THE PRISONER
"What had we better do to him?" asked Andy, as they neared the
prostrate man.
"Tie him up so he can't get away again," replied Frank, as he glanced
at the seaman who was rapidly rowing away. "If we keep him, now that
we've got him, he may tell us what we want to know. And we've got the
wreck of the motor boat, too. We sure ought to get at the bottom of
this mystery now."
"Well, we deserve something after all we went through," remarked the
younger lad, as he thought of the rising tide in the cave.
"That fellow is in a hurry all right," went on Frank, with a wave of
his hand toward the sailor who was now some distance out. "I guess he
hit him a pretty hard blow."
"Maybe he killed that man, and is afraid we'll arrest him," suggested
Andy.
"Nonsense! I don't believe that man is dead."
They were close to him now and stopped to observe the quiet figure.
They hesitated for a moment, for, though they had made up their minds
to make the man a prisoner, it was the first time they had done
anything of the sort, and, naturally, they were a little timid.
Suddenly the figure on the sands stirred, and there came a murmur from
the mysterious man.
"If we're going to do anything, we'd better get at it," suggested Andy.
"He'll come to his senses in a minute and we'll have our hands full.
He's a powerful fellow."
"That's so. I wonder where there's some rope?" asked Frank.
Andy motioned to the wreck of the motor boat, near which the man lay.
"There's plenty," he said. "They had a long rope to tow it with. I'll
get some."
Holding the cord in readiness, the two brothers approached the man, one
on either side.
"You take his feet, and I'll attend to his hands," whispered Frank.
"Have a slip-noose ready to put on, and pull it tight. Then take
several turns and we'll truss him up."
They worked silently and rapidly. Andy slipped the coil of rope about
the man's ankles, and pulled the noose taut. As he was doing this the
man stirred and murmured:
"I'll get even with you for this, Hank Splane!"
"Quick! He'll come to in a minute!" whispered Andy.
"I've got him," answered Frank. As one of the man's arms was partly
under him the lad had to pull it out before he could slip the noose
around it. But he finally accomplished this, and, just as he had it
tight, the fellow suddenly sat up.
"Here! What's this? Splane, are you crazy to tie me up this way? Let
me go, I say, or I'll make you sorry for this. Let me go, I say!"
He was struggling violently, swaying to and fro as he sat on the sands.
Then his vision, which was probably obscured by the blow he had
received, cleared, and he saw the two boys holding the ends of the
ropes that bound him.
"Oh, it's you; is It?" he gasped, plainly astonished. "Didn't I tell
you to stop following me? I won't have it! If you don't--" He
stopped short. A look of wonder followed by one of alarm came over his
face.
"The cave!" he exclaimed. "I left you in the cave. The tide was
rising. You--you--"
"Yes, we escaped, but no thanks to you!" exclaimed Frank sternly. "You
meant us to be drowned, but we found a way out, and now we have you
just where we want you, you rascal! You'll tell us what we want to
know, you'll clear up the mystery of Paul Gale, and you'll confess what
you want of this motor boat now, I guess."
"Suppose I refuse?"
"Then we'll take you before the authorities.
"Ha! Ha! A likely story. Marooned on this lonely island you can't do
much. You see I happen to know your boat is gone, and--"
"Gone, yes, because you took her," interrupted Andy.
"No, I didn't take either your sailboat or the rowboat," spoke the man
simply. "I wanted to, but some one else got ahead of me. I had to row
away from the island as the storm came up, and it was no joke, either."
"Then who did take our boats?" asked Andy blankly.
"I don't know," replied the man. "But I do know that you have more
than you bargain for if you think you can make me talk. There is no
one on this island but ourselves, now that Splane played me a mean
trick, and deserted. Talk of authorities! Ha! Ha! It's a joke," and
he pretended to be amused.
"We'll soon be off the island," said Frank, with more confidence than
he felt. "Our father will be looking for us, and may arrive at any
minute."
The man uttered an exclamation beneath his breath. Evidently he had
not counted on this. The two boys stood regarding him. Now that they
had him, they hardly knew what to do with the fellow.
With a suddenness that was surprising, considering that his feet were
tied, the man managed to stand upright. Then, with a mighty effort, he
tried to loosen the rope around his hands.
"When I get loose I'll show you what it means to trifle with me!" he
shouted. "You'll be sorry you ever meddled in this matter! Wait until
I get this rope off!"
He tried desperately to get it off his hands, and Andy saw the strands
loosening.
"Quick, Frank!" cried the younger lad. "We've got to take some more
turns on that! I'll help! He can't hurt us now!"
The two brothers fairly threw themselves on their prisoner and all
three went down in a heap on the sands.