CHAPTER IX
RED DECLINES TO TALK
In a moment the ray of moonlight slanting through the west window ofthe cabin was cut off by a floating cloud, and the faces of the twoboys passed out of view. Their voices, however, came to Clay,enquiringly.
"Are you all right?" Alex. asked.
"Have you got any dry guns in there?" was Case's question.
Clay answered both questions in a whispered affirmative and movedsoftly toward the window. It was necessary that some definite plan ofaction should be agreed upon, for the lads' presence there might bediscovered at any time.
"Is Jule there?" whispered Clay.
"We're all in this neighborhood!" snickered Alex., "including Mose,Teddy and Captain Joe! We came down the river in a busted boat and ona poor raft! We should have passed the _Rambler_ only for the flash oflights in the cabin. What next?"
"First," Clay answered, "I'll get the reserve weapons. One of theoutlaws has my gun, but the others are in the lower drawer of thecupboard. I've been trying to get at them for a long time, but this isthe first time, since I was set free of bonds, that the men have beentoo busy to notice me."
Clay crawled to the cupboard and secured three revolvers, held as areserve stock.
"Now," he directed, "you boys get through the window while theruffians are busy and the moon is out of business."
As the boys wiggled their way through the small opening, Teddy beganuttering growls of joy and welcome. He pranced about the cabin, too,in spite of all Clay could do to restrain him, tipping over chairs andrattling the dishes in a great pan on the floor, where the pirates hadleft them after their luncheon.
And then, as if to add to the perplexities of the situation, theclouds which veiled the moon drifted away, and a slant of light shonefull on the little stern deck, and on the figures grouped there. Caseand Jule pulled themselves through into the cabin, but Alex. was leftcrouching on the outside. Clay passed him a revolver, and started toclose the window.
At that moment, attracted by the unusual commotion on the inside, Samlurched to the door and looked through the glass panel. He saw Clay atthe window, and caught sight of a figure outside and called out toRed, who was still busy at the prow, trying to keep the boat out of amass of wreckage which was coming down faster than the boat was goingfor the reason that it was farther out in the current.
Almost before Red could turn around, before his brain could grasp thesignificance of Sam's warning shout, Clay swung the door open andturned the switch which operated the prow light. In an instant thedeck of the _Rambler_ was as light as it had ever been at noon. Thecabin was still in darkness, save for the light which came through theglass panel of the door.
The hands of both outlaws swung to their hips as the light flashedout, but did not bring forth the weapons carried there. Instead, theycame up empty and were pushed out straight and held there. It was Claywho had given the order to keep hands out.
Clay advanced along the unsteady deck to Sam and held his gun withinan inch of his crooked nose, at the same time calling to Case to comeand relieve the outlaw of his weapons.
Sam's looks would have committed murder, if savage eyes and revengefulfrowns could have done so, when the weapons were taken from him.Glancing hastily at Red, Clay thought he saw an amused smile lurkingin the giant's eyes.
"Now, Sam," Clay said, "we've got to repair the motors and get the_Rambler_ out of this ruck, where the leak can be repaired, so we'vegot no time to waste guarding a skunk like you. You would havemurdered me if Red hadn't interfered, but I'm going to give you achance for your life! Can you swim?"
"Fo' de Lawd's sake!" grunted Mose, appearing on the deck, wet andshivering from the river, "dat's de 'dentical question he done askme!"
Captain Joe, who had come on board from the raft with the negro,sniffed at the heels of the outlaw and seemed to ask permission ofClay to take a bite out of him. The cub pranced around the little waifas if he had found a friend from whom he had long been parted. Sam didnot answer the question. He glared at the weapons, at the exposedfangs of the bulldog, and turned a scowling face to Red.
"These rascals seem to be friends of yours," he said. "I don't hearanything about your being given a chance to swim! Is this a frame-up?"
Red's already flushed face darkened at the insulting question, and hewould have struck Sam only that Case, whose gun was at his breast,motioned him to desist.
"There'll come a time!" growled Sam. "Me an' you will have asettlement right soon after we get shut of these imitation tramps.Understand that?"
"Yes, kiddo," Red cut in, turning to Clay, "Sam can swim. He's greaton giving exhibition stunts in the water. He can do anything withwater except drink it."
"Glad to know it!" Clay replied, "for I want to see how far he canswim! Take a run-and-jump, you toy pirate, and get overboard."
"Fo' de Lawd's sake, dat's what he said to dis----"
Sam did not wait to hear the completion of the sentence, for CaptainJoe, sensing, doubtless, that the outlaw was in bad with the party,advanced upon him. The pirate sprang for a floating timber, missed it,and went under. He came up in a second and struck out for the shorethrough a comparatively clear channel. The boys watched him until hecrawled out on a mud bank and then turned to Red.
"Well?" asked that individual, a smile on his face. "What next?"
"First," Clay said, "I want to thank you for saving me from thatruffian, and then I want you to sit down and wait until we get up thegreatest dinner that ever was served on the Mississippi. I'm halfstarved, and I know that the boys are. Of course, if you want to landright now, we'll put you ashore."
"I reckon," Red replied, with a slight tremble in his gruff voice,"that I can't do better than to stick here for a time!"
"Well," Clay went on, "the boys are wet and cold, as well as hungry,and so I'll have to do the cooking. Will you come in the cabin and sitby me while I do it?"
"Will I? I'm lucky not to be out there on the shore with Sam!"
The two passed into the cabin, after the boys had put on dry clothesand warmed themselves at the coal stove, and Clay set about cooking amammoth steak which had been bought at Cairo and kept in the tinyrefrigerator. Then he boiled potatoes, and made light biscuit, and thecoffee he produced was a hearty meal in itself! There were tinnedbeans, and sardines, and salmon, and many other things when the mealbegan, but when it was over the table was bare of everything in theprovision line!
In the joy and comfort of being full-fed, Mose, Captain Joe, and Teddyrolled up in a common rug on the floor, in a corner where they wouldnot be in the way, and went to sleep. Clay and Red went out on deckwhile the others washed the dishes.
"Are you thinking of sticking about this section all night?" asked thelatter.
"Only for a short time," Clay answered. "We'll fix the motors,directly, and go on down the river. Why do you ask the question? Don'tyou want to stay here?"
"I was thinking," Red observed, quite coolly, "that, with the lightsgoing, and the shore not far away, Sam might be thinking of taking ashot or two at the boys!"
"But he hasn't any gun!" Clay exclaimed.
"Yes, he has," Red returned. "He has a gun that wasn't found on him.He keeps it in a watertight sack under his left arm. He's used totaking to the water!"
"And you think he will hang about the bank, walking down from where hewas put off, and try to pick us off?" asked Clay. "How far are we nowfrom the mud bank he mounted?"
"Not more than a couple of miles," was the reply. "We are in waterthat shows only a trace of current now, because there is a greatheadland just below, and the flood has packed the curve full. Heprobably has been able to keep up with the boat."
"That isn't going very fast!" laughed Clay, "for it has been at leasttwo hours since he left the boat. The moon, which is in the firstquarter, sets about eleven, and it is hiding itself in the treesalready!"
"I wouldn't advise sticking hereabouts," insisted Red. "I can say nomore!"
"All right!" Clay replied.
"We'll fix the motors and start on down.Here, Case," he called out, "did you bring the repairs?"
"Surest thing you know!" was the answer, and in a short time Clay wasat work on the motive power, which was not much out of repair and wassoon fixed.
"You know, of course," Clay said to Red, as the _Rambler_, underperfect control, started down stream at a pace which kept thedriftwood from lunging against her stern, "that I recognize you as theman who talked with me out of the river at Cairo?"
"I never suspected it!" was the slow reply. "How do you know I'm theman?"
"Your voice!" was the reply. "It puzzled me at first, though."
"I'll have to trade voices with some river rascal!" grinned Red.
"You spoke, that night, about a boy who had come on board?" Clay said,tentatively.
"That was my business there," Red replied, with a slight frown.
"Where did the boy go that night? We never saw him after the officerscame on board. He must have swum to the Missouri shore."
"He did," was the hesitating reply. "He made it, too!"
"Why didn't he remain with us?" asked Clay.
"He got scared! If I had kept away he might have done so."
"Is he your son?" was the next question Clay asked.
Red looked the boy in the face steadily for a moment and then asked:
"You don't want to harm the lad, do you?"
"I want to help him," was the reply. "He looked so forlorn, and wet,and cold, and hungry, that I've thought of him a lot since. Where ishe now?"
"Well," Red said, in a perplexed tone, "that is what I can't tellyou."
"Because you don't know where he is?" demanded Clay.
"No; not that. I know where he is, but I can't tell you."
"Is the child implicated in any crime?" Clay asked, looking sharplyinto the man's flushed face. "Is there any reason why he can't go withus?"
"Why do you suggest crime in connection with the kid?" demanded Red, afrown on his face. "He may be associated with criminals, innocently,and yet be worthy of all your confidence and esteem!"
They talked a long time about the boy, about the events of the day,and about the future plans of the _Rambler_ boys. The boat made goodprogress during the night while all save Clay and his strangecompanion slept. With the first flush of dawn Red asked to be putashore, refusing to give any reason for wanting to leave the boat.
"You've used me mighty white," he said at parting, "and there'll comeanother day! Don't you ever forget that, lads! There'll come anotherday! And if you come across that waif again, just feed him, and warmhim, and clothe him, and pass him on to wherever he wants to go. Thankyou all!" and he was gone!
"What do you think of that for a mystery?" Clay asked as the mandisappeared in a grove near the landing. "We shall hear from Redagain."