I
O’Brien’s and Tux’s voices came clearly to Ken as he clung to the side of the cruiser, but it took several moments before he realized what was about to happen to Johnny.
They were going to murder Johnny and dump him in the river!
Ken turned cold.
With Johnny at the bottom of the river, how could he hope to convince anyone he hadn’t murdered Fay? He had to rescue Johnny get him back to land and hand him over to Adams. That was his only chance of ever proving his innocence.
But the thought of tackling Tux single-handed turned his mouth dry and made his heart beat violently. Ken didn’t pretend to be a man of action. He knew, too, he wasn’t in any physical shape for a hand-to-hand grapple with Tux. But there was no alternative. He had to rescue Johnny if he was to save himself.
As he tied his boat to the iron bracket by Johnny’s port-hole, he wondered if it would be safe to attract Johnny’s attention and warn him what he planned to do, but Tux was still somewhere on deck and he decided against the risk of being heard.
His first move was to get on board. If he could sneak up on Tux and hit him over the head, the rescue would be simple.
He reached up and caught hold of the bottom rail, then cautiously pulled himself up until his eyes were level with the deck.
In the shadowy darkness he caught sight of Tux on the far side, outlined against the skyline. He was busy trying to pry off the head of a big cask that stood against the far deck rail, his back turned to Ken.