CHAPTER V.
BILL BUDGE'S CONVERSATION.
To Fritz, the scene below of course began to grow more interesting.
"Dot veller vas goin' to pe tried for somedings," he muttered, "undvot ish more, uff der verdict don't vas in his favor, he vas goin' dergit sp'iled."
Young Hartly if his thoughts were in the same channel as those of thewatcher, didn't appear very much troubled about the matter, for heperched himself upon the table, while the six jurors sat in asemicircle facing him, and the captain a little to one side.
"Well, sir, what have you to say, Hartly, in regard to this suspicionwhich has arisen against you--that you are a traitor to our cause?"
"Nothing, sir, except that whoever started the suspicion, is a liarand a coward!" was the retort.
"Then, you deny that you have ever betrayed the existence of thisband, outside of its own membership?"
"I do most emphatically. What assurance have you, that any one hasbetrayed you?"
"Is it not ample proof, when strange men haunt this vicinity, andhaunt the members to their very doors? These law-sharks, ordetectives, only wait for some disclosure, to spring their traps on meand my faithful followers."
"I am not to blame. Though forced into service against my will, andmade to swear the oath of allegiance, rather than lose my life, I havekept such secrets as came into my possession. I believe I know who hasexcited the suspicious feeling against me."
"Well, sir, who?"
"Your rascally son, for one--your jealous daughter, for another,"Hartly replied, shrugging his shoulders with a contemptuous laugh.
"How dare you term my son rascally, sir, and accuse my child ofjealousy?"
"Because the boy is as unprincipled a villain as yourself, and as foryour daughter, when she found that I did not court her favor, she atonce turned against me. I despise both your son and your daughter,Captain Gregg, and that is all I have to say, except that I am notguilty of the charge preferred against me."
"That remains to be told by the jury. You see the head of Bill Budge,just above you, Hartly? He was caught in an intended act of treachery,and you see his end. If Bill could speak, he'd tell you that the fateof the traitor is hard."
"You're a cussed liar!" Budge's suspended remnant seemed to say, in adeep, hoarse voice.
The captain and the jury uttered each a startled oath, and gazed atthe offending head in astonishment.
"Who called me a liar?" Gregg demanded, fiercely. "By the gods, Ithought it was Budge's lips that uttered those words."
"So it was!" the head seemed to say; then there was a gurgling sort oflaugh, and the head shook, perceptibly.
"Ten thousand furies!" Gregg yelled, and hastily wrenching open thedoor, he made a hasty exit from the room, followed by the jurors--nordid they stop, short of the bottom of the stairs.
Hartly did not leave the room, but dismounting from his perch upon thetable, walked off a few paces to where he could get a good look atBudge's unfortunate pate.
"Something deuced funny, here, I'm blowed if there ain't!" hesoliloquized, apparently quite composed. "It's the first time I haveever heard dead men talk. I say, Budge, how's the temperature up yourway?"
"Two t'ousand degrees above blood heat," seemed to issue from betweenthe gleaming teeth.
"Humph! pretty warm, that, I must admit," Hartly said, looking stillmore puzzled.
Fritz, while perpetrating the ventriloquism, was also listening andplanning.
"Dot veller Hartly is der very chap to helb me oud mit my scheme," hemuttered, "und ve must escape from here, pefore der smugglers return."
Accordingly he slid down the rope into the room below.
Hartly looked surprised.
"Who the deuce are you?" he demanded, stepping back a pace.
"Fritz Snyder, detective," Fritz replied. "I come here on pizness--votfor, you can easily guess. I vant you to helb me oud mit it, und I vilsee dot you haff your liberty."
"Ha! ha! that's your game, is it? Well, my friend, I'd like to do it,first-rate, but I can not oblige you."
"Vy not?"
"Because I swore allegiance to the cause you would have me betray, andit never shall be said that Hal Hartly was not a man of his word!"
"But I heard you say dot you vas forced inder der pizness."
"So I was, against my will, but that does not lessen the obligationsof my oath. While I live, I shall adhere to my sworn promise."
"You vas foolish--you don'd vil get any credit for your resolve. Yoostash like ash not you will pe killed, on der suspicion dot's alreadyagainst you."
"Perhaps. If so, I shall submit, knowing I have been innocent ofbreaking my word."
"Pshaw! dis vos all nonsense! You don'd vas vant to die no more ashany odder man. Let me cut der bonds vot fastens your arm, und ve villclimb up to der attic und escape vrom der roof to some place where wevil pe safe, undil we can make arrangements to break oop dissmugglers' league."
"Nothing would please me more, but owing to my oath, I mustpositively refuse to do anything of the kind," Hartly persisted,firmly. "I admire your proposed attempt, and while I shall do nothingto interrupt it, I can not conscientiously do anything to help italong. Can you enlighten me any as to the mystery of this head, which,though not possessed of life, yet uses its voice so naturally?"
"I dells you noddings apoud it," Fritz replied, shaking his head."Hark!"
"Yes! I hear it. It is Gregg and the boys coming back. Quick! or youwill be seen!"
Fritz made haste to shin up the rope to the garret once more, and hadbarely succeeded in so doing when the smugglers, headed by CaptainGregg, once more entered the room.
They did not come boldly in, but thrust their heads in and took a lookaround first.
Seeing that no harm had come to Hartly, they then ventured in.
"Ha! ha! you're brave fellows, ain't you?" he laughed. "I didn't cuttail and run, although I have not even the use of my hands."
"You're cussed brave, all at once!" Gregg growled, evidently notliking the taunt. "Did that thing speak again?" with a wry glance atthe guiltless pate of the departed Budge.
"Of course. I've had quite a chat with William," Hartly replied. "Hesays he's in a very warm latitude at present, and so he's come backspiritually for a short cooling off!"
Gregg uttered an oath.
"Pooh! I don't believe such bosh."
"But it's a fact, nevertheless. Budge says they've got a little cornerleft up in his country for you, too, when you get ready to emigrate,which will be mighty soon, judging by the active preparations that arebeing made to receive you, such as gathering kindling wood, makingmatches, and the like."
"Curse you, they'll git you first!" the smuggler said, with viciousemphasis. "Go ahead, boys, an' tell him the decision you've made."
"Well, we've concluded that Hal Hartly is a traitor to our cause, andfor the sake of protection it will be necessary to feed him to thefishes!" one of the jurors said. "Eh, ain't that the ticket, boys!"
A grunt of assent from the others was the answer.
"Then it shall be so," Captain Gregg ordered. "I am sorry for you,Hartly, but treachery merits death, as you were informed when youjoined. As an organization which must exist in secrecy, we are forcedto adopt harsh rules. Your companions have carefully weighed all theevidence, and have decided that the safety of the organization demandsyour death. As you have sown, so shall you reap."
"Do you mean this, Captain Gregg?"
"I do, sir, emphatically."
"Then you shall live to repent ever having pronounced my doom.Henceforth I shall not consider my oath of allegiance obligatory, as Ihave hitherto done. I'll show you what harm I can do your vileorganization."
"But you shall have no chance. Jim Hovel and his brother have alreadyconsented to sink you to the bottom of the Atlantic for a stated sum,and thus rid us of you effectually. They are waiting below for you, asit is a safe night for such work. If you have any prayers to make, youhad better make the best use of your time."
"I'll suit myself about that, you villain!"
"Numbers two and three, take the prisoner down-stairs!" the captainordered.
Two of the smugglers seized hold of poor Hartly, and led him from theroom.
Up in the attic. Fritz was in a predicament. The majority of thesmugglers yet remained in the room below, and he could not get out ofthe house in that way, as was his desire, to make an attempt ifpossible to rescue Hal Hartly.
The only course left for him was to escape through a trap-door ontothe roof, and trust to luck in getting to the ground from there.
"Dot veller vas von big fool for not acceptin' my advice," he mused,as he fumbled cautiously around in the darkness. "Yoost like ash notdey vil pe gone off mit him, ven I git down dere, und den he vil pe agoner, sure ash der dickens."
It required several minutes to find the trap in the roof, and it wasno slight job to displace it.
When he had accomplished this much, however, it was but a moment'swork to clamber out upon the roof in the pouring rain and replace thedoor.
"Py shimminy, dot vas a hard storm," he soliloquized. "Der oceangrunts as uff she vas got der dispeppersy. Now der next t'ing ishsomedings else. Der roof vas slippery ash von soap ladle, und first Iknow der vil pe a dead Dutchmon spilled someveres over t'e ground."
That portion of the main roof of the building was quite steep, and theeaves were at least twenty-five feet from the ground.
Not fancying the idea of a drop of that distance, the young detectivecrawled to the ridge, to reconnoiter.
On the other side of the ridge, the roof sloped down to meet a gable,from where the gable's roof took another descent, so as to bring theeaves about seven feet nearer to the ground.
Aside from this there was no possible way of reaching _terra firma_.
"Eighteen feet! I don'd know vedda I can stand dot or no. I must tryit, however, or Hal Hartly vas a dead codfish sure."
Using extreme caution, he slid from one ridge to the other, and thenfrom that to the eaves, from where he was to drop.
"Vel, here's der blace vere I don'd vas so much tickled. But piznessvas pizness, und a veller don'd vas can rise in der vorld vidoutdropping sometimes; so here goes!" he muttered.
And clinging to the eaves for a second, he let himself drop.
Down--down he went, with great velocity, and finally struck uponsomething softer than mother earth, from which he tumbled end over endto the ground.
The following instant a wild, unearthly howl rent the night.
"Och! murther--murther!" shrieked a man's voice; "I'm kilt! I'm kilt!Och! Holy Vargin Mary save me!"
It was the Irishman's voice. It was upon him that Fritz had firstalighted, and he was probably badly jarred up, for he continued to hoparound and yell at the top of his voice.
To make matters worse, the door of the house opened, and Gregg and hisfollowers came pouring out.
Fritz to the Front, or, the Ventriloquist Scamp-Hunter Page 5