by Edith Lavell
CHAPTER VII
_The Smash-Up_
The robbery which was so carefully planned by the gang of thieveswho had kidnapped Linda Carlton, was highly successful. One of thelargest banks in Jacksonville was entered just before closing time onthe afternoon of June 23rd by four masked robbers, who calmly tookthousands of dollars in cash and securities, and escaped to a waitingcar, without being identified or caught.
By a secret route these men suddenly disappeared--whither, no one butLinda and Susie knew. By midnight they were back again in the swamp,and by dawn they had reached Black Jack Island.
Exhausted from their journey, three of the men dropped down on theircots and fell instantly asleep. The fourth--Susie's husband--stopped tolook into his wife's tent.
Flashing the light inside, he peered through the doorway. There wasSusie, sleeping peacefully on her cot. But the other bed was empty!"Susie!" he yelled in alarm. "Where's Linda?"
The girl awakened abruptly, and sat up, blinking her eyes at theunexpected light. For a moment she could not think what he meant. Thenshe remembered her prisoner.
"She's gone," she replied. "Beat it this afternoon."
"How?" he demanded roughly, coming over and shaking her by the arm.Susie winced, and pulled herself free.
"You leave me alone!" she warned him. "How do I know how Linda gotaway? Could I run after her?"
"No, but you might 'ave watched her!" snarled Slats. "Didn't I tell youto?"
"Watching wouldn't keep her here," retorted Susie.
"Is her Bug still there?" he inquired.
"Yeah. I hobbled over and took a look myself."
"Oh, you did, did you?" Then, worn out and disappointed, Slats startedto swear.
Susie sat still, regarding him with contempt. How vulgar such languagesounded, when you actually stopped and listened to it! She did notrealize it at the time, but just the few hours which she had spent withLinda Carlton had given her a new view-point. Or rather, had broughtback her training as a child, before she had "gone bad."
When the man's anger had spent itself in violent words, he began towonder how on earth Linda could have escaped.
"No human being could get far in this here bog, without a boat or aplane!" he exclaimed. "She must be around here somewhere."
"Why don't you go look for her!" demanded Susie, with a sneer. She wasbeginning to be glad that Linda had gotten away.
Her husband turned on her savagely.
"Look a here, Susie, if you helped that kid to get away--!" He held uphis fist threateningly. "I'll make you sorry! Give you a dose of themedicine I was saving for Linda!"
"What do you mean?" she demanded, trembling.
"This gun!" he replied.
"Well, I didn't," she hastened to assure him. "Linda slipped off when Iwasn't watching.... But do you mean you were going to shoot Linda?"
"Sure, you fool! That's what kidnappers always do. Bait the big fishtill they get the cash, then kill the victim, and ship the corpse. Ifwe sent Linda back alive, she'd have us in the Pen in no time. Ourgame'd be up."
Susie shivered; she had not realized that the men had any intention ofgoing to that end. True, Slats had once killed a bank messenger, butSusie always excused him on the ground of self-defense. "Hard-boiled"as she was, the idea of shooting an innocent girl like Linda Carltonwas too much for her to approve. She felt suddenly sick with the horrorof it all.
Slats sat down for a moment on the empty cot, while he thought thingsover. Linda Carlton must not escape to tell the world of her experienceand to give such accurate descriptions of the gang that they would haveto be caught. Aside from the matter of the ransom which the kidnappingought to bring them, they dared not let her go. The case called forimmediate action.
"Can you fly that Bug, Susie?" he demanded, abruptly breaking thesilence.
"I guess so," replied the girl. "They say they're easier thanairplanes."
"O.K. Then we're off. Get dressed as quick as you can."
"But Slats," protested Susie, rubbing her injured ankle, "don't forgetI've been hurt!"
"Rats!" was his unsympathetic reply. "Get busy. I'll be getting thegas, and some grub. We'll need coffee--and a lot of it."
Distasteful as the plan was, Susie could do nothing but obey. But shewas feeling very miserable as she ate her breakfast, very sorry forthe "poor, brave kid," as she called Linda, very resentful against herhusband.
The latter helped her down to the autogiro and put her into the pilot'scock-pit, where she sat for some minutes examining the controls. Thedawn had changed into daylight, and the swamp was beautiful in theearly morning sunrise. But, like Linda Carlton, Susie did not evennotice it.
Impatient at the delay, her husband demanded, "Got the idea how to runher?"
"Sure," she replied, listlessly. "Start her up and climb in.... Wheredo you want to go!"
"Circle all around--flying low, so that we can spot the kid if she'shere. If we don't see her in the water, we'll stop at some of theislands, and look there. She can't 'ave got out of this swamp."
"O.K.," agreed Susie.
Without much difficulty the girl ran the autogiro along the edge ofthe island until it rose into the air. It was easy enough to keep itflying; the test would come when she had to make a landing. But Susiedecided never to worry about anything until the time came. Luck wasusually with her; her only serious crash had been the one of two daysprevious, and, after all, there was a reason for that.
Slats, who spurned learning how to fly, because he considered his amaster-mind, above such practical work, was, nevertheless, enjoying theride. He congratulated himself upon his own cleverness in securing thisnew plane for the gang.
"Like her, Susie?" he shouted, through the speaking-tube.
The girl nodded, indifferently.
"You can have her!" he announced, proudly, as if he were giving her acostly present of his own purchasing.
Susie drew down the corners of her lips in scorn, but made no reply.Didn't he realize that she would never dare fly this autogiro whereanyone could see her? That the police all over the country would be onthe look-out for this very plane? She was understanding for the firsttime that money was not much use without freedom.
As she sat in the cock-pit, silently thinking things over, she madeup her mind not to try to help Slats in his search. She would have tocontinue to guide the plane, of course, for she never for one momentforgot the pistol that her husband kept ready to enforce his orderswith. But she would not attempt to spot Linda, nor would she inform himif she did happen by chance to see the girl. No; it would be better tolet "the poor kid" die by natural causes in the swamp than for her tobe killed by Slats in cold-blooded murder.
Over the trees and tropical plants of the swamp they continued tofly, until the sun rose directly overhead, and they knew that it wasnoon. All the while Slats kept his eyes glued to the ground, withoutany success. Not a sign of human life did he see. Movements in theswamp--yes--snakes and birds, and even an alligator--but no girl! Yethe felt sure that even if Linda were hiding, she would come out at thesound of the plane, for by this time she would realize that escape wasimpossible. Driven by the pangs of hunger, she would have to surrenderto her fate. But noon passed, and they found no trace of her.
Perhaps she was dead by this time, the man thought bitterly--killed bya snake, or drowned in the treacherous water! He would not mind that,if he could only find her dead body. Without it, without the assurancethat she was not still at large, he dared not seek a reward. What a lotof money he would be losing!
"We'll land on an island, and have some grub," he shouted to hiscompanion. "Fly south to 'Soldiers' Camp.'"
"O.K.," replied the girl, beginning to doubt her ability to make alanding. But she was afraid to disobey--and besides, they had to comedown sometime.
After that things happened with a rapidity that must have startled thepeaceful bird-life in the Okefenokee Swamp. Approaching the island,Susie and her husband spotted the carefree picnic at the same moment,and the
former made a sudden, sharp turn in the hope of hiding thesight from Slats. At the same instant, he took out his pistol and firedat the group--at Linda in particular--missing her only because ofSusie's rapid change of the position of the plane.
The sharp angle had its effect upon the pilot; she lurched over,striking her injured ankle against the rudder, swerving the planeviolently to the other side. Panic-stricken, she tried to right theplane, but she had not even throttled the engine down to a landingspeed. The inevitable crash followed. With an impact that wasfrightful, the autogiro headed for a tree with relentless speed, struckit and bounced thirty feet into the air.
By some miracle Susie, crouched as she was in the cock-pit, was notthrown out, but her husband, who had not taken the precaution towear a safety-belt, was bounced wildly into the air, and landed,face-downward, on a rock.
During all this excitement, Linda and her companions stood tenselyrooted to the spot, the girl gripping Jackson Carter's hand as if hewere her one support. As the crash came, she dropped her head on hisshoulder and moaned aloud, totally unconscious of the fact that theyoung man was still little more than a stranger to her.
A cry from Susie aroused her to the fact that the girl was still alive.Ignoring the man who had brought about the catastrophe by his hastyshot, all three young people rushed to Susie's aid.
The plane was only partially turned over; the rotor and the wheels wereinjured, and the nose smashed, but it did not look to Linda as if therehad been any serious harm to the engine. Susie's head was cut, and twoteeth were knocked out, but apparently no bones had been broken. Verycarefully the boys lifted her from the cock-pit and laid her on theground.
"I have a first-aid kit in the canoe," said Hal, immediately. "I'll getit and fix up this cut. It doesn't seem awfully deep."
"Does it hurt very much, Susie?" asked Linda, offering her a drink ofwater.
"Not as much as my ankle. And my poor mouth! Without these teeth! Mylooks are ruined!"
"No, they're not," answered Linda, comfortingly. "Any good dentist canfix you up so nobody will ever know the difference."
Still no one said anything about the man who was lying so silentlyon the rock a dozen yards away. It was Hal Perry, returning from thecanoe, who made the announcement which they had all been secretlyexpecting.
"The man with the gun is dead," he said, quietly, not knowing how Susiewould take the news.
"So he got his at last," muttered the latter, with a certain grimsatisfaction. "Nobody--not even his widow--is goin' to shed a singletear!"