She was not required to maintain such strict vigilance, for just then several men ran up to take charge of the girl.
“What’s the idea?” one of them demanded. “Has she stolen something?”
“No, I haven’t!” Mary spit out. “Let me go or I’ll have you all arrested for this outrage!”
“Keep a close watch on her,” Nancy directed calmly. “And will someone please call the police?”
Assured that there was no danger of Mary’s making another break for freedom, she hurried to the dock to find out what had become of Bud. To her relief, she saw that the naval officer had collared him and was dragging him back by main force.
“We have them all now except Tom Tozzle!” Nancy exclaimed.
“They’ve caught him too,” someone in the crowd observed.
A moment later two men came up with the riverman in custody. From his battered appearance it was obvious that there had been a scuffle and that he had not fared particularly well.
“The fellow’s a tough customer,” one of the men who had captured him observed. “We cornered him in a shed.”
“Have you charges to prefer against these three persons?” the naval officer questioned, turning politely to Nancy.
“Indeed, I have! They are criminals of the worst sort. First they stole forty thousand dollars’ worth of jewels from a friend of mine and—”
“It’s a lie! All a lie!” Mary Mason broke in.
“And I happen to know that they are wanted for a number of smaller thefts,” Nancy continued, without paying the slightest attention to the