"Yes," a.s.sented the lawyer, smiling, "I believe it is. So you want to commandeer the _Bluebird_."

"To take me and my posse over to Cedar Island, and there to close in on a bunch of Klondikers!" went on the constable, and Neale, hearing it, gave a startled cry.

"Anybody on board that's afraid to come may stay at home," said the constable quickly. "I mean they can get off the boat. But we've got to have the craft to get to the island. Now then, Mr. Howbridge, will you help?"

"Certainly. As a matter of law I have to," answered the lawyer slowly.

"And will you help, and you?" went on the constable, looking in turn at Neale and Hank, who were on deck. "I call upon you in the name of the law."

"Yes, they'll help," said Mr. Howbridge quickly. "Don't object or say anything," he added to Neale in a low voice. "Leave everything to me!"

"Fall in! Get on board! We'll close in on the rascals!" cried the constable, very well pleased that he could issue orders.

Neale's heart was torn with doubts.

CHAPTER XXV

THE CAPTURE

Constable Newcomb and his posse disposed themselves comfortably aboard the _Bluebird_, and, at a nod from Mr. Howbridge, Neale rang the bell to tell Hank to throw in the gear clutch and start the boat.

The girls, much to Agnes' dissatisfaction, had been left ash.o.r.e, since there was likely to be rough work arresting the "Klondikers," as the constable called the tramps on Cedar Island. Mrs. MacCall stayed with them.

They had disembarked at the point dock and when the boat pulled off went to the hotel there to await the return of their friends.

"Now, Mr. Newcomb, perhaps you can explain what it's all about,"

suggested the lawyer to the constable, when they sat on deck together, near Neale at the steering wheel. The lawyer made the boy a signal to say nothing, but to listen.

"Well, this is what it's about," was the answer. "As I told you, a parcel of tramps--Klondikers they call themselves because, I understand, some of 'em have been in Alaska. Anyhow a parcel of tramps are living on Cedar Island. They've been robbing right and left, and the folks around here are tired of it. So a complaint was made and I've got a lot of warrants to arrest the men."

"Do you know any of their names?" asked the lawyer.

"No, all the warrants are made out in the name of John Doe. That's legal, you know."

"Yes, I know," a.s.sented Mr. Howbridge. "And how many do you expect to arrest?"

"Oh, about half a dozen. Two of 'em have a motor boat, I understand, but they had an accident in the storm last night and can't navigate. That's the reason we're going over there now--they can't get away!"

"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Howbridge. "I fancy, Mr. Newcomb, I may be able to add another complaint to the ones you already have, if two of the men turn out to be the characters we suspect."

"Why, have they been robbing your hen roost, too?" asked the constable.

"No, but two of my wards, Ruth and Agnes Kenway, were robbed of a box of jewelry just before we started on this trip," said the lawyer. "Two rough men held them up in a hallway on a rainy morning and s.n.a.t.c.hed a jewel box. The men were tramps--and the day before that two men who called themselves Klondikers had looked at vacant rooms in the house where the robbery occurred. Since then the girls think they have seen the same tramps several times. I hope you can round them up."

"We'll get 'em if they're on Cedar Island!" the constable declared. "Got your guns, boys?" he asked the members of his posse.

Each one had, it seemed, and the nervous tension grew as the island was neared. Hank drove the _Bluebird_ at her best speed, which, of course, was not saying much, for she was not a fast craft. But gradually the objective point came into view.

"It's just as well not to have too fast a boat," the constable said. "If the Klondikers saw it coming they might jump in the lake and swim away.

They won't be so suspicious of this."

"Perhaps not," the lawyer a.s.sented. But he could not help thinking how tragic it would be if it should happen that Neale's father was among those captured. Neale himself guided the houseboat on her way.

"Put her around into that cove," Constable Newcomb directed the youth at the wheel, when the island was reached.

Silently the _Bluebird_ floated into a little natural harbor and was made fast to the bank.

"All ash.o.r.e now, and don't make any noise," ordered the officer. "They haven't spotted us yet, I guess. We may surround 'em and capture 'em without any trouble."

"Let us hope so," said Mr. Howbridge. "Have they some sort of house or headquarters?"

"They live in a shack or two," the constable replied. "It's in the middle of the island. I'd better lead the way," he went on, and he placed himself at the head of his men.

"Don't make any outcry or any explanation if your father is among these men," said Mr. Howbridge to Neale, as the two walked on behind the posse. This was the first direct reference to the matter the lawyer had made.

"I'll do whatever you say," a.s.sented Neale listlessly.

"It may all be a mistake," went on the lawyer sympathetically. "We will not jump at conclusions."

Hank had been sworn in as a special deputy, and was with the other men who pressed on through the woods after Constable Newcomb.

Suddenly the leader halted, and his men did likewise.

"Something's up!" called Mr. Howbridge to Neale. They went on a little farther and saw, in a clearing, a small cabin. There was no sign of life about it.

"I guess they're in there," said the constable in a low tone to his men.

"The motor boat's at the dock, and so is the rowboat, so they're on the island. Close in, men!" he suddenly cried.

There was a rush toward the cabin, and Mr. Howbridge and Neale followed.

The door was burst in and the constable and his posse entered.

Three men were asleep in rude bunks, and they sat up bleary-eyed and bewildered at the unexpected rush.

"Wot's matter?" asked one, thickly.

"You're under arrest!" exclaimed the constable. "In the name of the law I arrest you! I'm the law!" he went on, tapping his nickel shield.

One of the men made a dart for a window, as though to get out, but he was knocked back by a deputy, and in a few seconds all three men were secured.

Neale, who had pressed into the cabin as soon as possible, looked with fast-beating heart into the faces of the three tramps. To his great relief none was his father.

"Now, what's all this about?" growled one of the men. "What's the game?"

"You'll find out soon enough," declared the constable. "Are either of these the men you spoke of?" he asked the lawyer.