Dick had gone to the rear and as he entered the last car he saw Cuffer crouching down in a seat near the door. The train was stopping at another station, and quick as a flash the fellow arose in the seat, shot between Dick and a man with several bundles, and forced his way out on the platform. Dick tried to follow, but was caught fast by several men.
“Here, don’t be acting in such a rowdy fashion!” cried one man, in great irritation.
“You knocked my bundle from my hand!” added another. “It’s a shame the way some roughs act on these trains. The authorities ought to have them arrested,” he went on in a loud voice.
“What’s the trouble in there?” demanded a policeman, who was on the station platform in the crowd.
“This young fellow is too fresh,” explained the man who had dropped his bundle.
“I want to get off, that’s all,” said Dick.
“Well, you behave yourself,” growled the guardian of the peace, and Dick was glad enough to get away with this reprimand. He saw Cuffer running for the stairs and made after him as rapidly as the density of the crowd permitted.
When Dick gained the street once more the train bearing Sam was again on its way downtown. Cuffer was about a block away, running past Cooper Institute in the direction of the Bowery.
“I may as well keep up the chase and try to run him down,” thought Dick, but he wished his brother was with him.
At this time of day the Bowery, always a busy thoroughfare, was swarming with people, and the numerous “barkers” for the clothing stores, photograph establishments, and the like, were doing their best to make trade come to them. As Dick hurried past one clothing establishment a short, stocky Jew stepped in front of him.
“Von’t you step inside, young chentleman? I sell you some gloding cheap as dirt.”
“I don’t want any clothing,” answered Dick, briefly.
“I vos mof next veek, und I sell you a suit for next to nodding,” persisted the clothing dealer.
“I don’t want to buy anything,” said Dick, and tried to push past the man. The fellow caught him by the arm.
“If you vill only look at dose peautiful suits vot I haf for twelf dollar—”
The Jew got no further, for with a strong push Dick sent him staggering among the dummies in front of his store. He tried to recover his balance, but could not, and over he went, bringing down two of the dummies on top of him.
“Serves you right,” flung back Dick, as he ran on. “The next time you’ll know enough to leave me alone.”
“Isaac! Moses! Sthop dot young mans!” bawled the clothing dealer, as he scrambled to his feet. “He has ruined two peautiful dummies, mit fine suits on! Sthop him!”
“Not to day!” muttered Dick, and dodged into the crowd. Then, seeing that Cuffer had crossed the street, he did the same, and continued the pursuit on that side.
But to follow anybody long in a crowd on the Bowery is not easy, and after six blocks had been passed Dick came to a halt on a corner in bewilderment. He had seen Cuffer last on that corner, but where the rascal had gone was a question.
“Want a paper?” asked an urchin close by. “Evening papers!”
“Say, kid, did you see a man run past here just now?” asked Dick.
“Sure I did.”
“Where did he go?”
“Wot will yer give me if I tell yer?” asked the newsboy shrewdly.
“Five cents.”
“All right, hand over de nickel.”
“Here it is,” and Dick showed the money in his hand. “Now where was it?”
“He went in de Sunrise Hotel, down dare. I watched him run in.”
“What kind of a hat did he have on?”
“A soft hat wid a big knock in one side.”
“And you are sure he went in that hotel?”
“Cross me heart, mister. I watched him, cos he was out o’ breath, an’ I knowed he was up to som’t’in’.”
“Here is your money,” answered Dick, and passed the nickel over. Then he walked to the hotel and paused on the sidewalk to look the place over before entering.
CHAPTER X
DICK BECOMES A PRISONER
The Sunrise Hotel had seen better days. It was a five story brick building, blackened by age and had numerous small windows, down in front of which ran an iron fire escape. The lower floor was used as a drinking place, to one side of which ran a narrow stairs, leading to an office and a parlor above.
Looking in over the short doors of the drinking place, Dick saw that Cuffer was not there. He rightly surmised that the fellow had gone upstairs, to a room he was occupying.
“Perhaps that fellow Shelley is with him,” mused Dick. “If so, I’d like to collar them both.”
Several men were coming and going and nobody paid particular attention to the youth until he gained the dingy office, where two men were smoking and talking over the merits of some race horses.
“What can I do for you?” asked one of the men abruptly, as Dick looked around.
“Is a man named Cuffer stopping here?”
The hotel clerk shook his head.
“Perhaps I have the name wrong. I mean a man who came in a minute or two ago—fellow with a soft hat, knocked in on the side.”
“Oh, that chap! Yes, he’s here—room eighteen, next floor,” and the clerk pointed up the stairs, for the hotel had no elevator.
Dick walked up the stairs slowly, revolving in his mind what he should do if he met Cuffer face to face. If he had the man arrested it might lead to legal complications, and the voyage in search of Treasure Isle might be delayed. It would be hard to prove that the rascal had done any actual wrong.
Reaching the upper hallway, Dick looked at the dingy numbers on the still more dingy doors. Eighteen proved to be at the rear, where it was so dark he could scarcely see.
As the youth approached the door he heard a murmur of voices in the room beyond. He listened, and made out Cuffer speaking, and then he recognized the voice of Shelley.
“And so I dusted out before I had a chance to get any money from Sobber,” Cuffer was saying.
“Well, did the Rovers catch the young fellow?” questioned Shelley.
“That I don’t know. If he didn’t know enough to run away he is a fool.”
“You say one of the Rovers followed you from the train?”
“Yes, but I gave him the slip as soon as I reached the Bowery,” answered Cuffer with a chuckle.
“Well, what are we to do next?” asked Shelley, after a pause.
“There is nothing to do but to wait until tomorrow, when Merrick arrives.”
“Have you any faith in this treasure hunt of his?”
“I have so long as he pays the bills. I wouldn’t put a cent of my own money in it.”
“Has he got enough money to see the thing through?”
“So he says. He met the captain of that tramp vessel somewhere and got him interested in the hunt by promising him a share of the find. He says as soon as he can get hold of a Spaniard who knows the exact location of the island he’ll set sail.”
“And take the Spaniard along?”
“Of course. The Spaniard was one of the chaps who originally took the treasure to the island.”
“Well, where do we come in?”
“He wants us along because he is afraid the fellows on the vessel will make a fight for the gold and jewels when they are found. Some of those sailors are pretty bloodthirsty, you know. He says he is going to take at least four strong men whom he can trust.”
Dick listened with keen interest to this talk, which revealed a great deal. Sid Merrick had made an arrangement to go on a voyage after the treasure! How soon he would start there was no telling, but probably as quickly as he could get ready. More than this, he expected to have with him the Spaniard, Doranez, the fel
low who had said he was going to Spain to visit his relatives. More than likely Merrick and Doranez were in league with each other and would do all in their power to keep the treasure out of the hands of the rightful owners.
“If only Tom and Sam were here,” thought Dick. “Or if only Tom has captured Tad Sobber. This is getting lively, to say the least.”
The men were now speaking in a lower tone and he put his ear to the keyhole, to catch what they might say. Then, of a sudden, the door opened and he found himself confronted by Shelley.
“Thought I heard somebody in the hall!” cried that individual, and grabbed Dick by the arm.
“Let go!” answered the youth and tried to break away. But Cuffer came to Shelley’s assistance, and between them the two men dragged the boy into the room and shut the door after him. Dick struggled vigorously even when in the apartment until Cuffer caught up an empty water pitcher and flourished it over his head.
“Make another move and I’ll knock you senseless with this!” he exclaimed and the look on his face showed he meant what he said. Seeing his captors were too powerful for him, Dick subsided and was forced into a chair in a corner.
“Been listening to all our talk, I suppose,” said Cuffer, uglily. He was angry to think that Dick had been able to follow him after all.
“I have,” was the youth’s bold reply. He felt nothing was to be gained by beating around the bush.
“It’s a nice business to be in!”
“It is better than the business you are in.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I do. You fellows are in league with Sid Merrick, and you know what sort he is.”
“See here,” interrupted Shelley. “Now we have him in here, what are we going to do with him?”
“You are going to let me out,” said Dick.
“Perhaps we are,” said Cuffer, and gave Shelley a significant look.
“Let us see if he’s got any papers with him,” suggested Shelley, and returned the look given to him by his companion.
The look meant that they would go through Dick’s pockets and rob him. The men were thorough rascals and if the youth had anything worth taking they meant to have it.
“You keep out of my pockets!” cried Dick and started to rise from the chair in which he was sitting. Instantly both men grabbed him, and while Cuffer held him tightly from the rear, Shelley caught up a towel and gagged him. Then a bed sheet was used to tie Dick inside of a closet in a corner of the room.
“Listen, I think somebody is coming!” cried Cuffer, in sudden alarm.
“Keep the boy quiet!” answered Shelley and ran to the hall door just as a knock sounded upon it.
“What’s the racket up here?” demanded the voice of the hotel clerk.
“Oh, we were only trying a vaudeville turn,” answered Shelley, coolly. “We have an engagement for next week.”
“Well, stop that noise and don’t break any of the furniture, or you’ll pay for it,” growled the clerk and went away. It chanced that actors occasionally stopped at the hotel and practised their parts. Shelley knew of this, hence the excuse he gave for the noise made in rendering Dick a prisoner.
As soon as the clerk had retired Cuffer and Shelley both paid their attention to Dick, and with great rapidity they went through his pockets, stripping him of his watch and chain, and twenty four dollars and a quarter in money. They also took a small diamond scarf pin and a ring set with a valuable ruby. In one pocket Cuffer found several letters and he likewise appropriated these.
“Not such a bad haul,” was the thief’s comment.
Of course, Dick did not submit willingly, but with a gag in his mouth, and his hands and feet tied tightly, he could do but little. As soon as the men had taken his things from him, they shut the closet door upon him and locked it. A few minutes later all became quiet, showing that they had left the room.
The closet was small and stuffy and in this warm weather made Dick perspire freely. But without waiting to make certain that the men were really gone, he commenced to work upon his bonds and the gag in his mouth.
It was no light task and it was a good quarter of an hour before he got one hand loose.
Then he freed his other hand and undid the troublesome gag, which had all but smothered him, and then unfastened his feet.
He was still a prisoner in the closet, the door of which was an old fashioned one and thick. But by bracing his feet against the back wall, Dick got a firm hold and soon his shoulder on the barrier caused it to bend and creak. Then the lock gave way and the door flew open with a bang.
A glance around the room showed that the men had flown, and for good, for two valises which had stood in a corner were missing.
Dick leaped to the hall door, only to find it locked from the outside.
“They must have gone that way,” he reasoned, after a look out of the window, and then he rapped on the door loudly.
It was several minutes before anybody answered his summons. Then an ignorant looking chambermaid appeared.
“Phot does yez want?” she demanded, in a strong Irish brogue.
“I am locked in. Let me out,” answered Dick.
After some fumbling, the chambermaid found her key and unlocked the door. She gazed at Dick in some surprise, for she saw that he was excited.
“Sure, I didn’t know yez had that room,” she said.
“Did you see the two men who had this room?” demanded the youth.
“I did not.”
“They robbed me and ran away.”
“Saints preserve us! Robbed ye? Of phat?”
“Of everything I had. Sure you didn’t see ’em?”
“Not since this marnin’.”
“Well, they must have just gone out,” said Dick, and ran down the stairs and to the office. Here he found the place deserted, the clerk having gone down to the dining room for his supper, and nobody else being on duty. The clerk listened to his story with small interest and shrugged his shoulders.
“Don’t see what I can do,” he said. “We ain’t responsible for our guests. You had better go and see the police. I hope you catch them, for such rascals give hotels bad reputations.”
“Do you know the men at all?”
“No, never set eyes on ’em until a couple of days ago. Then they came in, hired that room, and came and went to suit themselves. One was named Brown and the other Smith—at least that’s the names on the register.”
“Those were fake names. Then you won’t help me to catch them?”
“I don’t see what I can do,” answered the clerk, calmly. “We are not to blame for this, you can see that for yourself.”
Dick could see, and after a few words more, he left the hotel, feeling very depressed in spirits. He spent an hour in looking up and down the Bowery for Cuffer and Shelley, but without success. Then, as it was getting late, he returned to the hotel at which he and the rest of his family were putting up.
CHAPTER XI
ABOARD THE STEAM YACHT
Mr Rover, as well as Tom and Sam, had come in, and all were anxious to hear what Dick might have to report. They were filled with amazement at the story of the robbery.
“I thought I’d wait about telling the police until I had heard what you had to say,” said Dick, to his father.
“I am afraid in a big city like New York it won’t do much good to tell the police,” answered Anderson Rover. “However, we can report it to morrow. But I think Cuffer and Shelley will keep in the shade until they see Sid Merrick and have a chance to get away,” and in this surmise Mr. Rover was correct. The matter was reported to the police, and that was the end of it, so far as the authorities went, for they failed to apprehend the evildoers.
Mr. Rover was much worried when he learned that Merrick had fallen in with a captain of a tramp vessel who was ready to go on a hunt for the
treasure. And he was still more worried when Dick told him of the letters which had been abstracted from his coat pocket by the thieves. Among them was one from Mrs. Stanhope mentioning the treasure hunt and how she would be on hand at Philadelphia to board the steam yacht with Dora and the Lanings.
“If Cuffer and Shelley turn that letter over to Merrick it will give him some idea of our proposed trip,” said Mr. Rover, “and more than likely he will strain every nerve to get ahead of us.”
“His vessel may not be able to sail as fast as our steam yacht,” said Tom.
“That is true, Tom, but he may get down among the West Indies before we can locate Treasure Isle and then he’ll have as good a chance as ourselves. Moreover, if he should land on the isle at the time we did —”
“There’d be a hot time, that’s sure,” said the fun-loving boy, with a grin.
“Do you think they’d fight?” asked Sam.
“Yes, if they saw a chance of getting the best Of us,” answered his father.
“I wish I had caught Tad Sobber,” came from Tom, regretfully.
“That might have done some good, but I doubt it,” said Anderson Rover. “From what I have learned of this Sid Merrick he is a man bound to do as he sees fit, regardless of those around him. When the freight thieves were captured he managed to get away, and he’ll try to get away even if we catch Tad, Cuffer, and Shelley.”
“I guess he is a worse man than Arnold Baxter was,” was Dick’s comment. He referred to an old enemy of the Rovers, who had now reformed.
“Much worse than either Mr. Baxter or his son Dan ever were,” answered Mr. Rover. “If caught in a corner I think this Merrick would be capable of any wicked thing.”
“What do you advise?” asked Tom.
“We will go to Philadelphia as soon as possible and get the steam yacht ready for the trip. The best way to foil Merrick and his crowd is to find the isle, get possession of the treasure, and get away before they know what we are doing,” answered Anderson Rover.
On the following day the party was rejoined by Songbird, and then all journeyed to Philadelphia, taking Aleck Pop with them. They found the Rainbow tied up to a dock along the Delaware River, and went aboard. The master of the craft, Captain Barforth, was on hand to greet them, and he speedily made them feel at home. The captain was a big, good natured man of about forty, and the boys knew they would like him the moment they saw him.
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