Frank Merriwell's Cruise Part 11

The man in the launch who had claimed to be sheriff stood up and waved his clinched fist above his head.

"In the name of the law, I command you to surrender!" he shouted.

"Show your authority," calmly returned Merriwell.

"Here it is--the bill of sale of that yacht."

"That is no authority. Do you think you can bluff us because we are young? You will find you have made a big mistake."

"Board them!" cried Flynn. "Take the yacht! That is the only way to do it!"

"You will find that is a mighty hard way to do it!" grated Bart Hodge.

"Come on, Snell! I want to get at you!"

The launch ran alongside the yacht, and the man with the fellow who claimed to be the sheriff caught the rail of the _White Wings_ with a boat hook.

"Come on!" roared the black-whiskered chap.

"Stand by to repel boarders!" rang out Frank's clear voice.

CHAPTER VI.

THE STRUGGLE FOR THE YACHT.

The big man with the whiskers was the first to make an attempt to reach the deck of the yacht. He gave a leap that landed him on the rail. Then Bruce Browning picked him up and tossed him back into the launch.

The man was surprised, but he made another rush to get onto the _White Wings_.

In the meantime Parker Flynn had tried to get aboard, but had been struck on the jaw by Merriwell's hard fist and knocked back into the launch.

Snell started to climb over the rail of the yacht, but tumbled back of his own accord when Hodge made a rush for him.

The hang-dog-appearing chap was the spryest man on the launch. With a catlike leap, he cleared the rail of the _White Wings_ and reached the deck. He found himself face to face with Jack Diamond, and a second later they clinched.

"You are not wanted here!" exclaimed Jack.

"But I'm going to stay here!" said the other.

Diamond was strong and smart, but he found his hands full. Had he not taken the chap at a slight disadvantage in getting the first hold, the stranger would have been his master. As it was, they slipped and staggered about the deck, the stranger struggling to break Jack's hold.

In his excitement, Hans failed to hold the yacht steadily on her course, as Frank had directed, and suddenly she swung, so the main boom swept across the deck. It struck Diamond's antagonist on the back of the head and stunned him for a moment. That moment was long enough for Jack to lift him and drop him over into the launch.

Hans sent over the wheel and brought the yacht back, so the boom swung out of the way, but his negligence had aided Diamond to a large extent.

On falling back into the boat, Snell had scrambled up and stood snarling at Hodge, who was urging him to come within reach.

"Oh, I do want to get my hands on you!" said Bart. "I'll give you something to remember me by, you sneaking cur!"

"You are a sneak yourself!" cried Snell, "or you would not be hanging around with Frank Merriwell after he licked you and got the best of you in everything you did!"

"It is a compliment to be called a sneak by you, you coward! Come up here! Let me give you a black eye!"

But Snell kept just out of reach, although he made several bluff attempts to board the _White Wings_.

Probably the most astonished man was the big fellow with the black whiskers. He realized that Browning had handled him easily and carelessly, but still it did not seem possible that the rather fleshy, smooth-faced chap could have much strength, large as he was.

"Better stay down there," advised Bruce. "Next time I shall throw you farther."

"Next time you won't throw me at all!" came from the professed sheriff, as he made another spring for the yacht.

It seemed that Bruce caught him on the fly. Now the big fellow was fully aroused, and he swung the stranger over his head and gave him a terrific heave.

The man whirled through the air, pa.s.sed clean over the launch, struck the water beyond and disappeared from view.

At that very moment Frank Merriwell got another crack at Parker Flynn, who had not learned his lesson by his first experience, and again tried to board.

Smack!--the blow sounded, and, with a groan, Flynn dropped down into the launch.

The man who was running the launch seemed satisfied, for he suddenly let go with the boat hook, and the yacht swung away from her foe.

The self-styled sheriff came to the surface and was pulled aboard the launch. The ducking seemed to have taken the spirit out of him. He glared at the yacht, but all his eagerness to board her seemed gone.

Parker Flynn sat up and swore, holding onto his aching jaw. He had not realized that there was a set of fighters on board the _White Wings_, although Wat Snell had warned him to that effect. Now he realized that the yacht could not easily be captured in the manner in which he had attempted to accomplish the feat.

The meeting of Flynn and Snell came about in this way. Snell, on finding Frank and his friends were in Boston, had played the spy on the party.

He followed them to the pier the morning they went aboard the _White Wings_, and he saw the encounter between Frank and Flynn. When Flynn left the pier, Snell followed and spoke to him. After that it did not take Wat long to work into the good graces of Flynn.

Infuriated by his failure to obtain possession of the yacht, Flynn proceeded to get drunk and stay so. On the second day of his spree, he determined to pursue Merriwell and take the yacht by force, if it could not be obtained in any other manner. Then he hunted up Snell, and it was not hard to induce Wat to accompany him.

Flynn knew the "poker gang" in Rockland, and he knew there were a few desperate fellows among those who made up the gang. He had "dropped his roll" in Rockland once when he struck the town with an idea in his head that he was "getting against a lot of jays," and on that occasion he became friendly with Peter McSwatt and Hunk Gardman. Gardman did not belong in Rockland, but he came in frequently from an adjoining town to play poker. He was a crook and a sneak, and he showed it in his face.

McSwatt was not quite as "smooth" as Gardman; he could not "handle the cards" as well, but he could sit in a game with Gardman and play what his crooked pal dealt him, so that, after every game, there was usually an ill-gotten pot to be divided. If there was any trouble, McSwatt did the fighting.

Flynn telephoned McSwatt and told him when he would be in Rockland, asking to be met at the boat by McSwatt and a good man who would stand by in a sc.r.a.p. He ended by saying there was good money in it, and his offered inducements led McSwatt and Gardman to be on hand at the time set.

Flynn was still under the influence of liquor. Had it been otherwise, he would not have fired at the _White Wings_ from the deck of the _City of Bangor_.

On arriving in Rockland, he found his chosen tools waiting for him, and he explained that the yacht _White Wings_ had been stolen from him. To convince McSwatt and Gardman, he showed the bill of sale which he held.

He explained that he could not afford the time to recover the boat by regular process of law, and said that it would be an easy thing to take it from the boys who were on board. He showed money and paid his tools something in advance. A few drinks of liquor put them in the mood for almost anything, and then the steam launch was hired to go out in search of the _White Wings_, as Flynn feared the yacht might not come into Rockland at all.

The owner of the launch was convinced that Flynn really owned the yacht, and had a right to take her by force if necessary, but he did not agree to have anything to do with the seizing of the boat further than putting the party alongside.

Snell had warned Flynn that the party on the _White Wings_ was made up of fighters, but the man sneered at them as a lot of boys. It was not believed that there would be any real difficulty in obtaining possession of the yacht, but it was thought best that McSwatt should claim to be an officer.

Thus it came about that the _White Wings_ was met by the steam launch as she headed into Rockland harbor. But the crew on board the launch met with the surprise of their lives, and they were thoroughly disgusted when they were beaten off without much difficulty.