_Chapter XIV_
THE DOCTOR
"And now, Mike," continued the voice, "I'd like to know how you happenedto be caught napping."
Dorothy swung round to see a young woman standing in the doorway. With agasp of consternation she found herself staring down the barrel of arevolver. For a fraction of a second her heart turned over with asickening thud. Then she recovered her poise.
"Well, I guess _my_ trick's over," she exclaimed as cheerfully aspossible.
Mike scrambled to his feet, catching up his automatic as he did so.Instead of answering the girl who leaned against the door frame, hestared at Dorothy in a sort of amazed wonder. She met his gaze, amalicious little smile at the corners of her mouth. Aside from a flushon her cheeks, she showed not the slightest sign of the ordeal she hadjust passed through, nor the exhaustion it must have produced. His eyesfell rather stupidly to her feet. If Mike had not so recently staggeredunder Dorothy's material weight, he would not have believed her topossess any at all. He drew a deep breath.
"Who taught you jiu jitsu?"
"A woman professional in New York. She had a class--the others went infor it in a lady like way. But I took it up seriously because I thoughtI might need it some day."
"Have you--ever?" He had dropped his east side argot, she noticed.
"Once or twice--but never like this," she smiled.
"I should hope not." Mike was rather pale. He frowned. "Where do you getyour appalling strength?"
"Heredity--and training. I come by it honestly. It's not soextraordinary as some people seem to think." Her smile widened. "Myfather is the strongest man I've ever known. Although you'd never guessit by looking at him. He can do all sorts of stunts. He's trainedme--running, boxing, fencing, swimming--"
"I'll say he has! I wouldn't have believed it possible--and you only akid!"
Dorothy nodded and looked at him with a curious light in her gray eyes.
"Perhaps I'm not so strong as you think--I know a little more aboutOriental wrestling than you do, that's all."
"Yes, that's all!" said the woman by the doorway in a mocking tone. Shestepped across the threshold and came toward them. "Go over there andsit down." She motioned Dorothy to a chair. "And not another peep out ofyou--understand?" Her eyes gleamed at Dorothy through narrowed lids witha light more metallic than the reflection from the barrel of herautomatic. It was a strange look--combined of ruthlessness and maliciousamusement.
"Interesting--very interesting, indeed!"
She turned to Mike, as Dorothy obeyed her and sat down.
"And now that you and your little lady friend have finished yourheart-to-heart, perhaps you'll tell me what it's all about--why I findyou flat on the floor covered by her gun?"
"Jealous, Sadie?" Mike's tone was tantalizing.
"You _fool_!"
She took a step forward. The expression on her face underwent astartling change. Mockery gave way to an exasperated ferocity. Her eyesopened to their full size. Then the volcano of her wrath erupted. Wordspoured forth with the sharp regularity of a riveting hammer. Mike wasgiven a description of his characteristics, moral, mental and physical,that brought the angry blood to his forehead.
Whereupon he retorted in like spirit and soon they were going it hammerand tongs, while the fury on Sadie's face froze into livid hate.
It was a wicked face, yet beautiful, Dorothy thought as she watched fromher chair in the corner; a strangely beautiful face beneath a coiledcrown of glorious red hair. But its beauty was distorted, devilish. Herlips were scarlet, slightly parted, showing the double rim of her eventeeth as she hurled insult after insult at the man before her. Like someevil goddess, she stood motionless, the rise and fall of her bosom theonly token of the deadly emotion she felt as her even tones poured forthvituperation.
Presently Dorothy's ears caught the sound of footsteps thumping on theporch. The lame man limped into the room and sized up the situation at aglance.
"Stop that scrapping, you two!" he commanded. "Stop it, Sadie! Do youhear me? Stop it at once!"
The red-haired girl glared at him, but she obeyed. There was a dangerousfinality in his tone that debarred argument. She swept over to thetable, and deliberately turning her back upon the others, poured herselfa cup of coffee.
"Mike!" barked the Italian. "Go out and give the others a hand. We'vegot a couple of invalids with us. I've already administered first aid,but they will have to be carried upstairs and put to bed. Hustle, now!"
Mike disappeared through the door without a word. This little lameperson seemed to brook no opposition. He was probably the brain and theleader of this gang, thought Dorothy--but he was speaking to her now.
"Good evening again, Miss Dixon! I felt somehow certain we were fated tomeet a third time tonight!" His glance snapped from her to Sadie andback again. "Sorry we had to 'bag' you, as it were--hope you suffered nogreat inconvenience?"
"Oh, I'm all right," she replied coolly.
"But I notice that your sweater is torn in several places. You willexcuse me?--but you look rather rumpled. I got the impression that youand the young lady who is at present drinking coffee might have had--adifference of opinion, shall we say?"
"No. These tears in my sweater were caused by accident. Miss Martinellihad nothing to do with it."
"So you know her name! But, of course you would. That bicarbonate ofsoda proved a boomerang. Too bad she really needed it at the time. It'sa lesson to us, to remember that servant girls are likely to be lazy."
"Oh, it wasn't Lizzie's fault," smiled Dorothy. "I caught her before shehad had time to wash the glass, that's all."
"You are a very clever young woman."
"Well, I don't know about that--" she drawled. Then she left her chairand took a step toward him. "Tell me--is Bill Bolton very badly hurt?"
"Just a bit frazzled, that's all." Her aviation instructor limped intothe room. His coat was gone and his soft shirt, once white, hung fromhis shoulders in dirty, tattered streamers. One eye, half-closed, wasrapidly turning black. Blood streaked his cheeks. Just above his leftknee the trouser-leg had been cut away and a blood-soaked bandage wasvisible. Dorothy saw that his wrists were handcuffed behind his back. Athis elbow, a man whose jaw was queerly twisted to one side, stood guardwith drawn revolver.
The lame man grinned. "Here's your young friend now. You can take him inthe kitchen if you like and wash him off a bit. I'll come in later withsome bandages. You'll find matches and a lamp on a shelf just inside thedoor.--Stick that gun in your pocket, Tony," he added to his henchman."Come over here. Now that we've proper light, I'll snap that jaw ofyours back into place."
Dorothy put an arm about Bill without speaking and led him slowly intothe dark room. Then as her hand groped for matches on the shelf, therecame a loud click from the other room, followed by a scream of anguish.Dorothy felt her hair rise on the back of her neck. There was amomentary silence, then low, breathless moans.
"What is it, Bill?" she whispered fearfully. "What's happened?"
Bill chuckled. "Tony's dislocated jaw is back in place, now, that's all.Too bad I didn't knock it clean off while I was about it. He's the birdwho knifed me a while ago. No fault of his that he only got me in theleg, either. I'm glad to hear he's getting his, now."
"Goodness--" Dorothy found the matches at last and struck one. "Here Istand--and you're badly hurt--don't say you aren't--I know it. Where'sthat lamp? He said it was on the shelf. It isn't. There it is on thetable. _Dash_--there goes the match!"
"Take it easy, kid!"
"Oh, I'm all right. That man's scream kind of set my teeth on edge."
She struck another match, then lit the lamp and carried it to a dresserby the sink.
"Come over here and sit down," she said, drawing out a chair. "I want toswab out that cut in your leg. The rag is filthy--" She pulled out thedrawer in the dresser. "Here's luck! Towels--clean ones! Who'd havethought it!"
With deft fingers sh
e unfastened his bandage, then cleaned the woundwith fresh water from the pump, using every precaution not to hurt him.
"You're certainly good at this kind of thing," was Bill's sinceretribute as she turned her attention to the bruised cut on his head.
"Part of my high school course, you know. I'm better at this than atLatin," she admitted with a smile. "Tell me what happened in the woodsafter I got scragged and Mike carted me up here?"
"Who's Mike?"
"I'll tell you about him in a minute. Get along with your story first."
"Not much of a story. I didn't last long enough to make it interesting."
"Tell me about it, anyway."
"Well--I heard you yell and half turned when Tony and another lad jumpedme. You know what happened to Tony--"
"Yes, but the shot right afterward? Oh, Bill, I was scared silly they'dkilled you! Whose gun _was_ that?"
"Mine. I'd got my gat loose by that time and drilled him through theshoulder. It turned out later that he tripped over a log when he fell,came down with his leg under him and snapped the bone. When I learnedthe horrid truth, I wept!"
"I'll bet you did! Couldn't you break away then?"
"I could not. Several others had joined the rough-house by that time.For a while--not very long--we played a lively little game of tag,blind-man's-buff, postoffice, dilly-dilly-come-and-be-killed, with me asdilly, until another chap jumped out of a Ford on to the middle of myback and rubbed my face in the cool, wet soil! At that bright moment oldLimpy clinched these handcuffs on my wrists and read me a lecture on theerror of my ways.
"He's a physician when he isn't bank-robbing, I think. Anyway, the gangcall him 'Doctor.' He seems to be running the show. Not such a bad ladif he could be made over again. Tony, you must know, has developed analmost uncontrollable penchant for sheathing his pigsticker in mycarcass once more. Strangely enough, I can't see it Tony's way. Andfortunately for me, neither can the Doctor! Now, young lady, if you'refinished squeezing cold water into my sore eye, I'll sing the doxology!"
Dorothy giggled. "Aren't you funny! I don't believe more than half ofthat tale is true. I'll wager things were a whole lot worse than you'vepainted them, sir!"
"Well, you've proved to be a good little guesser quite often--what I'minterested in is what happened to you."
Dorothy told him.
"Nice work!" Bill complimented her as she finished talking. "I know afew jiu jitsu holds, but you must be a wonder at it. It's too bad StatenIsland Sadie had to butt in and spoil your show. The more I see of thatlady, the less I like her. She was in the woods when the gang jumpedus--barged off in a huff later, because the Doc wouldn't let her croakme then and there. She's a nice little playmate. Every one of this gangis a cold-blooded thug--but she's a fiend! But, to tell the honesttruth, it's our lame friend who worries me most."
"Yes," agreed Dorothy. "That suave manner of his gives me the creeps!"
"So sorry--" purred the Doctor's voice directly behind them. "But if Iwere in your position, my young friends, I should undoubtedly beworried, too."
Bill and Dorothy swung round to see him coming toward them. In his handhe carried a small, black bag.
"How is our invalid, nurse?" he inquired, feigning ignorance of theirstartled surprise, and placing his satchel on the table. "Those who liveby the sword--but you are familiar with the quotation, I'm sure?"
Opening the bag, he produced bandages, adhesive tape, a pair of surgicalscissors and a large tube of salve.
"Lay these out, so I can reach them easily, please," he ordered as heunwrapped the temporary bandage Dorothy had bound about Bill's leg.
"Ah! I see you have cleansed the wound, but it is safer to be morethorough. Hand me one of the swabs you will find wrapped in cellophanein the bag, please. Strange how the professional spirit willdominate--even though the patient's life may not be a long one!" Heglanced smilingly at Dorothy.
"Don't tell me the knife was poisoned?" she cried in horror.
"Hardly anything so melodramatic, my dear. You don't quite grasp mymeaning."
"He means," said Bill grimly, "that after he has had the fun of patchingme up, I'm to be taken for a ride. But don't let him bluff you. He'sonly trying to scare us."
"Too much knowledge is dangerous at times--entirely too dangerous,"returned the lame man. "Hand me another swab, nurse. But you put itrather crudely, young man--and I am perfectly in earnest, I assure you."
"Oh, you couldn't do _that_!" Dorothy blenched and her hand shook as shepassed him the swab.
"Well, you see, it is not entirely up to me," he replied, carefullycleaning the wound. "The matter of your friend's future, shall Isay?--as well as your own, will have to be put to vote presently. Ofcourse, if Miss Martinelli has her way--but why anticipate theunpleasant?"
To Dorothy's surprise, Bill chuckled.
"They hang in this state, for murder," he remarked coolly. "It's a nastydeath, I've heard. What's more, Doctor, a man of your mentality does notdeliberately stick his head into a noose!"
"Perhaps not, my young friend. But you forget that in order to provemurder, there must be a body--or bodies, as the case may be." The Doctorlooked up at Bill and smiled again.