Frank was dragged to the deck of his stolen yacht and dropped down as if he were an inanimate thing. As he lay there in the darkness, hearing the men taking care of the small boat, he again struggled to free himself of the cords that held him.
“It’s no use,” was his final decision. “Those knots were tied by a sailor, and they will not slip.”
He was making his wrists sore, and he gave up the struggle.
Pretty soon Flynn came and stood near him.
“Here, Steve,” he called, “we’ll take him below.”
The sailor approached, and Frank was carried down into the cabin, which was lighted.
On getting into the light, Flynn saw that Merriwell was conscious.
“So you’ve come around,” he sneered, with an evil look on his face. “I’m glad of that.”
He, too, was dressed roughly, like a sailor, and on his face was a stubbed beard, showing he had not been shaved for a week.
Frank was placed in a sitting position, and then Flynn stood up before him, showing his hatred by the look on his face.
“You don’t seem tickled to be on board the _White Wings_ again,” he sneered. “Don’t suppose you expected to come aboard in this fashion.”
“Hardly,” admitted Frank, quietly. “But still it’s better than not coming aboard at all.”
“You will not think so before I am done with you,” came threateningly from Flynn’s lips. “You’ll curse the day you ever saw this boat.”
“Oh, you can pretend to be awfully cool about it, but you won’t be so cool when you know what I am going to do with you.”
“I need to be warmed up. Perhaps you had better tell me.”
“You will find out soon enough. You thought me dead. Ha! ha! How I fooled you! But I did get a drop into the river. I was hiding under some bushes which hung over into the water while you were searching for me. As soon as you were gone I crawled out and took to the woods.
“I left the bicycle, for I wanted you to think I was drowned. The trick worked all right, and you left the yacht unguarded. Under any circumstances you did not suppose I would return to Belfast, even though I was not dead; but I came back there, and I didn’t lose any time in getting possession of my property.”
“No! This boat belongs to me. I swore I would have her, and I have kept the oath. You did not know what sort of man you were dealing with when you tried to bluff Parker Flynn.”