A SHOT FROM THE DARKNESS
The shots which had reached Dora's ears had come from a gun in
the hands of Arnold Baxter.
The man had been enraged at the sight of the lantern on the mast
of the _Searchlight_, and, taking careful aim, had sent a charge of
shot into the affair, smashing globe, reflector, and tin cup, and
scattering the oil in all directions.
"Hurrah, I struck it!" shouted Arnold Baxter gleefully. "Now
they won't see us quite so plainly."
"Knock out the other lantern, pop," put in Dan Baxter, and the
parent turned in the second barrel of the shotgun with equal
success.
For an instant the deck of the _Searchlight_ seemed to be in
darkness. Sam felt a bit of hot glass strike him on the cheek
and raised his hand to brush it off. Then he felt something warm
on the back of his leg. Looking down he saw to his horror that
some of the oil from the lantern had fallen on him and that it
was ablaze!
"Help! Help!" he shrieked. "I'm burning up!"
His cry alarmed everybody, and all, even Dick and Tom, came
rushing to his aid. But Sergeant Brown was first, and he
promptly threw the boy down flat and, whipping off his coat,
began to beat out the flames.
Another shot now rang out, aimed at a third lantern, but the
light was not struck. By this time Martin Harris made the
discovery that the mainsail was on fire in two places, while the
jib was also suffering.
"This is getting hot!" he cried, when Carter opened up fire at
random, determined to do what he could. A yell and a groan
followed, and then all became quiet, and firing on both sides was
over.
Fortunately for Sam, the flames upon his person were quickly
extinguished, and all the lad really suffered was the ruin of his
trousers and an ugly blister on the calf of his leg. But he was
badly scared, and when it was over he had almost to be carried to
the cabin.
In the meantime Martin Harris procured several pails of water and
a long-handled swab and with these did what he could to
extinguish the fire on the sails. Several of the others joined
in, and inside of ten minutes all danger of a conflagration was
past.
"That's the worst yet!" growled the old sailor, as he surveyed
the mainsail, which had two holes in it each is large as a
barrel. "I'd like to wring the neck of the fellow as did it, yes
I would," and he shook his head determinedly.
"That's the end of that light," said Sergeant Brown. "What are
you going to do next?"
"I think I can get that searchlight to work," put in Dick. "But
will it be of any use? They may start to shooting again."
"We've got to have some kind of a light, even if it's only a
tallow candle," grumbled Harris.
"If we haven't got a light some coastwise steamer may run us
down."
He set to work to rig up a temporary light, and in the meantime
Dick returned to the cabin to experiment with the electric light.
He found Sam on the couch, bathing his leg with oil to take away
the sting of the bum.
"How is it, Sam--hurt much?"
"I suppose it might be worse," was the younger brother's reply.
"I wonder who fired that shot?"
"One of the Baxters, more than likely. They are a cold-blooded
pair."
"One or more of us might have been killed if we had been directly
behind the lights."
"That is true. I don't suppose Arnold Baxter would care much if
we were. He was father's enemy, you must remember, and he said
he hated all of us."
Sam resumed his bathing and Dick turned to the cabin table, upon
which the battery and other portions of the searchlight rested.
Dick had always been greatly interested in electricity and
therefore the parts of the battery before him were not hard for
him to understand.
But there was one trouble with the battery which did not reach
his eye as he turned it around and started it up. That was that
a portion of the insulation of a main wire was worn off.
As he turned on the current there was a flash and the light
blazed up almost as bright as day.
"That's fine!" cried Sam. "We'll be able to see the _Flyaway_ a
long distance off now."
"Well, I only hope when we put this up it won't be knocked out
like the other lights were."
"Of course we'll have to run that risk."
In a minute more Dick started to carry the searchlight to the
deck.
He had turned off the light proper, consequently the way to the
companionway was rather dark.
He had almost reached the top of the steps when Sam heard a
scream, saw a flash of fire, and then Dick came tumbling to the
cabin floor in a heap, with the battery and light beside him.
"My gracious, he's been shocked!" burst out the youngest Rover;
and, forgetting all about his burn, ran to his brother's
assistance.
"What's that noise?" came from the deck.
"Dick's been shocked by the searchlight!" cried Sam. "Come down
here, somebody, and let us see what we can do for him."
"Shocked, is it!" cried Sergeant Brown. "If that's the case,
look out that somebody else don't catch it."
Tom came tumbling down, followed by both police officers, and
Dick was picked up and deposited on the couch. Then Sam kicked
the searchlight and batteries into a corner.
"They can stay there for all I care," said he.
"They are too dangerous, unless, a chap knows just how to handle
them."
Dick lay with his eyes wide open, but unable to move. Tom bent
down and announced that his heart was still beating.
But little in the way of restoratives were at hand, and the most
they could do was to rub the youth's body in an attempt to
restore the circulation.
"Oh, I hope he isn't permanently injured!" cried Tom. "If he
should turn out a cripple it would be awful!"
"That's so," answered Sam. "Poor Dick! He's as bad off as if
those rascals had shot him."
Slowly Dick came to his senses. But he was very weak, and soon
he discovered that he was powerless to move his left arm.
"It's all numb," he announced. "It feels as if it was dead."
"Let me shake it for you," said Tom, and both brothers went to
work, but with small success. The arm hung down as limp as a
rag, and the left leg was nearly as badly off, although Dick said
he could feel a slight sensation in it, like so many needles
sticking him.
"You see, I've been afraid of that battery right along," said
Martin Harris. "The professor got shocked once, and he limped
around for a long while after."
"But he got over it at last, didn't he?" questioned Tom eagerly.
"I can't say about that. He went off, and I haven't seen him
since," was the unsatisfactory reply.
The injuries to Dick and to Sam had somewhat dampened Tom's
ardor, and he wondered what they had best do next, and spoke to
the police officers about it.
"I don't know of anything but to turn back to shore," said
Sergeant Brown. "We've lost them in the dark, and that is all
there is to it. If we go ashore we can send out an alarm, and as
soon as the _Flyaway_ is spotted, somebody will go out and arrest
everybody on board--I mean everybody but the young lady, of
course."
"But they may come ashore in the dark."
"And they may do that even if we stay out here--and then
they'll have more of an advantage than ever. No, I think the
best thing we can do is to turn back to the coast and make the
safest landing we can find."
When Dick heard of this, however, he shook his head. "Don't go
back yet," he pleaded. "See if you can't make out the _Flyaway_
somewhere. She won't dare to sail very far without a light."
"I don't go for giving up just yet," put in Martin Harris. "As
the lad says, she'll show a light very soon now--for there is a
coastwise steamer a-coming," and he pointed in the direction of
Sandy Hook.
He was right, and soon the many lights from the big steam vessel
could be plainly seen. She was heading almost directly for them,
but presently steered to the eastward.
"She must be almost in the track of the _Flyaway_," went on Martin
Harris. "Just wait and see if I ain't right."
They waited and watched eagerly, and thus five minutes passed.
Then from a distance they saw a light flash up.
"There she is!" cried Tom. "Let us head for her at once. They
won't keep that light out long--just long enough to let that
steamer go by."
Martin Harris was already at the tiller, and soon the _Searchlight_
was thrown over and was again dipping her nose in the long ocean
swells. The wind had died away only to freshen more than ever,
and the chase now became a lively one.
The enemy seemed to know that the exposure of their light had
given those on the _Searchlight_ the cue, and they were sailing as
rapidly as all of their canvas permitted. But Harris was now
handling his craft better than ever before, and slowly but surely
the distance between the two craft was diminished, until the
_Flyaway_ could be made out faintly even without a light.
"Don't lose her again," said Dick. "We must keep at it until we
run them down completely." And Harris promised to do his best.
It was now past midnight, and the police officers said they were
tired out and dropped into the cabin to take a nap. Dick
likewise remained below, trying to get up some circulation in the
lamed arm.
"Can't you feel anything?" queried Tom.
"I think I can," answered his big brother. "Yes, yes, it's
coming now!" he went on. "Thank God!" and he suddenly raised the
arm and bent the fingers of his hand. By daylight that member
of his body was nearly as well as ever. But this experience was
one which Dick has not forgotten to the present day.
Sam had bound up his burn with a rag saturated with oil and
flour, and announced that he felt quite comfortable. "But just
let me get hold of those Baxters," he added. "I shan't stand on
any ceremony with them."
"I don't believe any of us will," said Tom.
"But as anxious as I am to have this over, I would just as lief
have the chase last until morning. Then we'll be better able to
see what we are doing."
"Or trying to do," said Sam with a faint smile.