Commodore Barney's Young Spies Part 25

By this time it was night, but the young moon and the stars in a cloudless sky, lighted up the water-way clearly, and we had no fear that Macomber could give us the slip, unless he returned by land.

We paddled leisurely, for our news was not of such a nature that an hour or two sooner or later would make a difference so far as Commodore Barney's plans were concerned, and had gotten such a distance on our journey that I began to fear the traitor had struck across the country, when we hove him in view half a mile or more ahead.

He was still running up the river, but I questioned if he intended to take any chances on being discovered, for such as he would rather manufacture information out of his head than encounter danger.

Darius, who had been using one of the paddles, now took the helm, and the canoe was swung insh.o.r.e where she would be partially hidden by the shadows of the foliage, for we did not care to start in open chase because he would probably take to the woods on discovering us, and then our chances of making the capture would be small indeed.

When our quarry rounded a bend in the river, shutting himself out from view, we bent all our energies to the paddles, sneaking insh.o.r.e immediately we opened him up again, and thus we rapidly lessened the distance until at the third turn of the sh.o.r.e we were less than thirty yards astern.

"Now give it to her, lads!" Darius said sharply. "Put all your strength to the blades, an' we'll heave him to in short order!"

As we rounded the bend, the water foaming from the boat's bow much as it would have done from the stem of a s.h.i.+p under full sail, Macomber was but a short distance ahead, and Darius cried:

"Push her along, lads! Now's our time!" Then, bringing the paddle to his shoulder as if it had been a musket, he shouted, "Drop that oar mighty quick, Macomber, or I'll fire!"

The traitor, thus receiving the first intimation that an enemy was near at hand, glanced backward quickly, and, seeing the supposed weapon leveled full at him, threw down his paddle with an exclamation of mingled fear and anger.

We shot up alongside him like an arrow from the bow, all hands of us reaching out to grasp the gunwale of his canoe, and as we thus made fast Darius grasped the fellow by the throat.

"You may as well give in quietly," the old man said, tightening his grasp until it would have been impossible for the man to make the lightest outcry. "If you flounder about much all hands will go into the water, an' once there I give my word that you won't come to the surface, for we don't count on losin' you the second time."

The scoundrel was as meek as any lamb, and when Darius told me to fasten his arms together with my belt, he held them out obediently.

I took a double turn around his elbows, and Darius ordered him to step into our canoe, which he did without hesitation, but once there, seated on the flooring of the boat with his back against the old man's knees, he glowered at us like an angry cat.

"We reckoned you wanted to see Barney's fleet, when you put off from Benedict, an' it ain't jest right to make you paddle a heavy canoe so far," Darius said grimly. "You're goin' back with us, Master Macomber, an' this time you'll stay."

"Not very long," the reptile said with a snarl. "Admiral Cochrane declares that he'll destroy Barney's fleet Friday, an' dine in Was.h.i.+ngton Sunday. So you see I'm not likely to stay with you any great while after the British come up the river."

"That is as may be; now I'm countin' that when your admiral gets as far up the river as Nottingham, if he ever does, you'll be somewhere else, for we've taken you in charge."

"My time will come, an' then I'll pay off a good many old scores,"

Macomber cried with a look on his face which was not pleasant to see.

"If it does you any good, keep right on thinkin' so," Darius replied mildly, "an' in the meantime we'll keep our eyes on you. Give way, lads, the sooner we're with the fleet now, the better it will be."

We had no more than settled well to work when Darius ordered us to cease paddling, as he half rose to peer steadily ahead, and, quite naturally, all of us glanced in the same direction.

A canoe carrying four men was coming down stream, and while I was asking myself if we might not have come upon more British spies, the old man settled back with a sigh of relief.

"It's the Byard boys goin' home," he announced, and then, as the other canoe came within hail, he gave them information of what was happening at Benedict.

"It don't look as if we'd better go back there," Sam Byard said thoughtfully when Darius had come to an end of his news. "I reckon the Britishers might make trouble for us, eh?"

"They'd be apt to if it was known you'd just come from our fleet," the old man replied with a laugh. "The best thing you can do is to turn around an' follow us. Did you get your money?"

"Oh yes, the commodore handed that over all right."

"Where is Jim Freeman?" I asked.

"The commander allowed it wouldn't be many hours before all hands of you came back, so he went aboard the pungy to keep s.h.i.+p."

"There!" Darius said triumphantly. "You can see how near Joshua Barney comes to the truth when he makes a guess! I believe he could stay at Nottingham without ever gettin' a report from anybody, an' tell just what the enemy was doin'."

"He'll have a chance to see what they're doin', as soon as some of the s.h.i.+ps can be floated!" Macomber said with a laugh which was not pleasant to hear.

"Which is more'n you can say for yourself if there's any danger of the Britishers comin'," Darius retorted. "You're our meat, Master Traitor, an' will stay in the same keepin' till we've settled our part of what you call old scores."

Then the word to buckle down to the paddles once more was given, and the Byard boys pulled their craft around to follow in our wake.

An hour later we were alongside the Scorpion again, and this time it was not necessary to parley with those on the guard-boat, for, on recognizing us, they sheered off, leaving our canoe to go where we pleased.

Neither did the guard on the schooner hesitate to arouse the commodore, and within one minute after arriving, Darius was explaining to the commander all that had taken place at Benedict.

"It must be they counted on coming further up the river," the commodore said half to himself when the story was come to an end, and Darius took it upon himself to add:

"I allow there wouldn't have been any stop if the fleet hadn't gone ash.o.r.e; then the men were landed to prevent you from makin' an attack."

"That seems reasonable; but they'll be here soon enough, for it is to this place they must come in order to strike the direct road to Was.h.i.+ngton."

Then it was that Darius bethought himself of what Macomber had said, and he repeated the words, adding in conclusion as he laid his hand on the prisoner's shoulder, for as yet we had not left the canoe:

"We've brought this cur back, sir, an' hope he won't find it as easy to slip away a second time. He left Benedict to spy on you, as we saw from the other side of the river, so we gathered him in."

The commodore looked at the man as one would at a snake, and then said curtly:

"You'll have to keep him on board your vessel, Darius. Our facilities for taking care of prisoners are not what they should be. Do whatsoever you will with him, so that we can make certain of putting our hands on him when the matter is to be settled. You had better take up your quarters on the pungy, and if you're needing provisions, my cook will supply you until rations are dealt out."

Then the commodore turned on his heel, returning to the cabin, and we pulled around the fleet hunting for the Avenger.

Not until after getting speech with the officer in charge of the guard-boat did we find the craft, and when we came alongside Jim Freeman acted as if beside himself with joy. One would have said that we had been separated a full year by the way he welcomed us, and when his eyes fell on Elias Macomber it was as if he had lost his senses.

Well, we took the prisoner aboard the pungy, securing him in the hold by las.h.i.+ng his hands behind him, and making them fast to a ringbolt, thus giving him a chance to sit down; but he could neither stand nor stretch out at full length.

"It won't be none too comfortable; but it's the best we can do now,"

Darius said to the prisoner as if apologizing for not making him more secure. "At all events, I reckon you'll be here in the mornin', an'

then we may make a change."

The main hatch was put on and fastened down with the bar, after which we went into the cuddy, ready for anything in the way of provisions that Jim could set before us.

He was not overly well supplied, having been on board only a few hours, but we contrived to make a hearty meal, and while eating Jim heard all we could tell him regarding the occupation of Benedict by the British forces.

It was past midnight when we turned in, so tired that all hands fell asleep within two minutes after making ready, and it seemed to me that I had not fairly closed my eyes when we were awakened by a vigorous pounding on the side of the vessel.

Darius had his head out of the companion-way before it was possible for me to get on my feet, and I heard a strange voice cry sharply:

"It is the order of the commodore that every vessel in the fleet move up to Pig Point without delay. Rations will be served there at noon to-morrow."