Chapter XI: Alex Goes Fishing

"Never thought of that!" Clay declared.

"Give 'em five minutes to vacate!"

It was Rube who made the suggestion. By this time both Buck and Rube had climbed back into the boat, and had gathered around the dynamite, though taking good care to keep near the boat's rail, so they could leap overboard in case anything went off prematurely.

"I don't like that stuff, nohow!" Rube declared, backing away, as Clay prepared to throw a stick. "Why don't you give 'em a chance to leave the boat?" he added.

"I thought I'd give them a taste of the stuff first," was the reply. "Not enough to hurt--just a little boat-rocker!"

"The five minutes are about up!" came a voice from the _Esmeralda_. "What is your decision?"

"Here it is!" shouted Clay.

He threw the dynamite as he spoke against a log that lay in the stream just under the bow of the _Esmeralda_.

The boat rocked viciously for some time. Clay waited for the motion to cease and threw again, coming a little nearer the hull of the _Esmeralda_ this time.

"How do you like it?" Case queried.

The only reply was a shower of bullets, which bounded from the armor of the _Rambler_ like so many grains of rice.

An effort was now made to back the boat out of the reach of Clay's arm, but, the craft, having been run into the creek prow first, this could not be done without the person who attempted it coming within the range of the boy's steady aim.

"If you try that," warned Case, "the boat will be blown up! We have dynamite enough on hand to do the business."

"The best way out of this scrape," put in Alex, "is for you to stop shooting and also get out of the boat! If you don't, the craft will be destroyed. Do you get that?"

"The first man who tries to get to the anchor-chain will regret it," Clay put in. "That will be the signal for the blowing up of the _Esmeralda_."

"The best thing you can do is to quickstep off the boat!" Buck suggested. "The lads have you too dead to skin."

"And no shooting after you get ashore, mind," added Rube.

Had there been a man in the crew with the nerve of either one of the boys, or of Rube or Buck, there would have been "doings," but all feared the sticks of dynamite in Clay's hands.

While the outlaws consulted together, not knowing what course to pursue, one of their number fired a shot at Clay.

The boy staggered and would have fallen had not Alex sprang forward and caught him. Blood was pouring in a stream from a wound in his arm, and he sat down behind the railing to catch his breath.

"Close call, that!" he said, with a faint smile.

Buck seized the dynamite, which had fallen to the deck, and hurled it across the water in the direction of the _Esmeralda_.

It struck the bow of the boat and shattered it to splinters. The next instant marked an exit from the boat.

The robbers fell over each other getting out. In a minute all were out, and the _Esmeralda_ lay rocking in the river.

"Turn the motors on--quick!"

Clay was on his feet, with the blood still pouring from the bullet hole in his arm, making suggestions for the guidance of the others. It was well that he was quick to speak.

Before the motors could be brought to use, a storm of bullets was flying at the _Rambler_.

"Turn off the lights," said Clay.

Then he fainted from loss of blood and the pain of the wound.

The command was obeyed, the _Esmeralda_ was taken in tow, and the _Rambler_ moved slowly into the stream.

As the _Rambler_ drew up to the _Esmeralda_ and passed her, Buck sprang aboard over the wrecked prow and switched off the lights. All was now in darkness, but the robbers continued to fire as long as the boats were in sight.

Half a mile down the river the lights were switched on again, and Clay's wound examined. The boy was still unconscious, an artery having been severed.

While the examination was going on a hail was heard from the east shore, and the motor boat checked her speed.

"What's wanted?" asked Buck.

"Want to come aboard," was the reply.

"Are you alone?" was the next question. "Stand out where I can see you."

The stranger moved to a position where the rays of light fell full upon him, revealing a slender man of twenty-five or under. He was neatly dressed in black, and wore a slouch hat.

"Why do you want to come on board?" Buck demanded.

"To get out of the rain," was the answer. "My shoes are wet through, and I'm chilled to the bone."

"Shall we take him aboard?" Buck asked.

"Sure thing!" said Rube, who was the only other person on the deck, the three boys being in attendance on Clay. "I reckon we can handle one man! Besides, the fellow really looks civilized. Anyhow, we'll give him a chance to tell his story."

"All right!" Buck shouted back. "We'll give you a chance to dry out, but you'll have to swim for it."

"I fail to see how I could get any wetter than I am now!" answered the stranger, plunging into the river and striking out for the boat. "In fact, I think the river water an improvement over rain water."

The stranger climbed up on deck and shook himself.

"When I had the honor to associate with the crew of the _Rambler_ before," the man began, but Buck seized him by the shoulder and ran him into the cabin.

"You look to me," he declared, "like the man who recently did a job of surgery. 'Cause why? There ain't been no other people on board the boat, except you and the river pirates and the boys."

Paul struggled into a sitting posture and almost shouted out his recognition of the stranger.

"Just in time to save a life!" he said. "Clay must have bled to death in another hour!"

Without speaking a word, the surgeon stripped off his coat and set to work on the wounded boy. The men gathered about the lad held their breath while awaiting the surgeon's verdict.

"A bad wound," he finally said.

"Is it fatal?" asked Alex in a whisper.

"Not necessarily so," was the answer. "If I only had a tourniquet," he added, "the job would be an easy one, but the boy has lost considerable blood, and----"

Alex interrupted the surgeon by shouting that there was such an instrument in the medicine box, and dashing off to fetch it.

"I guess I'm getting dippy," the boy said, as he laid the instrument down. "I knew that the tourniquet was in the medicine box. I'm sure getting balmy in the crumpet."

This was slang of the worst kind, but the boys were too excited to remark it. The surgeon took the instrument and put it in position, remarking as he did so that the boy had already lost enough blood to run a mill.

"Can you bring him through now?" Jule asked eagerly.

"It is simply a question of good care," was the reply.

The surgeon worked over the lad for a long time before he returned to consciousness. When at last he opened his eyes there was a smile in them.

He was still very faint, but he was very nervy.

"Where did you come from?" he asked the surgeon in a whisper.

The surgeon laughed.

"I came out of the rain!" was the reply.

"That's Theodore Rand, formerly of the pirate craft _Rambler_," said Paul. "He's the quickest man at a broken leg I ever saw! I'm going to have him promoted. He's going to be Chief Surgeon in the army before he dies!"

"Were you really aboard the _Rambler_ before?" asked Case.

"Of course he was," interrupted Paul. "Didn't he set my broken leg? That's some surgeon!"

"But I don't see how you got away from the pirates," Jule exclaimed. "They don't let go when they get hold of a man like you. They cling to him like a puppy to a root!"

"Well," said Theodore, known forever thereafter as "Thede," "you see, the outlaws had need of my services. They had a man shot through the lungs, and I came along in my skiff just in time to be too late. They rewarded me by stealing my instruments and putting me off the boat just below the spot I set this boy's leg."

"Then you must have had a long walk in the rain," Case remarked. "And you must be good and hungry."

"I could eat a rhinoceros right now!" said the surgeon. "I have been waiting for an invitation to eat."

Alex sprang to his feet.

"That makes me think that I haven't had a square meal since I left the _Rambler_!" he exclaimed. "Now, if the river thieves haven't cleaned out the refrigerator, I'll get you a supper that'll make you sit up and take notice!"

It was pretty poor picking in the refrigerator, but there was plenty of tinned goods, and the boys managed to get a very satisfying meal. Alex washed the dishes under protest!

"Where do you want to get off?" asked Case, as the _Rambler_, still with the _Esmeralda_ in tow, headed toward the Gulf of Mexico.

"I'm going to any old point in the South," was the answer. "You see," explained the doctor, "I didn't do very well at the town I set up my office in, so I took my instruments and started to walk to the next place.

"I was having rather a pleasant time of it when hailed from the _Rambler_. It seems that there had been a row on board, and that one of the gang had received a bullet through the lungs.

"Of course I did what I could for the man; but that was not much. He died just before I was put off the boat."

"And was buried on the river bank," explained Paul. "That must have been about dark."

"It seems longer ago than that," laughed the surgeon. "Anyway, it appears to me that I've been walking in the rain ever since the Deluge! Now I haven't got any more tools to work with than a rabbit! And the scamps took what little money I had with me, too!"

"That is easily fixed," said Rube, producing his roll. "Just have one of the boys go good for it, and tell me how much you want!"

"I'll go good for $10," declared Case. "The doctor has certainly earned that much."

Rube peeled off a bank note and passed it over to the surgeon, who took it hesitatingly.

"But this is a $20," he explained.

"That's all right," Rube announced. "You may pay me the other $10 when you get on your feet." The surgeon expressed his thanks, and Rube put away his roll and asked Case to slow down so he could board the _Esmeralda_.

"You see, Buck," he explained, "we've got to be getting a move on if we get the _Esmeralda_ in shape again."

"Tell you what," Alex proposed, "suppose we have a fish breakfast. I just know there's bullheads in this river."

"Bullheads in the Rio Grande!" scoffed Jule.

"Just you wait!" replied the boy.

So Alex and Jule went over the _Rambler_'s side after fish.