CHAPTER XVI
TED WILSON'S VICTIM
A SHOUT arose from the eager crew as they perceived the success whichhad crowned their desperate efforts, but an answering shout from the menin the two approaching barges quickly recalled them to the necessity forfurther and immediate action. Why it was that the guns of the gunboatshad remained silent they could not understand, but there was no time nowfor investigations. It was sufficient that they had not been molestedthus far; and as the leader at once gave the command for them to resumetheir labors with their oars, the men at once responded and gave waytogether, the supply boat still being towed.
The whaleboat had been built for speed, and was long, narrow, and light.Had it not been for the laden supply boat, which as yet they were notwilling to abandon, they would easily and speedily have drawn away fromthe pursuing barges. As it was, they swept forward swiftly, andapparently were almost holding their own in the race.
For several minutes the desperate efforts of the men continued. Theheavy clouds had gathered in the sky, and the blaze of the sun haddisappeared. The air was sultry and oppressive, and the unusual calmwhich rested over the waters indicated that the storm which had beenthreatening was fast approaching. No one glanced at the heavens,however, the set and streaming faces indicating that the immediate taskin hand was sufficient of itself to occupy all their thoughts.
On and on rowed the men, and on and on swept the pursuing barges. Lessthan a quarter of a mile lay between them, and, heavily laden as thesupply boat was, it materially decreased the speed which otherwise thewhaleboat might have made. The moments passed, but the efforts were notrelaxed. Together, the long oars struck the water, and the bodies of themen swayed back and forth as if they were controlled by a commonimpulse. The distance between the boats was not materially changed,although if any change was to be seen it was in favor of the barges.
"This will never do," said the leader at last, letting his oar go, andrising in his seat as he spoke. "Here, you men," he added, grasping hisgun and facing the prisoners in the other boat as he spoke, "it's timefor you to work your passage. Take those oars and pull your prettiest!Four oars are better than one, and I can do more with a gun than I canby pulling. Take your oars, every one of you, and the first one to dropwill be fired on!"
The four men in the supply boat sullenly obeyed, and the increasedimpulse of their efforts at once became manifest. The leader stood inthe stern of the whaleboat facing the prisoners, and watchful of theirevery movement. His words of encouragement served to inspire hiscompanions, and for a time it appeared as if they were gaining upontheir pursuers.
Still, the distance between them did not materially increase, and suchefforts as the men were then making could not be long maintained.Indeed, signs of distress were already becoming apparent, and LittlePeter felt every time he drew in his oar as if he had not strengthenough left to pull another stroke. His face betrayed the pain he wassuffering, but his condition was not much worse than that of some ofthe other men with him in the boat.
The exciting contest could not be continued much longer, and as theleader glanced about the boat he almost decided to cut the rope whichheld the supply boat, and, leaving that behind, seek safety in flight.
He had drawn his knife from his pocket, and was standing ready to freethem from their heavy load, when the rain began to fall. In a moment thewind swept down upon them, and the storm was at hand.
Prom the first of the pursuing barges came a shot, but no damage wasdone, and the leader muttered, "That's all right. It's a farewell saluteyou're giving us. You might as well say good-by to us, for I take ityou'll never see us again."
The waves were now rising, and the rain was falling in torrents. Betweenthem and the shore it almost seemed as if a cloud intervened, so heavywas the downpour. The voice of the leader could hardly be heard by hismen. The deep-toned thunder sounded almost continuously, and the dartinglightning appeared to be all about them. In escaping from one peril theyhad encountered another.
The barges could now no longer be seen, and, with the passing of thefear of pursuit, the men gave all their attention to their efforts tokeep the whaleboat out of the trough of the rolling waves. Still, thesupply boat was not cut loose, for the determined men were resolved tohold to that so long as it lay within their power to do so.
For a half hour the shower continued, and although much water wasshipped, and the men were compelled to bail the boats, they behavedwell. When at last the storm had passed and the low mutterings of thethunder sounded far out to sea, they all looked keenly behind them todiscover the whereabouts of their pursuers.
Neither of the barges was to be seen. Doubtless, with the approach ofthe shower, they had both put back to the gunboats for safety. Thewhaleboat had weathered the storm, and the supply boat was still safelyin tow.
Drenched though the men were, new strength seemed to come with theknowledge that they were no longer being pursued, and then, relieved oftheir fear, they continued on their way down the shore.
They frequently stopped for rest and to scan the waters behind them,but no boat could anywhere be seen. Nor was any one to be discerned uponthe beach. Doubtless the men from Refugee Town had fled for safety andshelter, or, as the leader grimly said, "They were afraid of being wet,for water was something to which all the men assembled there werestrongly opposed."
For mile after mile they held steadily to their course, even theirexcitement apparently having mostly disappeared. The supply boatcontained guns and ammunition, and if there was anything of which themilitia stood in need, it was of that very commodity.
At first it was thought that they would put in at the entrance to SharkRiver, but it was soon decided to continue on their way until theyshould come to Manasquan Inlet, and then go up the river to a placewhere some of their friends were to be found. To gain Tom's River theywould be compelled to keep on to Barnegat Inlet, and then retrace theirway up Barnegat Bay, to the place where the river entered; and as thatwould require a voyage of thirty miles more, no one regretted the changein the plan.
They were all nearly worn out by their exertions, and no one knew whatBritish vessel might be met before they could gain the shelter of Tom'sRiver.
Little Peter, in spite of his eagerness to go on to the place where hehoped to learn something concerning his father, was so weary from thework of the day, and as he had not tasted food since early that morning,he rejoiced with the others when at last the boats turned into ManasquanInlet and began to make their way up the little stream.
The sun was now low in the western sky, and the night would soon be uponthem. The shadows already were lengthening when the two boats passed outof the inlet into the waters of the river. The leader, however, had notyet given the word to rest on their oars, and Little Peter did not knowwhere they were to pass the night.
The whaleboat kept steadily on in its course, and the wearied men werestill pulling at the oars. The river was becoming narrower now, and morethan one was hoping that the word would soon be given for them to land.
Suddenly, the leader called to his men, and, standing erect, pointedexcitedly to a place on the shore not far in advance of them. Hiscompanions quickly looked in that direction and saw on the little pointof land, around which the river swept in its course, two men standingin the water. But what was it they were doing? One of them was holdingthe other and frequently forcing his head beneath the surface of theriver. He would hold him in that position for a moment and then lift himupon his feet again, and shake him, much as a dog might have done with arabbit. Apparently neither had observed the approaching boats, nor hadeither uttered a sound which the men in the whaleboat could hear.
"The fellow's drowning him!" said the leader excitedly. "He's drowninghim. Give way, men, and we'll lend a hand."
The men, no less excited than their leader, instantly responded, and theboats dashed rapidly forward. The eyes of all were fixed upon the twomen before them, and the leader shouted and called; but apparently,unmindful of their approach, the s
trange actions continued. The largerof the two men again and again forced the head of his companion underthe water, and then would lift him up and repeat the shaking. Sothoroughly intent was he upon his strange occupation, that he did notonce heed the hail, or even glance toward the whaleboat.
Nearer and nearer swept the boats, and finally, when they were almostupon him, the man ceased his efforts and glanced coolly up at theapproaching men, still, however, retaining his grasp on his victim, whoapparently was helpless in his hands.
A startled exclamation escaped Little Peter's lips when he saw that thesmaller of the men was none other than his own neighbor, Benzeor Osburn."Help him! Help him!" he said excitedly to the leader. "It's Benzeor!It's Benzeor Osburn! He's my neighbor! He's being drowned! He'll bekilled!"
"Be still!" said the leader roughly. "It's Ted Wilson that's got him.Ted knows what he's doing. What's the trouble, Ted? What's gone wrong?"he added quickly, addressing the man who still held Benzeor tightly inhis grasp.
The huge man slowly turned his head as he heard himself addressed, andLittle Peter thought he never before had seen such an expression of rageupon any human countenance. His great muscular arms were bare, and hisentire body seemed to express the marvelous strength he possessed.Benzeor was not struggling, and indeed there seemed to be but littlehope of protecting himself from the powerful man whose prisoner he was.
Little Peter could see that, although Benzeor was almost breathless, hehad recognized him, but he made no effort to speak and scarcely glancedat the men before him.
"What's wrong, Ted?" repeated the leader. "What's the matter with theman?"
"The matter isn't with the man, it's with me," said Ted slowly, speakingin a deep, gruff voice, which betrayed the strong feeling under which helabored.
"You're not going to drown him, are you?"
"Naw--though the snake deserves it. Drownin' is too good for such ashe!"
Ted had not moved from his position, and still was standing up to hiswaist in the water.
"Tell us about it. Maybe we can help you a bit."
"Naw, ye can't help any. It's my business. I don't mind tellin' ye howit came about, though. This forenoon I sold some corn and stuff up hereat the mill, and got my pay in coin, too. Well, this fellow was thereand he saw me get paid off, and I half suspected the reptile from theway he looked at me when he saw me take the money. Here you!" hequickly added, as Benzeor struggled slightly. "Ye want some more, do ye?Well, I'll give ye all ye want and all ye need, too," and again hethrust the helpless Benzeor's head beneath the water.
"Let him up. You'll drown him!" said the leader, when Ted had held hisvictim several seconds under the water.
"It's no more than he deserves," replied the huge man, neverthelesslifting his victim and shaking him again. "Now will ye keep still?"
As Benzeor was unable to reply, Ted again turned to the men in the boatand said, "Well, I took that money home and gave it to Sallie. She's mywife, ye know, and I always gives her what money I get, not that it'sever very much, though. I didn't ferget the eyes o' this fellow,however, and I told Sallie,--she's my wife, ye know, and as likely awoman as there is in Old Monmouth, if I do say it as ought not to,--Itold her to keep a good lookout for the pine robbers, fer I had a kindof a suspicion this here reptile might know where they was, and mightget word to 'em, too.
"I took my axe and went off down into my swamp-lot to cut some wood, andleft Sallie up in the house. Sallie's my wife, ye know. I felt uneasylike all the time, but I worked on for three hours or more, but I kepta-gettin' uneasier and uneasier, and, finally, I just couldn't stand itany longer and put straight fer the house.
"'Twas mighty lucky I did, too, I'm tellin' you, fer when I came insight o' the house,--ye can see it up there now," and Ted pointed to hishome, a short distance up the bank, giving the unfortunate Benzeor anadditional shake as he did so,--"I see somethin' was wrong. There wasthree or four men a-standin' out by the big maple in front o' my house,and the minit I looked I see what they was up to. Somebody was a hangin'from a bedcord they'd threw over a limb o' that very maple-tree.
"Mebbe ye know how I felt when I see it was my Sallie; she's my wife, yeknow. They was a-drawin' her up and then lettin' her down, and I knewthen they was tryin' to make her own up where that money was. I had myaxe in my hands, and when I see what they was up to, I didn't wait verylong, I'm tellin' ye. I cut Sallie loose,--she wasn't very much hurt;she's my wife, ye know,--and then I took after the rascals. Theyscattered in every direction, but this vermin started for the river andI after him."
"You got him, I see."
"Did I get him? Let him answer for hisself."
And the angry Ted again shook the helpless Benzeor until the menwondered that his trembling limbs still held together.