The man with the pitchfork bent down and squinted in at the window, still holding me tight by the arm.
"Any more on ye comin' out?" he inquired.
"No, there aren't any more of us," said Mr. Daddles, "you've got the whole gang now."
"Better wait a second, Eb," said one of the men who was holding Mr. Daddles. He was a fat man, with ears that stuck out the way an elephant's do, when he waves them. "Better wait a second,—yer can't tell."
"You'll waste your time," said Mr. Daddles, "there's no one left in there but the policemen,—and you can't wake them up from here."
"P'licemen?" queried the fat man.
"Whatcher talkin' about?" asked the man with the pitchfork.
"I'm talking about the two policemen who are getting their eight hours in the library," Mr. Daddles replied, "Poor things! I hope we didn't disturb them."
"Don't yer believe him, Eb," said another man, "it's some gum game."
"Look here," I said, "this is all a mistake. We're not burglars.This house—"
"Yes, we know all about that," said a man, "we've heard this feller tell all about his Uncle Alfred Peabody's house. It's a fust-rate story,—only Uncle Alfred's is next door. This is T. Parker Littlefield's, an' you know it, too."
"I'm afraid we did strike the wrong house, Sam," said Mr. Daddles, "you see—"
"You betcher struck the wrong house,—you're right there, fast enough," said a little man, who was hopping up and down in his excitement. He was the only one of them who was not holding one of us. He had short, paint-brush whiskers, and I remembered him as the man in the shanty,—the one whom Mr. Daddles called "black- hearted Gregory the Gauger."
"You ought to be ashamed of yerself," said he, "leadin' boys into crime!"
"Do you mean me?" asked Mr. Daddles.
"Yas—I mean you,—in the white pants," he replied, looking with great scorn at Mr. Daddles's duck trousers, "I've heard how you perfessional crooks git boys to climb up on water spouts an' let yer in. I seen yer jest after yer passed my place, an' I knowed what yer was up to."
"Well, you are quite wrong,—you're way off," said Mr. Daddles, very seriously. "I don't suppose it will do any good, but it will save you people from making yourselves ridiculous. It's all true, —what I told you. I thought we were getting into Mr. Peabody's house, and he IS my uncle. See here,—do you think we LOOK like burglars?"
"Can't tell what yer look like," said a man, "'we caught yer in—"
"In partiseps criminy," said Gregory the Gauger, "that's what it was. An' whatever you look like, you'll look different tomorrer mornin'. I don't cal'late you know anything about breakin' an' enterin' Dr. Bigelow's last night?"
"No, we don't. We weren't here last night."
"Course not, course not. Nor about bustin' into the Ellis place last Sat'day night?"
"No, nor about that either."
"Course not!"
The men who were holding Ed Mason had been seized with the idea of searching him. So they made Ed turn out his pockets in the hope of finding some stolen goods. They examined the jack-knife, cork- stopper with three fish-hooks in it, and lead sinker which they found, and argued whether this was plunder from the house or not. Then they started to search the rest of us, and we all had to empty our pockets. Not until they came to the pound-cake, in Jimmy Toppan's pocket, did they find anything of consequence, and as he admitted that he had taken that from the house, they felt that they had made a real discovery. They handed it over to the pitchfork man.
"Here, Eb," said Gregory the Gauger, "yer want to keep this—it's everdence."
At this moment one of the policemen put his head out the window, and Eb promptly dropped the cake, and grabbed the policeman by the shoulder, remarking: "I thought there was another one on ye!"
Then he tried to drag the policeman out of the window by force. The policeman planted his feet firmly, and, as he weighed about three hundred pounds, he successfully resisted all efforts to drag him.
"What in thunder you tryin' to do?" he asked in a high, squeaky voice.
"TRYIN' TO DO? I'll show ye,—resistin' a officer! Here, Justin, give us a hand here, won't ye?"
In the meantime the policeman was blowing a whistle to summon his mate. Eb stooped down again, and he and the policeman looked in each other's faces,—their noses only half an inch apart. Eb had seen the brass buttons.
"Be you a officer?"
"You'll find out whether I am or not!" said the furious policeman, standing up and blowing his whistle again.
"Then watcher doin' here?"
"I'm here mindin' my own business,—I was sent here to look after this house—orders of the Chief. Who in thunder are you?"
"This here's the Kunsterble," said Gregory the Gauger, nodding his head toward Eb, "an' we've ketched the burglars. Here they be!"
The policeman blinked at us, and once more blew his whistle. At last the other policeman came, looking about half awake. He was the one who had been snoring so loud.
"What's all this ruction about?" he asked in a very cross tone. The big policeman said something to him in a low voice, and they both stepped out on the veranda. The first thing that the sleepy policeman started to do was to cuff all of us boys. But Mr. Daddles spoke up sharply, threatening to get him into trouble for it, and even Eb protected us.
"No call to do that, Mister," he said, "we'll see to gettin' these young fellers put where they belong for tonight. Tomorrer we'll hold Court, an' find out what's what."
Everyone began to talk at once. It came out that the policemen had been sent there from the town on the mainland, at the request of Mr. Littlefield, who owned the house. He had gone away the day before, and as there had been two burglaries in Bailey's Harbor, or its vicinity, he did not like to leave his place unprotected. Eb and Gregory the Gauger wished to enter the house, "an' go over it to see if it's all right." The policemen refused to allow them to enter,—probably because they did not wish it to be seen how they had been keeping watch.
This made Eb very angry. He seemed to feel that the dignity of his office, "Kunsterble of this here island," was not getting its proper respect. But I think that the uniforms and brass buttons of the policemen rather frightened him. The only sign of his high station was a badge, pinned to his suspenders. The two policemen ended the discussion by going inside the house once more,—"to make up their lost sleep" suggested Mr. Daddles. They retired within and shut the window.
Then Eb and the rest of them started to march us back to the village. The news of our capture had spread and there must have been twenty or thirty men and boys waiting for us at the front gate. Some of them had lanterns, and two or three had shot-guns or rifles.
"We left Bailey's Harbor very modestly," Mr. Daddles remarked, "but our return is certainly impressive."
"You better keep your mouth shut, young feller," said one of the men, "committin' burglary aint no joke."
"That's right, that's right," said Gregory the Gauger, who was flitting about from one to the other of us, "an' whatever may be said against yer, may be used in yer favor, too,—better remember that."
The constable was still more indignant because the crowd nocked around us.
"Clear outer here! Clear outer here!" he shouted two or three times. But they only laughed at him. Then we set out over the dusty road. First came Eb, with two other men leading Mr. Daddles, then Jimmy and Ed Mason, each securely held, while I was at the end of the procession, gripped by the arm and collar by a tall man, who never uttered a word. At our heels and doing their best to step on MY heels whenever they could, came a mob of boys and men.
When we got back to the Harbor, it had quite changed its appearance. From being a dark and deserted place it was now rather lively. There were lights in most of the houses and people waiting in the street.
On our way out of the village, an hour or two before, we had noticed a tent at the edge of the inlet, just above Gregory's hut. The people in the tent had turned out now,—they were three young men, who seemed to have been camping there. They had hung a lighted Japanese lantern over the door of the tent, and one of the campers was playing on a banjo.
The constable halted the whole procession, and ordered one of his assistants to put the banjo-player under arrest.
"I won't have it!" he shouted, "he's disturbin' the peace!"
Everyone laughed at this,—there was so much noise in the street that the banjo could hardly be heard. But a man went across the road, took the player by the arm, and told him that he must come along. The banjo-player seemed to be perfectly dumb-founded; his friends gathered round, argued, threatened, and finally laughed, and tried to treat the whole thing as a joke. Eb was stubborn, and the man joined our parade, with his banjo under his arm.
The police-station and jail were both in a new building half way up the hill. Into this we were hurried, and the doors were shut.
"Keep 'em all out!" shouted the constable, "keep 'em all out, except members of the possy!"
The "possy" seemed to consist of Eb himself, the men who were guarding us,—five or six of them—and Gregory the Gauger. I never found out just what office he held, but he was clearly the most important man of the lot,—except Eb. The constable leaned his pitchfork against the wall, lighted one or two lamps, sat down behind a desk and put on a pair of spectacles. Then he jerked his head, as if to beckon, toward the banjo-player.
"Name?" said he, picking up a pen.
"My name is Warren Sprague," said the man.
"Occupation?"
"I suppose you would call me a student."
"Don't yer know that yer was disturbin' the peace—"
"Contrary to statoot," put in Gregory the Gauger.
"Shut up, Mose!" said the constable.
"I thought that the peace was pretty well disturbed already," said the banjo-player,-"there was so much noise in the street that it woke us all up. I couldn't sleep,—none of us could sleep, and I didn't see any harm in playing a tune. Whose peace could I disturb?"
"Looky here, young feller, it won't do yer any good to get flip!"
"I'm not going to get flip."
"Don't yer know that it's agin the law to play on a moosical instrument after eleven P. M.?"
"No, sir, I didn't know it. Are you going to have me executed for it? Because if you are, I hope that you'll let me consult a spiritual adviser, first."
"You're too fresh, young feller. I might have let yer off—"
"With a reppermand," put in Gregory.
"Mose, you shut your head!" said the constable.
Then he turned again to the prisoner.
"I mighta let yer off, but now I'm goin' to keep yer right here in the lockup, an' consider the case tomorrer mornin'. Take him below, Justin." Justin was the fat man, with the fan-like ears. He stepped forward.
"Number six?" he asked the constable.
"Yup. Put him in number six."
Justin took the prisoner by the arm, took the banjo in his other hand, and together they started down stairs. They passed in front of us to reach the stairs, and as they did so, the young man turned to Mr. Daddles with a smile:
"If you ever get out alive, remember me to my friends, out there.Tell 'em I passed away, thinking of them."
"Silence in the Court!" cried Gregory.
The constable was now in a fury.
"If he locks up a man for banjo-playing—" murmured Mr. Daddles,—
"He'll have us burned at the stake," suggested Jimmy Toppan.
I had been feeling very unhappy ever since we arrived in the police-station. It looked to me as if we were in a pretty bad fix. The constable was so savage toward everybody it didn't seem possible that he would believe that we had broken into the house by mistake. Also, I was so tired that I was ready to drop. We had been up since four o'clock that morning, and it was now after midnight. It seemed to be years since we had left the "Hoppergrass," and during the last few hours we had walked over a dozen miles.
"Now," said the constable, "we'll make short work of you. Names?"
He really seemed to be less indignant with us, than with the banjo-player. Burglary was a smaller offence in his eyes than "disturbin' the peace,"—with a banjo.
He soon had the names of Edward Mason, James Rogers Toppan, andSamuel Edwards added to his list.
"Name?" he snapped to Mr. Daddles.
"Richard Hendricks."
"Why!" exclaimed Ed Mason, "I thought your name was Daddles!"
"Hear that? hear that?" put in Gregory the Gauger, "that's hisElias!"
"No, it's not an alias,—in the sense that you mean. It's a nickname. There is no use in going through this again. What I told you in the first place is all true,—and we'll prove it to you in the morning. I know, or used to know, a number of people here. I know Mr. Littlefield, my uncle's neighbor, but if he's gone away, that won't do any good. But I know an old lady down the street here, who lets rooms, and sells sweet-peas, and painted shells, and things. Isn't there such a woman?"
"What's her name? S'pose there is,—what of it?"
"I can't recall her name now. She could tell you who I am. But if you're determined to lock us up until the morning you might as well do it. We're all tired out, and we've got to sleep somewhere. I warn you that you're making a mistake and that we're not the burglars you are looking for. We came in here this afternoon in a boat, as I told you."
"I told you they come in a boat," said a man.
"What was the name of the boat?" asked the constable.
"The Hoppergrass."
"The—what's-that-you-say?"
"Hoppergrass."
"I never heard of no such boat."
Mr. Daddles was silent.
"Where's the boat, now?"
"I don't know,—she sailed away."
The constable laughed.
"You needn't think you can play it over me, with any such story as that, young feller."
Justin had now returned from down stairs, and the constable ordered him and another man to conduct us all below.
"Put 'em in number four an' five."
"Number four an' five it is!"
So we descended the stairs. Below, there was a brick-lined corridor, with three cells on each side. At the end a kerosene lamp hung in a bracket on the wall. This was the only light.
"Hullo!" said a cheerful voice, "how long did you get? Life- sentence?"
It was the man who called himself Sprague. His banjo stood against the wall just outside his cell, and under the lamp.
"No," said Mr. Daddles, "we're awaiting our trial in the morning, the same as you."
"What was your crime, anyway? Whistling?"
Justin shook his head at the man in the cell.
"You fellers better look out,—all on ye," said he. "Eb's pretty mad. An' he's got a bad temper when he gets riled, I tell you. An' folks are all stirred up about this burglin' business."
He looked at us doubtfully, and shook his head again. The other man—he was the tall, silent one, who had led me along the road- opened the last cell on the right and told Ed Mason and me to go in. Mr. Daddles and Jimmy were put in a cell across the corridor. The tall man vanished upstairs, leaving us all locked in. Justin was turning down the light.
"Look here, old sport," said the banjo-player, "just let me have that, will you?"
He pointed toward the banjo. Justin's jaw dropped, and he raised his hands in horror.
"Let yer have that? Holy Cats! Why, Eb would skin me alive—an' you too—if you was to play on that thing down here!"
"I don't want to play on it," replied the man, "but the strings will get damp, and break, out there. Just let me have it in here, —that's a good fellow. I can let the strings down a bit. No good spoiling 'em. I won't play a note on it. Honest Injun!"
"Sure about it?" asked Justin.
"Sure. Honest, I won't."
"Well, all right, then. Mind what yer promised, now!"
He took a key down from a hook under the lamp, unlocked the cell door, and passed in the banjo. After locking the door with great care, and replacing the key on its hook, he bade us all good night, and went upstairs.
"Burglary? Is that what the Czar has run you in for?" This from the stranger with the banjo.
"That is the crime with which we are charged."
"Well, I must say you disappoint me. I had always hoped for something better in the way of burglars. I hope you won't be offended but really, you know, you don't look DESPERATE enough."
"It's our first offence," said Mr. Daddles.
"That's what I thought," said the stranger heartily, "but I didn't like to say so,—for fear of hurting your feelings. Cheer up,— you'll improve as time goes on."
"Have you been here long?" I asked.
"Came in yesterday,—or day before yesterday, rather. We were in that black sloop,—perhaps you noticed her? You were in the white cat-boat, weren't you? We saw you when you came in."
"Did you see her go out?"
We all asked this eagerly.
"No,—has she gone out? We were on board our boat all the afternoon,—down in the cabin, I guess. Wish I'd stayed there. But we had the tent,—one of the fellows likes to sleep on shore, and so we all stayed. Say, this is a little bit of Russia, isn't it? Eb could give the Czar points. This is a new police-station, and he thought it ought not get rusty."
"Find your quarters comfortable over there?" asked Mr. Daddles across the corridor.
"Great!" said Ed Mason. He had already taken off his coat, rolled it up for a pillow, and lain down on one of the wooden benches in our cell. I was preparing to do the same. Upstairs we heard the front door slam, as Justin, and the last of the "possy," left the police-station.
"S-s-s-t!"
This came from the banjo-player's cell.
"Watch this, boys!"
I looked out the barred door of our cell, and so did Mr. Daddles and Jimmy from theirs, on the other side of the corridor. The banjo-player, holding his instrument by the head, was poking the neck of it through his door. Very carefully he managed it, and I soon saw what he was after. The big key, hanging on the wall under the lamp, was just within his reach. With the utmost care he inserted one of the keys of the banjo in the ring of the cell key, and drew it off the hook. Then holding the banjo very delicately he pulled it slowly inside the cell, until he had the key in his hands. Then he grinned out at us.
"Talk about Baron Trenck and Monte Cristo!" he said.
In a second more he had put one hand through the bars of his cell, put the key into the lock and let himself out.
"What's the matter with this,—hey, what? Another chapter inCelebrated Escapes!"
Then he tip-toed back into his cell, and shut the door again.
"It won't do to go upstairs too soon. I'll give 'em time to get home. Then I'll get the keys to your cells,—never shall it be said of Despard D'Auvigny that he deserted his friends in misfortune! A regular jail-delivery,—what? The destruction of the Bastille was nothing to this! And we'll carry Eb's head on a pike."
"What!" exclaimed Mr. Daddles, "I never thought of that! Do you suppose the keys to our cells are upstairs? I thought you were the only one to get anything by this,—I was resolving always to carry a banjo with me."
"Why, I guess they'll be upstairs,—I can't for the life of me see why this was left down here. But I don't care,—I've no fault to find with the arrangement. Now, we'll have to wait awhile."
We all sat down and waited for about ten minutes. Then the banjo- man, saying "the hour has came!" opened his door again, and stole softly upstairs. Half way up he turned and came back for a match. Mr. Daddles gave him one, and he vanished with it. He was gone a long while, and we began to be in despair, thinking that he couldn't find the keys, or perhaps that he had gone away without troubling himself any more about us.
At last however, we heard him once more on the stairs. He came down, on tip-toe, holding up two keys. He was smiling gleefully.
"They were in Eb's desk and all tagged and numbered."
In a moment or two we were all out in the corridor. Our new friend locked all the cell doors, and hung up his key on its hook.
"It shall be an unsolved mystery to them all. They shall puzzle themselves bald-headed over it," he whispered.
Upstairs we stopped long enough to return the keys to Eb's desk. Our friend still had his precious banjo under his arm. We had to go cautiously in the dark, as we dared to light only one match, and that we kept covered as well as we could. There was a window at the rear of the building, and unlike the window in the corridor below, it was not barred.
Mr. Daddles and I looked out. There were no lights to be seen, and no people about. We raised the window very cautiously, an inch at a time.
"Country police have their disadvantages," whispered Mr. Daddles, "but they have this virtue: they go home at night, and let the jail take care of itself. In the city, we should have had to pick our way through the slumbering forms of innumerable cops."
We listened at the window. Bailey's Harbor, after its great excitement over the captured burglars, had gone home, and gone to sleep. Everything was quiet as a graveyard. We could hear the slapping of the water against the timbers of the wharf, and somewhere, a rooster, disturbed by the moonlight, crowed once. It was a dim and sleepy sound, and it was not repeated. The fog had nearly gone; the moon shone clear.
One by one, and as quiet as mice, we crawled through the window, and dropped to the earth below.
Mr. Daddles stood on a ledge of the building a moment, and quietly pulled down the window.
"It wasn't locked," he muttered, "so there'll be nothing to show how we got out."
We were in a little yard at the rear of the jail. There was a large empty building,—a barn, or a boat-builder's work-shop, on the next lot. It cast a deep shadow over one side of the yard, and we kept in this shadow, as we stole toward the fence. A short alley ran down the hill on the other side of this fence. In a moment or two we were tip-toeing through the alley. It seemed to me that I had been going on tip-toe for hours,—I wondered if I would forget how to walk in the usual way.
Everything was quiet; we met no one, and heard nothing. Turning up the street we kept on, silently, until we reached the open space near the water. There was the tent, white and still in the moonlight. We looked in at the flap of the tent,—two dim forms lay wrapped in blankets, breathing heavily, and both sound asleep.
"Look at 'em!" said the banjo-man, in a low tone, "sleeping like babes, whileIwas languishing in jail."
"Wake up!" he said, in a slightly louder voice, prodding the nearest one with his banjo.
"Ub-ber-ubber-er-bubber-yah!" remarked the man, sitting bolt upright, and looking about him, as if he had been attacked by wild animals.
"That's all right," said Sprague, "it's only me. Don't get excited. Keep quiet,—don't bubber any more. We're hunted criminals, with a price upon our heads. Prices, I should say."
The other man stirred slightly, and rolled over.
"Hullo! That you? Rescued from a county jail?"
"Rescued nothing!" replied Sprague, "I might have died in jail of old age before you would have done anything. Got out by our own valor and ingenuity. Tunneled through fifteen feet of living rock. Now, get up, and be quiet about it,—the hounds of the law are on our trail, and we must leave these shores quick."
The second man arose swiftly, and began folding his blankets. The other one, however,—the one who had wakened uttering gibberish— crossed his hands over his knees, and said: "I don't know about this!"
"No," said Sprague, "of course you don't. We'll discuss it on the boat,—you shall argue it out to your heart's content. Come out of the tent, now'. We're going to get under way, and quit this place just as soon as we can,—and that's in about two shakes."
The second man had come out of the tent, bringing his blankets with him. Mr. Daddles and all the rest of us set to work pulling up the tent stakes. But the other man sat there, shaking his head.
"I think you're making a mistake," said he; "of course that constable was very arbitrary in his manner, but he IS the constable, just the same. I inquired and found that he is. The arrest was perfectly legal. You had much better stay in jail until morning, and submit to a fine which would probably be merely nominal. As it is, you are becoming a fugitive from justice—"
"That's right, and I'm going to fuge just as quick as I can. Come out from under the tent, Lord Chief Justice, or you'll get a blow on the cocoanut that will damage that legal mind of yours. These are my friends and fellow-criminals, the alleged burglars. … All right there? Everything clear? … I fear they are innocent, however, just as I am guilty,—of banjo-playing."
"No, but listen a minute—"
At this moment the other man snatched down the tent pole and the whole thing fell on the "Lord Chief Justice," leaving him floundering under waves of canvas, and tangles of rope. "Never mind him," said Sprague, "two of you hustle down and push off the boat,—it will take us three trips to get the tent and everything on board."
Jimmy Toppan and one of the other men (the second one to wake up, —they called him "Pete") hurried down to the water's edge. The "Lord Chief Justice" (whom they called "Chief," for short) crawled out from under the canvas, and we began to fold up the tent. It was a small one, and they had nothing in it except their blankets and some cushions and pillows from the yacht.
The Chief, still muttering and complaining, was sent out on the first trip, with Jimmy Toppan and Ed Mason. He and Jimmy were commanded to get up the sails, while Ed brought back the boat. This time he carried the tent, and then came back for the pillows, blankets and cushions. All this took more or less time,—fifteen or twenty minutes, perhaps. Mr. Daddles and Sprague kept their eyes on the little street nearby, to make sure that we were not observed.
Just as Mr. Daddles and I were getting into the boat, someone spoke from the shadow of a building.
"Aha!" said a voice.
Then a man stepped out into the moonlight, and advanced a little toward us.
"Leavin' kinder sudden, aint yer?"
It was Gregory the Gauger. He walked still nearer. Then he recognized Mr. Daddles and me.
"What's this? What's this?" he snapped, "got out, didger? Thought yer was escapin', didger? Consider yerselves under arrest. I apprehend yer in the name of the Commonwealth. Stay right where yer be. I'll go an' get Eb."
"No, you won't, either," said Mr. Daddles.
He and Sprague darted forward at the same moment. They grabbed the little man, each by an arm, and commenced walking him rapidly toward the boat.
"Here, here! Whatcher doin'? Lemme be! Lemme be! This is assault!Lemme be, I tell yer!"
They led him, still chattering and protesting, right to the boat.
"We don't want you with us,—not a little bit. But you'll have to come, if you don't keep quiet. Then you'll have a beautiful case against us."
"Help! Help!" he squealed.
Mr. Daddles clapped a hand over his mouth, and they lifted him off his feet into the boat. Pete jumped in beside him, and smothered his cries with a pillow. Ed and I pushed off, and climbed in over the bows. In a minute we were alongside the yacht. Mr. Daddles and Sprague jumped on board, and Pete handed Gregory the Gauger up to them. He had to drop the pillow to do this, and as soon as the little man's mouth was uncovered he began his protests right where he had left off.
"Help!" he squeaked, "help! Lemme be! Put me back on shore, I tell yer! I'll have every last one of yer in State's Prison for this. It's abducshun,—that's what it is,—d' yer hear? It's abducshun!"
"Yes, and you've already got assault and battery against us, and smothering-with-a-pillow, to say nothing of burglary, breaking and entering, and banjo-playing after 10 P. M. We won't any of us live long enough to serve out our sentences, not even if we get old enough to make Methuselah look like a spring-chicken."
"And if you go on with that yelping, my friend," added Sprague, "we'll add piracy on the high seas, keel-hauling, drowning in a sack, and hanging at the yard-arm to our list of accomplishments. I would have you know that we are desperate men. This person"— pointing to the Chief, "is the only law-abiding one amongst us. If you'll be good and quiet, and sit down and behave until we are well away, you will come to no harm."
"And we'll let you exchange legal chit-chat with the ChiefJustice, here," added Pete.
But nothing could quiet the captive. He broke away from them, ran up to the bow, and began once more to call for help. At this, Pete and Sprague seized him and gently led him down into the cabin. They closed the cabin doors and left him there. Instantly he began to pound and thump on the deck.
"Let him thump," said Sprague, "it's time we departed."
"Yes," said Ed Mason, "any moment I expect to see Eb coming down to the shore."
"With his pitchfork," added Mr. Daddles.
We got the anchor up, and the boat began to move out of the inlet.The breeze was light, but two short tacks took us into the bay.
"Where do you want to go?" inquired the Chief, gravely. He was sailing the boat.
"'Somewheres east of Suez,'" said Sprague. "I don't care. I should like to go to sleep. And I should think you burglars would be about ready for a nap."
"We are!" we all groaned.
"The Chief and I will stand watch," said Pete, "I'm not sleepy. ByGeorge! It's a great night."
He yawned, stretched both arms in the air, and gazed up toward the moon. Suddenly he brought both arms down at his sides.
"Great Scott!" he cried, "we've forgotten Simon!"
The Chief gave a snort of disgust.
"If you're going—" he began.
"That's so! that's so!" shouted Sprague, "put about, Chief!"
The Chief groaned. "Positively," he said, "you make me sick!"
"Then you're in no state to sail the boat," replied Pete, "here, get away from the wheel!"
He pushed the indignant Chief away, and taking the wheel himself, began to put the boat about.
"Who's Simon?" asked Mr. Daddles.
Nobody paid any attention to his question.
"To think of forgetting him!" exclaimed Pete, "can you see anything of him, Warren?"
Sprague had run up forward, and was peering ahead as we entered the inlet.
"Here he comes!" he cried, "by Jingo, here he comes! Well, what do you think of that? Isn't he a brick, Pete?"
I tried to see what all this was about. The moon was bright on the water, and at last I could make out some white thing, like a sea gull, moving toward us. We were running before the wind and soon were near enough to get a good view. It was a bird of some kind. We were in no doubt about the kind when it raised itself upon the water, flapped its wings and uttered a loud "Quack! qu-a-a-a-ck!"
"It's a duck!" said Ed Mason.
"Of course it's a duck," replied Pete, "we got him at Duck Island, too. It's Simon. Can you reach him, Warren?"
"I think so," answered Sprague, "easy now!"
Pete brought the yacht carefully alongside the duck, Sprague twined one foot around the bob-stay, reached over and lifted the bird into the boat. As soon as it was set on deck the duck shook its feathers, gave one defiant waggle of the tail, and paddled aft, remarking: "Quack! quack! qua-a-a-ck!"
"Well! Simon, old man!" said the delighted Pete, "did you think we had left you behind? You didn't think that of us, did you? But you had started out to overtake us, hadn't you? That shows what a good old sport you are. The Chief might have left you in the lurch, but your Uncle Warren and I wouldn't."
Simon waddled about a little, and finally settled down in the center of a coil of rope. Once more we turned and started again on our flight from Bailey's Harbor.
It was a beautiful night. The moonlight sparkled on the water, and shone clear and soft on the sails of the boat. The breeze was cool and delicious. Gregory the Gauger had stopped thumping and everything was very pleasant and restful after the jail, and the other exciting events of the night. Except for the sound of the water at the bow, we sailed for five or ten minutes in perfect silence. My eyes half closed and my head fell forward as I sat in the cockpit.
"Well, I'd go below, and turn in," said Mr. Daddles, "but I don't know about facing that sabre-toothed tiger down there. We made a great mistake, boys, in not slitting his weasand the first time we saw him. Somehow, I think I'm going through life with him in close pursuit."
"Let's see what he's up to now," said Sprague.
"He's probably scuttling the ship," suggested Jimmy Toppan.
Sprague opened the cabin doors, and pushed back the hatchway. Gregory had lighted the lamp and was calmly engaged in examining the clock. To our surprise the wrath seemed to have gone out of the man.
"Where didger git that air clock?" he asked, peering up atSprague.
"In Boston," Sprague answered him, "what do you think of it?"
"Pretty fair, pretty fair. What does a clock like that cost?"
They entered into a conversation about the clock, and some of the other furnishings of the cabin. Sprague asked him if he wanted to come on deck. He accepted the invitation and came up.
"You'd better look out for him," Mr. Daddles whispered to Pete, "this may be guile."
Then all of us, except Pete, the Chief, and our prisoner, went below, and prepared to turn in. Jimmy Toppan stretched himself out on a bunk and went to sleep in no time at all. Ed Mason and I picked out places for ourselves, while Mr. Daddles made himself comfortable with a couple of pillows under his head.
"Today," I heard him murmur, "I've lost my steamboat, been wrecked on a desert island, been rescued, fallen overboard, rescued again, lost my money hunting buried treasure, was deserted by the boat that rescued me, and left stranded in Bailey's Harbor, been scared pink by an old cow, committed burglary, scared again by a snoring policeman, got arrested by the High Sheriff and his posse, confined in dungeons, escaped from jail, committed abduction, Gregory-snatching, and muffling-with-a-pillow. I wonder—"
Here his voice trailed off into a whisper.
I had expected to go to sleep as soon as I lay down, but I found the cabin rather close and stuffy. Sprague and Ed Mason didn't seem to mind it,—they lay still, and were evidently asleep. I hitched about for a while, and finally decided to go up on deck. It struck me that I could sleep better there.
So I took a pillow and went up. Gregory was sitting in the cock- pit, contentedly smoking a clay pipe and watching the sails with the air of an owner. Pete and the Chief were both sitting quietly in the stern. The Chief was again at the wheel. I found some canvas, part of a sail-cover, and stretched myself out on a seat, with the canvas over me to keep off the dampness. In a minute or two I was asleep,—the best and most refreshing sleep I ever remember. All through the rest of the night I was dimly aware of the sound of the water about the bows, and the cool breeze on my face.
When I woke it was broad daylight. The boat had come to a stop, the mainsail was down, and they were taking in the jib. I heard the anchor go over with a splash, and then Pete came running aft.
"Hullo! Awake? How are you?"
"All right. Where are we?"
"I don't know. Unknown island."
I sat up and looked over the starboard side of the boat. We were in a little bay, and there was land about a hundred yards distant, —a rocky island with pine trees, and two or three small cottages set amongst the trees. I heard someone talking on the other side of the boat, and I looked up forward to see Sprague, in a bathing suit, and Gregory the Gauger. Sprague was entertaining the Gauger with a poem which he had been reciting at intervals ever since we met him.
"'She'd git her little banjo an' she'd sing Kulla-lo-lo!'—but not in Bailey's Harbor,—hey, what? She wouldn't get her little banjo there, or you'd run her in, wouldn't you, Squire? You and the Constable!"
"Where did you get that poem?" asked Pete, who was furling the sail.
"I read it in a paper last week. Isn't it great? It's by a man with a funny name,—I wish I could remember it! 'An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!' That's the way the dawn does come up over there, isn't it? Ever been in China, Squire?"
"No, I haint," said Gregory. "Where be you fellers goin' to put me ashore? That's what I want to know."
"All in good time, Squire, all in good time. Watch this,—I bet you can't do it!"
And Sprague made a clean dive and scoot under the water, came up thirty feet away, and commenced to float, facing the boat, and waggling one big toe at Gregory the Gauger.
It did not take me two seconds to know what I wanted to do, nor two minutes to get overboard. The water was cold, but I swam around the yacht, before I climbed out again. One by one the others came up from below, and they all jumped over for a swim, except Gregory and the Chief. The latter went poking about, in his silent, methodical way, paying no attention to the orders which Sprague fired at him.
"Food! food!" called the banjo-player, climbing aboard; "my wasted frame cries aloud for food. Get out the frying-pan, Chief, and the coffee-pot! Move about more briskly,—remember that I have been many days on bread and water in a dungeon … Oh, hang it!"
He floundered about in his shirt, which he had put on wrong side foremost in his hurry.
"Fish out those eggs, and see if there are any rolls left,—I'll match you for yours, Squire. You won't be hungry, you haven't been in swimming."
"Ketch me goin' into that water!" returned Gregory, "I'll make my abbalootions right here."
And he proceeded to wash his face and hands over the stern of the boat. We were all very much awake now, very hungry, and no longer tired. The swim had opened our eyes. The drowsy moonlight world had gone and given place to one of sunshine. A breeze rattled the halliards against the mast, and ruffled the blue water of the bay in little patches. We hurried into our clothes, while the Chief warned us to keep out of the cockpit, and not get everything wet. Sprague struggled with his shirt, and declaimed his favorite poem in a muffled tone.
"'And the flyin' fishes play,'—And speaking of flying-fishes, where is Simon? Has he had his morning swim? … Oh, there he is, —paddling about like a good one! Swims like a duck, doesn't he, Squire?"
"There's nothing for breakfast except bacon and eggs," said theChief.
"And coffee and rolls," added Pete, "what more do you want, you old lemon?"
"No, there are only three rolls. Some of us will have to eat crackers."
"I will eat marline-spikes," said Mr. Daddles, "if you've got any of them on board. I've never seen one,—though I've heard of them a great deal."
"I'll eat crackers," declared Jimmy Toppan.
"So will I," said Sprague, "and glad to get 'em. I might be gnawing a bone in jail, now, instead."
"And there's no milk," said the Chief, "we were going to get some, and some bread, this morning in Bailey's Harbor."
"If you had endured the sufferings thatIhave in Bailey'sHarbor—" began Sprague.
"There are three dozen eggs," said Pete, "and that's more than four apiece, and there is plenty of bacon,—stop talking and get busy."
In ten minutes we were eating breakfast. They had trouble to keep us all supplied with fried eggs, until two skillets were put into commission. Then there was silence for a time.
"There's an apple pie down there," remarked Sprague, as he helped himself to another cup of coffee.
Mr. Daddles hurried below, and soon came up with the pie.
"I hope some of you will," said he, "you do, in this region, don't you?"
"In obscure parts of the ulterior," said Pete, "I have heard that the habit lingers of eating pie for breakfast. It's merely a tradition in my family, I regret to say."
"The old, robust stock is dying out," said Sprague, mournfully, "but my father has told me that in his youth he often saw his father do it. We are over civilized, but if there should be any great national crisis,—a war, or anything like that,—I have no doubt that New England would rally once again, and—"
"I am so much disappointed," said Daddles, turning slowly about, with the pie in one hand, "my poor grandmother has often told me about it, and I did hope to see the weird, old custom practised on its native heath—won't you? Or you?"
He turned to one after the other of us.
"Yer can give me a mejum piece," observed Gregory the Gauger, looking up from his fifth fried egg.
Mr. Daddles cut a large slice in evident delight. Gregory ate it, slowly and thoughtfully.
"Have some more?"
The Gauger held out his plate.
"Jes' mejum," said he.
After breakfast, we of the "Hoppergrass" held a council.
"The Captain will come back to Bailey's Harbor," said Jimmy Toppan, "but we can't go there at all. We'll have to go somewhere else, and send a message to him."
"We might go to that place—what's its name? Squid Cove," Ed Mason suggested.
"And send a message to him by the car-driver," I added.
"We'll have to write it in cipher," said Mr. Daddles, "for it would never do to have it fall into the hands of Eb."
"How do you know that he will come back there?" I asked.
"I don't," said Jimmy, "but it's the most likely thing to happen, isn't it?"
"The most likely thing doesn't seem to happen on this trip," remarked Ed Mason, who was feeding Simon, the duck, with cracker crumbs.
Sprague broke in on our conversation.
"This charming little island," said he, pointing over his shoulder, toward the land, "is not an island, at all, it seems. It is a cape, or promontory, or perhaps more properly a peninsula. Its name, so the Squire tells us, is Briggs's Nose. Probably the man who gave it that name perished long ago,—slain, no doubt, by the residents. At any rate, it is so far from the nearest town on the mainland that we believe it will be safe to land the Squire there. He can take the steamer this afternoon and get home before dusk. All who wish to kiss the Squire good-bye should therefore get ready. The line forms on the left."
Gregory the Gauger was disposed to grumble at being set ashore.
"Fear not, Squire," said Sprague, "crowns for convoy shall be put into your purse. Many a ship's crew would have marooned you on a desert island, or set you adrift."
"With some ship's bread and a beaker of water," added Mr. Daddles.
"Quite so," said Sprague, "only we couldn't find a beaker on board,—and wouldn't have known one if we HAD found it."
Pete and the silent Chief prepared to row Gregory ashore. Just before they left Sprague gave the prisoner some money for steamboat fare, and Mr. Daddles presented him with the remains of the apple pie, begging him to keep some of it for breakfast next day.
Twenty minutes later our friends were on board again, and we were getting up the anchor. Jimmy Toppan, the Chief, and Sprague went below to consult a chart, while the rest of us got the yacht under way. When they came back on deck the Chief took the wheel, announcing:
"Lanesport it is."
"Why Lanesport?" asked Pete.
"It's the nearest town on the mainland to Bailey's Harbor," saidJimmy Toppan.
"Then I should think you'd better steer clear of it."
"Oh, they won't have heard anything yet," answered Sprague, lying down on a seat, with his banjo. And he added: "Assisted by Simon, I will now give you a little song."
"Do you think we'll find the 'Hoppergrass' at Lanesport?" inquiredEd Mason.
"We can but try. We'll do a little sleuth-work there, anyhow."
"Who will you inquire from?"
"Oh, anybody. Do not interrupt me again, or I will sing 'Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep.' Honest, I will."
A little before noon, we sailed up the river to Lanesport. The old town lay very still in the baking sun. There were schooners in the stream, and one or two at the wharves. A few sloop-yachts and cat- boats were at anchor in the river, but none of them was the "Hoppergrass." Old and dilapidated wharves ran down to the river, some of them deserted, and covered with grass. There were tumble- down buildings at the water's edge, and they were mostly black with age. The town looked as if it had been sound asleep for a hundred years.
The Chief skilfully sailed our boat up to a wharf, where there was a landing-stage, and all of us, except our skipper, went ashore. Half way up the wharf we found a man, painting a row-boat. He knew nothing about the "Hoppergrass" and said he had never heard of it.
"We'll walk up into the town," remarked Pete, "we've got to get some grub, anyway."
We strolled up the wharf, and along a quaint and crooked street. The sidewalk was so narrow that we had to walk in single file, and the curb-stone, as Mr. Daddles put it, was made of wood. There were a few shops, but as most of them sold ships' supplies, we did not go in any of them. A pleasant smell of tar came from each door.
Presently we reached a square or market place. Here were more shops, a butcher's, a grocery, and one that announced "Ice Cream." A peanut-stand, sheltered by an umbrella, stood in the middle of the square, and toward this we made our way. An aged Italian sat behind it, reading a newspaper. He sold us peanuts, and exchanged facetious remarks with Mr. Daddles. As we left the peanut man, we heard a far-off shouting. Down the street came a tall, thin man, ringing a great dinner-bell. He was very lame and made slow progress. Now and then he would halt, and shout something at the top of his voice.
"What's the matter?" Sprague asked a man, who stood in the door of a cigar-shop, "is there a fire?"
The man grinned.
"That's the town-crier," said he.
"Town-crier!" exclaimed Mr. Daddles, "I didn't know there were any of 'em left."
"There aint," said the man, "except this one. He's the last one of 'em."
The crier limped slowly down the street toward us. We all halted to hear his next announcement. Stopping in the middle of the street he solemnly rang his bell two or three times. Then he threw back his head, and bellowed in a tremendous voice:
"Hear—what—I—have—to—say! Stolen! the cat-boat—Hannah—J.— Pettingell—from—Mulliken's Wharf—yesterday—afternoon! Reward —will—be—paid—for information!—Apply—to—the—owner—at— the Eagle—House!"