Show and aut sy george E corichi Co rIcht ats by W 0 CHAPTER XIII continued I 1 13 t she nodded allent silently ly and followed LIM bilm out of the boathouse jauntily a smile on his hia lips lie walked to the end of the dock where the crew aas was still busy making the yacht fast brents mate aa was in charge giving directions to the men dick walked vp lip to him hello barnett you still sailing on ue the old beacon lie greeted alio tit mate a young man swung round around in astonish astonishment stared stupidly tit at the speaker a moment and then with mith a gleam of recognition in his gray grav eyes smiled and touched his nt cap i J r how do you do mr van ness howd you get doyn down here came dot n with you in the yacht young barnett stared incredulously dick turned ills his head and began greeting 7 the other members meni lers of the crew familiarly well it if there old brenn you retired let jet you old saltwater horse horae hello Jur ginal hows that rheumatic knee suffering cats youre sprier than everl hello billy and ben bea the whole i hole crew began nodding or waving to him some crowding around and shaking hands with him this Is like old times dick added A a little affected by the greetings dads whole crew except captain johnston wheres lie 1 I dunno sir mr van ness replied Jur jurgins ghis lie he was relieved of duty a month ago it was a sad day for the t rest of us us 0 when he left taint like it used to be no brent captain johnston 1 alice cutler stood in the background completely mystified an and 1 I puzzled at first but she was bright enough to connect the name they used with the former owner ovner of 0 the yacht this and the information dick had given her concerning the secret compartment compart part ment on the yacht brought final complete enlightenment she smiled you seem to knew uncles crew better than I 1 do site she broke in you introduce me mr van ness dick smiled and looked foolish there was no do further need of concealing his identity but there was vas necessity Decess ity of acting quickly before brent returned they all know you miss bliss alice lie he replied hastily and respect you aye aye sir air responded the men touching their caps dick watched them a moment in silence lence Bi then ills his face became suddenly grave and severe barnett I 1 want you and the others to listen attentively to me lie he began youre up against a hard proposition youve got to choose between your captain end and your employer mr cutler Is up at the house unconscious suffering from a poisonous drug that doctor alter ster gave him mr blake who plotted the thing against his employer la 19 cooling himself in a cae on the island where I 1 put him along with mcgee who alio left the yacht a few days ago ago lie he sam to the island and reported the alie yacht wrecked on the shoals with N ith her glicr wireless dismantled a leave it to you whether it was the men frowned and stared in amazement miss cutler here will back up all my statements dick continued were both working in the interests of mr cutler who la Is temporarily unable to speak for himself captain brent Is in league with blake aud doctor alster to keep your employer tirre here unconscious until they can play their game so tar far as I 1 know they intended to let him die finally filially ile he caught his breath pa pausing willig long edlough to let his words sink in before you came back we ae had every thing pur own way blake and mcgee atre tre prisoners and doctor alster was cowed so that he had to do our bidding I 1 had fedt a wireless broadcast calling tor for belp I 1 imagine brent picked that up and hurried back anyway his bis coming coining upsets the whole kettle of fish hell stiffen doctor Alb allters spine and perhaps release blake and mcgee therell be four captain brents armed I 1 buP appose Pose but the others are not I 1 rel relieved leed them of their weapons again lie paused owe sweeping the circle of faces it a little anxiously now he resumed theres going to be a light fight for possession of this island and the yacht help from some passing ship chip nay may come at any time but ue re cant depend upon that vee got to face ahe tousle music now lie ile turned to the girl at his bis 61 flue 1 ae cutler in the name of tier her uncle node who owns this yacht and island inland gives elves me tile alie right to speak for lier her DO bo you not miss alice yes es she replied hastily everything he says Is true then resumed dick smiling fling at tho th crew 1 I want volunteers to help us na walt a tai minute nute lie added frowning lets da the thing lawfully we want tiny any of jou ou to he be with mutiny were on land mid and not on the big high teas beas therefore the own ler cr or his representative ran discharge any in traber or the crew or the dicer effi cers 1 lie ile cutler culler 1 and catching fur cue cin volie pol quietly brent urt nt id hi no bonger captain of this yacht she said 1 I 1 discharge him and appoint in his place site she looked at dick who shook his lead head and whispered barnett ill go as his mate alice nodded mr barnett I 1 appoint you captain will you take the ship certainly miss cutler was the prompt ansier au sier mr van ness wits was a long time getting it out and I 1 made up my mind long before he got through where I 1 stood you can count on oa me in any little with captain brent dick caught his hand and irvng it barnett I 1 knew I 1 could depend on you it seems to me remarked jurgins ac scratching itis Is head you dont have much faith in them that stood by you in the past mr dick you remember tile the time I 1 fished ou on out of tile the jurgens Jur glos cut in dick 1 I slapped your face once as a kid and you turned rue me up and spanked me for it ill let you do it again after this troubles over ill le ie member that abu mr dick but I 1 aint saying baying right now ill do it youve youre grown some since then the laugh that followed set his mind at ease every member of fhe the crew was cro crowding ding around hlin eber eager and anxious to show ills his loyalty for a few minutes dick was so overpowered that lie was speechless alice noticing ills his agitation smiled up mischievously ly why youre trembling dick I 1 are you afraid yes afraid of being overwhelmed by my friends I 1 feel like hiding and blushing CHAPTER XIV although darnett barnett as the newly appointed captain of the rell pelican rellian can was nomi in command dick asks assumed umed charge and began active preparations for meeting the enemy the yacht was ransacked tor firearms and with every meff member iber of the cr crew a artoes with s some sort ot of weapon lie divided his men into two squads i 10 captain barnett was left in charge of the yacht while dick led halt half the crew up to the house alice accompanied him although lie sought to hold her back 1 I want to see how uncle Is she gave as an excuse unable to combat this argument dick permitted her to trail in the rear without ceremony he burst into the front door and then more cautiously made his way up lip to the sick chamber followed by ills his men I 1 I 1 marle marie white of face a and d trembling violently met him at the doorway oil oh its you I 1 she cried in relief 1 I was afraid it was that horrid captain tain again P 1 where Is captain brent gone away with doctor alster where to 1 I dont know but they said something about mr blake and a cave and dick su swung ng around before she finished ile he kept six steps ahead of ills his nearest men in descending the stairs there was a possible chance of heading brent off before he reached the cave to release the prisoners and he be made a hasty flight in that direction but mere wits was no sign of the enemy on tile the way and when he reached the entrance to the cave he heard voices below that convinced him he be was too late brent and alster were down there with blake and mcgee stationing irs blis men in strategic po silious dick approached the entrance brent we know youre armed he be called but neither i blake nor mcgee has a gun I 1 saw to that there are six of us up liere here and eiery ones prepared to shoot the first head bead that aghous sho As up miss bliss Cut cullers cutlers lers dim discharged barged you and appointed barnett as tripper im liis ills first mate therefore this mutiny the crew is following the orders of their captain now will 1 you come up and surrender or Is it 11 fi glit the answer came rather unexpectedly and violently there was an explosion below and a bullet flattened itself on the rock near dick thanks for the answer brent was the retort we can now consider hostilities opened look out ile he fired at something that showed white in the dim light of the cave there was a groan and the object disappeared from sight close in men dick said coolly but dont expose yourselves shoot at anything you see intermittent volleys volley followed and bullet rattled down the cave care with an ail occasional shot from below rea rca klizing the men below belov had the advantage of light dick again cautioned ills his men not to expose themselves but one advantage was in their favor they surrounded the mouth of the cave on all sides and while the enemy was taking a ahot at one of 0 their number the guns of the othen could be trained on him the noise of the shooting soon brought others from the yacht with their quarry imprisoned in the cave there was mas no need of keeping more than a corporals guard aboard the pelican their shots allots soon boon began to tell for the explosions from below became less and less frequent A moan occasionally reached their ears at least one of the gang had been hit the problem of getting the men out of the cave was a serious one with night coming on the difficulty of watching and guarding the place would increase in the course of time they would be starved out but that might require day dagg and days its only a question of time before ne e get them dick said to captain barnett when they withdrew to consider the situation theres no fun in starving them out we ought to find some quick plan for settling it 1 I could go down there volunteered the young skipper and get one of them and get killed yourself smiled dick no barnett rnett I 1 wont permit that J r captain and youre mate laughed the other you take orders from me and not give them well if you want a small sized mutiny on your hands bands captain you try to go down there suppose I 1 order you to go down dick shrugged his shoulders id obey he be replied barnett chuckled 1 I believe you would jurgins who lio was crouching behind a rock with one eye on the caves entrance suddenly raised his head and pointed miss cutler looks ex cited L dick and barnett whirled around tripping hurriedly over the rocks with her hair and skirts whipping the wind like flags alice cutler came waving them in what dick thought was anxiety and fear lie ile started toward her on a run dick I 1 dick I 1 she called oh uncles better and a ships co coming mingil with this double information aut khe bile stopped and panting for breath waited for him to reach ber her side ride TO BE CONTINUED |