"No, and I haven't heard his name spoken for a year or more. It would make little difference with him which side he was on, if the opposite party offered money they could buy him."

Then we fell silent again during half an hour or more, when Darius said:

"You shall tell me when we are within a mile of the mill; it won't be safe to run any nearer unless we have overhauled that snake of a Macomber."

I was so well acquainted with the river as to know every crook and turn for at least ten miles above Benedict, and when it seemed certain the pungy had run three miles or more, I kept a sharp look-out on the banks in order to comply with the old man's request.

It was just when I believed we were close upon the spot where the Avenger should be stopped, that Jerry came tip-toeing aft, waving his arms to attract our attention.

"Macomber has hove in sight!" Darius whispered. "Take the tiller, an'

head her for his canoe!"

As he spoke he darted into the cuddy, returning a few seconds later with two muskets, and these he carried with him well forward.

I strained my eyes in vain for a view of the canoe, which should be coming right fast, with a favoring current, and had not yet made her out when Darius hailed:

"In the boat there! Whereabouts are our people?"

The old man had disguised his voice, and the traitor must have believed that we were a party of British coming to join those whom he had piloted, for he paddled alongside fearlessly, as he replied:

"Up the river half a mile or so."

"Can you show us the way?"

"Ay, that I can; but it will delay me in--"

He ceased speaking very suddenly, for at that moment Jerry incautiously came toward the port rail, and even though the night was dark, it was possible to see that he was neither a British soldier nor sailor.

Quickly he seized the paddle to shove off; but Darius thrust the muzzle of a musket in his very face, as he cried sharply:

"Pa.s.s up your painter, or I'll shoot! Quick, or your life is gone in another second!"

Elias Macomber was a coward, as we knew full well, but I never believed he would give in quite as readily as he did. He pa.s.sed up the painter as meekly as any cooing dove, and when Darius ordered him to come over the rail, he made all haste to obey the command.

When we gathered around the cur, however, for all of us were so eager that we could not keep out of sight any longer, and he saw who had captured him, he let go a cry of anger that was like unto the whoof of a bear, as he struck out with both fists savagely.

He would have showed better sense had he taken matters with a bit more grace, for before he could land a blow on either of us, Darius floored him with the b.u.t.t-end of the musket, and during a minute or two he laid like one dead.

"You struck too hard!" I cried in alarm, for even though the man was a traitor, it seemed terrible to take a human life.

"Not a bit of it," the old sailor said quietly as he set about lashing the fellow's arms and legs. "He ain't the kind that can be killed so easily. Get off the hatch, for we must have him out of sight before coming up to the mill."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Pa.s.s up your painter, or I'll shoot!" Cried Darius.

Page 56.]

Five minutes later our prisoner was snugly stowed aft, near the cabin bulkhead, and we had brought the pungy to anchor lest she over-run the port we counted on making.

CHAPTER IV.

A LIVELY TUSSLE.

Darius would have it that the traitor had not been seriously hurt by the blow on the head; but when he failed to show any signs of consciousness after we stowed him away in the hold, I grew alarmed, and, calling on Jim Freeman for a.s.sistance, set about trying to bring him to life, for of a verity I believed him dead.

It was not until we had worked over him ten minutes or more that I could see any change, and then suddenly he opened his eyes, blinking in the rays of the lantern Jim was holding close by his face.

"What happened to me?" he asked wildly, and as my fears that he had been killed were banished by the words, so did my anger against him return.

"You were known to have been giving information to the enemy, and piloting English spies to a hiding-place," I replied sharply. "We took it upon ourselves to cut your career as a traitor short, and while the job was being done you got a clip on the head that knocked you senseless."

While I was speaking the cur looked me full in the face, as if trying to make out who I was; but I believe he feigned ignorance only that he might have time in which to decide upon a course of action.

I could see by the look in his eyes, when his mind was made up as to how he should steer, and a moment later he said with a start of pretended surprise.

"Is it you, Amos Grout? I was afraid I had fallen into the hands of enemies!"

"You are not among friends, and that is certain," I replied, boiling with rage because the miserable cur would try to pull wool over my eyes, for I well knew what tack he was about to take.

"And are you willin' to hold enmity simply because we had a bit of a scrimmage over differences of opinion? I thought all that was settled on the spot."

"So it was," I said curtly.

"Then why have you tied me up in this fashion?"

"Listen to me, Elias Macomber," I cried. "Do you think for a moment that you can deceive any one aboard this craft. We heard all you said to the British officer who is in the Patuxent with a boat's crew spying, and know where you took him to pa.s.s the night. We sailed up the river for the purpose of capturing you, and here you remain until we can deliver the meanest traitor in Maryland over to Commodore Barney."

Now the cur was frightened, and with good cause. He would have said something more, thinking, I dare say, that it might yet be possible to blind me; but I refused to listen.

"I only came here to learn if you were alive, and now that matter has been settled, I count on leaving you. Don't be so foolish as to think you can wiggle out of the sc.r.a.pe by lying, for when you made your talk with the Britisher this pungy was on the other side of the river, her spars hidden by the trees. We heard nearly every word that was spoken."

"An' you're gettin' out of this part of the trouble mighty easy, if Amos insists you shall be left alone," Jim added angrily. "If I had my way, all hands of us would take a turn at thumpin' you, an' then the account between us wouldn't be square."

"Come on, Jim," I said impatiently. "It is doing no good to parley with such as him. Leave the traitor to himself until the commodore directs what shall be done."

Elias called after us imploringly as we went out of the hold; but I had no desire to remain longer with the cur, and we put on the hatch in order that, if he did succeed in freeing himself of the bonds, he would yet be imprisoned.

On gaining the deck I looked around for Darius, but he was not to be seen, and Jerry, understanding for whom I searched, said:

"The old man has gone ash.o.r.e. He counts on lookin' around the mill, so that we may know exactly how to get at work when the time comes."

"At work?" I repeated in bewilderment. "What does he reckon on doing now that we have caught the traitor?"

"It is in his mind that we can make prisoners of all the boat's crew, an' if that could be done, we'd be takin' with us such as would insure a hearty welcome from the commodore."

"We had better let well enough alone," I replied irritably. "If Commodore Barney won't be pleased to see him when we offer our own services, the use of the pungy, and the biggest traitor in Maryland, then there's little reason to try to purchase his favor."