Beadle's Dime Library No. 364 — page 24: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

’ _ =e jo = 24 ——___ _~ ——__— to knock us to pieces with his guns, so we must let him board and try to fool him.” ‘‘T'll bet you do it, Miss Madge, if you lay out to trick him, for you've got more wisdom | in your little head than I ever heard of a wo- | man possessing, especially in work that is | cut out for men to do.” | Madge laughed and said quickly. ‘Well, he will reach the sloop, that is | certain,” | ‘‘And will find Master Noel?” | ‘* Not necessarily.” ‘You couldn't hide him on a ship o’ the | line from those sharp-eyed sea rovers,” said | Melmer. | ‘Well, we will see, and I have an idea I | shall try.” ‘* Yes, miss,” ; ‘The wind is on our starboard quarter | now, and when the schooner orders us to lay to, we will run around into the wind and do so, end this will bring her up under the sloop's stern, where she will also lay to.” ‘Yes, miss.” ‘By that time it will be dark, and as it is cloudy the night will be very somber, and then | will try my little trick, and if it fails, why then we can do nothing more,” and Madge made known just what thought had | flashed through her mind, by which she hoped to outwit the crew of the Scorpion. | eee ee wr em eet ee ee ee ee — oe oe . . | if we held our own eyen, she is near enough | The Sea luzitive. ‘‘And may I ask the object of your voy- | ‘*Pardon me, Miss Verncn, but I am forced to do an unpleasant duty.” | ‘* Ah! then you have not found Lieutenant Brandon yet?” ‘*No, I have not, and it is what I have heard of your aiding him that causes me to | watch you so, for I am free to confess that he | was well-nigh in my power, brought to Bos- ton in your sloop, and yet escaped me.” Unwittingly his words gave Madge a clew as to what he knew. She saw that he was aware that her sloop | had been stolen, and Noel Brandon taken in | it to Boston, so she felt that she had to be | guarded, He had doubtless run across the Madcap somewhere, and Gaspard had told him of the | craft having been cut out, and yet he could not have told him what had become of Noel Brandon, she argued in her own mind. ‘‘Oh, yes, some one stole my sloop, and so I had to give chase, and tracked her to Boston, and found her, sending her home | under a crew of five men; but you say that | Mr. Brandon was taken in the Madcap to Boston?” and Madge put on a look of well- feigned surprise, ‘* So I was told, and believe, though when you found your sloop she was deserted.” ** Yes, she had no crew on her,” said $$ SSESesese In the mean time the Scorpion was com- | Madge, jumping at the conclusion, from the ing briskly on, heading on a course which | officer’s remark, that Gaspard had so told would cause her either to cross the sloop’s | him. bows or run astern. Upon her deck stood her handsome young | commander and _ his officers, and they were admiring the pretty sloop as she walked over the waters like a thing of life. The Scorpion had made a fine run, after parting with the Madcap, and learning from an armed cutter, just out of Portsmouth, that no vessel answering the Blue Bell’s de- scription was in that port, Mayo Maynard had held directly on along the coast, Ife had just run in among a group of isl- ands, when the lookout called from the mast- head. ‘* Sail ho!” It did not take very long to discover that it was the Blue Bell, and the schooner was accordingly run inshore to a hiding-place, and there lay in wait until the sloop came within a league of her. Then, setting sail she glided out rapidly upon her, and in such a way that she could cut her off from hiding in any of the innu- merable coves and inlets along the coast, and ; where, without a skilled pilot Mayo Maynard dared not follow. To drive her to sea then was his desire, end he knew that the Scorpion could run her down, To his surprise the Blue Bell did not take flight but held directly on, so he felt that Madge could have no reason to avoid him, if, as Gaspard had told him, she was in com- mand of the sloop. So on he held until within a quarter of a mile of the Blue Bell, when a shot was sent across her bows to command her to lay to. The Blue Bell promptly swept around and then lay upon the sea awaiting the pleasure of the cruiser. It was now dark, and after running up to vithin a cable’s length of the sloop, Mayo Maynard ordered the Scorpion brought to, and a boat lowered. Into the boat he got with half a dozen | sailors, and was pulled rapidly over to the I a ne ee om SN Eee ~~ — 2 46s e tee ee mo eG Reg — 4 = Se ee ‘<= oe SSS sloop. Madge met him at the gangway, and said pleasantly : ‘“We mect again, Captain Maynard.”’ ** Jieutenant Maynard, Miss Vernon, not captain yet, if you please,”’ he said as he held out one hand, and raised his cap with the other. ‘You command the schooner, and hence are acting captain.” ‘* And am I to call you Captain Madge, as you seem to command the sloop?” ‘*As you please, for I aim the Girl Com- mander of the Blue Bell.” ‘‘And bound home, I suppose, Captain Madge?” *“ Yes; sir.” ** And where from, may I ask?” ‘* How inquisitive you naval officers are; . but I do not mind telling you thut we left r Boston last.” —— 7 : = —. ee ee eC SO - i" ~ a) ‘‘T knew your interest in Brandon, Miss Madge, and therefore held the idea that you had run off with him to save his neck.” ‘‘ Lieutenant Maynard, I pray you under’ stand me. *“[ believe Mr. Noel Brandon guiltless of the crimes he is accused of, and | would save his life that he may prove himself so: for dead men tell no tales, true or false, and if hanged then he could prove nothing; but I must tell you frankly t did not take Mr. Brandon from the Hermit Sailor’s hut, when you were last in the river, as I was accused | of doing, nor did I carry him to Boston, as you seem to think. ‘‘ | followed the sloop there, yes, and I am now on my way home, as is also the Madcap, though you are at liberty to search my vessel from keel to truck.” ‘“My duty will compel me _ to do so, though I believe your words that Mr, Bran- don is not on board,” ‘*T didn’t say he was not on board,” mut- tered Madge sotto voce while aloud she re- pilot, Captain Maynard?” ‘* Most excellent, I assure you, and I have made a request for a middy’s berth for him, though he said he cared not for it.” . ' ‘*No, I hardly think he will accept it.” ‘‘Well, I enjoyed his society very much, for he’s very original, and is a superb pilot, wonderfully full of nerve for a boy of his years; but now, Miss Madge, I will give the sloop a looking over, as a matter of form to do my duty, and then bid you farewell, but as I may be on the coast fora short while, I hope you will come if I signai for a pilot to run us into a harbor. . ‘*T will come with pleasure, sir; or, if I should not be able to do so, my father or brother will, and should you land | will be happy to see you at our cottage and have you meet my father.” Mayo Maynard thanked Madge for her in- | vitation and then, with his coxswain carry- ing a lantern, he proceeded to search the sloop. Into the hold they went, looking where a rat could hardly have found a hiding-place, for with all of his trust in the girl, he could not drive from his mind the belief that she marked: *‘T hope my brother proved to be a good | f knew more of Noel Brandon’s whereabouts than any one else, The cabin was next fully overhauled, then forward between decks, and the young officer at last said: ‘‘T have quieted my conscience, Miss Madge, by doing my duty, for somehow, in spite of all, I had a belief that Noel Brandon was in this sloop.” ‘“You made a thorough search, I hope sir.” ‘* A most complete one.” ‘* And I trust you are convinced that he is not here?” “‘Tam.” ‘‘Suppose you examine the topsails, sir, fora man could easily hide there, or about the deck?” ‘‘Don’t be satirical, Miss Madge, because you have the power; but I am glad not to find Brandon here, and I bid you good-even- ing and bon voyage.” Madge grasped the outstretched hand of the young officer, whom she liked, and could not but admire, and springing into his boat Mayo Maynard was rowed back to the schooner, ‘* Now we will goon our course once more, Mr. Melmer, and you, Sam, go with Tom and take Mr. Branden back into the cabin, for his position is by no means a pleasant one,” and Madge stepped to the tiller, while Sam and Tom walked forward and bending over the lee bow began to draw in hard upon something that hung over there, In a moment up came a hammeck, and in it was Noel Brandon, drenched to the skin, but safe. Madge had conceived the bright idea of lowering the wounded officer over the side in a hammock, and though the wash of the seas broke over him often, he was safe, and in the darkness the searchers, though within afew feet of him, had never suspected the maiden’s clever ruse to save him from cap- ture, and Mayo Maynard returned on board the Scorpion willing to take oath that Noel | Brandon was not on the Blue Bell, and still, in his own mind rested the suspicion that he had been tricked by the fair maid of. the Kennebec—but how? Ah! that was just it, CHAPTER XXXVI. A MUTINY, MADGE VERNON was anxious to keep her eye upon the Scorpion, until she threw her off the scent, and so she held on, as though to run into the Kennebec, while the cutter kept on her course seaward. hen within a mile of the coast Madge saw that the Scorpion had wholly disappeared from sight, so she had the Blue Bell squared away from Manhegan Island, It was just before dawn that the Blue Bell ran in toward the island, and, acquainted with the locality, for she had several times been there with her father, the maiden took the helm and, under greatly reduced sail, stood slowly into a small cove, It was a small, basin-like harborage, with high rocky shores, covered with hardy pine trees, and the very place in which a small vessel could seek refuge. A light in the further end of the harbor showed that some craft was there, and it could be none other Madge thought, than the Madcap; but Silly Sam took the skiff, and, with muffled oars went to find out. Inashort time he returned on board the Blue Bell with the remark: ‘‘It is the Madcap, and all are asleep on board of her.” ‘Gaspard suspected no danger here, I sup- pose; but we won't rouse them, for I wish to have the Blue Bell well on her way to- ward home by sunrise,” said Madge. So the sloop was headed in, and lowering sail glided alongside of the Madcap, a hail from Melmer having aroused the sleepers, who now were on the alert to receive the Blue Bell’s crew. ‘* Well, Gaspard, you arrived all right, I see,” said Madge. Gaspard gave a warning look to his imme- diate crew, and then answered: ‘** Yes, Lady Captain, but we were brought to by the Scorpion.” ‘‘No! why Captain Maynard did not speak of this.” “ You saw him too?” hip" Dogg ‘* And he boarded your vessel?” ‘Oh, yes, and made a thorough search.” ‘“My God! and found the prisoner?” cried Gaspard, seeing his anticipated gold-grab dy- ing away. ‘€Oh, no, he did not find him.” ‘Yet he was on the sloop?” “* Certainly.” ‘‘He made a poor search then, for you couldn't hide a cat in the sloop where I could not find it.” ‘‘Don’t be so sure, Gaspard; but certain it is that Lieutenant Brandon was not discoy- ered, and he is now safe on board.”’ ~> | | ee Sc Ee ll: EOMIGhDoOO <S Cc (0)