Mr. Harris sat on the rustic table in the centre of the unpainted room, looking thoughtfully at Bob and Pete. “This truly hurts me, boys, you see,” he said.
Bob and Pete did not answer. They were seated against a wooden wall, their hands and feet tied securely. They had little idea where they were, only that they had been brought to some small cabin in the mountains after their capture in the Vegetarian League house by Harris.
They realized now that Mr. Harris must be connected with the laughing shadow. But there was nothing they could do, and no one they could tell. Mr. Harris and his two assistants had pounced on them, in the corridor of the house, hustled them out to a truck, and tied them. Then the two assistants had driven them off with their bicycles. Mr. Harris himself had apparently remained at the League house for a while, because this was his first appearance at the cabin.
He smiled sadly at them. “Unfortunately, you boys do have a way of appearing where you’re not wanted, eh? Snooping round my house, for instance. I’m sure you found nothing, but it pays to be safe, you know? Fortunately I had time to remove all traces of your presence before the police arrived.
“I’m afraid I shall have to keep you as my guests for a time. Until, shall we say, I am far from this location. Luckily, my work here is almost finished now.”
Bob burst out for the first time, “You’re a thief!”
“You’re trying to steal the Chumash Hoard,” Pete cried hotly.
Mr. Harris laughed aloud. “Yes, you are clever boys. The Chumash Hoard is precisely what I’m after, and I shall steal it tonight.”
Grinning at the bound boys, Mr. Harris turned and walked from the cabin. In the silence, Bob and Pete looked at each other helplessly. They could see the sun low through one of the dirty windows of the cabin. Night would soon be upon them, and they could do nothing to stop Mr. Harris.
“We must be somewhere on the Sandow Estate,” Pete said with his unerring sense of direction. “I recognized some mountains when the truck stopped.”
“If we could only have left a sign,” Bob added, “but there wasn’t any chance the way they hustled us into that truck.”
“Jupiter’ll find us. But if we could get loose first maybe we could send out some signal.” Pete began to strain the bonds that tied his hands behind him.
There was a laugh of amusement. Mr. Harris had come back to the cabin again.
“Stout lads, eh? I truly admire your determination.”
“You won’t get away with this!” Pete said hotly.
Mr. Harris grinned. “By now, boys, the police and your friend Jupiter are looking high and low for those dark men who they fear have captured you. A most happy set of circumstances for me.”
“Don’t think you’ve fooled Jupiter!” Bob declared. “You’ll go to prison.”
“I think not,” Mr. Harris said confidently. “I have planned too carefully to be stopped now by boys and small-town policemen. Still, you have caused me certain problems, and I would feel safer if I could persuade you to join my effort.”
“We wouldn’t join a man like you!” Pete declared stoutly.
“Bold words, but quite stupid. You should have made a deal, and then turned on me when you were free. It’s lucky for me that most people are so stupid. Otherwise the Chumash Hoard would have been found long ago.”
“I don’t think you’ve really found it,” Bob said.
“Wrong, my boy. I have solved Magnus Verde’s little riddle, and in a few hours I shall have the Hoard,” Mr. Harris declared, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at the boys. “At that time, I may return to deal with you two.”
He turned and strode to the door. As he touched the knob, he looked over his shoulder. “By the way, it will do you no good to free yourselves. This cabin is at the edge of a sheer hundred-foot drop. It can be reached only by way of a narrow cut, and I have a man on guard there. He has a clear view of the only door. There is no way off this little plateau.”
With a sarcastic laugh, Mr. Harris left the cabin. This time the boys heard the lock turn. They were alone — locked in. Pete instantly began to struggle with his bonds again.
“Bob,” Pete said, “maybe we could help each other. Can you roll over so that we’re sitting back-to-back?”
The two investigators struggled across the rough floor until they were finally seated back-to-back. Pete began to struggle with the ropes on Bob’s wrists. Sweat poured down his face, and he gritted his teeth. He worked for what seemed like hours, then slumped down exhausted.
“I just can’t get enough grip,” he said miserably.
“It’s the way our hands are tied,” Bob said.
Pete searched for a way. “If Mr. Harris hadn’t taken my knife, I could have held it in my teeth, and — ”
“Teeth!” Bob exclaimed. “Maybe we can loosen the knots with our teeth.”
“It’s worth a try. I’ll lie on my side.”
Pete lay flat with his back to Bob. The smaller of the investigators inched up to Pete’s wrists. His teeth took a strong grip on the first knot. Pete pulled against him, and Bob began to chew at the knot. Three times they had to stop and rest. Then Bob tried again.
“I can feel it opening!” Pete cried low. “Try with your hands now.”
Back-to-back again, Bob’s hands worked on Pete’s ropes. Suddenly, the first knot came loose. The second knot was easier, and moments later Pete’s hands were free. He quickly freed his legs, and then released Bob.
They immediately took stock of their situation. Pete went to the front windows, while Bob investigated the single rear window.
“The front windows are nailed shut,” Pete reported, “and I can see the guard. We couldn’t get out without being seen, even in the dark. He’s got a big lantern.”
Already the sun was down behind the highest peaks, and the land was turning a twilight purple. Darkness came early and fast in the mountains in winter.
“There’s nothing back here except a few feet of ledge and then the cliff.” Bob sounded discouraged. “I guess it’s hopeless to try to get out.”
The two investigators returned to the table in the middle of the room.
“At least I know where we are,” Pete said. “I can see the pass to the west. We’re about five miles from the big house, right in the high mountains.”
“Maybe if we sent out a signal it would be seen at the house,” Bob suggested. “If Jupiter is looking for us, he’d be sure to go to the house.”
“Some kind of light,” Pete decided.
They began to search the cabin. There did not seem to be much hope — the mountain cabin contained few furnishings, and Harris was a smart man. But, like many overconfident crooks, Harris had overlooked the obvious. Bob cried out in triumph as he unpiled debris from the lid of an old woodbin and opened the lid.
“Here’s an oil lamp!” He pulled out the dusty old lamp. “It’s got some kerosene in it! We can flash out a Morse code signal by covering and uncovering it. An SOS!”
“If we can light it,” Pete pointed out. “We don’t have any matches.”
Frantically, the boys searched the cabin again. Once more they were in luck. They found an old book of matches tucked away in the table drawer. Bob grabbed one and quickly lighted the lantern, while Pete got a flat piece of tin to cover the light and flash the signal. The boys started for the rear window.
They stopped, their mouths wide open in astonishment!
A dark face was peering in at them through the window.
The window was pulled open, and the two dark men in the strange white clothes climbed inside. They stood staring at the boys, their long knives gleaming in their hands.