Sam had traveled the road so often that he could find their hiding-place in the dark quite as readily as by the aid of a lantern. Presently he ran the bow of the yawl upon the shore, and, after listening a moment to make sure that no one in the harbor had been alarmed by the fisher-boy's shouting, he ordered his followers to carry the prisoner into the cave. Bob bore their rough handling without a word of complaint, and in a few moments he found himself lying on his back in the middle of the cave, where he speedily aroused a new enemy, in the shape of the bull-dog, which made desperate attempts to get at him, and whose chain was almost long enough to allow him to reach the prisoner. Bob several times heard his teeth snap like a steel-trap, within an inch of his ears, but when he tried to move farther away from the brute, he was instantly pounced upon by two of the band, who seemed to be afraid that, bound hand and foot as he was, he might still succeed in effecting his escape.
"Now, shut the door and light that lantern, somebody," commanded the chief. "Friday, knock that dog down agin."
Jack Spaniard fumbled around in the dark for a moment, and then struck a light, which revealed a scene that filled every boy in the cave with excitement. Friday, in attempting to obey the governor's order, had got himself into trouble. He had attacked the dog with the boat-hook, which he had kept in his hand, to resist any attempt that the fisher-boy might make at escape, but the brute, being determined to bite somebody, and probably cherishing a grudge against Friday for the beating he had given him but a short time before, turned fiercely upon him, and, fastening his teeth in his arm, threw him to the floor; and when the light from the lantern illumined the cave, he was shaking him as if he had been a large rat.
"Jerusalem!" exclaimed Will Atkins, and, catching up an ax, he was starting to Friday's assistance, when he was checked by the stern voice of the chief.
"Hold on, there," exclaimed Sam. "If you hit that dog with that ax there'll be a big fuss here. We mustn't hurt him, fur we need him to hunt goats with."
"Now, you stand back an' let him alone," said Friday, who did not seem to be at all concerned. "If I can't beat this dog in a fair tussel, I don't want a cent."