“Trouble be blowed!” said Dan. “If he hasn’t got the law on his side, he ought to have.” “That’s so,” said Bob. “We’ll help him along. How about it, Tommy?” “If we du-du-du-don’t we deserve tu-tu-to be ki-ki-ki-ki——” “You’re missing sparks, Tommy,” warned Nelson. “Water in his gasoline,” said Dan, with a grin. “——to be kicked!” ended Tom explosively and earnestly. “And so we do,” agreed Nelson. “How’s the enemy coming on?” “Just about holding her own, I’d say,” was Bob’s verdict. “What are your plans, Nel?” “Make for Provincetown, over there. We ought to reach it a little after dark at this rate.” “Then what?” “Put the boy ashore, give him a few dollars, and trust to him to keep out of the way.” “But look here, Nel. If we land him at Provincetown, he’ll have to come back all around the Cape. That’ll take him an age.” “There’s the railroad. Why can’t he take a train?” “Suppose he does? All Captain Chowder, or whatever his name is, will have to do is to go down the Cape and head him off.” “That’s so,” answered Nelson thoughtfully. “But it seems to me he ought to be able to hide out for awhile. The captain can’t afford to spend much time chasing him. What do you say, Spencer? Do you think that if we put you ashore at Provincetown, you could keep out of the captain’s way?” Spencer shook his head. “He’d get me,” he muttered. “He’d say I had deserted, and then they’d be looking out for me along the road.” “He’s right,” said Dan. “That’s just what would happen. They’d probably telegraph along the railroad, and he’d be yanked back to the _Henry Nellis_ quick-time. That won’t do. We’ve got to think of some other scheme.” “I wish I’d started up the coast,” said Nelson regretfully. “We might have made Plymouth easily, and if we’d got him ashore there he’d have had the whole State to hide in.” “Do you suppose the captain will come after him if he gets home?” asked Dan. “How about that, Spencer?” Nelson questioned. “Do you think the captain would take you away again?” “No, sir,” answered the boy, with a decisive shake of his head. “Ma wouldn’t let him after I’d told her about his beating me.” “Well, then,” said Nelson, “what we’ve got to do is to get you home. Let’s see that chart of the Long-Island coast, Dan. It’s down there in the locker.” The chart was produced and spread out on Nelson’s knees. “Now, let’s see. Where’s Mullen’s Cove situated, Spencer?” “It’s near Mattituck, sir.” “Mattituck, Mattituck,” murmured Nelson. “That has a familiar sound. Let me see, now, where—Oh, here it is! And here’s Mullen’s Cove, too.” “May I look at it, sir?” asked Spencer eagerly. “Yes; come here. Here it is, see?” The boy leaned over Nelson’s shoulder and looked for a long while without saying anything. Then, with a sigh——