“You said it!” chuckled one of the men who, Ned said, was named Snogg. The other, and larger, was addressed as Janner. Those two, with Torpy, comprised the kidnapping gang.
“If you leave us here, will you be decent enough to send some one to take us off after you get away?” asked Tom.
“Don’t worry—we’re not going away!” sneered Janner. “We’ll be right with you all the while, boys!”
It was plain, then, that Tom and Ned were to be held captive on the island with the three unscrupulous men as guards.
“Now you can walk along quiet if you choose, or, if you want to kick up a fuss, we’ll bind, gag and carry you,” said Snogg, when the boat was made fast to the dock. “Which’ll it be?”
“Since we can’t help ourselves,” replied Tom bitterly, “we’ll go quietly. But we won’t submit to any indignities!”
“You won’t be any worse treated than you have been,” said Janner. “And if you come across and answer my questions you’ll get home all the sooner. It’s up to you.”
To this Tom Swift made no answer and a little later he and Ned were led toward a rough, two-story house, situated near the middle of Rattlesnake Island, and left to themselves, locked in a room.
“Well, this is that!” said Ned as he sank down on a chair near the bed, for there was some furniture in the room. “What do you think they’ll do to us, Tom?”
“Hard to say. I don’t quite fathom their game, unless it’s to make me give up the secret of——”