With the setting of the sun a light mist formed and hung above the surface of the big crescent-shaped bay on which Austin’s Pool was located. The shadowy blanket was just heavy enough to dim the side lights of the little vessels that were moving in and out of the harbor, going to or returning from the fishing grounds, and to make the craft themselves phantom-like and ghostly as they flitted by.

Jack and Ray, with Warden Williams and Old Mitchell, were not the first to arrive at the end of the long dock which was the appointed place of meeting for the party that was to raid Frenchman’s Point. Indeed, as they made their way down the pier they could see a group of shadowy figures standing about the structure, the glowing openings of their pipe bowls making dull red sparks in the grayed darkness.

[146]

The matter of which kind of a boat would be best to take the party across the bay was under discussion when the warden and his three assistants arrived. Some advised the use of sail boats which would approach the Point in silence, while others suggested motor boats because of their superior speed. The chief of the expedition soon settled the question, however, by suggesting that Mitchell’s boat, the Betsy Anne, which was known to be one of the speediest of its size in that vicinity, be used to convey part of the group. Joe Milliken’s sloop was chartered to carry the remainder. There were twenty men all told, which provided ten to each boat, thus allowing all to travel in comfort.

Before embarking, however, a council of war was held, for every man of the twenty was decidedly eager to have the expedition a success. Not one of them had the slightest liking for the riffraff of Frenchman’s Point and they said so in rather crude but forceful language. Indeed, almost every fisherman and lobsterman at the Pool had some grudge against Salmon Jack and other men of the notorious[147] settlement across the bay, and they were more than eager to pay up old scores. Nets had been cut or stolen, lobsters and even lobster traps and lobster cars had disappeared, and the fishermen were quite certain that the honest old seamen who put in at the Pool were not to blame for these outrages.

In truth, the fact that Old Mitchell had actually secured evidence by means of which arrests and convictions could be made pleased every one in the fishing village who had heard of it so far, and probably Warden Williams could have had a hundred deputies if he had wanted them. His assistant, June Emery, whom Jack and Ray had seen in the warden’s office that evening and whom Mr. Williams had sent to organize the posse, had been discreet, however, and had only told the news of the proposed raid to the men whom he knew Mr. Williams was anxious to have as members of his party.

Every man of them had come armed in some way or another. One or two had guns, but most of them carried clubs or short-handled, ugly looking mallets, which Ray informed Jack[148] were called “muckles” and were used by cod-fishermen to kill the big fish as they were hauled aboard the dories out on the banks.

The conference on the wharf’s end lasted fully fifteen minutes and finally resulted in Warden Williams outlining a plan of action.

“Look here, boys,” he said. “It’ll be about half-past nine when we reach t’ P’int. By that time ha’af of the population of the shanties will be in Fred King’s hang-out, which is the only social center those heathens have. I suggest we land on the P’int as quickly as we can and go up and surround the rum shop. Then I’ll go inside and arrest whoever I want, and if they try to scatter, we’ll buckle into ’em and arrest every one we can lay hands on, even if we can’t prove anything agin’ ’em. How’s that?”

“Right’s a fiddle,” said several.

“Mighty smart figgerin’,” assured others.

“All right,” said Warden Williams. “Now, boys, tumble aboard the boats. Mitchell, you take your load, and when we land you stand by your boat. Joe, you get your load and when we reach there let June Emery stand by your boat.”

[149]

“Aw, Mr. Williams, does that keep me out of the fracas?” asked June, who had come around by the side of Jack and Ray.

“Well, I don’t know,” said Mr. Williams, slowly scratching his head. “Seems sort of mean to keep you out of it. I guess Mitch, here, can watch the two boats if you’re keen to mix it up with the rest. All right, you can be one of the fightin’ force.”

At this gratifying news, Jack and Ray could see the lad’s face brighten and they were glad for his sake that he was going to share whatever excitement might attend the raid. All three lads kept close together and found a place in Mitchell’s boat during the scramble of embarking.

With the men aboard, the respective skippers were not long in casting off and presently the two boats were racing through the mist, the swift little Betsy Anne taking the lead immediately.

To Jack and Ray there was a peculiar fascination about the night’s work. A primitive instinct seemed to work to the surface when they realized that they were slipping along silently through the black water, bent on surprising[150] the lobster pirates. Indeed, the spirit of the expedition was so strong that before the boats were half way to the Point men and boys were talking in whispers and even the swish and gurgle under the bow seemed to become subdued.

“Say, but this is exciting,” whispered Jack to June Emery, who sat at his elbow.

“You bet it is. We’re in for a rough time too, I’m a-thinking. These Frenchmen ain’t any children when it comes to scrapping, and they’re liable to get their bad blood up before the night’s over and knife a couple of us. There’s been some wild doin’s over there at the Point sometimes when the whole crew was filled full of licker. Fred King sells licker right out in the open, even though it’s agin’ the law in Maine. They’re a bad lot, I tell you.”

“I know French Canadians and half-breeds,” said Ray. “One got loose down in Ascog one night after he’d been out getting tight, and before they got him into the lockup he’d laid three men up for repairs. They’ve bad blood in them, I guess.”

“Jiminy, I wonder what will break loose to-night, then?” asked Ray breathlessly.

[151]

“We’ll know in mighty short order now, for I can see lights out ahead there in the mist and I guess they come from the shanties on the Point. Some of their houses are built pretty well down on the beach,” said June.

Jack and Ray looked out past the bulging jib and saw tiny specks of yellow through the gray darkness. Others saw these pin points of light too, for a murmur went ’round the boat and the lads could hear the men gathering their clubs and mallets together. As for Jack, he had armed himself with a weighty cudgel which he had found in Mr. Williams’ woodshed and as the boat approached the beach he took a firm grip upon this formidable weapon. Ray had equipped himself in a similar manner, while June carried a stout looking hickory ax-haft.

Fortunately the boats approached Frenchman’s Point on the bay side and consequently there were no breakers to make landing difficult. Indeed, Old Mitchell ran the Betsy Anne head on for the beach and grounded her without making the slightest noise. Milliken’s boat arrived a moment later and in less than five minutes the entire posse was ashore and ready for action.

[152]

But few moments were wasted in getting the lay of the land, for most of the men knew Frenchman’s Point well enough to make any building there in any kind of a mist. That being the case, Warden Williams took the lead and in a jiffy the men were trudging through the sands as silently as so many specters. As they moved on up the beach the lights became more numerous and now and then the little band passed within a stone’s toss of one of the many dilapidated shanties that made up the colony.

Soon Jack found that they were proceeding down what appeared to be a street. There were shacks and shanties on either side and in one place there were strips of bark and pieces of old timber. This was evidently meant to serve as a sidewalk, but sand had blown up and covered it completely in many places. No one appeared to be awake about the place, for the men did not encounter a single person. Indeed, the only signs of life were the sparks of yellow light that glimmered through the mist and the muffled voices in the distance.

It was toward the point from which the voices sounded that Warden Williams led his[153] followers. The lights of Fred King’s hang-out soon became discernible, and when they did the men proceeded more cautiously, some of them crouching low and moving along with stealthy tread, although there was no reason for such caution since the sand muffled their footsteps.

Once more Jack thrilled with the primitive instinct of the hunter. It did not take much of an imagination to conjure up feathered head-dresses instead of the so’westers the fishermen wore, and tomahawks and spears instead of clubs and mallets. Indeed, for the moment he felt exactly as if he had been transported back a century or more and was a member of an Indian raiding party about to swoop down upon a log cabin filled with settlers.

But he could not afford to give such thought playroom in his mind very long, for presently Mr. Williams halted the party and pointed out a low building not fifty feet distant. Light was glowing from its windows and above the shouts of laughter and the loud talking could be heard the discordant jangle of a dance hall piano.

“There’s Fred King’s place and from the[154] noise I calc-late there’s a full house an’ plenty doin’,” said Mr. Williams. “Now, boys, surround the building and lie down in the sand until you hear things begin to happen. I’m goin’ to take four or five with me an’ kick my way into the place. Who wants to come along?”

Jack and Ray crowded forward with several others while the rest of the party started to surround the building.

“All right, boys, come on, an’ if a free fight starts, the rest of you pile right in behin’ us and crack as many heads as you see. I’m going after Salmon Jack, Long Aleck, and whoever else I see in there,” said the warden as he started forward with his detachment of followers at his heels.

On his way around to th............