CHAPTER XI

TRAPPED

"Gee, Case, what's the matter?" and Alex reached over and flung a hard pillow at his sleeping companion. Through the little cabin window came the first grey light of dawn.

"What's the matter?" inquired Case, sleepily.

"That's just what I'm asking you," snapped Alex, tartly. "Goodness, man, don't you feel the boat wallowing in the trough of the sea? She wouldn't do that if she was moored to the pier. She must have broken away. "Hey, rouse up, you, Clay and Ike," he called. "The _Rambler_ is adrift in a heavy sea."

Eight feet struck the floor and the four boys began hustling into their clothes.

"I don't understand how she broke loose," Clay said, as he pulled on his shirt. "I looked at her moorings just before I turned in, but loose she certainly is. Otherwise she would be pitching fore and aft instead of rolling in this sickening way. Come up, I am going out now and see what's the matter. He twisted on the knob of the cabin door and tried to open it, but it resisted his efforts. He turned sharply around. "Who came in last night, you, wasn't it, Ike?"

"Yes, I sits up on deck a little while, thinking over things," Ike confessed.

"Did you change the key and lock the cabin door?"

"I don't remember it," Ike confessed, miserably. "I was thinking hard of other things, you understand."

"You'll understand some things more in a few minutes," Clay said crisply, as he snapped on the cabin lights. He pounced upon a small dark object by the stove behind which Captain Joe lay in a sort of stupor. "That's why Captain Joe didn't warn us. They threw him a piece of poisoned meat through the window. I guess he won't die. He only bit off a small chunk and he spit most of that out. Wise old owl, Captain Joe."

"Whew," whistled Alex. "Look, they have taken the rifle and shot gun."

Each boy darted to his bunk, for they all kept their automatics under their pillows at night. They found them all safe.

"I wonder who did it," Alex said.

"Ike's friends, Bill and Jud, of course," said Case in a tone that caused the little Jew to wince wretchedly.

"The thing to think about is to get out of here," Clay said. "I don't believe those fellows can start the engine up. They are almost a new invention. Now, if the wind is blowing from the same direction as it was when we turned in, we are bound to hit the rocks somehow between Nome and Cape Nome. This sea will break her up in no time and will drown us like rats in a trap. I would rather put up a fight against any kind of odds than to die that way."

"Hallo," hailed a voice from the aft window. "We want to talk peaceable with one of you, no shooting."

It was Jud's voice and Case stepped forward before any of the others could act.

"What do you want?" he asked, as he threw open the window, disclosing Jud's face.

"We want one of you to come up and start this darned motor," he said. "We can't make it go. 'Pears like we can't do it. Reckon you boys must have almost filled up your tank with kerosene by mistake. The engine is fairly dripping with it."

"If you want the engine started, unlock the door and let us all up," Case said.

A low-toned conversation ensued between Jud and his companions, then Jud's face reappeared at the window.

"Bill says it can't be done," he said dejectedly, "an' Bill generally knows what's right."

"It's all of us or none," Case said, decidedly.

"Don't say that," begged Jud. "We're driving on shore an' it ain't more than 500 yards away. You don't want to be drowned like rats in a trap, do you?"

"What are you going to do if one of us does come up and fix the motor?" Case questioned.

"We will not harm you boys," said the other earnestly. "All we want is that little Jew. He's done us out of something that belongs to us. First thing is to get the boat off this shore, then we want you to steer straight for the mouth of the Yukon. We have got boats there. The one of you on deck can put us and the Jew on shore and then come back and free the rest an' go on about your own business."

"Nothing doing," Case said decidedly. "We never desert a comrade. Might as well go back to your motor."

The boys in the cabin had heard all the conversation and their faces were grave. In one corner sat Ike, a huddled heap of woe with something of the persecuted pathos of his race in his dark eyes.

"They lie," he cried. "I have got nothing what belongs to them loafers. I am honest and steals nothing. But I am sorry I bring trouble on you boys. Do as that low-life says and save your lives while you can. I'm sorry I got you boys into trouble."

"No, Ike," Clay said firmly. "The _Rambler_ boys always stick together in time of trouble. If something doesn't happen pretty soon we'll break down the door and make a fight for it."

A light stole over Alex's freckled face. "I've got an idea. It may work and it may not. Do you remember that hatchway up forward in the prow, Case?"

Case nodded quickly.

"Well," went on Alex, hurriedly. "I believe we can work our way up over the cargo to the hatch. If Teddy Bear is sleeping on it we will not be able to lift it up. If not, we will crawl out. The men will likely be working on the motor and we stand a good chance of catching them napping. Two of us is enough. The other two had better stay in the cabin talking all the time. If the cabin got quiet all of a sudden, they might get suspicious and be on the watch."

"All right, you and Ike stay here, and Clay and I will try it," said Case.

"You will not, you big stiff," declared Alex excitedly. "It's my plan, and I'm going to run it. Anyhow, how could you big chaps wiggle through that small space between the deck and cargo. No, Ike's going with me if he will."

"Sure, I will," said Ike delightedly, as he felt in his pockets to see that his automatic was safe. "I ain't afraid of them loafers, you understand. Alex and I do the trick all right."

Alex threw open the door at the front end of the cabin and the two wiggled into the inky void beyond.

"Well, they have gone," said Case despondently. "The best thing we can do is to stand by the cabin door and break it down the second we hear trouble on the deck."

"Yes," Clay agreed, and they took up their positions. Case on one side ready to swing the axe while on the other side Clay held an automatic in either hand ready for action.

Alex and Ike pushed steadily if slowly forward. Their position was one of extreme peril. Their cargo had been well stowed but the violent rolling was shaking it loose and as they crawled, they were often hit by rolling casks and shifting boxes. This cargo was part of their trading outfit for which they had been unable to find room in the lockers. Every now and then the two boys received painful bruises from shifting boxes. It was easy to see that the cargo was fast breaking up and that they would not be able to return the way they came. At last, battered and bruised, they reached the hatch. Alex gave it a tentative push upward and it yielded easily. Evidently Teddy was not sleeping on it. He raised it to its full height and the two boys clambered up on deck. It was now broad daylight and only a glance was needed to show them their peril. The _Rambler_ was wallowing in a heavy sea, dipping her decks under with every roll, but what was worse, not less than two hundred yards away to leeward, lay a rock-strewn shore dashed upon by the huge surges. The cabin hid the boys from the two men and Alex raising his head, shot a swift glance over its top.

It was as he expected, the two men were working over the motor, or, rather, Jud was working while Bill was cursing him volubly for not being able to make it go, to which Jud replied gently:

"Be patient, Bill. "I'll get her going. I nearly got her that last time."

Alex dropped down, an anxious look on his face. "It's Teddy," he whispered, "he's crawling aft over the cabin top. I'm afraid they will see him and kill him. Why can't that bear keep out of trouble?"

But it was not Teddy Bear's intention to avoid trouble, rather he was seeking it.

The rolling of the boat had wakened him slowly to a realization of an aching head and foul taste in his mouth and a stomach that revolted at the thought even of sugar. A feeling of enmity to all men was strong within him. Dimly he recalled the drinks, the liquid which the man in the white jacket had sweetened with sugar. Clearly it was that liquid that had made him so sick. His uptilted nose caught a fain scent that reminded him of the odor of the unwashed bodies that had crowded around him the day before. Clearly they were some of his enemies who had made him so sick and had turned his blood to water. He clambered clumsily on to the cabin top just as the boys reached the hatch. His padded feet made too little noise to be heard above the sound of wind and water. He reached the other end of the cabin and dropped off on the deck below where he reared up on his hind feet. The first intimation the men had of his presence was the vision of a raising arm and a heavy smack on the side of the vicious looking Bill's head, which sent that worthy ten feet over the stern.

Jud, with a cry of "My God, Bill can't swim!" dived over the side to his partner's assistance.

Alex and Ike came running aft just as the cabin door splintered under a lusty blow from Case.

"Stop," shouted Alex. "The key is on the outside. I will let you out."

The imprisoned boys sprang out as soon as the door yielded. Both took in the situation at a glance. Clay sprang for the motor, while Case ran forward to the wheel.

"Lower the anchor," Clay shouted despairingly, a moment later. "Run the cable out until she is close to the breakers. These fools have flooded the engine and it is going to take some time before I can succeed in working it all out."

The three boys rushed to the bow and heaved the heavy anchor over. Alex took a turn around the snubbing block, paying the cable out, rapidly at first, then slowly tightening up on it until the _Rambler's_ bow swung up into the wind. Instead of rolling and wallowing, she met the seas with a steady, easy pitching. Just keeping the cable taut enough to hold the boat up to the wind, Alex continued to pay it out slowly until the _Rambler's_ stern was within forty feet of the breakers. Then he fastened the big hempen rope tightly to the snubbing post. The three boys stood tense awaiting results. Slowly the _Rambler_ drifted back, dragging the huge anchor with its long cable with it. "No holding bottom," Alex shouted. "She's going on the rocks. Get ready to jump."

But when her stern swung within a dozen feet of the foaming breakers, the _Rambler_ brought up with a jerk, that threw the boys to the deck. The anchor had caught on a hidden rock. Their first act on regaining their feet was to assure themselves of their own safety, then to look around for their late captors. At first they could see neither of them in the long rolling waves. It was Alex who spied them first. "Good heavens!" he cried, "look there. Did you ever see a man like that in your life?"

Following his pointing finger, his two companions caught a glimpse of a sight, startling but inspiring. Jud, with one hand was holding not only Bill's head, but half of his body, above the high waves, while with the other hand he was keeping his own head above water and swimming powerfully for the breaker-racked shore. The boys gained some idea of the man's magnificent strength in the way he sustained the weight of his partner's body aloft and still kept his own head high above the water. They caught one more glimpse of the two just before they entered the boiling breakers. Jud had turned on his back and had drawn the limp form from above, holding it tight with one arm thrown around his waist, while with the other he was still desperately battling to win through the rock-strewn smother to the sandy shore beyond. "Look at a man, boys," Alex cried in admiration, "using his own body to protect his partner's body from the rocks. That's some man, I'm telling you." In a few moments the two bodies were rolled up on the beach by a mighty wave. Jud stooped and picked Bill up as though he were a sleeping child, and laying him down on the dry, warm sand, thrust a bunch of dry sea moss under his head for a pillow.

The boys were close to the shore and could see the eyes of Jud clearly. They were eloquent with tenderness and woe. He was bleeding from a dozen gaping wounds, made by the cruel, ragged rocks, but he did not seem to notice them. Kneeling down by Bill's side, he applied the first aids to the drowned, such as raising and lowering the arms and depressing the chest. The boys stood and watched him anxiously.

Suddenly Jud lifted a beaming face. "He's coming to all right," he shouted joyously. "Reckon that bear knocked him senseless so that he didn't swallow much water."

"Strange how the Northland brings such different characters together in such strong partnership," said Case, musingly. "I wonder if Bill would have done as much for Jud. I doubt it."

A cry from Alex brought him back from his musings. The little lad's freckled face was pale. "The cable's parted. We are going on the rocks. Start her up, Clay. For the love of heaven, start her up."

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