"

"Consarn him," interrupted the captain.

"You needn't grumble, his father paid you back all that was taken,"
observed Merritt.

"That don't lessen the crime," grunted the captain, "heave ahead with
yer yarn, my boy; yer was sayin' that that Reddin' boy admitted
everythin'."

"Well," continued Rob, "in consideration of his confession, it was
agreed not to prosecute him and he seems to be a reformed character.
He absolutely denied, though, having had anything to do with the
kidnapping of Joe Digby here, and I believe he is telling the truth."

"The truth ain't in any uv them fellers, that's my belief," snorted the
captain, "and if ever I get my hands on that thar Jack Curtiss or Bill
Bender I'll lay onto 'em with a rope's end."

"Oh, we'll never see them again," laughed Rob.

It may be said here, however, that in this he was very much mistaken.
Rob and his friends did meet the bully again and under strange
circumstances, in scenes far removed from the peaceful surroundings of
Hampton.

"Fog's thickenin'," observed the captain squinting seaward.

As he remarked, the mist was indeed increasing in density, shrouding
the surroundings of the camp completely and covering the trees and
bushes with condensed moisture, which dripped in a slow, melancholy
sort of way from their limbs.

"Bad weather for ships," observed Merritt.

"Yer may well say that, my lad, and this is a powerful bad part uv the
coast ter be navigatin' on in a fog. I've heard it said that there's a
lot uv iron in the Long Island shoals and that this deflects the
compasses uv ships that stay too near in shore in a fog. I don't know
how that maybe, I don't place a lot uv stock in it myself, but I do
know that steamers and vessels uv al kinds go ashore here more than
seems ter be natural."

As he finished speaking there came, the fog a sound that fitted in so
well with subject of his conversation that it almost an accompaniment
to it.

"Who-oo-oo-oo!"

"A steamer's siren," exclaimed Rob.

"That's what it is, lad," assented the old sailor, as the sound came
again, booming through the fog with a melancholy cadence.

"Who-o-o-o-o-o!" roared the siren once more.

"I'll bet the feller who's on the bridge uv that ship is havin' his own
troubles just about now," remarked the captain, "hark at that!"

The whistle was now roaring like a wounded bull, sending distinct
vibrations of sound through the increasing fog billows.

"Thick as pea soup,"