SEASICK
The Hardy boys were not prepared for this sudden change of front on the
part of the stranger. They gazed incredulously at the revolver, but the
coldly determined face of their passenger convinced them that the man
meant to use force if necessary.
"Keep right on toward Bayport!" he ordered. "Don't turn back."
"What's the big idea?" demanded Frank indignantly.
"The idea is that I want to go to Bayport, and if you won't take me
there of your own free will, I'll just have to persuade you, that's
all. This gun is loaded, so don't make any foolish moves."
The boys looked at one another, and the stranger began to chuckle.
"Be reasonable now," said the man with the gun. "I have to catch that
train, or I'll miss the wedding. I can't let you bring me back to the
village. My friends would never let me hear the end of that joke. It's
just by luck I had this revolver in my pocket--but still, if you turn
this boat around, I'll use it."
He was trying to pass the affair off as more or less of a joke but
there was no mistaking the steely glint in his eyes or the hardness of
his voice.
Frank looked at his brother, and shrugged.
"I guess there's nothing else for it but bring him to Bayport," he
muttered. "I don't want to get shot."
"That gun looks bad," agreed Joe. "There's not much joking about that
part of it."
Frank bore down on the wheel and corrected the course of the boat so
that they were soon bound directly for Bayport again.
"We'll take you to the city," he said to the stranger, "but I'm going
to warn you that we'll turn you over to the police if we get a chance.
That's a dangerous game you're playing, even if you say it is only a
joke. It's a hold up."
"You'll think differently after we reach Bayport," promised the man.
"I'll have my wife write you a letter of thanks after the wedding. I
hate to use this revolver, but I can't miss that train."
The stranger's insistence on his story that he had to catch a train did
not convince the Hardy boys by any means. They were still suspicious
of their passenger, the more so now that he used force to induce them
to take him to Bayport.
"I'd like to get that gun away from him," whispered Frank, as he bent
over the wheel.
"Not much chance. He's watching us too closely."
"Trying to fix up some plot to get hold of this revolver?" asked the
stranger. "You needn't bother. I hold the whip hand here."
"We know it," retorted Frank. "But wait till we get to Bayport."
The motorboat raced on down the bay. The storm clouds that had been
collecting all morning now hung heavily in the sky. The bay was sullen
and slate-colored, and a heavy sea was running. White caps broke on the
surface of the water.
"Looks like a storm," Frank muttered. "Perhaps it's just as well we
didn't turn back."
A streak of lightning split the sky; it was followed by a distant
rumble of thunder. The _Sleuth_ was riding the waves well, but
there was a rocking motion that could not be avoided. The boat swayed
from side to side as it plunged on.
After about five minutes Frank glanced behind.
The stranger was no longer standing up; he was sitting back against the
cushions again and he still held the revolver levelled at the Hardy
boys, but there was a curious expression on his face, an expression of
nausea; his eyes were staring and his face was pallid.
For a moment Frank could not understand what the matter was. Then, as
the boat gave a lurch more violent than usual, he understood.
He nudged his brother.
"Getting seasick!" he whispered.
Joe glanced back, and when he saw that the stranger's florid face had
changed in hue from a deep red to a greenish white he knew that the
motion of the boat was indeed taking its effect. He forebore an impulse
to chuckle at their passenger's plight.
"Give her a little more gas," ordered the stranger, in a curiously
feeble voice. "You're not going fast enough."
He brandished the revolver threateningly.
Frank obligingly increased the speed of the _Sleuth_ but the
rocking motion only became more pronounced.
The stranger gulped, but he did not lower the weapon.
"That's better," he said, without enthusiasm.
"I'm going to give him something to be seasick about," whispered Frank.
Without warning he suddenly bore down on the wheel and swung the
motorboat about so that it was lying broadside to the waves.
"Here--what's the matter?" asked the stranger. "Where are you going
now?"
"We're off our course. I'm heading in toward shore a little more so we
can get out of the wind."
This explanation satisfied the stranger, although it became speedily
apparent that the new course did not.
The _Sleuth_ received the full force of the long rollers. The
waves were not high enough to be dangerous, but the swells gave an
undulating motion to the craft that swiftly increased the stranger's
illness.
"He's slipping," whispered Joe.
Frank glanced back again.
The stranger was indeed "slipping." His teeth were tightly clenched.
His face was almost green. His expression was that of a man who is
deathly sick. But he still clung to the revolver and he still waved it
feebly at the boys.
"Head her in toward Bayport," he demanded. "Do you want to make me
sick?"
"This'll fix him," said Frank. "Get ready."
He bore down on the wheel again.
The _Sleuth_ swung around at right angles to her previous course.
The abrupt, swerving motion finished the stranger.
With a groan, he slumped forward in his seat, and bowed his head on his
arms.
Joe sprang up. With one bound he reached the man with the gun.
The stranger realized what was happening, and struggled to his feet.
He raised the weapon, but Joe struck out and dashed the revolver from
his hand. It described a flashing arc, then fell into the water with a
splash.
Sick as he was, the man swung out viciously and his fist caught Joe on
the side of the face, staggering him. Joe quickly recovered himself and
plunged forward, grappling with the man. They swayed to and fro in the
middle of the boat, then fell, still struggling.
But although Joe was young and wiry he was not strong enough to cope
with his antagonist and Frank soon saw that the stranger was having the
better of the battle. He glanced ahead, saw that the _Sleuth_ was
heading into a long, low bank of fog but that there were no other boats
in sight, then abandoned the wheel.
He leaped back to the assistance of his brother, crooked his elbow
about the stranger's neck, and dragged him back. The man struck out,
wildly, twisted around and staggered Frank with a blow in the ribs.
He managed to struggle to his feet, they saw his hand flash to his
pocket, and then he produced a small package and flung it far out over
the side.
It had only taken a second, but that second was sufficient to serve for
his undoing.
Frank scrambled to his feet in the swaying boat, and for a moment they
sparred. Then Frank's right fist shot out and the blow landed directly
on the point of the stranger's jaw.
The man was not knocked out, but he staggered back and the wild
lurching of the boat sent him off his balance. He stumbled and fell.
His head struck against the side of the boat and he crumpled up in a
heap.
The blow had knocked him unconscious.
Frank bent over him. He saw that the man was not badly hurt, but that
he had been stunned by the impact. He pointed out a coil of rope in the
stern.
"Tie his ankles, Joe, in case he wakes up. I've got to get back to the
wheel."
The _Sleuth_ by this time was off her course, and was wallowing in
the trough of the waves. Quickly, Frank swung the craft about, but when
he peered ahead to locate Bayport he gave an exclamation of alarm.
The city was nowhere to be seen. The heavy cloud of mist that had been
gathering over the bay now totally obscured the shores.
How far the boat had departed from her course he did not know, and in
the fog bank he had but a vague idea of their location. He began to
look around in hopes of finding a compass, but there was none in the
boat.
"Have you got a pocket compass, Joe?"
Joe, who was busily engaged in tying the unconscious stranger's ankles
together, looked up and shook his head.
"Isn't there one in the boat?"
"No--and here we are in a fog bank. I don't know whether we're in the
right direction for Bayport or not."