"The lady who was abducted by Tad Sobber and Josiah Crabtree and taken on your schooner at Boston."

"Never heard of any of the people you are talking about, young man. You have got hold of the wrong boat."

"No, there is no mistake. You left Boston yesterday afternoon, and you had on board Mrs. Stanhope and her abductors. I guess you are old enough to know what the punishment is for abduction," went on d.i.c.k, pointedly.

"Abduction? I ain't abducted n.o.body, I tell you. You've got hold of the wrong boat. You can search us if you want to."

"Oh, I don't suppose the lady is on board now. I want to know what you did with her."

"Don't know her-never saw her."

"You took her on board, and you were seen doing it," put in Tom.

"Seen!" cried the captain, and gave a start.

"Yes," put in Sam. "Oh, we've got you dead to rights, and the best thing you can do is to tell us at once where she is."

"Say," said the master of the schooner, slowly and thoughtfully. "You tell me the particulars of this matter and maybe I can put you on the track of something. I never heard of any lady being abducted." He saw that he was cornered and that if arrested matters might go very hard with him.

In a few words d.i.c.k and his brothers told about how the Stanhope fortune had been stolen and how the lady herself had been abducted and taken to Boston. Then they said they had positive proof that the lady had been taken aboard the Mary Delaway.

"Where is the proof?" asked the captain, and now his voice was not as steady as it had been.

"Well, for one thing, there is a sailor on the tug who saw the lady on your vessel," said d.i.c.k. "In the second place I've got a letter, written by one of those rascals, and naming your boat--"

"What! Did any of those lunkheads write it down in a letter?" roared the captain. "If they did--" he stopped, in great confusion.

"Ah, so you admit the crime, do you?" said d.i.c.k, quickly.

"No, I don't admit no crime!" growled the captain of the schooner. "I promised to do a little job for two gentleman, that's all-and I did it-and got paid for it."

"What was the job to be?"

"If I tell you, you won't try to drag me into it, will you?" was the anxious question.

"If you don't tell us, you'll surely go to jail."

"I didn't know there was anything wrong, honest I didn't-leastwise at the start, although I had some suspicions later. That feller Sobber and the old gent, Crabtree, along with a Mrs. Sobber, said they had an aunt who was a bit insane, and they wanted to take her to an island up here in Cas...o...b..y, for rest and medical treatment. They hired me to do the job, and paid me well for it."

"And you took them to the island?"

"I did."

"What island?" asked all of the Rover boys.

"A place called Chesoque."

"Chesoque?"

"Yes. The old lobster catchers used to call it Shay's Island, after old Cap'n Shay, of the lobster fleet."

CHAPTER XXIV OUT ON CAs...o...b..Y

The Rover boys listened with close attention to the statement made by the captain of the schooner and they felt that the fellow was now telling the truth.

"You say you suspected that all wasn't square?" said d.i.c.k, after a pause.

"What made you do that?"

"Why-er-the way the lady acted. She seemed to be more scared than crazy.

But they kept her down in the cabin, so I didn't see much of her."

"When did you land the crowd on the island?"

"About nine o'clock this morning."

"Were you going back there later?"

"No, they said it wouldn't be necessary."

d.i.c.k walked to the rail of the schooner and beckoned to the captain of the steam tug.

"This captain says he landed the crowd on Chesoque Island," he called out. "Do you know where that is?"

"I know where she is," put in Larry Dixon, as Captain Wells hesitated in thought. "The lobster catchers used to have a hangout there."

"Where is it?" asked Captain Wells, and the old tar described its location as well as he could.

"Reckon I could pick it up, from what the man says," said the captain of the tug, to d.i.c.k.

"All right then," answered the eldest Rover. He turned again to the captain of the schooner. "Now listen to me. I know you and I know your boat. If you have told me the exact truth, well and good. If you haven't-well, you'll have to take the consequences, that's all."

"I didn't abduct n.o.body. I only did a job and got paid for it," muttered the captain.

"Where are you bound?"

"Portland."

"And after that?"

"Going to-er-take a load of lumber down to Newark, New Jersey."

"Very well-then we'll know where to locate you. Come on!" added d.i.c.k to his brothers.

"You can rely on me," said the captain, and spoke quite respectfully.

"I'll tell all I know, and so will my men."