schooner, after a painful pause. “If you try to fight you’ll only get into worse trouble. We are, all told, ten to three, and the best thing you can do is to throw down those arms and submit.”
“We won’t submit,” came from Sam, with a boldness which was astonishing in one of his years. His stirring adventures in Africa and in the West accounted for much of this valor.
“We are not going to remain on this vessel,” said Dick. “And if you try to detain us further somebody will get hurt.”
“You scamp!” fumed Arnold Baxter, and looked at the elder Rover as if to annihilate him with a glance. But Dick remained undaunted, and gradually Arnold Baxter fell back a few steps.
It must be confessed that the Rover boys felt far from comfortable. Here were two of the enemy on one side and one on the other, cutting off their escape in both directions. More than this, Captain Langless now raised his voice, and presently several rough-looking sailors came rushing into the cabin.
“Leave the hold,” cried the owner of the schooner to the Baxters. “I reckon I know how to manage ‘em.”
Arnold Baxter understood, and at once took his son by the arm. The pair had come down into the hold by means of a ladder lowered through the forward hatchway. Now they ran for the ladder, mounted, and drew it up after them. Then the hatch was closed down as before.
In the meantime Captain Langless whispered to one of his sailors, and the tar ran to one of the staterooms and returned with an old-fashioned seven-shooter, fully a foot and a half long.
“Now get back there,” ordered the owner of the schooner. “I won’t have any more fooling.”
“If you shoot, so will I,” said Tom quickly.
“And so will I,” added Sam.
“We had better have no bloodshed,” continued the captain, trying to control himself. “Behave yourselves, and you’ll be treated all right. Kick up a muss, and it will go hard with you.”
“What do you intend to do with us?” questioned Dick curiously.
“You’ll have to ask your friend Arnold Baxter about that.”
“He is no friend of ours!” cried Tom. “He is our worst enemy—and you know it.”
“If you behave yourself I’ll see to it that no harm befalls you,” continued Captain Langless. “I’m sorry I mixed up in this affair, but now I am in it I’m going to see it through.”
“You are carrying us off against our will.”
The owner of the Peacock shrugged his shoulders.
“You’ll have to talk that over with Baxter and his son.”
“You’ve been starving us.”
“We were just going to furnish you with breakfast and a small keg of water.”
“We don’t want to stay in that foul-smelling hold,” put in Sam. “It is enough to make a fellow sick.”
“If you’ll promise to behave yourselves, we may let you on deck part of the time.”
“You’d better,” grumbled Tom. He hardly knew what to say, and his brothers were in an equal quandary.
“Come, throw down your arms and we’ll give you breakfast here in the cabin,” continued Captain Langless. “You won’t find me such a bad chap to deal with, when once you know me. You look like decent sort of fellows, and if you do the right thing I’ll promise to see to it that the Baxters do the square thing, too. We’ll be better off on a friendly footing than otherwise.”
The owner of the Peacock spoke earnestly, and it must be admitted that he meant a large part of what he said. The manliness of the Rover boys pleased him, and he could not help but contrast it with the cowardice of the bully, Dan. Perhaps, too, behind it all, he was a bit sick of the job he had undertaken. He knew that he had virtually helped to kidnap the boys, and, if caught, this would mean a long term of imprisonment.
Dick looked at his two brothers, wo
ndering what they would have to say. He realized that, after all, they were in a hopeless minority and were bound to lose in a hand-to-hand struggle.
“We may as well try them,” he whispered. “If we fight, one of us may get killed.”
They talked among themselves for several minutes, and then Dick turned to the captain.
“We’ll submit for the present,” he said. “But, mind you, we expect to be treated like gentlemen.”
“And you will be treated as such,” answered Captain Langless, glad that there would be no struggle. “Come into the cabin and stack those weapons in the corner. They were never meant for anything but wall decorations,” and he laughed somewhat nervously.
The three lads entered the cabin and put down the weapons. They kept their eyes on the captain and his men, but there was no move to molest them.
“You can go,” said Captain Langless to the sailors. “And, Wilson, send the cook here for orders.”
The sailors departed, and with something of a grim smile on his furrowed face the owner of the Peacock dropped into a seat near the companionway door. He had just started to speak again when there was a noise outside and Arnold Baxter appeared.
“Have you subdued the rascals?” he questioned hastily.
“Reckon I have,” was the slow answer, “Leas’wise, they have thrown down their weapons.”
“Then why don’t you handcuff them again, the rats!”
“We are no rats, and I’ll trouble you to be civil,” returned Dick firmly.
“Ha! I’ll show you!” howled Arnold Baxter, and would have rushed at Dick had not the captain interposed.
“Hold on, sir,” were the words of the ship’s owner. “We have called a truce. They have promised to behave themselves if we treat them squarely, and so there are to be no more back-bitings.”
“But—er—” Arnold Baxter was so astonished he could scarcely speak. “You are not going to put them in the hold?”
“Not for the present.”
“They will run away.”
“How can they, when we are out of sight of land?”
“They ought to be chained down.”
“Supposing you let me be the judge of that, Mr. Baxter. I promised to do certain things for you. If I do them, you’ll have no cause to complain.”
“Have you decided to take these boys’ part?” ejaculated Arnold Baxter, turning pale.
“I have made up my mind that treating them like beasts won’t do any good.”
“They don’t deserve it.”
“Don’t deserve what?”
“To be well treated. They are—are—”
“Young gentlemen,” finished Tom. “The captain knows gentlemen when he sees them, even if you don’t.”
“Don’t talk to me, Tom Rover.”
“I will talk whenever I please. I am not your slave.”
“But you are in my power, don’t forget that.”
At this moment the cook of the schooner appeared.
“What’s wanted?” he asked of the captain.
“Bring some breakfast for these three young gentlemen,” said Captain Langless. “Some fresh coffee and bread and some fried eggs and potatoes.”
At this order Arnold Baxter stood fairly aghast. “You are going to let them dine here?” he gasped.
“I am.”
“But—but you must be crazy. They will—er—think they are running the ship!”
“No, they won’t. Leave them to me, and I’m sure we will get along all right. Come, let us go on deck.”
“What! and leave them alone?”
“I will send a man down to see that they don’t get into mischief.”
“But I don’t like this turn of affairs,” stammered Arnold Baxter. He was half afraid the captain was going back on him.
“It’s all right; come,” answered the owner of the Peacock; and a moment later both men quitted the cabin.
CHAPTER XII
A DINNER OF IMPORTANCE
“The captain isn’t such a bad fellow, after all,” observed Sam, when the three Rovers were left to themselves.
“He certainly isn’t a brute,” answered Dick. “But about being bad, that’s another story.”
“He’s got an awfully shrewd face,” put in Tom. “But I’m mighty glad he turned old Baxter down. That villain would ride over us roughshod.”
“I think, all told, we have gained a point,” continued Dick. “It’s something to be treated decently, even if you are a prisoner. The question is, how long will we be caged up on board of the schooner?”
“I would like to know if the Swallow is in sight,” said Tom. “Wonder if I can’t slip up the companion way and find out?”
He arose from the seat into which he had dropped, but before he could gain the doorway a sailor appeared and waved him back. Then the sailor took the seat the captain had occupied by the door.
“Are you sent to spy on us?” demanded Tom,
“I was sent to see that you didn’t cut up any tricks,” answered the tar. He was terribly crosseyed, but appeared to be rather good-natured. “You mustn’t go on deck without the captain’s permission.”
“Can’t we have any fresh air?”
“You’ll have to ask the captain about that He said I was to watch you while you had breakfast, and keep you and those other folks from quarreling.”
“What other folks, the Baxters?”
“Yes.”
No more was said, and soon the cook appeared with a pot full of newly made coffee and a trayful of other things. The hasty lunch had been a scanty one, and it did not interfere with the boys’ appetites for what was now set before them.
“This is all right,” observed Sam, when he had almost finished eating. “We couldn’t have a better meal on the Swallow.” He turned to the sailor. “Is the yacht still in sight?”
He spoke carelessly, but the tar knew how much he was interested and smiled suggestively.
“No sail of any kind in sight.”
“Where are we bound?”
“You’ll have to ask the captain about that.”
“Do you mean to say you don’t know?”
The sailor nodded. “We follow orders, we do, and that’s all,” he observed, and then they could get nothing more out of him.
The boys took their time, yet the meal was finished inside of half an hour. They were just getting up from the table when Captain Langless reappeared.
“Well, how did the breakfast suit?” he asked.
“First-rate,” returned Dick. “Now, if you don’t mind, we would like to go on deck.”
“You may do so under one condition.”
“And that is——?”
“That you will go below again when ordered by me.”
At this both Tom and Sam cut wry faces.
“You are rather hard on us,” said Dick slowly.
“On the contrary, I think I am treating you generously. The Baxters wish to handcuff you and put you back into the hold.”
There was a pause, and then the boys agreed, if allowed to go on deck, to go below again whenever the captain wished.
“But, remember, we are going to get away if we can,” added Dick.
“All right, get away—if you can,” rejoined Captain Langless. “If you go overboard you’ll be in for a long swim, I can tell you that.”
It felt good to get into the bright sunshine once more, and the boys tumbled up to the deck without ceremony. As soon as they had quitted the cabin the captain put away the weapons at hand, locking them in a closet.
As the sailor had said, no other craft was in sight, and on every hand stretched the calm waters of Lake Erie as far as eye could reach. The course was northwest, and Dick rightfully guessed that they were heading for the Detroit River. There was a stiff breeze blowi
ng and, with every sail set, the Peacock was making rapid headway.
It was not long before Dan Baxter came up to them. The bully’s face was dark and threatening, yet he did not dare say much, for Captain Langless had given him warning that the prisoners must not be molested.
“I suppose you think it a fine thing to be up here,” he began.
“It will be if we don’t get too much of you.” replied Tom bluntly. “I suppose you would give a good deal to be on land.”
“Not particularly. We enjoy sailing. If not, we wouldn’t have been out in our yacht.”
“Where were you bound?”
“That was our business, Baxter.”
“Oh, if you don’t want to tell me, you needn’t,” growled the bully, and walked away.
“I’ll wager he and his father have had a row with Captain Langless,” observed Dick. “Otherwise he wouldn’t be half so meek.”
“I wish we could win Captain Langless over to our side,” put in Sam suddenly, struck by the idea. “Do you suppose it could be done if we paid him well?”
“I’d hate to buy him off,” said Tom.
“But it might be best,” said Dick slowly. “We don’t know what the Baxters may have in store for us.”
“It’s pretty plain to me what they want to do. They are going to hold us prisoners until father signs off his rights to that mining claim.”
“And if father won’t sign off?”
“Then they’ll treat us pretty badly.”
“Perhaps they’ll kill us.”
“We can sound Captain Langless—it won’t do any harm.”
“But you mustn’t let the Baxters get an inkling of what is up.”
For the present the captain was not in sight, having retired to the stern to consult Arnold Baxter upon several points. They remained on deck until noon, when the cook called them to dinner in the cabin. They found they were to dine with Captain Langless.
“I asked the Baxters to join us, but they declined,” he observed, as they sat down. “Now I am not so high-toned.”
“You mean you are not such a fool,” returned Dick. “For myself, I am glad they are staying away. My meal would be spoiled if I had to eat with them.”
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