XXIV
THE LAME MAN’S CONFESSION
“COME, Tom, let’s go aboard,” said the lieutenant, as soon as theboat that carried the prisoners was well away down the creek. “Aquartermaster can finish up what there is to do here, and I’m anxiousto let you boys get away on your sporting trip as soon as possible; butI simply can’t let you go till—till we finish the matter you spokeof just now. If we can manage that to-night I’ll send you on your wayrejoicing as early to-morrow morning as you please.”
“Thank you for all of us,” said Tom, as the two, with the lame man andhis guards, seated themselves in the waiting boat; “but you mustn’tthink this thing has interfered with us. It has been right in our lineand strictly according to the programme.”
“How is that?” the lieutenant asked, enjoying Tom’s evident relish forthe experience he had just gone through.
“Why, you see we set out not merely for sport, but with the declaredpurpose of seeking ‘sport and adventure.’ This thing has been sport tous, and you’ll not deny that it has had a distinct flavor of adventurein it.”
“Tom, you ought to be a sailor or a soldier,” was the officer’s onlyreply.
As soon as they went aboard the lieutenant ordered the lame man takento his own cabin and the rest of the prisoners to the forehold undera strong guard. When the other boys, who were closely following, cameover the side, he invited the four to go with him to his quarters.
“Stop a minute, though. Tell me just what you’ve arranged, Tom, so thatI may know how to proceed.”
“Well, I’ve drawn a little information out of the lame man and got himto promise more—all he knows in fact, and that seems to be a gooddeal. These outlaws are only the agents of conspirators ‘higher up,’ asthe phrase goes—ruffians hired by the conspirators to do the work andtake the risks, while the men higher up pocket all the proceeds exceptthe pittance allowed to their hired outlaws. The red-faced bully downthere, who acts as captain of the band, seems to be an exception to allthis. According to the lame man, that burly brute was the originatorof the conspiracy, he and some man named Pedro Mendez.”
“What? Pedro Mendez?” interrupted the lieutenant.
“That’s the name the lame man mentioned. Do you know Pedro, or know whohe is?”
“I should say I do. He’s—by the way, he’s the owner of the good ship_Senorita_, from whose cargo some of the smuggled goods came! Wait aminute.”
The officer pressed a button and a subordinate promptly appeared toreceive orders.
“Tell Mr. Chisolm to get the ship under way as soon as all the boatsare aboard, and steam at full speed for Beaufort.”
When the orderly had disappeared, the lieutenant exclaimed:
“I must get to a telegraph office before morning, and we’ll have thesmiling Pedro under arrest in Baltimore before another night comes. Goon, Tom! This is the biggest haul made in ten years and we have youboys to thank for it. Go on, please.”
“There isn’t much more for me to tell. The lame man will tell therest. He has a grudge against the red-faced captain—a life and deathenmity—I should say—and it is chiefly to get his foe into allpossible trouble that he is willing to tell all he knows. I’ve assuredhim that if he gives the information necessary to secure the capture ofthe whole gang and the breaking up the business, the authorities arepretty sure to let him off easily.”
“That’s all right. Now we’ll go to the cabin and see how much our mancan tell.”
What the lame man told the lieutenant has no place in this story. Heknew, as Tom had supposed, practically all that was needed, and oncestarted in his story he told it all.
It was taken down in shorthand as he told it, and after somedifficulties with the pen the man signed it, the four boys signing aswitnesses. A few days later the newspapers were filled with news ofa “stupendous Revenue capture” and the arrest of a number of highlyrespectable men caught in a conspiracy to defraud the Government.
When the confessing prisoner had been removed to secure quarters forthe night the officer shook hands warmly with the boys, saying:
“You young men have rendered a much greater service to the Governmentthan you can well imagine, and as an officer commissioned by theGovernment I want to thank you for it as adequately as I can. It isnot only that some smugglers have been captured as a result of whatyou have done, and a lot of smuggled goods seized. That, indeed, isthe smallest part of it. This capture will make an end to this sortof smuggling for all time. I was sent here six weeks ago expressly toaccomplish this purpose, and but for you young men and the assistanceyou have given me I doubt that I should ever have accomplished it atall, although, as you know, a half company of marines was furnished mein addition to the ship’s own force, in order that I might be strongenough for any emergency.
“Now if I talked all night I couldn’t thank you enough. Let me turn toanother matter. I promised you to set you afloat at any point you wish,and I’ll do it. But I’m taking you to Beaufort now because I _must_ getto a telegraph office. As soon as I possibly can in the morning I’llsteam to the point you choose.”
“Beaufort suits us very well, indeed,” Larry answered. “You see we’reshort of stores and when we’re afloat again we’ll lay our course for aregion where no stores can be had except such as we can secure with ourshotguns.”
“What stores do you need?” asked the officer.
“Coffee, a side of bacon to fry fish with, two hams, and as many boxesof ship biscuit as we can manage to stow away in our boat. That’s all,except some salt, I think. I suppose we can buy all such things atBeaufort. If not, we can go without them.”
“No, you can’t buy them at Beaufort or anywhere else,” the lieutenantanswered; “because I’m going to furnish them from my own ship’s stores.”
“But, Lieutenant,” said Larry, flushing, “your stores belong to theGovernment, don’t they?”
“Yes, certainly. What of that?”
“Why, we can’t let you give us goods that belong to the Government.”
“Oh, I see your scruple, but you’re wrong about the facts. It is a partof every revenue cutter’s duty to provision craft in distress, and—”
“But pardon me, we are not in distress. It is only that for our comfortwe need certain supplies that we are perfectly well able to buy, andwhen we get to Beaufort a market will be open to us. We’ll provisionourselves, if you don’t mind.”
“I wish you’d let me do it. It is little enough, in all conscience,considering the service you’ve rendered the Government.”
“We didn’t do that for pay,” Larry answered.
“I quite understand that. Still I have full authority to issue thestores to you, and the disposition made of them will of course be setforth in my official report.”
“Thank you, very much, for your good will in the matter,” Larry said,in a tone that left no chance for further argument, “but we prefer tobuy for ourselves. Then if you’ll have your men lower our boat, we’llsay ‘Good-bye and good luck’ to you and take ourselves off your hands.”
“That is final?”
“Yes—final.”
“Very well. It shall be as you say. But I’m sorry you won’t let me doeven so small a thing as that by way of showing you my gratitude.”
A little later Larry sought out the lieutenant on deck.
“I’ll tell you what you may do for us, Lieutenant, if you are still sominded.”
“Of course I am. I’ll do whatever you suggest. What is it?”
“Why, write a brief letter to Tom and let me have it for delivery afterwe get away from Beaufort. He’ll cherish that as long as he lives,and you see after all it was Tom who did it all. He first found thesmugglers’ camp and investigated it; he made the later reconnoissanceon which you acted, and he led the—”
“Say no more,” the lieutenant answered. “I’ll write the letter and giveit to you.”
The lieutenant had another thought in mind; he did not mention it;but when at last the boy
s got back to Charleston, they found a letterawaiting each of them, a letter of thanks and commendation. Thoseletters were not from the commanding officer of a revenue cutter, butfrom the Secretary of the Treasury himself, and they were signed by hisown hand.
All that occurred later, however. At present the story has to do onlywith what further adventures the boys encountered in their coastwanderings.