As Budd watched the retreating forms of the robbers, so unceremoniously
abandoning him on Patience Island, he was very far from being disposed
to grumble at his fate. On the other hand, he felt extremely grateful;
for his condition, deplorable as it was, was a great deal better than he
had expected it would be when he found he had fallen into Bagsley hands.
He was, as the captain of the robber-gang had declared, alive and in
good health, and he knew he could hold out until his absence should
alarm Judd and send him to his rescue, even if he could not free
himself. But of this latter he did not yet despair; for while lying in
the yawl, waiting for the decision of the burglars as to what should be
done with him, he had found he could slightly work his wrists in the
cords that bound them, and he hoped, after some effort, to get them
free. But lest the men should at the last moment of their departure
take a notion to revisit him, he decided to make no effort in this
direction until sure he was alone.
Around about him he could see the evidences of an encampment, and he
quickly concluded that this had been the rendezvous of Bagsley and his
companions since robbing Mr. Johnson's house on Hope Island. Their tent
could not have been seen by anyone passing up or down the bay, and so
they ran very little risk of discovery, while they were sufficiently
near the scene of their robbery to easily communicate with their
confederates, for such he now knew Wilson and the other strangers to be.
But it was not until later that Budd learned that Mr. Johnson's house
had been made to furnish the principal essentials of the burglars'
camping outfit.
Budd now wondered which way the villains would go with the sloop, for he
felt sure the Block Island plan had been abandoned. If they went down
the bay, Judd, whom he knew was at the fish-pounds, would be likely to
see them, and a great hope came to the bound lad that his partner might
recognize the fleeing robbers; for he then knew Judd would at once
suspect their plans and try to capture them. This hope now became his
inspiration and his prayer.
But he did not mean for a single instant to give up his own efforts to
escape and to warn the proper authorities of his discovery; for Budd was
not thinking so much of the reward that had been offered for the
apprehension of the burglars as he was of the bringing of them to
justice, and thus securing a hold upon Bagsley. Still, first in his
thoughts was the releasing of his father and the vindication of his
name.
He had been bound with his hands in front of him, tied simply at the
wrists. He had been secured to the tree by wrappings of the cord from
his feet to his shoulders, and the knot that held the cord was on the
opposite side of the tree. His first effort was, then, to slip the rope
from his wrists. This he accomplished after quite a struggle, that
bruised and lacerated his arms and hands until they bled.
His next effort was to raise his arms up out from the wrappings of the
cord that bound him to the tree. First the right, then the left arm was
released, and to Budd's satisfaction he found their release loosened the
cord so that he could move himself a little in his wrappings. Had he
only had his jackknife, the question of release would have been decided
in a moment; but this he had lost in his struggle with Wilson on the
sloop's deck. He must, then, find some other way to remove the rope.
The ground where the tree stood was uneven, being higher where he was
than on the opposite side of the tree. Could he not, then, work slowly
about the tree inside of his wrappings until he could with his right
hand reach the knot that secured the rope? He knew it must be slow
work, and he must be sure the rope did not turn with him, or else his
efforts would be in vain. He determined to make the attempt.
First he strained his wrappings to their fullest extent, and then,
before they could slip back against him, he made a sudden hitch to the
right. He thought he gained a trifle, and thus encouraged, he tried
again. Once, twice, ten, fifty times he repeated the effort, and then
he knew he had gained. Objects had been brought into vision that he had
not seen when first bound to the tree; objects he had seen were now lost
to view.
All that afternoon, with frequent intervals of rest, he kept up his
struggle, and just at dark he found he could touch the end of the rope
that formed the knot, and a thrill of joy filled his heart. A few
minutes later he was able to take a full, strong hold upon this end of
the rope, and from that moment his progress was accelerated. Then,
tired, aching in every bone, with his coat worn thread-bare by its
constant rubbing against the tree, he at length reached a place where he
could use both hands upon the knot and untie it. To unwind the
wrappings was now but a few minutes' work, and somewhere about six hours
after he had been fastened to the tree he found himself free again.
It was, however, too dark for him to attempt to leave the island, or to
search out a way to leave it; and so, crawling under the shelter of the
great rock from behind which the robbers had first appeared that
afternoon, he, without supper and without covering, laid himself down to
sleep.
It was a restless, wakeful sleep, and with the very first show of
morning light Budd was astir. He first ran up and down the shore until
his quickened blood brought warmth to his chilled body; for though it
was summer weather, there had been a dampness and low temperature in the
sea air sufficient to make him uncomfortable. Then he sought along the
beach for some signs of shell-fish, and soon found clinging to the rocks
some yellow mussels. Though not the most delicious of bivalves he
managed to swallow a dozen or two of them, and their sharp, peppery
taste served as a stimulant. A drink of brackish water from a tiny
stream trickling down a rock into the sea completed his breakfast.
As the sun rose, Budd's spirits rose with it, and he searched the island
completely around for some log or plank, on which he could venture to
leave the island. He was not successful in his search, however, and
finally came back to his starting-point empty-handed.
"I've got to swim for it," he commented, "and if I do that, Prudence
Island should be my landing-place. Once there, I can get food, and
doubtless a boat to take me over to the west shore."
With these words he walked along to the south-east point of the island,
and looked across to its nearest and larger neighbor.
"It would not be much of a swim if I had a decent breakfast to work
upon," he said to himself; "but I shall have to wait until I get over
there before I get it.
"I presume I might wait awhile, and some boat would come along and take
me off," he went on, gazing up and down the bay. "But the quickest way
is to depend on myself, and it is time I was going, if I am going to put
any one on Bagsley's track. I wonder where Judd is, and if he has
started to look me up?"
There was no one to answer his question, and he did not stop long to
deliberate.
Taking off his clothes, he wrapped them in as small a bundle as
possible, and tying them together with his suspenders he fastened them
on top of his head. He then entered the water, and swam slowly across
the narrow channel that separated him from Prudence Island. He was
quite used up when he crawled out on the beach and began to dress
himself. Then he walked down along the narrow neck of land that is at
the north end of the island until he came to a farm-house, where he
stopped and asked for food.
He simply told the farmer that he had got left on Patience Island, and
had remained there all night; that he had with the coming morning swam
across to that island, and would like, first, some food, and then to
secure a boat to take him across to the main shore. The farmer at once
asked him into breakfast, which was already upon the table, but told him
he would have to go farther down the island to obtain a boat.
Budd accepted the kind invitation, and ate with relish the food put
before him; and if the greatest compliment that can be paid a housewife
is to show an appreciation of her cookery, then that farmer's wife
received from Budd that morning a stupendous compliment.
He had a little money with him, and on leaving he offered to pay his
host for the breakfast; but the man refused.
"I may be in the same box some day," he remarked, "and it I'm not, some
one else may be whom you can help. So just pass the favor on to him."
Budd readily promised to do this, and with a hearty "Thank you" for his
entertainment, hurried down the shore.
His breakfast had given him new strength, his bath in the cool salt
water had soothed his bruised and aching body, and he felt equal to
almost his usual amount of work. When, therefore, he stopped at the
house where he had been told he could secure a boat and received the
reply:
"I can let you have a boat, but you will have to row yourself over, and
bring back the boat at your earliest convenience, for we are too busy to
spare a single hand," he accepted the offer.
The farmer accompanied him down to the shore, and showing him which boat
he was to take, cautioned him about being sure to return it. Budd
assured the man that he need have no fears on that score; but he little
knew how soon he was to return it.
Shoving off the boat, he embarked upon it and rowed rapidly out into the
bay. Hope Island was plainly visible to the west, and he shaped his
course so as to pass the south end of it, for he had no desire to visit
Mr. Johnson again. Yet he of his own accord was in an hour to land
there and hold a remarkable interview with that gentleman. So little is
it that we really know what we shall do from hour to hour.
Half the distance between the two islands had been accomplished, and
Budd had a clear, uninterrupted view down between Prudence and Conanicut
Islands into the east bay. His first glance in that direction filled
him with sheer amazement, for just emerging from the east passage, and
coming directly toward him, was a sloop, and even at that distance he
had no difficulty in recognizing her as the Sea Witch. He could see but
two persons upon her, and yet there might be more in the cabin. Was it
the burglars returning to carry out some forgotten or newly-formed
purpose, and should he flee from them as for his life? Or had Judd, as
he had hoped and prayed, rescued the sloop from the robbers' hands, and
was he now coming to look for his missing chum?
These were questions Budd could not answer, and with a deep misgiving he
turned the bow of his boat and rowed directly for Hope Island, believing
that it was preferable to meet Mr. Johnson and his hot displeasure to
falling again into the hands of Bagsley and his gang.
But before he had rowed half the distance necessary to reach the island
the sloop had come up before the morning breeze with a rapidity to be in
hailing distance. Then there rang out from her three such yells as only
Judd could give; and full of surprise and joy, Budd turned about his
boat and went down to meet her.