"Been listening to all our talk, I suppose," said Cuffer, uglily. He was angry to think that d.i.c.k had been able to follow him after all.
"I have," was the youth"s bold reply. He felt nothing was to be gained by beating around the bush.
"It"s a nice business to be in!"
"It is better than the business you are in."
"I don"t think so."
"I do. You fellows are in league with Sid Merrick, and you know what sort he is."
"See here," interrupted Sh.e.l.ley. "Now we have him in here, what are we going to do with him?"
"You are going to let me out," said d.i.c.k.
"Perhaps we are," said Cuffer, and gave Sh.e.l.ley a significant look.
"Let us see if he"s got any papers with him," suggested Sh.e.l.ley, and returned the look given to him by his companion.
The look meant that they would go through d.i.c.k"s pockets and rob him.
The men were thorough rascals and if the youth had anything worth taking they meant to have it.
"You keep out of my pockets!" cried d.i.c.k and started to rise from the chair in which he was sitting. Instantly both men grabbed him, and while Cuffer held him tightly from the rear, Sh.e.l.ley caught up a towel and gagged him. Then a bed sheet was used to tie d.i.c.k inside of a closet in a corner of the room.
"Listen, I think somebody is coming!" cried Cuffer, in sudden alarm.
"Keep the boy quiet!" answered Sh.e.l.ley and ran to the hall door just as a knock sounded upon it.
"What"s the racket up here?" demanded the voice of the hotel clerk.
"Oh, we were only trying a vaudeville turn," answered Sh.e.l.ley, coolly.
"We have an engagement for next week."
"Well, stop that noise and don"t break any of the furniture, or you"ll pay for it," growled the clerk and went away. It chanced that actors occasionally stopped at the hotel and practised their parts. Sh.e.l.ley knew of this, hence the excuse he gave for the noise made in rendering d.i.c.k a prisoner.
As soon as the clerk had retired Cuffer and Sh.e.l.ley both paid their attention to d.i.c.k, and with great rapidity they went through his pockets, stripping him of his watch and chain, and twenty-four dollars and a quarter in money. They also took a small diamond scarf pin and a ring set with a valuable ruby. In one pocket Cuffer found several letters and he likewise appropriated these.
"Not such a bad haul," was the thief"s comment.
Of course, d.i.c.k did not submit willingly, but with a gag in his mouth, and his hands and feet tied tightly, he could do but little. As soon as the men had taken his things from him, they shut the closet door upon him and locked it. A few minutes later all became quiet, showing that they had left the room.
The closet was small and stuffy and in this warm weather made d.i.c.k perspire freely. But without waiting to make certain that the men were really gone, he commenced to work upon his bonds and the gag in his mouth.
It was no light task and it was a good quarter of an hour before he got one hand loose. Then he freed his other hand and undid the troublesome gag, which had all but smothered him, and then unfastened his feet.
He was still a prisoner in the closet, the door of which was an old-fashioned one and thick. But by bracing his feet against the back wall, d.i.c.k got a firm hold and soon his shoulder on the barrier caused it to bend and creak. Then the lock gave way and the door flew open with a bang.
A glance around the room showed that the men had flown, and for good, for two valises which had stood in a corner were missing.
d.i.c.k leaped to the hall door, only to find it locked from the outside.
"They must have gone that way," he reasoned, after a look out of the window, and then he rapped on the door loudly.
It was several minutes before anybody answered his summons. Then an ignorant looking chambermaid appeared.
"Phot does yez want?" she demanded, in a strong Irish brogue.
"I am locked in. Let me out," answered d.i.c.k.
After some fumbling, the chambermaid found her key and unlocked the door. She gazed at d.i.c.k in some surprise, for she saw that he was excited.
"Sure, I didn"t know yez had that room," she said.
"Did you see the two men who had this room?" demanded the youth.
"I did not."
"They robbed me and ran away."
"Saints preserve us! Robbed ye? Of phat?"
"Of everything I had. Sure you didn"t see "em?"
"Not since this marnin"."
"Well, they must have just gone out," said d.i.c.k, and ran down the stairs and to the office. Here he found the place deserted, the clerk having gone down to the dining room for his supper, and n.o.body else being on duty. The clerk listened to his story with small interest and shrugged his shoulders.
"Don"t see what I can do," he said. "We ain"t responsible for our guests. You had better go and see the police. I hope you catch them, for such rascals give hotels bad reputations."
"Do you know the men at all?"
"No, never set eyes on "em until a couple of days ago. Then they came in, hired that room, and came and went to suit themselves. One was named Brown and the other Smith--at least that"s the names on the register."
"Those were fake names. Then you won"t help me to catch them?"
"I don"t see what I can do," answered the clerk, calmly. "We are not to blame for this, you can see that for yourself."
d.i.c.k could see, and after a few words more, he left the hotel, feeling very depressed in spirits. He spent an hour in looking up and down the Bowery for Cuffer and Sh.e.l.ley, but without success. Then, as it was getting late, he returned to the hotel at which he and the rest of his family were putting up.
CHAPTER XI
ABOARD THE STEAM YACHT
Mr. Rover, as well as Tom and Sam, had come in, and all were anxious to hear what d.i.c.k might have to report. They were filled with amazement at the story of the robbery.