“Here, none of that!” ejaculated Mumps, and clapped his hand over her mouth.
“Let me go!” she screamed. “Help! Help!”
“We’ll put her in the cabin,” ordered Dan Baxter, and also caught hold of Dora. She struggled with all the strength at her command, but was as a baby in their grasp, and soon found herself in the cabin with the door closed and locked behind her.
It was then that her nerves gave way, and, throwing herself on a couch, she burst into tears.
“What will they do with me?” she moaned. “Oh, that I was home again!”
It was a long while before she could compose herself sufficiently to sit up. In the meantime the Falcon was sailing down the lake toward Cayuga with all speed.
“This must be some plan of Josiah Crabtree to get me away from home,” she thought. “Poor mother! I wonder what will happen to her while I am away? If that man gets her to marry him what will I do? I can never live with them—never!” And she heaved a deep sigh.
Presently she arose and walked to the single window of which the cabin boasted. It was open, but several little iron bars had been screwed fast on the outside.
“They have me like a bird in a cage,” she thought. “Where will this dreadful adventure end?”
Hour after hour went by and she was not molested. Then came a knock on the cabin door.
“Dora! Dora Stanhope!” came in Dan Baxter’s voice.
“Well?”
“Will you behave yourself if I unlock the door?”
“It is you who ought to behave yourself,” she retorted.
“Never mind about that. I have something for you to eat.”
“I don’t want a mouthful.” And Dora spoke the truth, for the food would have choked her.
“You had better have a sandwich and a glass of milk.”
“If you want to do something, give me a glass of water,” she said finally, for she wished a drink badly, the cabin was so hot and stuffy.
Baxter went away, and presently unlocked the door and handed her the water, of which she drank eagerly.
“Where are you going to take me?” she questioned, as she passed back the glass.
“You’ll learn that all in good time, Dora. Come, why not take the whole matter easy?” went on the bully, as he dropped into a seat near her.
“How can I take it easy?”
“We won’t hurt you—I’ll give you my word on that.”
She was about to say that his word was not worth giving, but restrained herself. If she angered Baxter, there was no telling what the fellow might do.
“Is this a plot of Josiah Crabtree’s?” she asked sharply.
Baxter started. “How did you—” he began, and stopped short. “You had better not ask any questions.”
“Which means that you will not answer any?”
“You can take it that way if you want to, Dora.”
“It was a mean trick you played on me.”
“Let’s talk of something else. We are going to leave the Falcon soon, and I want to know if you are going with us quietly?”
“Leave the Falcon?”
“Yes, at Cayuga.”
“Are we there already?” gasped Dora in dismay.
“We soon will be.”
“I don’t wish to go with you.”
“But we want you to go. If you go quietly all will be well—and I’ll promise to see you safe home in less than twenty-four hours.”
“You wish to keep me away from home that length of time?”
“If you must know, yes.”
“And why? So Josiah Crabtree can—can—” She did not finish.
“So that Mr. Crabtree can interview your mother—yes,” put in Mumps, who had just appeared. “Baxter, there’s no use in beating around the bush. Crabtree is bound to marry Mrs. Stanhope, and Dora may as well know it now as later.”
CHAPTER XVIII
STILL IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY
“That man will never marry my mother with my consent!” burst out the unhappy girl.
“She probably won’t ask your consent,” sneered Mumps.
“She would not marry him if I was with her. He only has an influence over her when I am away.”
“Exactly—and he knows that,” put in Baxter.
“Do you mean to say Josiah Crabtree is going to marry her now?” demanded Dora, springing to her feet.
“More than likely.”
“Then he—he hired you to carry me off?”
“We’ll talk about something else,” said the bully. “Will you leave the Falcon quietly?”
“Where do you want me to go?”
“To the home of an old lady who will treat you as nicely as she possibly can.”
Dora shook her head. “I don’t wish to go anywhere excepting home, and I won’t submit a bit longer than I have to.”
“Don’t be foolish!” exclaimed Mumps. “We might treat you a good deal worse if we were of a mind to do so. Crabtree told us to bind and gag you.”
“He did?”
“Yes. He says you are a perfect minx.”
A few words more followed, and then both of the boys left the cabin.
“She won’t submit,” whispered Mumps.
“What had we best do?”
“Use the drug Crabtree gave us,” answered Baxter. “It’s a lucky thing I brought that vial.”
“Yes—if we don’t have any trip-up in the matter,” answered the toady, with a doubtful shake of his head. Mumps had gone into the whole scheme rather unwillingly, but now saw no way of backing out.
A little later the Falcon ran into the harbor of Cayuga and came to anchor close to one of the docks. Then Baxter appeared with some sandwiches and a glass of milk.
“You might as well eat; it’s foolish not to,” he said, and set the food on a little stand.
By this time Dora was very hungry, and as soon as the bully had left she applied herself to what had been brought. Poor creature, she did not know that both sandwiches and milk had been doctored with a drug calculated to make her dull and sleepy!
She had hardly finished the scant meal when her eyes began to grow heavy. Then her brain seemed to become clouded and she could scarcely remember where she was.
“Here’s news!” cried Baxter, coming in an hour later. “We are to join your mother and Mr. Crabtree at Albany.”
“At Albany?” she repeated slowly. “Have—have they gone there?”
“Yes; they are going on a honeymoon on the yacht Flyaway. Your mother wants you to join her and forgive her.”
Dora heaved a long sigh. “I cannot! I cannot!” she sobbed, and burst again into tears.
Nevertheless, she allowed herself to be led off the Falcon and to the depot. “Your face is full of tears,” said Baxter. “Here, put this veil over it,” and she was glad enough to do as bidden, that folks might not stare at her.
What happened afterward was very much like a dream to her. She remembered entering the cars and crouching down in a seat, with Baxter beside her. A long ride in the night followed, and she slept part of the way, although troubled with a horrible nightmare. She wanted to flee, but seemed to lack both the physical and mental strength to do so.
The ride at an end, Baxter and Mumps almost carried her to the river. Here the Flyaway was in waiting. Bill Goss had gone on ahead and notified his wife that she was wanted. It may as well be added here that Mrs. Goss was as coarse and unprincipled as her husband.
When Dora’s mind was once more clear she found herself in a much larger cabin than that she had formerly occupied. She lay on a couch, and Mrs. Goss, a fat, ugly-looking creature, sat beside her.
“Are you awake, dear?” asked the woman as smoothly as she could.
“Who—who are you?” asked Dora feebly.
“I am Mrs. Goss.”
“I don’t know you. Where—where is my mother—and Mr. Crabtree?”
“You’ll have to ask Mr. Baxter or Mr. Fenwick about that.”
“Do you belong on this boat?”
“I do, when I go out with my husband.”
“Was he the man who was with those boys?”
“Yes.”
“Where are we now?”
“On the Hudson River, just below Albany.”
“Where are they going to take me next?”
“You had better ask Mr. Baxter. I was only brought on board to wait on you.”
“Then that means that they wish to take me quite a distance!” cried Dora, and ran on deck.
Mumps and Baxter were talking earnestly together near the bow. At once she ran to them.
“Where is my mother?”
“You’ll see her soon,” answered the former bully of Putnam Hall.
“It was another trick of yours!” burst out Dora. “And I think you gave me something last night to make me sleepy.”
“What if we did?” came from Mumps.
“You are all right now.”
“I do not want to go another step with you.” Dora looked around and saw a strange boat passing. “Help! help!” she screamed.
At once there was another row, in which not only the boys, but also Bill Goss and his wife, took a hand. In the end poor Dora was marched to the cabin and put under lock and key.
If the girl had been disheartened before, she was now absolutely downcast.
“They have me utterly in their power!” she moaned over and over again. “Heaven alone knows where they will take me!” And then she sank down on her knees and prayed that God might see her safely through her perils.
Her prayer seemed to calm her, and she felt that there was at least one Power that would never desert her.
“Poor, poor mamma, how I wish I knew what was happening to her!” she murmured.
Slowly the hours went by. Mrs. Goss came and went, and Dora was even allowed to go on deck whenever no other boat was close at hand. Thus Martin Harris saw her; but, as we know, that meeting amounted to nothing.
It was Mrs. Goss who served the meals, and as Dora could not starve, she was compelled to eat what was set before her, the fare being anything but elaborate.
“Sorry, but we haven’t got a hotel chef on board,” observed Dan Baxter, as he came in during the supper hour. “But I’ll try to get something better on board at New York.”
“Do you mean to say you intend to take me away down to that city?” queried Dora.
“Humph! we are going further than that.”
“And to where?”
“Wait and see.”
“Are you afraid to tell me?”
“I don’t think it would be a wise thing to do.”
“We are just going to take a short ocean trip—” began Mumps, when Baxter stopped him.
“Don’t talk so much—you’ll spoil everything,” remarked the bully.
“An ocean trip!” burst out Dora. “No! No! I do not wish to go on the ocean.”
“As I said before, I think you’ll go where the yacht goes.”
“Does my mother know anything of this?”
“She knows you are away,” grinned Mumps.
“You need not tell me that!” exclaimed Dora. “You are a mean, mean boy, so there!” And she turned on her heel and walked off.
She wished she had learned how to swim. They were running quite close to shore, and she felt that a good swimmer could gain land without much effort. Then a man came out from shore in a large flatboat.
“Help! Help!” she cried. “Save me, and I will reward you well! They are carrying me away from home!”
“What’s that?” called out the man, and Dora repeated her words before any of the others could stop her.
“All right, I’ll do what I can for you,” said the man, and running up beside the yacht, which had become caught in a sudden calm, he made fast with a boathook.
CHAPTER XIX
DORA TRIES TO ESCAPE
“Now we’re in a pickle!” whispered Mumps. “That man may cause us a whole lot of trouble.”
“You let me do the talking,” answered Dan Baxter. “Help Goss get her back to the cabin.”
“I won’t go back!” screamed Dora. “Let me be!” And she ran for the rail.
But Mumps caught hold of her and dragged her back. Then Bill Goss approached, followed by his wife.
“You must go below, miss,” said the sailor.
“Come, Nancy, give us a lift.”
Poor Dora found herself at once surrounded and shoved back. She tried to call out again, but Mumps checked her with that ever-ready hand of his.
“Be careful!” shouted Baxter, for the benefit of the man on the flatboat. “Treat her with care, poor girl.”
“All right,” grinned Mumps. “Come, down you go,” he went on, to Dora, and literally forced her down the companionway.
Once in the cabin she was left in Mrs. Goss’ care. The door was locked, and Goss and Mumps went on deck to learn what Baxter was doing.
“What does this mean?” asked the man in the flatboat. He was a farmer, who had just been taking a load of hay across the stream.
“Oh, it’s all right,” answered Baxter carelessly. “That’s my sister.”
“Your sister?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the row?”
“No row at all—excepting that I am trying to get her back to the asylum.”
“Is she crazy?”
“A little bit; but not near as bad as she used to be. She got out of the asylum in Brooklyn yesterday, and I’ve had my hands full trying to get her back. She imagines she is a sea captain and always runs off with my uncle’s yacht.”
“I see. That’s pretty bad for your family.”
“Oh, yes; but we are getting used to it. Take care, we are going to swing around.”
Never suspecting that he had been regaled with a string of falsehoods, the farmer let go with his boathook, and yacht and flatboat speedily drifted apart.
It was with a big sigh of relief that Dan Baxter saw the flatboat recede in the distance.
“That was a narrow shave,” he muttered. “If that fellow had insisted on talking to Dora there would have been a whole lot of trouble.”
In vain Dora waited for the man to come on board. He had said that he would do what he could for her. Surely he would not desert her!
But as the time slipped by her heart failed her and she gave herself up to another crying spell. This caused Mumps and Goss to withdraw, and she was left alone again with Mrs. Goss.
“Where are we now?” she asked at length.
“We are approaching New York,” was the answer.
“And that man, what of him?”
“Oh, he didn’t come an board.”
It was night when the Flyaway came to a landing near the upper portion of the metropolis. The boys and Bill Goss went ashore, leaving Dora in Mrs. Goss’ care.
“Be careful and don’t let her escape,” cautioned Dan Baxter. “We won’t be gone very long.”
Baxter had left for a telegraph office, expecting to receive a message from Josiah Crabtree.
For half an hour Mrs. Goss sat in the cabin watching Dora, who was pacing the floor impatiently.
“Make yourself comfortable, miss,” said the woman. “It won’t do you any good to get all worked up over the matter.”
“You do not understand my situation, Mrs. Goss,” faltered Dora. “If you did understand, I am sure you wouldn’t keep me a prisoner in this fashion.”
“I am only obeying orders, miss. If I didn’t my Bill would almost kill me.”
“Is he so harsh to you?”
“He is now. But he didn’t used to be—when he didn’t drink.”
“Then he drinks now?”
“Yes; twice over what is good for him.”
“Where have they gone?”
“To a telegraph office.”
“Didn’t they say they would be back soon?”
“Yes.”
Dora said no more, but sank down on the couch. Then an idea came to her mind, and lying back she closed her eyes and pretended to go to sleep.
The woman watched her closely for a while; then, satisfied that the girl had really dropped off, gave a long sigh of relief.
“I guess I can get a little sleep myself,” she muttered. “I think I deserve it.”
She locked the cabin door carefully and placed the key in her pocket. Then she stretched out in an easy chair with her feet on a low stool.
Dora watched her out of the corner of her eye as a cat watches a mouse.
Was the woman really sleeping?
Soon Mrs. Goss’ breathing became loud and irregular.
“She must be asleep,” thought Dora, and stirred slightly.
Mrs. Goss took no notice of this, and with her heart in her throat the girl slipped noiselessly from her resting place and stood up.
Still the woman took no notice, and now Dora found herself confronted by a most difficult task.
Without the key to the cabin door she could do nothing, and how to obtain the much coveted article was a problem.
With trembling hands she sought the pocket of Mrs. Goss’ dress only to find that the woman was sitting on the key!
“Oh, dear, this is the worst yet!” she murmured.
As she stood in the middle of the cabin in perplexity, her captor gave a long sigh and turned partly over in her chair.
The pocket was now free and within easy reach, and with deft fingers Dora drew the key forth and tiptoed her way to the cabin door.
She was so agitated that she could hardly place the key in the keyhole.
The lock had been used but seldom, and the action of the salt air had rusted it greatly.
As the key turned there was a grating sound, which caused Mrs. Goss to awaken with a start.
“What’s the matter? Who is there?” she cried, and turned around to face the cabin door.
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 26