"It may be just as well," Clay finally decided, "to remain quiet for a short time and see what they intend to do."

"That's easy," Jule whispered, "they intend to steal the boat."

"A good many other people have tried to steal this boat," Clay responded, "but we still seem to be in possession of it!"

After standing for a minute or two near the prow, the intruders moved stealthily toward the cabin. The door was open, but all was dark inside. As they slouched forward, their footsteps made no sound upon the deck.

"Shall we shoot to kill?" whispered Jule. "I'm tired of having the sc.u.m of the earth always attempting to rob us."

"I'd never get over it if I should kill some one," Clay replied. "We'd better frighten them away and see that no more get on board to-night."

As he spoke, the boy reached for the switch and turned it. Greatly to his amazement, the prow lamp remained dark. In some strange manner the intruders had disconnected the wires or broken the globe. The click of the switch seemed to have reached their ears, informing them that some one was on board.

They rushed toward the cabin and came solidly against the door which was quickly shut, almost in their faces. The lock rattled sharply under the a.s.sault of a muscular hand, and the whole front of the cabin quivered and creaked under the weight of a burly body.

"Open up here!" shouted a gruff voice. "Open up, or we'll break the door down. We knew you were here all the time!"

"This begins to look serious," whispered Clay. "We may have to shoot."

"Say the word," Jule suggested, "and I'll make the front of the cabin look like a sieve, and every bullet will count, too."

"I'd like to aid in the capture of a couple of those fellows," Clay said, "and I wonder if one of us couldn't get out of the rear window, jump over on the pier, and call the police. Such ruffians ought not to be at liberty."

"All right," Jule whispered. "You go, and I'll stay here and talk to them until you get out. I can keep them amused all right."

While this short conversation had been in progress the pounding at the door had continued, and now something heavy, like a timber or a very heavy foot, came banging against the panels.

"Just a minute more," one of the midnight prowlers shouted, "and we'll break this door down and get you boys good!"

Clay moved to the rear of the cabin, drew in the swinging sash, and stepped lightly out on the after deck. The lights along the river front were fewer now, and the windows of the warehouses, illuminated an hour before, were dark. A roaring wind was blowing up the river, and the wash of the waves was rocking the _Rambler_ unpleasantly.

In all the long street in sight from the pier there was no sign of a uniformed officer. Clay did not know how far he would have to run to find one, so he decided to remain where he was for a time and, if necessary, perhaps attack the intruders from the rear.

Crouching low on the after deck, he could hear Jule talking to the outlaws, and smiled as he listened to the boy's attempts to interest them.

"If you break down that door," he heard Jule say, "you'll have to pay for it! That door cost money."

A volley of oaths and river billingsgate followed the remark, and blows which fairly shook the cabin came upon the st.u.r.dy panels.

While Clay sat listening, half resolved to make his way over to the pier and fire a few shots over the heads of the ruffians, a figure dropped lightly on the deck at his side and Teddy's soft muzzle was pressed against his face. He stroked the bear gently.

"I don't blame you for getting out of there, Teddy," he said. "They'll wreck the boat if we don't do something pretty soon. What would you advise, old chap?" he added whimsically.

Teddy sniffed the air in the direction of the pier and clambered clumsily up to the top of the cabin.

"I wouldn't go up there if I were you," Clay advised.

Teddy continued his way over the roof and finally came to the forward edge. Clay raised his head to the level of the roof and watched him.

As he did so a round circle of light sprang up at the head of the pier, flashed toward the river for a moment, and died out. The next moment a sound of some one stumbling over a bale of goods reached his ears. Then the light flashed out again, and the pounding on the cabin door ceased.

"Now I wonder," Clay pondered, "if that isn't Alex and Case! They usually have their searchlights with them, and Case is always stumbling over something. It would be fine to have them appear now!"

Directly a finger of light shot down the pier, and under it a white body swung toward the boat. Clay crawled back through the window and approached the door, where Jule was still standing with his automatic in his hand.

The pounding had now ceased entirely, the men evidently having been warned by the light. It seemed to Clay that the unwelcome visitors were now crouching in the darkness ready to attack any one who might attempt to come on board.

"Just wait a minute," whispered Clay in Jule's ear. "Just you wait a minute, and there'll be something pulled off here! If I'm not mistaken, this drama is going to shift to a comedy in about one minute."

"I don't understand what you mean by that," Jule declared. "What new deviltry are those fellows planning?" he added.

"In just about a second you'll see," Clay repeated. "The only wonder is that Captain Joe hasn't pulled off his stunt before this."

"Captain Joe isn't here," replied Jule doubtfully.

Then the boat swayed frightfully, tipping toward the pier. There was a heavy thud on deck, and cries of fright and pain, followed by another thud.

"Captain Joe isn't here, eh?" shouted Clay unlocking and opening the door. "Just look at that mess out there."

The white bulldog was mixing freely with the intruders, who seemed to be devoting their best energy to getting off the boat. There was a struggling, cursing, growling ma.s.s in the middle of the deck, and then from the roof of the cabin leaped another combatant!

Seeing the dog mixing with the pirates, and evidently believing that some new game was in progress, the cub leaped fairly into the midst of the struggling ma.s.s! If the men had been frightened before, they were now wild with terror. It seemed to them as if the bear had dropped from the clouds. They felt his teeth and claws, and the rough hair of him appeared to bristle like the quills of a porcupine.

Frightened beyond all measure, rendered more desperate still by the onrush of the boys from the cabin, the outlaws finally succeeded in breaking away and springing to the pier. As they did so, they nearly fell over Alex and Case who were making all haste to ascertain the cause of the excitement on the _Rambler_.

In a moment, however, they were up and away, clattering like race-horses up the pier.

CHAPTER XI

THE CREW TAKES A TUMBLE

When Alex and Case reached the deck of the _Rambler_, they found Clay and Jule leaning against the gunwale laughing hard enough to split their sides. A searchlight in the latter's hand revealed Captain Joe and Teddy standing by the cabin door, looking around as if inquiring what it all meant.

"Well," Alex said, producing his own searchlight, "if there's anything funny going on here, you'd better be pa.s.sing it round."

"Where have you been?" demanded Clay the next moment.

"Been?" repeated Alex. "We've been up in the air!"

"That's no fairy tale, either," Case cut in. "We've been arrested, and released, and attacked, and pommeled, and now we strike some kind of a minstrel show. What's been going on?"

"You've been arrested, have you?" laughed Jule, paying no attention to the question. "Any old time you go away from this boat and don't get into trouble, I'll wire the news back to Chicago. What did you get pinched for, and how did you get away?"

"We got pinched because of Max," replied Alex, "and we got out of it because we came upon a white policeman. We escaped from Max's cronies because Captain Joe b.u.t.ted in and chewed up a few. That's some dog, that is."