instinctively the eyes of nearly all on board the olivette turned towards the object of the policemen's presence. gregory had spotted the representatives of the law too. mr. graham, regarding him from a distance of about twenty feet, fancied that his jaw dropped slightly and that his face became a darker tint. beyond that gregory gave no indication of either fear or defiance.
presently the crowd parted as the stalwart men in blue advanced towards the quay-side with the obvious intention of crossing the deck of the unity and boarding the olivette.
even then gregory did not shift his position. desmond, watching him out of the corner of his eye, wondered what the wanted youth was going to do. it seemed improbable that a hardened young criminal would give in tamely while a chance remained to attempt to escape.
"i think that if i were in his place," soliloquized desmond, "i'd jump into the dinghy and scull for the other side of the harbour like blue blazes. perhaps he'll dish the bobbies yet."
mr. armitage advanced to the rail to receive the two policemen.
"you know what we're here for, sir?" remarked one of the men.
the scoutmaster nodded.
"what's the lad done?" he asked in a low tone.
"broke into an old woman's shop, rifled the till, and well-nigh did for her, sir," was the reply. "he's a dangerous chap, seeing he's not turned seventeen. did he give you any trouble, sir?"
"none whatever, constable."
"that's strange, sir."
"when a fellow's sea-sick there's the bottom knocked out of the universe as far as he's concerned," remarked the scoutmaster drily.
the second constable had meanwhile sauntered for'ard, keeping the still unresisting but now restless gregory between him and the bows of the olivette. at a sign from his companion the policeman laid his hand on the wanted lad's shoulder.
"come on, greening," he exclaimed. "this is the end of your little stunt. come quietly now, or there'll be more trouble."
"what for?" demanded the youth with sudden energy. "my name's not greening—it's gregory, and i ain't done nothin'!"
"and half a dozen other aliases, i suppose?" rejoined his captor caustically. "it won't wash, greening, so chuck it."
the boy appealed wildly to mr. armitage.
"i've done nothin' wrong, have i, sir?" he exclaimed. "it ain't you who's given me in charge, is it, sir?"
the scoutmaster did not know what to reply. it seemed a despicable act on his part to have kept the boy "in the dark" until his captors were upon him. he could only shake his head in a deprecatory way.
gregory went quietly. with quite unnecessary vehemence the two policemen bundled him off the olivette and across the deck of the smack. murmurs of pity rose from the throng of interested spectators, while execrations of no mild form were hurled at the crew of the olivette and the two scoutmasters in particular, for their part in surrendering their charge. clearly the sympathies of the sutton pool habitués were strongly in favour of the prisoner.
suddenly the lad stopped and raised his head.
"uncle! uncle garge!" he shouted.
a short, burly man on the fringe of the crowd, on hearing himself addressed, elbowed his way through the press and planted himself rigidly in front of the leading policeman.
"what you'm doin' wi' my nephew?" he demanded.
"tell them my name's gregory, uncle," exclaimed the youth, before the policemen could say a word.
"'corse it tes," rejoined the fisherman. "same as mine, an' nothin' for to be ashamed on. what are ye got 'im for, perliceman?"
"broke out of the borstal institution at portland, day before yesterday," replied the constable laconically.
the little man held his sides, threw back his head, and laughed uproariously.
"lead on, joe!" exclaimed one of the policemen to his comrade. "we can't stop here arguing the point."
"get back, man!" said the other constable, addressing the highly amused fisherman. "get back, or i'll run you in for obstruction."
just then the two scoutmasters came up. the assertion of gregory's uncle and the policemen's replies had been distinctly audible on board the olivette. realizing that there was certainly a mistake somewhere, mr. armitage jumped ashore to see the matter through, and mr. graham followed to back him up.
"i think there's some misunderstanding, constable," observed mr. armitage. "we'll go with you to the station. this man's assertion quite conforms to—er—gregory's statement when we picked him up in west bay."
"but didn't you report the matter to prawle point, sir?" asked the policeman. "they telephoned the information on to us and we acted upon it."
a howl of execration burst from the lips of the onlookers. clearly they regarded the scoutmaster as the cause of the trouble.
realizing that there was not much to be gained by arguing with a couple of policemen on sutton pool quay in the face of hostilely inclined onlookers, mr. armitage did not reply to the question.
a few minutes later the double doors of the police-station closed in the faces of a curious and demonstrative crowd, while the two scoutmasters, gregory, uncle and nephew, and the two policemen entered the charge-room, where they were greeted by a stern-faced inspector.
on the one hand the police had acted upon instructions. the description of the missing borstal lad corresponded very closely with that of the youth removed from the olivette. the time, place, and proximity to portland, as far as the rescue in west bay was concerned, tended to bear out the official view of the case.
on the other hand uncle garge gregory, a well-known local smack-owner, was emphatic that the lad was his nephew and that he certainly was not at portland a week ago, because his sister had mentioned his nephew in a letter.
"all you've got ter du, inspector," he added, "is tu telegraph tu the police at abbotsbury an' get them to see my brother tom—young tom here's father."
the inspector turned to mr. armitage.
"you reported the matter, i understand?"
"we merely reported that we had picked up a boat with a boy in it somewhere in west bay," replied the scoutmaster. "the reply to our signal was to the effect that the boy was the one who had broken out of portland. we had no reason to doubt the statement. now we know that it is wrong, but you must admit that the assertion did not come from us. i might also point out that the dinghy bears the words: 'gregory—abbotsbury'."
"all right, gregory," said the inspector, addressing "uncle garge". "you can take your nephew away and be responsible for him. bring him here to-morrow at ten o'clock—merely as a matter of form."
the crowd without raised a cheer when the two gregorys appeared. mr. armitage and mr. graham were greeted with a storm of hisses and cat-calls.
holding his nephew's arm, garge gregory mounted a doorstep and held up his hand. such was the popularity of the little man that almost instantly the noisy throng relapsed into silence.
"friends!" exclaimed mr. gregory in stentorian tones, "'tes all a mistake. you'm no call tu rant at these gen'l'men here. they be rare gude uns, seein' as 'ow they saved my nephew's life, so tu say. look see: they bain't a-had nothin' tu du wi' this little misunderstandin'. t'was all the fault of the perlice; so don't 'ee shout agin' these gen'l'men no more."
"we'm mighty sorry to be sure, sir," said one of the men, who had been conspicuous in the hostile demonstration.
"quite all right," replied mr. armitage hurriedly. "we all make mistakes sometimes."
it was nearly eight o'clock when the two scoutmasters regained the olivette. although the rain had ceased it was now quite out of the question to think of the southend sea scouts setting out on their long trek.
"we are sleeping on board to-night," announced mr. graham, after mr. armitage had briefly related what had occurred at the police-station. "if any of you fellows want to stretch your legs, let me recommend a stroll round the hoe before it gets dark."
a little later a fisherman crossed the deck of the unity and dumped a pailful of fish into the olivette's well.
"might come in handy like, mister," he said sheepishly. "us—me an' my mates—wish tu make amends, in a manner o' speakin', for kicking up a shine. us hopes you'll let bygones be bygones, sir, an' if you'm wantin' any assistance while you'm stoppin' at plymouth don't 'ee be afraid tu ax any o' we."
