Mrs. Jones shook her head, biting her lip to keep back the tears. She
pointed to her ankle, caught beneath a tree root.
"I stumbled and wrenched it 'most off," she murmured. "Hit's a bad sprain
and I'm afeared I can't go on."
CHAPTER
21
_THE TUNNEL OF LEAVES_
Penny raised the woman to her feet, but as Mrs. Jones tried to take a
step, she saw that the sprain indeed was a bad one.
Already the ankle was swelling and skin had been broken. At each
attempted step, the widow winced with pain, suffering intensely.
"If I kin only git back to the boat, I'll be all right," she said,
observing Penny's worried expression. "Drat it all! Jest when I wanted to
find out what the Hawkins' are doin' on this island!"
Supporting much of the widow's weight on her shoulders, Penny helped her
back to the skiff.
"I guess we may as well start back," she said, unable to hide her bitter
disappointment.
The widow reached for an oar, then looked keenly at Penny and put it back
again.
"'Course it would be a risky thing fer ye to go on by yerself while I
wait here in the boat--"
Penny's slumped shoulders straightened. Her blue eyes began to dance.
"You mean you don't mind waiting here while I see where that tunnel of
leaves leads?" she demanded.
"'Pears like we've come too fur not to find out what's goin' on. Think ye
can git in there and back without being cotched?"
"I'm sure of it!"
The widow sighed. "I hain't sure of it, but you got more gumpshun than
any other young'un I ever met. Go on if ye'r a-goin', and if anyone sees
ye, light out fer the boat. I'll be ready to shove off."
"Mrs. Jones, you're a darling!" Penny whispered, giving the gnarled hand
a quick pressure. "I'll make it all right!"
Moving directly to the thicket, she dropped on all fours and started
through the leafy tunnel where Hod had disappeared. The sweetish odor now
was much plainer than before.
She had crawled only a few feet, when a hand reached out of nowhere and
grasped her shoulder.
Penny whirled around, expecting to see a member of the Hawkins' family.
For a moment she saw no one, and then from the thicket beside the tunnel,
a figure became visible. The hold on her shoulder relaxed.
"Who are you?" she demanded in a whisper.
"Friend."
"Then show yourself!"
The leaves rustled, and a dark-haired lad with tangled curls crawled into
the tunnel beside her. His shoes were ripped, his clothing dirty and in
tatters. A rifle was grasped in his hand.
"Bada men," he warned, jerking his head in the direction Penny had been
crawling. "Mucha better go back boat."
"Who are you and why do you warn me?" Penny asked, deeply puzzled.
The boy did not reply.
Light dawned suddenly upon Penny. "You're the one who saved me from the
boar!"
The boy's quick grin was acknowledgment he had fired the shot.
"But why did you run away?" Penny asked. "Why didn't you wait and let me
thank you for saving my life?"
"You giva me to police maybe," replied the boy in broken English. "I
staya here--starva first!"
"Who are you?"
"Name no matter."
Penny's mind had been working swiftly. She was convinced the boy who had
saved her also was the one who had stolen Trapper Joe's gun. Evidently,
he had needed it to survive in the swamp. He was thin and his eyes had a
hungry look, she noted.
"How did you get to this island?" she inquired. "Do you have a boat?"
"Make-a raft." The boy's eyes darted down the leafy tunnel. "No good
here," he said, seizing Penny's arm and pulling her back into the
thicket. "Someone-a come!"
Scarcely had the pair flattened themselves on the ground than Ezekiel
Hawkins crawled out through the tunnel, pushing his gun ahead of him.
Standing upright not three feet from Penny and her companion, he gazed
sharply about.
"Thought I heerd voices," he muttered.
Penny held her breath, knowing that if the swamper should walk down the
shore even a dozen yards, he would see the Widow Jones waiting in the
skiff.
To her great relief, Ezekiel moved in the opposite direction. After
satisfying himself that no boat approached the island, he returned
through the tunnel and disappeared.
"What's going on back in there?" Penny whispered as soon as it was safe
to ask.
"Bada men," her companion said briefly.
"You're driving me to distraction!" Penny muttered, losing patience. "Do
those swampers know you're here on the island?"
The boy shook his tangled curls, grinning broadly. "Chasa me once. No
catch."
"You're Italian, aren't you?" Penny asked suddenly.
A guarded look came over the lad's sun-tanned face. His brown eyes lost
some of their friendliness.
"Now I have it!" Penny exclaimed before he could speak. "You're Antonio
Tienta, wanted by Immigration authorities for slipping into this country
illegally!"
The boy did not deny the accusation, and the half-frightened, defiant
look he gave her, confirmed that she had struck upon the truth.
"I no go back!" he muttered. "I starva first!"
"Don't become so excited, or those men will hear you and we'll both be
caught," Penny warned. "Tell me about yourself, Tony. I already know a
little."
"How mucha you know?" he asked cautiously.
"That you acted as a guide to G.I.'s in Italy and stowed aboard a
troopship coming to this country. Even now, I guess authorities aren't
certain how you slipped past New York officials."
"No trouble," boasted the lad. "On ship my friendsa the G.I.'s they feeda
me. We dock New York; I hide under bunk; all G.I.'s leava boat. Boat go
to other dock. Sailor friend giva me clothes. Sailors leave-a boat. I
slippa out. No one geta wise."
"Then where did you go?"
"Stay in-a New York only two--three days. Go hitchhike into country.
Work-a on farm. No like it. Hear Immigration men-a come, so I go. Come-a
one day to swamp. Good place; I stay."
"You've not had an easy time keeping alive in this dismal place," Penny
said sympathetically. "Isn't that Trapper Joe's gun?"
"Steal-a one night," the boy agreed. "Give back some-a time."
Penny studied the youth with growing concern. "Tony," she said, "you
can't hope to stay here long. The only sensible thing is to give yourself
up."
"No! I die first! American best country in all-a the world! No one ever
take-a me back!"
"But you can't expect to elude Immigration officials very long. If you
give yourself up, they might be lenient with you."
"They send-a me back," Tony said stubbornly. "I stay right-a here!"
"To starve? You're hungry now, aren't you?"
"Sure. But in Italy I hungry many times-a too."
"Tony, we'll talk about this later," Penny sighed. "Right now, I want to
learn what's going on here at the island. Know anything about it?"
"Sure," the boy grinned. "Know plenty."
"Then suppose you tell me, Tony."
"I show-a you," the boy offered.
Avoiding the leafy tunnel, he led Penny in a half circle through another
section of dense thicket.
Soon he motioned for her to drop on her knees.
The sickish odor rising through the trees now was very disagreeable
again.
A few yards farther on, Tony halted. Still lying flat on his stomach, he
carefully pulled aside the bushes so that his companion might see.
CHAPTER
22
_HELP FROM TONY_
Through the leaves, Penny saw a fairly large clearing. Three men, Ezekiel
Hawkins and his two sons, were squatted about a big hardwood fire over
which was a large copper cooker.
A pipe extended above the cover, connected with a series of coils
immersed in a barrel of cold water.
"A still!" the girl whispered. "They're making alcohol here and selling
it in the city! That's what those containers held that were trucked
away!"
"Make-a the stuff every day," volunteered Tony. "I watch--sometimes I
steal-a the lunch. They very mad but no catch."
"They're probably afraid you'll tell revenue officers," Penny whispered.
From one of the barrels, Coon had taken a dipper filled with the pale
fluid. As he drank deeply from it, his father said sharply:
"Thet's enough, Coon! We gotta git this stuff made an moved out o' here
tonight, and ye won't be fitten."
"What's yer rush, Pappy? We got termorrer, hain't we?" Coon sat down, and
bracing his back against a tree trunk, yawned drowsily.
"Ye want to be caught by them lousy revenooers?"
"There hain't no danger. Hain't we got a fool-proof system? If anyone
starts this way, Maw'll spot 'em and give us the signal."
"Folkses is gittin' wise, and we hain't none too popular hereabouts.
We're moving this stuff out tonight."
"Jest as you say, Pappy." Coon stirred reluctantly.
"An we hain't operatin' the still no more till things quiets down. I
don't like it that gal snoopin' around here, claimin' to be lookin' fer
her dawg."
"Ye should have kilt the dawg, stead o' keepin' him," Hod spoke up as he
dumped a sack of mash into a tub. "Tole ye it would make us trouble."
"Yer always tellin' me!" Ezekiel retorted. "Thet dog's handy to heve
here, an I never was one to kill a helpless animal without cause. Now git
to yer work, and let me do the thinkin' fer this outfit!"
Penny's curiosity now had been fully satisfied as to the illegal business
in which the Hawkins' family had engaged, but she also felt a little
disappointed.
She had hoped the men would speak of Danny Deevers, perhaps revealing his
hideout. The convict was nowhere to be seen, and there was no evidence he
ever had been on Black Island.
Not wishing to leave Mrs. Jones too long alone in the boat, Penny
presently motioned to Tony that she had seen and heard enough.
Inch by inch, they crept backwards away from the tiny clearing.
Then suddenly Penny stopped, for Ezekiel was speaking again:
"We gotta do something about Danny and git him off our hands."
Penny instantly became all ears, listening intently to Coon's reply:
"Now ye'r talkin', Pappy. Takin' him in was a big mistake. Hit's apt ter
land us in jail if them city officers come snoopin' around here agin."
"There wouldn't have been no risk, if Hod and Danny hadn't taken the
widder's car and drive into town. Didn't ye have no sense, Hod?"
"Danny wanted to go," Hod whined. "How was we ter know another car was
goin' to smash into us? Thet fool newspaper camera man an' the girl had
to be there!"
"That wasn't the wust," Ezekiel went on as he fed the fire with chips.
"Then ye follered 'em to the theater!"
"Danny said we had ter git the picture or they'd print it in the
newspaper."
"But did ye git the picture?"
"No," Hod growled.
"Instead o' that, ye let Danny git into a fight."
"'Twasn't no fight and nobody knew it was him. He seen an enemy o' his'n
go into the building. I tried ter talk him out o' it, but he wouldn't
listen. He crawled in through a window, and slugged the feller."
"He did have sense enough to git rid o' the car, but ye shouldn't have
left it so close to our place," Ezekiel pointed out. "That newspaper
gal's been out here twict now, and she's catchin' on!"
"She's only a gal," Hod said carelessly. "Ye do too much worryin',
Pappy."
"I do the thinkin' fer this family. An' I say things is gittin' too hot
fer comfort. We gotta git rid o' Danny tonight."
"How ye aimin' ter do it, Pappy?" inquired Coon. "Be ye fergittin' he's
got $50,000 hid away somewheres an' he hain't give us our slice yet?"
"Fer all his promises, maybe he don't calculate ever to give us our cut!
Ever think o' that?"
"Danny would double cross us if he got the chanst," Hod agreed. "Maybe
ye'r right, Pappy!"
"Doggone tootin', I am! We git rid o' him tonight, soon's we git back
from this island. But first we make him tell where he hid the money!"
"How we gonna do it, Pappy?" asked Coon.
"Hain't figured fer sure, but he's the same as our prisoner, ain't he? If
we was to turn him over to the police, claimin' we found him hidin' out
in the swamp, he couldn't prove no different."
"And we'd git $10,000 reward!" Hod added. "We could use thet money!"
"I hain't one to double cross a pal if it can be helped," Ezekiel amended
hastily. "Now if Danny's a mind to tell where he hid the money, and
split, we'll help him git out o' here tonight."
"And if he won't cough up?"
"We'll turn him over to police and claim the reward."
To Penny, it now was clear Hod Hawkins had been with Danny Deevers at the
time Jerry was slugged. Also, the conversation made it evident the
escaped convict had sought a hideout somewhere near if not in the swamp.
Tensely, the girl waited for further details of the escape plan, but none
were forthcoming. The three men applied themselves to their work and said
no more.
"My best bet is to get away from here fast and notify police!" Penny
thought.
Noiselessly, she and Tony retreated through the thicket to a shoreline
some distance away.
"Listen, Tony!" Penny said hurriedly. "I've got to go away for awhile!
Will you stay here and keep watch of these men for me?"
"I stay," the boy promised soberly.
"I'll come back as soon as I can. And Tony! Please don't run away. I want
to do something for you--perhaps I can."
"No go back to Italy," the boy said firmly. "Stay-a here--you come back.
Then go far away. No trust pol-eese."
Penny dared not take time to try to convince the youth of the folly of
fleeing from Immigration authorities. Saying goodbye, she ran to the boat
where the Widow Jones anxiously awaited her.
"Shove off!" she ordered tersely. "I've seen plenty! I'll tell you about
it, once we're away from here!"
Mrs. Jones gave a mighty push with her pole, and the skiff floated out of
its hiding place into the hyacinth-clogged channel.
"How is your foot?" Penny inquired. "Better let me paddle."
"It hain't hurtin' so much now," the widow replied without giving up the
paddle. "I'll steer until we're out o' these floatin' hyacinth beds."
"One place looks exactly like another to me," Penny said anxiously. "So
many false channels!"
"Ye git a feel fer it after awhile. There's a current to follow, but it's
mighty faint."
"We must get back as fast as we can," Penny urged, glancing nervously
over her shoulder toward Black Island. In terse sentences she told of her
meeting with Tony and all they had seen in the clearing.
"So the Hawkins' are runnin' a still!" commented the widow. "Humph! Jest
as I figured, only I didn't dast say so without proof."
"The important thing is they're hiding Danny Deevers! Where they're
keeping him will be for the police to discover as soon as they arrest
Ezekiel and his sons."
"I'll git ye back fast," the widow promised grimly. "Soon's we git out o'
these beds and away from the island, I kin switch on the motor."
Safely out of sight of the island, the couple found themselves in a
labyrinth of floating hyacinths with no clearly defined channel. The
Widow Jones tried a half dozen of them, each time being forced to return
to a point she could identify as their starting place.
"Penelope, I can't seem to find the main channel," she confessed at last.
"'Pears like we're lost."
"Oh, we can't be!" Penny exclaimed. "We must get back quickly!"
"I'm a-tryin' hard as I kin," the widow said doggedly.
"Let me paddle for awhile," Penny offered. "Your ankle is hurting and
you're tired. Just tell me which way to go."
Mrs. Jones indicated a channel which opened in a wide sweep. But before
Penny had paddled far, it played out. The sun, sinking lower in the sky,
warned the pair how fast time was passing.
For another hour they sought desperately to find the exit channel.
Although they took turns at paddling, and used the motor whenever the
passageway was not too clogged, they soon became exhausted.
"It hain't no use," the widow said at last. "We're tuckered out, and
we're goin' around in circles. We'll pull up on shore and take a little
rest."
Penny nodded miserably.
Herons flew lazily over as the couple pulled the boat out on the soft
muck. Seeking a high point of land, the widow flung herself flat on her
back to rest.
For a time, Penny sat beside her, thinking over everything that had
occurred. It was bitterly disappointing to realize that due purely to a
stroke of bad luck, Danny Deevers undoubtedly would elude police.
"Mrs. Jones and I may not find our way out of here in twenty-four hours!"
she thought. "By that time, the Hawkins' family will have helped him
escape!"
Tormented by weariness, Penny stretched out beside the widow. Insects
annoyed her for awhile. Then she dozed off.
Much later when the girl awoke, she saw that her companion still slept.
The shadow of dusk already was heavy upon the swamp.
Sitting up, Penny gazed resentfully across the water at an almost solid
sea of floating plants.
"Such miserable luck!" she muttered. "Of all times to be lost!"
Penny's gaze remained absently upon the hyacinth bed. The plants slowly
were drifting westward. At first their movement signified nothing to the
girl. Then suddenly, she sprang to her feet.
Excitedly she shook Mrs. Jones by the arm. "The channel!" she cried. "I
can see it now! If we move fast, we still may get out of the swamp before
night!"
CHAPTER
23
_LOST IN THE HYACINTHS_
Mrs. Jones shaded her eyes from the slanting rays of the low-hung sun to
gaze for a long moment at the almost motionless hyacinth bed blanketing
the water.
"Right ye are, Penelope!" she exclaimed jubilantly. "The channel's plain
to see now! Help me git to the boat, and we'll be out o' this tangle."
Once in the skiff, the widow again seized the paddle.
"We gotta inch our way along fer a little," she explained. "If we don't
foller the drift o' the bed, we'll be lost agin and that hain't smart."
Steadily the widow shoved the little boat through the water plants,
seldom hesitating in choice of the channel.
"I got the feel o' it agin!" she declared happily. "We'll be out o' this
in no time!"
However, dark shadows were deepening to blackness when the boat finally
came into water open enough to permit use of the motor. Propelled by the
engine, the skiff presently approached Lookout Point.
"Let's paddle from here," proposed Penny. "Ezekiel and his sons may be
out of the swamp by this time. We don't want them to see us or guess
where we've been."
Mrs. Jones shut off the motor and with a tired sigh, offered the paddle
to Penny. The channel now was plainly marked and easy to follow, even in
semi-darkness. Whenever the girl hesitated, the widow told her which way
to steer.
"We're out of it now," Mrs. Jones said as lights of the Hawkins'
farmhouse twinkled through the trees. "Reckon Trapper Joe's fit to be
tied, we been gone so long!"
Penny allowed the skiff to drift with the current. As it floated past the
Hawkins' dock, loud voices came from the direction of the woodshed.
"Sounds like an argument goin' on," observed the widow.
Penny brought the skiff in and made fast to the dock.
"What ye aimin' to do?" the widow inquired in surprise.
"Wait here!" Penny whispered. "I have a hunch what's going on and I must
find out!" Before Mrs. Jones could protest, she slipped away into the
darkness.
Stealthily the girl approached the woodshed. A voice which she recognized
as Ezekiel's, now plainly could be heard.
"Danny, we've fed ye and kept ye here fer days in this woodshed, and it
hain't safe!" the speaker said. "Ye gotta git out tonight--now--through
the swamp. The river'll take ye out the other end, and ye maybe kin git
out o' the state."
"And maybe I'll be caught!" the other voice replied. Penny knew it was
Danny Deevers who spoke. "I'm staying right here!"
"Coon and Hod'll guide ye through the swamp, so ye'll be safe enough till
ye git to the other side," Ezekiel argued. "We hain't keepin' ye here
another day. You got clothes and food and a good chanst to git away."
Penny crept close to the wall of the woodshed. Peering through a small,
dirty window on the far side she saw four men seated on kegs in a room
dimly lighted by a lantern.
The man facing her plainly was Danny Deevers. Opposite him were Ezekiel
and his two sons, both armed with rifles.
"Hain't no use talkin' any more," Ezekiel said flatly. "Ye'r leavin' here
tonight, Danny. Maw's fixin' ye a lunch to take."
"Paw, hain't you forgittin' something?" Coon prodded his father.
"Hain't fergittin' nothin', Coon. Danny, 'fore you go, there's a matter
o' money to be settled between us. Ye got $50,000 hid somewheres close,
and we want our cut fer hidin' ye out from the police."
Danny laughed unpleasantly.
"You leeches won't get a penny! Not a penny! No one but me knows where
that money is, and I'm not telling!"
"Then I calculate Hod and Coon cain't guide ye through the swamp
tonight," Ezekiel said coolly. "We got word today the police got a hint
ye'r here. We'll help 'em, by turning you in. Hod, git to the phone and
call Sheriff Burtwell. Tell 'im we cotched this feller hidin' in the
swamp."
"You betcha!" Hod said with alacrity.
"Wait!" Danny stopped him before he could reach the door. "How much of a
cut do you dirty blackmailers want?"
"We don't like them words, Danny," Ezekiel said. "All we ask is a fair
amount fer the risk we been takin' keepin' ye here."
"How much?"
"A third cut."
"I'll give you $10,000."
"'Tain't enough."
"You'll not get another cent. Take it or leave it. Turn me in if you want
to! You'll involve yourself because I'll swear you hid me here."
"We hain't aimin' to be hard on ye, Danny," Ezekiel said hastily. "If we
was to agree to the $10,000, kin ye deliver tonight?"
"In fifteen minutes!"
"Ye hain't got the money on ye or hid in the woodshed!"
"No."
"But it's somewheres close. I knowed that."
"If I give you $10,000, you'll guide me through the swamp and help me get
away?"
"We will," Ezekiel promised.
"Then get a spade," Danny directed. "The money's buried under a fence
post by the creek. I hid it there a year ago before they sent me up.
Marked the post with a V-shaped slash of my jackknife."
"Git a spade, Hod," Ezekiel ordered.
Penny waited for no more. Stealing away, she ran to the boat where Mrs.
Jones awaited her.
"No questions now!" she said tersely. "Just go as fast as you can and
telephone the police! Also call my father, Anthony Parker at the
_Riverview Star_! Ask him to come here right away and bring help!"
"You've found Danny Deevers!" the widow guessed, preparing to cast off.
"Yes, and maybe the stolen money! But there's not a second to lose! Let
me have your knife, and go as fast as you can!"
Without questioning the odd request, Mrs. Jones gave her the knife and
seized a paddle. Penny shoved the skiff far out into the stream.
Then she turned and with a quick glance toward the woodshed, darted to
the nearby fence. Rapidly she examined the wooden posts, searching for a
V-shaped mark. She could find no slashes of any kind. At any moment she
knew the men might emerge from the woodshed and see her.
"Somehow I've got to keep them here until Mrs. Jones brings the police!"
she thought. "But how?"
Suddenly an idea came to her. It might not work, but there was an outside
chance it would. With desperate haste, she slashed several posts with
V-shaped marks.
"That may confuse them for a few minutes," she reasoned. "But not for
long."
The door of the woodshed now had opened. Penny dropped flat in the tall
weeds near the fence.
Without seeing her, the four men came with a spade and began to inspect
posts scarcely a dozen yards from where the girl lay.
"Here's a marked one!" called Hod as he found one of the posts Penny had
slashed.
In the darkness the men did not notice that the cut was a fresh one. They
began to dig. Silently the work went on until a large hole had been
excavated.
"Where's the money?" Ezekiel demanded. "Danny, if ye'r pullin' a fast
one--"
"I tell you I buried it under a post!" the other insisted. "Thought it
was farther down the fence, but this one was marked."
Ezekiel flashed his lantern full on the post which now had been tilted
far over on its side.
"The post's marked," he confirmed. "Fresh new slashes."
"Let's see!" Danny exclaimed. He examined the marking briefly and
straightened up. "I never made those cuts! Someone's tricked me!"
Excited by the discovery, the men now moved from post to post. Other
slashes were found.
"Here's the one with my mark!" Danny cried, pointing to a post close to
where Penny lay hidden. "Who slashed these others? Someone must have
learned where I buried the money!"
"It does look kinda bad," said Ezekiel. "But there hain't been no diggin'
by this post. Git busy, boys!"
Taking turns, Coon and Hod fell to with the spade. Soon they had
uncovered three large tin cans filled with bank notes.
"It's all here!" Danny said jubilantly. "Every dollar!"
Ezekiel blew out the lantern light, looking carefully about the yard.
"There hain't no time to divide the money now," he said. "We gotta git
you through the swamp, Danny, before them snoopin' police come around.
Bring the cans and come on! We're moving out o' here right now!"
Hod shuffled off to get the boat ready as the others each picked up a can
and followed quickly.
CHAPTER
24
_UNDER THE FENCE POST_
Penny was tormented with worry as she saw the men walk hurriedly to the
creek where they launched a flat-bottomed boat belonging to Ezekiel. Soon
the craft was lost in the blackness of the swamp channel.
"There goes my chance to catch Danny and recover the stolen money!" she
thought. "Oh, what can I do to prevent them from getting away?"
Another boat had been tied up at the dock, but Penny knew she never would
dare enter the swamp alone at night. In any case, what chance would she
have against four armed men?
"If only Mrs. Jones hadn't hurt her ankle!" she thought. "It will take
her a long while to reach a telephone, and help may not get here for an
hour!"
As Penny stood gazing gloomily toward the swamp, a shaft of light cut
fleetingly across the water. The flash came from the headbeam of a car
swinging up the lane to the Hawkins' house.
Not knowing who the arrivals might be, the girl stepped behind a tree to
wait. Soon the car came closer, halting with a jerk.
From the sedan stepped Mr. Parker, Salt, and Jerry Livingston. Scarcely
believing her eyes, Penny ran to meet them.
"Oh, Dad!" she cried. "You did get Mrs. Jones' message!"
"Message?" he inquired. "Why, no! We were worried because you had been
gone so long, so we came out here to find you. What's this all about?"
Penny rapidly told of Danny's flight into the swamp with the stolen
money.
"If Mrs. Jones reaches a phone, police should get here any minute!" she
added.
"In the meantime, we can't let those men escape!" Mr. Parker exclaimed.
"Salt, you stay here and wait for the police. If they don't come in ten
minutes, go after them!"
"Sure, Chief!"
"Jerry, you come with me," the publisher directed, untying the boat at
the dock. "We'll try to keep those men in sight and mark the way for
police to follow."
As Penny followed Jerry into the boat, her father protested quickly:
"Penny, you know you can't go! Danny Deevers is a desperate character."
"If you expect to capture him, you'll have to take me, Dad. They'll
probably follow the main channel to Black Island and beyond. You'll be
lost before you've covered half the distance."
"All right, come along," Mr. Parker agreed unwillingly.
The boat shoved off into the cool night.
Fairly certain the Hawkins' boat would pass Lookout Point, Penny directed
her father and Jerry to row toward it. Soon she caught a glimpse of a
moving light through the trees.
"That's their boat!" she exclaimed. "Ezekiel must have lighted his
lantern again!"
Scarcely had she spoken than those in the Parker craft were startled to
hear a metallic pounding sound from the direction of the Hawkins'
farmhouse.
"The dishpan signal!" Penny cried in dismay. "We forgot about Mrs.
Hawkins! Evidently she saw us leave the dock and is warning her menfolks!
Now they'll know someone is following them!"
Mr. Parker's face became very grave as the girl revealed the significance
of the signal. Penny also told him what she and Mrs. Jones had learned on
Black Island.
"Unarmed, we've no chance to capture those men," he commented. "Our best
bet is to keep them in sight, marking the trail well for police to
follow."
"And hope they do," Jerry added grimly.
Breaking overhanging tree limbs, and slashing trunks to blaze the trail,
the party passed Lookout Point.
When they were perhaps twenty yards beyond the isle, a bullet suddenly
whizzed through the trees, only a few feet above their heads. The shot
had been fired from the island.
"Duck low!" Mr. Parker ordered. "They've taken refuge there!"
As the trio remained motionless, another bullet whined over their heads.
"Dad, it's only a trick to divert us!" Penny whispered. "One of the
Hawkins' boys probably has stayed on the island, but the others have gone
on! See through the trees!"
Jerry and Mr. Parker peered where she pointed and caught the brief flash
of lantern light.
"You're right!" the publisher agreed. "Row on, Jerry! We're practically
out of range of Lookout Point now."
The boat pushed on. A light mist was rising from the water and the night
was very dark. Shielded by the blackness, the trio slipped away without
becoming the target for another bullet.
"We've got to keep that other boat in sight!" Mr. Parker said grimly. "If
we lose it, we may never find our way out of this place!"
"And if we catch up, we may never be allowed to get out!" Jerry observed.
Penny, who scarcely had taken her eyes from the moving point of light
ahead, now exclaimed:
"They've blown out the lantern!"
"Then they may have seen us," Mr. Parker muttered. "If only we were
armed!"
Cautiously, the party proceeded. A few minutes later as the boat passed a
high point of land several hundred yards deeper in the swamp, another
bullet whizzed dangerously close overhead.
"Where'd that come from?" Mr. Parker demanded, shielding Penny with his
body.
Jerry pointed to the high point of land on the right hand side of the
channel. "Those birds must have pulled up there and hope to pick us off!"
he whispered.
Still another bullet whined close over their heads, splashing as it
struck the water.
Hurriedly Jerry steered the boat into a clump of bushes. All remained
motionless and silent.
Bullets kept splattering the water, though farther away.
"We're in a pocket!" Mr. Parker fumed. "They can pick us off almost at
will if we stay here!"
"What's our move, Chief?" Jerry asked anxiously.
"Let's back-track to the farm and await police. It's the only thing we
can do."
As a lull came in the firing, Jerry shoved off and rowed rapidly back
toward Lookout Point. All crouched low in the boat, but no shots were
fired at them.
"They're satisfied we've turned back," Mr. Parker said. "That was what
they wanted."
However, as Lookout Point loomed up, the party was disconcerted to see a
tall, lean figure silhouetted there.
"Stay where ye be, or I'll fire!" the man shouted. "If ye try to pass,
I'll sink ye'r boat!"
"It's Ezekiel!" Penny whispered.
Mr. Parker signaled Jerry to row back out of range. "We've trapped
ourselves between two fires!" he muttered in disgust. "Ezekiel stayed
here on purpose to guard the channel while the others make their
getaway."
"Danny could be captured easily if only we could get word to Salt and the
police," Jerry added.
Penny and her father nodded gloomily. Salt, they knew, would follow their
trail into the swamp as soon as police reached the Hawkins' farm. But
Ezekiel from his point of vantage, would fire upon them before they
realized they were running into danger.
"We could chance it and try to push through," Jerry proposed.
"Ezekiel's not bluffing," Mr. Parker replied. "Those first shots were a
warning. If we attempt to pass now, he may shoot to kill."
"There's one way we might bring help," Jerry said, staring thoughtfully
at the grim figure guarding the channel.
"How?" Penny demanded eagerly.
"You and your father would have to wait on the bank and let me take the
boat."
"Too risky," Mr. Parker said. "You never could get through."
"I'd try an old trick," the reporter explained. "When Ezekiel starts
shooting, I'll upset the boat and float beneath it until I'm past the
point. I'm a good swimmer and can hold my breath a long while. Anyway,
after the boat is upset, there will be a pocket of air beneath it."
"It might not work."
"Let me try it. Unless we get word through, Danny Deevers is certain to
escape."
After lengthy whispered debate, Mr. Parker reluctantly agreed to the
plan. Retreating beyond Ezekiel's range of vision, the boat brought up on
shore where Penny and her father alighted.
"Wait right here!" Jerry directed. "I'll be back for you in a few
minutes!"
Boldly the reporter pushed off alone in the boat, drifting down channel.
Before he had gone many yards, Ezekiel challenged him.
"Ye come another foot, and I'm lettin' ye have it!"
Jerry shouted an insult. But as Ezekiel's gun spat, he upset the boat,
disappearing beneath it.
"Oh, Dad!" Penny murmured anxiously, watching the craft float slowly
downstream past the point. "Was Jerry really hit?"
"I don't think so."
"What if Ezekiel fires again?"
"He can't harm Jerry now unless he's forced to come up for air."
Anxiously the trio watched the overturned boat. Unless Jerry had found
the pocket of air, they knew not even an expert swimmer could remain so
long underwater.
Finally the boat was beyond their range of vision, blotted out by
darkness.
"Jerry has nerve!" Mr. Parker commented. "He's safely through now."
Nervously the publisher and Penny kept attentive watch of Lookout Point,
fearful lest Ezekiel launch a boat and try to capture them. To their
intense relief, the swamper made no such move. Occasionally, they caught
brief glimpses of him as he shifted his position.
Directing all their attention upon Ezekiel, Penny and her father paid
less heed to the channel. Near them was a passage so narrow a boatman
could have reached out to touch bushes on either side.
A slight rustling sound close by suddenly startled Penny.
"What was that, Dad?" she whispered.
"Only the wind," he reassured her. "Ezekiel's still over there on the
point. We're safe enough."
Even as he made the observation, a boat moved out from behind the screen
of leaves. Penny and her father found themselves gazing directly into the
barrel of a gun.
"Safe, are ye?" Coon Hawkins shouted in glee. "We got ye now, ye sneakin'
snoopers! Ye won't do no more spyin' in this swamp!"
With him in the boat were his brother and Danny Deevers.
"Git in!" Coon ordered sharply.
"What will you do with us?" Mr. Parker asked, trying to stall for time.
"We're takin' ye to Black Island," Coon replied, prodding the publisher
with his gun. "Move!"
One glance at the grim, determined faces of the men convinced Mr. Parker
and Penny it would be folly to resist. Silently they entered the boat.
Hod pushed off and the craft moved noiselessly away into the night.
CHAPTER
25
_OUTWITTED_
For an endless time, it seemed, the party moved deeper and deeper into
the swamp. As the night became cool, Penny shivered and leaned close to
her father.
Worn out, she slumped against his shoulder and finally dropped into a
light sleep. When she opened her eyes, a pale moon had risen over the
treetops, lighting the way.
At last, the boat brought up in a cove at Black Island.
"We're leavin' ye here," Coon informed the prisoners. "Maybe ye'll be
found tomorrer or next week after we're safe away. If not, well hit's
jest too bad!"
Penny and her father were hustled ashore. Despite vigorous struggles, Mr.
Parker then was bound by Coon and Hod and lashed with his back to a tree.
Before Penny could be treated likewise, a dog began to bark.
"It's Bones!" she cried. "You have him here on the island!"
"Sure, we got him," agreed Hod indifferently.
Penny loudly called the dog's name and he bounded through the brush
toward her. His long hair was matted with burs, but he seemed in good
health and well fed.
Before Penny could get her hands on him, Coon seized and tossed the dog
into the boat.
"Please let me keep Bones!" she pleaded.
"Yeah, leave the dog on the island," growled Danny Deevers. "He'll be a
bother to us."
"Git the dog then, gal," commanded Coon.
Penny scrambled aboard the Hawkins' boat. Bones had crawled far forward.
As she bent to gather him into her arms, her hand encountered a gunny
sack. Inside were wrapped three hard, round objects.
"The cans of stolen money!" Penny thought, her pulse jumping.
Without considering the punishment that might be meted out to her, she
seized the sack.
"Hey!" shouted Coon furiously. "Drop those cans!"
He sprang aboard, intending to strike her a stunning blow. Penny leaped
for shore, but the boat shot from beneath her feet.
Misbalanced, it went over, tumbling Coon and herself into the water.
But as Penny went down, she clung fast to the cans of money. Fortunately,
the muddy water was shallow. Her feet touched bottom and she came up
sputtering.
Hod and Danny started for the boat on a run, intending to seize her.
Suddenly, they halted, listening intently.
"What was that?" Danny demanded. "Thought I heard the splash of a
paddle!"
"Two boats are coming!" Hod cried hoarsely. "Police!"
"Come on!" ordered Danny, seizing one end of the overturned boat. "Help
me right this! We'll still get away! The girl goes with us as a hostage!"
Hod grasped Penny's arm, while his brother aided Danny with the boat.
"No go!" ordered a cool voice from the thicket. "I gotta you covered!"
As the three men whirled around, Tony, rifle in hand, came out of the
deep shadows.
"Stand-a by tree!" he commanded, motioning with the gun. "Keep-a hands
up!"
Sullenly the three men obeyed. Tony guarded them closely until policemen
swarmed over the island.
In the first boat were Salt, Jerry and several officers. Behind came a
second boat, also loaded with policemen.
Danny, Hod and Coon quickly were handcuffed and placed under heavy guard.
Tony then helped Penny release her father.
"What about Ezekiel?" the publisher asked. "We ought to get him too!"
Jerry revealed that the swamper already had been taken prisoner at
Lookout Island. Two policemen had remained behind to guard both him and
his wife.
"Oh, Jerry! I'm so glad you got through safely!" Penny declared. "Did you
have any trouble?"
"Not a bit," he replied. "When I reached the farmhouse, police already
were there. Mrs. Jones had telephoned them."
"We arrested Mrs. Hawkins," Salt took up the story. "Then we captured
Ezekiel at Lookout Point, and followed your boat here. Most of the time
we had you in sight, though from a long distance."
Penny was greatly relieved to be able to turn over the three cans of
stolen money to police officers. By lantern light a hasty count was made
and it was disclosed that a sizeable portion of the funds were missing.
However, when Danny Deevers, Hod, and Coon were searched, a large roll of
bills was found in the escaped convict's pocket.
"This should account for it all," said the police officer, taking charge
of the money and adding it to the other. "So you were trying to
double-cross your pals, Danny? Figured on keeping the lion's share!"
Danny glared at the officer, refusing to answer.
"So you got nothing to say, eh?" the officer prodded. "Maybe you'll be in
a more talkative mood when we get you back to the pen. You'll do double
time for skipping out!"
Danny's sullen gaze fastened briefly on Jerry Livingston.
"I got only one regret!" he muttered. "I wish I'd slugged that guy harder
when I had the chance!"
"May I ask the prisoners a question or two?" Penny asked the officer in
charge.
"Sure, go ahead," he nodded. "If you get anything out of 'em, you're
good."
Penny knew that Danny, a hardened criminal, would never give her any
information, so she centered her attention upon Hod and Coon.
At first, they only eyed her sullenly, refusing to speak. But after she
had pointed out that a more cooperative attitude might bring a lighter
sentence, they showed a little interest.
"How did you come to be mixed up with Danny?" she asked. "Were you all
together in the big bank robbery?"
The question drew fire from Hod.
"No, we weren't!" he shouted. "We never even knowed where Danny hid the
money until tonight!"
"Then why were you so willing to hide and help him?"
"'Cause him and Paw always was good friends! Danny come here, saying the
cops was after him and would we give him some clothes and hide him fer a
day or two? So like fools we was, we took him in and kept him in the
woodshed. It would have been safe enough if you hadn't come snoopin'
around!"
"No doubt you all would have gone free if you hadn't made the mistake of
keeping Louise's dog," Penny retorted. "However, you seem to forget you
were operating a still illegally."
"Anyone else in on that business?" the policeman cut in. "How'd they
market the stuff?"
"Through a trucker at Hartwell City," Penny exclaimed. "I think they
called him Ike."
"Too bad the bird will go free, while these eggs do a stretch in the
pen," commented the policeman. "You can depend on it though, they'll
never do the smart thing and turn him in."
"Oh, wouldn't we?" growled Hod. "He was no pal o' ourn!"
"Would it git us a lighter stretch if we was to turn him in?" asked Coon
craftily.
"It might."
"His name's Ike Glanzy and he stays mostly at the Devon Club in Hartwell
City," Hod volunteered.
"We'll pick him up," said the policeman. "Depend on it, he'll be behind
bars before another twenty-four hours. Now let's get out of here!"
As the boats began to load for the return trip through the swamp, Penny
glanced anxiously about the tiny clearing.
"Where's Tony?" she asked.
No one had seen the Italian lad in the last few minutes. Unnoticed, he
had slipped away into the interior of the island.
"We can't leave without Tony!" Penny protested. "He's afraid he'll be
sent back to Italy, so he's run off somewhere!"
"He can't have gone far," said Salt. "We should be able to find him."
However, an intensive search of the bushes nearby did not reveal the
missing youth. At last, in desperation, Penny called his name several
times.
"Please, Tony, give yourself up!" she pleaded. "You won't be sent back to
Italy! I'm sure of it! Please come out of hiding!"
"If that appeal doesn't fetch him, nothing will," said Salt. "We've held
up the party too long now, Penny. We've got to shove off."
Penny nodded disconsolately. When the photographer took her arm and
started back toward the waiting boats, she did not resist.
But after they had gone a few yards, she abruptly halted.
"Tony _is_ close by!" she insisted. "I can _feel_ that he's watching us
now! Listen! Don't you hear the bushes rustling?"
"I do hear something. Maybe it's only an animal."
"Tony," Penny made one last appeal, "if you're back there in the dark,
please come out. Don't you understand? You were a hero tonight--you saved
the day by popping out of the bushes at just the right moment. Please
don't fail me now."
The leaves were stirring again. Then, to Penny's joy, the branches
parted. Grinning sheepishly, Tony shuffled out.
"You call-a me?" he grinned.
"Oh, Tony!" Penny seized his arm and held fast. "We've practically torn
out the lining of our lungs, trying to find you! Come on! You're going
back with us!"
"Not to Immigration mens!"
"Oh, don't worry about that now, Tony! My father has a little influence
and he'll help you all he can. Besides, you're almost certain to win a
portion of the reward offered for Danny Deevers' capture."
"Money no good if they send-a me back to Italy!" Tony said stubbornly.
"Want-a stay in America. I work-a hard. Go to school!"
"I think perhaps it can be arranged," Penny promised recklessly. With
Salt's help, she kept steering the boy toward the boat. "After all you've
done tonight, Immigration authorities couldn't be hard-hearted enough to
refuse you citizenship."
Tony allowed himself to be persuaded and entered a boat with Penny and
other members of the party. After a long and tiring but uneventful trip
through the swamp, the Hawkins' farm finally was reached.
At the farmhouse, Mrs. Hawkins and her husband were being held prisoners
by other policemen. Also waiting were the Widow Jones and Trapper Joe
Scoville, whom she had summoned.
"Praises be! The police got to ye in time!" the widow exclaimed, giving
Penny's hand an affectionate squeeze. "If harm had befallen ye this
night, I never would have fergiven myself fer having taken ye into the
swamp."
"Maybe what happened'll teach ye a lesson, but I got m' doubts,"
interposed the old trapper with a chuckle. "Wimmin is mighty stubborn
critters!"
As Mrs. Hawkins and her husband were led out of the house, the woman
caught sight of her two sons handcuffed to officers. "Hod! Coon!" she
screamed hysterically.
She tried to break away from the policemen who held her, and would have
attacked Danny Deevers had they not restrained her.
"Ye'r the one who got us into this mess!" she accused the convict. "I
hope they lock ye up fer the rest o' y'er life!"
Much later, after all the prisoners had been confined in Riverview jail,
Mr. Parker and Penny obtained custody of Tony. Arrangements were made so
that the lad might remain in the Parker home while Immigration officials
considered his case.
The Italian boy proved to be a perfect guest. Not only did he help about
the house and yard, but he never overlooked an opportunity to improve his
education. Many a time Penny or her father came upon him in the library,
reading a book.
"If he doesn't get to stay, it will be a crime!" the girl declared. "Oh,
why doesn't the Immigration department reach a decision?"
Despite Penny's fretting, weeks dragged on and still Tony's case hung
fire. Many telegrams went back and forth between Riverview and
Washington, D. C. So involved did the affair become that even Mr. Parker
began to lose hope the boy could be kept in America.
But at last word came that the last bit of red tape had been cut. A high
immigration official had ruled that although it was irregular, Tony might
remain in Riverview, providing someone would guarantee his support.
Mr. Parker willingly signed the necessary papers. A job next was in
order, but this Penny easily arranged through Mark Fiello, the hamburger
shop man.
As for Danny Deevers, the convict promptly was returned to prison, and
the stolen $50,000 turned over to the Third Federal Bank.
In due time, Ezekiel, Coon, Hod and Mrs. Hawkins were convicted on
charges of harboring a fugitive from justice. At their trial, evidence
also was introduced, showing they had operated a still illegally.
For many days the _Riverview Star_ carried front page stories of the
happenings. Penny wrote several of the articles, while others carried
Jerry's byline.
"The best part of all is that with Danny behind bars, you'll no longer be
in danger," the girl remarked one day to the reporter. "He really was out
to get you."
"I suppose so," Jerry agreed, "but I never was much worried. Danny's real
motive in coming back to Riverview was to recover the hidden $50,000.
Running into me--and particularly you--proved his undoing."
In days that followed, Penny drove many times to the swamp to see Mrs.
Jones and Trapper Joe. Both rejoiced that Danny Deevers and the Hawkins
family could cause no more trouble.
One afternoon as the girl paid the widow a long call, they fell to
talking over their swamp experiences.
"It was mighty excitin' out there--you and me in the boat," Mrs. Jones
recalled. "Now that it's all over, I hain't ashamed to say I was plenty
skeered we'd never git out o' the swamp alive."
"So was I," grinned Penny.
"Revenooers was in yesterday to smash up Ezekiel's still."
"They were!"
"Yep, and they got track o' that trucker who was in so thick with the
Hawkins boys." The widow sighed and pulled aside a kitchen curtain to
gaze thoughtfully toward the swamp. "Well, I reckon the last bit o'
evil's been driv' away from Black Island. From now on, the land'll jest
lie there and belong to the wind and the rain."
"And to us," Penny added softly.
The widow nodded as her gaze lingered long on the fringe of towering
pines. "One o' these days, when the spirit moves us, we'll go back
there," she promised. "The swamp always belongs to them that loves it!"