"Hallo! there's some one swimming in the river!" cried the spy.
"So it is," growled Jeb. "Hello there!"
"Put about," muttered Fletch. "It's the rebel. He can float. We must get
after him."
Dick swam on, the boat putting about, and now the light of a lantern was
shining over the waters.
"Ha! there he is!"
"Shoot the rebel, no one will hear!"
"Yes, we've got to get him!"
Crack! There was a report, but Dick had just sunk under water and was
unhurt. On came the boat, Dick rising just astern of it. In a moment he
seized the gunwale and swung the boat around with all his might, at the
same time tipping it at one side. There was a cry of alarm, and then
some one cried from the ship Dick had seen:
"Get away from here, you water rats, or you'll get a shot or two in your
gullets that you won't like."
There was a sudden splash, and Dick knew that some one had fallen into
the river from the boat. He had released it, and was now making his way
toward the wharf at good speed. There were more outcries from the river,
but Dick could not see the lantern now, and judged that it had fallen
overboard. The inability of the men to see Dick worked for his safety
now, and he swam on to the wharf at a good rate. Nearing it, he heard
the boy Tom say in a cautious voice:
"Who is that?"
"It is I, Tom, thanks to you," said Dick. "Without that knife I should
have been drowned."
"Come this way, Captain," added the boy. "Do you see me?"
"No, but I know where you are."
Dick swam toward the boy and was helped by him to land.
"You saved me from a thrashing, and you saved the money I had for my
mother," the boy said. "But for that he would have got it, and mother
and the little children would have had nothing to eat."
"You earn money for your mother and the children, do you?" asked Dick,
interested.
"Yes, sometimes quite a good deal, but I have to be careful about it,
for if he finds out that I have it, he takes it away and then we have to
go without. I have to lie to save it often. Is that very wicked,
Captain?"
"No, it would be better for you not to lie, but to face him down and
tell him plainly that the money was for the support of the family and
not for him to squander in drink."
They were hurrying along now, the boy in the lead, the sounds from the
river showing that the men were coming back.
"Yes, that is right and I shall do it, but come, they will raise an
alarm and you will have trouble in getting away. This way, Captain."
They went down an alley, the boy taking Dick's hand, and presently
turned into a narrower one where Tom shortly pushed open a door and
entered a house.
"It is Tom, mother," the boy said. "I have got the captain with me. The
scheme worked well, fortunately, and he cut his way through the sack."
"You were obliged to take desperate chances, sir," said a woman's voice,
"and I told Tom that I feared they would be too desperate. He would have
released you if he could."
"Yes, I know, ma'am, but he gave me great assistance and I am accustomed
to taking desperate chances."
The woman lighted a tallow dip and then exclaimed in surprise:
"Why, Tom, you said he was a captain! This is but a boy, not very many
years older than yourself."
"He is the captain of the Liberty Boys, mother. They are all boys, some
of them no older than myself. This way, Captain, and I will get you some
clothes to take the place of the wet ones."
The boy then led the way into a smaller room, where he brought out a
suit of clothes somewhat small for Dick, but neat and clean.
"You had best keep them," said Dick, as he removed his soaking garments,
"and if you will come to the camp to-morrow, you can have your own
again."
He rapidly exchanged the wet for the dry clothes, Tom giving him a
ruffled shirt, saying:
"That is a gentleman's shirt, but I suppose you do not mind, on a
pinch?"
"No," with a laugh, "I do not, but I hear some one coming."
"Yes, but he does not know of this place, and if you are quiet he will
not hear you. There is another way out which I will show you."
Dick finished his dressing as he heard Fletch say:
"Some one helped the rebel, and I'd like to catch him! Where is that boy
Tom?"
"He is not here."
"Well, I can see that!" savagely. "Where is he?"
"He has gone out," simply.
"Whereabouts? To earn money? He gave you some to-night. Where is it?"
"You cannot have it," resolutely. "Some of it has been spent for the
children and the rest is put away."
"I want it. I am drenched and chill with cold. The plagued rebel upset
me into the river. I must have liquor to take out the chill. Give me the
money."
"No, I will not. I will make you some hot tea, which will be better for
you. I have never refused to help you when you were yourself, but I will
not let you turn yourself into a beast and make the children go hungry
and naked."
"Give me the money, I say!" savagely, and then Dick heard a frightened
scream from the other room.
"Quick, let me out, Tom!" he cried.
The boy was ahead of him, but Dick followed only an instant behind,
sprang into the room he had left and seized the angry, half-drunken man
as he was about to throw the woman to the floor.
"Stop that, you brute, or you will get into a worse place than the
river!" he cried. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"
He had thrown the man on the floor but he now got up and rushed at him,
knife in hand. Dick had the knife which Tom had given him, and he met
the other's attack resolutely. The two blades clashed together, and the
man's knife fell to the floor, the boy picking it up.
"I told the captain I would kill you, if need be, to save him," he said,
"and I'll do it all the quicker to save my mother. You are a miserable,
drunken brute, not fit to live with decent folk. Go away, I will not
have you here."
"You?" repeated the man shamefully. "What have you to do with it? Isn't
this my house, aren't you my son, isn't your mother my wife? Where else
should I go? How can you turn me out--you, a mere boy?"
"Because I am the breadwinner, because you are a drone, an idle,
worthless fellow. You are not fit to associate with us. You are no
father of mine; I disown you!"
"You cannot put me out," snarled the man, advancing.
"If he cannot, I can!" said Dick, with determination. "If you do not
leave here at once, I will drag you out and denounce you as an associate
of spies, an habitual drunkard and a thief. Are you going?"
"Yes," muttered the man, cowed by Dick's resolute bearing.
Then he went out, and Dick said in a low tone:
"He will not venture to return at once, but he will seek out his evil
companions and try to overcome me yet. I must go. You are a brave boy,
Tom. Stick to your mother above all others, and you will come out all
right. Good-by, come and see us at the camp to-morrow."
Then Dick hurried out, and made his way toward Broadway where he would
be safe. Reaching a main thoroughfare at length, he went on and at last
entered the camp, where he was challenged by Ben Spurlock.
"Who goes there?" cried the boy.
"Captain Slater," was Dick's reply.
Then Ben gave a signal which brought a score of the boys running to the
spot in an instant.
"Lieutenant Estabrook has gone out to look for you, Captain, and taken a
strong party of the Liberty Boys," said Mark Morrison, coming forward.
"Were you on the East River side of the city?"
"Yes, Lieutenant, and have had some very exciting adventures. Send some
of the boys over toward the river, and I think they will find the
others. Tell them I am all right."
The boys gave a cheer, and then Mark despatched a dozen boys to look for
Bob, Dick going to his tent to change his clothes. In time Bob and his
boys came back, and there was great rejoicing in camp, everybody being
anxious to hear Dick's adventures. Dick told them, the boys being more
incensed than ever at the spy and determined to capture him and put him
out of the way of doing any more mischief.
"That boy Tom was a plucky fellow and a grateful one as well," declared
Bob. "That is the sort we want in the Liberty Boys."
"Yes, but he is needed at home," Dick returned, "and would probably have
to do the cause good in other ways than joining us. He would be an
acquisition, of course, but I would not ask him."
All was quiet in camp at length, and no alarms of the approach of the
enemy were heard, although it was not long before they would be.