CHAPTER XV.A SWIM FOR LIBERTY.
“Firefly, there!” shouted Egan, from the deck of the cutter, which had been thrown up into the wind a short distance away.
“On board the Sallie!” replied Enoch.
“Did you see anything of Don Gordon yesterday?” continued Egan.
“I saw him with the rest of you, while you were preparing to get under way,” was the prompt reply. “But I haven’t seen him since.”
“Well, this bangs me,” said Egan, turning to his companions, all of whom were gathered about him in the standing-room. If Enoch had needed any further evidence to satisfy him that the duck-shooter had told nothing but the truth, he could have found it in their faces.
“What’s the matter with Don?” said he. He knew that the surest way to avoid suspicion wasto appear to take an interest in the matter. Besides, he wanted to hear some of the particulars of the kidnapping, for he hadn’t thought to ask Barr to go into the details.
“We hope there is nothing the matter with him,” answered Egan, “but we are beginning to feel very anxious. He disappeared suddenly yesterday afternoon, and we haven’t been able to find the least trace of him.”
“Where did you see him last?” inquired Enoch, whose self-control was really wonderful. Don was gone—there was no doubt about that—and his friend Lester was the remote cause of any trouble he might have got into. What was to be done about it? That was the question that Enoch was trying to answer while he waited for Egan’s reply.
“We last saw him on Conesus Creek,” said Egan. “We started yesterday morning for Spesutia Island, intending to camp out for a few days. When we arrived nearly opposite the mouth of the creek, we discovered a flock of swans in the bay above, and landed to have a shot at them; and that was the last we saw of Don Gordon. There was no possible chance for him to getdrowned, even if he were not the expert swimmer he is, and if he managed to lose himself, he can use his tongue in recovering his bearings; so we confidently expect that he will turn up all right during the course of the day, but it would relieve our suspense if we could gain some clue to his whereabouts. May we depend upon you to lend him a hand if you happen to strike him anywhere?”
“Indeed you may,” replied Enoch; and he meant every word of it. He began to see what a despicable fellow he was. We can’t tell how his eyes came to be opened just at that minute, but we know that such things do happen sometimes, and very suddenly, too. What had Don and his friends done to him that he should hate them so cordially? He couldn’t point to a single thing.
“We thank you for that assurance,” said Egan, as the Sallie came about and started back up the bay. “If Don should unfortunately be in trouble, I don’t know of any one I would rather have find him than you, for I have seen your pluck tested. Good-bye, and may you have better luck than we have had so far.”
For once, Enoch saluted, and Egan and his companions were prompt to return it. As the former walked back to the cock-pit, in which Lester and Jones were sitting, he pulled off his hat and beat his own head with his fist.
“Take that for your foolishness,” said he, addressing himself in savage tones, “and learn to have more sense in future.”
“What in the world is the matter?” exclaimed Jones, who wondered if his friend had suddenly gone crazy.
“Say, Lester,” began Enoch, without stopping to reply to the question, “you heard what Egan said to me, of course? Then I hope you fully realize what a muss you have got into. I tell you plainly that Barr is a bad man. I don’t for a moment believe that he thought you were in earnest in what you said about Don, while we were at his cabin. My idea is that those ducks in Conesus Creek were the ones that Pete was to watch. Egan and his party came up and frightened them away, and Barr, accidentally stumbling upon Don, who had got bewildered in the marshes, made a prisoner of him out of a desire for revenge. Then he happened to think of whatyou said about that money, and so he came here and demanded it.”
“But what do you suppose he did with Don?” inquired Jones.
“I really believe that he shipped him off on some vessel; and if he did—by gracious, Lester, you had better go home.”
“That’s just what I want to do,” whined Lester, who had already made up his mind that he would not pass another night in Maryland, if there were any way for him to get out of it.
“Because, if you stay here, you are bound to get into trouble,” continued Enoch. “If you don’t pay Barr, he will give you away to the police——”
“No!” gasped Lester.
“Yes, he will. I know him and you don’t. General Gordon, of course, will offer a big reward, and Barr will do his best to earn it. If you hand over the money he demands——”
“But howcanI?” cried Lester, who was so nearly overcome with terror, that he trembled in every limb. “What excuse can I make to my father for asking him for so large a sum of money?”
“You can’t pay it, and you mustn’t ask him for it; that much is settled; but you can go home, and my advice to you is to do it at once. If you should pay Barr the smallest amount, he would have a hold on you that he wouldn’t be slow to make use of. I tell you, fellows, this thing has opened my eyes, and from this time out I turn over a new leaf and mend my ways,” said Enoch, snatching up one of the cushions and banging the rail with it. “No more mean tricks do I engage in. I’ve got two years more at school, and I am going back next term to make up for misspent time. That’s a word with a bark on it.”
“And just the minute my back is turned, you will blow on me, will you?” cried Lester. “I haven’t done anything the law can take hold of me for.”
“I know you haven’t, but if Barr takes it into his head to do so, he can make the country about here unpleasantly warm for you, all the same. If you go home, he may think it to his best interests to keep still; and if he does, no one will ever suspect that you put such an idea into his mind. I shall not say a word about it, and neither will Jones.”
“What apology shall I make to your father and mother for going away at such short notice?”
“You needn’t make any. Leave it to me, and I will fix it all right. Pack your trunk as soon as you can, and I will take you up to Havre de Grace in the Firefly. I am sorry, indeed, that the visit from which you expected to derive so much pleasure, has ended in this way, but it is too late to remedy the matter now. I blame myself for taking you over to Barr’s cabin yesterday. If we had kept away from there, this thing would never have happened.”
“If Don should happen to turn up after all, you won’t lisp a word to lead him or any one else to suspect that I knew anything about his abduction, will you?”
“Not a word—not a blessed word. You may depend upon that.”
While the boys were talking in this way, they were paddling toward the shore in the canoe which Enoch used in going to and from the Firefly. When they reached the house, Lester went at once to his room, leaving Enoch to explain matters to his parents, which he did, by telling them that Lester had just heard some news thathe did not care to make public, but which rendered it necessary that he should start for Rochdale at the earliest possible moment. Mr. and Mrs. Williams were sorry to have him go before his visit was half over, and expressed the hope that he would return at some future time and finish it. This Lester promised to do, but without the least intention of keeping his word. If he once got safely out of Barr’s way, he told himself, he would not willingly come in his path again. He was afraid of the duck-shooter, as he had reason to be, and it was not until Enoch’s home had been left far behind, and the lights at Havre de Grace came into view, that he began to breathe easily again. But he wasn’t clear of Barr yet, if he had only known it.
The wharf at which Enoch landed was brilliantly lighted, and a large force of men was engaged in loading a coaster that was almost ready to sail. Leaning against a snubbing-post close by, was the familiar figure of a man who seemed to take a deep interest in all that was going on around him, although what he could see that was new or novel in so simple a proceeding as the loading of a coasting vessel, Enoch could notdetermine. The man was Barr, and Enoch discovered and recognized him just in time to warn Lester, who went down the companion-ladder in two jumps.
“What do you suppose he is doing here at this time of night?” asked Jones. “He ought to be out with that big gun.”
“He has some business on hand, you may depend upon that,” replied Enoch. “What it is, I can’t even guess; but I am sure on one point, and that is, if we want to get Lester to the depot without seeing trouble on the way, we must move away from here and land him at some pier higher up.”
“You don’t imagine that Barr would have anything to say about it, do you?” said Jones, who did not believe that the duck-shooter was reckless enough to raise a storm in which he was sure to be the chief sufferer.
“I know he would. If he saw Lester boarding the train, he would try to stop him by threatening him with exposure. Let’s get rid of Lester the easiest way we can, and then make a solemn promise that we will never have anything to do with another like him as long as we live.”
“Agreed,” said Jones, eagerly. “There’s my hand on it. I may not succeed in winning a warrant or a shoulder-strap next term, but I can show the teachers that I am sorry for what I have done, and mean to do better.”
“I wish we could begin by helping Don Gordon in some way,” said Enoch, looking sharply at the coaster, as the Firefly sailed slowly by her. “Say, Jones! Between you and me, I believe that Barr drew on his imagination when he declared that he had sent Don off to China. If I know anything, he is on board that schooner. That’s the reason Barr is hanging around her. He wants to see that Don doesn’t escape before she sails.”
These words fairly staggered Jones, who was so highly excited by them that he wasn’t of much use to Enoch, for he could give him no intelligent help in making the next landing. Fortunately, Enoch was a whole crew in himself, and he succeeded in bringing the Firefly alongside the pier unaided, but she bumped so hard that Lester came up out of the cabin to see what was the matter.
“The coast is clear now,” said Enoch. “Pass up your trunk, and we’ll carry it to the street andsee if we can find a carriage to take us to the depot. Jones, you stay here and keep an eye on the schooner.”
Lester was so impatient to be off, that he wasted no time in taking leave of his friend Jones. He gave his hand a slight shake, said he hoped to meet him again at no distant day, and then turned to assist Enoch in getting his trunk over the side. They found a carriage at the nearest stand, and in a quarter of an hour more Lester was sitting in the waiting-room at the depot, with his check and a ticket for Cairo in his pocket.
“Well, good-by,” said Enoch, holding out his hand.
“You are not going away now?” exclaimed Lester, beginning to grow frightened again. “I thought you would stay and see me off.”
“Why, it will be two hours before the next train starts for Baltimore, and I must be well on my way home by that time,” replied Enoch. “You are not afraid to stay alone? Barr won’t come up here; you needn’t worry about that. I will keep my eyes and ears open, and if I see or hear anything of Don, I will drop you a line. Good-by, and good luck to you.”
Seeing that his companion was bound to go whether he liked it or not, Lester reluctantly pronounced the parting words, and Enoch vanished through the door. If Lester could have seen him as he ran down the street, he would have said that Enoch was in a great hurry to start for home, but he would have shot wide of the mark. Enoch was determined that he would not see home again until he had found out whether or not Don Gordon was a prisoner on that coaster, as Barr’s actions led him to believe. If he were, he (Enoch) would have him released at once, or he would have Barr arrested for conspiracy, abduction, slaughtering ducks with big guns, and for almost everything else that was against the law.
“Don’t do that,” remonstrated Jones, who listened in great amazement, while his friend unfolded his plans. “If you do, he will certainly make you suffer for it.”
“Can’t help it if he does,” answered Enoch, who was brave in every cause he espoused, whether good or bad. “I have played a mean part toward Don and Bert, just because I disliked Egan without a cause, and wanted to show that I was a friend to Lester, and if I can make amendsfor it in any way, I am going to do it, I don’t care a snap what happens to me.”
“And I will stand by you,” said Jones, “but I am afraid we can’t be of any service. See there!”
Enoch looked in the direction indicated by his friend’s finger, and saw that the coaster had taken advantage of a favorable tide to get under way. She was some distance from the pier already, and was beginning to feel the influence of the breeze.
“Cast off that bow-line and shove her head out while I run up the jib,” exclaimed Enoch. “Work lively, now, and we can overhaul her before she begins to gather headway. We will show ourselves to Don if he is there, and all he’s got to do is to make his presence known. Hurry up, for when she gets that big mainsail up and her top-sails set, she’ll walk away from us hand over fist.”
The attention of the two boys was so fully occupied with the work before them, that they did not see the commotion that arose on board the coaster all on a sudden, nor hear the words of command that were shouted at the sailors whoran aft to man the yawl which had not yet been hoisted at the stern davits. But when Enoch took the helm, he saw at once that there was something unusual going on, for the coaster had “spilled” her sails, the two men in her yawl were rowing about first in one direction and then in another, their movements being directed by a third who was leaning over the bow with a lighted lantern in his hand.
“Go for’ard, quick, and listen with all your ears,” commanded Enoch, who for once was so excited that he could scarcely speak plainly. “This is as good evidence as I want that we are on the right track. Don was on that coaster, but he is in the water now.”
“There comes Barr,” exclaimed Jones, who just at that moment caught sight of a canoe which shot out from the shadow of the pier the coaster had left a short time before. She was propelled by two men, who handled their paddles as if they were in a great hurry.
“There’s more evidence,” said Enoch. “Barr and his partner saw Don when he went overboard, and they are going out to help hunt him up. That proves that he could not have swumunder the pier; if he had, they would have seen him. Don is probably holding a straight course for the middle of the bay, and taking his chances on being picked up. Give a pull at the sheets, fore and aft, and we’ll stand farther out.”
“I hope he’ll not sink before we get to him,” said Jones, as he hastened to obey the order.
“If all the boys say about him is true, we need have no fear on that score,” was the encouraging reply. “He has swum the whole length of Diamond Lake more than once, and that must be four or five miles long. Listen!” added Enoch, in a suppressed whisper. “Didn’t you hear some one hailing?”
Jones hastened to the side and leaning as far over the water as he could without losing his balance, strained his eyes and ears in vain. The darkness was impenetrable, and no sound but the washing of the waves against the side of the schooner could be heard in the direction of the Eastern Shore. The surface of the bay was beginning to look threatening. The tide was running out against the wind, and the white-caps were making their appearance. In a few minutes the water would be so rough that Barr’s canoewould have to turn back; then what would become of Don Gordon? Strong swimmer as he was, his strength would soon be exhausted, and he would go down——
“Firefly ahoy!” came the hail, in low but distinct tones; whereupon Enoch and Jones jumped as if they had been shot.
“Get a rope, quick,” commanded the former, “and stand by to take the helm in case I have to go overboard to his assistance. Which way did that hail come from? Sing out again, Don. Sing out loud, so that I can locate you, and never mind those men in the yawl. They shan’t get their hands on you again.”
Don heard and understood, and this time Enoch could have pointed out the wave from which his answer came. So could Jones, who threw the rope he held in his hand with such accuracy that the end of it fell over his shoulder and was instantly seized by the swimmer, who was hauled to the side in less time than it takes to tell it. A moment later he was standing on the deck. He had relieved himself of all superfluous weight by discarding his coat, vest and boots while he was in the water, and he waspanting a little from the violence of his exertions; but he was not at all frightened.
“I have been shanghaied,” began Don, extending his hand to Enoch, who seized it and worked it up and down like a pump-handle.
“No use to waste time in talking,” interrupted the latter. “You’re too wet and this wind is too cold. Jones, take him into the cabin and give him something dry to put on. You will find my shooting duds in the starboard locker. Now for it,” he added, shutting his teeth hard, and glancing over his shoulder toward the yawl, which was coming on with all the speed that the brawny sailors who handled the oars could induce her to put forth. They had seen Don pulled out of the water, and the mate, the man who stood in the bow holding the lantern, supposed, of course, that the master of the schooner would stop and give him up; but when he saw Enoch crowd his vessel until she lay over on her side and walked away from the yawl as if the latter had been standing still, the mate’s eyes were opened to the fact that the deserter had been rescued by friends who did not mean to surrender him if they could help it.
“Hold on there!” shouted the mate of the coaster, shaking his fist at Enoch. “That’s my man, and I’m going to have him.”
“Why don’t you come and get him, then?” asked Enoch. “Your best plan would be to mind your own business. If you come back to Havre de Grace again I will have the last one of you arrested. You, Barr,” he shouted, seeing that the duck-shooter was heading his canoe diagonally across the Firefly’s fore-foot in the hope of being able to board her as she passed, “keep your distance. I give you fair warning that I won’t luff by so much as a hair’s breadth.”
By this Enoch meant that he would not change the course of his vessel, and that if Barr’s canoe got in his way he would run over her. Barr stormed and threatened at a furious rate, and so did the mate; but Enoch was too busy to listen to them. His first care must be to put a safe distance between himself and the coaster. The latter was a much larger and swifter craft than his own, and if her captain took it into his head to come in pursuit, he had a crew at his back that was strong enough to overpower them in spite of all the resistance they could offer.Enoch’s best plan evidently was to depend upon strategy.
“Say, Jones,” he called out, when he saw the coaster’s yawl and Barr’s canoe turn about and go back to the pier, “have you found those dry clothes for Don? Then come up and take in the lights. We’ve got to go it blind for a little while.”
“Now, Enoch,” said Don, “don’t you put yourself or your craft in jeopardy on my account. You are liable to be run down if you don’t show lights.”
“Who’s doing this?” demanded Enoch, goodnaturedly. “You wear the brass collar at the academy, but I am boss here.”
Don laughed and made all haste to get into the warm suit which Jones had taken from the locker, while the latter went on deck and took in the lanterns. It was well that Enoch had taken this precaution, for after the mate of the coaster had returned to his vessel and reported to his captain that the deserter had been rescued by a yacht that was running away with him, the skipper flew into a rage and declared that he would have him back if he had to waste a week in trying to find him; and when he got his handson him again wouldn’t he haze him, though? He would make him know his place, or he would make him jump overboard in mid-ocean.
As the coaster was between the schooner and the lights on the wharf, Enoch could distinctly see every move she made, and he could hardly refrain from giving a shout of derision when he saw her flatten in her huge mainsail and start in pursuit of the Firefly. He did not know that the duck-shooter and his partner were on board the schooner, acting as advisers to the captain, but he suspected it, and laid his plans accordingly. When Don came up to lend a hand at the work, he stood off on the other tack, and in a few minutes the pursuing coaster was left out of sight. The wind was fresh now, and the Firefly, careening under the pressure of her heavy sails, bowled ahead through darkness which seemed to loom up before her like a solid wall of ebony.
“Now, Enoch, I know this is dangerous,” protested Don, who admired Enoch’s reckless way of doing things. “If one of those big Baltimore steamers should happen along she would run over us and never know it.”
“What would a Baltimore steamer be doingout here, I’d like to know?” said Enoch, in reply. “Their path lies over there toward the city, and we are a good mile outside of it. We have nothing to fear except from little coasters, like the one that thinks she is following in our wake, and we shall see their lights in time to give them a wide berth.”
“Where’s Lester?” asked Don, suddenly. “I haven’t seen him since I came aboard.”
“He went home to-night,” answered Enoch. “He heard some news he didn’t like, and put out for Rochdale at very short notice.”
“I hope that none of his folks are ill,” said Don.
“We didn’t hear that they were. Lester was getting tired of the life we lead here, and homesick besides, and so I think it was the best thing he could do. Now, Don, where have you been since we last saw you? Egan ran up in his cutter and hailed us this afternoon, saying that you had disappeared in some mysterious way, and asking us to keep our weather eyes open for you; but he didn’t think that you were going to be fished out of the bay, and neither did we. You came off that coaster, of course, but where did youjump from? We didn’t see you on deck when we passed her.”
“I wasn’t on deck; I was tied up in the cabin. But the minute the skipper released me, which he did as soon as the schooner began moving away from the wharf, I made a dive for one of the windows,” said Don, who then went on to give a glowing account of his adventures, which we will relate in our own way.