“I do.”
“I can have the law on you for it.”
“Go ahead, the sooner the better,” responded Dick, coolly. “Those men are rascals and you know it. Now, I am going to give you one chance—just one,” went on Dick, looking the master of the Ellen Rodney squarely in the eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“As I said before, those men are rascals. They abducted my father, and you aided them. I can prove it. As soon as we rescue my father we are going to prosecute those rascals. If you want to save your own skin you had better help us all you can.”
At these plain words the face of Captain Rodney became a study.
“They told me he was a crazy man—a brother to one of the others—and they wanted to get him to some sanitarium.”
“If that was so, why did they run away?”
“I didn’t know they ran away—until just now.”
“You started to go down the river,” said Tom.
“Why did you change your mind and come here?”
“They chartered the schooner for a week—I was under their orders.”
“Where were they going at first?”
“Down the Jersey coast and back. They said they thought a little ocean air would do the crazy man good before they put him in the sanitarium. I own up that I was suspicious, but they claimed everything was straight.”
“They were going to take my father down the coast for several days so that he could not sign important papers,” returned Dick. “It is a well-laid plot to do our family out of a great deal of money and dishonor my father.”
“Well, I ain’t in it, I give you my word. I chartered my vessel to ’em, that’s all.”
“We will take you at your word, then. But you must tell all you know about them and their plans,” said Dick, after a pause.
“And if I do that, will you—er—drop the charge against me?” questioned the master of the Ellen Rodney, eagerly.
“If you don’t, we are going to have you placed under arrest as soon as we can get an officer.”
“Don’t do that! I never had any trouble before and I don’t want it now. I’ll help you all I can—if what you say its true, and that man is your father.”
After that the captain was quite willing to talk, and he told how Crabtree and Japson had come to him and questioned him about the schooner, and finally chartered the craft for a week. They had at first wanted to pay him at the end of the time, but he had insisted upon receiving his money in advance and it was then paid over. He had been told that the strange man was Crabtree’s brother, who had gone crazy because of the loss of his money in a Western irrigation scheme.
“They said they would take him down the coast for three or four days, to brace him up a bit. Then we were to run in at Absecon, near Atlantic City, and land all hands. They said they would go from Atlantic City to Lakewood, where the sanitarium was located.”
“Probably they intended to let him go at Absecon and then deny that they had ever touched him,” said Dick.
“Maybe—I don’t know anything about that,” replied the captain.
“But how did you come to change your plans?” asked Tom.
“When you came out in that rowboat and the crazy man—excuse me, I mean your father—cut up so, they hustled him back to one of the state-rooms,” went on Captain Rodney. “Then they had a long talk. I think they were afraid you would go down the river by train and try to head them off.”
“Which we did,” murmured Sam.
“After a while Pelter and Japson came to me and said they must come up the river—that a sister of the crazy man lived up here, and they must visit her before they went down the coast. I was suspicious, but what could I do? I had chartered my vessel and I had my money, so I obeyed orders. Then we came up here as fast as we could. The steam tug was dismissed, and we came ashore to this place. Then they hired an auto and went off—and that’s all I know about it.”
“You don’t know where they went?” cried Dick.
“No more than what they said—that they were going to the crazy man’s sister.”
“Which was false,” muttered Tom.
“What were you to do?” asked Dick.
“They told me I might sail up the river to Newburgh and wait there for a telegram.”
After that the captain talked freely. But what he had to say shed but little more light on the subject. The boys came to the conclusion that he had been dragged into the plot without knowing what it was, but that he had been willing to lend his help, provided he was well paid for it.
“When the proper time comes I shall want your testimony,” said Dick, at the conclusion of the interview. “In the meantime I advise you to have no more to do with those fellows.”
“They shan’t come near the schooner, even if they did charter her,” growled Captain Rodney.
CHAPTER XXII
HOT ON THE TRAIL
The boys had no appetite, but as they were in the dining room they ordered a light lunch and paid for it. Then they saw an automobile come splashing through the mud of the road.
“There is that car!” cried Sam, as he recognized the driver.
The boys ran out and made their way through the rain to the garage. The enclosed touring car had just entered and the driver had shut off the power. The wind shield had been up, but the man had gotten quite wet and stood shaking the water from his coat.
“Here’s the car!” cried the colored man, coming forward.
“So I see,” returned Dick. He turned to the driver. “Pretty bad traveling, I imagine.”
“You bet! The road is a mass of slippery mud. I came near skidding half a dozen times.”
“Where did you go?” and Dick stepped closer to the chauffeur.
The man started and looked at the oldest Rover boy sharply.
“What’s that to you?” he asked, shortly.
“Everything. We want to go to the same place.”
“And as quickly as you can get us there,” added Tom.
The chauffeur surveyed the three Rovers in amazement. Then he took off his coat and shook it briskly.
“Sorry, but I can’t take you,” he said, slowly. “I’ve got another job in—er—in half an hour.”
“You are going to take us,” said Dick, firmly. “And right away. What did those men pay you?”
“What is that—”
“How much—out with it? I haven’t any time to spare.”
“Ten dollars.”
“All right. You’d like another ten, wouldn’t you?”
“Sure. But—”
“Ten dollars to get us to the same place inside of twenty minutes,” went on Dick, and showed a roll of bankbills.
“Can’t do it—in this slippery weather,” answered the man, his eyes glistening at the sight of the money. “Make it in half an hour.”
“All tight then.”
“I’ll put on the chains,” cried the chauffeur, and brought out the anti-skidding chains for the rear wheels. The boys got the colored man to assist him, and the chains were soon adjusted. Then the car was backed out of the garage and the three Rovers leaped inside.
“Now, don’t lose a minute,” said Dick.
“I won’t. But we are taking chances on this road, sir, I can tell you that.”
It was still raining steadily, and the highway was a mass of oily mud,—a splendid compound upon which to skid. On and on rushed the touring car at a rate of speed varying from twenty to thirty-five miles an hour.
“I could eat this road up if it was dry,” shouted the chauffeur. “The machine is good for fifty miles an hour.”
“Well, don’t climb a tree, or a stone wall,” cautioned Dick, grimly.
Ordinarily the Rover boys might have been anxious because of such wild riding, but now every thought was cente
red on their father. How he was faring, and would they be able to rescue him?
Twice the touring car made dangerous lurches to one side, once fairly brushing some trees which lined the roadway. But the driver stuck to his post, and gained the middle of the roadway again, and rushed on as rapidly as ever.
“I’ll wager he doesn’t own the machine,” muttered Sam. “If he did, he’d be more careful of it.”
“Well, he owns his own neck,” returned Tom, grimly. “So maybe he’ll be careful of that.”
They passed through several small villages, the inhabitants gazing out curiously at the rushing and swaying car. Then they took to a side road, where the traveling was worse than ever.
Suddenly the car made a turn. They had struck a rut in the road and even the chains did not save them. Around swung the automobile. There was a grinding of the brakes and the power was shut off. Then came a jar that sent the Rover boys in a heap.
“Something has happened sure!” cried Tom, who was the first to get up.
They looked out of the door of the enclosed car. They had come up to a mass of bushes beside the road, and the left front wheel had struck a rock and was twisted around. The mud guard on that side had crumpled up.
“I guess the journey is over—so far as this car is concerned,” muttered Dick, as he leaped out, followed by his brothers.
The chauffeur was trying his steering wheel. The right wheel responded, but that which had hit the rock did not.
“Out of commission!” he said, with a frown. “I was afraid something would happen.”
“If it’s only the steering gear it won’t cost much,” said Dick. “How much further to that place?”
“Not over half a mile.”
“Then we’ll walk it!” cried Tom.
“Of course,” added Sam.
“Ain’t you going to pay me!” exclaimed the chauffeur, in dismay. “I did my best.”
“Yes, I’ll pay you,” responded Dick. “And give you an extra five for the repairs. Now tell us just where that place is, and what sort.”
“It’s a country home,—a white place, set in a lot of trees,—with a wind mill back of the barn. Got a green hedge in front—the right side of the road—you can’t miss it.”
“Did you hear the name of the owner?”
“Belongs to one of the crowd—man named Japson. It’s an old country home that was in his family for years. He don’t live there, but it’s furnished, I understand.”
The boys said no more, but as soon as the chauffeur was paid, they set off through the rain. It was a disagreeable journey, and but little was said. All wondered what would be best to do when they reached the place for which they were bound.
“I wish we had the sheriff and his posse with us, as we had when we rounded up those rascals at Plankville,” said Tom.
“Or if we only had John Slater’s shotgun,” added Sam.
“Never mind. As I understand it, we are three to three,” said Dick. “And we can arm ourselves with heavy sticks,” which they presently proceeded to do, tearing up some bushes for that purpose.
It was not long before they came in sight of a long, high hedge. Back of it was a white house, surrounded by numerous old trees. Over the trees showed the top of an old wind mill, used for pumping water from a driven well.
“Think we had better go right up to the door and knock?” asked Sam, as they halted at the edge of the hedge.
“No, I think we had better spy around a little at first,” answered his big brother.
All crawled through a gap in the hedge and, skulking from tree to tree, gradually neared the house. Near one of the windows grew some bushes, and they crept along to these. Then Dick looked through the window.
He saw Pelter and Japson seated at a table, going over some legal papers. Nobody else was visible.
“Perhaps Crabtree took father to some other place, after the chauffeur left!” thought the youth, in dismay.
The window was closed, so the boys could not hear what was being said. They consulted among themselves, and walked around the house, being careful to keep well under the windows, which were rather high.
“Here is a cellar door, let us try that,” said Tom, and he raised it up, and almost before they knew it, they were in the cellar under the building.
Above them they could hear footsteps and a murmur of voices. Evidently Josiah Crabtree had joined the brokers.
“You stay here and I’ll investigate further,” said Dick, after a pause, during which he had espied a stairs leading upward to the rear of the house.
He mounted the stairs and came out into a wide kitchen. No one was present, nor did any fire burn in the big stove. From the kitchen a door led to a dining room, which, in turn, led to a sitting room. In the last-named room were the three men.
“Do you think he’ll raise a row?” Pelter was asking.
“He can’t raise much of a row, with that towel bound over his mouth,” replied Josiah Crabtree.
“It’s lucky we had this place to come to,” put in Japson. “I only hope they don’t get on our trail and follow us.”
“I don’t think they will follow us here,” said Pelter. Then followed a murmur, as he and the other broker went over the legal papers on the table.
Dick wondered what he had best do next. He gazed around the kitchen and saw a small side door, opening on an enclosed stairs leading to the second floor. He went up the stairs noiselessly.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE RESCUE
The oldest Rover boy had reached a rapid conclusion. This was that his father was not on the first floor of the house, nor in the cellar. Consequently, if he was in the building at all—and Dick believed he was—he must be somewhere upstairs. While the three rascals were in the sitting room he intended to make a quick investigation.
With his stick still in his hand, in case of attack, Dick reached the second floor and entered a small bed chamber. Opening from this was a second room, containing a cot. Beyond the rooms was a closet, and that was all.
“Too bad! This stairs leads only to a kitchen addition!” murmured the boy. “How can I get into the main house? Why didn’t they cut a door through?”
He looked out of a window and saw the roof of a porch. At the end of the roof was another window, one of a room in the main building. Without hesitation Dick raised the sash of the window at which he stood and stepped out on the porch top. Soon he was at the other window.
It was locked, but the catch was not a strong one, and with the blade of his pocketknife he easily pushed it back. Then the sash came up and he stepped into the bedroom beyond.
The room was empty and the bed showed that it had not been used for some time. Dick crossed the apartment and opened a door leading to a wide hallway. From downstairs came a murmur of voices. The rascals were still in consultation.
Swiftly the oldest Rover boy passed from one room to another of the big house. Each was empty, and in the last he came to a halt, somewhat dismayed. Then he thought of an enclosed staircase he had noticed, leading to the next floor, and he hurried to this.
The third floor of the building was but an open garret, piled high with old furniture and discarded things generally. The two windows were covered with dirt and cobwebs, and as it was dark outside, because of the rain, Dick could see but little.
“Father!” he called softly. “Father, are you here?”
He listened and heard a tapping, coming from one end of the garret. He moved over in the direction and struck a match. Then he gave a cry, half of gladness and half of dismay.
His parent was there, bound to an upright of the garret floor. He had his hands behind him, and a towel was tied over his mouth. With deft fingers Dick unloosed the towel, and then he cut his father’s bonds with his pocketknife.
“Oh, Dick! How glad I am that you have come!” gasped Anderson
Rover, when he could speak. “That towel nearly smothered me!”
“Did they hurt you any, Dad?” asked the boy anxiously.
“Not so very much, Dick. We had several rough and tumble fights,—when I tried to get away from them. But they were too many for me. Have they gone?”
“No, they are in the sitting room below, talking matters over.”
“And you came here all alone?” asked Mr. Rover, stretching his cramped limbs.
“No, Tom and Sam are down in the cellar. I told them I would come upstairs and investigate.”
“Good! Then we are four to three. I am glad to know that. It will make it easier to get away from them.”
“Have you done anything for them—I mean, signed any papers, or anything like that?” asked the son, anxiously.
“No. They wanted to keep me from signing certain papers that must be signed inside of two days, Dick.”
“I know it.”
“They also wanted me to sign other documents, and Crabtree said if I didn’t do it he would leave me here to starve!”
“The rascal!” muttered Dick. “We have got to get him back to jail, that’s sure! Are you sure you are well enough to go with me, Dad?”
“I—I think so, Dick. But this has been an awful strain on me,” sighed Anderson Rover.
He was very pale, and the hand he placed on Dick’s shoulder trembled greatly.
“After this you must let me attend to business for you,” said the son. “I am old enough to do it. You need a complete rest.”
“Yes, Dick, but your college career—”
“We’ll talk about those things later, Dad. First, I want to get you away from here, and in a safe place. Then we’ll attend to Crabtree, Pelter and Japson,” added Dick, grimly.
“The business matters have been too much for me—I realize it now,” sighed Anderson Rover. “I must take a rest—a good, long rest. They would not have gotten the best of me if I had been stronger.”
“Come,” said Dick. “Don’t make any noise if you can help it,” he added, in a whisper.
He guided his parent, and both tiptoed their way to the second floor of the dwelling. Then they entered the bed chamber opening on the top of the porch, and so made their way down to the kitchen and then into the cellar.
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 267