_Prisoners_
When the shot of the gun rang through the woods, the startled girls
heard scampering feet behind them, and knew that the animal, whatever
it was, had been frightened away. Again they had had a marvelous
escape, for they might have been wounded by the unseen hunter's gun.
What irony it would have been, to jump from an airplane in parachutes,
only to be killed by a human hand!
Desperately they clung to each other, satisfied now by the answering
call that there would be more shots until they were located. Rescue was
surely at hand; the question now arose: what sort of human being had
them at his mercy?
They remained motionless, waiting for their fate, as the footsteps came
nearer. At last they were able to distinguish the shaggy outline of a
man in a fur coat.
"Who's there?" he called.
Both girls breathed a sigh of relief, as they heard the words in
English. Surely they were safe now!
"Two girls--from a wrecked airplane.... Lost," replied Linda.
"Oh, can you give us shelter, please?" begged Louise.
The stranger came towards them, and they looked into the face of a
middle-aged man, rough and hard, but civilized.
"Yes. You can come into my lodge.... This is a cold night to be lost in
these northern woods."
"Dreadful!" shivered Louise. "We thought we were done for."
"What happened to your plane?"
"We sprung a leak in our gas tank. We had to jump, and it went up in
flames."
"Too bad," muttered the man.
Nothing more was said for a few minutes, and the girls walked painfully
on, guided by their companion. At last they came to a small cabin, with
an oil lamp lighted inside. It looked like Heaven to Linda and Louise.
"I'll give you some food, and let you have the place for the night,"
offered the man, generously. "I was going off anyhow."
"Oh, no!" protested Linda. "We mustn't drive you out in the cold!"
And, seeing that the cabin had two rooms--a living-room and a kitchen,
she immediately added, "We can easily sleep in the kitchen."
"No, I expect to be out all night anyway." He went out into the kitchen
and made them some hot coffee, and fried bacon and produced crackers
and a can of beans.
"Nothing in my life ever tasted half so good!" cried Louise,
gratefully, as she ate ravenously, while her host stood there a moment
watching both of the girls.
"Now tell me," he said, "what you two young ladies were doing flying a
plane up here on the border in the dead of winter?"
"We've been to Canada," explained Linda, "to visit a Convent where some
nuns make this lovely lace-work." She took her handkerchief out of her
pocket, and showed it to the man, though she realized it would not be
possible for him to appreciate it. "My father buys this, and sells it
again."
"Oh, ho!" exclaimed the man, significantly, opening his eyes and his
mouth wide, knowingly. "I see."
"What do you see?" asked Louise, sharply.
"Nothing--nothing," he muttered. "I must be off--I have to get in
touch with a man I know tonight--across the woods." His tone changed
abruptly. "I don't want you girls to stir from here till I get back!
You understand?"
"You mean you want us to go on eating all night?" remarked Louise,
ignoring the seriousness of his tone. The coffee had made her feel
good; she wanted to laugh and joke.
"No. I mean you're not to leave the cabin, till I get back in the
morning."
"We won't!" Linda assured him. "Nothing could induce us to, in all this
cold. We'd never find our way, and besides, we want to pay for our
lodging. Can you--could you find a way to get us to a train tomorrow?"
"I'll take care of you," he replied, with a queer smile, but neither
Linda nor Louise noticed. They were too tired now for anything but
sleep.
As soon as he was gone, they decided to turn in. There was only one
narrow cot in the cabin, but there were three blankets, and they knew
they would not mind sleeping in close quarters. It was so good to be
warm, and fed, alive!
Linda was the first to awaken the following morning, and for a moment,
as she looked about her at the unfamiliar surroundings, she could
not recall where she was. The strange little hut, with the big stone
fireplace, where now only ashes remained of last night's fire, the
crude couch on which she and Louise were huddled so close together, the
trophies about the unfinished walls. And outside the icy windows, a
desolate country, covered with snow.
"Hurry up, Lou!" she cried, waking her companion. "Let's get washed
up before that man comes back! Funny, we never thought to ask him his
name!"
"We were too tired," replied the other girl, rubbing her eyes.
"Honestly I never was so nearly dead in my life."
"It was because we saw no hope of resting. Just going on and on--or
freezing. How do your feet feel this morning?"
"Terrible!" Louise leaned over and examined them. "They're dreadfully
swollen. I'll never be able to walk, and how can we get to civilization
if we don't?"
"Maybe our friend will dig up some horses. Or an airplane. If there is
any place to land."
"An airplane!" repeated Louise, as she laboriously, started to pull
on her stockings. "Linda, do you feel very terrible about losing the
Arrow?"
"Of course I'm dreadfully sorry, but I think I should be ungrateful if
I thought too much about that--after our lucky escape. Besides, I feel
pretty certain I'll get another one now. If Daddy can pull out of his
business troubles, we can order that Bellanca."
The girls finished their dressing and set the room to rights, so that
everything would be comfortable and neat when their host returned. Then
they started a fire in the fireplace with some kindling and logs that
were in readiness, and proceeded to the kitchen, to clear up their
supper dishes, and to cook some breakfast. Fortunately there was plenty
of food, and they enjoyed their hot meal. But they were not so ravenous
as they had been the night before.
"I wish that man would hurry," remarked Linda, as she put the clean
dishes away. "I'd like to get somewhere to wire Ted. When he didn't get
a telegram last night, he probably thought something had happened to
us, and maybe he'll send out a searching party today."
"That's true," agreed Louise. "Good old Ted!... But what about your
Aunt Emily? Do you think she will worry?"
"Not yet. Because she didn't expect us to wire every night. She
probably thinks we're visiting some friends in Plattsburg."
They went back to the living-room, and settled themselves comfortably
before the open fire, enjoying the warmth and cheer of the blaze.
Linda's wrist-watch, which was still going in spite of its fall through
the air, proclaimed it to be ten o'clock when a knock finally sounded
at the door.
She sprang up and unfastened the bolt. It was their rescuer, with
another man, also in a fur coat. Two horses stood outside, covered with
blankets.
"How are you today?" asked the owner of the cabin, genially.
"Just fine!" replied Linda, gayly. "Thanks to your hospitality!"
"Meet Sergeant Bradshaw," said the man rather brusquely, as he and his
companion stepped inside and closed the door. "Your names----?"
"Linda Carlton and Louise Haydock," replied the former.
"Well, Sergeant," explained their host, turning to the other man,
"these are the young ladies.... But, as I told you, they've lost their
plane now, so they'll probably tell you they are ready to reform."
"Reform?" repeated Louise, thinking that the man was teasing them. But
he was not smiling; and his companion was regarding them with a most
scornful expression.
"They'll reform all right," sneered the latter. "Under lock and key!"
For the first time a shiver of fear crept over Linda. Was their rescuer
bad, after all? Did he mean to kidnap her and her chum?
"What do you mean?" demanded Louise, in a tone of challenge.
"What I say!" thundered the sergeant, displaying his badge. "I arrest
you two young ladies as smugglers! I am going to take you both to jail!"
"Smugglers?" repeated Linda, aghast.
"Yes. You know all about it. Don't look innocent! We've had wind for
over a month of the fact that a plane was taking something from Canada
to Plattsburg, but we just found out last week what it was--_French
lace_! And a girl has been flying it!"
Instantly both Linda and Louise understood what had happened. They were
being arrested for Bess Hulbert's crime!
"But neither of us is the girl you're after--the girl that's guilty!"
protested Louise. "That girl flew a gray Moth!"
"Yeah? And how do we know your plane wasn't a gray Moth? How are you
going to prove that? And didn't you admit you'd just come from that
Convent, and didn't you show my friend Marshall here, some of the
goods?"
"But those are our own things!" cried Louise. "Bought in Columbus,
Ohio!"
"Oh, yeah? Well, I don't happen to believe that.... What I do know, is
you didn't stop at the border for the regular search, did you?"
"We didn't know you had to.... We didn't even know the border when we
came to it," remarked Linda, bitterly.
"No? Well, you can tell that to the judge!" replied the sergeant, with
a smirk. "I guess you don't even know yet whether you're in the U.S.
or not?"
"No, as a matter of fact, we don't."
"Innocent little things!" he sneered, sarcastically. "Rats! What's the
use of wasting time? Come on!"
"Won't you even listen to our story?" begged Linda.
"You can save it for the judge! We've got a couple of horses out here,
and we're each taking one of you along. Get your coats on--and hustle!"
Meekly Linda did as she was told, biting her lips to keep back the
tears, but Louise was furiously angry.
"You just wait!" she sputtered. "You'll make a public apology for this,
when our fathers hear about it."
"Listen to the little spit-fire!" drawled the sergeant, in a nasty
tone. Then, turning to the other man, "Listen, Marshall, I don't think
we better try to take these two girls on our horses--especially this
little cat here." He pointed rudely at Louise. "She might scratch! And
it's none too easy traveling in this kind of weather.... Their trial
won't come up for a month or so, anyway, so we might as well lock 'em
in here as anywhere till we see fit to get 'em. You don't need the
cabin, do you?"
"No, I can go over with Hendries."
"Well, the windows are barred. Besides, if they tried to escape, they
would only get lost, and freeze or starve to death. Suppose we leave
'em here to think over their crime, and maybe after a few days or so,
they'll be more ready to confess."
"But we have to wire our folks!" cried Linda, in dismay.
"You ought to have thought of that before you tried your tricks.
If it's your father you're working for, he knows what to expect.
Smuggling's serious business, young woman!"
"But we didn't----"
"So I've heard you say before, but lady, that don't get you anywheres
with me.... Marshall, you go and get wood and see that there's enough
oil and water and food to last about four days. I'll stay here and
watch 'em till you get back."
Linda and Louise did not believe anyone could be so cruel, so inhuman
as this man--not even willing to listen to their story. But he was so
entirely convinced of their guilt, that he probably thought he was
justified. After all, the punishment wouldn't have been too severe if
he had caught the right person--Bess Hulbert. But how unfair it was for
them!
"Won't you please send my father a telegram?" begged Linda, with tears
in her eyes.
"Are you ready to confess?" countered the sergeant.
"We can't confess what we haven't done!" she protested.
"Then your father will have to wait. He'll know in about four days,
when we bring a plane to take you away."
"Oh!" gasped Linda, realizing the horrible anxiety this decision
would cause so many people dear to herself and Louise. Dropping down
on the couch, she buried her head in her hands, and did not look up
again until the men had gone, and locked and barred the door from
the outside. Then she broke into uncontrollable weeping, and Louise,
clasping her arms about her, cried too.
"There is only one redeeming thing about it," said Louise, after a
moment. "We're together."
"If we weren't," sobbed Linda, "I think we should lose our minds!"
But already Louise was looking about, trying to figure out some means
of escape.
"The thing that makes me maddest," she remarked, "is the delay in
catching Bess Hulbert. She'll probably make a get-away before we can
notify your father."
"I don't think so," answered Linda, sitting up and resolutely drying
her eyes. "Don't forget, Bess thinks we probably went up in flames with
the Arrow. And when nothing is heard of us for five days, she'll be
positive.... No, my bet is that she'll go right on with her smuggling
and stealing Daddy's business."
Her companion admitted that she was right. And all they could do was
sit here and wait for those horrible men to return!
It was a problem of course, how to amuse themselves, for there was no
radio, or music of any kind, and there were no books on the shelves.
When they had gotten over their first despair, they tried putting their
wits together and manufacturing some sort of occupation. And they
thought of various things, of giving each other exercises, and playing
guessing games, making up new recipes for the ingredients that were in
the kitchen store-closet.
But, try as they did to be cheerful, the hours dragged, and four days
stretched out as interminably before them.