CHAPTER 23 AT THE HIDE-OUT

Before the man could pull open the closet door, a booming voice called impatiently from shore:

“Say, are you coming? We have plenty of work ahead of us tonight.”

Distracted from his purpose, the searcher turned aside without glancing into the closet. With his companion and the girl, he left the cabin.

Penny and Jerry waited at least five minutes. When all was silent above, they stole from their hiding place. From the window they assured themselves that the wharf was deserted.

“What do we do now, start after the police?” Penny questioned.

“Let’s make certain Atherwald is here first. We can’t afford to be wrong.”

A path led through the timber. As they followed it, Jerry and Penny saw a moving lantern some distance ahead. They kept it in sight until the three men and Flora disappeared into a cabin.

Stealing on through the darkness, Penny and Jerry crept to the screen door. Peering in, they saw a barren room containing a table, a cook stove and double-deck bunks.

“Get supper on, Flora,” one of the men ordered curtly.

“Am I to cook anything for the prisoner?” she asked in a whining voice.

“Not unless he decides to talk. I’ll find out if he’s changed his mind.”

The man who had been called Aaron crossed the cabin to an adjoining room. He unlocked the door which had been fastened with a padlock, and went inside.

“Atherwald must be in there,” whispered Penny.

With one accord, she and Jerry tiptoed across the sagging porch and posted themselves under a high window. Glancing up they saw it contained no glass, but had narrow iron bars in keeping with a prison chamber.

Jerry lifted Penny up so that she could peep into the room. By the light of the oil lantern she saw a haggard young man sitting on the bed. Despite a stubble of beard and unkempt hair, she instantly recognized him as the missing bridegroom. She made another observation, one which shocked her. The man’s wrists were handcuffed.

“It’s Grant Atherwald,” she told Jerry as he lowered her to the ground. “They’ve treated him shamefully.”

Jerry held up his hand as a signal for silence. In the room above the men were speaking and he wished to hear every word.

“Well, Atherwald, have you changed your mind? How about a little supper tonight?”

“How can I tell you something I don’t know?” the bridegroom retorted wearily. “Kippenberg never confided any of his secrets to me.”

“You know where his gold is hidden!”

“I don’t think he ever had any!”

“Oh, yes, he did. When the government passed a law that it was illegal to keep gold, Kippenberg decided to defy it. He had over half his fortune converted into gold which he expected to re-convert into currency at a great profit to himself. His plans went amiss when government men listed him for investigation.”

“You seem to know all about his private affairs,” Grant Atherwald said sarcastically. “Strange that you haven’t learned the hiding place of the gold—if there ever was any!”

“It will do you no good to pretend, Atherwald! Either you tell the hiding place, or we’ll bring your bride here to keep you company!”

“You wouldn’t dare touch her, you fiend!”

“No? Well, unless you decide to talk, she’ll share your fate, and I promise you it won’t be a pretty one. Now I’ll leave you to think it over.”

The door closed with a bang.

“We’ll have to get the police here right away,” Jerry advised Penny in a whisper. “No telling what those scoundrels may try to do to Atherwald. We haven’t a moment to waste.”

“It would take us hours to bring help here,” reasoned Penny. “And if we try to use the motorboat the gang will be warned and flee while we’re on our way down the river.”

“That’s so, but we have to do something. Any ideas?”

“Yes, I have one,” Penny answered soberly. “It may sound pretty crazy. Still, I really believe it would work!”

Hurriedly, she outlined what she had in mind. Jerry listened incredulously, but as the girl explained and elaborated certain details of her plan, his doubts began to clear away.

“It’s dangerous,” he protested. “And if your hunch about the pool is wrong, we will be in a fix.”

“Of course, but we’ll have to take a chance in order to save Atherwald.”

“If everything went exactly according to plan it might work!”

“Let’s try it, Jerry. Lift me up so I can attract Atherwald’s attention.”

The reporter did as she requested. Penny tapped lightly on the iron bars with her signet ring. She saw Grant Atherwald start and turn his head. Penny repeated the signal.

The man arose from the bed and stumbled toward the window.

“Who is it?” he whispered hoarsely.

“A friend.”

“Can you get me out of here?”

“We’re going to try. You are handcuffed?”

“Yes, and my captor keeps the key in his pocket. The room outside is always guarded. Did you bring an implement to saw through the bars?”

“No, we have another scheme in mind. But you must do exactly as we tell you.”

“Yes, yes!” the bridegroom whispered eagerly, his pale cheeks flooding with color.

“Listen closely,” Penny instructed. “When your captor comes back tell him you have decided to talk.”

“I know nothing about the cache of gold,” the man protested.

“Tell your captor that the hiding place is on the Kippenberg estate.”

“That would only involve Sylvia and Mrs. Kippenberg. I’ll do nothing to get them into trouble.”

“You’ll have to obey instructions or no one can help you,” Penny said severely. “Would you prefer that those cruel men carry out their threat? They’ll spirit Sylvia away and try to force the truth from her.”

“I’ll do as you say.”

“Then tell your captor that the gold is hidden in a specially constructed vault lying beneath the lily pool.” Penny had resolved to act upon her hunch that there was a trapdoor on the bottom of the pool. Now as she issued instructions she wished that she might have found some way of examining the pool to see if she were right. However, she had to take a chance on there being a vault beneath the pool.

Atherwald protested mildly. “He would never believe such a fantastic story.”

“It is not as fantastic as it sounds,” replied Penny. “You must convince him that it is true.”

“I will try.”

“Make the men understand that to get the gold they must drain the pool and raise a trapdoor in the cement bottom. Ask to be taken with the men when they go there tonight and demand that you be given your freedom as soon as the gold is found.”

“They will never let me go alive. An identification from me would send them all to prison for life.”

“Do you know the men?”

“The ringleader is Aaron Dietz. At one time he was employed by Mr. Kippenberg.”

“Just as I thought.”

“The other two call themselves Gus and Jake. I don’t know their last names. Then there is a girl who seems to be a sister to Gus.”

“How did they get you here?”

“On the day of the wedding I was handed a note just as I reached the estate. It requested me to come at once to the garden. While I waited there, two ruffians sprang upon me from behind. Before I could cry out they dragged me to their boat at the river’s edge. I was handcuffed, blindfolded and brought to this cabin.”

The slamming of an outside door warned Penny that she was wasting precious time in talk.

“You understand your instructions?” she whispered hurriedly.

“Yes.”

“Then goodbye. With luck we’ll have you free in a few hours.”

“With luck is right,” Jerry muttered as Penny slid to the ground.

Aaron Dietz stood on the front porch staring out into the night. Seeing him there, Penny and Jerry circled widely before attempting to return to the river. Satisfied that they had not been observed, they boarded the boat and descended to the cabin.

For possibly an hour they sat in the dark, waiting anxiously.

“Looks as if my little plan didn’t work,” Penny remarked. “I might have known it would be too simple.”

Jerry had risen to his feet. He went to the window and listened.

“Hear anything?” Penny whispered hopefully.

“Sounds like someone coming down the path. We ought to get into our cubby-hole.”

They tiptoed to the closet and closed the door.

Within a few minutes they heard a confusion of voices and the shuffle of feet as men boarded the cruiser. Penny wondered if the group included Grant Atherwald and was greatly relieved when she heard him speak.

“I don’t see why you think I would double-cross you,” he said distinctly. “I am considering my own welfare. You promised that if the gold is found you’ll give me my freedom.”

“Sure, you’ll get it. But if you’re lying about the hiding place—”

The words were drowned out by the roar of the motor boat engine. Penny and Jerry felt the floor beneath them quiver and then gently roll. The cruiser was under way.

“We’re heading for the Kippenberg estate!” Penny whispered. “Oh, everything is starting out beautifully!”

“I only hope it ends the same way,” said Jerry morosely. “I only hope it does.”