"Haul those sheets a bit tighter," called the shipper.
Alec and Hawley obeyed the command. The shipper twirled his wheel, the Shark slowly gathered headway, and in a moment was sailing briskly on the starboard tack.
"Now, you young rascal," said Captain Rumford, when the Shark was fairly under way, "tell me what all this means. Whatever led you to do such a foolhardy trick? You had us nearly scared to death. Didn't you know that those fellows are a desperate lot? It's God's mercy alone that prevented them from murdering you."
"I think your own arrival had a lot more to do with it," laughed Alec. Then his face grew very sober. "I think they really meant to kill me," he said. "I know they would at least have beaten me badly if the Dianthus hadn't appeared when she did."
"Tell us all about it," urged the shipper. "How did you ever learn that Hardy intended to raid my bed, and what in the world ever made you do such a foolish thing as to follow him all alone?"
Alec explained how he had overheard the conversation in the cabin. "You should have told me at once," said the shipper.
"I started to tell you," said Alec. "Then I was ashamed to bother you until I had something more definite to tell you. I was afraid you would think I was suffering from a bad imagination. So I decided to wait until I had something really definite. I followed the Shark out to the oyster-beds, keeping far enough back of her to escape discovery. At the mouth of the river I stopped and told Elsa where I was and what I was doing."
"It's a mighty good thing for you, lad, that you did. If you had waited half an hour longer, we might never have seen you again. You've had a narrower shave than you think, lad. The Dianthus just happened to be in the harbor. Her captain came up this afternoon to see me about some business matters. There wasn't another boat in the river that could have got to you anywhere near as quick. The minute Elsa told me what you were up to, I jumped in my car and raced over to Bivalve. The captain was just boarding a trolley-car to go away for the night. He didn't want to come. Said he could arrest the oyster thieves any time I had the evidence ready. I told him it wasn't a question of oysters but of your life and that he had to come. And you should have seen us come, lad. The captain crowded on everything he had. But what I don't understand is how you prevented those ruffians from murdering you, once they had you in their power."
"They were going to murder me," said Alec, his cheek paling at the memory of his danger. "I don't believe there's any doubt of it. But I bluffed them." And Alec related what had happened on the deck of the Shark. "If the Dianthus hadn't shown her light just when she did," he said soberly, "I don't believe I would be talking to you now."