"What's that?" called out the man, and Dora repeated her words before any of the others could stop her. "All right, I'll do what I can for you," said the man, and running up beside the yacht, which had become caught in a sudden calm, he made fast with a boathook. CHAPTER XIX DORA TRIES TO ESCAPE "Now we're in a pickle!" whispered Mumps. "That man may cause us a whole lot of trouble." "You let me do the talking," answered Dan Baxter. "Help Goss get her back to the cabin." "I won't go back!" screamed Dora. "Let me be!" And she ran for the rail. But Mumps caught hold of her and dragged her back. Then Bill Goss approached, followed by his wife. "You must go below, miss," said the sailor. "Come, Nancy, give us a lift." Poor Dora found herself at once surrounded and shoved back. She tried to call out again, but Mumps checked her with that ever-ready hand of his. "Be careful!" shouted Baxter, for the benefit of the man on the flatboat. "Treat her with care, poor girl." "All right," grinned Mumps. "Come, down you go," he went on, to Dora, and literally forced her down the companionway. Once in the cabin she was left in Mrs. Goss' care. The door was locked, and Goss and Mumps went on deck to learn what Baxter was doing. "What does this mean?" asked the man in the flatboat. He was a farmer, who had just been taking a load of hay across the stream. "Oh, it's all right," answered Baxter carelessly. "That's my sister." "Your sister?" "Yes." "What's the row?" "No row at all--excepting that I am trying to get her back to the asylum." "Is she crazy?" "A little bit; but not near as bad as she used to be. She got out of the asylum in Brooklyn yesterday, and I've had my hands full trying to get her back. She imagines she is a sea captain and always runs off with my uncle's yacht." "I see. That's putty bad for your family." "Oh, yes; but we are getting used to it. Take care, we are going to swing around." Never suspecting that he had been regaled with a string of falsehoods, the farmer let go with his boathook, and yacht and flatboat speedily drifted apart. It was with a big sigh of relief that Dan Baxter saw the flatboat recede in the distance. "That was a narrow shave," he muttered. "If that fellow had insisted on talking to Dora there would have been a whole lot of trouble." In vain Dora waited for the man to come on board. He had said that he would do what he could for her. Surely he would not desert her! But as the time slipped by her heart failed her and she gave herself up to another crying spell. This caused Mumps and Goss to withdraw, and she was left alone again with Mrs. Goss. "Where are we now?" she asked at length. "We are approaching New York," was the answer. "And that man, what of him?" "Oh, he didn't come an board." It was night when the _Flyaway_ came to a landing near the upper portion of the metropolis. The boys and Bill Goss went ashore, leaving Dora in Mrs. Goss' care.