The Rover Boys in the Air Part 43

"Deserted!" whispered Sam. "Where did they go to, I wonder?"

"Hush!" returned d.i.c.k. "They may be close enough to hear you."

With strained ears, the Rover boys listened for some sound that might indicate the presence in that vicinity of those they were after. But they heard nothing but the call of a night bird and the far-off hoot of an owl.

"They have gone on," said d.i.c.k, at last. "We'll have to find the trail and follow. Maybe I'll have to light the lantern."

"Say, let us fix the auto first--so they can't use it, if they come back!" exclaimed Tom.

"A good idea, Tom," answered his big brother. And, as soon as d.i.c.k had lighted the lantern, Tom and Sam set to work to render the touring car unusable for the time being by turning off the flow of gasoline from the tank and disconnecting the spark plugs.

"That will keep 'em guessing for a while, if they try to run it," was Sam's comment.

In the meantime d.i.c.k was examining the ground, and soon he found the mark of many footprints in the moss and leaves. They led along a well-defined footpath running through the woods and up something of a hill.

"They went this way," he said. "The fact is, I don't see how they could go any other,--the brushwood is so thick."

"Maybe there's a house back there," suggested Tom.

"I shouldn't be surprised. That path must lead to somewhere."

The boys had just started to move along the footpath when from out of the darkness came an unexpected hail:

"h.e.l.lo, there! Who are you?"

The call came from ahead, and at a turn of the trail the lads saw, by the dim rays of the lantern, the form of a man, wearing a fur coat and an automobile cap.

"The driver of the car!" burst out d.i.c.k.

"I say, who are you?" called the man, coming to a halt. Evidently he was coming back to take care of the automobile, or run it away.

"h.e.l.lo, yourself!" answered d.i.c.k, boldly. "What are you doing here this time of night?"

"Humph! Is that any of your business?" growled the man. He was evidently a rough customer and not pleased at being thus surprised.

"I don't know; perhaps," answered d.i.c.k, drawing closer. "Don't let him get away," he whispered to his brothers.

The boys made a rush forward, raising their sticks as they did so, and before the man could think of retreating they had him surrounded.

"Say, look here, what does this mean?" demanded the fellow, trying to put on a bold front, although he was much disturbed.

"You'll find out what it means before we are done with you," cried Tom, hotly. "More than likely it means state's prison for you."

"State's prison!" The man shrank back. "Why--er--I haven't done anything wrong."

"Oh, of course not!" returned d.i.c.k, sarcastically. "Abducting two young ladies isn't wrong I suppose!"

"I didn't abduct anybody," growled the man. "Somebody hired my car, that's all I know. Now the job is done, and I'm going about my business."

"Not just yet," said d.i.c.k, quietly but firmly. "Tell me, what have they done with the two young ladies?"

"That ain't my business," commenced the chauffeur, savagely. "You let me go, or I'll----Oh!"

He stopped short and let out a yell of pain and fright. He had tried to push d.i.c.k out of his path. The oldest Rover boy had dropped the lantern and struck out fairly and squarely with his fist, and the blow had landed on the man's jaw, nearly taking him from his feet.

"Now behave yourself and come along!" cried d.i.c.k, and caught the man by the arm. "Don't let him escape!" he cried, to his brothers. "Use your sticks, and your pistols, too, if it is necessary."

The boys closed in, and the sight of the sticks and the pistols frightened the chauffeur greatly. He saw that he was trapped, and that resistance might put him in a worse hole.

"I didn't do it!" he whined, as the boys hurried him back towards the automobile. "I was hired for a certain job, that's all. The men said they had a right to carry the young ladies off--that one of 'em was the old man's stepdaughter, and that both of 'em had run away from a girls'

school and wouldn't learn their lessons."

"And you mean to tell me that you believe such stuff!" snorted Tom.

"Well, that's what they told me," answered the man doggedly. "They hired the car first without telling me what sort of a job it was. Then they told me they wouldn't give me a cent if I didn't do what I was told to do. I'm a poor man, and----"

"You tell it well, but I don't believe a word of it," interrupted d.i.c.k.

"You have committed a serious crime, and the only way in which you can help yourself at all is by helping us."

"Will you let me go if I help you?" demanded the chauffeur, eagerly.

"We'll see about that later," answered d.i.c.k, briefly. "For the present we intend to keep you a prisoner."

"A prisoner! You haven't any right----"

"We'll take the right."

"That's the talk!" put in Tom.

By this time the party had reached the automobile. As d.i.c.k had surmised, several straps and ropes lay in the box under the back seat, and with these they bound the man's hands behind him. Once he started to resist, but when Tom raised his shining pistol he wilted.

"Now you tell me where they took the young ladies," said d.i.c.k, after the fellow had been strapped fast to his own automobile.

"They took 'em up to the house."

"What house?"

"The old mansion back there on the hill."

"Who was in the crowd?"

"The old man and the old lady, and the two young ladies, and the three young men, and the doctor."

"The old lady!" cried d.i.c.k. "Who was she? What was her name?"

"I think they called her Sobber, same as one of the young fellows. They had her along to look after the girls."

"It must be the one from Boston!" cried Sam. "Tad's aunt, or whatever she is."