"Go on, and obey the order," said Tom, sternly. "If I hear another word out of you, I"ll report you to the governor."
This thread silenced the dissatisfied member of the Crusoe band. He knew, by experience, that the chief had a very unpleasant way of dealing with rebellious spirits, and fear of bodily harm kept him quiet.
By the time Friday had dished up his supper, Atkins returned with the governor, who threw himself upon the gra.s.s at the head of the table, while his officers seated themselves on each side of him. He pa.s.sed his cup to the cook to be filled with coffee, and, as he did so, he ran his eye over the table, and smiled with great satisfaction.
"This is a heap better grub than I had while I lived here alone," said he. "Friday, you know I am heavy on taters; why didn"t you cook more of "em?"
"Them"s the last," was the answer.
"Then we must lay in a new supply," said Sam. "We"ll go up after dark, an" hook a bushel or so. I"ve been watchin" them fellers up there, fur the last half hour; an" I notice they have left a good many piles of taters in the field. It"ll be the easiest thing in the world fur us to get as many as we want."
The matter was settled without any further remarks. The governor"s orders had thus far been received and obeyed without comment; and so small and uninteresting an enterprise as robbing a potato-patch was not worth talking about. The Crusoe men had done such things so often that they thought no more of them than they did of going fishing.
But this expedition was destined to be rather more exciting than any of a similar kind in which they had ever engaged; and if they had only known what was to happen before morning, and could have looked far enough into the future to see the long string of events that was to result from the governor"s order, it is probable that they would one and all have refused duty.
Supper over, the Crusoe men lounged on the gra.s.s, in front of the cabin, and talked of what they had done, and what they intended to do--all except Friday, who busied himself in clearing the table, and washing the dishes. At sunset it was quite dark in the cove; but the governor knew there was still plenty of light on the cliffs above, and he waited nearly two hours more before he gave the signal for action.
"I reckon we can be movin" now," said he, at length. "I don"t s"pose there is any danger, but, of course, it will be well for us to keep our eyes an" ears open. If them fellers up there havn"t found out by this time that there"s something goin" on, it aint no fault of our"n; fur we"ve made mighty free with their fruit an" vegetables durin" the last few nights. Cap"n, see that each man is provided with a sack to put the taters in."
Tom repeated the order to his mate, who went into the cabin, and presently returned with an armful of bags, which he distributed among the band. The chief then lighted his lantern, and, every thing being ready for the start, led the way toward the cliff, the ascent of which was regarded by the members of the band as the worst part of the undertaking. The fissure along which the path ran, was as dark as midnight; and the faint light which the governor"s lantern threw out, afforded them but little a.s.sistance in finding their way.
They had made the ascent so often, however, that they had become quite familiar with the path, and there was no danger of losing their way, or of falling over the rocks. They crossed the chasm by the rope bridge in safety, and finally reached the summit, where the governor extinguished his light, and stopped to reconnoiter. Every thing was still, and Sam was satisfied that the coast was clear, although he thought it best to give his men a few final instructions.
"There don"t seem to be nothin" wrong," said he, "but, bein" an old fox, I know it aint always best to put too much faith in appearances. We won"t go straight to the field, "cause there may be somebody on the watch, you know; an" if they see where we come from, they"ll discover our hidin"-place, an" then we can bid good-by to all hopes of ever seein" our island. If they get after us, we"ll scatter out an" hide from "em--we can easy do that in the dark--an" when they"re gone, we"ll meet here. But remember, fellers, we aint comin" back without them taters."
Sam, who had by this time become well acquainted with the country about his hiding-place, once more placed himself at the head of his men, and led them down the sh.o.r.e for a quarter of a mile; and after pa.s.sing through two or three fields, came up on the other side of the potato-patch. If the farmer was on the watch, this maneuver would lead him to believe that Sam and his band had come from the village.
The governor had no difficulty in finding the place where the farmer had left his potatoes, and after he had ordered two of the band to act as sentries, he set to work with the others to fill the bags.
For a wonder Tom labored as hard as the rest, and without once noticing how sadly he was soiling his hands and clothes. He was rendered extremely uneasy by the precautions the governor had taken to avoid capture, and he was anxious to get the work done as soon as possible.
When his bag was filled, he tied it with a string he had brought with him for the purpose, and was making some desperate efforts to raise it to his shoulder, when an exclamation from one of the sentinels caused him to drop his burden as if it had been a coal of fire.
"See there, fellers!" whispered Xury.
"Look out, men!" chimed in Will Atkins. "I hear something."
Tom looked, but could see nothing. He knew there was danger near, however, and without waiting to see what quarter it was coming from, he jumped over his bag of potatoes, and drew a bee-line for the beach at a rate of speed that astonished himself. He had not made more than half a dozen steps, when an appalling yell rang out on the air, followed by the roar of a gun which sounded so loud that Tom, in his terror, thought it must have been fired close to his ear.
"Halt there, you villain!" shouted a voice close behind the flying captain of the Crusoe band.
Tom heard the order, and knew it was addressed to him, but he did not heed it. He ran faster than ever, the sound of rapidly pursuing footsteps lending him wings. But all his efforts were in vain. The footsteps grew louder, and presently Tom felt a strong hand grasp his collar. A moment afterward he found himself lying flat on his back, with a heavy weight on his breast holding him down.
CHAPTER V.
ATKINS REFUSES DUTY.
Tom Newcombe had his first fight that night. He resisted the active young farmer who had seized him, to the best of his ability, although, for all the good it did him, he might as well have surrendered himself a prisoner at once. But the captain of the Crusoe band had a great many reasons for not wishing to be taken prisoner. In the first place, he was pretty well known in that country, and he was afraid that the farmer might recognize in him the son of the richest man in Newport; and, even if he did not, he would know that Tom had come from the village, and he would, of course, take him back there in the morning. Then what would become of him? What would his father do? and what would Johnny Harding, and the rest of the fellows, have to say about it? Above all, what would become of the expedition, and the plan he had laid for destroying the Storm King? His capture would put an end to all the bright dreams in which he had indulged during the past two weeks, and he would once more find himself an errand-boy in his father"s office, deprived of every privilege, watched more closely than ever, and teased and tormented by his thoughtless acquaintances, who would never allow him a moment"s peace. Tom thought of all these things, and he was surprised at himself when he found that he was fighting for his liberty with a courage and determination he had never supposed himself to possess. He kicked and thrashed about at an astonishing rate, and finding that his efforts were wholly in vain, he tried to frighten his captor by threatening him with a terrible vengeance if he did not immediately release him.
"What do you mean?" roared Tom, striving desperately to unclasp the strong fingers that were holding fast to his collar. "Let me up, or I"ll give you cause to remember this night"s work as long as you live. Let me up, I say."
"Well, I swan!" exclaimed the farmer, peering down into Tom"s face, "I thought you made a poor fight for a man." Then hearing footsteps behind him, he looked up, and called out to some one who was approaching--"I say, Josh, they"re only little brats of boys; they aint men at all. I wish I had a good apple-tree switch."
"O, now, you wouldn"t use it on me if you had one," drawled Tom.
"Wouldn"t! I"d like to know what"s the reason?"
"Because you wouldn"t dare do it. I always get even with any one who imposes on me, so you had better mind what you are about."
"I don"t want any insolence now, for I aint in just the mood to stand it. If you and your crowd are the same fellows who have been prowling around here for the last week, you have stolen more than twenty dollars worth of garden truck. Get up here, you young robber!"
The farmer jerked his prisoner roughly to his feet, and by this time Josh came up. The arrival of re-enforcements, and the ease with which he was handled, convinced Tom that further resistance was useless, and he began to beg l.u.s.tily.
"O, now, if you will let me go I"ll never do it again," he pleaded.
"O yes, we"ll let you go," was the encouraging reply. "We"ll lock you up till morning, and then take you over to the "squire; that"s what we"ll do with you. Catch hold of him, Josh."
His captor held fast to one arm, Josh took hold of the other, and Tom was marched off between them. Of course he pulled back, and tried hard to escape; but the stalwart young farmers walked him along without the least difficulty. When they reached the house, they pulled him up the steps that led to the porch, and opening a door, ushered him into the kitchen, where Tom found himself in the presence of the female portion of the farmer"s family.
"Here"s one of the rogues, mother," exclaimed Josh. "Sit down, and let"s have a good look at you."
If Tom at that moment could have purchased his freedom by promising that he would give up his new idea, and leave the students in quiet possession of the Storm King, he would have done it, gladly. He sank into the chair Josh pointed out to him, and sat with his chin resting on his breast, and his eyes fastened on the floor, not daring to look up long enough to ascertain whether or not there was any one in the room with whom he was acquainted. He knew that half a dozen pairs of eyes were looking at him with curiosity; and he felt that if he had never before been utterly disgraced, he was now. No one spoke to him, and in a few minutes the silence became so oppressive that Tom would have welcomed a thunderstorm, or an earthquake. He twisted about in his chair, whirled his cap in his hand, and gazed steadily at a crack in the floor, until he was relieved by the noise of feet on the porch, which was followed by the entrance of the farmer, with the rest of the party who had been guarding the potato-patch. Then, for the first time, he mustered up courage enough to look around him. He noted two things--one was, that every person in the room was a stranger to him; and the other, that he had a companion in his misery, in the shape of his mate, who, unlike his superior officer, did not seem to be at all abashed at finding himself the center of so many eyes. He held his head up, and looked about him as if he felt quite at his ease.
"Well, we"ve got two of them," said the farmer, in a tone of great satisfaction, "and I guess we"ve frightened the others so badly that they"ll let us alone in future. But how is this?" he added, glancing first at the rich man"s son, and than at the ragged, bare-footed ferry-boy. "There must have been two parties of them."
"No, there wasn"t," said Xury. "We all belong to one crowd."
"What"s your name?" continued the farmer, addressing himself to the captain of the Crusoe band.
"O, now, I"m Tom--"
"Avast, there!" cried Xury, so suddenly that he startled every one in the room. "His name is Muley, mister--that"s his name."
"Muley? Muley what?"
"Muley nothin"--just Muley. That"s all the name he"s got. My name is Xury, an" that"s all the name I"ve got."
Tom was astonished at the impudence of his mate. He had been on the point of revealing every thing, for, now that he was a prisoner, he could not see the use of further concealment. According to his way of thinking, the expedition had been nipped in the bud, his splendid idea could not be carried out, and if the farmer had questioned him closely, he would have told him all about the Crusoe men and their hiding-place.
It made no difference to Tom that he had promised to keep these things secret. He was in trouble, and all he cared for was to get out of it.
Xury, however, was a very different sort of boy. He had promised never to reveal any of the secrets intrusted to his keeping, he had sealed the compact by shaking hands with his chief, and he would have endured almost any punishment before proving himself unworthy of the confidence of his fellows. Besides, he did not believe that the affairs of the band were so very desperate. He knew that the governor would never desert him, and as long as he and Tom remained on the island, there were some hopes that those of the band who had escaped would find means to effect their release.
"Of course I know that those are not your right names," said the farmer, at length, "but I am not particular about that, for when I take you to the village to-morrow, I can find out all about you. What did you intend to do with those potatoes?"
"Eat "em," answered Xury. "What else does a feller do with taters?"
"Have you eaten all the fruit and vegetables you have stolen during the last week?"