“NOT JUST YET, STETSON!”
Ralph was interrupted in his reverie by the sound of a swift, cat-like
footfall behind him. He was conscious of a sudden thrill that was not
exactly fear but rather apprehension, as whoever was pussy-footing
through the dark cock-pit drew closer.
No man on an honest errand, as he well knew, would have adopted that
stealthy method of approach. For an instant Ralph regretted that he was
not armed. But it was only a momentary thought.
He turned his eyes, till out of their corners he could see a dark form
drawing close to his chair.
Ralph gave no sign that he had heard anything unusual. He kept his gaze
apparently riveted on the shore and sat motionless, without the quiver
of a muscle. But for all his seeming calmness, he sensed that a crisis
of some kind had arrived.
Then out of the darkness emerged the figure of Malvin. The man was a
very different being from the obsequious creature he had hitherto
appeared to be. His voice rang harsh and stridently and in his hand
Ralph could catch the glint of a pistol.
The weapon was aimed at the boy’s head.
“See here, Stetson,” the fellow grated, “you’re alone on this boat and
in my power. Are you going to do what I say without making trouble?”
Ralph did not turn. There was not the flicker of an eyelid to show the
great bound his heart had given as he realized his situation. That
Malvin was a desperate man, the boy knew well enough; but just the same,
he had not believed that the man would ever dream of adopting the
tactics he had now assumed.
“Well?”
Malvin’s grating voice, a very different one from the honeyed accents he
had hitherto used to address the young commander, came again in tones of
impatient interrogation.
“Supposing, as commander of this boat, I don’t choose to take orders
from you?” questioned Ralph.
“In that case, jig is up for you, young fellow.”
“Going to kill me?” asked Ralph without a quiver in his voice, although
a very unpleasant feeling had taken possession of him.
He felt that Malvin meant what he said. And he was in the fellow’s power
absolutely.
“Yes,” spoke Malvin. “I mean to use this little piece of hardware
unless——”
He paused as if uncertain of his next words.
“He’s nervous,” thought Ralph, “he doesn’t like this job. He’s doing it
at the orders of somebody else, probably Hawke, who appears to exercise
an influence over him.”
“Well, unless?” asked the boy aloud.
“Unless you obey orders absolutely. Just as I have had to obey your
orders since you sneaked your way into command of this craft.”
“You forget that this is my father’s boat,” reminded Ralph.
“Yes, your father,” sneered Malvin. “Your father, who is in jail in
Montreal!”
“So you know that?” cried Ralph, startled out of his assumed calm.
“Know it? Why, yes. Men with whom I am associated engineered his arrest.
Cleverly done, wasn’t it?”
“You contemptible sneak!” burst out Ralph. “So it was your gang that did
this?”
“I don’t see any reason to deny it. We wanted him out of the way and
sent that message summoning him to Montreal. Once there, our agents saw
to it that he was put where he wouldn’t trouble us for a while.”
Words failed Ralph utterly. He saw red for a minute. But almost
simultaneously he steadied his nerves to meet the crisis.
“I may as well tell you, Malvin,” he said, “that it will pay you better
in the long run to desert these men with whom you are associated and
array yourself upon the side of law and order. Do this and I’ll promise
you that, when the authorities descend upon you, I will do what I can to
make things easier for you.”
It was a forlorn hope and—it failed.
Malvin hesitated for one instant, and Ralph’s mind swung pendulum-wise
between hope and apprehension. But the man’s next words showed him that
Malvin was irrevocably tied to the diamond smugglers.
“As if I’d be fool enough to listen to such stuff!” he sneered. “Come
now, youngster; no more nonsense. We know what your two chums went
ashore for. To get the authorities, didn’t they?”
“Since you must have it, they did,” shot out Ralph.
“I thought so. We know every move you have made. Now you’re going to
learn that it doesn’t pay to butt in where you are not wanted.”
“What are you going to do?” demanded Ralph.
“Get right out of here with this boat. You’ll work her out. Do you
understand?”
“Your words don’t admit of any misconstruction,” was the calm reply.
“Mosey up on the bridge, then. Look sharp! Do you hear?”
“I hear. Suppose I don’t choose to obey?”
“In that case——”
Malvin emphasized this with a poke in the ribs from the revolver.
“See here, Malvin,” asked Ralph, eying the fellow without flinching,
“have you been drinking to-night, or are you simply ill-advised by bad
companions?”
“No more trifling,” warned Malvin sullenly. “You’ve robbed me of my job
as commander of this boat. Not content with that, you’ve tried to
interfere with my business. Do what I say at once, or let me give you a
straight warning. You’re playing with your life.”
Ralph tried another tack.
“Well,” he said, “of course I don’t want to get shot. Let’s get down to
cases. What do you want me to do?”
“Navigate this boat out of here. Hansen and—and—somebody else will
attend to the engines.”
“The somebody else being the man who put the sand in our
carburetors—Hawke.”
Malvin was perceptibly startled.
“Hawke! What do you know about him?” he demanded.
“Oh, quite a good deal. You’re a fool to travel with such a man, Malvin.
We met him on Windmill Island. We know that you picked him up there and
have kept him concealed on the _River Swallow_. I more than suspect,
moreover, that he is a certain notorious diamond smuggler for whom the
authorities on both sides of the border have their nets spread. Is that
enough?”
“Yes, it’s more than enough. You’re too flip. Now get up on that bridge
or take the consequences.”
“All right. Tell your men to get the anchor up.”
Malvin uttered a peculiar whistle. It must have been a signal, for the
clank of the windlass was heard almost immediately. The _River Swallow_
began to swing her bow as the current turned her down river.
Again came a whistle from Malvin and the engines began to rumble and
shake the craft with their revolutions. They were running “free.” That
is, the clutch that caused them to engage the shafts had not yet been
“thrown.”
Ralph had a plan in his mind. It was a desperate chance to take, but his
seemingly ready agreement with Malvin’s orders had proceeded from this
same wild plan he had suddenly formed.
“Get up on that bridge. Remember, I’m behind you. One false move and——”
Malvin did not finish the sentence. He did not need to. His tone was
sufficiently eloquent.
The boy ascended the few steps that led to the bridge. Malvin was right
behind him. Ralph could see in his mind’s eye that menacing pistol held
close to the small of his back.
They reached the bridge. The moment for Ralph’s plan to be put into
execution had arrived.
He turned swiftly.
“Look!” he cried. “There comes a boat—a customs house boat!”
Malvin, startled, off his guard, turned his head for an instant toward
the shore.
With a loud cry, Ralph leaped for the man. He seized his pistol wrist
and wrenched it backward. Then he threw himself on the fellow with the
whole force of his vigorous young strength.
As Malvin crashed backward down the steps, Ralph leaped for the
pneumatic whistle. It was operated by a lever.
“Now for a police call!” he exclaimed pantingly as he grasped it. In
another moment a cry for aid would have gone shrieking out from the
_River Swallow’s_ siren.
Ralph’s fingers trembled on the lever and he had just given it the first
move toward him when something happened.
He felt himself seized from behind in a powerful grasp and his arms
pinioned to his side.
“Thought you’d get the police, eh?” snarled a voice in his ear. “Not
just yet, Stetson.”