A FRIEND IN NEED.
"Bob! Bob! Where are you?"
It was Dick who called out, about quarter of an hour after Bob had
disappeared.
The party was ready to descend into the gigantic cave once more, and
wondered why Bob did not return.
"Where can he have gone?" asked Robert Menden.
"I reckon as how somethin' has happened to him," burst out old Jacob,
putting away the short briar-root pipe he had been smoking. "Didn't he
saunter off in thet direction?" and he pointed with his long finger.
"He did," answered Leander.
"Where is Dash? He will find him," cried Don.
They looked around for the dog, but he was nowhere in sight, having gone
off on a trail of his own after some small ground-animal.
Soon the entire party was hunting in earnest for Bob, but without
success.
When they reached the pool of water, old Jacob inspected the wet ground
with interest.
"Here are lots o' footprints," he exclaimed. "Poor Bob's got into
trouble, jest as I supposed."
"Some of the prints are of naked feet," put in Leander. "Those negroes
with Farvel were barefooted."
"That's true," said Robert Menden. "Can it be possible that Bob has been
carried off by Farvel and his tools."
"It looks that way," said Leander. "The question is, what have they done
with our chum?"
All stared blankly at each other. Then Don got down on his knees and
began another examination.
"If I was an Indian I might follow this trail," he said; "but as it is,
I fancy I am not equal to it."
"If only Dash was here," sighed Leander. "What can have become of that
dog? Dash! Dash!"
The call was followed by several others. At last came a short,
suppressed bark from a neighboring thicket. Instantly Don and Leander
made a run in that direction, and arrived just in time to see a big
black fellow running away.
"Stop, or I'll fire at you!" cried Don, and pulled his pistol; but in a
second more the fellow was out of range behind several trees.
The native had been sent forward to kill the canine, Farvel feeling
certain that otherwise Dash would be used to locate his captive master.
The native had been in the act of firing at Dash, when Leander and Don
appeared.
As it was, Dash was limping painfully from a slight wound in the
fore-shoulder.
"Good dog!" cried Don. "So he meant to kill you? Too bad!" And he hugged
faithful old Dash around the neck.
The others soon came up, and it was decided to follow the trail of the
native without delay.
This was an easy but slow undertaking for Dash, and this time they kept
up with the canine with ease.
The trail led directly to where Farvel was keeping Bob a prisoner, and
they came in sight just as the rascal had punched the helpless lad in
the nose.
"Oh, the villain!" cried Dick, and rushing up behind Farvel he hit the
man such a heavy blow in the neck that Farvel dropped like a log.
Seeing this, the native disappeared, and it may as well be stated here
that he did not return, nor did the other black come back.
Farvel was nearly stunned, and by the time he recovered, old Jacob had
released Bob by cutting the vines with his sharp jack-knife.
"Who—what—" stammered Farvel, when he could speak. Then he saw the crowd
gathered around him and his face fell.
"Oh, how glad I am that you came up," cried Bob. "I believe he was going
to kill me!"
"Wasn't going to do anything of the sort," growled Farvel. "You just let
me alone."
"I fancy I will let you alone," panted Bob, "after I am square with you.
Take that!" And as the man got up, Bob slapped him with such force in
the mouth that Farvel's teeth rattled. "You are a brute, and ought to be
in jail."
"Tell us your story, Bob," said Robert Menden, and the tale was speedily
forthcoming. Farvel tried several times to interrupt, but was not
allowed.
"We'll make him our prisoner now," said old Jacob, grimly. "It ain't
safe to leave him roamin' around loose."
"Me a prisoner!" gasped Joseph Farvel. "I rather guess not!"
"Yes, tie him up," said Bob. "We can set him free later on, when we hand
him over to the authorities."
Farvel fumed and used language not fit to transcribe to these pages. But
this availed him nothing, and soon his hands were bound as tightly as
Bob's had been.
"Now march!" ordered old Jacob.
"Where to?"
"March, an' ye'll find out soon enough. Forward, or I'll boot ye!" and
the old tar looked so fierce that Farvel moved off without further
parley.
The course of the party was directly for the cave entrance. Arriving
here, a consultation was held, and it was decided to take Farvel to a
grove some distance to the left. Here the rascal was fastened to a cedar
tree.
"We'll come back for you by night," said Robert Menden. "In the meantime
here are some crackers and a drink of water for you," and he held them
up so that Farvel could get at them. At first the fellow wanted to
refuse, but soon thought better of it, having a fear of suffering from
thirst and hunger.
Joseph Farvel was boiling with inward rage. Yet he did not dare say too
much, fearing that the party would turn on him. Soon he was left to
himself. Yet they were not yet done with him.
"A good bit of time lost," remarked Robert Menden, as he consulted his
watch. "But I am glad we now have Farvel where he can do us no further
harm."
The entrance to the cave passed, they speedily found their way to the
chamber of bones, and then to where the tablet was located.
All was exactly as they had left it and Robert Menden breathed a long
sigh of relief.
"Now, we ought to have that treasure in our possession before we leave
to-night," he said.
"Ye can't git it none too quick for any o' us!" grinned old Jacob.
"Ain't thet so, boys?"
"You're right!" cried Dick. "Hurry up with the ropes."
The coils were speedily forthcoming, and the two heaviest were well
knotted together. Then Robert Menden prepared to descend once more—this
time with the canvas bag on his back. In one hand he carried a fresh
torch, which made that portion of the crack in the rocks almost as
bright as day.
"Gently now," he cautioned, as he swung downward. "I don't want to break
my neck for all the gold on the island."
"We'll be careful," answered Bob; and then all took hold of the rope,
and Menden was lowered slowly but steadily.
He had passed something like twenty feet further down than on his
previous trip, when he called to them to halt.
"I've found a resting-place," he said, when Dick threw himself flat to
look down into the gloom. "It's a sort of ledge. There is a wider
opening further down."
"Is the box there?"
"I don't see it—yet. Hold onto the rope, for I may slip from here at any
instant."
Dick promised to do so, and all kept the line taut as before. They heard
Menden moving around and heard him toss several small rocks aside.
Then came a sudden yell, followed by the fall of some dirt or rocks,
they could not tell which. The rope came up so quickly that all fell
back in dismay.
"Something is wrong!" gasped Don. "Menden, are you all right?"
There was no answer to his cry, and he and Dick bent over the edge to
investigate. But the torch was hidden, or had gone out, and they could
see nothing.
"Haul up the rope," said old Jacob, quietly; and it was quickly done.
The noose which had been around Menden's body was gone, and the end of
the line showed that it had been cut by the edge of a jagged stone.