No Moss Part 8

"We've got to run that risk," replied Xury, seizing the rope and jumping over the chasm. "We must ketch him if we can. It's our only chance."

Tom could not help acknowledging this, and, although he trembled a little when he thought of the danger he might be about to run into, he crossed the gully with the others, and followed close behind the governor as he dashed up the path in pursuit of the spy.

CHAPTER VIII.

CROSSING THE SHOALS.

"O now, I've seen some stirring times in my life, but I never before had so many adventures crowded into the short s.p.a.ce of one night!" panted the captain of the Crusoe band, as he followed the chief up the cliff.

"I would give something handsome to know what is going to happen next!"

Tom had indeed enjoyed his full share of excitement since the sun went down. He had been captured by the Philistines, and confined as a prisoner of war in the farm-house; he had taken an active part in storming the stronghold of the rebels; and was now toiling up the path in pursuit of a spy, who, if he escaped, would return with a force sufficient to surround and capture the Crusoe band. Nothing in his experience with the Night-hawks could equal the adventures of this night, and they were by no means ended. He would have been astonished had he known that they were only just begun. If the events that were to happen during the next few hours could have been revealed to him, he might have been tempted to desert the band and return to his home. The derision of his acquaintances, and the extra office duties that would, no doubt, have been imposed upon him, would have been light punishment indeed, compared with what was in store for him. The race up the cliff was a short one. The Crusoe men had a decided advantage of the fugitive, for they had traveled the path so often that they had but little difficulty in following it; while the spy's progress was delayed by the rocks and bushes, over which he stumbled in the dark, making noise sufficient to guide his enemies in the pursuit.

"He aint fur off," whispered the governor, "an' he's alone, too. If there were any fellers with him we could hear 'em. Hold on, up there!

You can't escape, an' you'll fare a heap better if you surrender to onct."

But the spy was evidently not one of the kind who surrender upon demand.

He held steadily on his way, although his pursuers gained at every step, and when they had accomplished about half the distance to the summit, Sam was near enough to the fugitive to seize him by the collar.

"Surrender now--no foolin'!" said he, in a very savage tone of voice.

"We'll treat you like a man if you behave yourself."

Somewhat to the governor's surprise, the spy offered no resistance. The darkness was so intense that he could not see how many enemies he had to deal with, but, knowing that they were much too strong for him, he suffered himself to be led down the path to the chasm. The fire kindled by the mutineers was still burning brightly and by the aid of its light, the Crusoe men were enabled to take a good survey of their prisoner. He was a st.u.r.dy, bare-footed boy, about Tom's age, and might have been a second Xury, so self-possessed was he. He looked at his captors, one after the other, as if taking their exact measure, and finally said:

"Well, I swan! If I had known that you were boys like myself, I wouldn't have been caught so easy. I'd like to know what you are doing down here?"

"Fellers, his name is Jed," said Xury, by way of introduction. "I know, 'cause I saw him up to the house, an' I heard his dad call him Jed. He looked at me an' the cap'n mighty sa.s.sy then, but now he'll find out how it seems to be a prisoner."

"Is there any one with you?" asked Tom.

"No, I came alone," replied Jed.

"How did you find us?"

"I saw the light of that fire s.h.i.+ning above the cliff".

Upon hearing this the governor glared so savagely at the mutineers, that those worthies, fearing that he was about to abandon his pacific policy, retreated a step or two and began to look around for something with which to defend themselves. But the wound caused by the mutiny was nearly healed, and Sam, after a moment's reflection, concluded that he could not afford to reopen it, or to stir up any new quarrels. He believed that he would soon have need of the services of all his men, and it was necessary to keep on good terms with them.

"I have lived on this farm all my life," continued Jed, "but I never knew before that there was a way to get down here."

"Well, there is," said Xury; "an' some day, when you are a free man, you can go down by this path to the rocks below, an' find the best fis.h.i.+ng grounds in Newport harbor."

"Who's talkin' about fis.h.i.+n'?" interrupted the governor, whose brain was busy with more important matters. "What do you reckon your ole man will do with us if he ketches us?"

"_If!_" repeated Jed. "He is bound to ketch you. When I go home I shall bring him right down here."

"But mebbe you won't go back to the house in a hurry," said Sam.

"Well, then, father will know that something has happened to me, and he will begin searching the island. He'll find you, you may depend upon that; and, when he gets hold of you, he'll put you where you won't rob any more potato-patches. Where do you fellows belong, anyhow? What are you staying here for, and what are you going to do with me?"

The governor made no reply to these questions, for something his prisoner had said excited a serious train of reflections in his mind.

The events of the last five minutes had sadly interfered with his arrangements. His harboring place was broken up now, and by daylight the island would be too hot to hold him. What should he do? That was a question he could not answer at once; he must have time to think it over. At a sign from him Atkins and Friday crossed the chasm; but, when he ordered Jed to follow, he declined to move.

"What shall I go over there for?" he demanded.

"'Cause it's our orders. We're goin' to keep you here for awhile."

"Well, I swan to man!" said Jed.

"If we should let you go, you might tell on us, you know. Come, ketch hold of the rope an' go on."

"Well--no; I guess I won't go of my own free will. If you want me over there you must put me over."

"All right," replied the governor, pulling out his knife and cutting off a piece of the rope; "we're just the fellers that can do it. Come back here, men. Now," he added, when Atkins and Friday had recrossed the chasm, "all hands pitch in, and tie him, hand and foot."

The Crusoe men knew, by Jed's looks, that he was all muscle and pluck, and consequently they were not surprised at his stubborn resistance.

They "pitched in" with alacrity, and one of them did something that Sam had not calculated on--he "pitched out" again, directly. It was Tom Newcombe, who, the instant he laid his hand on the prisoner's collar, was seized around the body and thrown heavily on the rocks. He gathered himself up as quickly as possible, drew down the corners of his mouth, rubbed his elbow, and stood off at a safe distance and looked on. Will Atkins received a back-handed blow over his eye that caused him to see a million of stars; but, as he had more pluck than Tom, and was anxious to restore himself to the governor's favor, he merely stopped long enough to say, "Jerusalem!" and then "pitched in" harder than ever. Of course; Jed was conquered; but it was only after a protracted struggle.

"Now we're all right," exclaimed the governor, a.s.sisting his prisoner to his feet and pulling him toward the edge of the chasm, "an' I reckon you'll go over, won't you? Atkins, you and Friday go across ag'in an'

stand by to ketch him. Xury," he continued, when this order has been obeyed, "pa.s.s the rope under his arms an' make it fast, while me an' the cap'n hold him."

Jed, having by this time been fully convinced that it was idle to resist, submitted to the Crusoe men, at the same time reminding them that the chasm was deep, and that a fall upon the rocks below might break his neck, and give Sam and his band something more serious than the robbing of a potato-patch to answer for.

"Now, don't you be any ways oneasy," replied the governor. "You didn't harm my men while you had 'em pris'ners, an' I won't harm you, neither.

Are you fellers over there all ready? If you are, look out fur him, fur here he comes."

Jed's position just then was not a comfortable one. His hands were confined behind his back, his feet bound close together, and he was to be swung over the chasm as if he had been a sack of corn. The governor seized him by the hips, pulled him back until his feet were clear of the ground, and then let him go. He swung safely over the gully, and when he came within reach of Atkins and Friday, he was caught and held by one, while the other untied the rope. The Crusoe men followed after, and when all had crossed, the governor ordered Atkins and Jack Spaniard to put out the fire. As soon as this had been done, and the mutineers had collected the articles of the outfit, which they had intended to take back to the village with them, the governor lighted his lantern, and turned to the prisoner.

"Have you found out, by this time, that we can do just what we please with you?" he asked. "Now, will you walk down to the cove, or shall we tote you?"

"Well, I guess I'd best walk, hadn't I?" replied Jed, who was sharp enough to know that, however carefully he might be handled, he could not escape some severe bruises while being carried down that steep path.

"Yes. I reckon I'll walk."

"All right; Xury, untie his feet, and you an' the cap'n look out fur him, an' see that he don't fall down."

The governor led the way to the cove, and, after the prisoner had been laid on one of the beds in the cabin, and the two mutineers had restored the outfit to its place, the Crusoe men stretched themselves on the gra.s.s near the spring, to hold a council of war. By the aid of the lantern, which he had placed on the little knoll that served for the table, the chief scanned the faces of his companions, and saw that on every one of them were reflected the thoughts that had been busy in his own brain. All his men believed as he did--that a crisis in their affairs was at hand. Tom Newcombe, as usual, was the first to speak.

"O, now, what's to be done?" he drawled. "If we keep this prisoner here his father will begin searching for him in the morning, and he will be certain to discover our hiding-place sooner or later. If we release him, he will go home and return immediately with help enough to capture us all."

"Well, that might not be as easy a job as you think fur," replied the governor. "If we are sharp, we can hold our own here against a dozen fellers, for a day or two. But we don't want to fight. We want to get away from here as easy as we can. Atkins, what have you and Jack Spaniard got to say about it? Are you waitin' fur a chance to get up another mutiny?"

"No, governor, I aint," replied the chief conspirator, quickly. "I'll never do it again."

"Nor me, neither," said Jack Spaniard. "There's my hand on it--honor bright."

"Of course I can't put as much faith in you as I did before," said the chief, as he shook hands with the mutineers. "After a man has fooled me once, I never like to trust him any more till he proves that he is all right."