A Radio Eavesdropper
The Catwhisker was backed out of the narrow inlet or strait, in which she
had been moored, without interference on the part of the hostile men on
Friday Island. Whether or not the latter knew of the departure of the
yacht, the men and boys on board had no way to determine. It is probable,
however, that they heard the coughing and sputtering of the gasoline
engine and that they watched proceedings from any of the numerous places
of concealment afforded by rocks, bushes, and trees along the shore
elevations.
At any rate, the most careful scrutiny of the deep shadows revealed
nothing to the Catwhiskerites and their guests as the yacht worked its
way out of the inclosure, and presently they exchanged congratulations
one with another on the assurance that they were well out of pistol-shot
range from the group of islands.
"How far do you think we had better go?" asked Mr. Perry addressing
the Canadian officer after this matter of concern had been well
taken care of.
"Oh, I think we ought to find a mooring place at some island about a mile
from here and try to get a little sleep before daybreak," Mr. Buckley
replied. "I'm sure Mr. Baker and I need some brain rest after the slams
we got on our craniums. I've got the worst headache right now that I ever
had in my life."
"So have I," Mr. Baker chimed in.
"All right, let's not discuss this affair any more to-night," Mr. Perry
proposed. "Boys, you may as well get your wits together to arrange the
most comfortable sleeping quarters possible under the circumstances. I
guess about all our bedding is at the camp."
The boys set about to do as suggested, but it was not long before they
realized that wits could do little for them regarding rest convenience
for the remainder of the night. Presently they reported back the
following results to Mr. Perry:
One lounge in the cabin, bedding enough for one of the berths and enough
other bedding and articles of clothing to be rolled into pillow
substitutes for half a dozen sleepers.
Presently Mr. Buckley, who had been keeping a sharp lookout ahead in the
moonlight, supplemented by the strong headlight of the Catwhisker,
pointed out what seemed to be a suitable mooring place for the yacht for
the rest of the night, and a careful run-in was made, accompanied by
pole-soundings to prevent running aground. The depth proved to be O.K.,
and in a short time the yacht was tied up to a small tree which leaned
over almost far enough to dip some of its branches into the water. As all
were eager to waste no time belonging to nature's nocturnal period of
rest, the pillow substitutes were soon rolled and the various sleeping
quarters assigned according to varying degrees of necessity. Because of
their "sand-bag headaches," Mr. Baker and Mr. Buckley were given the
cabin lounge and the available stateroom berth. Although they felt
reasonably safe against further intrusion in their new quarters,
nevertheless it was deemed wise to maintain a series of one-hour watches,
the first of which fell to Mr. Perry by his own choice. Before the
general retirement of all but the first watch, an inspection was made of
the stateroom prison, and the boy prisoner was found to be fast asleep on
the floor with one arm for a pillow.
Hal was given the last watch, beginning shortly before the break of day.
Bud who had preceded him, handed over his slingshot together with a
supply of stones which he had brought in one of his pockets from Friday
Island. Hal accepted the catapult with profound respect, expressing full
confidence in his ability to repel a formidable array of would-be
boarders with a weapon of such knock-out record.
After it was light enough for him to see what he was doing, Hal occupied
his time by connecting his radio set for service on the yacht once more.
When this task was completed, he set about to prepare breakfast, deciding
that he would let the sleepers get another hour's rest, as he could
prepare the morning meal alone almost as quickly as with the aid of one
or two others. He had already learned the truth of the housewife's axiom
that "two are a crowd in a kitchen, and three are a throng."
At 7 o'clock he called all the sleepers to breakfast. The two "sand-bag
headaches" were no more, and everybody was as cheerful as could have been
expected under the circumstances.
"What are we going to do about Bud's prisoner?" Hal inquired as they were
about to gather around the cabin table, which was well loaded with
appetizing dishes, some of them steaming hot.
"Oh, we'll have to give him some breakfast," replied Mr. Perry, starting
for the prison-stateroom. "I'd quite forgotten him."
Without more ado, the prisoner was produced and supplied with
conveniences to prepare for the morning meal. After he had washed and
combed his tousled hair, he presented a fairly respectable appearance and
was given a place at the table. He sat through the meal without as much
as a "thank you" for dishes passed to him, and the other breakfasters,
observing that he was in anything but a cheerful mood, did not attempt to
draw him into conversation.
After breakfast the three men on board held a conference, the result of
which was an agreement to run back to the Friday Island group and make an
inspection of it with glasses from every possible angle. In this way they
hoped to be able to obtain a clew relative to the headquarters and
activities of the men who had ordered them to move their camp from Friday
Island. Then the engine was started, and the course of the Catwhisker
directed up stream.
"Now, my friend," remarked Mr. Buckley, addressing the young Canadian;
"you'd be perfectly welcome to the freedom of the deck under ordinary
circumstances, but the present are extraordinary circumstances, so we'll
have to ask you to resort to the pleasures and comforts of the cabin.
Boys," he added, addressing the three young Catwhiskerites, "you may go
into the cabin, too, and get acquainted with him." Then in lower tone to
Cub, who stood near the officer, he suggested: "Maybe he'll be more
talkative with you boys than he has been with us men. See if you can't
get something out of him."
Cub "tipped" Hal and Bud as to the purpose communicated to him by
the Canadian officer, and the three conducted "Bud's prisoner" into
the cabin.
But the latter proved to be about as uncommunicative as he had been
when the older members of the yacht's company tried to get something
out of him. He appeared to be bright enough and not especially coarse
grained, so that from the standpoint of quality qualifications, there
seemed to be no reason for his sullenness. Hal frankly made a statement
to him to this effect, but it produced no result of the kind desired
and intended. They got only short, surly returns in response to their
most friendly advances.
At last they gave it up and returned on deck. Before leaving the cabin,
however, Cub said to the prisoner:
"Now, if you'll promise to stay here and not make any attempt to escape,
we won't lock you up. Otherwise we'll have to lock you up in a
stateroom."
"I'll promise," was the fellow's laconic response.
"By the way," Bud remarked, as they were about to leave the cabin, "would
you mind telling us the handle of your name? We know your father's
surname, but we'd like to know how to address you. You're too young for
us to call you Mr. Howard."
"You c'n call me Bill, if you want to," the slingshot victim replied.
Hal was particularly impressed with a sly, cunning look in the eyes of
the prisoner and told himself that the fellow would bear watching to keep
him out of mischief.
"I tell you what I'd like to do," he said to his two friends as they
reached the deck. "I'd like to hide in the closet in the cabin and watch
that fellow. I bet he'd do something that would help us break his
mysterious silence."
"You could steal down into that little alcove near the entrance of the
cabin and watch him there through the crack in the door," Bud suggested.
"That's second best choice," said Hal, "I think I'll make use of
it at once."
Accordingly he descended the companionway with the greatest caution and
succeeded in ensconcing himself in the position suggested by Bud. He had
not been there long when he was amply rewarded for his diligence.
He could hear the prisoner moving about in the cabin and a peep through
the long narrow aperture along the hinge side of the door acquainted him
with the object of the Canadian boy's interest. The latter, apparently,
had just seated himself at the table, and with phones to his ears, was in
the act of tuning the instrument.
Presently he appeared to be satisfied with this preliminary and put his
hand on the sending key. The fellow seemed to be perfectly at home with
the outfit. Now the key was tapping and the spark was leaping across the
gap. The secret watcher leaned forward eagerly to catch every sound. Yes,
it came in genuine enough dots and dashes, and he read them with ever
increasing astonishment.
First the operator repeated a Canadian call several times. Then,
apparently, the call was acknowledged, and he sent the following message:
"I am prisoner on yacht, Catwhisker, in hands of the fellows I tried to
hold back, with radio, as they were leaving Oswego, N.Y. They are
determined to solve mystery of your doings. Don't bother about me, but
tell pa to clean out his place as soon as possible and then let his
prisoner go. They have government officer with them on his trail and will
soon find his hiding place and raid it."
"My goodness!" Hal breathed excitedly. "Now I'm getting at the bottom
of this affair. That boy is the anonymous amateur who pretended to
have a radio wager with Hal's cousin and tried to make us think his
SOS was a joke."