CHAPTER XVIII

SOME SIGNS OF TREACHERY

The sails of the Maud were furled, and the vessel rested as easily under the lee of a sort of promontory, which rose up from the marsh, as though a gale were not raging outside of it. Captain Ringgold would have proceeded to the town from which they had embarked in the forenoon if the tide had not been entirely down; but he was not familiar with the navigation of the bay, and he would not run the risk of getting aground in the middle of it.

Mrs. Belgrave declared that she was very comfortable in her stateroom; but she very much preferred to go on shore, even at the expense of some hardship from the weather, and the perils of the marshes. Louis desired to gratify her if it were possible. One of the men had been left on deck as an anchor watch, and the captain and mate had seated themselves in the cabin.

“I don’t think you would have any trouble at all in getting up to the town,” interposed Mr. Frinks, when he had heard the conversation of the passengers.

“Do you mean to go ashore here and walk up?” asked the captain.

“It can’t be much over a mile,” replied the mate.

“But we may come to creeks and mud-holes we cannot cross with a lady,” suggested the shipmaster.

“I think not, for I got some idea of the locality when we came into the bay, and while we lay at anchor here for about two days,” added Frinks. “There is something that looks like a creek or the mouth of a river over to the northward of us; but we can land the lady beyond that with the jolly-boat.”

“I’ll tell you what we will do,” said Captain Ringgold suddenly and loudly, as though a satisfactory idea had come to his mind. “We will take the boat and go on a little exploring expedition, for I don’t believe in taking Mrs. Belgrave out on a night like this without knowing where we are going to fetch up. This bay is big enough to be well shaken up in a gale like this; and I think we had better feel our way before we expose her to anything in the way of danger.”

“I am not afraid, Captain Ringgold,” protested Mrs. Belgrave. “It was not very rough when we went out of the bay this forenoon.”

“Very true, madam; but it blows more than four times as hard now as it did then,” added the shipmaster. “Perhaps we had better wait a couple of hours or so, for the tide is dead low now, and by that time we shall have water enough to get about in the jolly-boat, and perhaps in the schooner. There is a good channel up to the town if we only knew where it was; but it is very crooked, I remember, for I was in here in a schooner twenty years ago.”

“I think that it is a capital idea to explore the bay to the northward of us; and I am confident we can land on that creek not more than half a mile from the anchorage,” said Frinks with considerable enthusiasm, as though he desired to do all he could to comply with the wishes of the lady passenger. “I will go with you, and do what I can to assist, for I know something about the bay from my stay here.”

This plan was agreed upon, and Louis was very glad to have the mate accompany the exploring expedition, for he regarded him as the only dangerous man at liberty on board the Maud, and he could easily be kept under control in the boat, or on the desolate shore of the bay at the north, though it had a town on the west side, whose cheerful lights could be seen from the deck of the schooner.

Louis advised his mother to lie down in her berth and sleep a part of the night, for they could not be ready to take her ashore for at least three hours. She complied with his request, rather to please him than because she expected to sleep under the present circumstances. Felix had already gone to sleep on one of the divans under the berths, and Louis was inclined to follow his example. He went on deck with the captain to take a more careful survey of the surroundings, so far as they could make them out in the gloom of the night.

“I suppose there is no danger in leaving mother on board while we go on this exploring expedition,” said Louis, after they had peered into the darkness for a while without being able to make out anything.

“I don’t think there is; if there were any danger I certainly would not leave her,” replied Captain Ringgold. “Scoble can do no mischief in his present condition, and we are to take Frinks with us. The mate seems to be in a very friendly mood towards us, and I don’t believe we have anything to apprehend from him.”

“Certainly not, if we take him with us,” added Louis. “Who is to go in the boat besides the mate?”

“You and I must go, for in spite of appearances Frinks may be tricky and make trouble when we get away from the vessel, and are buried in the darkness. The safest way is to trust no one; and that is just what we will do.”

“That is the better way.”

“We take Frinks with us, and both of us have revolvers within reach of our hands on the instant. Of course Scoble can do nothing with his wrists ironed behind him, and made fast to the front of the berth. We shall leave Felix on board, and we are absolutely sure that he will be faithful.”

“There is no possibility of a doubt so far as he is concerned,” replied Louis heartily.

“One thing more, my boy. We have to dispose of Scoble, and what are we to do with him? No officer in Southfield would arrest him on your statement or mine; and it would not be right for any one to do so. Uncle Moses, you say, has one warrant, and Mr. Woolridge has the other. One of us must go home with your mother, and that will weaken our force. I have not much doubt a tug can be had in the town, and if we find a practicable way to get there over the marshes, one of us had better go and obtain it, and at the same time telegraph to Squire Scarburn to send an officer with the warrant to make the arrest. As I am the stronger man of the two for duty on board, you had better attend to this duty.”

“Of course I am willing to do anything I can to get the villain inside of a prison,” added Louis.

Captain Ringgold had no intention to take a nap, and for an hour longer he discussed the situation and the plan, for Louis found himself wide awake again as soon as the safety of his mother was under consideration. There was nothing to be seen in any direction but the lights in the town, which were growing less and less as the evening advanced; and vessels going into New York, if there were any on such a stormy night, did not go so far to the southward as the entrance to the bay.

“We left Felix asleep in the cabin,” said the captain, after they had been on deck at least an hour and a half. “Perhaps you had better go below and see that all is well.”

“I will do so,” replied Louis, as he went to the companion-way.

Felix was still fast asleep on one divan near the door of Mrs. Belgrave’s room, and Bickling was apparently in the same condition on the one just forward of the stateroom in which Scoble was confined. If Louis had hurried his steps he might have seen Frinks leap hastily into the berth next aft the prison room. By the time the young man reached a point abreast of the late captain’s wooden cell, the mate had buried himself in the bedclothes of the berth abaft the cell, and was snoring like a trooper, so that Louis could have no doubt from the sounds that reached his ears as he passed that the occupant of the bunk was sound asleep. In fact, it appeared to be a very sleepy time in the cabin, though appearances are sometimes very deceitful.

When Louis returned to the deck he found the captain heaving a hand lead in the waist of the vessel; and he had done it before at the bow and stern. The messenger to the cabin reported upon the state of things there, and it was entirely satisfactory to the shipmaster.

“It is about eleven o’clock, Louis, and the tide has made about two feet since we anchored here. It is about time for us to get off on the exploring expedition,” said Captain Ringgold as Louis joined him.

“You have not said yet who is going in the boat, captain. Do we take any one of the Maud’s crew except the mate?” asked the young man.

“The mate and I can pull the boat, and you can look out ahead, though I do not object to another, provided it is not Felix, who must keep guard over your mother,” replied the captain, as he led the way to the cabin to call the mate.

On the stairs they encountered Bickling, who put his hand on Louis’s shoulder in a rather mysterious manner, and led him to the deck again, while the captain continued on his way down the stairs.

“You are going away in the boat,” said he, as he halted near the companion. “Will you take me with you? I can be of service to you.”

The cook seemed to be in mortal terror of something, and the hand he laid upon Louis’s shoulder trembled, and his manner was very strange.

“Why do you wish to go in the boat, Bickling?” asked Louis.

“Which it is very kind you ’ave been to me, and”--

At that moment Frinks rushed upon deck from the companion-way, closely followed by Captain Ringgold.

“I hope I have not delayed the expedition; but I was tired and dropped asleep in my berth, and lost all idea of what was going on,” said the mate, as the captain joined him.

The cook could not say another word, so terrified was he at the appearance of Frinks, or rather when he heard his voice near him, for he could not see him in the darkness. The two men forward were ordered to bring the boat up to the gangway; and when the mate discovered the cook, he told him to assist them. In a few moments the boat was ready for use. Frinks seemed to be in a great hurry, and got into it at once.

“I should like to have Bickling go with us, captain,” said Louis, as the shipmaster was about to follow the mate.

“We will take the cook with us, if you don’t object, Mr. Frinks,” added the captain.

“I don’t object; and I think we can find enough for him to do. Bickling! In the boat!” replied the mate.

But Louis was not quite ready to go, and said so to those in the boat. Then he rushed down into the cabin, where he found Felix still fast asleep on the divan. He roused him at once, and then charged him in the most earnest manner not to fall asleep while the boat was absent. Felix promised faithfully to keep awake, and declared that he would keep on his feet all the time till the boat returned. Louis, satisfied that he would keep his promise, went on deck, and took his place in the boat.

Frinks shoved her off, and the craft went off into the darkness. Bickling had been put at one oar while the mate pulled the other. The captain was to occupy the stern sheets, and Louis took his place in the bow as the lookout, for he was supposed to have the sharpest eyes. Keeping the lights of the town, rather more than a mile distant, on the port hand, the boat went to the northward. At the mate’s suggestion, the course was made more to the westward, to enable them to find the creek or river he had seen before.

There was plenty of water for the boat, and most of the way for the schooner, for the captain had brought the hand lead with him, and was taking the soundings at frequent intervals. In less than half an hour Louis reported that he could make out the opening in the land leading into the creek. The boat presently made a landing, and Louis and the captain leaped ashore, followed by Bickling, to whom no order to that effect was given.

“If you find a way to the town that suits you, come back as quick as possible, and we will bring off the lady,” said Frinks.

The other three were no sooner ashore than Frinks pulled with all his might for the schooner.

[Illustration: “COME ASHORE AT ONCE! IF YOU DON’T I’LL FIRE UPON YOU!” Page 147.]