CHAPTER XV.--BUDD ENTRAPPED.

CHAPTER XV.--BUDD ENTRAPPED.Just before Budd reached the wharf he noticed another poster tacked up on the side of a storehouse, and paused to read it, that he might be sure of the terms under which the reward was offered.As he stood there a well-dressed stranger came up behind him, and also paused to read the notice."That is quite a reward," he remarked, after reading it; "a nice little sum for some one to earn. Do you know whether any particular persons are suspected of the crime?""They are simply believed to have been experts," answered Budd."It was a neat job, that's a fact," said the man, complacently.Then as Budd turned away he asked, politely:"Do you know of any one about the wharf here who has boats to let?""I have a sloop," replied Budd, "that I use to take out sailing-parties.""Is it near here? Could I see it?" asked the man, looking Budd carefully over from head to foot.The lad led the way down to the dock and pointed out the Sea Witch."She would do nicely," said the man, jumping into her and examining her cabin. "Is she a fast sailer?""Nothing of her size on this bay can overhaul her," replied Budd, with a touch of pride."Indeed!" remarked the man, with apparent satisfaction. "What do you ask a day for her use?""We never let her except myself or my partner go with her," explained Budd, "and our prices depend on the party and the time we are gone.""Which of course is a very nice way to arrange it, I'm sure," said the stranger."Well, to come to business. My name is Wilson--Thomas Kortright Wilson--a direct descendant of James Wilson, of Philadelphia, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and once a Judge of the United States Supreme Court. Doubtless you have heard of him;" and Mr. Wilson said this with an air and tone that implied "You are very ignorant if you have not."Budd modestly admitted that he had heard of that distinguished gentleman, and then his companion went on:"I am camping out with a party of friends upon Patience Island. We have been there a week, but we can stand it no longer. It is horribly lonesome there; not a house on the island, not a solitary person there but ourselves. There is no gunning or fishing worth speaking of, and this morning the boys voted for a change, and sent me over here to hire a boat to take us and our camping outfit to Block Island, so I rowed over in that boat," and Mr. Wilson here pointed to a small skiff a few rods below the wharf, "and walked up the street till I met you. It is wonderful good fortune that I should have run in with you at once. Now, what will you ask to move our camp?""How many are there in your party, and how much of an outfit have you?" asked Budd."There are five of us, and we have only a few traps; you can carry everything at one trip," said Mr. Wilson, briskly."I ought to have five dollars," Budd declared: "and I shall have to go home before I can make the trip.""Well, can you go right after dinner?" asked the stranger."Yes, at one o'clock I'll be here," said the lad."All right; we'll give you your price. Meantime, where can I get a good dinner?"Budd gave him directions how to find the leading hotel, and then cast off the fastenings of the sloop and sped away for the island.Promptly at one o'clock he was at the village, and as he took Mr. Wilson on board he asked if he should run down and take the gentleman's skiff in tow; for, expecting to do this, he had left his own yawl with Judd."No, never mind that; it isn't worth taking with us," replied Mr. Wilson.Budd thought it a little strange, but had not the slightest suspicion that the skiff was not the property of the stranger, and that his story about crossing over in it that morning was a sheer fabrication.There was another statement in the man's story that would have seemed very strange to Budd had he only thought of it. He had stated that he and his party had been camping out on Patience Island for a week; yet the island was small, and Budd had himself been down by it but five days before, and at that time there was no sign of a camping-party upon it. But utterly unconscious of the man's falsehoods, the lad sailed straight on into what was destined to be the most trying experience through which he had yet passed.The gentleman chatted away pleasantly as he sat by Budd in the stern of the sloop. He asked questions about the islands and the main-land they were passing. He wanted to know how long before they would reach Patience Island, and how long it would take to run out to Block Island with that breeze. He assured Budd his companions would have everything packed on their arrival, and there would be no unnecessary delay in starting on their long trip.As they neared the island of their destination he informed the lad that the camp had been on the east side, and on running around the south end, Budd saw, no great distance away, the place of the encampment. It was true the tent was down, and the boxes and bags were piled close by the shore, but this was just as Mr. Wilson had said it would be; and when four men came out from behind a large rock, and walked down to the heap of stuff, Budd said:"They are ready and waiting for us, it seems, Mr. Wilson; but I can't get in to the shore with the sloop, and how will you get your goods on board? You ought to have brought your skiff.""They have a boat, a better one; that's why I left the other," said he; "but run in as close as you can and anchor, and I'll tell them to load up and come on board."Not a shadow of the coming evil was as yet apparent to the unsuspicious boy. Giving his whole attention to his sloop, he only cast the merest glance at the men on shore until he had anchored. At liberty now, however, he looked steadily at the men, to whom Mr. Wilson was already shouting. Then he gave a sharp cry of alarm, and drawing his pocket-knife he sprung forward to cut the anchor-cable. His words were:"Gracious! There is Bagsley, and you are the robbers!"But quick as he was, Mr. Wilson was quicker. Springing upon the lad, he bore him down upon the forward deck and called loudly for help. Two of the men on shore jumped into a yawl that lay hidden behind a projecting rock, and without stopping to load their stuff pushed out to the sloop. One of the men was Bagsley himself, and when he had assisted Mr. Wilson in tying the lad, hand and foot, he gave a look at him, and then with a terrible oath exclaimed:"It is Budd Boyd! Where did you run in with him?"Mr. Wilson briefly explained how he had hired the boy, not supposing for an instant that he knew any of the gang. "But," he went on, "the moment the lad caught sight of you he called your name, and said we were the robbers. He then tried to cut the anchor-cable, but I spoiled that little game. The question is, what shall we do with him?""Tie a big stone to his neck and to his feet and drop him overboard," answered Bagsley. "I told him I'd kill him the next time I saw him. He'll be sure to give us away, too, if we let him go, and our only safety is to put him out of the way."Budd, as he lay bound only a few feet away, shuddered at the coolness with which the villain said these words, and felt that his very moments were numbered. To his surprise, however, the man who had come off from the shore with Bagsley, and whom he recognized as the leader of the gang when they were at Fox Island, said:"No, there is to be no murder, boys, as long as we can get along without it. Put the boy into the yawl and take him ashore. We'll change our plans, and put him where he cannot give any alarm until we are out of all danger."Wilson and Bagsley lifted the lad into the boat, and the captain following them, they rowed ashore.A hurried consultation was now held, but in such low tones that Budd could only catch here and there a word. He was able to recognize, however, in one of the two men who had remained on the island while the captain and Bagsley came to Wilson's help, the third man of the trio that had been at his home. The other man, like Wilson, was a stranger, and had evidently joined the gang since the time of that visitation. After awhile he caught the words of the leader of the party:"I tell you, boys, that is the only safe way for us to do. As we'll fix the lad, he can't get away for a day or two, perhaps longer, and by that time we will be where he cannot harm us.""If he ever gets away he'll mark me for this affair, and will leave no stone unturned till I'm found," said Bagsley, moodily."I think even you will be satisfied with the way we'll fix him," laughed the leader. "Untie his feet, get another rope, and bring him on."Bagsley obeyed with alacrity, and the captain led the way over into the center of the island where a small depression in the surface cut off all view of the bay. A tree stood very near the lowest point of the hollow, and standing Budd up against the trunk of this, the captain, with Bagsley's help, tied him so firmly to it that there seemed no possibility of his untying himself.[image]The captain with Bagsley's help tied Budd so firmly to the tree that there seemed no possibility of his untying himself."There, Bagsley," the leader now said, stepping off a few feet to view the lad, "he is where he can see no one, and no one can see him. He may possibly attract the attention of some passing boat by hallooing, but it is a mere chance. He may possibly untie himself after awhile, but that, too, is a mere possibility. His friends, searching for him, will go to Block Island first; and if, after awhile, they think of coming here, they may be in time to rescue him, and they may not. Still you and I don't know that he will die here, and our consciences need not be troubled with any thoughts of his murder, for we know, and can make oath to it, that we left him here alive and in good health; only, his opportunities for locomotion are exceedingly limited."With this heartless remark the two villains walked slowly away, leaving Budd to his uncertain fate.

Just before Budd reached the wharf he noticed another poster tacked up on the side of a storehouse, and paused to read it, that he might be sure of the terms under which the reward was offered.

As he stood there a well-dressed stranger came up behind him, and also paused to read the notice.

"That is quite a reward," he remarked, after reading it; "a nice little sum for some one to earn. Do you know whether any particular persons are suspected of the crime?"

"They are simply believed to have been experts," answered Budd.

"It was a neat job, that's a fact," said the man, complacently.

Then as Budd turned away he asked, politely:

"Do you know of any one about the wharf here who has boats to let?"

"I have a sloop," replied Budd, "that I use to take out sailing-parties."

"Is it near here? Could I see it?" asked the man, looking Budd carefully over from head to foot.

The lad led the way down to the dock and pointed out the Sea Witch.

"She would do nicely," said the man, jumping into her and examining her cabin. "Is she a fast sailer?"

"Nothing of her size on this bay can overhaul her," replied Budd, with a touch of pride.

"Indeed!" remarked the man, with apparent satisfaction. "What do you ask a day for her use?"

"We never let her except myself or my partner go with her," explained Budd, "and our prices depend on the party and the time we are gone."

"Which of course is a very nice way to arrange it, I'm sure," said the stranger.

"Well, to come to business. My name is Wilson--Thomas Kortright Wilson--a direct descendant of James Wilson, of Philadelphia, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and once a Judge of the United States Supreme Court. Doubtless you have heard of him;" and Mr. Wilson said this with an air and tone that implied "You are very ignorant if you have not."

Budd modestly admitted that he had heard of that distinguished gentleman, and then his companion went on:

"I am camping out with a party of friends upon Patience Island. We have been there a week, but we can stand it no longer. It is horribly lonesome there; not a house on the island, not a solitary person there but ourselves. There is no gunning or fishing worth speaking of, and this morning the boys voted for a change, and sent me over here to hire a boat to take us and our camping outfit to Block Island, so I rowed over in that boat," and Mr. Wilson here pointed to a small skiff a few rods below the wharf, "and walked up the street till I met you. It is wonderful good fortune that I should have run in with you at once. Now, what will you ask to move our camp?"

"How many are there in your party, and how much of an outfit have you?" asked Budd.

"There are five of us, and we have only a few traps; you can carry everything at one trip," said Mr. Wilson, briskly.

"I ought to have five dollars," Budd declared: "and I shall have to go home before I can make the trip."

"Well, can you go right after dinner?" asked the stranger.

"Yes, at one o'clock I'll be here," said the lad.

"All right; we'll give you your price. Meantime, where can I get a good dinner?"

Budd gave him directions how to find the leading hotel, and then cast off the fastenings of the sloop and sped away for the island.

Promptly at one o'clock he was at the village, and as he took Mr. Wilson on board he asked if he should run down and take the gentleman's skiff in tow; for, expecting to do this, he had left his own yawl with Judd.

"No, never mind that; it isn't worth taking with us," replied Mr. Wilson.

Budd thought it a little strange, but had not the slightest suspicion that the skiff was not the property of the stranger, and that his story about crossing over in it that morning was a sheer fabrication.

There was another statement in the man's story that would have seemed very strange to Budd had he only thought of it. He had stated that he and his party had been camping out on Patience Island for a week; yet the island was small, and Budd had himself been down by it but five days before, and at that time there was no sign of a camping-party upon it. But utterly unconscious of the man's falsehoods, the lad sailed straight on into what was destined to be the most trying experience through which he had yet passed.

The gentleman chatted away pleasantly as he sat by Budd in the stern of the sloop. He asked questions about the islands and the main-land they were passing. He wanted to know how long before they would reach Patience Island, and how long it would take to run out to Block Island with that breeze. He assured Budd his companions would have everything packed on their arrival, and there would be no unnecessary delay in starting on their long trip.

As they neared the island of their destination he informed the lad that the camp had been on the east side, and on running around the south end, Budd saw, no great distance away, the place of the encampment. It was true the tent was down, and the boxes and bags were piled close by the shore, but this was just as Mr. Wilson had said it would be; and when four men came out from behind a large rock, and walked down to the heap of stuff, Budd said:

"They are ready and waiting for us, it seems, Mr. Wilson; but I can't get in to the shore with the sloop, and how will you get your goods on board? You ought to have brought your skiff."

"They have a boat, a better one; that's why I left the other," said he; "but run in as close as you can and anchor, and I'll tell them to load up and come on board."

Not a shadow of the coming evil was as yet apparent to the unsuspicious boy. Giving his whole attention to his sloop, he only cast the merest glance at the men on shore until he had anchored. At liberty now, however, he looked steadily at the men, to whom Mr. Wilson was already shouting. Then he gave a sharp cry of alarm, and drawing his pocket-knife he sprung forward to cut the anchor-cable. His words were:

"Gracious! There is Bagsley, and you are the robbers!"

But quick as he was, Mr. Wilson was quicker. Springing upon the lad, he bore him down upon the forward deck and called loudly for help. Two of the men on shore jumped into a yawl that lay hidden behind a projecting rock, and without stopping to load their stuff pushed out to the sloop. One of the men was Bagsley himself, and when he had assisted Mr. Wilson in tying the lad, hand and foot, he gave a look at him, and then with a terrible oath exclaimed:

"It is Budd Boyd! Where did you run in with him?"

Mr. Wilson briefly explained how he had hired the boy, not supposing for an instant that he knew any of the gang. "But," he went on, "the moment the lad caught sight of you he called your name, and said we were the robbers. He then tried to cut the anchor-cable, but I spoiled that little game. The question is, what shall we do with him?"

"Tie a big stone to his neck and to his feet and drop him overboard," answered Bagsley. "I told him I'd kill him the next time I saw him. He'll be sure to give us away, too, if we let him go, and our only safety is to put him out of the way."

Budd, as he lay bound only a few feet away, shuddered at the coolness with which the villain said these words, and felt that his very moments were numbered. To his surprise, however, the man who had come off from the shore with Bagsley, and whom he recognized as the leader of the gang when they were at Fox Island, said:

"No, there is to be no murder, boys, as long as we can get along without it. Put the boy into the yawl and take him ashore. We'll change our plans, and put him where he cannot give any alarm until we are out of all danger."

Wilson and Bagsley lifted the lad into the boat, and the captain following them, they rowed ashore.

A hurried consultation was now held, but in such low tones that Budd could only catch here and there a word. He was able to recognize, however, in one of the two men who had remained on the island while the captain and Bagsley came to Wilson's help, the third man of the trio that had been at his home. The other man, like Wilson, was a stranger, and had evidently joined the gang since the time of that visitation. After awhile he caught the words of the leader of the party:

"I tell you, boys, that is the only safe way for us to do. As we'll fix the lad, he can't get away for a day or two, perhaps longer, and by that time we will be where he cannot harm us."

"If he ever gets away he'll mark me for this affair, and will leave no stone unturned till I'm found," said Bagsley, moodily.

"I think even you will be satisfied with the way we'll fix him," laughed the leader. "Untie his feet, get another rope, and bring him on."

Bagsley obeyed with alacrity, and the captain led the way over into the center of the island where a small depression in the surface cut off all view of the bay. A tree stood very near the lowest point of the hollow, and standing Budd up against the trunk of this, the captain, with Bagsley's help, tied him so firmly to it that there seemed no possibility of his untying himself.

[image]The captain with Bagsley's help tied Budd so firmly to the tree that there seemed no possibility of his untying himself.

[image]

The captain with Bagsley's help tied Budd so firmly to the tree that there seemed no possibility of his untying himself.

"There, Bagsley," the leader now said, stepping off a few feet to view the lad, "he is where he can see no one, and no one can see him. He may possibly attract the attention of some passing boat by hallooing, but it is a mere chance. He may possibly untie himself after awhile, but that, too, is a mere possibility. His friends, searching for him, will go to Block Island first; and if, after awhile, they think of coming here, they may be in time to rescue him, and they may not. Still you and I don't know that he will die here, and our consciences need not be troubled with any thoughts of his murder, for we know, and can make oath to it, that we left him here alive and in good health; only, his opportunities for locomotion are exceedingly limited."

With this heartless remark the two villains walked slowly away, leaving Budd to his uncertain fate.

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