CHAPTER X JACK IN DANGER
At first Jack was too stunned by the suddenness of the transfer to talk,but after a few dizzy miles, he began:
"Where are you taking me?"
"Shut up!" ordered a harsh voice, accompanied by a dig in the ribs; andhe shut up.
Not a word did any of his captors exchange, and mile after mile whirledby in utter silence. Where he might be, he had no idea whatever. Afterendless eons, so it seemed to Jack, the car began to move more slowly andwind about, then came to a sudden stop.
He was hustled out, run across some gravel, up a few steps. A doorslammed, footsteps on stone, then up stairs, and stairs, and more stairs.A key turned protestingly. A door creaked; there was a blast of cool air;he was pushed into some place. Then the door closed, and the key grated asecond time. The sound of footsteps on stairs sounded more and morefaintly; then silence, broken only by a peculiar grating sound fromsomewhere above him.
Where could he be?
Pulling the bandage from his eyes he discovered that he was in a smallsquare room with slatted walls. It looked like a belfry. Yes, there was agreat bell just above his head, almost touching it. If that mass of metalever moved, it would put him out of business in short order all right.What tower was this anyhow? He tried to peer out between the slats. Theonly object within his narrow range of vision was the framework of somenew building. What big structure was going up now in town, or nearby? Hetried hard to think, but he still felt a little dazed. How stupid! Whoknew where he was now? They had been riding for a long time; he might bemiles and miles from Granard. Still, there was something annoyinglyfamiliar about that naked, orange-colored framework out there, with thebig 0032 in black on the top girder. Again he peered at it. It mustbe--it was! The new forestry building at the University! Then this wasthe tower of the old chapel. His captors had evidently entered the campusfrom the alley gate at the back, where no one would be likely to seethem. That accounted for the gravel they had crossed. They had driven formiles, first, to throw him off. But how strange of the gang to havebrought him here! Who were they, and what was their game anyhow?
Game? Ah, that must be it! He remembered now; there was a lot of money upon the Greystone struggle, not only on the campus but even in the town;and if he were out of the contest, Granard stood to lose--so it was said.Evidently those fellows were Greystone supporters. He remembered now theyhad worn Greystone colors. Darned clever of them to put him where hewould have no evidence, when he got out, and where no one would everthink to look for him.
But how to get out; that was the question.
"Good thing it's not Sunday, for that big fellow to knock me out!" hethought, looking up at the bell. A horrible thought came to him. The boyswere going to have a rouser that night; everybody out in front of the gymbefore dinner for songs and speeches. They'd ring that bell to call thestudents together; and the janitor pulled the rope from a little room atthe foot of the stairs! What time was it now? Glancing at his wrist hewas shocked to find it bare. Where was his watch? Must have comeunfastened in the car.
One, two, three, sounded the bell of a clock in the distance. The clockon the college library. Breathlessly, Jack listened. Four. One hour--onelittle hour of sixty minutes to devise a means of escape. Frantically heshook the door. Only the flutter of wings, as some startled pigeons arosefrom the roof, answered his plea.
Panting for breath, he paused; then began to batter the slats of onepanel with his fists. They were stout, and withstood the blows of even ahusky football player.
He must keep his head and work rationally. There were only two means ofexit: the door and the four slatted windows. Again he shook the door, notwildly, but listening critically. Perhaps he could pick the lock.
Eagerly he felt in his pockets for his knife and buttonhook. Only acrumpled handkerchief, a pencil, a soft package of butterscotch, and aball of twine rewarded his efforts. The door was now out of the question.What in heck had become of his knife? Had those fellows purposelystripped him of everything so he couldn't possibly get out? To do themjustice, however, he supposed they didn't know about the ringing of thebell for the rouser, and probably intended him to be secure until afterthe game.
One, two; one, two, chimed the library clock. Four-fifteen! Nothingaccomplished yet.
"If I could get the slats broken, and then lean out of the window andyell for help," he said, half aloud.
A squeak on the stairs outside of the door caught his ear. "Wonder ifthey left a guard around," he thought. "If I yelled, they would only comein and gag me; and that would make things worse than they are now. Myonly hope, a forlorn one at that, is to attract the attention of someonein order to let the fellows know where I am, and come to rescue me."
But how?
Covering his face with his hands, he crouched on the floor, in deepthought.
One, chimed the library clock, marking the half hour. Anxiously Jackglanced up at the heavy bell above him. Perhaps he could unfasten theclapper, and flatten himself on the floor so that the bell would onlygraze him as it swung to and fro. Then, when no sound came from thebelfry, somebody might investigate. But no; old Jake, who attended to thebell ringing, was too lazy to climb all those stairs to repair the bellfor a mere rally. He'd just let it go until some time tomorrow. By thattime, the team would have left without him!
The tickets he had promised Patricia were lying home on his desk. Wonderwhat she thought when he failed to keep his promise to give them to herin Shakespeare class.
Tut's friends would probably pass around the word that Jack had taken thebribe and disappeared. That would be his finish in athletics. Jackgroaned aloud, and pulled his handkerchief from his pocket to wipe offthe cold perspiration which dampened his face. Tut had always beenjealous of him; and since he had refused, a few weeks ago, to work forJim's election as Chairman of the Soph Hop, Tut had positively dislikedhim. Jack did not approve of the bargaining for honors, which went on atthe college, but doggedly supported whatever man he thought best fittedfor the job, politics notwithstanding--a practice which had not made himany too popular with certain ambitious ringleaders.
The sight of his handkerchief gave him a sudden inspiration. Quicklytearing it in half, he scrawled on one part of it, in large letters,"HELP! QUICK!" Knotting one end of the ball of twine to it, hepainstakingly worked the bit of linen between the slats of the windowwhich faced the observatory, and played out the cord as far as it wouldgo. Fastening the end of it securely to one of the shutters, he took theother half of the handkerchief, slipped it through between the slats, andtied it about in the center of the window.
"Now I've done all I can," he muttered. "It's on the laps of the gods,for better or worse."
The part of the campus on which the chapel stood was deserted during theweek. In a rather out-of-the-way place, beyond the other buildings, itwas in the least frequented corner of the campus. Jack's captors plannedall too well when they chose the belfry for his prison.
One, two, one, two, chimed the library clock. A quarter to five! Would_nobody_ find his message or see his poor little flag? If he could onlyhave stood up and tramped around a bit, it would have relieved Jack'sfeelings somewhat; but the belfry was large enough only for the moving ofthe single bell. Would he be safer flat on the floor, directly under thebell, or as far to one side as he could get, when it began to swing?
One, two, three, four, chimed the clock. A door slammed somewheredownstairs; the bell rope trembled; the bell quivered; Jack stretched outon the floor as flat as he could, and waited for the first blow of theiron mass.
Swift steps on the stairs, the turning of a key, hands dragging himquickly out of the way, just as the first clang of the big bell soundeddeafeningly through the little room. Jack found himself in the hall withPat and Ted bending over him.
"Just in the nick of time, old man!" cried Ted, grinning cheerfully.
"Don't stop to talk!" ordered Patricia frantically. "Let's get out ofhere right aw
ay!"
Down the stairs they rushed, while the bell clanged and clanged overhead.Pat's car, with all shades drawn, was waiting close to the doorway.
"Get in back," directed Ted; "crawl behind those cartons and don'tbreathe."
For a second time that day, Jack was driven off, he knew not where.
"Hi there, Ted," called Joe Leonard, as they stopped for lights at thecorner of College Avenue and Elizabeth Street. "Come on to the meeting!"
"See you later," replied Ted; "got to deliver these fruit jars for mymother first."
"Wonder if he's onto us," whispered Patricia, as they started forwardwith a jerk.
Ted only shrugged his shoulders and drove as rapidly as possible to theapartment he and his mother shared on Winton Street. At the sideentrance, where Mrs. Carter was waiting to admit them, Ted hustled Jackinto the house and up a back stairway to his own room; meanwhile,Patricia drove her car farther back into the yard.
"Going to keep you here tonight, old fellow," said Ted, slapping Jack onthe back. "Nobody'll ever think of looking for you here; and we'll seeyou safe on the train in the morning. No college people in this house,and we have a back apartment. We'll keep the shades drawn as an extraprecaution. Right across the hall from this room is the door to theattic. If anybody comes tonight to call, just beat it for the loft andslip in behind the big dresser which is near the chimney."
"But--" began Jack.
"Pat will tell you all about it later; for Mother asked her to stay todinner. Wash a bit if you want to, and then go out to the living room.I'll have to show up at the meeting for a while, I suppose, in case Jimtakes a notion to look for me. Don't want to arouse any suspicions."
Still in somewhat of a daze, Jack made himself tidy and then went out tothe living room. Aunt Betsy was busy in the kitchen, and Patricia satalone by the bay window which overhung the side door by which they hadentered. The girl smiled a bit shyly as Jack came in and crossed the roomto her side.
"Have I you to thank for my rescue?" he asked, taking her hands in bothof his.
"Well, partly," she admitted. "But Ted helped a lot. He's always been mystand-by in moments of difficulty.
"When you didn't show up in Shakespeare class," she continued, as Jackdropped down at the other end of the davenport, "I knew right awaysomething must have happened. You see," her head dropped a bit, "I heardsomething this morning about the possibility of your being out of thegame; and, oh, it seemed only a joking reference, but I was too stupid, Iguess, to have attached enough importance to it. I _did_ wonder if Ishould say anything to you about it, put you on your guard; and now, oh,how I wish I had!"
"Don't get all steamed up over it," urged Jack; "it came out all right."
"But it _mightn't_ have. If I hadn't happened to go to the observatoryperhaps nobody would have seen your flag; and--and then, if you'd beenstruck by that old bell, it would have been all my fault!"
"Nonsense!" cried Jack, laying his arm gently around her shoulders. Hewas distressed beyond measure by the girl's self-accusation. "I was lyingso flat that the bell probably would only have grazed me."
Determinedly Pat pulled herself together and sat up very straight,winking hard and fast to keep back the tears which, much to herembarrassment, had welled up in her eyes.
"After Shakespeare class," she continued, "I got away from the rest ofthe girls--I always want to be alone if I have anything to work out in mymind--and wandered about the most deserted parts of the campus trying todecide what to do. I don't know all the ins and outs of college affairsyet, and I was afraid of telling my suspicions to the wrong person. As Ipassed the observatory, I remembered having left my fountain pen in thelecture room; so I ran up to get it. Nobody was in there, and I sat downby the window thinking that was a good place to be quiet. The sun shonefull on the side of the chapel, and it was no time at all before I caughtsight of the white flag waving in the breeze.
"I nearly broke all records running down the stairs and along the pathtoward the chapel. Not far from the building, I found your appeal forhelp. I felt sure it _was_ your appeal. I tore off the cloth, so nobodyelse would find it, and ran for Ted. I knew he was in the library. Ihadn't thought about the meeting; but Ted did, right away, and realizedwhat danger you were in. Ted grabbed up a couple of empty cartons thatstood in the hall, ready to be thrown out, dumped them and ourselves intomy car (which, fortunately, was standing in front of the library) and wejust rushed to your rescue. Luckily, all the students were swarming overthe front campus, waiting for the meeting; so no one, so far as we know,saw us."
"But how did you get the key?" inquired Jack, still somewhat in the darkas to details.
"Oh, Ted has a master key. He has to get into Forestry Hall at all sortsof odd times. He was sure his key could be used on the belfry door, andhe was right. If it hadn't fitted, he would have had to let Jake in onthe rescue, but it was better not; the fewer people knew about it, thesafer we were."
"I wonder how I can get hold of those tickets for you. I mighttelephone--"
"Oh, no! No!" protested Patricia.
"What the deuce does he want you to do, Pat?" inquired Ted, strolling injust in time to hear his cousin's vigorous refusal.
"Why, I could go over to your room in the morning and get them," offeredTed, when Patricia had excitedly explained the subject of theirdiscussion; "after the train goes, that is, for I'm not letting you outof my sight before that."
"Dinner's ready," announced Mrs. Carter, appearing in the dining roomdoorway.
"And we're ready for it, Auntie," replied Patricia, jumping up.
"It's no end good of you all to take me in like this," began Jack, asthey seated themselves at the little round table.
"For dear old Granard, I'll live and die!" carolled Ted. "Now tell us allabout the great abduction."
Jack was in the middle of the story of his capture, when the telephonerang sharply.
The Mystery of Arnold Hall Page 10