“Oh!” he exclaimed, “did you see that?”
“’Sh!” breathed Jack, hastily. “Yes, I was watching. Some one brushed aside the curtain that covers the cabin bullseye, and light shone through. That settles one thing, George.”
“That they’re aboard!” echoed the other.
“Yes.”
“But, we go on, don’t we, Jack?” begged the impetuous George.
“I should say, yes; for we believe our chum is being held a prisoner on that same boat. Make your mind easy, both of you; it isn’t going to get away from us now. We’ve gone too far to hold back.”
“That’s the stuff!” whispered the delighted George; while Jimmy muttered his assent, which was none the less fervent because the words were inaudible.
Once before, on a cruise the motor boys were making on the waters of the faraway North, they had had a stirring encounter with some lawless men who were fleeing from officers sent to apprehend them. On that occasion Jack and his chums had managed to give considerable assistance to the legal authorities; and it was largely through their work that the fugitives were finally apprehended.
No doubt this circumstance must have loomed up large in the memory of George right then and there. He had long ago made up his mind that the mysterious persons on board the boat that looked like the Tramp were a couple of rascals, who felt afraid of the cruisers for some reason or other. And now, that it seemed they had set upon poor Josh, making him prisoner, and carrying him aboard, the conditions became darker than ever.
It was the greatest mystery the boys had ever struck. Even Jack, with his usual keen intellect, was utterly unable to determine what these men could want with the missing crew of the Comfort; Josh, a fellow who seldom made enemies among his companions, and simply devoid of evil intent.