THE FIGHT IN THE CABIN.
“It strikes me,” Havens observed, as he sat at the little table in the
screened-off corner of the _Nancy’s_ cabin, gazing at the brutal
features of Captain DeMott, the son of the old hag who had so deceived
him. “It strikes me,” he repeated, “that you people have some strong
motive for getting me out of the way.”
“Sartin, sure,” answered Captain DeMott.
“I must give you credit for capable management,” Havens went on, with a
smile. “How did you ever get me out of the stateroom?”
DeMott chuckled, shaking his broad shoulders, but did not answer the
question. Then his wicked face hardened.
“Fishing for millionaires in New York,” he commented, “is about the
surest and safest sport a-going at this time.”
The old fellow poured himself a liberal portion of whiskey from the
bottle and drank it greedily, smacking his lips heartily.
“We had trouble getting you to the house,” he finally said, “and were
afraid to carry you from there on board the _Nancy_. So the old woman
says to me that if we would leave you to her care for a short time,
she’d send you into the cabin of this here vessel of your own accord.”
“Very cleverly done!” commented Havens.
The man took another drink out of the bottle and refilled his foul briar
pipe. Havens sat in a brown study during the latter operation. Captain
DeMott seemed to be the only person besides himself on board the boat,
and he was wondering if it would be possible to overcome the fellow and
secure his freedom.
Once out of the boat and into the river, he would be safe from pursuit,
for a police barge would undoubtedly spring into motion at the splash.
Desperate as the situation was, the young millionaire decided that he
ought at least to make the attempt.
Presently DeMott, probably entering upon a small celebration in honor of
an adventure so craftily carried out, stepped to the cupboard and
brought forth another bottle of liquor.
“You needn’t mind inspecting the fastenings of the hatch or the
windows,” leered the captain as he seated himself again. “I saw you
doing of it while I was at the cupboard, so I’ll tell you for your own
information that the hatch is locked down hard and fast, and that the
windows are likewise fastened.”
Havens smiled grimly but made no reply.
“Likewise,” continued the captain, his voice growing slightly unsteady,
“I hold in these here pockets of mine two automatic revolvers which I
have a habit of using in case anything unpleasant turns up.”
“I presume,” Havens said after a time, “that the offer I made to Mother
DeMott would be rejected by you.”
“I haven’t seen Mother DeMott,” was the answer.
“I offered her twenty-five thousand dollars,” said Havens.
“That is a tidy sum, too,” the captain mumbled. “And yet,” he went on,
“what would twenty-five thousand bucks amount to if one got a knife in
his back for the taking of ’em?”
“You seem to be connected with a cheerful sort of a gang,” Havens
suggested. “I don’t think I’d like such associates.”
“It’s a gang that meets treachery with cold steel!” said the captain
savagely. “Always cold steel for traitors!”
“I’ve heard,” Havens observed in a moment, “that Phillips and Mendoza
regard human life very lightly.”
Captain DeMott sprang to his feet with an oath.
“I said nothing about Phillips and Mendoza,” he shouted, shaking his
fist in the millionaire’s face. “I never saw either one of them!”
Notwithstanding the emphatic denial of the captain, Havens knew then
where to look for accessories after the fact in the case of the two
murderers. There was no longer any doubt as to the interest which had
connived at his abduction.
The clock on the cabin wall denoted the hour of three, and Havens knew
that whatever was done must be done at once.
With the morning others would undoubtedly make their appearance on board
the _Nancy_, and then escape would be practically impossible. The
captain sat at the table for some moments, now, in gloomy silence,
occasionally lifting a pair of bloodshot eyes to the face of his
captive. At last, however, the millionaire’s opportunity came.
DeMott, swinging sullenly about in his swivel chair, brought his broad
back against the edge of the table, on the other side of which Havens
sat.
Havens lifted suddenly in his chair, seized the brawny neck with both
muscular hands and drew the fellow back upon the table. The furniture
was old and creaky, but it held under the added weight. DeMott naturally
threw his great hands to his throat to remove the pressure which was
shutting the air out of his lungs, but Havens held fast.
The man struggled fiercely, desperately, but the nervous fingers never
left his throat. Finally the captain managed to throw himself to the
floor, and then he almost succeeded in gripping the throat of his
opponent. But Havens was an athlete, and an expert at the wrestling
game, so the fellow’s effort failed of success.
After what seemed to the millionaire to be an infinite number of hours,
DeMott lay unconscious on the cabin floor. Possessing himself of one of
the fallen man’s automatic revolvers, Havens looked about for the key to
the cabin hatch. It was not in the captain’s pocket, but he found it in
a drawer of the desk.
When he opened the hatch there was a pearly light in the east, and
already the river was astir with moving craft. After a moment’s thought,
he got softly into the water and moved toward the pier. He heard a shout
and saw a police boat moving toward him.
Uttering a cry for assistance, he remained stationary until he was
picked up by the guardians of the river. Very fortunately the man in
charge of the squad was an intelligent and observing officer of long
experience in river work. He knew the shady reputation of the _Nancy_,
and remembered, also, that her captain was in great demand at Sing Sing,
from which place he had taken his departure without the formality of a
permit. This being the case, Havens had little difficulty in explaining
the situation. He was permitted to depart after disclosing his identity.
When he turned back to the pier and looked at the _Nancy_ in the growing
light of day, he saw half a dozen blue-coated officials swarming over
the sides. Shivering from his bath in the river, faint from the
excitement and exertion of the night, the millionaire waited at the head
of the pier on the chance of seeing a taxicab.
None appeared, however, and he was obliged to walk some distance before
seeing one of the nighthawks which prowl the streets of New York between
midnight and morning. Without stopping a moment for refreshment, he
ordered the chauffeur to drive with all speed to his city garage. His
own chauffeur was awakened with difficulty, but finally the journey to
the hangar in Westchester county was fairly begun.
In five minutes after the arrival of the master the whole place was
illuminated and a dozen men were at work.
“Look here, Hilton,” Havens said to the night-watchman, “I want the
_Ann_ put in shape for a long journey, and I want the trick turned in
less than an hour. I want provisions and gasoline sufficient for two
days, and I don’t want a word spoken concerning the departure of the
flying machine. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” answered Hilton.
“If any of the people ask about the departure of the _Ann_,” the
millionaire went on, “tell them that she has gone out on a trial trip.
They will presume, of course, that she was taken out by an aviator.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Hilton.
“And, another thing,” commanded Havens, “if any telegrams arrive here
for me, the reply is to be made that I took a sleeper for the west last
night. It may be also said if the messages are pressing that I
unaccountably left the sleeper before the departure of the train, and
since that time have not been seen.”
“You expect telegrams, sir?” asked Hilton.
“There may be several,” answered the millionaire.
In an hour, as per orders, the _Ann_ was ready for flight, fully
provisioned for a long voyage and with tanks well loaded with gasoline.
After giving Hilton positive instructions to inform his secretary that
all inquiries should be answered as stated above, Havens stepped into
the seat and whirled away.
At that hour, it will be remembered, the boys were watching their
machines in the open field a short distance east of the Mississippi
river. All that day, while the lads waited in and about the St. Louis
post-office, telegraphing to the hangar at frequent intervals, the
millionaire was speeding swiftly in their direction. At the Forest Park
hangar Havens secured his first news of the boys.
However, the superintendent knew nothing whatever of the destination of
the _Louise_ and the _Bertha_. The boys, he reported, had been
non-communicative. The millionaire, however, was glad to learn that the
lads had proceeded thus far on their way without serious accident. After
filling his tanks and taking a short rest at one of the leading hotels,
Havens continued his way.
As will be seen by the reader, he was only a short distance in the rear
of the _Louise_ and the _Bertha_. The _Ann_ was a much more powerful
machine than either of the ones owned by the boys, and Havens was noted
for his reckless driving, so it is quite possible that he would have
caught a glimpse of the two flying machines at some stage of the journey
if the latter had kept farther to the north as had been agreed upon.
As Havens swept rapidly over the country he was more than satisfied with
the steps he had taken to prevent pursuit. But he was out of touch with
the boys as well as with his business associates! He still considered
the situation a desirable one for the reason that he was also out of
touch with the mercenaries who had given him such a bad night on the
water front!
And so, flying swiftly, stopping only to rest for a few hours at time,
and for gasoline and provisions, Havens crossed the continent in his
powerful machine, and, one morning, caught sight of the pretty little
city of Monterey, nestling on the border of the bay of the same name.
His next task would be to locate the _Louise_ and the _Bertha_.