THE CHASE
Chet Morton leaped back with such violence that he collided with his
chum. He had seen the serpent in the nick of time, and his backward
leap had been so instinctive and so involuntary that he somehow evaded
the swift, whiplike thrust of the evil head that plunged at him.
The snake missed, although its body writhed against Chet's boot for a
second and the fangs stabbed against the heavy leather. The boot saved
the boy. Had the snake struck against his leg he would have been bitten.
The chums plunged blindly through the thicket.
There was no thought of caution now. They were filled with unreasoning
terror of the blacksnake, the instinctive revulsion that fills most
people at the sight of such a reptile, and they went crashing through
the bushes. The noise of their flight did not escape the two rascals
who had been searching for them.
"I see them!" shouted one of the men. He came plunging through the deep
grass at the outskirts of the thicket to intercept the boys.
Chet saw him in time and veered to one side. He just managed to evade
the outflung arm, then went running desperately to the top of the
hillside overlooking the sea. Biff came thundering behind, outdistanced
the second gangster, dodged the other man, and raced after Chet.
They went slipping and sliding down the slope. Chet had no clear idea
of where they were bound, but he was determined to keep running either
until he was captured or overcome with exhaustion.
But when he came over the brow of the hill and began the steep descent,
he saw something in the sea below that made him give an exultant yell.
It was a motorboat, and one that he recognized immediately. The boat
was none other than the _Napoli_, and in it were three figures. Even at
that distance he knew them for Tony Prito, Phil Cohen and Jerry Gilroy.
Behind the motorboat were two other craft, being towed.
He had not been seen as yet, for he saw that the _Napoli_ was cruising
leisurely around the island. He shouted hoarsely to attract attention.
He saw Tony look up, then speak excitedly to his comrades. They waved
frantically in reply. Then the bow of the _Napoli_ began to head in
toward the shore.
Could they reach the boat in safety? Biff was thundering down the
slope only a few feet behind Chet. Rocks and pebbles went bouncing and
bounding along in front of them; sand and gravel flew from about their
boots. And, coming in swift pursuit, were the two gangsters who had so
nearly captured them in the thicket. These men were shouting hoarsely
to them to stop.
But the two chums had no intention of stopping. They saw safety in
sight. Could they reach the shore and gain the boat before the two
gangsters overtook them?
Then, out from among the rocks along the beach emerged three figures.
Chet's heart sank. They were the other gangsters and they were directly
in the path. At the same time, he saw that Tony Prito was bringing the
_Napoli_ around, and away from the shore.
Spent and exhausted, he tried to dodge the three men ahead, but the
effort was short-lived. One of the three leaped forward and grappled
with him. They fell struggling into the sand. The other two leaped at
Biff.
The boys fought bravely and desperately. Chet struck out and his fist
crashed into the face of the man who had tackled him. The fellow
sagged back for a second and Chet tried to free himself from the grasp
around his waist, but as he did so one of the other two gangsters came
rushing up and launched himself on him.
Biff battled with equal ferocity, but he was powerless against the
three rascals. He kicked and struggled, but they had him down and they
dragged him back behind the rocks, where the others soon brought Chet.
The red-headed man, with a bruise over one eye, produced a length of
stout cord from his hip pocket.
"Tie 'em up!" he snapped. "We've got 'em this time for keeps."
Pete grabbed the cord, and in a few minutes Chet's wrists were bound
tightly behind his back and his ankles were securely tied. Pete cut
the cord and used the remainder for binding Biff. The two chums were
helpless.
As for Tony Prito, in the _Napoli_, he had quickly seen that it would
be impossible, even foolhardy, to attempt to rescue his two chums. In
the first place, there were five boys against five men, the latter
desperate and fully armed. The only result would be the capture of them
all and the capture, as well, of the three motorboats by the gangsters.
"I hate to see them caught with us so close, but what can we do?" he
said, turning to the others, as he slowly brought the _Napoli_ around.
"If the men catch us and the motorboats, the boys will only be worse
off than they were before."
"I guess you're right," agreed Jerry Gilroy. "I sure thought for a
minute that we were going to be able to save them. Between the crowd
of us we could have held off those other two toughs long enough to get
Chet and Biff on board, but when the others showed up I knew it was all
off."
"The fellows put up a good fight, anyway," declared Phil Cohen. "I hope
those villains don't treat 'em too rough."
"We'll get them free yet," asserted Tony. "I don't know how it's going
to be done, but we'll get 'em free. We've still got all the motorboats
and the gang can't leave the island, that's sure."
When he had brought the _Napoli_ out a safe distance from shore, Tony
decided to drop anchor.
"We'll stick around," he decided. "They'll know that we aren't going to
desert them anyway."
So the _Napoli_, with the two captured motorboats drifting behind,
remained at anchor, while the three chums scanned the rocky shore. Once
in a while they saw one or another of the gangsters emerging from
behind the boulders to gaze at them, then return.
"We've got them guessing," chuckled Tony. "They don't know what to make
of us. They know we have their boats, but they don't know who we are or
how we got 'em."
Two hours passed. The sun rose higher in the sky. Blacksnake Island, in
all its sinister ugliness, simmered in the morning heat. There was no
further sign of life from the shore. Although the boys in the motorboat
did not know it, the boulders behind which Chet and Biff had been
carried hid the trail up to the grove and thence to the cave in the
rocks. The gangsters had decided to return to this cave and Chet and
Biff, with their ankle bonds untied, had been roughly ordered to their
feet and bade proceed with the gangsters up the hidden trail. They
had not been seen from the boat because a heavy veil of overhanging
branches from the trees masked the trail where it wound up the hillside.
Toward mid-morning Tony chanced to look up and gaze out toward the
mainland. He leaped up with a frantic yell.
"Here they come!" he shrieked. "Here they are!"
The others rose and stared. Then, as the meaning of what they saw
dawned on them, they cheered hoarsely, and danced with delight until
the motorboat rocked and swayed beneath their feet.
Cleaving the waves, came a low, rakish craft, speeding along with white
wings of foam at her prow. It rushed silently toward them with the
grace of an arrow. It was a United States revenue cutter, and when the
boys in the boat witnessed its approach they knew that the Hardy boys
had been successful in obtaining the aid they had gone to seek.
The boys cheered and waved their arms, trying to signal to the cutter
that they had located Chet and Biff. Finally, Tony started up the
engine and brought the _Napoli_ alongside. The cutter slowly came to a
stop, there was a clank and a clatter as the anchor was sent over.
A husky revenue officer with a revolver strapped to his waist leaned
over the side and hailed them.
"Did you find them?" he roared.
"They were caught again, right on this shore!" shouted Tony. "The gang
are still here."
"Fine! We'll be right over. Tie your craft alongside and come along in
our boat!"
The lads needed no second urging. A ladder was flung over the side and,
after securely tying the _Napoli_, they clambered up on the deck of the
cutter where they found the Hardy boys awaiting them.
In a few swift words Tony acquainted them with the circumstances
surrounding the recapture of Chet and Biff. The revenue officer who had
first hailed them nodded with satisfaction.
"As long as we know that those rascals haven't left the island, it's
all right," he declared. "We'll have them in hand before long."
He turned and gave a curt order to one of his men and in a remarkably
short space of time there were a dozen broad-shouldered chaps in
readiness, with rifles and revolvers. Another order, and a boat was
lowered over the side.
"Away we go!" announced the officer. "It won't be long now."