CHAPTER IX.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT.

Matt looked at Lon, and Lon looked at Matt. There was a general looking at each other in the boat.

“Now I’ve told you why I slept in the boat, maybe you will tell me, Matt, how you happened to be sailing in the ‘Mud-turtle’ so late in the night,” said Wade Brooks.

“We only came down here to have a sail. We are going down to the Sound,” replied Matt, looking at his companion.

“You said you were bound to New York,” added Wade with a significant wink.

“I said that in fun,” laughed Matt. “Of course we shouldn’t think of such a thing as going to New York in this old boat.”

“I shouldn’t think you’d go to New York in this boat,” added Wade.

“We haven’t got any thing to eat, and no money to buy any thing with: so we couldn’t go if we wanted to,” continued Matt, with a sly wink at Lon.

The remark that they had no money was truer than either of them supposed; but, for the present, Wade kept his own counsel.

“What were you going to talk with Garlick about, Wade?” asked Lon, who did not exactly like the looks of this statement.

“Matters and things in general,” replied Wade. “In the first place, I was accused of stealing that money; and, as Mr. Garlick seems to be a fair man, I wanted to talk with him about that. He was fair about the peaches; and, when he found he was wrong, he owned right up like a man. I wanted to ask him what he thought I had better do about it. I knew Matt took the money, for I saw him do it. Then I wanted to tell him that Matt was out of the house just before the fire; for I thought he might want to know about that.”

“What do you mean by that, Wade?” demanded Matt, beginning to shake in his shoes again.

“When the fire broke out in that barn, I knew as well as I do now who touched it off,” added Wade, in a very matter-of-fact manner, rather than as one who was making grave charges.

“Who was it, Wade?” asked Matt, so agitated that he could hardly speak.

“You and Lon, of course; and I guess about all the folks in town know it by this time. When I was going down to the boat I heard two men in a wagon talking about it.”

“That Lon and I set Garlick’s barn on fire!” exclaimed Matt. “It’s the biggest lie that ever was told!”

“I guess not,” added Wade. “Your folks will be willing to believe it when they find you are gone; and they know it by this time.”

“Are we to be accused of setting that barn on fire because we came down here to take a sail?” demanded Matt with all the indignation he could assume.

“I guess so,” said Wade, with a smile at the thin talk of Matt.

“Let it drop,” added Lon, who did not believe it was of any use to deny the charge, if it was all over town.

“But, if you are going to New York, it is time to be moving,” said Wade with a chuckle. “Where are we now?”

“We can’t be a great way from the mouth of the river,” replied Lon, beginning to hoist the mainsail.

Wade took hold, and helped him, and did not retain possession of the stick, for Lon seemed to be entirely peaceful.

Wade got up the anchor, and then hoisted the jib, which Lon had not used the night before. The breeze was quite fresh, and the old boat bounded off on her course at a lively rate. Lon was not timid; but, when the “Mud-turtle” heeled down till the water began to run in over the wash-board, it was too trying for his nerves.

“Won’t you steer her, Wade?” he asked. “I am not much used to a boat.”

“I see you are not,” laughed Wade, as he took the tiller. “You should have let off the sheet, or headed her more up into the wind. But where are we going?”

“Down to the Sound,” replied Lon.

“But we are not going to New York without any breakfast, are we?” inquired Wade, who had eaten a very unsatisfactory supper the night before, and felt the need of food.

“We must have something to eat,” added Matt.

“We will stop and buy something when we see a store on shore,” replied Lon. “You seem to know every thing, Wade Brooks: do you suppose the folks in Midhampton are looking for us?”

“Of course they are. Your father begun last night, I guess.”

“Do you think they will miss the boat?”

“Maybe they will; but nobody goes to the creek very often. It will be just as it happens.”

“Somebody may have come down here by the railroad to look for us,” suggested Matt.

“Very likely,” added Wade, who was not a good comforter on this occasion.

Lon and Matt talked the matter over between themselves; and, while they were doing so, Wade discovered a village ahead. He said nothing, but run the boat for it. In a short time Lon saw it. A train of cars was approaching it from the north.

“We have concluded not to stop at this place to get any thing to eat,” said Lon.

“Have you?” added Wade. “Well, I’ve concluded to stop here.”

“Do you think it is safe to do so?” asked Lon anxiously.

“It’s safe enough for me: I don’t know how it is with you. If Matt didn’t steal that money, and if you didn’t set Mr. Garlick’s barn on fire, it is as safe for you as Midhampton,” replied Wade, with a laugh, for it amused him to see the guilty ones squirm.

Lon did not want to talk any more with Wade about the matter. He persisted in knowing all about the fire and the money, and would not keep still. He had taken the bit in his teeth, and intended to sail the boat where he pleased.

“Let’s go into the cuddy, and keep out of sight,” said Matt.

Wade smiled again, for he saw that Matt wanted to get his money from under the floor more than he wanted to keep out of sight. When the boat came around a bend, the skipper saw a bridge across the river, just below the village; and he knew that the railroad which crossed it went to New York. He was not sure that the bad boys did not intend to abandon the boat, and take the train for the great city. He wished to go there himself, for he thought he could get work there. But he was confident, that, whatever Lon intended to do, they would not take any train to New York, for they would soon find that they had no money to pay the fare.

He heard them fumbling about the cuddy, and he knew that Matt could not find the treasure. But, if the boat was to stop at the town, it was time to prepare for the landing; and, if she was not to stop, it was time to look out for the bridge, for the mast seemed to be too tall to pass under it. If no one on board had any money, it was no use to land to obtain something to eat. Wade regarded the money in his pocket as held in trust, and he determined to be hungry for some time before he spent any of it for provisions.

Wade run the boat close to the bridge, and found that the mast would go under it; but he was not quite willing to leave the village till the question of food had been settled. He was confident the runaways intended to go to New York in the boat, and he believed they had made some arrangements to feed themselves on the way. Putting the boat about, he headed her up the river again.

Lon and Matt were so busy in the cuddy, that they gave no heed to the boat, and continued their search for the lost treasure. Of course they did not find it; and, when they gave up in despair, they had an earnest conversation, but Wade could not hear a word of it. They did not mean he should hear it, for it related to him. The conference continued for a long time; and, finding that it was not likely soon to be ended, Wade lowered the jib, and made a landing in the upper part of the village.

As soon as the boat was secured to the shore, Lon came out of the cuddy, followed by Matt. Both of them looked as though something had happened.

“Well, what are you going to do here, Wade?” asked Lon in a sullen tone.

“If you fellows are going to New York in this boat, this is the place for you to take in provisions for the cruise,” said Wade good-naturedly.

“We are not going to New York in this boat,” replied Lon sourly; and the loss of the treasure had changed the whole face of nature to him.

“Well, here we are; and, whatever you are going to do, now is the time to begin it,” added Wade, who stood in the standing-room, putting the stops on the mainsail.

“I think so myself,” replied Lon, suddenly springing upon the skipper, and throwing his arms around his neck, trying to get him on the floor.

But Wade had found his pluck before; and, as he was a stouter fellow, Lon soon realized that he was more than an armful for him. But a sharp struggle ensued, for Lon was fighting for freedom and safety. The money was gone, and without that they could not go to New York or anywhere else. They could not even pay for the food for a breakfast. They were confident that Wade had taken the money from its hiding-place, for the simple reason that no one else could have taken it. The wallet could not have taken itself out of the way; and Lon found that it could not have dropped into any hole, for there was no hole there. Besides, Wade had suddenly taken the bit into his teeth, and become as independent as a basket of chips. He had the money, and this was what made him so unmanageable.

Matt attempted to assist his companion, but a smart kick from Wade caused him to retire from the contest. After a sharp struggle, Wade came down in the bottom of the boat, with Lon under him; and the strife was ended. All of them were so occupied in the battle, that they did not notice the approach of two men, who had come from the village on the railroad, and reached the boat about the time that Lon went under. Matt was the first to see them.

“Hold on, Wade,” said he in trembling tones: “here is your father, Lon, and mine too!”

But Wade Brooks could not see them, for he was busy in attending to his prisoner.

“What are you about, you villain?” called Capt Trustleton in a sharp tone. “Let him alone.”

Wade let him up at the sound of this voice. As usual, he was caught in a doubtful position when he was entirely innocent: it was just his luck.

[Illustration: THE BATTLE IN THE BOAT.--Page 78.]