BLENT IS MASTER
Ruth was truly frightened, and so was her chum. Could it be possible that
those rough men dared fire their guns at Jerry Sheming? Or was the poor
boy foolish enough to try to frighten his pursuers off with the weapons
which Ruth very well knew he had in the cave with him?
"Oh, I'm glad Mr. Tingley's here to-day," cried Busy Izzy. "He'll give
that Lem Daggett what's coming to him--that's what _he'll_ do!"
"Hope so," agreed Tom, grimly.
The latter brought the iceboat into the wind near the shore, and Isadore
dropped the sail again. They all tumbled out and ran up the bank. A little
climb brought them to the plateau where they could see all that was going
on near the rock on which Ruth and Tom had left the mattock the evening
before.
Lem Daggett had four men with him--all rough-looking fellows, and armed
with rifles. Jerry Sheming was standing half-leg deep in the running
stream, his hands over his head, and the men were holding him under the
muzzles of their guns.
"Why! it beats the 'wild and woolly'!" gasped Tom Cameron. "Silver Ranch
and Bullhide weren't as bad as this. The scoundrels!"
"Come out o' that brook, Jerry, or it'll be the wuss for ye." Lem Daggett
drawled, standing on the flat rock and grinning at his captive.
"What do you want of me?" demanded the fugitive, sullenly.
"You know well enough. Oh, I got a warrant for ye, all right. Ev'rything's
all right an' proper. Ye know Rufe Blent don't make no mistakes. He's got
ye."
"An' here he comes now!" ejaculated another of the rough men, looking
toward the east end of the island.
The four hurrying young folk looked back. Driving hastily from the lodge,
and behind Mr. Tingley and Preston, came a heavy sleigh drawn by a pair of
horses. Rufus Blent and a driver were in it.
But Mr. Tingley approached first, and it was plain by a single glance at
his face that he was angry.
"What's all this shooting about?" he demanded. "Don't you men know that
Cliff Island is private property? You are trespassing upon it."
"Oh, I guess we're within our rights, boss," said Lem Daggett, laughing.
"I'm the constable. And these here are helpers o' mine. We was arter a
bird, and we got him."
"A warrant from a justice of the peace does not allow you to go out with
guns and rifles and shoot over private property," declared Mr. Tingley,
angrily. "Be off with you--and don't you dare come to this island again
without permission."
"Hold on, thar!" yelled Rufus Blent, leaping from the sleigh with more
agility than one would have given him credit for. "You air oversteppin'
the line, Mr. Tingley. That officer's in the right."
"No, he's not in the right. He'd never be in the right--hunting a boy with
an armed posse. I should think you and these other men would be ashamed of
yourselves."
"You look out, Mr. Tingley," warned Blent, hotly. "You're a stranger in
these parts. You try to balk me and you'll be sorry."
"Why?" demanded the city man, quite as angrily. "Are you the law and the
prophets here, Mr. Blent?"
"I know my rights. And if you want to live in peace here, keep out o' my
way!" snarled the real estate man.
"You old scoundrel!" exclaimed Mr. Tingley, stepping swiftly toward him.
"Get off Cliff Island--and get off quick. I'd spend a thousand dollars to
get a penny's worth of damages from you. I'll sue you in the civil courts
for trespass if you don't go--and go quick!
"Don't think I went blindly into the transaction that gave me title to
this island. I know all about your withholding the right to 'treasure
trove,' and all that. But it doesn't give you the right to trespass here.
Get out--and take your gang with you--or I'll have suit begun against you
at once."
Old Blent was troubled, but he had one good hold and he knew it. He
shouted to Lem Daggett:
"Serve that warrant, Lem, and come along. Bring that young rascal. I'll
fix him."
"Let me read that warrant!" exclaimed Mr. Tingley, suddenly.
"No, ye don't!" yelled Blent. "Don't let him take it into his hand. Read
it aloud to him. But make that pesky young Sheming come ashore first.
Before ye know it, he'll be runnin' away ag'in."
The men who "covered" Jerry motioned him to step up to the bank. They
looked so threatening that he obeyed. Daggett produced a legal looking
paper. He read this aloud, blunderingly, for he was an illiterate man.
Its contents were easily gathered, however. Squire Keller had signed the
warrant on complaint of Rufus Blent. Jerry was accused of having stolen
several boxes of ammunition and a revolver. The property had been found in
an old shed at Logwood where the boy had slept for a few nights after he
had first been driven from Cliff Island.
"Why, this is an old story, Blent," ejaculated Mr. Tingley, angrily. "The
boy left that shed months ago. He came directly to the island, when I
hired him, from the neighborhood of Lumberton, and Preston assures me he
hasn't been to Logwood since arriving."
"You can tell all that in court," snarled Blent, waving his hand. "If he's
got witnesses to clear him, I guess they'll be given a chance to testify."
"You're a villain!" declared the city man.
"Lemme tell you something, Mr. Tingley. There's a law to punish callin'
folks out o' their names! I know the law, an' don't you forgit it. Come
here, you, Jerry Sheming! Git in this sleigh. And you, too, Lem. You other
fellers can come back to Logwood and I'll pay ye as I agreed."
Ruth had, meanwhile, met Jerry when he came ashore. She seized his hand
and, almost in tears, told him how sorry she was he was captured.
"Don't you mind, Miss Ruth. He's bound to git me out of the way if he
can," whispered Jerry. "Rufe Blent is _all_ the law there is in Logwood, I
guess."
"But Mr. Tingley will help you."
"Maybe. But if Blent can't prove this hatched up business against me,
he'll keep right on persecuting me, if I don't light out. An' I believe I
found something, Miss Ruth."
"Your uncle's money?"
"I wouldn't say that. But I was goin' to break into another little cave if
I'd got hold of that mattock. The mouth is under the debris that fell with
the landslide. It was about where Uncle Pete said he hid his treasure box.
Poor Uncle Pete! Losin' that box was what sent him off his head complete,
like."
This had been said too low for the others to hear. But now Daggett came
forward and clamped his big paw on Jerry's shoulder.
"Come along, you!" commanded the constable, jerking his prisoner toward
the sledge.
"Oh, isn't it a mean, mean shame?" cried Helen Cameron.
"Wish that old Blent was my size," grumbled Busy Izzy, clenching his fists
and glaring at the real estate man.
"I wish I could do something at the present moment to help you, Sheming,"
said Mr. Tingley, his expression very angry. "But don't be afraid. You
have friends. I shall come right over to Keller's court, and I shall hire
a lawyer to defend you."
"You kin do all ye like," sneered Blent, as the sledge started with the
prisoner. "But I'll beat ye. And ye'll pay for tryin' to balk me, too."
"Don't you be too loose with your threats, Rufe," sang out Preston, the
foreman. "If anything happens over here on the island--any of Mr.
Tingley's property is destroyed--we'll know who to look to for damages."
"Yah!" snarled Blent, and drove away.
The fact remained, however, that, for the time being at least, Rufus Blent
was master of the situation.