_The Enemy in the Autogiro_
Defeated, miserable, hopeless, Linda sank to the ground and buried her
face in her hands, waiting for the dreaded approach of her enemies. Oh,
the cruelty of fate, to deliver her to them again, after her superhuman
effort to escape! Bitter tears rushed to her eyes, scalding her face,
and she sat as one expecting death, listening to the rhythmic dip of
the paddles, as the canoe came closer and closer.
She kept her face hidden until the sound ceased, informing her thereby
that the craft had stopped at her side. Tensely she waited for the
harsh snarl of her captor's voice. But to her incredulous amazement,
she heard instead the soft, deep, well-bred tones of a Southerner!
"Can we be of any help to you, Miss?" inquired the speaker.
Linda looked up instantly into the kind eyes of two exceedingly
attractive young men.
"Oh! Please!" she gasped, the tears still running from her eyes. "Yes,
please!"
And then, for the first time in her life, Linda Carlton fainted.
When she came to, she was lying on the ground, with two strangers
bending over her, one offering her water, and the other hot coffee
from a thermos bottle. A warm glow of happiness surged over her as
she realized that she was among real human beings--not animals, or
criminals. Though not naturally impulsive, she longed to throw her arms
about these boys and weep with gratitude. If they had been girls, she
would not have hesitated a moment.
Instead, she sat up and smiled her sweetest smile, so that, bedraggled
as she was, she was still beautiful. The boys, man-like, each urged his
particular offering upon her.
"Put that coffee down, Hal!" commanded the tall, fair youth at her
right. "A lady who has just fainted doesn't want coffee."
"I do, though," Linda assured him. "I want water, and coffee--and
anything else you have to eat. I fainted from hunger as much as from
anything else."
The boy called "Hal" looked pleased at her acceptance of his gift, and
he hurried back to the canoe for some food.
"Are you alone?" asked the other, who remained at Linda's side. "And
how do you happen to be here?"
"It's a long story," replied the girl, wondering just how much of it
she had better tell. It was all so incredulous, that perhaps they
wouldn't believe her if she did tell them.
"First have some food," suggested the boy who had gone to the canoe.
"How long has it been since you ate?"
"Only yesterday noon--and I even had some chocolate about six o'clock.
But after that I waded and swam from Black Jack Island to this
place--whatever it is."
"This is 'Billy's Island,'" the boys informed her. "Named after
'Billy Bowlegs,' the Indian who once lived here.... But, Great Guns!"
exclaimed Hal, "that's five miles at least! Nobody ever tried to swim
the Okefenokee Swamp before!"
"Well, it seemed like twenty-five," remarked Linda. "And I hope nobody
ever has to try it again."
She did not go on with her story immediately, for she was too busy
eating bananas--one right after another. Nothing had ever tasted so
good! Meanwhile, the boys introduced themselves as Hal--short for
Harold--Perry, and Jackson Carter, both Juniors at the University of
Florida.
"We're both on the archery team at college," Jackson explained. "And
we take a little trip into the Okefenokee each summer, to try out our
bows and arrows on the wild game here. We camp each night on one of the
islands."
"Then you know the Swamp pretty well," remarked Linda, with relief.
They would be able to take her back to civilization.
"The southern end of it--yes," replied Hal.
"Now tell us who you are," urged Jackson Carter, regarding Linda with
silent admiration. There was no doubt about it, she certainly was an
attractive girl.
Linda hesitated a moment, and determined not to mention her first name.
She was tired of all the publicity and disaster which her ocean flight
had brought her. Besides, these boys might think she was just posing
as Linda Carlton, the famous aviatrix, in order to impress them. She
would tell them only her middle name, instead.
"I am Ann Carlton, from Ohio," she replied. "I was flying my new plane
when I got lost over the swamp, and had to come down on the first dry
land I saw, because my gas was running low, and I didn't know how far
the water extended."
"Smashed your plane?" inquired Hal, evidently satisfied with the
explanation.
"No. But unfortunately I fell among a gang of thieves, and they stole
it, and tried to hold me prisoner on Black Jack Island. But yesterday I
got away, as I told you."
Both boys gazed at Linda in admiration and wonder. What a plucky girl
she must be!
"Thieves in the swamp!" repeated Hal. "Not Indians?--a lot of Indians
used to live here, and they might have come back."
"No. White men--and one girl. Regular thieves, the kind that rob banks
and jewelry stores."
"But what were they doing? Hiding from justice?"
"I don't think so," answered Linda. "Because I don't think anybody
suspects them in particular. They have a regular camp on Black Jack
Island, and they bring whatever they steal there, and transfer it by
airplane to an island in the Atlantic Ocean, where it's picked up by
another partner in a boat."
Jackson let out a whistle.
"Pretty slick, aren't they? But they'll get caught sometime."
"I sincerely hope so. Unfortunately, though, nobody could identify them
as thieves, because they haven't been caught before."
"You could," remarked Hal.
"Yes, if I ever see them again. Do we have to pass Black Jack Island to
get out of the swamp?"
"I'm afraid so--but we needn't go very close to it--it's some distance
from the regular 'Gator Road' we always follow."
"'Gator Road'?" repeated Linda. "There aren't any roads in the swamp,
are there?"
"They're water channels," Hal explained. "Short for alligator-roads."
Linda shuddered.
"I saw an alligator last night," she told them. "I hope we don't meet
any more."
"You poor girl!" exclaimed Jackson. "It seems to me you've had most
every dreadful experience anybody could have in the last twenty-four
hours!"
"But they're over now," laughed Linda, wondering what the boys would
say if she told them the real account of the kidnapping.
Even now Jackson Carter was looking at her strangely. She seemed like
such a nice girl--but what sort of family could she have come from,
that would allow her to roam around the country unchaperoned and alone?
He himself was of an old-fashioned Southern family, who regarded such
independence in young women as mere boldness. Yet Linda Carlton seemed
anything but ill-bred, or bold.
"Aren't your family worried about you, Miss Carlton?" he inquired. "So
far away--in an airplane?"
"They must be by now," she replied with a pang of distress. "I had
promised to wire them every day--and it's been three nights now since I
could. My aunt probably is afraid I have been killed."
"Your aunt?"
"Yes. My mother is dead, and my aunt has always taken care of me."
"But she lets you do pretty much as you please I take it. You northern
girls certainly are different."
"Well, not exactly." Linda could not explain without telling the whole
story of her life, so she decided to let the matter pass. "Hadn't we
better be pushing on, if we expect to get out of the swamp before dark?"
"Yes," replied Hal. "But don't set your heart on that, Miss Carlton. I
don't know whether we can or not. But we'll get past Black Jack Island,
and at least as far as Soldiers' Camp Island."
"Soldiers' Camp Island?" repeated Linda.
"Yes. The story goes that some Civil War soldiers deserted, and hid
there. I don't know how true it is, but it certainly is a good place to
hide."
"Don't I know!" sighed Linda.
They climbed into the canoe, putting Linda on some blankets in the
center, and started upon their journey. For the first time since her
visit to the swamp, Linda was at last able to enjoy its beauty. The
thick ferns, the cypress trees growing in abundance, the pines and the
water-lilies! What a difference a boat could make! Yesterday she hated
the rushes and the moss; today she found everything lovely.
Avoiding the island where the thieves were camped, the boys made a
wide circle, and did not pass even in sight of it. With each mile of
progress, Linda's spirits rose higher and higher, until finally she
suggested that they sing. She just had to find some outlet for her joy
and thanksgiving.
"It must be long after noon," remarked Jackson, as they finished a
familiar college song. "Hadn't we better eat?"
"I see an island ahead--I think it's Soldiers' Camp," replied Hal.
"Wouldn't it be nice to stop and make some coffee?"
"I'm hot enough without any fire or hot coffee," returned Jackson,
wiping the perspiration from his face. "But I would like to stretch my
legs."
"Let me do the cooking!" urged Linda, eagerly. "I'd love to prove some
use to you, after all the trouble I've made."
"You haven't been any trouble!" protested Jackson, whose admiration for
Linda had been growing by leaps and bounds, in spite of the fact that
he could not wholly approve of her. For the past three hours he had
been sitting in the stern of the canoe, gazing at her lovely profile,
listening to the charm of her soft voice. Yet he knew he had better not
allow himself to care for this girl; she was just the type his mother
disapproved of, and with Jackson Carter, his mother's wishes were
supreme.
They pulled up to the island and unloaded the canoe. There were all
sorts of supplies--bacon, canned beans, fruit, and biscuits, as well as
tea, coffee, sugar and canned milk. Even a little folding stove to set
over a fire, and a coffee-pot.
"What a perfectly delightful spot!" exclaimed Linda, as she walked some
distance inland. "Look at these lovely little houses! Why, I could
almost live in them myself!"
What she referred to were the clumps, here and there, of cypress trees
and overgrowing vines and evergreens, which, as a matter of fact, the
hunters often used to camp in during their visits to the swamp. They
were very attractive indeed, and would afford complete privacy, Linda
thought, if she were obliged to spend another night in the Okefenokee.
The boys made a fire on the edge of the water, and Linda insisted that
they go off for half an hour while she prepared the meal. She laughed
and sang as she toasted the dry biscuits and the bacon, and boiled the
coffee. What fun it was to picnic when you were among friends--even if
they were very new ones!
When the boys came back, they each proudly displayed a wild goose, as
proof of their ability with the bow and arrow. Then, like three happy,
carefree school-children, they sat down to their meal, having forgotten
all about the thieves for the time being.
The shock was all the more terrible, therefore, when they suddenly
looked up into the sky and saw the autogiro overhead. Linda was the
first to identify the plane, to guess what danger they were in. She
stumbled to her feet, pulling Jackson with her, and just as she opened
her mouth to tell them to flee with her into the depths of the island,
a shot rang out from the autogiro, and a bullet whizzed past the little
group, so innocently enjoying their picnic!