“Tie him up so he can’t get away again,” replied Frank, as he glanced at the seaman2 who was rapidly rowing away. “If we keep him, now that we’ve got him, he may tell us what we want to know. And we’ve got the wreck3 of the motor boat, too. We sure ought to get at the bottom of this mystery now.”
“Well, we deserve something after all we went through,” remarked the younger lad, as he thought of the rising tide in the cave.
“That fellow is in a hurry all right,” went on Frank, with a wave of his hand toward the sailor who was now some distance out. “I guess he hit him a pretty hard blow.”
“Maybe he killed that man, and is afraid we’ll arrest him,” suggested Andy.
“Nonsense! I don’t believe that man is dead.”
They were close to him now and stopped to observe the quiet figure. They hesitated for a moment, for, though they had made up their minds to make the man a prisoner, it was the first time they had done anything of the sort, and, naturally, they were a little timid.
Suddenly the figure on the sands stirred, and there came a murmur4 from the mysterious man.
“If we’re going to do anything, we’d better get at it,” suggested Andy. “He’ll come to his senses in a minute and we’ll have our hands full. He’s a powerful fellow.”
“That’s so. I wonder where there’s some rope?” asked Frank.
Andy motioned to the wreck of the motor boat, near which the man lay.
“There’s plenty,” he said. “They had a long rope to tow it with. I’ll get some.”
Holding the cord in readiness, the two brothers approached the man, one on either side.
“You take his feet, and I’ll attend to his hands,” whispered Frank. “Have a slip-noose5 ready to put on, and pull it tight. Then take several turns and we’ll truss him up.”
They worked silently and rapidly. Andy slipped the coil of rope about the man’s ankles, and pulled the noose taut6. As he was doing this the man stirred and murmured:
“I’ll get even with you for this, Hank Splane!”
“Quick! He’ll come to in a minute!” whispered Andy.
“I’ve got him,” answered Frank. As one of the man’s arms was partly under him the lad had to pull it out before he could slip the noose around it. But he finally accomplished7 this, and, just as he had it tight, the fellow suddenly sat up.
“Here! What’s this? Splane, are you crazy to tie me up this way? Let me go, I say, or I’ll make you sorry for this. Let me go, I say!”
He was struggling violently, swaying to and fro as he sat on the sands. Then his vision, which was probably obscured by the blow he had received, cleared, and he saw the two boys holding the ends of the ropes that bound him.
“Oh, it’s you; is it?” he gasped8, plainly astonished. “Didn’t I tell you to stop following me? I won’t have it! If you don’t—” He stopped short. A look of wonder followed by one of alarm came over his face.
“The cave!” he exclaimed. “I left you in the cave. The tide was rising. You—you—”
“Yes, we escaped, but no thanks to you!” exclaimed Frank sternly. “You meant us to be drowned, but we found a way out, and now we have you just where we want you, you rascal9! You’ll tell us what we want to know, you’ll clear up the mystery of Paul Gale10, and you’ll confess what you want of this motor boat now, I guess.”
“Suppose I refuse?”
“Then we’ll take you before the authorities.”
“Ha! Ha! A likely story. Marooned11 on this lonely island you can’t do much. You see I happen to know your boat is gone, and—”
“Gone, yes, because you took her,” interrupted Andy.
“No, I didn’t take either your sailboat or the rowboat,” spoke12 the man simply. “I wanted to, but some one else got ahead of me. I had to row away from the island as the storm came up, and it was no joke, either.”
“Then who did take our boats?” asked Andy blankly.
“I don’t know,” replied the man. “But I do know that you have more than you bargain for if you think you can make me talk. There is no one on this island but ourselves, now that Splane played me a mean trick, and deserted13. Talk of authorities! Ha! Ha! It’s a joke,” and he pretended to be amused.
“We’ll soon be off the island,” said Frank, with more confidence than he felt. “Our father will be looking for us, and may arrive at any minute.”
The man uttered an exclamation14 beneath his breath. Evidently he had not counted on this. The two boys stood regarding him. Now that they had him, they hardly knew what to do with the fellow.
With a suddenness that was surprising, considering that his feet were tied, the man managed to stand upright. Then, with a mighty15 effort, he tried to loosen the rope around his hands.
“When I get loose I’ll show you what it means to trifle with me!” he shouted. “You’ll be sorry you ever meddled16 in this matter! Wait until I get this rope off!”
He tried desperately17 to get it off his hands, and Andy saw the strands18 loosening.
“Quick, Frank!” cried the younger lad. “We’ve got to take some more turns on that! I’ll help! He can’t hurt us now!”
The two brothers fairly threw themselves on their prisoner and all three went down in a heap on the sands.
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1
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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2
seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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3
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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4
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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5
noose
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| n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑 | |
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6
taut
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| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
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7
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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8
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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9
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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10
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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11
marooned
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| adj.被围困的；孤立无援的；无法脱身的 | |
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12
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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13
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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14
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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15
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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16
meddled
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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18
strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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