All Adrift Part 21

replied Peppers. "But I was satisfied that you didn't take the money as soon as I got the facts from Moody."

"It was a lucky thing for you, my boy, that I fixed things as I did,"

added Moody.

"How did you fix things?" asked Dory.

"I have just started the business of making tomato-wine for sickness. I sold two hundred dollars' worth of it in Plattsburgh, part of it to go to New York. The merchant gave me a check for the money, and I went to the bank to cash it. I received forty brand-new five-dollar bills,"

Moody explained, producing one of the bills. "I am trying to advertise my business all I can; and I had a rubber stamp made, which the agent delivered to me the day I got my money. I went to my room, and stamped every one of those new bills with my business card in red ink. That is the way I know the bills when I see them."

"And that is the reason why you wanted to see all the five-dollar bills I had," added Dory.

"But we had looked over the bills you paid for the boat before," said the detective. "We have been looking for bills with this red stamp upon it since yesterday noon."

"Have you found any?" inquired Dory with interest.

"I found two of them. We have got to the southward of Stave Island now.

Can't you tell whether that steamer is in sight now?"

"Yes, sir: there she is, just where we left her this morning," replied the skipper, as he glanced in the direction of the shoal. "I think Pearl Hawlinshed has had a good time there all day."

"How far off is she?" asked Peppers.

"About two miles, but we shall reach her in twenty minutes. Where did you find the two bills with the stamp on them?" asked Dory.

"Can they see us on board of that steamer, Dory?" asked the detective, without heeding the question.

"They can see the boat; but of course they can't tell who is in her two miles off," replied Dory.

"I am afraid I shall have some trouble with Pearl, Dory," said Peppers anxiously. "The landlord was to give you ten dollars if you put me in the same boat with Pearl."

"I think I shall earn the money without any trouble," replied Dory, laughing with delight at the bright prospect before him.

"But, Dory, it makes some difference to me in what boat I happen to be put with him, though you will earn your money all the same," added the officer.

"All I can do is to put you on board of the Missisquoi. Of course I can't put Pearl Hawlinshed on board of this boat if he is not willing to come."

"But I don't want to be put on board of the Missisquoi," protested Peppers. "There is where the rub comes. I am an officer in Plattsburgh, but not in the State of Vermont. I can't arrest Pearl over here."

"Arrest him! Are you going to take him up?" asked Dory, not a little astonished at this revelation.

"I am not going to do it over here; and he may make me no end of trouble when he sees how the land lays," added Peppers; and at the same time he sat down in the bottom of the standing-room.

"What are you going to arrest him for?"

"For stealing Moody's money!" exclaimed the detective desperately. "I didn't mean to tell you the whole story just yet, but you have dragged it out of me. Drop down here, Moody."

The loser of the money obeyed, though he seemed to be as much in the dark as to the object of the movement as the skipper. Dory was worried at the words of the officer; for, if he would not go on board of the little steamer when he went alongside of her, he might not be able to earn the promised reward.

"What is all this for, Mr. Peppers?" asked Dory, quite as anxious to earn his money as the detective was to secure his prisoner.

"Can't we go into the cabin, and shut the doors, Dory?" asked Peppers.

"You can; but that would bring the boat down by the head so much that she won't work well. If you want to do that, I will s.h.i.+ft the ballast,"

replied Dory.

"I don't want Pearl to see me until we get him into this boat. It won't do for me to take him out of the steamer over here. I am afraid to do it. s.h.i.+ft your ballast, and then I will fix it up with you," added the officer.

"Fix up the ballast!" exclaimed Dory, who did not care to have any one meddle with the ballast but himself.

"No, no! Fix up a plan to get Pearl into this boat. Don't try to be so thick, Dory," replied Peppers impatiently.

The skipper could not leave the helm to move the ballast, and neither of his pa.s.sengers knew any thing about a boat. But the men s.h.i.+fted the fifty-sixes under the direction of the skipper. Five of them were carried farther aft, and the pa.s.sengers took their places one in each berth in the cabin.

The doors opening into the standing-room were closed, but the slide was left open till the schooner came alongside the Missisquoi. The men declared that they were very comfortable in their quarters, and Dory could not see why they should not be. He did not think there was any better place in the known world than the cabin of the Goldwing.

"Now, how are we to get Pearl into this boat?" asked Peppers, with his head at the opening by the slide.

"I don't think you will have any trouble about that," replied Dory. "He wanted me to take him on board this morning, but I believe he will take the boat away from me as soon as he comes on board."

"Don't you be alarmed about that, Dory. I can take care of him when I get him within reach of my hand," added the detective.

"I believe he is as ugly as sin itself, and I think he hates me worse than he does the Evil One himself. I have given him a big run the last two days, and I gave him a chance to find the bottom twice."

"I will look out for you, Dory. I don't want him to know we are on board of the boat till we get over to the other side of the lake," added Peppers. "He will look into this cabin the first thing he does after he comes on board. Can't you give us the key, and let us lock ourselves in, Dory?"

"You can't lock the doors on the inside," answered Dory. "When the slide is drawn, a hasp comes down from it, and all the doors are fastened with a padlock."

"Then why can't you lock us in? You won't tip the boat over while we are in here, will you?" asked the detective, as he thrust his head out far enough to enable him to see the steamer, which was not more than a quarter of a mile distant by this time.

"I will agree not to tip you over; but I can't tell what else may happen, if I take such a fellow as Pearl Hawlinshed on board."

"If you have any trouble with him, all you have to do is to unlock the door, and let us out; and we will take care of you."

"All right! I am satisfied to do any thing you say," added Dory, as he went forward, drew the slide, and locked his pa.s.sengers into the cabin.

By the change in the position of the ballast the boat was kept in good trim. She dashed merrily through the water, and in a few minutes more she was describing a circle around the grounded steamer.

CHAPTER XIX.

PEARL HAWLINSHED RESORTS TO VIOLENCE.

"Hallo! is that you, Dory Dornwood?" shouted Pearl Hawlinshed, as the Goldwing came within hail of the steamer. "Come alongside, and take me on board!"

"All right!" replied the skipper of the schooner, as he hauled in the sheets with all his might.