The Deserted Yacht Part 15

He held her arms so that she could not have escaped had she tried. She permitted him to lead her away.

"Where is he taking her?" Madge thought, torn by indecision. "Shall I follow or try to get aid?"

After a moment of frantic debate, she decided upon the latter course.

Slipping quietly through the brush until she was a short distance away, she raced madly toward the beach. She reached the motor boat and groped for the rockets which she had stored under the seat.

The first match was wet and went out. She struck a dozen without success.

Then as she was about to despair, one lighted and she touched off the rocket. It shot into the sky, leaving a trailing arch of fire which disintegrated into a shower of stars and vanished.

Madge tried to touch off a second rocket but could find no match which would light. Fearful of delaying so long that she would lose track of Enid and her captor, she gave it up and darted back into the woods.

At the white birch she found the trail which the two had taken. Before following it, she dropped her handkerchief as a clue for Rex, should he find it difficult to discover which way she had gone.

She had hurried some distance before a cras.h.i.+ng of bushes directly ahead, warned her that she was overtaking Enid and her captor.

She followed more cautiously, taking pains to mark the trail well. At one turn she dropped her scarf, and a little farther on, broke twigs and placed stones in such fas.h.i.+on that they indicated the way she had gone.

"Rex may not notice," she thought anxiously, "even if he has a flashlight. If it were Jack, he'd be looking for signs, but Rex hasn't been trained to it."

It was well that Madge had marked the trail, for the kidnapper was leading her deep into the forest. She wondered where he could be taking Enid and was fearful for her chum. If only Rex brought aid in time!

At last she beheld a clearing just ahead, and reaching the edge of it, dared not leave the security of the trees. She noticed a small, tumbledown cottage which stood at the edge of a ravine. The kidnapper led Enid toward the house and tried to force her to enter.

"No! I'll wait here for my father!" she cried. "Keep your promise. You have the Zudi Drum-now free my father."

"He is inside," the man told her. "If you wish to see him, you must enter."

Enid hesitated, beside herself with doubt and suspicion. Then the desire to find her father overshadowed all else, and she reluctantly entered the house. Instantly, the door slammed shut.

"They have her now!" Madge thought in alarm. "She walked straight into their trap."

For a full minute she stood at the edge of the clearing, trying to decide what was best to do. Should she return to the beach there to await Rex and the authorities or attempt to find out what was transpiring inside the house?

"Rex may not have seen my signal rocket," she told herself anxiously. "In that case, help will never come. If it comes to the worst I must make an effort to save Enid myself."

Convinced that it would never do to leave the scene, she stealthily moved across the clearing. Once she paused to look back toward the forest, feeling that someone was following her.

The windows of the house had been darkened and in only one room was there a sign of a light. Madge tiptoed across the porch and tried to peer inside. The crack between the bottom of the curtain and the window sill was too small to permit even a glimpse. She could hear a faint murmur of voices inside but was unable to distinguish a word.

"It's possible the men really mean to release Mr. Burnett," she considered. "If they intend to keep their promise, Enid should be coming out in a minute or so."

Then she thought of the Zudi Drum Bowl and the subst.i.tution she and Rex had made. If the package were opened, Enid would be involved in even more difficulties.

"I'm partially responsible," Madge charged herself. "It's up to me to get her out of this."

She waited a few minutes upon the porch until she was convinced that Enid was not to be released. Then, as her fears gained the upper hand, she made a tour of the cottage, hoping to find some aperture which would permit her to see what was going on inside.

The windows were all above her head save for the one opening off the porch and the curtains had been carefully drawn. However, at the rear of the house, she found a door which seemed to lead down a flight of stairs to the cellar. She tried the door and found it unlocked.

Without an instant's thought for her own safety, she cautiously raised up the door. It creaked alarmingly on its rusty hinges. After waiting a brief s.p.a.ce to make sure that the sound had not called attention to her presence, she quietly slipped inside and lowered the door after her.

It was pitch dark within and the cellar gave off an unpleasant, damp, musty odor. Madge crept down the stairs one at a time taking care not to make the slightest sound. At the bottom she found a second door which opened readily at a turn of the handle.

A heap of rubbish had been left just inside and in groping about, Madge stumbled over it.

"Now I've done it!" she told herself.

The flooring above was thin and the sound of masculine voices reached her ears distinctly.

"What was that?" she heard some one ask. "Thought that sound came from the bas.e.m.e.nt."

Madge barely had time to flatten herself against the wall before an inside door directly above her opened. The beam of a lantern was flashed about the room. It missed her by a scant two feet.

"Guess it must have been a cat," the man muttered and closed the door.

Madge breathed a sigh of relief and for several minutes dared not move.

Then she summoned her courage, and quietly crept up the stairs leading to the interior of the house.

Suddenly she was startled to hear Enid's cry:

"Let us go as you promised! You have the Zudi Drum. What more do you want?"

Unable to bear the suspense of not knowing what was transpiring within, Madge reached up and slowly turned the door k.n.o.b. She pushed the door open a tiny crack and peered into the room.

The sight caused her to gasp.

Mr. Burnett, his face pale and drawn, lay upon a sagging couch at one end of the room. His arms and legs were bound. Enid stood beside him, facing the kidnappers defiantly.

Besides the man who had met Enid at the white birch, there were three others in the room. Two of them Madge had never seen before. They were Indian natives, dressed in strange costumes befitting their race. The third man had his back turned to the cellar door. As he moved, Madge saw his face distinctly. It was the boatman who had taken her to The Flora on the day of her arrival!

"I knew it!" she told herself excitedly. "The entire affair is clear to me now. Enid and her father are in very grave danger."

Madge was convinced that she was dealing with a fanatical group of Zudi Drum wors.h.i.+pers who sought retribution for the loss of their trophy. How an organization which was thought no longer to exist, had traced the drum to Mr. Burnett, she had no way of knowing. And matters at hand were too pressing to consider any question save a means of securing the immediate release of her friends. From the cruel faces of the kidnappers she read that the return of the Zudi Drum was not all they wanted. They intended to inflict punishment upon their victims.

"Enid, dear, you shouldn't have come," she heard Mr. Burnett say to his daughter. And then to the kidnappers, "Let her go free and I'll give you anything you ask."

"So you're ready to come to terms now, are you?" was the cool retort.

"It's too late. We gave you your chance and you refused to turn over the Zudi Drum."

"I told you I would be willing to give up the drum, providing you could establish owners.h.i.+p. All this threatening and kidnapping and violence goes against my grain."

"You and your daughter shall both pay for taking the drum away from India," came the solemn announcement.

"Enid had nothing to do with it," Mr. Burnett returned earnestly. "How was I to know the drum had been stolen? I purchased it from a reputable antique dealer and paid a good price for it. Will you let my daughter go?"

The spokesman for the three smiled. At a signal from him, the other two fell upon Enid and before she could make a move, securely bound her hands and feet. Mr. Burnett struggled to free himself and only succeeded in drawing his bonds tighter until they cut deeply into his flesh. He groaned and fell back on the couch.

"Now we'll have a look at the Zudi Drum," the spokesman declared.