There was a patter of hoofs; the sheep were coming. Soon they were flitting by the ambush, shying off as their keen senses warned them of possible danger. Again they scattered toward the northwest end of the island. After them danced Brittler, roaring with anger.
"What are you waiting for, you numskull?" he cried. "Why didn"t you shoot? I heard you fire once some minutes ago, and thought you might have been aiming at a stray one. I had almost the whole flock bunched right before me. You couldn"t get a better chance if you waited a week.
Now I"ve got to waste another half-hour chasing "em round again. What"s the matter with you, anyway? Why don"t you speak?"
He was within five yards of the silent group under the spruces when Spurling"s voice rang sharply out:
"Halt there!"
At the same instant he flashed the ray from his electric lantern straight into the captain"s face.
Brittler stopped short, as if struck by lightning. His jaw dropped, and a ludicrous look of alarm and bewilderment overspread his features.
"Take your hand off his mouth, Budge," ordered Jim, "and let him tell the captain what"s happened."
Thus adjured, Dolph spoke:
"I"ve been taken prisoner, Captain. They jumped on me in the dark and I had a chance to fire only one shot. I think there"s at least half a dozen of "em, and they"ve got both our revolvers, so we haven"t a chance. That"s all there is to it."
Brittler had recovered from his first panic. He bristled up with pretended indignation.
"What do you mean, whoever you are, by jumping on us this way? And take that light off my face! I don"t like it."
Spurting did not remove the steady ray from the features of the irate captain. He waited a moment before replying.
"Captain Brittler," he said, "you and Dolph came to steal sheep, and it isn"t your fault that you haven"t been able to do it. You thought there was n.o.body on this island and that you could kill and take to suit yourselves. You"ve been caught red-handed. By good rights you ought to be turned over to the sheriff. We"ll let you go this time, but if we catch you here on such an errand again you"ll have a chance to tell your story before a jury."
"How"d you come to know my name?" bl.u.s.tered the captain. "I s"pose you"ve been pumping that mealy-mouthed landlubber of a Dolph."
"Dolph hasn"t said a word till he spoke to you just now. He couldn"t. I guess we understand each other, so you and he had better start for the _Silicon_. You"ll find your dory in the rockweed about fifty feet east of the cove. I"ll keep your revolvers a few days, and then mail them to you at the Rockland post-office. You can get "em there. Better go now!
Turn that man loose, Budge!"
Muttering vengeance, Dolph and the captain disappeared in the direction of the Sly Hole. After giving them ample time to find the dory, the boys quietly made their way to the north sh.o.r.e.
A boat with two men was visible, rowing out to the _Silicon_. As soon as it reached its destination the schooner got under way and proceeded eastward.
"I don"t like the looks of that craft," said Spurling. "There"s something suspicious about her. Did you hear what Dolph said to the captain about making money? They"re engaged in some kind of smuggling, or I"ll eat my hat! But what it can be I haven"t any idea. Well, we"re lucky to be rid of "em so easily. Guess they"ll give Tarpaulin Island a wide berth after this. And it"s dollars to doughnuts the captain never inquires after those revolvers at the Rockland office. I didn"t feel it was quite safe to give "em back to him just now, but I didn"t want to take "em away for good. He can do as he pleases about sending for "em."
He yawned.
"It"s past one, and we"d better be getting back to camp, or we won"t be in condition for our busy day to-morrow. Come on, boys!"
Slowly, and a trifle weariedly, the five made their way across the island. Even though the fire in the stove had gone out long since, the warmth of the cabin felt good to them.
"Well, Whittington," remarked Spurling as they once more crept into their bunks, "how do you like your first night on Tarpaulin? Some life out here, after all, eh?"
Percy had recovered his a.s.surance. Now that the experience was over he rather enjoyed it.
"Not so bad," he replied.
Before he went to sleep he lay for some time thinking.
V
GETTING READY
A persistent metallic whirring broke rudely in upon the dreams of the heavy sleepers in Camp Spurling. It was four o"clock. It seemed to Percy as if he had never before found so much trouble in getting his eyes open.
"Choke that clock off, somebody!" shouted Lane from overhead. "I"m not deaf, but I shall be if this hullabaloo keeps on much longer."
Spurling, who was already half-dressed, checked the alarm. The red rays of the morning sun, striking through the eastern window, bathed everything in crimson. The minds of the boys turned naturally to the foiled thieves.
"Where do you think the _Silicon_ is?" asked Throppy.
"Twenty-five miles east, and making for Fundy as fast as sail and gasolene"ll take her," replied Jim. "She can"t go any too far or fast to suit me."
A hearty breakfast of fried bacon, hot biscuits, and coffee made the drowsy crowd feel better.
"Now," said Spurling, "we"ve got a big day"s work ahead of us, and the sooner we start on it the better. We want to begin as quick as we can to round up some of those dollars that are finning and crawling in to us, so we mustn"t waste any time in getting our trawls and traps overboard.
First of all, we need bait. We can buy hake heads for our lobster-traps from the fish-wharf at Matinicus, and herring for the trawls from one of the weirs at Vinalhaven. That means traveling over forty miles; but it"s fine weather, and we ought to do it easily. Besides, it"ll give you fellows a good chance to learn how to handle a power-sloop. We"ll take the trawls with us, and bait "em on the way back, so as not to lose any time; and we"ll set most of those lobster-traps this afternoon."
They all went over to the fish-house, and Jim swung the door wide open.
Five great hogsheads inside caught Percy"s eye.
"What"re those for?" he asked.
"Holding fish. Each one"ll take care of what two thousand pounds of round fish"ll make after they"re dressed and salted."
"What do you mean by round fish?"
"Just as they come out of the water, before they"re cleaned."
"What"re those half-barrels, full of small rope?"
"Trawl-tubs; and those coils inside are the trawls. Each tub holds about five hundred fathoms of ground-line, with a thirty-eight-inch ganging, or short line with a hook on its end, tied every five feet; so there"re between five hundred and six hundred hooks to every tub. One man alone can bait and handle four tubs of trawl. Two of us are going to fish together, so we ought to be able to swing six tubs without any trouble."
Percy looked about the house. Other barrels stood there; a net was draped over the beams; many coils of small rope were hung along the walls or piled on the floor. His attention was attracted by a large heap of peculiarly shaped pieces of wood. Each was eighteen inches long, five inches square at one end, and tapered almost to a point at the other, near which a hole was bored; they were painted white, encircled by a single green stripe, and bore the brand "SP."
"Cedar lobster-buoys," said Jim. "SP"s my Uncle Tom"s brand. Every man has a different kind, so his floats won"t get mixed with anybody else"s.
Now let"s take these tubs of trawl aboard the sloop."
At six the _Barracouta_, carrying the five boys and towing the dory, started from Sprowl"s Cove for Matinicus. It was so calm that the sails were of little a.s.sistance, and they had to depend almost entirely on the engine. Rounding Brimstone Point, they headed slightly north of west for Seal Island, about six miles away.
Everybody took his turn at steering, Jim acting as instructor.