CHAPTER VII
CASE HAS HIS DOUBTS
As may well be imagined, Case was waiting impatiently on board the_Rambler_ while the events described in the last chapter were takingplace in the forest. It is one thing to face a desperate situation inthe company of helpful friends. It is quite another to consider agrave peril alone, especially when chums are in danger.
Several hours passed, and Case heard nothing from the wanderers in theforest. Then an unexpected visitor arrived. The boy saw an Indiancanoe paddled swiftly up the river.
He had not had a good chance to observe the visitor who had cut thecable, thus bring about the meeting with the steamer people, but itwas his opinion that the canoeist was none other than the boy who hadgiven his name as Max Michel. He anxiously awaited the arrival of thecraft.
"If that is Max," he thought, "he certainly has a well-developed nerveto come back to the _Rambler_ after doing what he did."
In a short time the canoe, coming steadily upstream, touched the hullof the motor boat, and its occupant clambered alertly to the deck.Case stood for a moment regarding him with disapproval, no welcome atall in his face. The boy approached with a confident smile.
"What are you doing here?" demanded Case.
"I came," was the quick reply, "because I have news which may interestyou. I know you have good reason to doubt my friendship, but I hopeyou will listen to me. It will be in your interest to do so."
"News of my friends?" asked Case quickly, forgetting in the impulse ofthe moment that the boy's information was more than likely to bemisleading. "Have you seen any of the boys to-day?"
"No," was the slow reply, "but I have heard from them. They crossedthe peninsula early this morning, were lured into a boat passing downa parallel stream, and must now be somewhere on or near the St.Lawrence."
"How do you know all this?" demanded Case half-angrily.
"Ever since the night I cut your cable," Max began, "I have been morethan ashamed of myself. I was ordered to do the work, and believedthat there was nothing else for me to do except to obey. I was not farfrom St. Luce yesterday when you boys went aboard the _Sybil_. Thesteamer touched at St. Luce and I afterwards heard the captain tellinga friend of meeting you. Then I decided to return to you, if you werestill in this vicinity."
"And so you come here and tell me a fairy tale about my chums?" Caseexclaimed. "You don't expect me to believe a word you say, do you?"
"And yet it is the truth," Max insisted. "I was up this morning early,paddling across the St. Lawrence, for I knew from the Captain'sconversation that you were over here. Not long ago I came upon a boatleaving the river to the west. From the man who was rowing, I learnedthat your friends had been attacked and captured."
Case still doubted. He did not like the look in the eyes of the boy.He remembered the treacherous act which had sent the disabled_Rambler_ drifting down the St. Lawrence. He thought fast for a momentand then asked abruptly:
"Will you tell me what your interest is in this matter?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Why did you cut our cable?"
The boy hesitated a moment, glanced casually over the west bank of thestream and then lowered his eyes to the deck.
"I was ordered to do so," he said in a moment.
"Ordered to disable our motors and cut our cable?" demanded Caseindignantly. "Don't you know that you might have been the cause of ourdeath? Is everything you have told me to-day just as true as the fairytales you told us that night? You may as well be frank."
Again the boy hesitated. To Case it seemed that he was listening forsome sound or signal from the shore.
"Will you tell me," continued Case, "who it was that ordered you tocut our cable and disable our motors?"
The boy shook his head. His manner was now anxious and uneasy, andCase turned his own eyes toward the shore which was being watched soclosely.
"I can't give you the name of my employers," the boy finally said.
"Then tell me this," insisted Case. "Why did the men who ordered youto do the work want it done?"
"I don't know," was the brief reply.
"I presume," Case went on, "that you would have destroyed the_Rambler_ with a stick of dynamite if you had been told to do so."
"I wouldn't have committed murder," was the quick reply.
"Now let us get back to your story of to-day," Case said. "Who was itthat told you of the capture of my chums?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Was it one of your employers?"
"It was not."
"Was it a man with whom you are acquainted?" asked Case.
"I never saw him until to-day," he replied.
"How did he come to speak to you of the boys at all?"
"He mentioned that he had seen three boys evidently under a restraintin a boat with three men farther up the stream."
"So the boat held three men and three boys? Anyone else?"
"He did not mention any one else."
"And the six people were the sole occupants of the boat, were they?"
"That is what the man told me."
"Before you concocted this story," Case declared scornfully, "youought to have jogged your memory a trifle. You saw Captain Joe andTeddy on board the _Rambler_ the night you cut our cable. Why didn'tyou add to your story and say that the dog and the bear were with thethree boys?"
"The man I saw said nothing to me about the dog and the bear," Maxinsisted stubbornly. "I had only a moment's talk with him."
"And then you came directly to the _Rambler_ to tell me of theincident?"
"I came directly to the spot where I believed the _Rambler_ would be,"was the answer. "Of course, I didn't know exactly where you were, butCaptain Morgan said that when you left him it was your intention toascend this stream. I was lucky in finding you."
"And now," Case asked, with a scornful smile on his lips, "what do youexpect me to do under the circumstances? What would you advise?"
"I thought," replied Max, "that you would go down the river, and makeyour way to the mouth of the other stream."
"Why do your employers want me to leave my present location?" askedCase. "Do they want the boys to come out of the forest and find the_Rambler_ gone? Is that what you were sent here for?"
"Oh, well," Max exclaimed, "if you don't believe what I say, and won'ttake advantage of the honest information I have given you, I may aswell be on my way."
He moved toward the gunwale of the boat, as he spoke and began untyingthe line which held his canoe to the _Rambler_. Case stepped forwardand laid a detaining hand on his shoulder.
"Just a moment," the boy said. "You are not going to leave the_Rambler_ until my chums return, and perhaps not then."
"Do you mean that you intend to keep me prisoner?" flashed Max.
"That is just exactly what I mean to do," Case responded. "I don'tknow what your object in coming here really is, for I believe that asa prevaricator, you have Ananias backed off the board. I dislike touse the shorter and uglier word, Max, but you certainly are thegreatest liar I ever came across. You'll stay here until we know moreabout you."
"You'd better do a little thinking before you keep me here," Maxthreatened. "You are making a lot of trouble for yourself."
"I'll have to risk that," Case replied. "Have you got any weaponsabout your person? If you have, give them up."
Max shook his head angrily.
"If I had had a weapon," he declared, "you would have known all aboutit the minute you laid a hand on my shoulder."
"Will you promise to remain on the boat without attempting to escapeif I leave you your liberty?" Case asked.
"I will promise nothing!" was the ugly reply.
"All right," Case said.
There was a rush and a little struggle, but in the end, Max wasovercome and stowed away bound hand and foot in the cabin.
Leaving his prisoner there, foaming with rage and searching a limitedvocabulary for words to express his feelings, Case went out to theprow of the _
Rambler_ and sat down to think over the situation.
"That boy," he mused, "was sent here to induce me to take the_Rambler_ out of this place. Why?"
The boy considered the problem for a long time. He was hoping thatsome of his chums would make their appearance. He disliked very muchto take the _Rambler_ away from the place where they had left it, andstill there might be a grain of truth in what Max had said.
The day was bright and still. The deep green foliage of the forestshone and shimmered in the sun. There were birds in the air, and hereand there timid creatures of the jungle came out to the stream todrink and peer with questioning eyes at the stranger who had invadedtheir leafy retreat. There were no signs of human life anywhere excepton board the _Rambler_. The continued absence of the boys seemedunaccountable.
"Well," the boy decided, presently, "I'll take a chance on a visit tothe St. Lawrence. It won't take long to run down, swing up to theother end of the peninsula and investigate the west stream. If theboys come back while I am gone, they'll probably hear the motorsclamoring and know that I am not far away. Still, I don't thinkthey'll come."
Case was slowly reaching the uncomfortable conclusion that the boyshad, indeed, been overcome by the outlaws. In that case, his first actought to be to secure help. If he returned to the St. Lawrence, hemight meet a friendly captain who would be willing to assist him inthe rescue.
So, with this idea in his mind, the boy drew up the anchor, startedthe motors to popping and headed the _Rambler_ down stream. The boatproceeded at full speed, and soon the arm of the bay which closed inbehind the peninsula came in view.
Anchored there, in a sheltered cove on the north shore of the river,was a trim little launch. Case could see four men moving about in thecockpit at the rear of the little trunk cabin. He immediately directedthe _Rambler_ toward the craft and hailed across the water. He wasanswered promptly.
"Is that the _Rambler_?" was asked.
"The _Rambler_ it is," answered Case. "Are you looking for her?"
"Not especially," was the reply. "We were told that you were here byCaptain Morgan, whom we saw up the river."
"Come aboard," invited Case, and in a few moments two bright-lookingyoung men ascended from a small boat to the deck of the _Rambler_.
"I am Joseph Fontenelle," one of the young men said, "and this is myfriend, Sam Howard. We were just going up the river when we saw youcoming down. Are you alone on board?"
"My friends are somewhere back in the forest," Case explained, certainthat it was safe to trust the visitors. "I seem to have lost them."
"Then we have probably arrived just in time," Fontenelle went on. "Asyou probably know from my name, we are here on the old search for thecharter. Captain Morgan, I am told, related the story to you. Formyself, I have little faith in the quest, but father insists that Imake a try to solve the mystery every summer. This is my third visitto what we call Cartier island. I expect to make them annually as longas father lives."
"You have no faith in the story of the lost charter and the missingfamily jewels?" asked Case.
"Oh, they were lost, without doubt, and possibly in this country, butthere is no clew whatever to their whereabouts."
Case was wondering if the Fontenelles had a copy of the crude mapwhich had been so mysteriously brought to the _Rambler_. He waswondering, too, if it would be safe for him to tell this youthfulrepresentative of the French family all that he knew of the twocommunications and the attacks which had been made on the _Rambler_.The question was virtually settled by Fontenelle himself.
"I am told," the young man said, "that you boys were placed in perilby being mistaken for us."
"We had a scrap with river pirates, if that is what you mean," Casereplied, "and Captain Morgan helped us to get away from them."
"I'm afraid," Fontenelle went on, "that the men you term 'riverpirates' are pirates only for the purpose of this occasion. We havealways been opposed in our quest for what father calls the lostchannel."
"Opposed everywhere in your searches?" Case asked, "or opposed onlywhen you come to this section?"
"Opposed only in this vicinity," answered Fontenelle, gazing keenly atthe boy. "I see what you mean," he added. "At least, your inference isthat those who are opposing us really know more about the location ofthe charter and the jewels than we know ourselves, and that theybelieve them to be here."
"That is the way it seems to me," Case answered, "still if they thinkthey know that the property sought for is in this vicinity, theirknowledge fails when they try to put their hand upon it. They can onlyhope for success in case of your failure, and so they oppose yourevery effort."
"That is the way in which we look at it," Fontenelle replied. "Infact, father is positive that the search for the charter goes steadilyon in this vicinity throughout most of the year.
"Last year, we had quite a merry picnic with a scout sent up toobstruct our search, and one of our men was seriously wounded. Ourenemies are certainly becoming desperate, and if, as you say, yourchums appear to be lost in the forest, we ought to be getting up thereto look after them. They may be sorely in need of help."
"I thank you for your offer of assistance," Case replied, "and it ismy opinion that we can't get back there too quickly. Come over hereand look through the cabin window," he continued, "pointing throughthe glass panel to where he had left Max lying bound on the bunk."
Then the look of amusement vanished from the boy's face, and he openedthe door and passed quickly into the cabin. Max was nowhere to beseen. He had disappeared as completely as if the hull of the _Rambler_had opened and dropped him into the stream. The ropes with which hehad been tied lay on the floor, but the boy was gone.
The open window at the rear of the motor boat, told the story. Inanswer to Fontenelle's looks of inquiry, Case briefly told the storyof Max's visit and capture. The young man pondered a moment and thensaid:
"I don't believe the boys have been captured at all. The chances arethat they are still in the forest, probably looking for the boy whodisappeared last night.
"This boy Max, if your description tallies with my recollection, hasappeared in the game before to-day. He is a wharf rat at Quebec, andis being used by these outlaws to further their treacherous ends. Iwish we had found him here."
As the boys passed out on deck, the barking of a dog came from up theriver. There was no mistaking the voice. It was Captain Joe, and hewas deploring the absence of his floating home. Case smiled happily atthe sound, and then his face grew serious, for gunshots followed theecho of the dog's voice.
The Six River Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence; Or, The Lost Channel Page 7