It was an easy matter to remove the brace which secured the cabin-doors, and to take out the strip of board which held the slide in its place. If either Mack or Ripples had had a moment of liberty after he came on deck from the cabin-window, he could have released his companions below. After Dory's talk with Chuck over the stern of the vessel, the party below were quiet, evidently believing that the deck was in possession of the two who had made their egress through the cabin-windows. When the door was opened, Chuck, as the leader by succession, was the first to step on the deck. He could not have helped hearing the tramp of many feet on the planks over his head, but he had no positive knowledge of what was going on. He seemed to be astonished at the fact that the vessel was alongside a wharf, and he looked with amazement on the crowd that had gathered near the La Motte. "What sort of a circus is this?" demanded he, bewildered, as he looked around him. "It's all up with us, Chuck," said Mack at the rail. "Shut your mouth, and keep it shut." "But I don't understand what all this means," persisted the astonished successor of Mr. Spickles. "Didn't you tell me that you had knocked over the two fellows on deck, and taken possession of the vessel?" "No, I didn't!" snapped Mack, who did not appear to be in an amiable mood. "That was a bit of strategy on the part of Dory," interposed the machinist. "I told you that we had knocked over the two fellows, but they were the two you sent on deck through the cabin-windows," added Dory. "There seems to be two classes of these men," said Mr. Bushby. "A part of them had no hand in the robbery, and were not in the vessel at the time; but I don't know them apart." "This is one of the robbers: he went to the shore with the two who blowed up the safe, and helped them off," added Dory. "The one who is tied to the rail is the fellow that was in the office with Angy." "Who is Angy?" "He is the one in the lock-up." The four companions of Ripples were the next to appear, and Dory declared that they were not of the robbers; and he believed that they knew nothing about the robbery, either before or after the crime was committed. Sangfraw and Wickwood were the last to show themselves, and they were still quite boozy with the beer they had drunk. "These two were on board of the La Motte, and were the ship-keepers; while the other three went ashore to commit the robbery," continued Dory. "Then, I shall hold them; for they knew all about it, to say the least," said Mr. Bushby, as he and his associate slipped the handcuffs on their wrists, as they had done with Chuck. "Did Ripples know any thing about the robbery?" asked the principal of the last two. "Not a thing," replied Sang promptly. "I came here for the most honest frolic in the world," protested Ripples.