CHAPTER XXV
ONE PLOT AND ANOTHER
"We've got the water for you," said Sack Todd. "We don't know as youdeserve it, but we don't want to be mean."
As he spoke he and Gasper Pold held down a jug containing not morethan two quarts.
"Not a very big supply," grumbled Tom. "We'll want a good deal moredown here. This is a regular sweatbox."
"You don't have to stay any longer than you wish," answered theex-counterfeiter, with a sickly grin.
"Ven do ve git somedings to eat?" asked Hans.
"In the morning."
This was all those above said, and soon the hatch was shut down andfastened and Todd and Pold walked slowly away.
"They didn't seem to care much whether we surrendered or not," remarkedSam.
"That makes me more suspicious than ever," answered Dick. "Boys, DanBaxter may have been acting on the square after all."
"Catch Dan doing that!" retorted Tom. "Why, it isn't in him, Dick."
"I don't know about that. He is bad, I know, but he may not be asmuch of a villain as these men are. I am going to examine the contentsof this jug."
All gathered around while Dick cleaned out the tumbler and then filledit with the liquid from the jug. The water looked fairly clear,although presently something like oil began to float on top. Dickput his tongue to this and found it sweetish-bitter.
"This has certainly been dosed," said the eldest Rover. "I wouldn'ttake a drink of it for a good deal."
"Then Baxter must have told the truth," said Sam. "I think I knowhow the matter stands. Baxter got scared at what the men wanted todo, and so started in to head them off. I believe I'll take a smalldrink of that other water."
He did so, and the others followed, nobody, however, drinking morethan half a tumbler of the liquid. This served to quench the worstof their thirst.
"Later on, if the water doesn't affect us, we can drink more," saidTom. "If Dan Baxter really did mean well it's a great credit to him,no matter how bad he is otherwise."
All sat down and talked in low tones. The night was now well advanced,yet nobody felt like sleeping. Suddenly Dick leaped up, considerablyexcited.
"I've got it, fellows! Maybe we can outwit them at their own game,"he cried.
"How?" asked the others.
"Perhaps that water was drugged and was given to us to put us tosleep. If we pretend to be overcome it may throw them off their guard,and that will give us another chance to gain possession of the vessel.What do you say if we lie down and pretend to be asleep when theyopen the hatch?"
"All right, I am willing," answered Tom. "There is no excitement inbeing cooped up in this hot place. Tell you what I'll do, to forcematters. You lie down and begin to snore and I'll pull the whistle.Then, when they come, I'll demand to know what is wrong with you andpitch over myself. Then we can see what happens next."
So it was arranged, and half an hour later Sam, Dick, and Hansstretched out on the engineroom floor as if completely dead to theworld. Then Tom gave the whistle half a dozen sharp tugs. This broughtTodd, Pold, Jeffers, and Dan Baxter to the hatchway in a hurry.
"What's the row?" demanded Gasper Pold, looking down curiously.
"My brothers," came thickly from Tom, as he reeled around. "What didyou--you--do to them? My head--like--top! You--must--must--Oh!" Andthen Tom sank down on a bench, slipped to the floor, and lay beside Sam.
"He's poisoned!" shrieked Dan Baxter, and his face grew as white asa sheet.
"Shut up!" muttered Sack Todd. "The dose won't kill him."
"Reckon they are all laid out," was Gasper Pold's comment, as hepeered down the hatchway. "I'll go down and make sure." And he passeddown the iron ladder, pistol in hand.
"How about it?" came from the mate of the _Dogstar_.
"Stiff as corpses," was the brutal answer. "I tell you, that dopedid the business."
"Are any of them dead?" asked Dan Baxter, hoarsely.
"I don't think so," was the careless answer. "No, they are allbreathing," went on Pold.
Sack Todd came down, followed by the mate of the _Dogstar_, and allgazed coldly at the four youths lying on the hard floor around themachinery. Dan Baxter remained at the top of the ladder, shaking asif with the palsy.
"How long do you calculate they'll remain in this condition?" askedTodd, turning to Pold.
"Ten or twelve hours at least," was the answer. "And maybe they won'tget over it for twenty-four."
"Any bad effects?"
"Well, sometimes that dope paralyzes a man's tongue for six monthsor a year."
"Phew! That's pretty rough."
"Once in a great while the paralysis doesn't go away at all."
"In that case, these boys will have it in for you,--if they ever gettheir hands on you," said Sid Jeffers, with a wicked leer.
The men talked among themselves for several minutes and then agreedto take the boys up on deck and place them in two of the stateroomsoff the cabin.
"They'll have to have more air than here," said Gasper Pold. "Otherwisethey'll surely die on our hands."
Dan Baxter was called on to assist, and did so with his knees fairlyshaking together. He thought that our friends had surely drank ofthe dosed water and were in a stupor next to death.
"And if they die, they'll say I was as guilty as the rest!" he groanedto himself. "Oh, I wish I was out of this!"
It was no easy matter to get the three Rovers and Hans on deck andto the staterooms. Here our friends were placed two on a berth, and,for the time being, left to themselves.
"Boys, we have had a narrow escape," whispered Dick, when he at lastthought it safe to speak.
"That's the truth," came from Sam. "And we have Dan Baxter to thankfor it!" he added. "I can't understand that part of it."
"I think I can," answered Tom. "Baxter is bad enough, but he didn'tgo in for poisoning us. I am glad to know he isn't quite so heartlessas that."
"Dem fellers ought to be all hung, ain't it!" was Hans' comment.
"The question is, What are we to do next?" asked Tom.
"That question is not so easily answered," returned his elder brother."I know what I should like to do."
"What, Dick?" asked Sam.
"I'd like to make all of the gang prisoners."
"Exactly!" exclaimed Tom, in a low voice. "But can it be done?"
"I don't know. For the present let us play 'possum and find out."
"Vot kind of a game vos dot possum?" asked Hans innocently. "I ton'tdink we got dime to play some games," he added, seriously.
"Dick means to lay low," explained Sam.
"Vot, lay under der peds?"
"No, keep quiet and watch out."
"Oh! All right, I done me dot kvick enough," said Hans, and fell backon the berth and shut his eyes.
"You fellows keep quiet while I investigate," said the eldest Rover."It is so late some of the crowd may have gone to sleep. If so, wemay have a chance to capture the others first."
So it was arranged, and making certain that his pistol was still inhis pocket, Dick slid from the berth, tiptoed his way to the stateroomdoor, and, opening it slowly and cautiously, peered out.
One look into the cabin of the _Mermaid_ told him the apartment wasempty. There were two more staterooms, connected, as were those theboys were occupying. With a heart that beat rather violently, Dickstepped to the door of one of these staterooms. From within came adeep and regular snoring.
"Somebody is asleep in there," he mused. "Who can it be?"
With great care he peered into the room. On the berth rested one ofthe sailors from the _Dogstar_ and on the floor rested the other,both evidently much the worse for liquor.
The door to the second stateroom was wide open and Dick caught sightof a form on the berth in there. It was Dan Baxter. The bully wasnot asleep but was tossing about, as if in either mental or physicaldistress. As Dick looked at him he suddenly started up, turned around,and stared.
"Dick Rover!" he screamed. "Are you alive, or is it a--
a ghost?"