CAPTURED
As Nancy Drew cried out in alarm, several persons broke from the crowd
on the dock and ran after Tom Tozzle. They chased him across the road
and were rapidly gaining on him when he slipped behind a group of old
shacks and vanished.
"Oh, I hope they get him!" Nancy murmured.
Since her rescue from the ill-fated motorboat, events had transpired
so quickly that she had not had time to think of Mary Mason and her
brother. Her first thought had been to save the Crandall jewels. Now,
as she pushed her way through the crowd, she wondered if the two had
managed to escape.
It was therefore with relief that she caught a glimpse of them as
the light from a lantern fell full upon their faces. They were being
questioned by a man who wore a naval officer's uniform.
Nancy guessed from what she had overheard while still a prisoner in the
cabin, that they had been captured the moment they leaped from the
motorboat. Undoubtedly, her own cries for help had made their hasty
departure appear suspicious. She must accost them before they told an
improvised story which might gain them release. Eagerly, she pushed
forward.
"It may be as you say," she heard the naval officer tell them, "but I
can't let you go until the police come."
"The police!" Mary fairly shrieked.
With a vicious jerk of her arm she freed herself from the retaining
grasp and broke through the crowd, striking out furiously at those who
would have blocked her path. Her action was a signal for Bud to do
likewise. Before the astonished officer realized what was going on,
he wriggled free and ran in the opposite direction from that Mary had
taken.
"Stop them!" Nancy shouted. "They're both thieves! Don't let them get
away!"
A few of the persons on the dock made a half-hearted attempt to stop
the two, but for the most part they were too astonished to realize
what it all meant. Fortunately, the naval officer was quick to recover
himself and darted through the crowd after Bud.
Nancy did not stand idle. Quick as a flash, she was after Mary. The
girl had the start of her by a dozen yards, but Nancy was an excellent
runner, and in this instance she was spurred on by righteous anger.
Mary cast an anxious glance over her shoulder and saw that she was
being overtaken. Bending her head low, she increased her speed,
throwing every iota of her strength into the mad race for freedom.
Nancy ran easily, but she too doubled her efforts.
Mary reached the road, but there she was overtaken. Nancy reached out
and grasped her by the shoulder, but the girl managed to squirm away.
She darted off again, but a dozen long strides brought Nancy even
with her. This time she did not attempt to hold her, but, getting a
trifle ahead, tripped her up. As Mary went sprawling on the ground, she
emitted a cry of rage.
"I guess the tables are turned this time," Nancy observed dryly.
Mary gave her a glance of hatred and tried to scramble to her feet.
"Oh, no you won't," Nancy said, and promptly sat down on her.
She was not required to maintain such strict vigilance, for just then
several men ran up to take charge of the girl.
"What's the idea?" one of them demanded. "Has she stolen something?"
"No, I haven't!" Mary spit out. "Let me go or I'll have you all
arrested for this outrage!"
"Keep a close watch on her," Nancy directed calmly. "And will someone
please call the police?"
Assured that there was no danger of Mary's making another break for
freedom, she hurried to the dock to find out what had become of Bud.
To her relief, she saw that the naval officer had collared him and was
dragging him back by main force.
"We have them all now except Tom Tozzle!" Nancy exclaimed.
"They've caught him too," someone in the crowd observed.
A moment later two men came up with the riverman in custody. From his
battered appearance it was obvious that there had been a scuffle and
that he had not fared particularly well.
"The fellow's a tough customer," one of the men who had captured him
observed. "We cornered him in a shed."
"Have you charges to prefer against these three persons?" the naval
officer questioned, turning politely to Nancy.
"Indeed, I have! They are criminals of the worst sort. First they stole
forty thousand dollars' worth of jewels from a friend of mine and----"
"It's a lie! All a lie!" Mary Mason broke in.
"And I happen to know that they are wanted for a number of smaller
thefts," Nancy continued, without paying the slightest attention to the
interruption. "Then when I discovered what they were about, they made
me a prisoner and took me aboard their boat, bound hand and foot. When
we were rammed by the yacht, they left me to drown."
"That's so." The two men who had rescued Nancy confirmed this
statement. "When we found her she was tied up all right."
"The motorboat was running without lights," a quiet voice put in.
"Otherwise my yacht wouldn't have run her down."
Everyone turned and saw that an elderly, dignified man in uniform had
joined the group. Nancy instantly recognized him as the captain of the
yacht.
"This is Captain Dudley," the naval officer said by way of
introduction. "There isn't a more careful man on the river. You can
depend on his word."
For the benefit of Captain Dudley, Nancy repeated her story, but when
she had finished, Mary Mason again denied the accusations made against
her.
"It's all a trumped-up story," she repeated. "It's true she was tied up
and gagged, but for a very good reason. We caught her trying to steal
our jewels!"
"That's right!" Bud agreed quickly.
Nancy Drew was aghast at the statement. For a moment she was so taken
aback that she could not say a word, and Mary was quick to press her
advantage.
"It's only her word against the three of us," she declared boldly. "Let
her prove her story if she can."
Captain Dudley glanced at Nancy with troubled eyes.
"Can you do that?" he asked.
"Certainly I can if you give me time," Nancy announced quietly. "I am
sure the police will have a record----"
"Time!" Mary fairly screamed. "She wants time so she can get away!"'
"Be calm, please," the captain ordered. "We'll thrash this thing out."
"If her story is true, let her produce the jewels she claims we stole!"
Mary continued.
She cast a triumphant glance at Nancy, feeling that she had scored
heavily.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Nancy admitted reluctantly. "The jewels
were in the motorboat, and it sank to the bottom of the river."
"That's just an excuse," Mary retorted. "The jewels never were in the
boat."
"We'll have a way of proving whether or not your story is true,"
Captain Dudley said quietly. "As it happens the motorboat isn't on the
bottom of the river."
"What?" Mary gasped. For the moment she was completely taken aback.
"Thanks to the timely suggestion of this young lady you are accusing,
my men slung grappling hooks into the boat and we managed to keep her
afloat."
"Oh, I'm so glad!" Nancy exclaimed in relief.
"All right," Mary said viciously. "Let her find the jewels if she
claims they're on board. That's all I've got to say."
"You can do that, Miss--" the captain hesitated as he remembered that
he had not heard Nancy's name.
"Drew," she supplied automatically.
"Drew!" Captain Dudley repeated in astonishment. "You're not any
relation to Carson Drew, by any chance?"
"He is my father."
"Jove! I know him well!"
He turned to the crowd with decision.
"Gentlemen, I can vouch for this girl. Her father is a famous criminal
lawyer in River Heights."
The captain's words had an effect upon the bystanders, and it was
obvious that they were again swinging over to Nancy's side. "Call the
police," they began to murmur.
"You're not giving us a fair chance," Mary insisted, in her most
injured manner. "All we ask is that Nancy Drew produce the jewels."
"Perhaps the matter can be settled more quickly if you do," the captain
suggested to Nancy. "Of course you know where to find them."
"Yes," Nancy murmured uncomfortably, "I think so."
She knew by the pleased look that Mary Mason shot her that the girl
felt she had won her battle.
"She thinks I shan't be able to find the jewels," she told herself
grimly. "And maybe I shan't!"
Though she confidently believed that the Crandall jewels were hidden
somewhere inside the cabin of the motorboat, she was not certain that
such was the case. Even if they were, she might not be able to find the
hidden compartment. If so, she would stand condemned in the eyes of the
crowd, and before she could prove the truth of her story, Mary Mason
and her companions would manage to slip away.
"I've got to find those jewels!" she told herself. "Everything depends
upon it now!"