A VICTIM OF STRATEGY.
Almost at the same moment, it came to the active mind of Dory Dornwood
that the burglars might have gone to the bay, and embarked in a boat.
They were as likely to do this as they were to take to the road. He had
heard nothing since the sound of the voice startled him, and the
villains might be two or three miles from him by this time. It would not
be pleasant for him, at the breakfast-table the next morning, to relate
that he had got on the track of the robbers, and then entirely lost the
clew to them.
The thought of such a state of things annoyed him; and he decided that
he should rather be shot, or at least be shot at, than subject himself
to this degree of humiliation. But it was best to be prudent, even after
he had decided to be shot at rather than be inactive any longer; and he
walked some distance beyond the cart-path, to the northward.
He was intent upon settling the first problem,--whether or not the
burglars had retreated by the road during his absence in the other
direction. He lighted a match; but his examination of the roadway
revealed no prints of human feet, and even those of horses had been
obliterated by the heavy rain. He investigated several points of the
road, and looked carefully on each side of the driveway, without finding
a mark.
Returning to the junction of the roads, he made new calculations of the
probable action of the marauders. He was reasonably confident, that, as
they had not taken to the road, they were still in the woods. They must
be strangers to the locality, and were not likely to attempt to find
their way through the woods in the intense darkness which prevailed
under the trees. Possibly they were waiting, like himself, for the
daylight.
Dory did not believe they could get away unless they took to the lake,
or departed by the road, at least until it was light enough for them to
pick their way through the woods. He was covering the road, and he
believed that he had got the matter down fine enough to leave them only
the lake as an avenue of escape.
The wind was now blowing a violent gale; and even the most experienced
boatman in those waters would not think of going out in a small boat,
unless it was to save life. Kingsland Bay was fully sheltered, for it
was not more than half a mile wide at its greatest breadth. They could
not get out into the lake while the present tempest raged; and if they
tried to get away in any other direction, they must aim for the road,
for the Little Beaver River cut off their retreat between the highway
and the lake.
Dory's head had been very level so far; and when he stated his theory in
detail to his uncle, the principal, he fully approved his logic. He
resumed his seat on the fence. He had hardly done so before he caught a
faint gleam of light in the woods in the direction of the lake. A moment
later he discovered a more decided appearance of a light. The villains
were getting reckless, he thought; and possibly they concluded that the
pursuers had abandoned the chase, as they saw no more of them.
Encouraged by these appearances, Dory continued to wait. At the end of
half an hour he was astonished to see a light in the road, not twenty
rods from him, and in the direction of Beech Hill. At first he concluded
that it was the lantern from the school, and that some one or a party
had started to find him.
The light was moving; but it was not approaching him, as it would be if
his supposition were correct. It was certainly moving in the direction
of Beech Hill, and it must be from the dark-lantern of the robbers. If
this was the case, they were certainly taking a great deal of care to
show it to him.
He could not see the person who carried the moving light, or tell
whether he was alone, or not. Just then it looked to Dory as though he
was losing the game he had been playing so patiently. He left the fence
again. By the side of the road was a quantity of hoop-poles, and he
stumbled over them. He took one of them, and cut it in two; for it was
best to have a club, though he did not expect to have to use it.
Somehow the weapon seemed to add to his strength, though it was no match
for a revolver. From the evidence of the light, he concluded that not
more than one, if either, of the men remained in the woods. It looked as
though the robbers were arranging a new combination, and Dory decided to
make sure that he did not leave one of the villains behind him if he
followed the light.
It was but a short distance to the head of the bay, and a visit to the
shore would not detain him ten minutes. He followed the cart-path,
proceeding very cautiously. But he reached the shore without seeing or
hearing any thing. It was beginning to be a little lighter.
Drawn up on a little beach he discovered a boat. This could belong only
to the burglars. But why had they taken to the road, and started off in
the direction of the school, instead of departing in their boat? But
they must certainly return to the boat, and finally escape in it. The
painter was made fast to a tree; and Dory lost no time in casting it
off, and shoving the boat as far as he could from the shore.
He had closed that avenue of escape, and he started for the road. Before
he had gone twenty steps, he found himself in the embrace of a man, who
had fallen upon him in the rear. His club was useless; and the attack
was wholly unexpected, for he had been fully satisfied that the robbers
were both retreating by the road.
Dory struggled with all his might, but he was taken at an utter
disadvantage. A puny assailant might overcome a giant in this manner if
he were quick enough. The man had drawn his arms behind him, and was
pounding him in the back with his knees.
"Lay hold of him, Chuck!" shouted the assailant, out of breath. "What
are you about?"
"I am getting the rope ready," replied the other, as the first one
succeeded in bringing Dory to the ground. "Hold on to him, Angy, and I
will soon fix him so that he will keep quiet."
Dory struggled till he found that resistance was useless; and then he
submitted, though his spirit chafed violently at the necessity. He
realized that he was only one against two, taken by surprise at that,
and he could do nothing. He lay upon the wet ground till his captors had
bound his arms behind him, and then they assisted him to his feet.
The prisoner had done a great deal of thinking during the last hour or
more, and, so far as he was personally concerned, he had done it for
nothing. The situation was decidedly unfortunate for him, and he could
not help thinking that the marauders were making it worse for
themselves.
As soon as they had lifted Dory to his feet, one of them gave a
prolonged whistle upon some instrument. There were two of them at the
shore, and the prisoner was confident there had been no more than two in
the office. If there had been three who passed over the road, he could
not have failed to discover their tracks. He had looked in several
places, and always with the same result; and he concluded that one of
the party had remained with the boat while the others went to "make the
break."
By this time it was perfectly evident to Dory that the lantern in the
road was a decoy,--a trick to make the pursuers believe that the robbers
had returned to the vicinity of Beech Hill. Unhappily for him, the plan
had been successful, and he had fallen into the trap. But the marauders
had reached the shore where their boat awaited them, and there had been
nothing to prevent them from embarking. In the darkness they could
easily have made their escape. Dory was unable to explain the action of
his captors in this respect.
"We are all right now," said one of the burglars, when they had bound
the prisoner. "Do you suppose Mack heard that whistle, Angy?"
"Of course he did, Chuck," replied the one addressed as Angy.
"The wind makes a tremendous noise," suggested Chuck. "I will walk up to
that road, if you like, and see if he is coming."
"We are in no hurry, for we can't get out of this bay. It is blowing a
hurricane," added Angy.
"But Mack may get into hot water if he goes too far in that direction.
They have rung an alarm-bell, and the whole town will turn out: there
will be a crowd of them this way before long."
"All right, then: go up to the road, for that light may give them a clew
to us," added Angy.
Chuck started up the cart-path, and there was now light enough for him
to see his way so that he could move at a rapid pace. Dory looked about
him, and strained his muscles a little to ascertain the strength of the
cords with which he was bound. It was still too dark for him to see the
face of the robber remaining with him; and if he had seen him, he would
not have recognized him, for he had not seen him face to face before.
Chuck was not gone ten minutes before he returned with Mack, who had
used the dark-lantern in the road. They came back in a hurry, and both
of them seemed to be in a flurry. If they were professional burglars,
they certainly lacked the coolness of long practice. The dark-lantern
had been put out, and Dory could not see the faces of any of the trio.
"They are after us!" exclaimed Mack, with no little trepidation in his
manner.
"Of course they are after us," replied Angy, who appeared to be the
chief of the party. "The whole neighborhood will be out, for they rung
that bell long enough and loud enough to wake the dead. But we are all
right now, and you needn't vex your gizzard about any thing."
"But it is daylight, and it will soon be light enough to show us up to
all the world," added Mack.
"Dry up, Mack! I am running this machine, and I shall see you through,"
replied Angy sharply.
The leader took the prisoner by the collar of his coat, and led him to
the boat, which the wind had driven back to the beach. He was placed in
the bow, while Angy seated himself in the stern. The other two took the
oars, and the boat was shoved off.