Fenton Hardy was now a prisoner, as well as his sons!
CHAPTER XXIII.
PLANS FOR ESCAPE.
fenton hardy was the sort of man who could accept apparent defeat with a smile. When he was brought to the cave where his sons were imprisoned, he wasted no time bemoaning his luck. He greeted the boys warmly.
"We don"t seem to be having much success in Mexico," he said. "I thought I was walking into a trap when those natives told me I would find you here, but I had to come."
Pedro Vincenzo, who had come up the trail behind the men guarding Fenton Hardy, laughed triumphantly.
"You bit off more than you could chew when you thought you could beat me," he said.
"You may be a smart man in the States, Hardy, but you"re mighty small down here."
"I"m not through yet," replied Fenton Hardy significantly.
"You"re through, all right, but you don"t know it. You and your boys." Vincenzo put his hands on his hips and showed his teeth ia 195.
196 a wicked grin. "I"m sorry to see Tremmer get away from me-----"
"Tremmer!" exclaimed Mr. Hardy in surprise.
"Yes, Tremmer," snarled Vincenzo. "The man you wanted to complete the case against the Bio Oil people. You didn"t know I had him here, eh? Well, you won"t take him back with you to give evidence."
Fenton Hardy glanced at his sons.
"Is this true?" he asked quietly. "Was Tremmer in this place?"
"Yes," replied Frank. "He escaped an hour ago."
"Two natives came to my camp beyond the gorge and told me they could show me where my sons were held captive," explained Mr. Hardy. "I came with them-and here I am. I suppose that was Tremmer"s work."
So Pedro had not known of the whereabouts of the boys" father!
"We made a little deal," said Vincenzo. "He said he would see that you came here if I let him go. I didn"t believe him. Even yet I cannot figure how he knew you were nearby. But he kept his word and I"ll keep mine. I"ve frightened that fool so that he"ll never set foot on American soil again."
Frank and Joe said nothing. Their best chance of escape, they were aware, lay in makPlans for Escape 197 ing Pedro believe that they were submissive. Fenton Hardy evidently had the same thought in his mind, for he said: "All right, Vineenzo. You win. You"re too smart for us. What do you intend to do with us now?"
"That remains to be seen," replied the outlaw. "Now that the natives have come back to me they feel I ought to give them a little entertainment. Perhaps the Ceremony of the Fire will please." He laughed maliciously. "" The three of you will look handsome returning to Bayport branded on your foreheads-a little souvenir of your visit to Mexico."
He strode away, chuckling to himself.
"It"s all our fault, Dad," said Frank ruefully. "We got you into this jam."
"But you found Tremmer," said Mr. Hardy. "Tell me about it. Perhaps we haven"t lost the fellow after all."
"If we can ever get in touch with Yaqui we"ll find him fast enough," Joe said.
The boys related their story: how they had started out into the desert and had followed the trail of the caravan, only to be captured by the bandits and turned over to Pedro Vineenzo ; how they had discovered Tremmer, and of the conversation they had had with the fugitive bookkeeper. They explained how the 198 missing witness had led the revolt, and then; escaped.
"What have you you been doing, Dad?" asked Joe when the recital was finished. "How did been doing, Dad?" asked Joe when the recital was finished. "How did you get into this part of the country?"
"When I left you," Fenton Hardy explained, "I was on the track of certain people who could give me information about the oil frauds. I rounded up half a dozen of the mea involved in the case and turned them over to the authorities. But I I found that the only evidence that found that the only evidence that would clinch the case would be that of Elmer Tremmer-if he could be found."
"How did you discover that we had been captured by Vincenzo?" asked Frank.
"I didn"t know that. But I learned that you had been seen on the edge of the desert,"
explained Mr. Hardy, "and I followed the trail from that point. Later I was told by a native that two American boys had been seen in a camp near the river, so I came in this direction. A half-breed came to my camp two nights ago and went away in a hurry. I imagine he must have been one of Pedro Vincenzo"s spies. But instead of telling Vincenzo he went to Tremmer."
"That explains why Tremmer became so courageous all of a sudden," remarked Joe.
"He knew he could bargain with Pedro."
"We must figure out a way of escape," said 199 Mr. Hardy. "We"re not beaten as long as Yaqui can keep on the trail of the missing witness."
"I told him to blaze the trees as he went," said Joe. "If we can get out of here we should be able to follow him easily enough."
"Well," volunteered Frank, "Yaqui told me where he had hidden the horses he brought back with him. He said there is a ford across the river a little farther up. If I can get out of here tonight I"ll find the horses and perhaps we can make our way across the river."
Fenton Hardy gestured toward the guard who was standing at the cave mouth.
"He will be the chief obstacle."
"We"ll have to wait until it gets dark," said Joe in a low voice.
The three were very hungry. As the boys shared with their father the food Yaqui had left, they told Fenton Hardy how Vincenzo had adopted a starvation policy toward them.
The day pa.s.sed slowly. They wondered if Pedro Vincenzo planned to hold the Ceremonial of the Fire that night. But darkness fell, and their captor did not come near them.
"I"m going to try to slip out tonight," said Frank. "When I find the horses I"ll bring them as close to the camp as I dare. Then, if you can get past the guard, come on out and join me."
200 "How shall we know when you"re ready?" Joe asked.
"I"ll imitate a wildcat"s scream."
"You aren"t out of the cave yet," Fenton Hardy reminded him. "That comes first."
"I"ll get out somehow."
"Dad, in the excitement we forgot to tell you something we discovered," said Joe suddenly.
"Sure thing," echoed his brother. "We"ve found out an important secret."
"I"m interested," answered Mr. Hardy. "What is it?"
"Well, we were able to track Pedro to a certain cave and located a box he had secreted."
"It was wrapped in a Bayport newspaper!" interrupted Frank.
Mr. Hardy smiled. "Sounds as if the contents of the cache came from our own home town."
"I"m sure they did," explained Frank. "There were thousands of dollars rolled up, Pedro"s share in the illegal stock sale."
"Maybe more than his share," was Mr. Hardy"s comment. "The man isn"t above robbing his friends. I know that from information I have uncovered lately."
After this conversation there was silence for a while.
201 "I do wish they would bring us a drink of water," said Mr. Hardy presently.
Thereupon the detective got up and went to the mouth of the cave. As he understood Spanish, he was able to talk to the guard. Sternly he demanded food and drink. After a brief argument the sentry went on up to the main camp. Another native quickly took his place, however, just as Frank was beginning to think this would be an excellent time in which to slip away.
In a little while the first guard returned. Greatly to the surprise of the boys, he carried with him an earthen plate of food and a gourd of water.
He spoke to Mr. Hardy in Spanish and offered him the food.
"Don"t drink the water!" whispered Frank tensely.
"Why not?" demanded Joe in surprise. "I"m dying of thirst."
"Don"t drink it!"
Joe and Mr. Hardy were puzzled by Frank"s insistence. They ate the food, however, but thrust the water aside.
The sentry was astonished. He pointed to the gourd.
"I"m suspicious of it," Frank said quietly. "Let the guard drink it if he wishes."
Mr. Hardy indicated that the man himself 202 might have the water. The sentinel thereupon picked up the gourd and drank deeply, smacking his lips in appreciation. He went out of the cave and sat down near the entrance.
Then he spoke to his companion guard, who went away.
"How do you think you are going to get out of here, Frank?" asked his father.
"Wait and see."
The sentry took another drink. Then the Hardys noted that the man appeared to grow drowsy. His head sank slowly upon his chest. After a little while he revived momentarily and again quaffed deeply from the gourd, only to grow sleepy almost immediately.
"I suspected there was dope in that gourd," Frank whispered.
As he spoke, the guard suddenly slumped forward. The gourd tumbled from his hands into the dust. The man fell over and sprawled unconscious in front of the cave.
"You were right, Frank," said Joe excitedly. "And that stuff was meant for us."
Frank crept to the opening and looked out.
CHAPTEE XXIV.
THE BRANDED TREE.
"How did you know the water was drugged?" Joe asked.
"Yaqui warned me to expect something like that. He overheard the two guards talking last night. One of them said we were to be given a drink made out of a narcotic variety of cactus."
The unconscious man lying at the entrance evidently had not been told of the plan. He was snoring heavily.
"Why can"t we all escape now?" said Joe.
"We won"t get very far without horses," Frank reminded him. "If we are missed before we have time to get the animals we"ll be captured and brought back in a hurry. If you and Dad stay here no one will become suspicious, should any of Vincenzo"s men accidentally come up here. You will cover my escape."
"Are you sure you can find the horses?" asked Fenton Hardy.
"If they haven"t run away. I ought to be back in less than half an hour."
203.
204 Frank slipped out into the night, Fenton Hardy and Joe settled down to wait for him.
As he listened for Frank"s signal, Joe told his father a more complete story of the adventures he and his brother had undergone from the time their father had left them at the Mar-cheta villa.
"Tremmer always was a weak sort of character," Mr. Hardy said, after Joe had related how the fugitive bookkeeper had refused to help them. "He isn"t crooked, though. I think Vincenzo has frightened him so thoroughly that he is desperate. The oil company faker has persuaded him that we want to arrest him and that he"ll be sent to the penitentiary if he goes back to the States. It"s too bad he has slipped through our fingers. I think I might have been able to have made him listen to reason."
"We haven"t lost him yet. Yaqui is on his trail."
"Now our problem is to follow the Indian," smiled Fenton Hardy.
"We may not be able to do much until daylight. Yaqui said he would blaze a trail on the trees as he went."
Mr. Hardy took a powerful electric flashlight from his pocket.
"Perhaps this will help," he said.
"It will be the very thing!" Joe exclaimed 205 "I hope Frank finds those horses. With any luck at all, we ought to be able to overtake Mr. Elmer Tremmer before he gets very far away."
The minutes went by. Joe began to grow nervous.
"I hope nothing has happened to Frank," he said.