“Oh, it cannot be; Jack--Jack are you sure?”
“I am positive I saw him. Now he is gone. Quick, get one of the boats out; we must overtake them. Some new villainy is afloat!”
His cries had been heard by Morris, who had instantly rushed below.
He burst into the compartment where Will was, wild with rage.
He dragged him away from the window and locked him in a dark part of the hold.
Just then Parker came rushing to where he was.
“The men on the ship we passed heard him.”
“They won’t pay any attention to the boy.”
“They will, and have, for he had friends on board.”
“Friends,” he repeated, a vague suspicion of the truth entering his mind.
Morris turned pale and hastened to the deck, followed by Parker.
One glance in the direction of the whaler revealed the true state of affairs.
He saw several men letting down a yawl. Two of them he recognized--Alan Bertram and Jack Marcy!
When Jack Marcy saw Will Bertram’s face at the window in the boat he instantly comprehended, as he had said, that some new villainy was afloat.
It was enough for him to know that he was a prisoner and in Captain Morris’ power.
He acted on a quick impulse as he saw movements on board the yacht which indicated that its crew were about to proceed rapidly.
Rushing to the captain of the ship which had brought them home, he asked, hurriedly: “Can we have a boat, captain?”
“To follow that yacht. The man we came back here to arrest is upon it, and a friend of ours is a prisoner aboard.”
A boat was instantly lowered, and Jack, Alan, and several sailors sprang to the oars.
Meanwhile this action had been discerned from the yacht.
“They are coming on board, captain,” said Parker to Morris.
“We can soon outrun them,” and Parker gave the necessary orders to his assistants. They soon left the yawl behind.
They saw their disappointed pursuers abandon the chase and return to the ship.
“We’re safe, captain,” said Parker, triumphantly.
“Didn’t he shout to them? We must act quickly in what we do, Parker.”
“We have too great a start of them, and they may not suspect we are going there.”
“You intend to collect the insurance money?”
“Land the boy and sail to some distant port.”
All that afternoon and night the yacht sailed before a swift breeze.
The next day about noon the craft landed at the wharf at Portland.