PRISONERS
“What are you going to do with us?” Gale demanded, summoning as much
courage to her voice as she could.
In the untidy, sparsely furnished room on the first floor of the cabin
the girls faced their abductors, three of the most dangerous, most
crafty looking individuals they had ever seen. It was with a pang of
fear that both Gale and Valerie recognized the leader as one of the
bandits who had robbed the bank in Coxton.
The leader leered at them with a wide grin. “You, my fine young ladies,
are to be our safe ticket across the border.”
“You mean--to hold us as hostages?” Gale asked.
“Call it anything you like,” he retorted. “We’re goin’ to put the
proposition up to your friends. If they don’t agree, you don’t go back
to ’em--that’s all.”
“You wouldn’t dare to harm us!” Gale said staunchly.
He laughed and exchanged glances with the other two men.
“Take ’em upstairs, Mike,” he ordered, and stamped from the cabin.
None too gently one of the other outlaws pushed the girls before him to
where a makeshift ladder led to a loft above the first floor. They
entered through a trap door and it was slammed shut after them. A rusty
bar slithered into place and they were prisoners.
Gale endeavored to stand upright and sat down again abruptly as her head
bumped against a beam in the ceiling.
“Well, we’ve landed ourselves in a fine mess, haven’t we?” she grumbled.
“What are we going to do, Gale?” Valerie asked.
Gale heard the tremble in Val’s voice and frowned gloomily. It was all
her fault that they were in this predicament. If she hadn’t suggested
the walk they wouldn’t be here now, they would be back with their
friends eating a good supper.
“The first thing seems to be to get loose,” Gale said, keeping her voice
perfectly normal. “Can you get your hands out?”
“No,” Val said after a few moments of futile struggling. “They made a
good job of it.”
“Back up against me,” Gale directed, “and let me see if I can get the
rope off your hands first.”
Valerie did as directed, but it was impossible. Not able to see the knot
and working under such a handicap was too hard. Gale had to give it up.
Below them everything was silent. Had the men really gone to the camp of
the girls’ friends as they said they intended to do? If so, there must
be a way out of the valley other than climbing over all that newly
fallen rock and dirt. The landslide hadn’t blocked them in then at any
rate! If once they got out of this cabin, Gale knew they would be all
right. She had the means in her possession to guarantee safe conduct of
their abductors--or so she thought.
In the wall just above their heads was a window, large enough for them
to squeeze through Gale reflected when she saw it. Large enough to
squeeze through if once they got their hands free and could open it.
“Gale--even if we get free what will we do?” Valerie asked. “The window
will be too high from the ground to jump. Then, too, those men will be
back soon----”
“If we get free,” Gale gritted through clenched teeth, tugging at the
rope, “things will be simple. I’ve got my revolver in my boot.”
“You haven’t!” Val gasped.
Gale laughed. “Sure I have. I haven’t been without it since my uncle
gave it to me. I intended to save it for rattlesnakes--but now we’ve got
something else to use it on.”
“You wouldn’t actually shoot one of them, would you?” Val asked.
“What would you do?” Gale retorted. “With enough provocation, I s’pect I
would. After all, they’re bandits--and we’re not exactly safe in their
hands.”
“You’re right!” Val said with sudden spirit. “Shoot the whole
three--they need it. I wonder when they will be back?” she added
tremulously.
Gale had gained her feet, keeping her head low this time so as not to
bump it, and standing with her back to the window, her exploring fingers
had encountered the window catch.
“Ouch!” she said suddenly.
“What’s the matter?” Valerie demanded.
“This window catch--it’s as sharp as a knife.” Endeavoring to turn the
catch, her finger had been cut by the edge of the lock. “Sharp as a
knife,” she murmured again under her breath. “Hold everything, Val!” she
cried excitedly.
It was an awkward, uncomfortable position Gale had to assume in order to
be able to work the edge of the rope that bound her hands together over
the catch. It was tiring and so slow, but it was accomplishing the task.
The threads of the rope were being cut through and in a few moments she
would be free. When finally the rope fell away, her arms were stiff and
her wrists sore from where the rope had cut into the flesh. Then it was
only a matter of minutes until she had Val free, too.
“Listen!” Val said, rubbing her wrists to restore circulation.
The sound of heavy footsteps and the murmur of voices drifted up to
them. The three men reentered the room below and the girls held their
breath. Almost subconsciously Gale secured her tiny revolver from the
top of her boot and grasped it ready in her hand. But the trap door did
not lift. No one came up to see if they were safe.
“What are we going to do now?” Valerie whispered frantically.
Gale went to the window and looked out. A porch had been added to the
cabin and the roof sloped away from the window where she stood. With a
protesting squeak the window swung inward when she opened it. The girls
waited lest the faint noise attract the attention of their abductors.
But the voices continued in their indistinguishable hum and in a minute
Gale was through the window on the roof. She helped Valerie and the two
of them clung to the window sill. Inch by inch they eased themselves
over the short roof to the edge. There, Gale lay face downward and hung
over.
“You’ll fall!” Valerie hissed, holding firmly to her friend’s belt.
“Shshsh,” Gale cautioned. “Are you good at sliding down a pole? Well,
whether you are or not, you’re going to. I’ll go first and catch you,”
she added humorously. “But don’t you fall on top of me!”
Gale restored her revolver to her boot and swung her legs over the edge.
For once in her life, Gale was thoroughly glad for her athletic training
and gymnastic ability. Cautiously she transferred her hold from the edge
of the porch roof to the pole around which her legs were locked. She
lowered herself inch by inch, with some little damage by splinters, to
the ground.
“All right!” she called up to Valerie.
Her friend’s legs appeared over the edge and in another minute Val had
begun her descent of the pole. In a short time she was beside Gale and
the two joined hands to run from the scene. But at the same moment, the
cabin door was thrown open and slammed shut again behind the leader of
the three men. He did not see the girls, but as they attempted to step
back into the shadow of the trees, Gale stepped on a twig. It cracked as
loudly as a pistol report in the silence.
“Run, Val, toward the pass,” Gale said, her hand on her friend’s arm,
urging her along.
“But you----” Val protested.
“I’m coming,” Gale said. “Go on,” she urged. “I’ll stop him from
following us.”
The leader was coming toward them now, to investigate that mysterious
noise among the trees.
“Who’s there?” he called. “Stop or I’ll shoot!”
But the girls sped off through the trees. A bullet whistled through the
leaves above their heads and abruptly they zigzagged from their course.
They could hear the bandit crashing after them. They stumbled on,
covering the ground as rapidly as they could. Somewhere ahead was the
pass that had been blocked that afternoon, but surely they could find
some way past or over it. Beyond the pass lay their friends and safety.
The thought lent new vigor to them. Another bullet sped past them.
Gale whirled and fired point blank at the shadow of their pursuer. A
groan was her reward and the chase was effectively stopped. The shots
had summoned the other two men who were thrashing about in a vain
attempt to find the cause of the shooting. By the time they discovered
their companion, the girls were farther away.
Val had reached the blocked pass and was already endeavoring to climb up
and over the landslide when Gale caught up with her. Gale assisted her
chum as much as she could, for she could see that Val was nearing the
end of her endurance. They were forced to rest to catch their breath
several times, and each time they feared that the three bandits would be
on their heels. But silence seemed to have settled over the valley and
the cabin they had left behind. They heard nothing as they reached the
rise of ground and began their slippery slide down the other side.
Halfway down they met Tom and Jim, who were making an attempt to climb
over the boulder and find the girls, and also to fathom the mystery of
the shots they had heard.
By the time the four arrived at the camp, Tom and Jim were supporting
Valerie. The excitement had buoyed her up, but now that the suspense was
past, Val was utterly worn out.