"What happened?" asked Jack, his head buzzing, and sore. "Where are the others?"
"Guess we"re all here, Mister Jack," answered Tom Barnum"s voice, out of the darkness. "Leastways, Captain What"s-his-name"s here beside me, but he don"t speak, neither."
"Good heavens," exclaimed Jack, in alarm, and making a valiant effort to shake off his dizziness. "Where are we? What happened? Frank, do you know? Tom, do you?"
"Somebody jumped on me from behind," said Frank, "and then the fellow I was sitting on, this Higginbotham, squirmed around and took a hand, and I got the worst of it, and was hustled off to the old Brownell house and thrown in this dark room. I had my hands full and couldn"t see what was going on. I heard Tom yell, but at the same time this fellow jumped on me. That"s all I know."
"There was a dozen or more of "em come out of the woods," said Tom.
"They sneaked out. We was pretty close to the trees. I just happened to look back, an" they was on us. Didn"t even have time to pull my pistol. They just bowled me over by weight of numbers. Like Mister Frank, I had my own troubles and couldn"t see what happened to the rest of you."
There was a momentary silence, broken by Jack.
"It"s easy to see what happened," he said, bitterly. "What fools we were. Those things on the beach were radio-controlled boats which had brought liquor ash.o.r.e, and a gang was engaged in carrying it up to the Brownell house. We happened along when the beach was clear, and Higginbotham and that other scoundrel were the vanguard of the returning party. When they shouted on being attacked by you and Bob, and Frank, the rest who were behind them in the woods were given the alarm, sneaked up quietly, and bagged us all. A pretty mess."
A groan from Bob interrupted.
"Poor old Bob," said Jack, contritely, for he had been blaming the headstrong fellow in his thoughts for having caused their difficulties by his precipitate attack on Higginbotham. "He seems to have gotten the worst of it."
"Look here, Jack," said Frank suddenly. "My hands and feet are tied, and I suppose yours are, too. I"m going to roll over toward you, and do you try to open the knots on my hands with your teeth."
"Would if I could, Frank," said Jack. "But that clip I got on the side of my head must have loosened all my teeth. They ache like sixty."
"All right, then I"ll try my jaws on your bonds."
Presently, Frank was alongside Jack in the darkness.
"Here, where are your hands?" he said.
After some squirming about, Frank found what he sought, and began to chew and pull at the ropes binding Jack"s hands. It was a tedious process at first, but presently he managed to get the knot sufficiently loosened to permit of his obtaining a good purchase, and then, in a trice, the ropes fell away.
"Quick now, Jack," he said, anxiously. "We don"t know how long we"ll be left undisturbed. Somebody may come along any minute. Untie your feet and then free Tom and me, and we can see how Bob and Captain Folsom are fixed."
Jack worked with feverish haste. After taking the bonds from his ankles, he undid those binding Frank. The latter immediately went to the side of Bob, whose groans had given way to long, shuddering sighs that indicated a gradual restoration of consciousness but that also increased the alarm of his comrades regarding his condition.
Tom Barnum next was freed and at once set to work to perform a similar task for Captain Folsom, who meantime had regained his senses and apparently was injured no more severely than Jack, having like him received a clout on the side of the head. Tom explained the situation while untying him. Fortunately, the bonds in all cases had been only hastily tied.
"Bob, this is Frank. Do you hear me? Frank." The latter repeated anxiously, several times, in the ear of his comrade.
"Frank?" said Bob, thickly, at last. "Oh, my head."
"Thank heaven, you"re alive," said Frank fervently, and there was a bit of tremolo in his tone. He and the big fellow were very close to each other. "Now just lie quiet, and I"ll explain where you are and what happened. But first tell me are you hurt any place other than your head?"
"No, I think not," said Bob. "But the old bean"s humming like a top.
What happened, anyhow? Where are we? Where are the others?"
"Right here, old thing," said Jack, on the other side of the p.r.o.ne figure.
Thereupon Bob, too, was put in possession of the facts as to what had occurred. At the end of the recital, he sat up, albeit with an effort, for his head felt, as he described it, "like Fourth of July night--and no safe and sane Fourth, at that."
"I don"t know if you fellows can ever forgive me," he said, with a groan. "I got you into this. I saw red, when I discovered it was Higginbotham and that other rascal who had set the plane afire. There they were, in the woods, and I set out to crawl after them. Frank followed me."
"Tried to stop him," interposed Frank. "But he wouldn"t be stopped. I didn"t dare call to the rest of you for fear of giving the alarm, so I went along. Anyhow, Bob," he added, loyally, "I felt just the same way you did about it, and you were no worse than I."
"No," said Bob. "You weren"t to blame at all. It was all my fault."
"Forget it," said Jack. "Let"s consider what to do now? Here we are, five of us, and now that we are on guard we ought to be able to give a pretty good account of ourselves. I, for one, don"t propose to sit around and wait for our captors to dispose of us. How about the rest of you?"
"Say on, Jack," said Frank. "If Bob"s all right, nothing matters."
"You have something in mind, Hampton, I believe," said Captain Folsom, quietly. "What is it?"
CHAPTER XII
THE WINDOWLESS ROOM
"I have no plan," said Jack, "except this: We have freed ourselves of our bonds, and we ought to make an effort to escape. And, if we can make our escape," he added, determinedly, "I, for one, am anxious to try to turn the tables."
"Turn the tables, Jack?" exclaimed Frank. "What do you mean? How could we do that?"
"If we could capture the smugglers" radio plant," Jack suggested, "and call help, we could catch these fellows in the act. Of course, I know, there is only a slim chance that we could get immediate aid in this isolated spot. But I"ve been thinking of that possibility. Do you suppose any boats of the "Dry Navy" about which you spoke are in the vicinity, Captain Folsom?"
In the darkness, the latter could be heard to stir and move closer.
All five, as a matter of fact, had drawn together and spoke in whispers that were barely audible.
"That is a bully idea, Hampton," said Captain Folsom, with quickened interest. "Yes, I am certain one or more of Lieutenant Summers"s fleet of sub chasers is along this stretch of coast. From Montauk Point to Great South Bay, he told me recently, he intended to set a watch at sea for smugglers."
"Very good," said Jack. "Then, if we can gain possession of the smugglers" radio plant and call help, we may be able to catch these fellows and make a big haul. For, I presume, they must be bringing a big shipment of liquor ash.o.r.e now. And, as the night is far advanced, doubtless they will keep it here until, say, to-morrow night, when they would plan to send it to the city in trucks. Don"t you fellows imagine that is about what their plan of procedure would be?"
All signified approval in some fashion or other.
"Our first step, of course," said Captain Folsom, "must be to gain our freedom from the house. Are any of you familiar with the interior?
Also, has anybody got any matches? My service pistol has been taken, and I presume you fellows also have been searched and deprived of your weapons?"
General affirmation followed.
"But about matches? Will you please search your pockets, everybody?"
The boys never carried matches, being nonsmokers. Tom Barnum, however, not only produced a paper packet of matches but, what was far more valuable at the moment, a flashlight of flat, peculiar shape which he carried in a vest pocket and which his captors had overlooked in their hurried search. He flashed it once, and discovered it was in good working order.
"So far, so good," said Captain Folsom. "Now to discover the extent of our injuries, before we proceed any further. Mine aren"t enough to keep me out of any fighting. How about the rest of you?"
"Frank"s been binding up my head with the tail of my shirt," said Bob.
"But I guess he could do a better job if he received a flash from that light of yours, Tom. Just throw it over here on my head, will you?"