The Mystery Of The Nervous Lion Part 14

Relentlessly the conveyor belt advanced.

They yelled again, but their voices sounded puny in the yard's roar. "Kick the doors!" Jupe yelled. "Maybe we can knock them open."

They tried to obey but their efforts were futile. The ropes lashed around them were too tight. Tied together as they were, they were unable to use their legs. They thrashed about uselessly, and fell back, exhausted.

"It's no use!" Pete gasped. "Our only hope is that somebody working the metal shredder inside sees us in time."

"I doubt that," Jupe said. "A processing machine like this is usually run by a computer. It's not a question of our not being metal. The car we're in is! is! The selective scanner couldn't possibly reject us until it was too late!" The selective scanner couldn't possibly reject us until it was too late!"

"You're not kidding," a voice said.

They stared incredulously into the cold eyes of the hatchet-faced man!

"Get the door on the other side, Dobbsie," Hatchet-Face said.

Surprisingly, his touch was gentle, although they felt the strength in his hands as he lifted them out. As they rolled on the ground, the car they had been riding in jerked forward.

Staring wide-eyed, they saw it disappear into the shed, to be lost in a cloud of steam. Heavy clanking sounds reverberated and the machine inside screamed.

Jupe turned with a tremendous sigh of relief to the two men. His expression changed suddenly.

Dobbsie was holding a long-bladed knife!

"Be reasonable!" Hatchet-Face said cajolingly. "We have to cut those ropes off you kids, don't we?"

Jupe nodded dumbly. He looked at Bob and Pete. They returned his mystified glance.

The beady-eyed man bent and slashed deftly with his knife. In a moment they were free.

As they rubbed their arms and legs to regain circulation, the hatchet-faced man looked down coldly at them. "Looks as if we got here just in time," he rasped. "What happened?"

"Somebody threw a blanket over us, tied us up, and threw us in a car," said Jupe.

"I don't know if we were intended for the metal shredder, or not. We're grateful to you for preventing us having to find out."

"Any idea who did it?"

Jupe shook his head. "It happened too fast. We were rounding the corner of Jim Hall's house-" He stopped abruptly and glanced at the men. "How did you know we were trapped in the car?"

The hatchet-faced man sighed and looked over Jupe's head at the other man. "We happened to be in the yard. Dobbsie here thought he saw a moving kicking bundle being thrown into a car at the far end. That's a bit unusual, so we went to investigate.

Whoever did it ran off before we could get over. Then the claw got you and dumped you on the conveyor track. We couldn't get the crane operator's attention or stop the belt moving. So we had to do it the hard way and drag you out ourselves."

Pete s.h.i.+vered. "I can't believe he would have done that to us. I just can't believe it!"

"Who, kid?" asked the hatchet-faced man. "And what do you kids know that's so dangerous somebody nearly had you killed because of it?"

Jupe lifted his head. "We're conducting an investigation," he said. "We have our suspicions but we're not at liberty yet to divulge any names."

The hatchet-faced man grinned. "Oh, you're not, eh? Maybe we should have kept out of it and let you continue your investigations-" he pointed to the throbbing shed "-in there!"

Jupe c.o.c.ked his head. "As a matter of fact," he said, "both the actions of you and your friend have aroused our suspicions, too. But I don't suppose you have anything to do with the diamond smuggling, or else you wouldn't have rescued us."

Hatchet-Face looked at Dobbsie. "What'd I tell you? The kid is wise to the operation!" He looked down and laughed at Jupe. "I suppose you can tell us where they are, too."

"I suppose I can," Jupe said slowly. "But I won't."

Hatchet-Face jerked his head at the other man. "Come on, Dobbsie. We're wasting time. While we're here yakking, they could be getting away."

The beady-eyed man with the mashed nose came close to Jupe and raised a warning finger. "This is big time stuff, feller - not for kids. Watch yourselves!"

The menace in his powerful frame was unmistakable. He wheeled away to join his swift-moving companion, leaving The Three Investigators with a warning they could not afford to ignore!

Chapter 19.

In the Bag YOUNG MIKE HALL looked surprised when he threw the door open. "Jupe! Hi, fellows! C'mon in. We didn't expect you back today."

"I know," Jupe said as he entered the house. "Have Mr. Olsen - the man you called Dunlop - and another man been here?"

Mike shook his head. "No, why?"

Jupe frowned. He wondered where they were. "I suppose your Uncle Jim is out, isn't he?"

Mike shook his head again. "What gave you that idea? He's in the back room with George, resting. Wait a second. I'll call him."

As he walked off, Jupe looked at Bob and Pete.

"It beats me, too," Pete said. "I was sure they were heading here."

"Maybe they're off looking for the cages," Bob said.

A cheery voice interrupted. "What cages?"

"Your old cages, Mr. Hall," Jupe said.

Jim Hall looked surprised. "What are you driving at?"

"You ought to know, Mr. Hall," Jupe said. "You're the one who bought back George's old cage, along with the other three, from my Uncle t.i.tus."

Hall's face looked blank. "I - what?"

"You bought back the cages, and took them away," Bob put in. "The ones with the bars that hold the smuggled diamonds."

Jim Hall looked from one boy to the other with a dumbfounded expression.

"Okay," he said." Now you tell me. Maybe I'm not hearing so well today."

Pete shuffled his feet and look uncomfortable. "But I guess you didn't have anything to do with shanghaiing us and dropping us off at the metal shredder?"

Hall shook his head dumbly and turned to Mike. "What are your friends talking about?"

"I don't know," Mike said.

"You told us you had a problem," Bob said. "It was a mystery and you wanted our help. Who was making George nervous? Or what? But it turns out the mystery is how your brother Cal s.h.i.+ps you diamonds from Africa, along with some animals. Some of the cage bars with the diamonds in them got lost somehow and that's why you had to buy the cages back from Jupe's Uncle t.i.tus earlier today."

"You're crazy!" Mike burst in. "I've been with Jim every minute since early this morning. He hasn't stepped out of Jungle Land once today!"

Jupe looked up at Jim Hall. "You didn't?"

Hall shook his head.

"My Uncle t.i.tus said he sold the cages to a man named Jim Hall. I'm sorry I didn't ask him to describe the man. I think I can guess now who it was-"

"Dobbsie?" asked Bob.

"It's possible," Jupe said. "Uncle t.i.tus said it wasn't Olsen-Dunlop. It could have been Dobbsie." He looked up at Jim Hall again. "You don't know anything about any diamonds?"

"I don't even know what you're talking about," said Hall.

"Why did you get rid of George's cage?"

Hall shrugged. "It seemed wrong to keep him locked up in a cage when I was trying to train him with love and kindness. I felt we were losing touch every time I had to lock him inside again. Once Mike came to stay with us, I decided George had to be proven trustworthy. I got rid of the cage, had it thrown over the fence into the sc.r.a.p yard, and that was the end of it. George became a regular member of the household, just like Mike and myself."

"But you kept the cage outside your house for a while after George moved in, didn't you?" Jupe persisted.

"Yes, until recently. I made up my mind to get rid of it completely when Jay Eastland came along and wanted to hire George for his movie. I didn't want him to get the idea George was still a wild animal. From that point on, Jay Eastland saw George only as a well-trained housepet."

Jupe looked rueful. "I owe you an apology, Mr. Hall. It appears all my deductions and a.s.sumptions have proven false."

"We all make mistakes, Jupe. Maybe it's time you told me what this is all about."

Jupe explained from the beginning, starting with the arrival of the cages in The Jones Salvage Yard, and then the man named Olsen. "Mike says he works for Mr.

Eastland and is called Dunlop. But he told us his name was Olsen. A thin, hatchet-faced, light-haired man."

"I don't know him but I think I've seen him around the set," said Hall.

"He was looking over the sc.r.a.p heap last night," Bob said. "Along with a man he called Dobbsie. They talked a lot about the smuggled diamonds. We couldn't figure out if they were part of a gang or what. They're the same two who rescued us a while ago when we were on our way into the metal shredder!"

Jim Hall listened carefully. When they had finished telling all they knew, he shook his head. "I'm sorry, boys, but I don't understand a single part of what you've said.

Maybe it's true that these goings on made George upset and nervous. Maybe it's true that somehow diamonds are being smuggled in here. But I'll tell you one thing you can bet on," he added, his eyes flas.h.i.+ng. "My brother Cal wouldn't have a thing to do with anything crooked!"

Jupe nodded and thought a minute. "Can you tell us what other cages you've discarded over the past few months?" he asked.

"We threw out two or three old cages a year ago," Jim Hall said. "But the only one lately was George's."

"Apparently that was the start of it, then," Jupe said thoughtfully. Abruptly he asked, "How is George feeling today?"

Jim Hall smiled. "First rate. He did a good job on the movie set this morning and he's been fine ever since. He's inside snoozing now. Doc Dawson was here and gave him a tranquilliser."

Jupe motioned to his companions. "Well, we'd better be going. We still have some work to do, fellows."

Mike Hall opened the door. "Come on back again when you can," he said. "I'm sure Jim doesn't blame you-"

"He should," Jupe said severely. "I had no business making an accusation before I had sufficient evidence. I owe you both an apology, Mike."

As Jupe went out, his foot caught on the threshold of the door and he stumbled across the porch. He grabbed for the porch post, yelled, and yanked his hand away.

"Oww!" he cried. He looked down at the drop of blood on his finger. "I just caught my finger on a splinter."

"Gosh, I'm sorry, Jupe," Mike said. "Come on inside. We'll find a Band-Aid for you."

"It's okay," Jupe said sheepishly as he went back in the door. He sucked his finger.

"Just a little cut."

Mike snapped his fingers suddenly and pointed. "I was about to say it's too bad Doc Dawson isn't around to fix you up. Look - he forgot his medical kit."

Jupe looked at the worn, black leather bag sitting on a chair. "Would he mind if I helped myself to a bandage?"

"Are you kidding?" Mike said. "That's what it's for-emergencies. Help yourself."

Jupe opened the bag and reached inside for a roll of gauze wrapped neatly in blue paper. Holding it awkwardly, he fumbled with the protective cover. A small yellow piece of paper fluttered out.

Mike picked it up. "Looks like you dropped one of Doc's prescriptions, Jupe.

Here, better put it back."

Jupe glanced at it automatically as it was handed to him. His lips moved wordlessly and he stared at it pop-eyed.

"What is it, Jupe?" asked Bob.

Jupe shook his head and looked at the sc.r.a.p of paper again. "I can't believe it," he said slowly. Then he sighed a long sigh. "But, of course. Now the whole thing begins to make sense."

"What can't you believe?" asked Pete. "What makes sense?"

Jupe held out the sc.r.a.p of torn paper. "Read it yourself."

They stared at the paper in Jupe's hand. It read: DOX ROX NOX EX REX BOX.