"Oh, good! good!" cried Nellie. "Help!" she screamed. "Help!"
"Help! help!" added Dora. "Help us! This way!"
"We are coming!" came back, in d.i.c.k"s voice, and a moment later the steam tug crashed into the side of the houseboat, and the Rovers and several others leaped on board.
"Stand where you are, Lew Flapp!" cried Tom, and rushed for the bully of Putnam Hall. "Stand, I say!" and then he hit Flapp a stunning blow in the ear which bowled the rascal over and over.
In the meantime Dan Baxter took to his heels and made for the front of the houseboat. From this point he jumped into the branches of a tree and disappeared from view.
"Come on after him!" cried Sam, and away he and Fred went after Baxter, leaving the others to take charge of Flapp, and round up the horse thieves and Sculley.
But Dan Baxter knew what capture meant--a long term of imprisonment in the future and, possibly, a good drubbing from the Rovers on the spot--and he therefore redoubled his efforts to escape.
"Follow me at your peril!" he sang out, and then they heard him crashing through the bushes. Gradually the sounds grew fainter and fainter.
"Where did he go to, Sam?"
"I can"t say," said Sam. "We"ll have to organize a regular party to run him down."
It was an easy matter to make Lew Flapp a prisoner. Once captured the former bully of the Hall blubbered like a baby.
"It was Dan Baxter led me into it," he groaned. "It was all his doings, not mine."
When Loring, Gouch, and Sculley were confronted by the party the intoxicated evil-doers were in no condition to offer any resistance.
Roundly did they bewail their luck, but this availed them nothing, and without ceremony they were made prisoners, their hands being tied behind them with stout ropes.
"Are you hurt?" asked d.i.c.k, of the girls, anxiously.
"Not in the least, d.i.c.k," answered Dora. "But, oh! how thankful I am that you came as you did!"
"And I am thankful too," came from Nellie.
"And we are thankful to be on hand," said Tom.
And the others said the same.
Here let me bring to a close the story of "The Rover Boys on the River." The trip had been full of adventures, but it now looked as if all would end happily.
Without loss of time Dora and Nellie were taken care of and the houseboat was put into proper order for use by the Rovers and their friends.
"Dat galley am a mess to see," said Aleck Pop. "But I don"t care--so long as dem young ladies am saved."
As speedily as possible, messages were sent to the Lanings and to Mrs. Stanhope, carrying the news of the girls" safety and the recovery of the missing houseboat. After that Paul Livingstone saw to it that Pick Loring, Hamp Gouch, and their accomplice, Sculley, were turned over to the proper authorities. For this the whole party received the reward of one thousand dollars, which was evenly divided between them.
"Dot"s der first money I receive playing detecter," said Hans, when he got his portion. "Maybe I vos been a regular bolice detecter ven I got old enough, hey?"
Lew Flapp was taken back to New York State, to stand trial for the robbery of Aaron Fairchild"s shop, but through the influence of his family and some rich friends he was let out on bail. When the time for his trial arrived he was missing.
"He is going to be as bad as Dan Baxter some day," said Sam.
"Perhaps; but he is more of a coward than Baxter," answered d.i.c.k.
"Wonder where Baxter disappeared to?" came from Tom.
"We"ll find out some time," said Sam; and he was right. They soon met their old enemy again, and what Baxter did to bring them trouble will be told in the next volume of this series, to be ent.i.tled "The Rover Boys on the Plains; or, The Mystery of Red Rock Ranch." In this work we shall meet many of our old friends again and learn what they did towards solving a most unusual secret.
Two days after the missing houseboat was found there was a re-union on board in which all of our friends took part. There was a grand dinner, served in Aleck Pop"s best style, and in the evening the craft was trimmed up with j.a.panese lanterns from end to end, and a professional orchestra of three pieces was engaged by the Rovers to furnish music for the occasion. Mr. Livingstone and his family visited the houseboat, bringing several young folks with them. The girls and boys sang, danced, and played games, while the older folks looked on. Songbird Powell recited several original poems, Fred Garrison made a really comic speech, and Hans Mueller convulsed everybody by his good nature and his funny way of talking.
"I never felt so light-hearted in my life!" said Tom, after the celebration had come to an end.
"We owe you and the others a great deal," said Mrs. Laning.
"Yes, and I shall not forget it," put in Mrs. Stanhope. "All of you are regular heroes!"
"Heroes? Pooh!" sniffed Tom. "Nothing of the sort. We are just wide-awake American boys."
And they are wide-awake; aren"t they, kind reader?
THE END