Frank and Andy Afloat Part 39

THE ACCUSATION--CONCLUSION

"Frank! Andy!" came a hail from the swift motor boat.

"It's dad!" cried the two brothers together.

"Yes, and Paul Gale is with him!" added the older lad. "They arrived just in time. Now we'll be all right."

"And this will wind you up, Mr. Man!" exclaimed Frank, looking at the prisoner.

"We'll see," was the sullen answer.

"We might as well put back to sh.o.r.e, and unload our stuff," proposed Andy.

"No, stay on the raft," suggested Frank. "I will be easier to get in the motor boat then, as she can't run in too close to sh.o.r.e."

It was a good idea, for the speedy craft of Mr. Lacey, as it proved to be, could not have come in very close. But the raft made a good landing float.

"Well, Andy and Frank!" exclaimed Mr. Racer, when he could grasp their hands. "You've given us a fine scare."

"We didn't mean to," spoke Andy.

"And we have the man who caused all the trouble," added Frank. "He's a prisoner, dad. See, Paul. Here's the man we've been after."

Paul Gale pressed to the side of the motor craft as it floated near the raft. At once a strange change came over the lad's face. His cheeks flushed and his eyes grew bright. There was a look of fear, and then it gave place to one of anger. As for the prisoner he tried to turn his head away, but his bonds held him.

"Ha! Now I remember!" cried Paul. "I know you, James Shallock! I remember all! It all comes back to me when I see you face to face."

"Who is he?" asked Frank eagerly.

"And who are you, if you can tell us?" demanded Mr. Racer. This was more important than learning about the prisoner. Frank and Andy thought it even more to the point than learning how their father had come to their rescue. While, as for Mr. Racer, as long as his boys were safe he could forgive them the anxiety they had caused him. "Who are you, Paul?" demanded the silk merchant.

"I am--I am--" the lad hesitated. He denied to be undergoing a severe mental struggle. "I am Paul--Bartlett!" he cried. "That's it! I remember it all now! And this man, who tried to swindle my sick father and myself, ought to be in jail!"

"That's where he'll be, soon," declared Frank.

"Tell us about it," urged Andy.

"How did you happen to come for us, dad?" asked Frank.

"We came here as a last hope, after we ran down your rowboat at sea, and found the _Gull_ adrift."

"The _Gull_ adrift!" exclaimed Frank. "That explains it then. Our rowboat was washed away by the tide. The _Gull_ pulled her anchor in the storm."

"And we thought you were drowned or had fallen overboard," said the father. "Thank the Lord you are safe! It will be good news to your mother. But let us hear Paul's story."

"This man is a scoundrel," began the lad who had so suddenly recovered his memory. "For a number of years he was my father's confidential secretary. My father, who had large business interests fell ill, and this man took advantage of him to secure important papers. He sought to ruin my father, and enrich himself.

"There came a time when my father could no longer attend to business, and he went to a sanitarium to be cured. I was an only son, and as there were no other near relatives I stopped at a seaside hotel not far from here. I had only just arrived when I found that this man, James Shallock, was following me. I had certain important papers of my father's and I knew he was trying to get them away from me as they were very valuable.

"I made up my mind to escape. Perhaps I acted foolishly, but I was very much afraid of this man. I decided to go away in my motor boat, which my father had given me just before I went to the seaside hotel.

One night I started out, taking the papers with me. I was all alone, and I decided to go to some quiet place in my boat, and there stay until I could communicate with my father. I hoped to throw this man off my track.

"I left one evening, and soon found myself in this bay. I did not know much about navigation, and I soon got off my course in the darkness.

Then in the morning the storm came up, and my boat hit some obstruction which threw the steering gear out of order.

"Next something went wrong with my engine, so I shut it down, hid the papers, and drifted at the mercy of the wind and waves, for no boat answered my signals of distress. The storm grew worse, and all the next day I was driven about. Then came a calm, but I could not make land, nor were my signals of distress answered. I drifted farther and farther, and as I had no food or water I soon became partly delirious, I suppose.

"Then came another storm, and I saw some jagged rocks, there was no way of avoiding them. I thought of leaping overboard for I am a good swimmer, but my foot caught in an electric wire. I pulled it from place as I fell, injuring my arm, and this made a short circuit. There was some gasolene, from a leaky tank, on the floor of the c.o.c.kpit, and this caught fire from the electric spark.

"The storm grew worse. I did not know what to do. Then came an explosion and I found myself in the water. I remember some one calling to me, and taking me on board a sailing vessel, and then it all became a blank. My mind left me."

"That was when we rescued you," spoke Frank, as Paul Bartlett finished.

"But what did you do with the important papers?"

"Wait. Let me think," pleaded the lad. "I put them--"

They all leaned eagerly forward to hear answer. The mysterious man struggled vainly at his bonds.

"I put them in one of the cylinders of the engine," cried the lad.

"One of the cylinders was out of commission. I shut off the water supply, took off the head and stuffed the papers between the outer wall and the inner one. They ought to be there now."

"No wonder we couldn't find them," exclaimed Frank.

"And where is your father now?" asked Mr. Racer.

"Still in the sanitarium I hope," answered Paul. "That is the reason none of our advertis.e.m.e.nts about me were answered. My father did not see them, and I have no other relatives. His business was closed up, and his friends did not know where he or I had gone. But it's all right now. Oh, how I want to see my father!"

"We'll send him word at once, if you have his address," said Mr. Racer.

"And what shall we do with this man?" inquired Mr. Lacey.

"Jail is the place for him," declared Mr. Racer. "He is a desperate criminal to have followed Paul about as he did. Now, boys, get aboard, and we'll take Mr. James Shallock in with us also. Cast off the raft, and we'll go home."

"Wait until I get Paul's papers!" cried Frank.

It did not take long to remove one of the engine cylinder heads, and there, between the two walls, were the important papers, safe. They involved the possession of much property that Shallock hoped to get under his control.

They set out for the mainland with their sullen prisoner. He soon realized that his games were up, and when turned over to the authorities he made a partial confession. He admitted that he had followed Paul, soon after the lad left the hotel, hoping to get the papers. When the lad left in his motor boat the scoundrel lost track of him for a while. Then he learned of Paul's efforts to escape and set out after him. From the Racer boys the man learned of Paul's rescue, but naturally he would not tell what he wanted of him, and hurried away. He hung about Harbor View, hoping for a chance to get hold of the helpless lad, or steal the papers. That was the cause of his midnight visit to the Racer home.

Then he had an idea that the papers were in the boat, and he made a search for that. He found it floating at sea, and hiring a sailboat, started to tow it to land.

He was frightened by the Racer boys, however, and soon afterward, a storm coming up, the tow line parted and the _Swallow_ was once more afloat. Shallock made another attempt to find it, and succeeded. Then he decided to tow it to Cliff Island so he might have plenty of time to search it.

The arrival of the boys spoiled his plans, and once more he fled, after imprisoning them in the cave.

He next hired a boatman to put him on the island with the wreck of the boat, but there was the quarrel which the boys witnessed, and once more the scoundrel's plans failed. The rest is known to my readers.

Shallock confessed to setting fire to the sailboat of the Racer boys, and after a trial he was sent to jail for a long term.