Water Chase (5 page)

At first it didn’t seem that the seaplane pilot had noticed them, but suddenly it began to circle and drop, and landed on the water in a spume of spray. It taxied alongside and the pilot killed the engine, circled on the water and came close again. He slid open the window.

“Hello there, Baird. I recognized your boat. Any luck?”

“Thank God, it’s you, Davidson!” Mr. Baird shouted back. Then he said in a lower tone to the boys, “He’s just the one we need, has a charter water taxi service.”

“What did you say, Baird? No sign of the ‘Chinook’? We’ve been looking for a couple of days!”

“Yes, we’ve found her!” Peter and Donald shouted together. They saw a passenger in the plane lean forward and say something to the pilot. By this time the plane was some distance from the “Ambassador” but the pilot soon taxied up to them again.

“Police officer wants to come aboard,” the pilot said. “Let your dinghy down into the water.”

They did what he told them and a moment later the R.C.M.P. officer jumped in, then clambered up the side of their ship. He motioned to the plane to wait while he heard the story Peter and Donald had to tell. Then he gave his orders: the plane was to round up some boats to watch the passage out of Loughborough Inlet and he himself would stay on board the “Ambassador.” Somehow Peter
and Donald felt much safer with him on board.

“Let’s go straight back to where you saw the boat!” the officer said. He told them his name was Sergeant Brown and he was from the Courtenay post of the R.C.M.P. “We’ve been searching these waters thoroughly,” he told them, “but there are hundreds of places in which a boat can hide. Even our planes didn’t report anything resembling the ‘Chinook,’ but I guess the thieves started changing her appearance right away. Of course they had a whole day to get on with their work, while Donald’s father and his crew were drifting around in the launch.”

The boys went to the back of the “Ambassador,” watching the wake of their boat. The plane had long since disappeared and there were no other boats in the Inlet. They were alone, except for the ‘Chinook’ and the men aboard her — and these men were criminals, only a short time ago behind prison bars.

“Looks as if we’re really on our own, doesn’t it?” Sergeant Brown came back to join the boys. “I told the other boats to keep out of sight during the daylight hours. My guess is that the ‘Chinook’ will try to slip down the Inlet tonight, unless of course, they have no suspicion that they’ve been spotted. They may come out any time.” Suddenly he broke off and leaned over the side to look up the Inlet. “What’s that? Do I hear something coming?”

“Must be a fishboat farther up the Inlet,” Donald said.

At last they were approaching the cove where the boys had seen the hidden boat.

“You two had better get inside,” Mr. Baird said. “If by any chance that chap did see you this morning, he might be suspicious if he sees boys on this boat. I don’t suppose they would really worry about a couple of boys, but we can’t take chances. I wonder if they will recognize the ‘Ambassador’?”

The sergeant was in the wheelhouse now so that his uniform wouldn’t give away the fact that a police sergeant was on board; Mr. Baird was at the wheel. Peter and Donald peered out a porthole. They couldn’t see much but they could hear what was going on. John Duncanson was on deck.

“The boat is still there,” he said quietly. “It has the same lines as the ‘Chinook’ right enough.”

“I’m sure the boys wouldn’t make a mistake about that,” Mr. Baird said.

The boys looked at each other and grinned.

“What do you think we’d better do? Go on past and run into Roy? There’s a settlement there. That way we wouldn’t arouse suspicion. Then we could come back and wait for them just west of the cove,” Mr. Baird suggested.

“That might be a good idea,” Sergeant Brown agreed. Suddenly he pointed, just at the same time that John Duncanson let out a warning shout.

“Look! They’re moving!”

“Swing about, Baird,” Sergeant Brown said. “We have to get below them. We’ll give them a shout and order them to stop. If they’re innocent they’ll be friendly enough!”

P
ETER AND DONALD could stay inside no longer. What was the good of being in the middle of an adventure and not seeing everything that was going on?

“You boys should stay in the cabin,” Sergeant Brown said.

“We’ll keep out of sight,” Donald promised.

“Lie low and keep quiet. We don’t want them to be suspicious that we know who they are.”

Slowly the “Ambassador” swung about and started down the Inlet. There was nothing ahead of them; no sign of boats or planes. The sea was a ruffled blue, now that the tide had turned and a breeze had sprung up. They soon passed the cove and the “Chinook” was out of sight once again.

“We’d better slow down,” Mr. Baird said. “No! Here she comes right now!”

Foam creaming her bows, the dark vessel swept out of the cove and into the main waters of the Inlet. A larger ship than the “Ambassador,” and faster, it would not be long before she caught up with them. Mr. Baird put on speed and for a while it seemed as if the stolen boat were pursuing them instead of things really being the other way around.

“They’re getting close. You boys
must
get inside,”
the police officer insisted. “We can’t take chances. If Dooley is in that boat, he’s dangerous.”

Half shaking with mixed fear and excitement, the boys joined John in the wheelhouse. It had been decided that Mr. Baird should go on deck and hail the boat as it drew abreast. The dark “Chinook” was close now and traveling at top speed.

Mr. Baird cupped his hand over his mouth. “Ahoy there!”

There was no reply from the other ship.

“Ahoy there!” Mr. Baird shouted again. “Full speed, John,” he called back into the wheelhouse, “and turn a little to cut them off.”

As the “Ambassador” swung to the pull of the wheel, the other boat turned sharply in the opposite direction.

“Starboard, John! Quick!” Mr. Baird shouted. “Ahoy there!”

There was an angry shout from the “Chinook.” Sergeant Brown stepped out on the deck.

“Surrender, in the name of the Queen!” he shouted, his hand on the gun in its holster.

There was a sudden roar of an engine being gunned to the utmost and the sound of a harsh laugh as the brown boat came straight for their bow. The sergeant’s shot went wild. Mr. Baird leaped back. There was a violent shock and a crunching sound, and then again the roar of the “Chinook’s” engine and a laugh floating back over the waves.

“Is everybody all right?” Mr. Baird looked over the little crew of the “Ambassador.”

“Yes, we’re fine!” Donald said, and the others nodded.

Mr. Baird hurried to the bow to see what damage had been done. “We can travel, but we’d better take it easy,” he reported. “We’ll try to get across to Kelsey Bay. I wonder if they’ll catch them.” He gazed down the Inlet as he spoke.

Slowly the “Ambassador” made her way down the Inlet. The boys, still shaking from excitement, were in the bow watching for any sign of action. For a long time they could see the “Chinook,” a tiny dark speck and a creamy wake, but at last it disappeared from view.

“Did you see the name?” Peter said. “They’ve changed it to Chestnut’!”

“But I bet they were going to change it back again afterward and use the ship’s papers to get them into one of the harbors south of the border. But by now there should be warnings all along the coast,” Donald said.

“Maybe they won’t get far enough to try that,” Peter said.

Now they were coming out of the Inlet and into the small channel between the mainland and one of the small islands.

“Look! Planes, two of them!” Peter shouted.

“Now we can see the ‘Chinook’ again! The boats are after her!”

It was too far away for them to see what happened, but they strained their eyes until planes and boats were out of sight.

“I don’t think we have to worry. They’ll never get away now,” Mr. Baird said.

They continued as fast as the “Ambassador” could travel in her damaged condition and by evening arrived at Kelsey Bay. The sergeant hurried ashore to phone while Mr. Baird tied up the “Ambassador” at the dock to take a good look at the damage done. Much as the boys wanted to go with the sergeant, they didn’t feel they should leave Mr. Baird.

“I guess I’ll be able to make it home, but I don’t know what I’ll do for the rest of the summer,” he said ruefully. “We need the boat to bring down some of the campers next week.”

“I guess we shouldn’t have gone looking for the ‘Chinook’ at all,” Peter said.

“I wonder!” Then Mr. Baird smiled. “We prayed about it, and asked the Lord to lead us to the right place and I’m sure He was guiding us. He took care of us, too.” He paused and looked down at the bows again. “I don’t think the damage is serious but I have to be careful when bringing in the camp children.”

They were still talking when Sergeant Brown came back to the dock.

“They got them!” he said, nodding and smiling. “But it was pretty smart work on the part of you boys to figure out that ship was the ‘Chinook.’ Nobody else recognized her. If it hadn’t been for you, Dooley and his friend might have made their getaway.”

“Boy, oh, boy!” was all Peter could say.

“And the money?” Donald asked.

“They’d managed to open the safe, but the money was still on board. It was Dooley right
enough — who else would think up that? It almost worked, too! Say, there’s a reward for him and I guess you boys might come in for that.” He stood looking at them, rubbing his chin. “But it was your father who offered the reward, Donald!”

Donald nodded. “I know.” He pointed to the damaged “Ambassador.” “We’ll give the credit to the mission boat and its skipper. It looks as if Mr. Baird could make good use of the reward money.”

“I’m glad they’re caught,” Mr. Baird said. “We don’t want characters like that around here.”

“A plane is coming for me tonight,” the sergeant told them. “You boys can ride with me to Campbell River to join Donald’s father.”

The boys hesitated, looking at each other. It hardly seemed fair to leave Mr. Baird and yet there would be the plane ride, seeing Donald’s father and hearing all about what had happened.

“You go right ahead,” Mr. Baird said, as if reading their thoughts. “We’ll just lay overnight and go down to Gowlland first thing in the morning. I’ll phone my wife from here and let her know everything is all right.”

T
HERE WAS GREAT EXCITEMENT as the two boys reached Campbell River. They came up the slipway from the water taxi to find Mr. Harris waiting for them. Donald threw himself at his father.

“Dad, oh, Dad! We got them, didn’t we? And the ‘Chinook’ is safe? And everything’s all right?”

His father put his hands on Don’s shoulders and looked at him.

“Yes, everything is going to be all right, thanks to some very good helpers! But it will take a few days before we can get the ‘Chinook’ ready to continue our trip. Do you boys still want to go, or have you had enough adventure for one summer?”

“Of course we want to go,” Peter said, “but I think from now on we’d better all stick together.”

Mr. Harris laughed. “Yes, you’re right. But there is no need for us to be separated again. I have taken rooms at the hotel for a day or two. Now I think it is high time you two went over there and settled down for a good night’s sleep.”

“But Dad, we haven’t told you about finding the ‘Chinook’!”

“I’m all ears to hear that story!” his father said.
“I thought you could talk better at the snack bar, reinforced with sandwiches and milk shakes!”

While the boys downed their snack they told Mr. Harris the story of how they had found the “Chinook” hidden up the cove of Loughborough Inlet, and then later tried to stop the thieves in their run for open waters.

“What made you decide to go into Loughborough in the first place?” Mr. Harris wanted to know.

“Well you see, sir, we prayed about it first,” Peter said.

“You prayed about that?”

“Yes, of course!” Donald said. “We asked God to guide us to the right place, and He did!”

“And I suppose you prayed about the ‘Chinook’ and its crew when we were missing the first time?” Mr. Harris said.

Peter looked hard at him. He was not quite sure whether Mr. Harris was making fun of them or was really interested.

“Yes, we did. And we weren’t the only ones who prayed for you, Mr. Harris. There was a special prayer meeting with all the camp workers.”

“I wonder …” Mr. Harris began. He hesitated for a moment, then went on. “You know, when we were drifting out there in the boat, I almost gave up hope. I didn’t think we’d ever get picked up, and there was even less chance that we’d drift to shore safely. I thought for sure we’d break up on the rocks, or land at some place miles and miles from homes or settlements. But it just seemed as if that boat were being taken in gently and surely to the beach at Savary.”

Peter looked at Donald and his eyes were shining.

“But Dad, Peter told you everybody was praying for you. You see, He really does look after us. He hears our prayers, I know!”

Peter smiled and nodded. Sometimes it seemed to him that Donald’s faith was stronger than his own, and Donald was a new Christian.

“Dad, we ought to thank the Lord for answering our prayers. Don’t you think we should?”

His father looked at him a little strangely but did not reply.

“Everything has turned out right after all!” Donald went on. “For us, I mean, but it was a bit rough on the ‘Ambassador.’”

“The mission boat was badly damaged?”

“Yes. You see, when we tried to stop the ‘Chinook’ Dooley rammed right into the bow. Mr. Baird had to travel real slow down to Kelsey. He said he’d have to get some work done before he made his trip to pick up campers.” Donald paused and looked at his father. “Dad, Sergeant Brown said you’d offered a reward for anybody who helped find your boat, and it was really the ‘Ambassador’ that did the job. Couldn’t Mr. Baird have the reward? It would pay for damages.”

“I would certainly do that in any case,” Donald’s father said quietly. “Now you two must get off to bed. It’s very late. Your room is down the hall on the second floor. Number 14. I’ll be next door.”