CHAPTER 23 _AT THE HIDE-OUT_
Before the man could pull open the closet door, a booming voice calledimpatiently from shore:
"Say, are you coming? We have plenty of work ahead of us tonight."
Distracted from his purpose, the searcher turned aside without glancinginto the closet. With his companion and the girl, he left the cabin.
Penny and Jerry waited at least five minutes. When all was silent above,they stole from their hiding place. From the window they assuredthemselves that the wharf was deserted.
"What do we do now, start after the police?" Penny questioned.
"Let's make certain Atherwald is here first. We can't afford to bewrong."
A path led through the timber. As they followed it, Jerry and Penny saw amoving lantern some distance ahead. They kept it in sight until the threemen and Flora disappeared into a cabin.
Stealing on through the darkness, Penny and Jerry crept to the screendoor. Peering in, they saw a barren room containing a table, a cook stoveand double-deck bunks.
"Get supper on, Flora," one of the men ordered curtly.
"Am I to cook anything for the prisoner?" she asked in a whining voice.
"Not unless he decides to talk. I'll find out if he's changed his mind."
The man who had been called Aaron crossed the cabin to an adjoining room.He unlocked the door which had been fastened with a padlock, and wentinside.
"Atherwald must be in there," whispered Penny.
With one accord, she and Jerry tiptoed across the sagging porch andposted themselves under a high window. Glancing up they saw it containedno glass, but had narrow iron bars in keeping with a prison chamber.
Jerry lifted Penny up so that she could peep into the room. By the lightof the oil lantern she saw a haggard young man sitting on the bed.Despite a stubble of beard and unkempt hair, she instantly recognized himas the missing bridegroom. She made another observation, one whichshocked her. The man's wrists were handcuffed.
"It's Grant Atherwald," she told Jerry as he lowered her to the ground."They've treated him shamefully."
Jerry held up his hand as a signal for silence. In the room above the menwere speaking and he wished to hear every word.
"Well, Atherwald, have you changed your mind? How about a little suppertonight?"
"How can I tell you something I don't know?" the bridegroom retortedwearily. "Kippenberg never confided any of his secrets to me."
"You know where his gold is hidden!"
"I don't think he ever had any!"
"Oh, yes, he did. When the government passed a law that it was illegal tokeep gold, Kippenberg decided to defy it. He had over half his fortuneconverted into gold which he expected to re-convert into currency at agreat profit to himself. His plans went amiss when government men listedhim for investigation."
"You seem to know all about his private affairs," Grant Atherwald saidsarcastically. "Strange that you haven't learned the hiding place of thegold--if there ever was any!"
"It will do you no good to pretend, Atherwald! Either you tell the hidingplace, or we'll bring your bride here to keep you company!"
"You wouldn't dare touch her, you fiend!"
"No? Well, unless you decide to talk, she'll share your fate, and Ipromise you it won't be a pretty one. Now I'll leave you to think itover."
The door closed with a bang.
"We'll have to get the police here right away," Jerry advised Penny in awhisper. "No telling what those scoundrels may try to do to Atherwald. Wehaven't a moment to waste."
"It would take us hours to bring help here," reasoned Penny. "And if wetry to use the motorboat the gang will be warned and flee while we're onour way down the river."
"That's so, but we have to do something. Any ideas?"
"Yes, I have one," Penny answered soberly. "It may sound pretty crazy.Still, I really believe it would work!"
Hurriedly, she outlined what she had in mind. Jerry listenedincredulously, but as the girl explained and elaborated certain detailsof her plan, his doubts began to clear away.
"It's dangerous," he protested. "And if your hunch about the pool iswrong, we will be in a fix."
"Of course, but we'll have to take a chance in order to save Atherwald."
"If everything went exactly according to plan it might work!"
"Let's try it, Jerry. Lift me up so I can attract Atherwald's attention."
The reporter did as she requested. Penny tapped lightly on the iron barswith her signet ring. She saw Grant Atherwald start and turn his head.Penny repeated the signal.
The man arose from the bed and stumbled toward the window.
"Who is it?" he whispered hoarsely.
"A friend."
"Can you get me out of here?"
"We're going to try. You are handcuffed?"
"Yes, and my captor keeps the key in his pocket. The room outside isalways guarded. Did you bring an implement to saw through the bars?"
"No, we have another scheme in mind. But you must do exactly as we tellyou."
"Yes, yes!" the bridegroom whispered eagerly, his pale cheeks floodingwith color.
"Listen closely," Penny instructed. "When your captor comes back tell himyou have decided to talk."
"I know nothing about the cache of gold," the man protested.
"Tell your captor that the hiding place is on the Kippenberg estate."
"That would only involve Sylvia and Mrs. Kippenberg. I'll do nothing toget them into trouble."
"You'll have to obey instructions or no one can help you," Penny saidseverely. "Would you prefer that those cruel men carry out their threat?They'll spirit Sylvia away and try to force the truth from her."
"I'll do as you say."
"Then tell your captor that the gold is hidden in a specially constructedvault lying beneath the lily pool." Penny had resolved to act upon herhunch that there was a trapdoor on the bottom of the pool. Now as sheissued instructions she wished that she might have found some way ofexamining the pool to see if she were right. However, she had to take achance on there being a vault beneath the pool.
Atherwald protested mildly. "He would never believe such a fantasticstory."
"It is not as fantastic as it sounds," replied Penny. "You must convincehim that it is true."
"I will try."
"Make the men understand that to get the gold they must drain the pooland raise a trapdoor in the cement bottom. Ask to be taken with the menwhen they go there tonight and demand that you be given your freedom assoon as the gold is found."
"They will never let me go alive. An identification from me would sendthem all to prison for life."
"Do you know the men?"
"The ringleader is Aaron Dietz. At one time he was employed by Mr.Kippenberg."
"Just as I thought."
"The other two call themselves Gus and Jake. I don't know their lastnames. Then there is a girl who seems to be a sister to Gus."
"How did they get you here?"
"On the day of the wedding I was handed a note just as I reached theestate. It requested me to come at once to the garden. While I waitedthere, two ruffians sprang upon me from behind. Before I could cry outthey dragged me to their boat at the river's edge. I was handcuffed,blindfolded and brought to this cabin."
The slamming of an outside door warned Penny that she was wastingprecious time in talk.
"You understand your instructions?" she whispered hurriedly.
"Yes."
"Then goodbye. With luck we'll have you free in a few hours."
"With luck is right," Jerry muttered as Penny slid to the ground.
Aaron Dietz stood on the front porch staring out into the night. Seeinghim there, Penny and Jerry circled widely before attempting to return tothe river. Satisfied that they had not been observed, they boarded theboat and descended to the cabin.
For possibly an hour they sat in the dark, waiting anxiously.
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"Looks as if my little plan didn't work," Penny remarked. "I might haveknown it would be too simple."
Jerry had risen to his feet. He went to the window and listened.
"Hear anything?" Penny whispered hopefully.
"Sounds like someone coming down the path. We ought to get into ourcubby-hole."
They tiptoed to the closet and closed the door.
Within a few minutes they heard a confusion of voices and the shuffle offeet as men boarded the cruiser. Penny wondered if the group includedGrant Atherwald and was greatly relieved when she heard him speak.
"I don't see why you think I would double-cross you," he said distinctly."I am considering my own welfare. You promised that if the gold is foundyou'll give me my freedom."
"Sure, you'll get it. But if you're lying about the hiding place--"
The words were drowned out by the roar of the motor boat engine. Pennyand Jerry felt the floor beneath them quiver and then gently roll. Thecruiser was under way.
"We're heading for the Kippenberg estate!" Penny whispered. "Oh,everything is starting out beautifully!"
"I only hope it ends the same way," said Jerry morosely. "I only hope itdoes."