As if they were acting under orders, the crew made a rush for the after end of the hold, and commenced another furious attack upon the door, but with no other effect than to increase their alarm. There was no possible chance for escape. Both doors were securely fastened, the hatch overhead was battened down, and when the yacht was capsized or sunk—an event which they all believed to be not far distant—nothing on earth could save them.
"Fellows—" began the first lieutenant.
What he was about to say the boys never knew, for he was interrupted in his speech by a shout from one of the crew, who had been crawling about the hold on his hands and knees.
"Hurrah for me!" shouted the student. "Where's the lieutenant? I have been lucky enough to find a handspike."
"Pass it over here!" said Harry, in an excited voice. "Stand by, now, and the moment I burst the door open, make a rush, and don't stop until the vessel is ours. We must take charge of the yacht before Newcombe gets her into the bay, and we've no time to lose. Keep still, fellows! Somebody is outside the door!"
The boys held their breath in suspense, and crouched, like so many tigers, ready for a spring. Some one was certainly busy with the lock. After a delay that seemed an age to the students, the key turned, the door opened, and the next moment Tom Newcombe was knocked clear across the cabin, by a blow from the pillow, in the hands of the tall student, who was the first to spring into the cabin.
"That was a lucky haul, fellows!" exclaimed the first lieutenant. "We've got the old boy himself. Secure him at once."
Harry, of course, did not know that Tom had released him and his crew intentionally, and perhaps it would have made no difference to him if he had. Like all the rest of the students, he looked upon Tom as a very dangerous fellow, and he was resolved to capture him, even if by so doing the other members of the band were allowed an opportunity to escape. In obedience to the order, half a dozen students threw themselves upon him, and Tom, stunned by the blow from the pillow, and astonished at the roughness with which he was handled, did not fairly recover the use of his tongue until he found himself securely bound and confined in one of the state-rooms—the apartment that had been intended for the captain of the vessel, and which he had expected to occupy under very different circumstances.
The fisher-boy lay upon the sofa a delighted witness of all that took place; but, although the lamp was burning brightly, and he was in plain sight, the students were so excited, and so fully occupied in securing possession of their weapons, and disposing of their prisoner, that they were not aware of his presence until he aroused them by saying—"Now, perhaps you will be kind enough to release me!"