CHAPTER XVIII.--CAUGHT.
It was in truth the Sea Witch, and in order to understand how sheappeared off Hope Island so early that morning we must go back a fewhours in our story.
We left Judd and Mr. Avery standing upon the forward deck of the tugThetis not far from five o'clock the evening before. The tug was offBeaver Tail, and had just sighted and begun her chase after theretreating sloop. The wind was a strong one from the southwest, and theSea Witch was so rapid a sailer that at six o'clock the tug, thoughrunning at a high rate of speed, had not gained over a half-mile uponher. At seven o'clock they were still a mile apart, and it was nowevident that before the tug could overhaul her darkness would haveclosed around.
Lest the suspicion of the burglars might be aroused, Mr. Avery hadrequested Captain Bradley to keep the tug a point or two off of theexact course of the sloop; so it happened that while the Sea Witch wassteadily working up toward the east shore of Buzzard's Bay the Thetiswas on a course that would have carried her into Vineyard Sound. ButCuttyhunk Island was now just ahead, and the tug must soon alter hercourse or she would lose sight of the sloop.
Captain Bradley was about to give the necessary orders to effect thischange, when a movement on the part of the Sea Witch caused him to alterhis purpose. Her helm had been thrown up, and swinging to the right,she ran directly into Chuttyhunk Island.
"The rascals are going to hold on there to-night," said the captain ashe watched the sloop's course, "or else hold up to a later hour, andthen run into the main shore and separate. But whatever their purpose,we have got them. I know like a book the cove they have entered, andwe'll keep up the east side of the island and land some one to watchtheir movements. Before morning I'll promise to bag the whole gang."
A few minutes after the Thetis ran in under the east shore of Cuttyhunk,and a boat landed the captain, Mr. Avery and Judd. Slowly andcautiously, under the lead of the stalwart captain, they made their wayacross to the west side. Here they found a little cove, and closeinshore, and sheltered by its curving arms, lay the Sea Witch at anchor.A light was in her cabin, and a boat with two men in it was just pushingoff from her side.
"We are just in time, and may learn something to our advantage,"whispered the captain, as he drew his companions back into the shelterof a clump of trees.
The boat from the sloop landed almost directly opposite the concealedmen, and the two robbers jumped out and pulled it farther up the beach.
"There," said one, "that will stay there until we come back. Thecaptain said we would find the water down here to the right. Take thebucket and come on."
The man addressed took a pail from the boat and followed the speakerdown the shore.
"That proves that the leader of the gang is acquainted with this cove,and their coming here was intentional," remarked Captain Bradley in anundertone as the men disappeared. "Fifty yards to the south is a smallspring, but a man must have been here before to know of it. So muchthen we have learned, and we may get some more important facts out ofthese fellows before they go back to the sloop."
Soon the men came back to their boat, one bringing the bucket of water,and the other an armful of dead sticks he had gathered up. Puttingtheir burdens into the boat, they sat down upon the bow, filled theirpipes, and lighting them began to smoke, evidently in no hurry todepart.
"I say, Tom," said one of them in a moment, "do you suppose we are goingto get out of this scrape all right?" and there was apprehension in hisvoice.
"Oh! I think so," carelessly answered the other. "I see no reason tobelieve we are even suspected; and to-morrow we will run down in theneighborhood of Hyannis, wait until after dark, then scuttle the sloop,and separate. From different stations in that vicinity we can work intoBoston, and once there, dispose of the booty, divide up, and be off tosome other part of the country for another job. It's a good, stiff haulwe've made this time; a cool thousand apiece."
"That is Bagsley," Judd said to his companions in a suppressed whisper.
The burglars finished their smoke without any further conversation thatwas of special value to the listeners, and then pushed off the boat andwent back to the sloop.
As soon as they were out of hearing Judd turned to Captain Bradley andasked:
"Couldn't we bring your yawl across to this cove, captain?"
"I think so. What then?" he asked, with interest.
"Well, then let us go back to the tug and give your men orders to bringher around to this side of the island, and lie in wait off the southernpoint of the cove. Then we will return to the shore in the yawl, bringit over here, and wait until the burglars are quiet for the night. Atthe proper time we will go silently off to the sloop, shut down herhatch, give the tug the signal to come on, and boat and men are ours."
Mr. Avery and the captain discussed the plan at some length. It wouldinvolve hard work, but would offer two special advantages: They wouldapproach the sloop from a quarter that danger would be the leastsuspected, and hence the chances of success would be materiallystrengthened. Again, in case of discovery, a force would be on both thesea and the land side of the Sea Witch, and the burglars would be lesslikely to escape. With a little change in the details, Judd'ssuggestion was adopted.
The captain went back to the tug and gave orders for her to go around tothe other side of the island; he then returned to the shore, and underthe united efforts of the trio the yawl was carried over to the cove andsafely launched there. Then the lad was sent down to the southern pointto watch for the arrival of the tug. When a light was flashed threetimes in succession from her starboard quarter he was to know that shewas in readiness and waiting only for a return signal to steam down intothe cove. Going back with this information to Mr. Avery and CaptainBradley, the boat was then to be shoved off and the visit to the sloopmade.
Judd reached the point safely and began his watch. A half-hour passed,and then through the darkness he saw the light of the tug for a briefmoment as she rounded the southern end of Cuttyhunk and came due north.She came slowly, that as little sound as possible might escape her, andanother half-hour elapsed before he received the signal. Then everylight about the vessel suddenly went out, and the most watchful observerwould not have suspected she was lying in wait there.
Rising from the ground, Judd swiftly but noiselessly went along theshore toward the place where his companions were waiting for his return.He had nearly reached the spot where he thought the boat ought to be,when a dark form rose up suddenly before him.
"Captain," he exclaimed, in a low tone.
"Yes," was the reply, and Captain Bradley stepped along to his side. "Ithought you were long in coming," he then explained, "and so had startedto look you up."
"Has there been any movement on the part of the burglars?" the ladasked, as they now went on to the boat, where they found Mr. Avery.
"None," replied the captain. "We occasionally hear sounds of laughter,and think they are all in the cabin, and the question arises whether wehad better go off at once or wait until all is quiet on the sloop."
"They will be likely to set a watch later," said Judd quickly. "If wecan run off now and get under the starboard side of the sloop withoutbeing discovered, I will agree to shut down the hatch and fasten itbefore a single one can escape. We shall then have them at adisadvantage, and can compel them to come out one by one, and disarm andbind them."
"Well, we will try it," was the decision of his companions, and the boatwas pushed off and slowly sculled by Captain Bradley toward the sloop.
Mr. Avery sat amidships, while Judd occupied the extreme bow. All hadtheir revolvers in readiness and were alert for the very firstindication that they had been discovered.
Silently the boat approached the sloop, which swung bow toward it. Inand under the shadow cast even in the darkness by her bow the yawlswiftly shot, and then stopped. The voices of the burglars could bedistinctly heard, and they were evidently making the night ring withtheir songs and laughter. Sounds of drinking and feastin
g suggested,also, that they were still at their supper. No one was on deck, and nothought of capture had apparently come to the robbers' minds.
Again the yawl moved silently forward, and paused under the starboardquarter of the sloop, and just adjacent to her cabin. Judd knew histime for action had come, and he arose and braced himself for it.
The opening into the cabin was for convenience and ventilation made intwo parts--one upright, the other horizontal. The upright portion was adoor, and swung upon hinges from the starboard side of the cabin towardits larboard end. The horizontal part was a sliding hatch at the top ofthe cabin, and to close it, it had to be shoved toward the stern-end ofthe cabin, directly over the upright, where it fastened down into itsplace with an iron clamp. Both swinging door and sliding hatch weremade of solid wood, and when closed and fastened could not easily beopened from the inside of the cabin.
All this Judd knew; and he was, moreover, at the one point where hecould reach both parts that were to be closed without himself beingseen. For a brief moment he steadied himself on the bow of the yawl;then laying one hand on the rail of the sloop, he jumped lightly onboard. His weight swayed the craft somewhat, but before the burglars,surprised at the sudden lurch, could spring even to their feet, he hadreached the opening. In an instant his left hand swung-to the uprightdoor and his right hand shoved the slide into place; down came the clampwith a jerk; the iron bar was thrust into the socket, and all was securebefore the burglars had recovered from their first shock of surprise.
Loud curses now followed, and heavy blows were struck upon the closeddoor. Then a voice cried:
"Open that hatch, or we'll fire through it!" and the click of a revolverwas heard.
"Two can play at that game, my hearties," rang out the voice of thestalwart captain as he sprung on board, followed by Mr. Avery.
Then he drew his revolver and fired twice in the air. It was the signalfor the tug to approach.
These movements on the part of the captors were not without their effecton the imprisoned men. A silence suddenly fell upon them, broken atlength by the leader of the gang asking:
"Who are you, and what do you mean by closing us up in here? You willfind it is a joke we will not stand."
"And you will find it is no joke at all," responded Mr. Avery, promptly."I am an officer in pursuit of you on three or four charges, the lastand least of which is running away with this sloop. We have a tug closeat hand, and outnumber you in men and weapons, as well as in theadvantage of situation. So I advise you to keep perfectly quiet."
The sound of the approaching tug was plainly discernible, to confirm hiswords, and silence again fell on the discomfited burglars.
"We are in Massachusetts waters; how dare you trouble us?" one of themen, after awhile, called out.
"I believe a man has a right to his property wherever he finds it,"responded Mr. Avery, coolly; "and one of the owners of this sloop is onboard now. We are just going to hitch on to the craft, at his request,and tow her home. It is your misfortune to be in her just at this time,but we cannot stop now to let you get off. As to your arrest, we'll seeto that when we are in Rhode Island waters."
The tug had now come alongside of the captured vessel, and her anchorwas weighed and she was lashed to the larger boat, so that a passagefrom one to the other could be easily made. Then the word was given,and the Thetis steamed rapidly off on her return.
When out so far from land that any escape of the prisoners wasimpossible, the door of the sloop's cabin was unfastened, and the menwere ordered out one lay one. Bagsley and the leader of the gang showeda little disposition to fight at first, but when their three comradesyielded they evidently thought discretion the better part of valor, andsullenly obeyed.
Each one, as he came out, was disarmed and bound; then all were returnedto the cabin of the sloop. Bagsley, when he first caught sight of JuddFloyd, seemed to think that he was Budd Boyd, but learned his mistake atonce when he was questioned as to Budd's whereabouts, and angrilyrefused to tell. One of his companions, however, revealed that the ladhad been left bound on Patience Island, and Mr. Avery consented, atJudd's urgent request, to visit the island early in the morning andrelease Budd.
At midnight, or a little after, the Thetis was in Newport. A strongguard was placed over the captured men, and Mr. Avery and Judd tookpossession of two of the tug's bunks, and slept soundly until earlymorning. Then a breakfast was furnished the prisoners one by one, afterwhich they were again bound securely and replaced in the cabin of thesloop. Mr. Avery drew his check for one hundred dollars and gave it toCaptain Bradley; then he and Judd entered the sloop and set sail forPatience Island.
As they came out of the east passage they saw a boat with a singleoccupant crossing over from Prudence Island toward the south end ofHope, and the moment it turned and was pulled rapidly for the latterJudd suspected who the occupant was. When a little nearer, he was sureit was Budd, whom he was seeking, and who had in some way escaped fromhis bonds; so he sent forth the three yells that he knew his partnerwould recognize, and which caused him to turn about, and with bothsurprise and joy come on to meet the approaching sloop; a surprise andjoy that was destined to merge into a feeling of triumph when he learnedwhat and whom the sloop contained.
Budd Boyd's Triumph; or, The Boy-Firm of Fox Island Page 18