THE CAPTURE
Madge hurried down to where their rowboat lay. She dragged the anchor
out of the sand and pulled at the skiff with all her might. Phil also
took hold and together the two girls worked like beavers, but without
success. The boat was firmly wedged in the sand.
"Is there any place on the island where we can hide, Mollie?"
questioned Phil as the two girls rested for a moment from their
fruitless effort. "We can not leave here until the tide turns."
"I know a cave," said Mollie hesitatingly. "It is in the woods not
very far from the beach. But I am afraid they will find us there."
"We had better go to it," urged Madge, wiping the perspiration from her
tired face. "At least we can hide in the cave for a while, until we
make up our minds what is best for us to do, We may not be discovered
until the tide turns. Later on I shall slip down here again to see if
things are safe, and then we can make a run for our boat. If we wait
here along the shore, we shall not have the least chance of escaping.
The first person who comes to look for Mollie will surely see us. Come
on. We have no time to lose."
This time Mollie led the way through a tangle of trees and underbrush
to the center of the little island. Here they found the cave which was
only an opening behind an immense old tree that had been uprooted by a
storm. A flat rock protruded over the hollow, and the sand had
gradually drifted away until the cavity was hardly large enough to hold
the three girls. These were cramped quarters, and they were only
partially protected from view by the immense roots of the fallen tree,
but they knew of no other refuge and resolved to make the best of it.
The girls had barely crept into their hiding place when they heard a
noise of some one tramping through the underbrush. A few moments later
a man slouched along a narrow path between the trees. His hat was
pulled down over his face, but Madge and Phil recognized him by his
dress as the man they had seen asleep on the ground earlier in the day.
Mollie made no sound. She was hidden between the two friends, and
never in her life before, so far as she could recall, had she been so
protected by affection. But her increased trembling told her rescuers
that she had recognized the man who passed so near to them, and that
she feared him.
"It's Bill," she faltered when the figure disappeared without having
the slightest suspicion that he was being watched. "He is on his way
to our boat. He will ask for me, and my father will be sure to find
out that I have gone. Then they will come out here to hunt for me."
For a long time after Mollie's disquieting prediction none of the three
prisoners spoke. They hardly dared to breathe. Their bodies ached
from their cramped, uncomfortable positions; they were hungry, and,
worse than anything else, Madge and Phyllis were tormented with thirst.
Since leaving the houseboat early in the morning they had drunk no
water. Phil was thinking remorsefully that all this trouble had come
from her asking Madge to go with her to the island in search of Mollie.
Madge was wondering just what she would do and say if Mollie's father
should find them, while Mollie's delicate face had lost its expression
of apathy and now wore one of lively terror. Even the faint rustle of
leaves as a passing breeze swept through the trees caused her to start.
An hour passed and no one came to look for them. Either Mike had not
learned of his daughter's escape, or else he had not taken the trouble
to come to search for her. He must have believed that she would return
to the boat later on of her own accord, driven by hunger and loneliness.
It was now growing late in the afternoon. Neither Madge nor Phyllis
wore a watch, so it was impossible to tell how much time they had spent
in the cave. Miss Jenny Ann would wonder what had happened. Of
course, Lillian and Eleanor would explain matters. Miss Jones might
remember the tide and understand what was keeping them away. Yet there
was a lively possibility that she might fail to take the tide into
consideration.
At last Madge decided to end the suspense.
She knew their skiff would float from the shore of Fisherman's Island
several hours before full tide. They had tried to make their escape at
the moment when the tide was almost at its lowest ebb. The tide had
been high that morning. It was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon
when they had attempted to leave the island. She now believed it to be
almost five o'clock. At least, it was time to reconnoitre. She put
her ear close to the ground. She could hear no sound of any one
approaching.
"Phil," she whispered, "will you and Mollie please wait here for me. I
am going down to the water to see if it is possible to get the boat
off. It must be very late. Remember, high tide is at eight o'clock
to-night. We ought to be able to pull away from here between five and
six o'clock. When I come back to tell you how things are we can make a
run for it to the beach, and perhaps get a fair start before we are
seen."
"Let me go with you," insisted Phil, as anxious as her chum to get out
of their close quarters.
"I don't think we ought to leave Mollie alone," demurred Madge. "But,
if you think best, you may go and I will stay here."
Mollie's terror at Phyllis's suggestion of deserting her was too much
for tender-hearted Phil. "No, I won't leave you," she said gently,
taking Mollie's hand in hers. "You had better run along, Madge. I'll
stay here. But, for goodness' sake, do be careful. If anything
happens to you, Mollie and I will starve in this cave like Babes in the
Woods, if you don't come back to find us."
Madge crawled cautiously out of the hole. Her muscles were so stiff
that she rose to her feet with difficulty. But she soon started off
through the narrow path between the trees, making as little noise as
she possibly could. Her way through the grove of trees covered the
greater part of the distance to the shore. But there was still a
stretch of open beach, where she feared she would be discovered. When
she came to the shelter of the last tree she stopped and peered
cautiously up and down the line of the shore. As far as she could see
the beach was empty. And, surely enough, the tide was coming in. Tiny
waves touched the prow of the "Water Witch." It was true the water was
not yet deep enough to float their boat, but in less than an hour they
might be able to row away from danger with their new friend.
There was but one thing to do. She must return to Phyllis and Mollie,
and they must make up their minds to remain in their hiding place for a
little while longer. Madge hated to go back to the cave. She would
have liked to linger in the woods, hiding behind the trees until they
were able to leave the island. But she knew it would not be fair to
Phyllis and Mollie to leave them any longer in suspense. They would
think something had happened to her unless she returned to them at
once. The knowledge that she had not been seen made her feel more
cheerful. She was sure that she would yet outwit the brutal sailor,
Mike Muldoon, and carry Mollie safe to the shelter of their houseboat,
where Miss Jenny Ann, or perhaps Mrs. Curtis, would tell them how they
could continue to take care of the poor girl.
Unfortunately, Madge's gown was of some soft, white material and
altogether too conspicuous. She could be easily seen for some distance
as she ran along the shore, and in her anxiety to return to her friends
as soon as possible she did not look about her as carefully as she
should have done. Therefore she missed seeing the cruel face that
stared malignantly forth from the opening in the tent where Phil had
her first talk with Mollie. The man's whole body was carefully
concealed, and as Madge flitted by the tent his head disappeared from
sight.
The man in the tent had caught sight of Madge's white gown the moment
she stepped forth from the shelter of the woods. He had at once
understood the situation, but he did not stir until she started to
return to the cave. He knew that Madge had come down to see if she
could get the boat off the beach and into the water. It was evident
that the other girls must be hidden somewhere in the forest. There was
nothing to be gained by capturing Madge alone; he must wait until she
went back to her friends, then he could find out where Mollie was
concealed.
The boat on the shore and the disappearance of the two girls who had
visited him that morning told the whole story. Why had the two young
women concealed themselves unless they meant to guard the fugitive
Mollie?
When Madge started back through the woods the man followed her at a
safe distance. He did not wish her to know that he was following her,
for fear she would lead him off the trail, but he kept near enough to
know exactly where she was going.
She arrived, as she believed undiscovered, at their hiding place in the
woods.
Phyllis and Mollie heard her light footfalls and gave a united sigh of
relief. Their friend had escaped discovery. So far all was well!
Madge leaned over the opening of the cave, to reassure her friends
before she crawled into it again.
"It's all right!" she cried softly. "I saw no one, heard nothing. We
can get away, without any trouble, in another hour."
She crouched down to slip into the place of concealment. At the same
instant the three girls heard a noise. It was unmistakably the hurried
tramp of heavy feet! Mike Muldoon burst through the thicket of trees,
his face blazing with heat and anger.