Jake held him under longer than before—as long as he dared, in fact—and when he pulled him up again, Julian was incapable of any serious resistance. He gasped for breath, and tried to lay hold of the side of the canoe.
Jake, quick to improve the opportunity thus presented, exerted all his strength, while Tom kept the boat trimmed in order to prevent a capsize, and finally succeeded in dragging his prisoner out of the water. In less time than it takes to tell it he was secured beyond all hope of escape, and the canoe was shooting swiftly up the river.
It was fully half an hour before Julian moved or spoke. He lay so quietly on the bottom of the dug-out that Jake and Tom began to be alarmed, fearing that in their eagerness to take all the fight out of their captive, they had gone too far, and taken the breath out of him.
But Julian was fast recovering from the effects of his ducking, and as soon as he was himself again the brothers speedily became aware of the fact, for he began to try the strength of the ropes with which he was confined. He thrashed about at an alarming rate, rocking the canoe from side to side, until at last the water began to pour in over the gunwales, and Jake and Tom were obliged to cease paddling and trim their craft in order to keep it right side up.
But they had done their work thoroughly, and Julian, finding his efforts useless, ceased his struggles, and listened to the threats of his captors, who tried by every means in their power to compel him to tell where he had hidden his money.
During the progress of the conversation he heard some things he did not know before, and one was that his escape from the flatboat and his recapture by Jake and Tom were a part of the scheme Mr. Bowles had set on foot for the finding of the concealed treasure. He was astonished to know that while he imagined he was working for his own interests he was playing into the hands of his enemy, and told himself that Jack still had the most difficult part of the undertaking before him.
The prisoner suffered intensely during the journey up the river. The night was cold, the wind keen and piercing, and seemed to cut through his wet clothing like a knife. When at last the canoe reached the landing he was so benumbed that he could scarcely speak.
Having made the dug-out fast to a tree on the bank, Jake and Tom pulled their captive ashore, and finding him unable to stand alone, took hold of his arms and led him toward the house.
Scarcely were they out of sight when a heavy yawl, rowed by a single man, shot up to the landing and stopped alongside the canoe. The occupant sprung out, and without waiting to secure his boat, crept cautiously up the bank, and followed after Jake and Tom.
When the brothers reached the cabin they pushed open the door and entered, dragging their captive after them. Mrs. Bowles, who sat nodding on one of the nail-kegs, started up as they came in, and Julian knew from the first words she uttered that she was expecting them.