“Keep still, and you won’t be hurt!” commanded the man who held them. Bessie had no choice in the matter for his hand covered her mouth, and, even had she wished to do so, she could not have cried out.

In a moment, too, looking toward Zara, she saw that she had fainted, and her own predicament was made worse than ever, since the ruffian who held her could now devote all his attention to her. So, utterly helpless, and almost ready to despair, Bessie had to submit to being carried up the little companion ladder that ran to the yacht’s deck.

As soon as she was on deck a handkerchief was slipped over her eyes, and, though she could hear the low murmur of voices, and was almost sure that one was that of Mr. Holmes, her arch enemy, she could not be positive. Her one hope now was that Dolly or some one of the others on the beach would have seen her abduction. But, even if they had, what could they do?

“Suppose they did see,” poor Bessie thought to herself;“they couldn’t do anything. It would take a lot of strong men to come on board this yacht and get us off, and the girls wouldn’t be able to do anything at all.”

She was not left long on the yacht’s deck. Almost at once she was carried below, and in a few minutes she found herself in a cabin, where the handkerchief was taken from her eyes. The cabin was a pretty one, but Bessie was in no mood to appreciate that. She hated the sight of its luxury; all she wanted was to be back with the girls on the beach, no matter how great the discomfort after the fire might be.

Zara, who had not yet revived, was brought down after her and laid on a sofa. Then she and Bessie were left alone with the big man who had carried Bessie from the beach. She thought that he was Jeff, the man who had left the two faithless sentinels to watch the path from the cliff. And she noticed, to her surprise, that, though his speech and manners were rough, there was a look about him that was not unkindly.

“Now, see here, sis,” he said, gently enough, “we don’t aim to treat you badly here. You’ve run away from home, and that’s not right. We’re going to see that you get back to them as has the best right to look after you, but we don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“How can I help it?” asked Bessie, indignantly.

“Just you behave yourself and keep quiet, and you’ll be all right,” said Jeff. Bessie was sure of his identity now. “You’ll have this pretty room here to yourselves, and you’ll have lots to eat. It’ll be better food than you got with that pack of chattering girls, too. We’ll up anchor and be off pretty soon, and then you can come up on deck and have a good time. But as long as we’re here, why, you’ll have to stay below.”

Bessie got her first gleam of hope from that speech. If they stayed in Green Cove a little while, there was always the chance that something might happen.

“You see, sis,” said Jeff, with a grin, “after a while your folks there will find you’re missing, and, like enough, they’ll suspicion that we done it; took you off, I mean. ’Twouldn’t make no great difference if they did know it,” Jeff went on. “But the boss thinks it’s just as well if we throw them off a bit—guess he wants to have some fun with them.”

“Who is your ‘boss’?” asked Bessie, quickly. “I should think you would be ashamed of yourself, treating girls who can’t fight back this way! Do you call yourself a man?”

“Easy there, sis!” said Jeff, with a roar of laughter. “You can’t make me mad. Orders is orders, you know, and you did wrong when you run away like you did. And I ain’t tellin’ you who the boss is. What you don’t know won’t hurt you—and that goes for your friends, too.”

He left them alone then, and a faint hope was left behind him. Now that she had the chance, Bessie turned her attention to Zara. There was water in the cabin, and in a few minutes she had revived her chum, and was able to tell her what had happened. Poor Zara seemed to be completely overcome.

“Oh, Bessie, we haven’t got a chance this time!” she said. “I’ll have to go back and work for Farmer Weeks, and you—will they make you go back to Maw Hoover?”

“Never say die, Zara! As long as the yacht stays in the cove there is a chance that we’ll be rescued. That man didn’t know it, but he’ll never be able to make Miss Eleanor believe we’re not on this yacht. Listen—what’s that?”

There was a sound of hasty footsteps outside, and Jeff came in hurriedly. He slipped back a panel at one side of the cabin, and revealed a little closet.

“In there with you—both of you!” he said. “And I’m sorry, but you’ll have to be quiet, and there’s only one way.”

In a trice their hands and feet were bound, and handkerchiefs were stuffed into their mouths. Then they were pushed into the closet and the panel was slipped back into place. They were helpless. Unable to speak, or to beat hands or feet against the thin wood, there was no way in which they could make their presence known. And in a moment they knew the reason for this precaution. For, through the wood of the panel, wafer thin, they heard Miss Eleanor’s voice.

“You can’t deceive me, sir!” they heard her say. “Those girls must be on this yacht, and I warn you that you had better give them up. Kidnapping is a serious offence in this state.”

“You can see for yourself they’re not here, ma’am,” said Jeff. “And I don’t take this kindly at all, ma’am. Why, when I saw the fire in your camp, I went ashore with my men to try to help you—and now you make this charge against us.”

“I certainly do!” said Eleanor, with spirit. “I am quite sure that this is the only place where my girls can be, and I mean to have them back. As to the fire, you helped us, it is true. But I am as certain as I can be of anything that you had something to do with starting it before you tried to put it out!”

“There’s no use talking to you, ma’am, and I won’t try it,” said Jeff. “If you’re crazy enough to believe anything like that, I could talk all day and you’d still believe it. Here’s the yacht—you’re welcome to go over her and see for yourself. You won’t find the girls, because they’re not aboard. That’s a good reason, I guess.”

“Then let me see Mr. Holmes.”

“There you go again, ma’am! Didn’t I tell you on deck that there’s no such party aboard, and that I never even heard of him? If you’re satisfied now, we’ll be glad to have you go ashore, because I want to sail. I’ve got business down the coast.”

“I shall not go ashore until I have found my girls,” said Eleanor. There were tears of baffled anger in her voice, and Bessie thrilled with indignant sympathy at the idea that she was within a few feet of her best friend without being able to let her know that she was there.

“Then you’ll be put ashore—gently, but firmly, as the books say,” said Jeff. “You’re dead right, ma’am, kidnappin’ is a bad sort of business in this state, and I don’t aim to give you a chance to say we carried you off with us against your will. Sail we will—and you’ll stay behind. This is my boat, and I’ve got a right to put off anyone that is trespassin’.”

“You brute!” gasped Eleanor. “Don’t you dare to touch me!”

“Will you go of your own accord, then?”

“I suppose I must,” gasped Eleanor tearfully. “But you shall pay for this, you scoundrel! You’re tricking me in some fashion, but you can’t deceive me, and you can’t keep the truth quiet forever.”

Then there was the sound of retreating footsteps, and a few minutes later Bessie and Zara were released by Jeff, who was grinning as if it had been a great joke.“Well, sis, we’re off now!” he said. “Come on! I don’t want to be hard on you. Come out here in the passageway, and you can have a look at the shore as we go off.”

He led them to the stern, and to the little cabin, in which was a porthole. Looking out, Bessie saw the beach indistinctly. The ruined tents were there, and several of the girls, in bathing suits. And, swimming slowly to the shore she saw a girl in a red cap, which, as she knew, belonged to Dolly. How she longed to be able to call to her! But Jeff was at her side, and she knew that the attempt would be useless, since he was watching her as if he had been a cat and she a mouse.

A bell clanged somewhere below them, and the next moment there was a rumbling sound as the machinery was started. At the same moment there came the grinding of the anchor chains as they were raised. But the yacht did not move! Even after the anchor was up there was no movement except the throbbing of the whole vessel as the engines raced in the hold! Jeff’s face grew black, and he turned toward the passage with a scowl.

“What’s wrong here?” he shouted, going to the door. At the same moment, seizing her brief chance, Bessie gave a wild scream, and saw, to her delight, that those on shore had heard it. In a moment she was pulled roughly from the porthole, and Jeff, his face savage and all the kindness gone out of it, scowled down at her.

“Keep quiet, you little vixen!” he shouted. “Here, come with me!”

At the foot of some steps that led up to the deck he left the two girls in the care of Larry, one of the two men she had seen the night before.

“Keep them quiet,” he commanded, as he sprang up the steps. “What’s wrong, Larry; do you know?”

“Something the matter with the propeller. Can’t tell what,” said Larry.

And above, on the deck, there was a wild rushing about now. Orders were shouted to the engineers below; hoarse answers came back. The engines were stopped and started again. But still the yacht did not move. A grimy engineer came up and stood beside her.

“Propeller’s fouled,” he said to Jeff. “We’ll have to send a man overboard to clear it.”

“How long will that take?” roared Jeff.

“Maybe an hour—if we’re lucky.”

“You’re a fine engineer, not to have the boat ready to start!” screamed Jeff, mad with rage. “You’ll lose your berth for this!”

“Guess I can get another,” replied the engineer calmly. “It’s been done on purpose and it’s the business of the deck watch to keep the stern clear, not mine.”

With frantic haste a man was sent overboard. He dived and found the propeller. Bessie heard his report. The screw was twisted around with rope—knotted and tied so that, even with a knife he would have to make many descents to clear it. Without a diving suit it was impossible for the man to stay under water more than half a minute at a time, and, as it turned out, he was the only man on board who could dive at all.

Jeff raged in vain. The work of clearing the propeller could not be hastened for all his bellowing, and the precious minutes slipped by while the diver worked. Each time that he came up for rest and air he reported a little more progress, but each time, too, as he grew tired, his period of rest was lengthened, while his time below the water was cut shorter.

And then, when he had reported that two more trips would mend the trouble, there was a sudden bumping of boats against the yacht, on the shoreward side, which had been left without watchers, it seemed, and there was a rush of feet overhead. Bessie cried out in joy, and the next instant a dozen men tumbled down the steps and overpowered Larry.

“Are you Bessie King?” asked their leader. “I’ve got a search warrant empowering me to search this yacht for you and one Zara Doe and take you ashore.”“We’re the ones! Take us!” pleaded Bessie.

And, sobbing with joy, she went up the steps to the deck. There Jeff, furious but powerless in the grip of two men, watched her go over the side and into a small boat in which sat Eleanor, who threw her arms joyously about the recovered captives. Dolly was there, too, and she kissed and hugged Bessie as soon as Eleanor was done.

“The men got here in time from Bay City,” said Eleanor. “Thank Heaven! A few minutes more, and they would have been too late. I telephoned as soon as I could, and I knew the district attorney there was a friend of Charlie Jamieson. He came at once with his men.”

“The propeller was fouled. That’s why they couldn’t get away,” said Bessie. “Wasn’t that lucky?”

Dolly snorted.

“Luck nothing!” she said, perkily. “I swam out with a rope, and they never saw me! I was there, diving up and down, for half an hour. I thought they’d have a lovely time getting it clear when the knots I made had swollen up!”

“Yes, it was Dolly who saved the day,” said Eleanor.

“Shall we row you ashore, ma’am, or do you want to see the rest of the fun on board?” asked one of the oarsmen.

“Take us ashore, please. I’ll hear all about it later,” said Eleanor.

And in five minutes the Camp Fire Girls were reunited.

Transcriber’s Note

Campfire as one word appears in the list of books and title page, whereas two words have been used throughout the rest of the book. Similar usage has been retained in this e-book.