WE MAKE A PRISONER.
I was astonished by Ford’s words and came very near uttering a sudden
cry; but my helper pressed his hand over my mouth, thus effectually
preventing any sound from coming forth.
“Carney may be around,” he went on softly; “and if so we must try to
capture him.”
I nodded; and then we continued our way towards the boat.
I had brought the gun with me, and now I examined it to see if it was
in condition for immediate use. I was aware of the desperate character
of the man with whom we had to deal, and I did not intend to run any
more chances than were necessary.
Presently we heard a noise to the left, and Carney appeared. He carried
a pail of spring water, and with this went on board his boat.
“We’ve got him,” whispered Ford. “Stand by to shoot if necessary, or
else give me the gun.”
“I’ll take care of the gun. Let us creep up and surprise him.”
“I’ll go ahead, and call on him to surrender, while you point the gun
at his head. That will bring him to terms,” said Ford.
And he jumped aboard Carney’s sloop.
“Hullo, Carney!” he called out.
There was a second of silence, and then Andy Carney’s face appeared at
the entrance to the cuddy.
“What do you want?” he demanded, with an ugly look on his face.
“We want you,” replied my helper. “Come out of that at once!”
“I’ll come out when I please,” was the sullen response.
“No, you won’t; you’ll come out now.”
“Who made you boss over me?” demanded the fisherman.
“Nobody; but you’ve got to come. Do you see that?”
And he pointed to the gun, which I held to my shoulder.
Carney looked at the weapon, and turned pale.
“Put that down!” he cried.
“Not a bit of it,” I returned. “You have got to do as Ford says. I give
you two minutes in which to make up your mind.”
“I won’t come.”
“I think you will.”
And I moved over to where I could get a better range at his head.
He ducked, and then came out slowly, and faced Ford.
“If you were alone I would soon do you up,” he hissed.
“But I am not alone,” laughed my helper. “Hold out your hands.”
“What for?”
“I’m going to bind them.”
“Do as Ford says,” I put in. “We mean business, Carney.”
The fisherman hesitated for a moment, and then held out his hands. Ford
caught up a bit of rope, and soon had the wrists crossed and tightly
bound.
“Now watch him, Rube, while I shove the boat out.”
“What are you going to do with me?” asked Carney anxiously.
“Take you to Bend Center.”
“What for?”
“You’ll see fast enough.”
In a moment Ford had the sloop afloat; and with the three of us on
board he ran up the mainsail, steered out of the inlet, and down the
lake.
“What have you done with the things you stole?” I asked, as I sat down
to watch our prisoner.
“Didn’t steal anything,” replied Carney sullenly.
“So you expect to deny it?” I went on.
He would not answer, and I did not question him farther. I wished to
examine the cuddy of the sloop, but could get no chance to do so, for
Ford was busy sailing the craft, and I thought it would not be safe to
leave Carney unwatched even for a moment.
It did not take us long to reach the wharf at the Point. Here a small
crowd soon surrounded us; for the report of the robbery had made a good
many men suspend work and keep a lookout for the robbers.
Ford marched Carney up to Squire Slocum’s office. I lingered behind to
make an examination of the cuddy.
It was not long before I found all the articles that had belonged to
the mill stored in the forward hold. I also found Mr. Norton’s valise;
but it had been broken open, and was empty.
This last discovery filled me with dismay, for I had counted on the
contents of the valise clearing up part of the mystery surrounding
the man who had treated me so harshly. Whether Carney had thrown the
letters away or hidden them I could not tell.
As soon as I had finished my investigation, I followed the others to
the squire’s office. I found Squire Slocum examining Carney, and ready
to hear what I might say.
“I will lock him up, and we will have a full hearing to-morrow,” said
Squire Slocum after I had finished. “I am in a hurry this morning. I
will send a message to Pointer, telling him about the meeting last
night at the mill. I wish you had let me know as soon as possible, but
I suppose you were worn out.”
“Both that, and besides the fire drove it out of my mind,” I replied.
“And that was the case with me,” added Ford.
“I will also have a man take charge of Carney’s boat,” went on the
squire. “We now have three different boats with detectives on board
sailing the lake, and perhaps we’ll catch these fellows before night.”
“Ford and I are going after them too,” I returned.
“Well, every one counts,” said the squire with a smile.
I could see that he was in a terrible hurry, and as soon as the
fisherman was given in charge of the jailer we left.
On my way to the wharf I ran against Tom Darrow. He was glad to see me
out.
“And glad to know that Markham proved to be a gentleman,” he added.
“And that reminds me, Gus Lowell found your mill-boat over to Summer’s
Point. He brought it over to Ray’s dock.”
This was welcome news, and it would not now be necessary to borrow a
boat in which to go after Mr. Norton and his two confederates. I ran
down to the place that Tom had mentioned, and was soon at the wharf in
my own boat.
Ford came on board, and we set out on a voyage of discovery, as he
termed it. Darrow would have liked to accompany us, but said he had
work on hand, having an order for forty pounds of fish for one of the
Bayport hotels.
“And it don’t pay to let such an order slip by,” he added. “Not when
prices are high and biting is good.”
“Where do you intend to go first?” asked Ford when we were well on our
way.
“I think the fellows made for Rock Island,” I said.
“That’s my idea, though both of us may be mistaken.”
“The island makes a good hiding-place,” I went on. “But still they
can’t stay there forever, and I take it they would rather leave the
neighborhood entirely.”
“They can’t do that if all the roads are guarded, and Squire Slocum
said such was a fact. They would have a sweet job trying to get through
the woods.”
“It’s a wonder they committed the robbery when the chances to escape
were so slim.”
“I guess they thought to get away before the crime was discovered. Mr.
Webster said it was only by accident that it was not allowed to run
on till noon or later. The old vault, in which the safe was situated
where the diamonds were placed, is not used for storing the regular
bank-funds, and besides, Mr. Merton, the cashier, rarely gets to the
bank as early as he did on the morning following the robbery.”
“It was all known beforehand among the three men,” I went on. “But how
did they get their knowledge?”
“Mr. Camp, one of the jewelers, says he thinks he knows this Avery, but
he is not sure. The description is all right; but the name of the man
he knew was Denting.”
“A name among such fellows is easily changed.”
“Of course. But then――hullo, whose boat is that?”
Ford pointed to where a large sloop had just passed beyond a point of
land just ahead.
“I didn’t see much of her,” I replied.
“She looked to me like the Catch Me.”
“The Catch Me!”
“Exactly. I might have been mistaken.”
“Who can be on board?”
“We’ll see when we round the point. Hold up. Now let her go. The wind
is getting fresh and no mistake. There is the boat. What do you think
of her?”
I gave a long and searching look.
“It is the Catch Me beyond a doubt,” I cried. “Who can it possibly be
that is sailing her?”
“There is only one man on board as far as I can see,” replied Ford.
“It is Mr. Norton!” I ejaculated a moment later.