"See here, don"t you get funny, young man. Please remember you are in our power."
"And we"ll do some shooting, if we have to," added Tad, bombastically.
"Tad, I guess I can do the talking for this crowd," said his uncle.
"You were afraid of the ghosts, Tad," said Sam. "You must have run about a mile!" And the youngest Rover grinned in spite of the predicament he was in.
"You shut up!" roared Tad Sobber, and exhibited some of the brutality that had made him so hated at Putnam Hall by raising his foot and kicking Sam in the side.
"Stop!" cried the youngest Rover, in pain. "What a brute you are!"
"Leave my brother alone!" came from Tom. "A fine coward you are, to kick him when he is a prisoner! You wouldn"t dare to try it if he was free."
"I wouldn"t, eh? I want you to understand I"m not afraid of anybody,"
bl.u.s.tered Tad. "I am----"
"Tad, be quiet," cried his uncle. "I am fully capable of managing this affair. Don"t kick him again."
"Yes, but look here, Uncle Sid, they----"
"I will take care of things," cried Sid Merrick, and so sharply that his nephew at once subsided. But on the sly he shook his fist at both Tom and Sam.
"Maybe we had better make sure that n.o.body else is around," suggested Sh.e.l.ley, who had been Merrick"s best aide in the capture.
"All right, look around if you want to," was Merrick"s reply. "I am pretty certain these boys are alone here--although more persons from the steam yacht may be ash.o.r.e."
They looked around, but, of course, found n.o.body else. Then d.i.c.k, Tom and Sam were tied in a row to three trees which were handy. Merrick took possession of their single weapon.
"I don"t want you to hurt yourselves with it," he said, grimly.
"Merrick, this is a high-handed proceeding," said d.i.c.k, when the gag was removed from his mouth.
"No more so than was your statement of owning the isle," was the answer.
"What are you going to do with us?"
"Nothing."
"I must say I don"t understand you."
"What should I do with you? I don"t enjoy your company. I am here solely to get that treasure, as you must know. I am going after that and leave you where you are."
"Bound to these trees?"
"Certainly."
"Supposing we can"t get loose?" remonstrated Tom. "We may starve to death!"
"That will be your lookout. But I reckon you"ll get loose sooner or later, although we"ve bound you pretty tight."
"Can I have a drink before you go?" asked Sam, who was dry.
"Don"t give "em a drop, Uncle Sid!" cried Tad. "They don"t deserve it."
"Oh, they can have a drink," said Sid Merrick. "I"d give a drink even to a dog," he added, and pa.s.sed around some water the boys had in a bottle.
Less than fifteen minutes later the three Rover boys found themselves alone in the forest. The Merrick party had lit their acetylene gas lamp and the lantern and struck out once more along the trail which they supposed would take them to the treasure cave. The boys heard them for a short distance, and then all became dark and silent around them.
"Well, now we are in a pickle and no mistake," remarked Sam, with a long sigh.
"That ghost business proved a boomerang," was Tom"s comment. "It"s a pity we didn"t dig out for the sh.o.r.e, signal to the steam yacht, and tell father and the others about what was going on."
"There is no use crying over spilt milk," said d.i.c.k. "The first thing to do is to get free."
"Yes, and that"s real easy," sniffed Tom. "I am bound up like a bale of hay to be shipped to the South Pole!"
"And the cord on my wrists is cutting right into the flesh," said Sam.
"If we were the heroes of a dime novel we"d shoo these ropes away in a jiffy," went on Tom, with a grin his brothers could not see. "But being plain, everyday American boys I"m afraid we"ll have to stay tied up until somebody comes to cut us loose."
"Oh, for a faithful dog!" sighed Sam. "I saw a moving picture once in which a dog came and untied a girl who was fastened to a tree. I"d give as much as five dollars for that dog right now."
"Make it six and a half, Sam, and I"ll go half," answered Tom.
"Well, this is no joke," declared d.i.c.k, almost severely. "We must get free somehow--or they"ll get that treasure and be off with it before father and the others have a chance to land. We"ve got to do something."
They all agreed they "had to do something," but what that something was to be was not clear. They worked over their bonds until their wrists were cut and bleeding and then gave the task up. It was so dark they could see each other but dimly, and the darkness and quietness made them anything but lighthearted.
"Supposing some wild beast comes to chew us up," said Sam, presently, after a silence that was positively painful.
"We know there are no big beasts on these islands," answered d.i.c.k.
"Don"t worry yourself unnecessarily, Sam. We"ve got troubles enough as it is."
"The only beasts here are human beasts," said Tom, "and their names are Merrick, Sobber, Cuffer and Sh.e.l.ley," and he said this so dryly his brothers had to laugh.
Slowly the night wore away, each hour dragging more than that which preceded it. Two or three times the boys tried again to liberate themselves, but fared no better than before, indeed, d.i.c.k fared worse, for he came close to spraining his left wrist. The pain for a while was intense and it was all he could do to keep from crying out.
"I"d like to know what time it is," said Sam, when the first streak of dawn began to show among the trees.
"And I"d like to know if Merrick has found the treasure cave," added d.i.c.k.
"It will soon be morning," came from Tom, and he was right. The rising sun did not penetrate to where they stood, but it tipped the tops of the trees with gold and made it light enough for them to see each other quite plainly.
The boys were glad that day had come at last, for being prisoners in the light was not half as bad as in the dark. Each looked at the others rather curiously.
"Well, we are still here," said Tom laconically.
"Yes, and liable to stay here," added Sam.