Rescue
At sight of the three men, Enid uttered a piercing scream. Madge made a
wild break for the cellar door but half way across the room she was
clutched roughly by the shoulder and flung backwards with such force that
she fell to the floor.
“So you thought you would meddle, eh?”
She started to retort but the words froze on her lips. Distinctly, she
had heard footsteps on the porch! It was too much to hope that rescue was
at hand.
Then the door was flung wide and two young men with drawn revolvers
stepped into the room. Close behind were several policemen.
“Rex!” Enid cried joyfully.
“Jack French!” Madge exclaimed.
She had no time to wonder how he came to be there, for in the next few
minutes, everything was confusion. Undaunted by the odds against them,
the three kidnappers dashed out the light. Furniture crashed to the floor
and an occasional bullet flew. Through it all the girls clung tightly
together and huddled in a corner.
The kidnappers put up a desperate but losing battle and soon were
subdued. Someone lighted a lantern. Madge was relieved to see that no one
was seriously injured. The police lined the kidnappers up and took them
away under close guard.
At the first opportunity, Enid had gone to her father’s side, cutting the
ropes which bound him.
“Tell us everything,” she urged. “Who are these dreadful men and why did
they want the Zudi Drum?”
“There are a number of things to be explained,” her father replied with a
smile, “but first, I owe your friends my deepest thanks for their timely
arrival.”
Mr. Burnett knew Madge and Rex but Jack French was a stranger. Madge
introduced him and he gravely shook the ranger’s hand.
“Jack must tell us how he came to be here at the psychological moment,”
Madge declared, “but first, you must relate your experiences, Mr.
Burnett.”
“There’s not so much to tell,” he responded. “I bought the Zudi Drum in
India of an antique dealer. I suppose the fellow resorted to questionable
means in obtaining it but at the time I thought him reliable. At any
rate, the first intimation I had of trouble was when I received a
threatening note, warning me to give up the drum or suffer the
consequence.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” Enid observed.
“No, I didn’t wish to alarm you. If the men had come to me in a
straightforward way and asked for the drum, I would have given it to
them, but instead, they tried to force me. I placed the Zudi Drum in the
safe at home.”
“The house was entered,” Enid informed, “but they didn’t get the drum.”
“I suspected they would ransack the place. They tried to force me to tell
where I had hidden the trophy, but I refused. Then when all else failed,
they tricked my daughter into coming here.”
“I walked straight into the trap,” Enid admitted. “Madge tried to keep me
from it but I wouldn’t listen. And it wasn’t my fault that I didn’t bring
the drum. I can’t imagine what became of it.”
Madge explained the substitution she and Rex had made, and likewise told
of her visit to the jeweler.
“You had the situation sized up correctly,” Mr. Burnett praised. “The
kidnappers are Zudi worshipers, and are the last of a tribe that for
years has been thought no longer to exist. As I understand it, the drum
was formerly used for ceremonial dances and the like. Then it was stolen,
or so these men claimed. The order is characterized by a particular
symbol which appears on the drum and also on pins they wear.”
“It was the jade pin that gave me my first clue,” Madge declared.
“How did the natives trace the drum to you, Mr. Burnett?” Rex asked.
“I don’t know that, but they were willing to cross an ocean to find me.
Perhaps after all, I should turn the drum over to them.”
“You’ll not be able to do it for a good many years,” Jack French
observed. “Unless there’s some slip, they’ll all get stiff sentences in
the pen. The sect should be broken up.”
“After all you’ve gone through, I think you deserve to keep the drum,”
Rex added.
Madge was curious to know how Jack and Rex had met and the former
obligingly told the story.
“After I received your telegram, Madge, I hopped a train and came as fast
as it would carry me. I arrived at Cheltham Bay and learned that The
Flora was still anchored in the harbor. I went down to the wharf,
thinking I’d hire a boat to take me out there.”
“Then he ran into me,” Rex interrupted. “I had my amphibian tuned up and
was watching the yacht to see when you girls started away in the motor
boat. He asked me how he could get out there and I suspiciously demanded
his name and his business. As soon as I learned he was a friend of yours,
Madge, I invited him to join the festivities.”
“I guess I arrived too late to be of much service,” the ranger said
regretfully.
“Not much you didn’t!” Rex protested. “If you hadn’t been along, I doubt
if we’d have found this place. When we landed at the beach and were
puzzled which way to go, he picked up Madge’s trail like a blood hound.”
“A blind man could have followed it,” Jack declared modestly.
The young people decided to allow other questions to go unanswered until
they reached the yacht, for Mr. Burnett was in need of food and rest.
While the kidnappers had not actually mistreated him, they had grilled
him at all hours and had shortened his rations to the vanishing point.
“When I get to The Flora I want a big juicy steak, French fried potatoes,
several pies and at least a gallon of good, hot coffee,” Mr. Burnett
announced, “and you all must share the feast with me.”
With Rex and Jack supporting him on either side, he was able to walk.
They helped him down to the beach and established him comfortably in the
cockpit of the amphibian. Jack, Madge and Enid said they would return in
the motor boat, and before leaving Cedar Point, watched the amphibian
take off.
During the long trip back to The Flora, Madge and Jack had ample
opportunity to renew acquaintances. They had been separated less than a
month yet from their conversation a stranger would have judged that they
were meeting after several years’ absence. Enid piloted the boat,
obligingly keeping her eyes glued on the course. She experienced no
difficulty in avoiding Clingman’s Rock and brought them safely into
harbor.
“I hope the Zudi Drum is still here,” Madge said as they stepped aboard
the yacht. “If it isn’t, I’ll go jump off the deep end.”
She found the trophy in Mr. Burnett’s cabin where she had hidden it.
There was no sleep for anyone that night. Jose, the cook, was rousted
from his bed to prepare the most ambitious meal of his life. The feast
came to an end just as the sun was coloring the east.
“‘All’s well that ends well,’ as our good friend Shakespeare once said,”
Mr. Burnett quoted when the party showed signs of breaking up. “I
particularly want this affair to end pleasantly. As soon as I feel able
to handle a sail again, I want the vacation to go through as it was
originally planned. Enid and I will not be satisfied unless you all join
us. You’ll come, won’t you, Mr. French?”
Jack looked at Madge and smiled as he saw her quickly nod.
“I’ll be glad to come,” he accepted. “I’m on my vacation and have more
time than I know how to use.”
“Here’s to a glorious cruise!” Enid cried. “Now that everything is
settled, let’s all stagger off to bed.”
Stagger they did, and nearly slept the clock around. When Madge awoke it
was to find herself famous, for the newspapers, securing the story from
the police, had given her credit for the important part she had played in
Mr. Burnett’s rescue.
She was destined to have a more substantial reward for her services. Mr.
Burnett recovered the jade pin from the jeweler, and after conferring
with the police, insisted that Madge accept it as a slight compensation
for all that she had done.
“Slight compensation!” she protested. “Why, it must be worth a great
deal—Mr. Dewitt told me that. I’d be afraid to keep it. When those men
get out of jail they might make trouble.”
“You need not fear on that score,” Mr. Burnett assured her. “The
kidnappers have relinquished all claims to both the pin and the drum.
They have long sentences to serve. By the time they are set free, the
Zudi sect will no longer exist.”
Madge continued to offer objections but in the end she was induced to
accept the pin.
In a very few days, Mr. Burnett had recovered his strength and announced
that he was ready to leave Cheltham Bay. One fine morning The Flora
sailed majestically out of the harbor on a two weeks’ cruise. Rex and
Jack learned a great deal about sailing from Mr. Burnett but that was by
no means their major interest.
“It’s been a glorious vacation,” Madge told Enid one day as they sat
together on the sunny deck. “I can’t believe it will all be over in a few
days.”
“You’re feeling blue because Jack soon will be returning to Canada,” her
friend teased.
“I’ll hate to see him go,” Madge admitted, “but I wasn’t thinking of
that. When I leave here I must go back to Michigan and school. How dull
it will seem after such an experience as I’ve had this summer.”
“School isn’t so exciting,” Enid agreed, “but perhaps you can stir things
up a bit.”
At the moment, neither of the girls had the slightest intimation of what
really lay ahead of Madge. Her exciting days were by no means over. Just
around the corner—at Claymore, Michigan—an adventure awaited her arrival.
The story is related in the third volume of this series, “The Secret of
the Sundial.”
“Oh, well,” Madge remarked optimistically, “the memory of this summer may
tide me over for another year or so.”
She said no more for someone had started the phonograph and it was
grinding out an inviting dance tune. Jack came to claim her for a
partner.
“What were you saying about memories?” he asked as he swept her away. And
then in an undertone, intended for her ears alone: “Don’t think for one
minute that you can pack me away in moth balls and lavender. I’m like
those big mosquitoes we have at Loon Lake—I’ll pester you ’till the end
of time!”
THE END
Transcriber’s Notes
--Silently corrected several palpable typos in spelling and punctuation
--Added a list of the books in the series to the title page
--Left the original copyright notice unchanged, although the book is
public domain in the U.S. (author date of death is 2002).
--As the original book jacket was unavailable, provided an image of the
title page instead.