Case blamed himself for sleeping while on watch. He blamed Captain Joe for not giving the alarm when these ruffians sneaked on board. But where was the dog? He had not seen him since his rude awakening. And where was Alex? He had not heard the boy’s voice in the cabin. He knew that Alex would be doing a lot of talking if present!
The boy knew that there were four men on board. He could hear a craft of some kind bumping against the side, and so he knew that they had followed the Rambler from Yuma by way of the river. He could not see the faces in the cabin, for the door was kept closed, but he could hear the preparations for torture going on!
He lay not far from the hatch which covered the motors when the boat was at anchor. If he could only get a little closer and run his hand down into the pit he might be able to switch off the electric current so the coils would not heat. He resolved to try.
Things were not going well in the cabin, for the boy heard the captors snarling and cursing at the coils. They did not seem to understand how to turn on the current, and so there was delay. Case pushed along to the hatch. As he did so his enemy released his hold for a moment and turned toward the cabin, saying as he did so:
“If you chumps don’t know how to run that stove come out here and guard this kid and I’ll do the work myself! It is easy enough!”
The fellow started for the cabin and one of the men inside turned toward the deck. For just an instant Case was free. He reached over to the hatch, lifted it so as to get his hand into the pit and turned off the electric current from the containers. In a second the boat was in darkness, and the pirates were groping about for their prisoners!
Case made a quick motion toward the railing, but was seized and drawn back. Clay and Don, who had succeeded in getting out of the cabin, were thrust back again. Still, the turning off of the current had resulted in delay, and that was something.
Clay called out to Case to know if he was still alive, and was given a courageous reply. Case’s guard bent over him with clenched fists.
“You turned off the electricity!” he shouted.
“Turn it on again, or I’ll spoil your face for you. Do it quick, too!”