“And now that father wouldn’t turn the control over to them, they have had him kidnapped, so that he can’t sign those papers and serve them,” said Dick. “The case is as plain as day.”
“And they got old Crabtree to manage the kidnapping,” put in Tom.
“But how did they know about Crabtree?” asked Sam.
“Most likely he has been mixed up in some of their shady transactions of the past,” replied Dick. “When he got in jail, he sent for Japson and made him fix it up so he could escape. That fire helped the rascals. Then both came down to New York, and all hands hatched the plot to put dad out of the way.”
“Poor dad! If only we knew he was safe!” murmured Tom.
“That’s just it—he may be suffering terribly!” added Sam.
“I think we’ll find out something definite tomorrow—when we follow Pelter,” said Dick. He, too, was greatly worried.
The evening proved a long one to the boys, even though they spent some time in penning letters to the girls and to the folks at home. Dick had received a most sympathetic letter from Dora, in which the girl stated that she wished she was with him to help him.
“Dear Dora!” he murmured, as he placed the letter in his pocket. “I wish all this trouble was over, and we could be married and go off on our honeymoon!”
The boys had found out from the hotel clerk how to reach the address in the Bronx, as the upper portion of New York city is locally called. They could take a subway train to within two blocks of Pelter’s home.
They were up bright and early, and after a hasty breakfast went out to a nearby store, where all purchased variously-colored caps of the automobile variety, and also some automobile goggles.
“We’ll pass for chauffeurs in a crowd,” said Dick. “The goggles will change our appearance, even if we only wear ’em on our foreheads.”
They were soon on a subway train and being whirled northward. The train was an express, making but few stops, and almost before they knew it, the guard called out their station.
Dick had consulted a street map at the hotel, so he knew exactly how to turn. They easily located the apartment house in which Jesse Pelter resided, and then stopped at a nearby corner to await his appearance.
“We have got to be very careful how we follow him,” said Dick. “If he spots us, it will be all up with us. I think Sam had better go first. I will follow, and Tom, you can bring up the rear. And let us all act as if we were perfect strangers to each other.”
Then came a wait of nearly half an hour. At last they saw the front door of the apartment open and several men came out. Two of the men turned in one direction and the other man hurried off alone.
“There he is—there’s Pelter!” cried Dick, in a low voice. “Now, Sam, see to it that he doesn’t get out of your sight.”
“I’ll do my best,” answered the youngest Rover, and walked off after the broker.
As Jesse Pelter hurried along he consulted his watch. Then he hastened his steps, making his way to the nearest railroad station. He boarded a train, and the boys followed, Sam getting in the same car with the broker and Dick and Tom entering the next car, but keeping in sight of their brother.
A number of stations were passed and then the broker left the train and the boys did likewise. On the street Jesse Pelter called a cab that was handy and entered it.
“Say, this looks as if we might lose him!” cried Dick, in alarm. Then he chanced to see another cab, and hurried to it, waving for Tom and Sam to do the same. He ordered the driver to keep the first turnout in sight, but not to get too close.
“I can do that with ease,” said the driver, with a broad grin. “It’s Jerry Dillon’s cab, and Jerry’s horse is no good at all.”
The two cabs rolled on for several blocks, and then the first turned in the direction of the Hudson River. It halted near the railroad, and Jesse Pelter sprang to the ground. He paid the driver of the cab and dismissed him. Then he hurried along the railroad on foot.
“I guess he is going up to the dock yonder,” Said Tom, while the boys got out.
“Looks like it,” answered Dick.
All left the cab and hurried after Jesse Pelter, who was now all but out of sight. He passed between two buildings and the boys followed him slowly.
“Wait!” cried Dick presently. “Look!”
“Why, it’s Crabtree!” exclaimed Sam, as another figure came into view—that of a heavily-bearded man with a slouch hat.
“Exactly,” returned Dick. “Now keep back, or we may spoil everything,” he continued, cautiously.
The three boys saw Pelter and Josiah Crabtree converse earnestly for several minutes. The man who had escaped from jail pointed to a big bundle he carried and Pelter nodded. Then both walked slowly across the railroad tracks to a dock jutting out into the Hudson.
At the dock lay a rowboat, with a man who looked like a sailor at the oars. Pelter and Crabtree climbed down into the boat, which was quickly shoved away. Then the sailor took up the oars and commenced to row out into the broad river.
“Now we are stumped!” murmured Tom, as he and his brothers watched the departure of the rowboat from behind a shed at the inner end of the dock.
“Let us watch that rowboat as far as we can,” returned Dick. “I don’t believe they intend to row very far.”
“Maybe they are going to one of the vessels anchored out yonder,” remarked Sam.
“More than likely.”
The sailor was pulling up the stream, close to the shore, and the brothers could watch him with ease. The tide was running out and the oarsman had all he could do to make any headway.
“If he is going to keep to the shore, we might follow him on foot,” suggested Tom, after several minutes had passed, and while the rowboat was still clearly in view.
“He is turning out now!” cried Dick. “See, I think he is making for yonder two-masted schooner.”
The rowboat had turned out and in a few minutes more the boys felt certain it was headed for the schooner.
“Oh, if we only had a rowboat!” groaned Tom.
Dick did not reply. He was watching a steam tug that had come up the river. A line had been thrown from the tug to the schooner and made fast.
“The steam tug is going to tow her down the river!” exclaimed Sam. “Oh, Dick, what shall we do?”
“Dad may be on that schooner!” supplemented Tom.
Dick gazed up and down the stream. A rowboat was coming along, manned by two boys. Dick gave the lads a hail.
“Hi! want to earn a dollar quick?” he asked.
“How?” questioned both lads, in a breath.
“See that schooner? We want to get on board of her as quickly as possible.”
“All right—but let us see the dollar first,” answered one of the lads, shrewdly.
The rowboat came to the dock and the three Rovers leaped on board. Dick produced a dollar bill, and the boys commenced to row with all the power at their command.
In the meantime the first rowboat had reached the schooner’s side and the men and the sailor had gone on hoard. The boat was tied fast to the stern and orders were given to the captain of the tug to go ahead.
“Stop! stop! You rascals!” cried Tom, as the schooner commenced to move down the Hudson. And in his anger he shook his fist at those on the vessel.
At first the actions of the boys attracted no attention. Then there was a stir on the rear deck of the craft.
“Somebody in a rowboat, calling to you,” remarked the captain of the schooner, to Josiah Crabtree.
“To me?” exclaimed the former teacher, in surprise. “I will see about this.”
He hurried to the stern of the schooner. The rowboat with the Rovers had now come quite close. Josiah Crabtree gave a start.
“Can it be possible?” he gasped.
“Wha
t is it?” asked Jesse Pelter, who had stepped up.
“Those young men in yonder boat! Unless I am mistaken they are Anderson Rover’s sons!”
“Is it possible!” ejaculated the broker. “Oh, there must be some mistake.”
“No, no! I know them well! And see, they are motioning to us! They want us to stop!”
“They must have seen and followed us!” said the broker, and his manner showed his sudden fear.
“Want to take those fellows on board?” questioned the captain of the schooner.
“No! no!” cried Josiah Crabtree. “Tell the captain of the tug to hurry up! That we er—that we must make better time!”
“I will, sir,” said the captain of the schooner, and hurried forward to give the necessary order.
A big steamboat was passing up the river and the wash from this sent the rowboat containing the Rover boys dancing up and down. The lads at the oars headed the craft to meet the rollers, and the schooner passed further and further away.
“They are leaving us!” groaned Sam. “Oh, what luck!”
“Mr. Rover!” yelled Dick, at the top of his lungs. “Are you on board? Rover! Anderson Rover! It’s Dick! Dick!”
For fully a minute no answer came back. Then there was a commotion on the deck of the schooner and a man appeared, clad in a torn suit of clothing and hatless.
“Dick! Where are you?” was the exclamation, and the man rushed to the stern of the craft. “Dick! And Tom and Sam! Help me!”
“It’s father!” yelled Dick. “Stop that schooner! Stop her, I say!”
“Get back there!” exclaimed Josiah Crabtree, catching Mr. Rover by the arm. “Get back, I say! Help me, somebody! This man is crazy!”
He and Jesse Pelter hustled Anderson Rover back, and then the boys saw their father disappear from view. Swiftly the tug and the schooner gathered headway. The boys shouted in vain. They looked around for some other boat to come to their aid, but none was in sight. Then the schooner passed down the Hudson River and the Rover boys were left in the rowboat, gazing at each other in dismay.
CHAPTER XIX
THE SEARCH FOR THE SCHOONER
“Anyway, we have got the name of the schooner,” remarked Sam, after a moment of silence. “She’s the Ellen Rodney.”
“And we ought to be able to follow her somehow,” added Tom.
“We must!” cried Dick. “Let us get to shore and see what we can do.”
“Don’t we get that dollar?” queried one of the boys who rowed the boat.
“Yes,” answered Dick, and handed the money over. “Now get us to shore as quickly as possible.”
“If you want to catch that schooner, why don’t you go downtown after her?” asked the second boy of the rowboat.
“Just what I was thinking of doing,” answered Dick. “I think we can get down there ahead of them. The only question is, Can we get anybody down there to go out after the schooner?”
“You can get a boat at the Battery, if you’re willing to pay for it. Plenty of tug captains down there looking for jobs.”
“Then we’ll get to the Battery as fast as possible,” said Tom.
The boys who had been rowing the boat were tired, so Tom and Dick took the oars, and thus the little craft was speedily brought back to the dock from which it had started.
“You can get an elevated train over there,” said one of the boys, pointing with his hand. “It will take you right to the Battery.”
The Rover boys lost no time in leaving the dock and crossing the railroad tracks. Then they fairly ran to the nearest station of the elevated railroad. Dick purchased the tickets and dropped them in the box. Then came a wait of several minutes on the platform.
“Train for South Ferry!” called out the guard, as a rumble was heard.
“Does that go to the Battery?” questioned Dick.
“Sure.”
The boys piled on board and away swept the line of cars, on the way downtown. But it was a local train, making all the stops, so their progress was not as fast as they wished.
Here and there, through the cross streets, they caught sight of the glistening river, with its numerous craft. Once Tom thought he saw the Ellen Rodney, but at that distance he could not be sure.
At last the train swept around a curve into the Battery, as the little park at the extreme lower point of the great metropolis is called. Here were located several ferries and also some shipping offices, as well as the Aquarium. Dick almost ran to the nearest shipping office.
“I want to stop a schooner that is coming down the Hudson River,” he said, to the clerk in charge. “Can I hire a boat around here to take me out?”
“Anything wrong?” asked the clerk, curiously.
“Yes, very much wrong.”
“In that case, why don’t you put the harbor police on the job?”
“Can I get them handy?”
“Yes, the office is up there,” and the man pointed it out.
“Thanks,” returned Dick, and headed for the place in question, with Tom and Sam at his heels.
An officer was in charge of the office of the harbor police and he listened with interest to what the boys had to tell.
“This is certainly a serious matter,” he said, when they had finished. “Those men are actually kidnapping your father—in fact, they have already kidnapped him. We’ll have to get after them.”
“You have a boat handy?”
“Yes, several of ’em.”
The officer touched a bell and another man in uniform appeared. He was given some instructions, and then the second man told the Rover boys to follow him. He led the way to a dock where a steam tug lay, the smoke pouring from the funnel.
“Quick work here, Andy!” he cried, to an officer on board. “We’ve got to catch a schooner coming down the river—the Ellen Rodney. Do you know her?”
“I’ve seen her,” was the answer, from the tug officer.
“The fellows on board the schooner are kidnapping the father of these boys. I reckon it’s a serious case—a money affair,” he added, in a lower tone.
“Who is the man?”
“Anderson Rover is his name. If you find him, and the boys make a charge, place all hands under arrest.”
“I will.”
The steam tug was fully manned, carrying a crew and several police officers. The Rover boys were told to get aboard, and the tug was headed out into the Hudson, or, as here called, the North, River.
“You don’t suppose they have passed here, do you?” questioned the captain of the tug.
“I don’t think so—unless that towing tug was an extra fast one,” answered Dick.
“They wouldn’t dare to run too fast, with so many ferryboats crossing the river. It would be too dangerous.”
The police tug swept out into the bay and then started slowly up the river, moving from one shore to the other. The police officer in charge had a pair of glasses and he used these on the various craft that came into view, and also allowed the boys to use them.
“Ought to be along soon,” said Tom, after a quarter of an hour had passed. “It took us quite some time to get down here, you know.”
“Maybe they didn’t come down the river,” suggested the officer.
“Didn’t come down?” cried Sam. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe they thought you would come down here and wait for them and so changed their plans and went up the river instead.”
“That’s so!” exclaimed Tom. “They might do that.”
“Well, if they went up the river, we ought to be able to catch them sooner or later,” put in Dick.
“Let us hope so,” returned the officer.
Soon they had passed up the river to a point opposite the Twenty-third Street ferries. Here a number of boats were moving up and down the stream, and from t
he Hoboken shore a big trans-Atlantic steamer was coming out, to start on its trip across the ocean.
“That looks like her!” cried Sam, pointing to a craft behind the trans-Atlantic steamer.
“So it does!” returned Tom.
They made a semi-circle, other boats giving way to the police tug. But when they got closer to the schooner in question, all the Rover boys uttered a cry of dismay. It was a craft similar to the Ellen Rodney, but that was all.
“Either we missed her or else the schooner went up the river,” said Dick, at last.
“Looks that way,” returned Tom, with a sigh.
They continued to move up the stream, scanning each shore closely. They passed numerous boats, but not one that looked like the craft they were after.
“Well, here we are, at the spot where Crabtree and Pelter got aboard,” said Dick, a while later. “So, either we have missed them, or else the Ellen Rodney went up the river instead of down.”
The boys were much disheartened, for they had thought that the police tug would surely locate the craft and that they would thus be able to come to their father’s rescue. They scarcely knew what to do next.
“I’ll go up the river a bit further, if you say so,” said the police officer in charge of the tug.
“Perhaps we had better run down first and make another search on our second trip,” suggested Dick. “I shouldn’t like them to get out into the Bay and give us the slip.”
The tug was turned back, and a little later they reached the vicinity of the Battery once more. Then began another search up the river, from shore to shore, as before. But not a trace of the schooner could be found.
“Must have gone up the river,” said the police official. “We’ll try it for a way and see.”
This they did, the police tug moving from side to side as before.
“This is the end of it, so far as we are concerned,” said the officer in charge of the tug, at last. “We don’t go up the river any further than this.”
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 265