"Well, I declare!" said Johnny, catching up the rope with which he had been confined a few minutes before, "wonders will never cease. I thought you were at the North Pole by this time; but, if I had taken a second thought, I would have known that you were in some way mixed up in this business. How much of that money will fall to your share?"
"O, now, what are you doing, I say?" roared Tom; for Johnny, while he was speaking, had crossed the captain's hands behind his back, and was passing the rope around them. "Let me up!"
"I can't see it, Tom," was the reply. "You are a dangerous fellow, and I think it is my duty to secure you. I believe this night's work is the result of your having an idea."
The captain of the Crusoe band did not waste any more breath in words. He saw that the tables were likely to be turned on him, and that the boy he had come there to abuse and maltreat, was in a fair way to put it out of his power to carry his splendid scheme into execution. He must escape from him, or the expedition would fall through; and, more than that, he must make a prisoner of the clerk, or he would give the alarm. Johnny thought that Tom, although he had thus far kept himself in the back ground, was the cause of all the troubles that had befallen him that night—that he was the projector and manager of the robbery. It was undoubtedly another of his grand ideas. Tom's past history warranted such a supposition. He had planned many a plundering expedition against orchards and melon patches; he had twice assisted in stealing a vessel; he was one of the acknowledged leaders of an organization of rogues; he had been growing worse and worse every day, for the last year of his life, and it was reasonable to suppose that he had, by this time, become bad enough to conceive of a burglary to replenish the treasury of the Crusoe band. Johnny determined to capture him, and learn all about the proposed movements of the robbers. He had made up his mind that the money must be recovered; and every item of information would be of value to him.
This was the second fight Tom had that night, and it was a lively one. During its progress, he gained a good idea of Johnny's power of muscle, and Johnny thought Tom was a remarkably strong and active boy to be the coward he was. Long wind, and the consciousness of being in the right, brought the clerk off with flying colors; and, after a five minutes' struggle, the captain of the Crusoe band lay helpless on the bed, and Johnny, with his hands in his pockets, stood looking at him. Tom was almost beside himself with rage and alarm, but the victor was as cool as a cucumber.
"Tom," said he, as soon as he had recovered his breath, "did it never occur to you that you are getting low down in the world? What will your father say when he hears that you are running around with a lot of burglars? By gracious, old fellow, you're done for—you're gone up! Where's that money?"
"O, now, it's half way to the island," whined Tom. "You'll let me go, won't you, Johnny? I'll never do it again."
"Who's got the money?" demanded the clerk.
"Those two robbers. They got into a yawl and started off. The governor told them to wait for us at the head of the island. Say, Johnny, are you going to release me?"
"Where did you leave the governor and his crew?"