“Chucklehead, you old rascal!” he exulted. “I’m mighty glad to see you.”
“Not nearly so glad as I am to see you,” drawled Terry, with a grin. “Let’s get the sheriff out to the barge.”
When Sheriff Atkins reached the barge and faced the sullen crew he nodded curtly to Captain Ryder. “’Morning, Ryder. Thought it was time I got hold of you. Didn’t think these two fellows would get to me, did you?”
“What do I care where they got?” snarled the captain. “You can’t hold me, Atkins.”
“Can’t, eh?” remarked the sheriff. “I can hold you on a couple of charges, but this one is the most serious. Kidnapping and attempted assault is a pretty mess, Ryder. If we hadn’t popped up in a short time you would have done some damage to these boys and this captain.”
“Right, sheriff,” put in Captain Blow. “We wouldn’t have thought of taking on these men except we thought Terry was tied up somewhere and we didn’t know where to get help. Much obliged for coming along when you did.”
“Never mind the much obliged,” said the sheriff, briskly. “Pile these fellows onto your sloop and we’ll run them down to Brockport and the county jail. This is your last job, Ryder.”
With ugly looks but in utter silence the crew passed over to the sloop and the boys followed. A hasty search of the cabin of the barge was made by Blow and Jed, under the direction of the sheriff, who never lowered his gun, but as nothing valuable was found they left it and the sloop took to the middle of the river on the way to Brockport. The barge crew sat on the top of the cabin, while the others clustered in the cockpit, the sheriff’s gun pointed unwaveringly at the men.
“How’d you fellows come to arrive when you did?” the sheriff asked the captain.
“We got the direction from the kidnapped lighthouse keeper,” Captain Blow explained, “and we’ve been coming down the river all night. It wasn’t long after daylight when we drew near the spot where these fellows was, and we saw their barge stuck in the mud. So, thinkin’ our boy was on board, we got ready for a fight, but your artillery saved us from a terrible drubbing, I’m thankful to say.”