A Millionaire at Sixteen by Oliver Optic

Louis felt that he had done no more than his duty in telling his mother that they were in the power and at the mercy of the enemy; and he regarded John Scoble as an enemy in the worst sense of the word. He was not disposed to give way to despondency, though the prospect before him and his mother was anything but assuring. His two male friends were prisoners in the hold, and until he could deliver them he could hardly hope to accomplish anything for the party, of which the circumstances appeared to have made him the leader.

Scoble did not yet show himself; for he seemed to be satisfied that he had won a complete victory in the capture of his wife and her son, and was willing to let them recover from their astonishment before he took a second step. What the next step would be was a trying question to Louis, and he wished to make himself ready, if he could, to meet it. He could hardly believe that the conspirator would take Captain Ringgold and Felix to England with him; and he was anxious to free them before any other disposition was made of them, for he needed their aid.