"Hullo, Tom! What are you so quiet about?" sang out Dick in alarm.
"Perhaps he has a cramp," put in Sam. "Tom, are you all right?" he cried.
"Yes, I'm all right," was the answer, and then Tom swam to his brothers with all speed. The steamboat was now well on its way down the Ohio.
"What is it?" asked Dick, feeling that something was wrong. "If you have had even a touch of a cramp you had better get out, Tom."
"I haven't any cramp. Did you see them?"
"Them? Who?"
"The two fellows at the stern of that boat?"
"No. What of them?"
"One was Dan Baxter and the other was Lew Flapp."
CHAPTER XIX
WORDS AND BLOWS
"Baxter and Flapp!"
The cry came from several at once, and all climbed to the deck of the houseboat after Tom.
"Are you certain of this, Tom?" asked Dick.
"Yes, I saw them as plain as day. They were looking at the houseboat."
"Did they see you?"
"I think they did, and if so they must have seen the rest of our crowd too."
"We ought to go after them," came from Fred. "The name of that steamboat was the Beaver."
"Wonder where she will make her first stop?"
For an answer to this question Captain Starr was appealed to, and he said the craft would most likely stop first at a town which we will call Penwick.
"How far is that from here?" asked Sam.
"About six miles."
"Can we get a train to that place?"
"Yes, but I don't know when."
A time-table was consulted, and it was found that no train could be had from Pleasant Hills to Penwick for two hours and three-quarters.
"That is too late for us," said Dick. "If they saw Tom they'll skip the moment the steamboat touches the landing."
"If you want to catch them why don't you follow them up in the tug?" suggested Songbird.
"Dot's the talk!" came from Hans. "I would like to see you cotch dot
Flapp and Paxter mineselluf."
"I'll use the tug," said Dick.
He summoned the captain and explained the situation. It was found that steam on the tug was low, but Captain Carson said he would get ready to move down the stream with all possible speed.
"I would like you to stay on the houseboat," said Dick, to Songbird, Fred, and Hans. "I don't want to leave Captain Starr in charge all alone."
So it was agreed; and fifteen minutes later the tug was on the way after the Beaver, with Dick, Tom, and Sam on board.
"Can we catch the steamboat, captain?" questioned Tom, anxiously.
"We can try," was the answer. "If I had known you wanted to use the tug again to-night I should have kept steam up."
"Well, we didn't know."
The Beaver was out of sight and they did not see the steamboat again until she was turning in at the Penwick dock.
"There she is!" cried Sam.
"Hurry up, Captain Carson!" called out Dick. "If you don't hurry we will lose the fellows we are after, sure."
"I am hurrying as much as I can," replied the captain.
In five minutes more they gained one end of the dock and the Rovers leaped ashore. The Beaver was at the other end, discharging passengers at one gang plank and freight at another.
"See anything of them?" asked Sam.
"Yes, there they are!" shouted Tom, and pointed to the street beyond the dock.
"I see them," returned Dick. "Come on!" And he started for the street, as swiftly as his feet could carry him.
He was well in advance of Sam and Tom when Dan Baxter, looking back, espied him.
"Hi, Flapp, we must leg it!" cried Baxter, in quick alarm.
"Eh?" queried Lew Flapp. "What's wrong now?"
"They are after us!"
"Who?"
"The three Rover Boys. Come on!"
The former bully of Putnam Hall glanced back and saw that Dan Baxter (and he too had been a bully at the Hall) was right.
"Where shall we go to?" he asked in sudden fright.
"Follow me!" And away went Dan Baxter up the street with Flapp at his heels. Dick, Tom, and Sam came after them, with a number of strangers between.
"Do you think we can catch them?" asked Tom.
"We've got to catch them," answered Dick. "If you see a policeman tell him to come along—that we are after a couple of criminals."
Having passed up one street for a block, Baxter and Flapp made a turn and pursued their course down a thoroughfare running parallel to the river.
Here were located a number of factories and mills, with several tenement houses and low groggeries between.
"They are after us yet," panted Flapp, after running for several minutes. "Say, I can't keep this up much longer."
"Come in here," was Dan Baxter's quick reply, and he shot into a small lumber yard attached to a box factory. It was now after six o'clock and the factory had shut down for the day.
Once in the lumber yard they hurried around several corners, and presently came to a shed used for drying lumber. From this shed there was a small door leading into the factory proper.
"I reckon we are safe enough here," said Dan Baxter, as they halted in the shed and crouched down back of a pile of boards.
"Yes, but we can't stay here forever," replied Lew Flapp.
"We can stay as long as they hang around, Flapp."
In the meantime the Rover Boys reached the entrance to the yard, and
Dick, who had kept the lead, called a halt.
"I am pretty certain they ran in here," he declared.
"Then let us root them out," said Tom. "And the quicker the better."
The others were willing, and they entered the small lumber yard without hesitation. As there were but three wagonways, each took one, and all presently reached the entrance to the drying shed.
"See anybody?" questioned Dick.
"No," came from his brothers.
"Neither did I. I see there is a big brick wall around this yard. If they came in here they must have gone into this shed or into the factory itself."
"That's it, Dick," said Tom. He pushed open the door to the shed. "I'm going to investigate."
"So am I," said both of the others.
In the shed all was dark and soon Sam stumbled over some blocks of wood and fell headlong.
"Confound the darkness," he muttered. "We ought to have brought a light."
"I've got one," answered Dick, and feeling in his pocket he produced one of the new-style electric pocket lights. He pushed the button and instantly the light flashed out, as from a bull's-eye lantern.
"Hurrah, that's a good thing!" cried Tom. "By the way, isn't it queer there is no watchman here?"
"Maybe the night watchman hasn't got around yet," answered Dick, and struck the truth.
They began to move around the shed, much to the alarm of both Dan
Baxter and Lew Flapp.
"I don't see any trace—" began Dick, when of a sudden the light landed fairly and squarely on Baxter's face. Then it shifted to the face of Lew Flapp.
"The old Harry take you, Dick Rover!" yelled Baxter, in a sudden rage, and throwing his whole weight against the pile of boards on which the eldest Rover was standing, he caused it to go over, hurling Dick flat on his back on the floor.
"Dick, are you hurt?" called out Tom. The electric light had been broken, and all was pitch-dark.
"I—I guess—not," answered Dick. "But it was a close shave."
"They are getting out!" came from Sam, as he heard a scuffling of feet.
"No—they are going into the factory," shouted Tom. "Stop, Baxter! Stop,
Flapp! If you don't—Oh!"
Tom's cry came to a sudden end, for without warning a billet of wood struck him fairly on top of the head and he went down as if shot.
By this time Dick was on his feet.
"What's up, Tom?"
"I—I—oh, my head?"
"Did somebody hit you?"
"Yes."
Sam was running after Baxter and Flapp. But they reached the factory first and banged the door full in the face of the youngest Rover.
"Open that door, Dan Baxter!" called out Sam.
"All right!" was the sudden reply, and open flew the door. Then down on poor Sam's head came a heavy billet of wood and he pitched backward unconscious. Then the door was closed once more and locked from the inside.
CHAPTER XX
DAYS OF PLEASURE
"Sam! Sam! Speak to us!"
It was Dick who uttered the words, as he knelt beside his youngest brother and caught his hands. Tom was just staggering up.
But Sam was past speaking, and made no reply.
"What's the matter, Dick?" asked Tom.
"Poor Sam is knocked out completely. I don't know but what they have killed him."
"Oh, don't say that!"
"Have you got a match? I've lost that electric pocket light."
"Yes." Tom struck the match and lit a bit of pine wood that was handy, and found the light. "Dick, don't tell me he is dead."
"Oh!" came in a deep gasp from poor Sam, and he gave a shiver from head to feet.
"He isn't dead, but they must have hit him a terrible blow. Let us carry him out into the open air."
This they did, and laid the youngest Rover on some boards. Here he presently opened his eyes and stared about him.
"Don't—don't hit me again!" he pleaded, vacantly.
"They shan't hit you again, Sam," answered Dick, tenderly. He felt of his brother's head. On top was a lump, from which the blood was flowing.
"This is the worst yet," said Tom. "What had we best do next?"
"Call a policeman, if you can find any."
"That's rather a hard thing to do around here."
However, Tom ran off, and while he was gone Dick did what little he could to make Sam comfortable. At last the youngest Rover opened his eyes again and struggled to sit up.
"Where—where are they, Dick?"
"Gone into the factory."
"Oh, my head!"
"It was a wicked blow, Sam. But keep still if your head hurts."
When Tom came back he was accompanied by a watchman from a neighboring yard and presently they were joined by the watchman of the box factory, who had been to a corner groggery, getting a drink.
"What's the row?" questioned the first watchman, and when told, emitted a low whistle.
"I think those fellows are in the factory yet," continued Dick.
As soon as the second watchman came up both went into the box factory and were gone fully ten minutes. Then Dick followed them, since Sam was rapidly recovering.
"Can't find them," said one of the watchmen. "But yonder window is open. They must have dropped into that yard and run away."
"Is the window generally closed?"
"Yes."
"Then you must be right."
"Why don't you call up the police? You can do it on the telephone."
"Have you a telephone here?"
"Of course."
Dick went to the telephone and told the officer in charge at the station what had occurred.
"I'll send two men at once," said the officer over the wire; and in five minutes the policemen appeared.
Again there was a search, not only of the box factory, but also of the whole neighborhood, but no trace of Dan Baxter or Lew Flapp could be found.
Having bathed their hurts, both Sam and Tom felt better, and all three of the Rovers walked to the police station with the policemen, and there told the full particulars of their story.
"You were certainly in hard luck," said the police captain, who happened to be in charge. "I'll do what I can to round these rascals up." But nothing came of this, for both Baxter and Flapp left Penwick that very night.
When the Rover boys returned to the houseboat, it was long after midnight, but none on board had gone to bed. The Stanhopes and Lanings had come back, bringing their friends with them, and all had been surprised to find the Rovers absent. After remaining on the houseboat a couple of hours the friends had gone home again.
"Something is wrong; I can see it in your looks, Dick," said Dora, as she came to him.
"Sam, where did you get that hurt on your head?" questioned Grace, in alarm.
"Oh, we had a little trouble, but it didn't amount to much," answered the youngest Rover as bravely as he could.
"Yes, but your head is in a dreadful condition."
"And Tom has a cut over the left eye," burst in Nellie. "Oh, you have had a fight of some kind, and I know it!"
"A fight!" cried Mrs. Stanhope. "Is it possible that you have been fighting?"
"We had a brush with a couple of rascals in Penwick," said Dick. "We tried to catch them, but they got away from us. That is all there is to it. I'd rather not talk about it," he went on, seeing that Mrs. Laning also wanted to ask questions.
"Well, you must really be more careful in the future," said Mrs.
Stanhope. "I suppose they wanted to rob you."
"They didn't get the chance to rob us," put in Tom, and then the Rovers managed to change the subject. The Stanhopes and the Lanings did not dream that Dan Baxter and Lew Flapp had caused the trouble. Perhaps, in the light of later events, it would have been better had they been told the truth.
Dick gave orders that the Dora should be moved down the river early the next day, and before the majority of the party were up, Pleasant Hills was left behind.
"I sincerely trust we have seen the last of Baxter and Flapp," said
Sam.
"So do I, Sam," answered Dick.
"I'd like to meet them and punch their heads good for them," came from
Tom.
After that a week slipped by with very little out of the ordinary happening. Day after day the houseboat moved down the river, stopping at one place or another, according to the desires of those on board. The weather continued fine, and the boys and girls enjoyed themselves immensely in a hundred different ways. All had brought along bathing suits and took a dip every day. They also fished, and tramped through the woods at certain points along the stream. One night they went ashore in a field and camped out, with a big roaring fire to keep them company.
"This is the way it was when the cadets went into camp," said Dick. "I can tell you, we had lots of sport."
"It must have been very nice, Dick," answered Dora. "Sometimes I wish I was a boy and could go to Putnam Hall."
"Not much! I'd rather have you a girl!" declared Dick, and in the dark he gave her hand a tight squeeze.
During those days Dick noticed that Captain Starr acted more peculiar than ever. At times he would talk pleasantly enough, but generally he was so close-mouthed that one could scarcely get a word out of him.
"I believe he is just a wee bit off in his upper story," said the oldest Rover. "But I don't imagine it is enough to count."
"If he had any ambition in him he wouldn't be satisfied to run a houseboat," said Tom. "It's about the laziest job I know of."
The Monday after this talk found the Dora down the Ohio as far as Louisville. To avoid the falls in the stream, the houseboat had been taken through the canal, and during the middle of the afternoon was taken down the stream a distance of perhaps eighteen miles, to Skemport,—so named after Samuel Skem, a dealer in Kentucky thoroughbreds.
Fred Garrison had a friend who came from Skemport and wanted to visit him. The others were willing, and Fred went off with Tom and Sam as soon as the boat was tied up. When they came back, late in the evening, the others were told that the friend had invited all hands to visit a large stock farm in that vicinity the next afternoon to look at the horses there.
"That will be nice!" cried Dora. "I love a good horse."
Two large carriages were hired for the purpose, and Aleck was allowed to drive one, a man from the local livery stable driving the other.
"How soon will you be back?" sang out Captain Starr after them.
"Can't say exactly," replied Dick.
The distance to the stock farm was three miles, but it was quickly covered, and once there the Rovers and their friends were made to feel perfectly at home.
"I'd like to go horseback riding on one of those horses," said Dora, after inspecting a number of truly beautiful steeds.
"You shall," said the owner of the stock farm; and a little later Dora, Nellie, Dick, and Tom were in the saddle and off for a gallop of several miles, never once speculating on how that ride was to end.
CHAPTER XXI
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE HOUSEBOAT
Never was a girl more light-hearted than was Dora when in the saddle on the Kentucky thoroughbred. And her cousin was scarcely less elated.
"Let us have a little race, Nellie," cried Dora. "It will be lots of fun."
"Oh, we don't want the horses to run away," answered Nellie.
"I don't think they will run away."
The race was started, and to give the girls a chance, Dick and Tom dropped to the rear. Soon a turn of the road hid the two girls from view.
"Wait a minute—there is something wrong with my saddle," said Tom, a moment later, and he came to a halt and slipped to the ground.
Dick would have preferred going on, but did not wish to leave his brother alone, so he also halted. A buckle had broken and it took some time to repair the damage, so Tom could continue his ride.
"The girls have disappeared," said Dick, on making the turn ahead in the road.
They came to a spot where the road divided into three forks and halted in perplexity.
"Well, this is a nuisance," declared Tom, after scratching his head. "I suppose they thought we were watching them."
"More than likely."
"Which road shall we take?"
"Bless me if I know."
"Well, we can't take all three."
They stared at the hoofprints in the road, but there were too many of them to make anything of the marks.
"Stumped!" remarked Tom, laconically.
"Let us wait a while. Perhaps, when the girls see we are not following, they will turn back."
"All right; but we've made a fine pair of escorts, haven't we, Dick?"
"We are not responsible for that buckle breaking."
"That's so, too."
They waited for several minutes, but the girls did not appear.
"Supposing I take to one road and you to the other?" said Dick. "If you see them, whistle."
"What about the third road?" And Tom grinned.
"We'll leave that for the present."
Off they set, and as ill-luck would have it took the two roads the girls had not traveled. Each went fully a mile before he thought of coming back.
"Well, what luck?" asked Dick, as he rode up.
"Nothing doing, Dick."
"Ditto."
"Then they must have taken to the third road."
"That's it,—unless they rode faster than we did."
"Shall I try that other road?"
"You can if you wish. I'll stay here. If they come back, we can wait for you," added the oldest Rover.
Once more Tom set off. But he had pushed his horse so fast before the animal was now tired and had to take his time in traveling.
The third road led down to the river front, and before a great while the water's edge was reached. Here there were numerous bushes and trees and the road turned and ran some distance along the bank.
"Well, I'm stumped and no mistake," murmured the fun-loving Rover, "I felt sure—"
He broke off short, for a distance scream had reached his ears.
"Was that Nellie's voice?" he asked himself, and then strained his ears, for two more screams had reached him. "Nellie, and Dora too, as sure as fate!" he ejaculated. "Something has happened to them! Perhaps those horses are running away!"
He hardly knew how to turn, for the trees and bushes cut off his view upon every side. He galloped along the road, which followed the windings of the Ohio. But try his best he could locate neither girls nor horses.
It was maddening, and the cold sweat stood out upon Tom's forehead.
Something was very much wrong, but what was it?
"Nellie! Dora! Where are you?" he called out. "Where are you?"
Only the faint breeze in the trees answered him.
"I've got to find them!" he groaned. "I've got to! That is all there is to it." He repeated the words over and over again. "What will Mrs. Laning and Mrs. Stanhope say, and Grace?"
Again he went on, but this time slower than before, looking to the right and the left and ahead. Not a soul was in sight. The road was so cut up he could make nothing of the hoofmarks which presented themselves.
"This is enough to drive one insane," he reasoned. "Where in the world did they go to? I'd give a thousand dollars to know."
At last he reached a point where the road ran close to the water's edge. He looked out on the river. Only a distant steamboat and a small sailboat were in view.
"Wonder if they rode down to where we left the houseboat?" he asked himself. "She must be somewhere in this vicinity. Maybe they have only been fooling us."
Although Tom told himself this, there was no comfort in the surmise. He moved on once more. It was now growing dark and there were signs of a coming storm in the air.
At last he reached a spot which looked somewhat familiar to him. He came down to the water's edge once more.
"Why—er—I thought the houseboat was here," he said, half aloud. "This looks like the very spot."
But no houseboat was there, and scratching his head once more, Tom concluded that he had made a mistake.
"I'm upset if ever a fellow was," he thought. "Well, no wonder. Such happenings as these are enough to upset anybody."
Tom knew of nothing more to do than to return to where he had left
Dick, and this he did as quickly as the tired horse would carry him.
"No success, eh?" said the oldest Rover. "What do you make of it, Tom?"
When he had heard his brother's tale he grew unusually grave.
"You are sure you heard them scream?" he questioned, anxiously.
"I'm sure of nothing—now. I thought I was sure about the houseboat, but
I wasn't," answered Tom, bluntly. "I'm all mixed up."
"I'll go down there with you," was the only answer Dick made.
It did not take long to reach the spot. It was now dark and a mist was rising from the river.
"This is certainly the spot where we tied up," declared the oldest
Rover. "Why, I helped to drive that stake myself."
"Then the houseboat is gone!"
"That's the size of it."
"And the girls are gone too," went on Tom. "Yes, but the two happenings may have no connection, Tom."
"Don't be so sure of that!"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm thinking about Dan Baxter and Lew Flapp. They wouldn't be above stealing the houseboat."
"I believe you there."
"And if those girls happened to go on board—Look there!"
Tom pointed out in the darkness on the road. Two horses were coming toward them, each wearing a lady's saddle and each riderless.
"There are the horses," said Dick. "But the girls? You think—"
"The girls came down here on their horses and dismounted, to go on board of the houseboat."
"Well, where is the houseboat?"
It was a question neither of them could answer. They looked out on the river, but the mist hung over everything like a pall.
"Dick, I am afraid something serious has happened," came from Tom, ominously. "Those screams weren't uttered for nothing."
"Let us make a closer examination of the shore," answered the oldest Rover, and they did so. They found several hoofprints of horses, but that was all.
"I can't see any signs of a struggle," said Tom.
"Nor I. And yet, if those rascals ran off with the houseboat and with the girls on board, how would they square matters with Captain Starr?"
"And with Captain Carson? The tug is gone, too."
"Yes, but the tug went away when we did, and wasn't to come back until to-morrow morning. Captain Carson said he would have to coal up, over to one of the coal docks."
"Then some other tug must have towed the houseboat away."
"Either that or they are letting the Dora drift with the current."
"That would be rather dangerous around here,—and in the mist. A steamer might run the houseboat down."
The brothers knew not what to do. To go back to the stock farm with the news that both the girls and the houseboat were missing was extremely distasteful to them.
"This news will almost kill Mrs. Stanhope," said Dick.
"Well, it will be just as bad for Mrs. Laning, Dick."
"Not exactly,—she has Grace left, while Dora. is Mrs. Stanhope's only child."
Once again the two boys rode up and down the' Ohio for a distance of nearly a mile. At none of' the docks or farms could they catch the least sign of the houseboat.
"She may be miles from here by this time," said Dick, with almost a groan. "There is no help for it, Tom, we've got to go back and break the news as best we can."
"Very well," answered Tom, soberly. Every bit of fun was knocked out of him, and his face was as long as if he was going to a funeral.
Dick felt equally bad. Never until that moment had he realized how dear Dora Stanhope was to him. He would have given all he possessed to be able to go to her assistance.
The mist kept growing thicker, and by the time the stock farm was reached it was raining in torrents. But the boys did not mind this discomfort as they rode along, leading the two riderless saddle horses. They had other things more weighty to think about.
CHAPTER XXII
DAN BAXTER'S LITTLE GAME
In order to ascertain just what did become of the houseboat, it will be necessary to go back to the time when the Dora was tied up near the village of Skemport.
Not far away from Skemport was a resort called the Stock Breeders' Rest—a cross-roads hotel where a great deal of both drinking and gambling was carried on.
During the past year Dan Baxter had become passionately fond of card playing for money and he induced Lew Flapp to accompany him to the Stock Breeders' Rest.
"We can have a fine time there," said Baxter. "And as the Rovers' houseboat will not be far off, we can keep our eyes on that crowd and watch our chance to deal them another blow."
Lew Flapp was now reckless and ready for almost anything, and he consented. They hired a room at the cross-roads hotel, and that night both went to the smoking room to look at what was going on.
A professional gambler from Kentucky soon discovered them, and he induced Dan Baxter to lay with him,—after learning that Lew Flapp had no money to place on a game. Baxter and the gambler played that night and also the next morning, and as a result Baxter lost about every dollar he had with him.
"You cheated me," he cried passionately, when his last dollar was gone.
"You cheated me, and I'll have the police arrest you!"
This accusation brought on a bitter quarrel, and fearful that they might be killed by the gambler and his many friends who frequented the resort, Dan Baxter and Lew Flapp fled for their lives. They were followed by two thugs, and to escape molestation took refuge in a stable on the outskirts of Skemport and only a short distance from where the Dora lay.
"How much money did you lose, Baxter?" asked Flapp, after they had made certain that they were safe for the time being.
"Two hundred and sixty-five dollars—every dollar I had with me," was the gloomy response.
"Is it possible!" gasped Lew Flapp. He wondered what they were going to do without money.
"What have you got left of the money I loaned you?" went on Baxter.
"Just two dollars and twenty cents."
"Humph! That's a long way from being a fortune," grumbled the discomfited leader of the evil-doers.
"You are right. I think you were foolish to gamble."
"Oh, don't preach!"
"I'm not preaching. What shall we do next?"
"I don't know. If I was near some big city I might draw some money from a bank."
"You might go to Louisville."
"No, I'd be sure to have trouble if I went to that place—I had trouble there before."
They looked around them, and were surprised to see the houseboat in plain view. This interested them, and they watched the Dora with curiosity.
"If we had a houseboat we could travel in fine style," was Lew Flapp's comment.
"Just the thing, Flapp!" cried Dan Baxter.
"Perhaps; but you can't buy a houseboat for two dollars and twenty cents, nor charter one either."
"We won't buy one or charter one," was Dan Baxter's crafty answer.
"Eh?"
"We'll borrow that one. She's a fairy and will just suit us, Flapp."
"I don't quite understand. You're not fool enough to think the Rovers will let you have their houseboat."
"Of course not. But if I take possession while they are away—"
"How do you know they will be away—I mean all of them at one time?"
"I'll fix it so they are. We must watch our chance. I can send them a decoy message, or something like that."
"You'll have to be pretty shrewd to get the best of the Rovers."
"Pooh! They are not so wise as you think. They put on a big front, but that is all there is to it," went on Dan Baxter, loftily.
"Well, go ahead; I don't care what you do."
"You'll help me; won't you?"
"Certainly,—if the risk isn't too great. We don't want to get caught and tried for stealing."
"Leave it all to me, Flapp."
As we know, fortune for once favored Dan Baxter. From the stable he and
Flapp saw the party depart for the stock farm, leaving nobody but
Captain Starr in charge. They also saw the steam tug move away, to get
a new supply of coal in her bunkers.
"Everything is coming our way," chuckled Dan Baxter, with a wicked grin on his scarred face. "Flapp, the coast is almost clear."
"Almost, but not quite. That captain is still on board."
"Oh, that chap is a dough-head. We can easily make him do what we want."
"Don't be too sure. He might watch 'his chance and knock us both overboard."
"Well, I know how to fix him. I'll send him a message to come here—that Dick Rover wants him. When he comes we can bind him fast with this old harness and leave him here. Then we will have the houseboat all to ourselves."
"And after that, what?"
"We'll drop down the river a way. Then we can paint a new name on the boat, get a steam tug, and make off for the Mississippi,—and the Rovers and their friends can go to grass."
This programme looked inviting to Flapp, and when Dan Baxter wrote a note to the captain of the Dora he volunteered to deliver it. He found Captain Starr on the front deck of the houseboat smoking his corncob as usual.
The captain had one of his peculiar moods on him, and it took a minute or two for Flapp to make him understand about the note. But he fell into the trap with ease and readily consented to follow the young rascal to the stable.
As he entered the open doorway, Dan Baxter came at him from behind, hitting him in the head with a stout stick. The captain went down half stunned.
"See—see here," he gasped. "Wha—what does this—"
"Shut up!" cried Baxter. "We won't hurt you if you'll keep still. But if you don't—"
"I—I haven't hurt anybody, sir."
"All right, old man; keep still."
"But I—I don't understand?"
"You will, later on."
Dan Baxter had the straps of the old harness ready and with them he fastened Captain Starr's hands behind him and also tied his ankles together. Then he backed the commander of the houseboat to a post and secured him, hands and feet.
"Now then, don't you make any noise until to-morrow morning," was Dan Baxter's warning. "If you do, you'll get into trouble. If you keep quiet, we'll come back in the morning, release you, and give you a hundred dollars."
"Give me a hundred dollars?" questioned the captain, simply.
"That is what I said."
"Then I had better keep quiet. But the houseboat—"
"The houseboat will be left just where it is."
"Oh, all right, sir," and the captain breathed a sigh of relief. That he was just a little simple-minded was beyond question.
Leaving the captain a prisoner, Dan Baxter and Lew Flapp made their way with caution toward the houseboat. As they had surmised, the Dora was now totally deserted. They leaped on the deck and entered the sumptuous living room.
"This is fine," murmured Lew Flapp. "They must be living like nabobs on this craft."
"You're right. A piano and a guitar, too." Baxter passed into the dining room. "Real silver on the table. Flapp, we've struck luck."
"Sure."
"That silver is worth just so much money,—when we need the funds."
"Would you sell it?"
"Why not? Didn't I tell you the Rovers robbed my father of a mine? This isn't a fleabite to what they've got that belongs to us." From the dining room the young rascals passed to the staterooms.
"Trunks full of stuff," observed Flapp. "We shan't fall short of clothing."
"I hope there is money in some of them," answered Dan Baxter.
"Hadn't we better be putting off?" asked Flapp, nervously. "Some of them may be coming back, you know."
"Yes, let us put off at once. This mist that is coming up will help us to get away."
Leaving the stateroom they were in, they went out on deck and began to untie the houseboat. While they were doing so they heard the sounds of two horses approaching.
"Somebody is coming," said Flapp, and an instant later Dora and Nellie came into view. Nellie had her skirt badly torn, and it was her intention, if she could locate the houseboat, to don a new skirt before she returned to where Tom and Dick had left them on the highway.
"It's a pity you fell and tore the skirt," Dora was saying. "But I suppose you can be thankful that you did not hurt yourself."
"That is true. But the boys will think I can't ride, and—Oh!"
Nellie came to a sudden stop and pointed to the houseboat.
"Dan Baxter," burst from Dora's lips. "Oh, how did that fellow get here?"
"Dora Stanhope!" muttered Baxter, and then he and Lew Flapp ran towards the girls.
CHAPTER XXIII
A RUN IN THE DARK
Both girls were thoroughly alarmed by the unexpected appearance of Dan
Baxter and his companion and brought their horses to a standstill.
"How do you do, Miss Stanhope?" said Baxter, with a grin.
"What are you doing here?" demanded Dora, icily.
"Oh, nothing much."
"Do you know that that is the Rovers' houseboat?"
"Is it?" said Baxter, in pretended surprise.
"Yes."
"No, I didn't know it." Baxter turned to Nellie. "How are you, Miss
Laning? I suppose you are surprised to meet me out here."
"I am," was Nellie's short answer. Both girls wished themselves somewhere else.
"My friend and I were walking down the river when we heard a man on that houseboat calling for help," went on Dan Baxter, glibly. "We went on board and found the captain had fallen down and hurt himself very much. Do you know anything about him?"
"Why, yes!" said Dora, quickly. "It must be Captain Starr!" she added, to Nellie.
"He's in a bad way. If you know him, you had better look after him," continued Dan Baxter.
"I will," and Dora leaped to the ground, followed by Nellie. Both ran towards the houseboat, but at the gang plank they paused.
"I—I think I'll go back and get Dick Rover," said Dora. She did not like the look in Dan Baxter's eyes.
"Yes, and Tom," put in Nellie.
"You shan't go back," roared Dan Baxter. "Go on and help the poor captain."
His manner was so rude that Nellie gave a short, sharp scream—one which reached Tom's ears, as already recorded.
"Don't—don't go on board just yet, Dora," she whispered.
"You shall go on board!" went on Dan Baxter. "Make her go, Flapp. I'll attend to this one," and he caught hold of Dora's arm.
At this both girls screamed—another signal of distress which reached
Tom's ears but did no good.
"I don't see the reason—" began Lew Flapp.
"Just do as I say, Flapp. We can make money out of this," answered Dan
Baxter.
He caught Dora around the waist and lifted her into the air. She struggled bravely but could do nothing, and in a moment more he had her on the houseboat. Lew Flapp followed with Nellie, who pulled his hair and scratched his face unavailingly.
"Where—where you going to put 'em?" queried Flapp.
"In here," answered Dan Baxter, leading the way to one of the staterooms—that usually occupied by Mrs. Stanhope and Dora. "Now you stay in there and keep quiet, or it will be the worse for you," Baxter went on to the girls.
As Nellie was pushed into the stateroom she fainted and pitched headlong on the floor. Thoroughly alarmed, Dora raised her cousin in her arms. At the same time Baxter shut the door and locked it from the outside.
"Now, don't make a bit of noise, or you'll be sorry for it," he fairly hissed, and his manner was so hateful that Dora was thoroughly cowed.
"What's the next move?" asked Flapp, when he and Baxter were on the outside deck. He was too weak-minded to take a stand and placed himself entirely under the guidance of his companion.
"Get the houseboat away from the shore and be quick about it," was the reply. "Somebody else may be on the way here."
The order to push off was obeyed, and soon the Dora, caught by the strong current of the river, was moving down the Ohio and away from the vicinity of Skemport. The mist was now so thick that in a few minutes the shore line was lost entirely to view.
"I must say, I don't like this drifting in the dark," said Flapp. "What if we run into something!"
"We've got to take some risk. I'll light the lanterns as soon as we get a little further away. You stand by with that long pole—in case the houseboat drifts in toward shore again."
The Dora had been provided with several long, patent sweeps, and for a while both of the young rascals used these, in an endeavor to get the houseboat out into the middle of the river. In the distance they saw the lights of a steamboat and this was all they had to guide them.
"If we strike good and hard we'll go to the bottom," said Lew Flapp.
"Flapp, you are as nervous as a cat."
"Isn't it true?"
"I don't think so. Most of these boats are built in compartments. If one compartment is smashed the others will keep her afloat."
"Oh, I see." And after that Lew Flapp felt somewhat relieved.
When the houseboat was well away from Skemport, Dan Baxter walked to the door of the stateroom in which Dora and Nellie had been confined.
"Hullo, in there!" he called out.
"What do you want?" asked Dora, timidly.
"How is that other girl, all right?"
"Ye—yes," came from Nellie. "But, oh! Mr. Baxter, what does this mean?"
"Don't grow alarmed. I'm not going to hurt you in the least."
"Yes, but—but—we don't want to go with you."
"I'm sorry, but I can't help that. If we let you go ashore you'll tell the Rovers that we took the houseboat."—"
"And is that why you took us along?" questioned Dora.
"Certainly."
"How far are you going to take us?"
"That depends upon circumstances. I don't know yet where or when we will be able to make a landing."
"It is horrid of you to treat us so."
"Sorry you don't like it, but it can't be helped," answered Dan Baxter, coolly. He paused a moment. "Say, if I unlock that door and let you out will you promise to behave yourselves?"
"What do you mean by that?" questioned Dora.
"I mean will you promise not to scream for help or not to attack myself or Lew Flapp?"
"I shan't promise anything," said Nellie, promptly.
"I don't think I'll promise anything either," joined in her cousin.
"Humph! You had better. It's rather stuffy in that little stateroom."
"We can stand it," answered both.
"All right, suit yourselves. But when you want to come out, let me know."
With these words Dan Baxter walked away, leaving the girls once more to themselves. Both sat down on the edge of a berth, and Nellie placed her head upon Dora's shoulder.
"Oh, Dora, what will become of us?"
"I'm sure I don't know, Nellie."
"They may take us away down the river—miles and miles away!"
"I know that. We must watch our chances and see if we cannot escape."
"Do you think the Rover boys are following the houseboat?"
"Let us hope so."
Thoroughly miserable, the cousins became silent. They felt the houseboat moving swiftly along with the current, but could see nothing on account of the mist and the darkness. Soon they heard the rain coming down.
"It is going to be an awful night," said Dora. "I don't see how anybody could follow this houseboat in such a storm."
Both girls felt like crying, but did their best to hold back the tears. Each was tired out by the doings of the day gone by, but neither thought of going to sleep.
The lanterns had been lit, and both Baxter and Flapp stationed themselves at the front of the houseboat, in an endeavor to pierce the mist. Occasionally they made out some distant light, but could not tell where it belonged.
"We ought to be getting to somewhere pretty soon," remarked Lew Flapp, after a couple of hours had passed. "Don't you think we had better turn her in toward shore?'"
"Not yet, Flapp; we ought to place as much distance as possible between the boat and Skemport. Remember, those Rovers will be after us hot-footed when once they learn the truth of the situation."
"Do you know anything about the river around here?"
"A little, but not much. Do you know anything?"
"No,—I never cared for geography," answered Flapp. "It's getting as black as pitch, and the rain—Hullo, there's another light!"
Flapp pointed to the Kentucky side of the river. Through the mist appeared a dim light, followed by another.
"Wonder if that is the shore or a boat?" mused Baxter.
"Better yell and see."
"Boat, ahoy!"
No answer came back, and for the moment the lights appeared to fade from sight.
"Must have been on shore and we are passing them, Baxter."
"More than likely, and yet—There they are again!"
Dan Baxter was right; the lights had reappeared and now they seemed to approach the houseboat with alarming rapidity.
"They'll run into us if they are not careful," said Flapp, in fresh alarm. "Boat, ahoy!" he screamed. "Keep off!"
"Keep off! Keep off, there!" put in Dan Baxter.
If those in the other craft heard, they paid no attention. The light came closer and closer and of a sudden a fair-sized gasolene launch came into view. She was headed directly for the Dora, and a moment later hit the houseboat a telling blow in the side, causing her to careen several feet.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE HORSE THIEVES
For the moment it looked as if the houseboat might be sent to the bottom of the Ohio River, and from the stateroom in which the two girls were confined came a loud cry of fright. Dan Baxter and Lew Flapp were also scared, and rushed toward the gasolene launch, not knowing what to do.
"Keep off!"
"Don't sink us!"
Loud cries also came from the launch, and those on the deck of the Dora could see several men, wearing raincoats, moving about. The bow of the launch was badly splintered, but otherwise the craft remained undamaged.
"What do you mean by running into us in this fashion?" cried Baxter, seeing that the Dora was in no danger of going down.
"Running into you?" came in a rough voice from the launch. "You ran into us!
"Not much we didn't."
"What boat is that?" came in another voice from the launch.
"A private houseboat. What craft is that?"
"None of your business."
"Thank you." Baxter put on a bold front. "I'm going to report you for running into us, just the same."
"Not much, you won't!" came from the launch. There were a few hurried words spoken in a whisper, and then a boat-hook was thrown on the Dora and a man leaped aboard and tied fast.
"Who is in command here?" he demanded, confronting Baxter and Flapp.
"I am," answered Baxter.
"Is she your houseboat?"
"Yes."
"Where are you bound?"
"Down to the Mississippi. But what is that to you?"
"How many of you on board of this craft?" went on the man, ignoring altogether the last question.
"That is my business."
"Well, and I'm going to make it mine," cried the man, and pulled out a revolver. "Answer up, kid; it will be best for you."
He was a burly Kentuckian, all of six feet tall and with a bushy black beard and a breath which smelt strongly of whiskey.
"Don't—don't shoot us!" cried Lew Flapp, in terror. "Don't shoot!"
"I won't—if you'll treat me proper-like," answered the Kentuckian. "How many on board?"
"Four—two young ladies and ourselves," answered Dan Baxter. He was doing some rapid thinking. "Say, perhaps we can strike up a. bargain with you," he went on.
"A bargain? What kind of a bargain?" And the Kentuckian eyed him narrowly.
"We are looking for somebody to tow this houseboat down the river."
At this the Kentuckian gave a loud and brutal laugh.
"Thanks, but I ain't in that ere business."
"All right, then; get aboard of your own boat and we will go on," continued Baxter.
"What's doing up there, Pick?" called another man, from the launch.
"Remember, we haven't got all night to waste here."
"That other boat is coming!" cried a third man. "Boys, we are trapped as sure as guns!"
"Not much we ain't," said the Kentuckian who had boarded the houseboat.
"Sculley!"
"What next, Pick?"
"You've got a new job. This chap here wants somebody to tow him down the river."
"Well?"
"You start to do the towing, and be quick about it. Hamp, get on board at once! Remember, Sculley, you ain't seen or heard of us, understand?"
"All right, Pick."
The gasolene launch came close once more, and the fellow called Hamp leaped on board. He carried a rifle and was evidently a desperate character.
"See here, I don't understand your game?" began Baxter.
"Didn't you say you wanted somebody to tow you down the river?" asked the fellow addressed as Pick.
"I did, but—"
"Well, Cap'n Sculley of the Firefly has taken the job. He'll take you wherever you please, and at your own price. You can't ask for more than that, can you?"
"No, but—"
"I haven't got time to talk, kid—with' that other launch coming after us. I don't know who you are and I reckon you don't know me and my bosom pard here. But let me tell you one thing. It won't be healthy for you to tell anybody that me and my pard are on board here, understand?"
"You are hiding away from somebody?" asked Baxter, quickly.
"I reckon that's the plain United States of it. If you say a word it will go mighty hard with you," and the Kentuckian tapped his revolver.
"You can trust us," replied Baxter, promptly. "Tell me what you want done and I'll agree to do it."
"You will?" The Kentuckian eyed him more closely than ever. "Say, you can't play any game on me,—I'm too old for it."
"I shan't play any game on you. Just say what you want done and I'll help you all I can—providing that launch takes us down the river as quick as it can."
"Ha! Maybe you want to get away, too, eh?"
"I want to get down the river, yes. Perhaps I'll tell you more,—after I am certain I can trust you," added Baxter, significantly.
"Good enough, I'll go you. If that other launch comes up, tell 'em anything but that you have strangers on board, or that you have seen us."
"I will."
"If you play us foul—"
"I shan't play you foul, so don't worry."
By this time the second launch was coming up through the mist and the two men from Kentucky retired to the cabin of the houseboat. In the meantime the first launch had tied fast to the Dora and was beginning to tow the houseboat down the stream.
"Boat, ahoy, there!" was the call.
"Ahoy!" answered the man on the first launch.
"Got any passengers on board?"
"No."
"What's your tow?"
"A houseboat."
"Who is on board?"
"I don't know exactly. What do you want to know for?"
"We are looking for a couple of horse thieves who ran away from Kepples about two hours ago."
"I haven't seen anything of any horse thieves."
The second launch now came up to the houseboat. As may be surmised Dan
Baxter and Lew Flapp had listened to the talk with keen interest.
"Those chaps are horse thieves," muttered Flapp.
"Yes,—but don't open your mouth, Flapp," answered the leader of the evil-doers.
"Houseboat, ahoy!" was the call.
"Hullo, the launch," answered Baxter.
"Seen anything of any strangers within the past two hours?"
"Strangers?" repeated Baxter. "Yes, I did."
"Where?"
"About a mile back. Two men in a small sailboat, beating up the river."
"How were they dressed?"
"In raincoats. One was a tall fellow with a heavy beard."
"That's our game, Curly!" was the exclamation on the second launch.
"About a mile up the river, you say?"
"About that—or maybe a mile and a half," replied Dan Baxter.
"Thank you. We'll get after them now!" And in a moment more the second launch sheered off and started up the Ohio through the mist and rain.
As soon as it was out of sight the men in the cabin of the Dora came out again.
"That was well done, kid," cried he called Pick. "And it was well you did it that way. If you had said we were aboard you might have got a dose of lead in your head."
"I always keep my word," replied Baxter.
"You're a game young rooster, and I reckon I can't call you kid no more. What's your handle?"
"What's yours?"
"Pick Loring."
"You're a horse thief, it seems."
"I don't deny it."
"My name is Dan Baxter, and this is my friend, Lew Flapp."
"Glad to know you. This is my pard in business, Hamp Gouch. We had to quit in a hurry, but I reckon we fell in the right hands," and Pick Loring closed one eye suggestively and questioningly.
"You're safe with us, Loring,—if you'll give us a lift."
"I always stick to them as sticks to me."
"If you want to stay on this houseboat for a while you can do it."
"We'll have to stay on this craft. It's about the only place we'll be safe—for a day or two at least."
"You can stay a couple of weeks, if you want to—all providing you'll lend us your assistance."
"It's a go. Now what's your game? You must have one, or you wouldn't act in this style," said Pick Loring.