THE ESCAPE
Frank Hardy wasted not a second.
Before the man with the automatic pistol could realize what he was
doing, he had flung up his hands sharply, at the same time releasing
his grip on the wrench. It spun straight and true, knocking the
automatic out of the fellow's grasp and it clattered to the floor of
the car.
When Joe saw that their antagonist was unarmed he rose halfway up in
the seat and launched himself upon the driver. Frank, in the meantime,
reached for the pistol. He was unable to find it, but his fingers
closed over the wrench again.
There was a yell of surprise and rage from the three men in the road
and they rushed toward the car. One of them came plunging along the
side and attempted to grapple with Frank, but a sideways swing of the
wrench caught him on the right of the head and he staggered back with a
yelp of pain.
Joe was still struggling with the driver of the car. The latter was at
a disadvantage in that he had been caught unawares. The loss of his
automatic had flustered him and Joe's sudden onslaught had taken him
completely by surprise. Penned in by the wheel, he was unable to use
his superior weight to advantage, and Joe seemed all over him, pounding
him unmercifully.
One of the other toughs leaned over the side and seized Joe by the
back of the coat. The man who had been hit with the wrench was dancing
about in pain and keeping at a respectful distance. The other fellow
was attempting to close in on Frank. He sprang forward, just dodged a
sweeping blow of the wrench, and then wrestled with the boy.
They swayed to and fro. The tough was of husky build and his
gorilla-like arms were possessed of great strength. The door of the
car flew open and the pair staggered from the running board into the
roadway. They rolled about, fighting and struggling, while the man who
had been hit with the wrench took occasion to deliver a vicious kick at
Frank. A sudden twist, however, brought the other man into range at the
moment and he received the kick that was intended for the boy.
But the Hardys were outnumbered. Joe was quickly overcome and the other
pair would soon have beaten Frank into submission but for a surprising
interruption.
Down the roadway came a clattering and roaring, and around the other
car came plunging an ancient and decrepit Ford with an enormous negro
at the wheel. Beside him sat another colored man, and the pair gazed at
the struggle before them, with mouths agape and eyes staring. Then the
negro driving the car brought it to a stop and clambered down, picking
up the car crank as he went.
"You's the speeders what run oveh mah chickens!" he roared, bearing
down on the two toughs who were grappling with Frank. He dealt one
of them a hearty rap on the back of the head with the crank, and the
fellow bolted forthwith. Reinforcements had arrived, and he judged that
the fight would soon be over. He raced for the car parked across the
road and scrambled into the front seat.
The two colored men rushed into the battle with enthusiasm. The three
toughs in the other car had, it appeared, deliberately driven their
automobile into a flock of chickens at the side of the road near the
negro's farm farther down the road. Revenge, therefore, was sweet.
In a very short time the fight was at an end. The toughs broke and
fled, regained their car, and were soon careering down the road. As
for the young man who had brought the Hardy boys into this trap, he
managed to get his own car started, shook off his attackers, and the
automobile plunged forward.
"Let them go," said Frank, picking himself up out of the ditch.
"Ef dey runs oveh any moah of mah chickens, Ah'll folley 'em fum heah
till Doomsday," declared the big negro.
"You certainly showed up in the nick of time," said Joe, brushing off
his coat. "They had us beaten two to one."
"White trash!" declared the other colored man. "Ah knows 'em. Dey jes'
pool room toughs."
"How come dey lays foh yoh 'way out heah?" asked the big man curiously.
"The chap driving the touring car was going to drive us out to a town
called Greendale so we could get a train back to Chicago," Frank
explained, and telling the man where they had got into the automobile.
"He turned down this road, and then we met the other three waiting for
us. They all jumped us at once."
"Dey ain't no trains pass through Greendale!" declared their rescuer.
"Ef yoh wait deah foh a train foh Chicago yoh'll wait yeahs and yeahs,
and even den yoh won't get no train."
"We'll have to go back to that town then," said Joe.
"Dat's wheah we's gwine. Get in dis yere flivver and we'll drive yoh
back to de railway."
Glad to have gotten out of the scrape thus easily, the Hardy boys
clambered into the rickety Ford and the two colored men resumed their
seats in front.
"Soon's I see dat cah acrost de road I knowed it was de same cah dat
run down mah chickens!" declared the driver. "And w'en I sees dem
fightin' wid yoh boys Ah knowed dey wasn't up to no good and Ah knowed
whut side Ah was gwine to take. And Ah took it."
"Yessah, we sho put de run on dem!" chuckled his companion.
"A mighty good thing for us that you showed up when you did," Frank
declared. "That gang were trying to kidnap us."
"How come?"
"They've been trying to keep us from catching a train to the West, and
they mighty nearly got away with it that time."
"Well, dey won't ha'm yoh no moah--not so long as yoh is in dis
autymobile," the big negro assured them. And, as the car bounded along
onto the main highway, the Hardy boys discussed the trap into which
they had been so cleverly led.
"It'll teach us to beware of strangers from now on," Frank said.
"Evidently one lesson isn't enough."
"If a stranger says so much as 'Hello' to me after this I'll yell for
the police."
"Perhaps not that bad," and Frank grinned. "But we know now that there
is a plot on foot to keep us from reaching the West, and we'll have to
be on our guard."
"I'm more anxious than ever to get to the West now. It looks as if
we're heading into some real excitement."
"We've had more than we bargained for already."
In a short time the automobile came within sight of the town the boys
had left but a little while before, and after warmly thanking their
two rescuers and slipping a five-dollar bill into the hands of the
big driver, who beamed with gratification and delight, the Hardy boys
settled down to wait for the night train back to Chicago. They were
bothered by no more encounters with strangers, and after an almost
interminable wait the train arrived.
"One day lost on our journey," remarked Frank, as the train pulled away
from the station and headed northward.
"It could have been worse. If those fellows had captured us we'd have
likely been held prisoners in some out-of-the-way place for ever so
long."
"That's true, too. Well, we won't take any more chances. When we get to
Chicago we'd better change our names and our appearance too, if we can
manage it. If these chaps are on the lookout for us they won't stop now
that we've escaped from them twice. We can't be too careful."
Joe agreed that his brother's idea was a good one, and for the rest
of the tedious journey back to Chicago they whiled away the time by
discussing ways and means whereby they might journey to the West
without being identified readily as the Hardy boys by the mysterious
enemies who seemed determined to prevent them from joining their
father.