“I don’t exactly know. There’s been something exciting going on here. He will tell you all about it.”
“Did Walter bring any one with him when he came back?”
“Yes; another boy.”
“What’s his name—Fred Craven?” demanded Bab and Eugene, in a breath.
“I don’t know. Never saw or heard of him before. He’s a little fellow—about as big as a marline-spike.”
“That’s Featherweight!” cried Eugene.
“I know it is,” shouted Bab. “Hurrah for our side.”
Without waiting to ask any more questions, the two boys bounded toward the door of the cabin, each one striving to outrun the other, and to be the first to greet the long-lost secretary. Bab took the lead, and a fortunate thing it was for Eugene. The latter, in his haste, caught his foot in one of the foresail halliards, and was sent headlong to the deck, while Bab kept on, and jumping into the standing room, pushed open the door of the cabin; but he did not enter. He stopped short on the threshold and stood there motionless, until a brawny hand fastened upon the collar of his jacket and jerked him through the door.
Eugene quickly recovered his feet, and arrived within sight of the entrance to the cabin just an instant after Bab disappeared. He too paused, amazed at what he saw. The first thing he noticed, was that the lock had been forced from the door (Chase had locked it before leaving the yacht, and Pierre had used a handspike to open it), and that would have aroused a suspicion of treachery in his mind, even had he not seen Bab struggling in the grasp of two men, both of whom he recognised. One was Bob, and the other was Pierre. Eugene stooped down and looked into the cabin, and seeing that there was no one there except the two ruffians and their prisoner, comprehended the situation almost as well as if it had been explained to him. He could not of course, tell how Pierre came to be there in company with the deserters, but he knew that they were about to steal the yacht, and that Tomlinson had concocted the story he had told in order to send him and Bab into the cabin, so that they could be secured. Poor Bab had been entrapped, and the only thing that saved Eugene, was the accident that had befallen him.