"Let me go!" cried Sam, but his protest proved of no avail. A lively scuffle followed, but the lad was no match for the men, and in the end he found himself handcuffed and thrown into the hold beside Tom.
"Tie the rowboat fast to the stern," ordered Arnold Baxter, and this was done.
The going down of the wind was only temporary, and now a slight breeze sprang up.
"We are in luck!" said the captain of the schooner.
"We must keep away from the yacht," returned Arnold Baxter.
Soon the schooner's sails were filling and she continued on her course, dragging the small boat behind her. Aleck Pop saw the movement and grew much perplexed.
"Dat don't look right to me, nohow!" he muttered. "'Pears lak da was bein' tuk along sumway!"
Aleck was not much of a sailor, but he had been out enough to know how to handle the yacht under ordinary circumstances, and now he did his best to follow the Peacock.
With the glass he watched eagerly for the reappearance of Sam and Tom, and his face became a study when fully half an hour passed and they failed to show themselves.
"Da is in trouble, suah!" he told himself. "Now wot's dis yeah niggah to do?"