CHAPTER XIX.
A CHASE IN THE NIGHT.
The men left the hut, banging the door behind them. Rob waited till thesound of their voices grew dim in the distance, and then raising himselfcautiously he crept around to the door of the hut.
The light had been extinguished, but as the boy had matches in hiswaterproof case this fact did not worry him. Pushing the door open Robentered the place. Before striking a light he did all he could to assurehimself that he was not likely to be interrupted by the sudden return ofthe men.
Having established to his satisfaction that he was safe, which was notuntil he perceived a light on the motor boat, which lay not far fromthe hut, he proceeded to light up the lantern the men had left behind.
Anxious not to lose any time on his risky task, he began stuffing papersand plans into his pockets at once. The models, or most of them, hedecided he would have to convey to the boat in his arms.
He had hardly completed the task of stowing the papers in his pockets,when he was startled at hearing footsteps coming toward the hut. Hastilyhe extinguished the light, uttering an inward prayer that it had notbeen seen. Luckily for himself he had taken the precaution of closingthe door as soon as he had the lantern lighted.
Just before extinguishing the lamp, he had gazed about the place forsome spot of concealment. But the hut, as has been said, was a crudeaffair, and no closets or cupboards presented a chance of hiding. Theonly thing that Rob could think of to do was to slip under the tableand trust to a miracle that he would not be discovered. Hardly had hecarried out his intention when the door opened and two men entered.
They were the red-headed man and the pallid-faced individual, whoappeared to act as assistants to Berghoff. At any rate, judging by theiraccents, they were foreigners.
Rob had placed the lantern on the table in a position as much resemblingthat in which the men had left it as he could. He heard a matchscratched and then the sputter of the flame.
"Don't see why Berghoff sent us back to get that stuff," grumbled one ofthe men angrily; "it's as safe here as it would be anywhere."
"Well, as we're getting good pay fer this job, we might as well obeyorders," was the reply.
"Gee whillakers!" came a sudden exclamation from the man who hadattempted to light the lantern.
"What's up?" asked the other.
"Why, the plagued thing is red hot!"
"Red hot?" exclaimed his companion in tones of amazement. "How can thatbe when it's a good half hour since we put it out?"
"Dunno, but it burned my fingers, all right."
"Say, Mike, do you think anyone has been here since we left?"
"Who could have been here? And yet, come to think of it, it's blamedqueer. Tell you what we'll do."
"What?"
"Search this place. It won't take long."
"Good for you," rejoined the other, while Rob quaked in his place ofconcealment.
"There ain't many nooks or crannies, so the job won't take long."
"That's right. We'll begin by looking under the table----Jeehosophat!"
The sudden exclamation was caused by Rob's suddenly springing up,upsetting the table and planting his fist full in the fellow's face.The lantern was dropped in the excitement and the hut was plunged indarkness. Rob had come to his sudden decision to act as he did as theonly way to escape the men.
For a time it looked as if he would be successful. Dashing past the manwho remained on his feet he made for the direction in which he knew thedoor lay. In fact, as the men had not closed it, he had no difficulty inlocating it by the starlight outside.
"Hey! Stop! Stop!" roared the fellow behind him.
Rob sped on like the wind, using every ounce of running ability hepossessed. Straight for the beach he made, devoting all his energies toa swiftly formed plan to get into the beached boat and row to safety. Itwas a desperate plan, but he had no other resources.
He was within a few yards of the beach when a dark form loomed suddenlybefore him. In the starlight Rob saw something glittering in thenewcomer's hand. This object was leveled at him, and a stern voicecommanded him to stop or be shot.
Rob, with a throbbing heart, pulled up. He recognized the voice as thatof Berghoff and knew that if he did not obey the order the desperateruffian would have no hesitation in sending a bullet into him.
Berghoff, who had been aroused by the cries of his aides when Robescaped from the hut, came up to the lad, keeping him covered with hiswicked-looking "gun."
"Who are you? What you doing here?" he demanded sternly.
The next moment, and before Rob could reply, the fellow noted the BoyScout uniform.
"Oh, ho!" he exclaimed in a malignant tone. "So you are one of dose BoyScouts, eh? You think you pretty smart, eh? You vait. I may make you payfor your fun."
There was a cold sort of malice in the man's way of speaking thatactually sent a chill down Rob's spine.
But he plucked up courage to make a bold reply.
"I know the sort of illegal trafficking you are engaged in, Berghoff,"he said boldly, "and I tell you, you had better leave me alone."
"Is dot so?" sneered the fellow. "You haven't seen the last of me for along time yet."
"My friends will punish you for this," exclaimed Rob, in as confident atone as he could assume.
"It vill be a long time alretty before you see your friendts again,"jeered the other. "Ah, here comes Mike and Gyp, now. Now ve findt outwhat you vos doing up by der hut."
As the spy had said, the two men who had been in the hut came up at themoment.
Berghoff instantly demanded to know what had occurred in the hut.
"By gosh, cap," said the red-headed man who, it seemed, was "Mike," "ithappened so sudden I can hardly tell you. We goes up there to get thempapers as you told us, and the first thing you know out jumps this youngcatamount and hits me a swat on the jaw that 'most put me out fer thecount."
"That's right," corroborated his companion; "that's just what he done,cap."
"How did he get here?" demanded Berghoff angrily.
"Dunno, unless he flew," rejoined Mike helplessly. "Hadn't we bettersearch the young varmint and see what he's got in his pockets?"
"Yes, you had better search him at once."
"My last chance has gone," thought Rob as the two fellows seized himroughly and began rummaging his pockets.
It would have been worse than useless to resist, so Rob submitted to thesearch, while Berghoff stood looking grimly on as the papers wereextracted from his pockets by the two ruffians.
"If only I'd hurried a little more," thought Rob to himself bitterly."If only I'd hurried, I'd not have been in this predicament now."
"So you almost got avay mit vot you came after," exclaimed Berghoff asthe last of the papers was removed from Rob's pockets and handed over tothe spy; "it voss an inspiration dot made me send my men back by derhuts."
"What will we do with the kid?" asked the man known as Mike.
"I don't know yet," was the rejoinder in a harsh voice. "Ve ought tothrow him in der sea. He knows too much aboudt us."
"That's right, cap," came from Gyp, the pallid-faced man, "it's just asBarton told us, these blamed Boy Scouts are on to us."
"Vell, it don't be goodt to get ridt of him righdt now. Better bring himaboard the boat."
"All right, cap. Come on, you young sneak!" said the man known as Mike.
He gave Rob's arm a vicious twist, and with one of the men on eitherside of him, and Berghoff walking close behind with the revolver, therewas no recourse for Rob but to accept the situation as it came. But inmind he was casting about desperately for a means of escape. None hadoccurred to him by the time they reached the motor boat, which wasmoored at a tumble-down wharf, or jetty.
The motor boat proved to be a sixty-foot affair, with a cabin amidships.Into this Rob was gruffly ordered.
"Get aboard now, and look slippy about it," was Mike's way of urging theBoy Scout on board the craft.
Rob obeyed the order wi
th a sinking heart Things looked about as blackas they could be, so even his optimistic nature was compelled to admit.