"Land all of you in jail, rescue Dora Stanhope, and recover that money you stole."

"Indeed!"

"Yes--indeed! Don't you think we are pretty close to doing it?"

"No, you are a long way off. You won't dare to break this truce while the flags fly. If you do, I'll shoot you just as sure as you are born."

"I don't intend to dishonor any truce, Arnold Baxter. But, nevertheless, you and your crowd are almost at the end of your rope, and you know it."

"Feeling hungry, ain't you?" put in Martin Harris.

"You shut up!" roared Dan Baxter, for Harris had hit the nail exactly on the head. "We'll settle this with the Rovers and the police, not with you."

"You'll settle with me for burning my sails and breaking my lanterns," retorted the skipper of the _Searchlight_ wrathfully.

"Let us come to terms," went on Arnold Baxter in a milder tone.

"I reckon what you want princ.i.p.ally is to rescue Dora Stanhope?"

"Yes, I want that," said d.i.c.k quickly.

"If we hand her over to you, will you promise not to follow us any longer?"

"Well--er--what of that money--" began d.i.c.k, glancing at those around him.

"We can't let you go," interposed Sergeant Brown. "You are wanted for that robbery in Albany."

"We deny the robbery," said Arnold Baxter.

"All right--you'll have a chance to clear yourself in court."

"We are not going to court, not by a jugful," put in Buddy Girk.

"If we give up the gal that's got to end it. Otherwise, we don't give her up, see?"

"But you'll have to give her up later on," put in Tom. "And the longer you keep her the more you will have to suffer for it, when it comes to a settlement."

"Let's give her up," whispered Mumps to Dan Baxter. To the credit of the toady let it be said that he was heartily sick of the affair and wished he had never entered into it.

"You keep your mouth shut!" answered the former bully of Putnam Hall. "My dad knows how to work this racket."

"Somebody said something about being hungry," continued Arnold Baxter significantly, "I imagine Miss Stanhope is as hungry as any of us, if not more so."

"Do you mean to say you are starving her!" cried d.i.c.k indignantly.

"I mean to say that she will have to starve just as much as we do," was the unsatisfactory answer.

"And you have run out of provisions?"

"We have run out of provisions for her, yes."

"That means that you won't give her any more, even though you may have some for yourselves? You are even bigger brutes than I took you to be," concluded the elder Rover boy bitterly.

"We've got to look out for ourselves," said Dan Baxter. "If we let you have the girl you ought to be satisfied."

"Let us talk to Dora," suggested Tom.

"No, you can't see her unless you agree to our terms," said Arnold Baxter decidedly. "If we bring her up now she may try to get away from us."

"You have got to submit to arrest and stand trial," said Sergeant Brown. "There are no two ways about it. If you won't submit quietly we'll have to fight. But let me tell you, if you fight it will go hard with you."

"That's right; make them give up everything," put in Tom. "I'll fight them if it comes to the worst."

"If only they don't harm Dora!" whispered d.i.c.k. "Think, they may be starving her already!"

"I don't believe they would dare, d.i.c.k."

"Dare? I think the Baxters are cruel enough to do most anything."

"Officer, do you know that you are on the high seas and can't touch us?" went on Arnold Baxter, after an awkward pause.

"I know nothing of the kind, and I'll risk what I am doing,"

retorted Sergeant Brown.

"Can't we compromise this matter?"

"What else have you to propose?"

"I'll tell you what I'll do. If you'll agree not to molest us further I'll turn the girl over to you and make each of you a present of one hundred dollars," went on Arnold Baxter nervously.

"Want to bribe us, eh?" cried Tom. "Thanks, but we are not in that business."

"I never took a bribe yet, and I've been on the force six years,"

put in Carter.

"You can't bribe me," said the sergeant, in a tone that admitted of no argument. "You must surrender absolutely or take the consequences."

"All right, then; we'll take the consequences," was the reckless response. "And remember, we hold that girl, and any harm you do us will only counteract on her head."

"Don't you dare to harm her, you villain!" cried d.i.c.k, turning pale. "Whatever you do you shall answer for in court."

"Humph, d.i.c.k Rover, don't be so smart," put in Dan Baxter. "This game is still ours, and you know it."

"I know nothing of the kind. We will starve you out and fight you, and you will see what the end will be, Dan Baxter," retorted d.i.c.k; and then the two yachts began to drift apart once more.

As the _Flyaway_ moved off, Mumps, who had disappeared for a minute, came into sight once more. In his hand he hold something white, which he threw with all force at the _Searchlight's_ mainsail.

"Take that!" he cried. "Take that, and remember me!"

By this time the two yachts were so far apart that no more could be said.