CHAPTER XI
_The Island in the Ocean_
"I certainly am sorry we don't have Susie with us," remarked Dot, asthe girls sat down to their late dinner that evening, after theirrefreshing swim. "I thought she'd be better than a 'talkie' foramusement."
"Yes, you would have enjoyed her, Dot," agreed Linda, picking up themenu and studying it with a great deal of interest. "I'm going to ordereverything here, Dot. I'm simply starved."
"So am I, though I ought to be ashamed to admit it. You should haveseen the lunch I ate!"
"And you should have seen my lunch!" returned Linda. "We forgot tocarry anything, but fortunately Susie had left beans and coffee on theisland."
"Is that all you had?"
Linda nodded, and gave her order to the waiter.
"I'd certainly like to know where Susie is now," she remarked, aftershe had satisfied the sharpest pangs of hunger with an iced fruit-cup.
"Yes, so would I," agreed Dot. "Her disappearance will make it alot harder to trace that other thief.... Do you really expect to doanything about hunting him, Linda?"
"Indeed I do! Tomorrow's only the twenty-seventh, and I don't have toreport to Atlanta until July first. I'm going to use those four days."
"But what could you possibly do?" inquired Dot. "How would you knowwhere to go--without even a suggestion from Susie?"
"I have a theory," explained the other girl. "Wait till I eat some ofthis beef-steak, and I'll tell you about it."
"I'm crazy to hear it, because I'll be with you all the time. Mothersaid I must start back home the first of July--the day you go toAtlanta. I have my ticket bought."
For a few moments Linda ate her dinner in silence, enjoying everymouthful as only a hungry person can. Then, lowering her voice so thatthere was no danger of being overheard, she told her chum her plan.
"I've thought it all out," she began. "This is what must have happened:That thief--the 'Doc,' as the gang called him--took the boat and themoney the day after the bank robbery, when he woke up and found thatSusie and her husband had flown away in the autogiro, and the othertwo were still asleep. His idea was to get out of the swamp to the St.Mary's or some other river, that would take him to the ocean."
"And get on a steamer?" demanded Dot. "But Linda, if he did that, he'sout of the country by now."
"I'm not so sure of that. A canoe trip like that would take a goodwhile--the Okefenokee is fifty miles at least from the coast. And he'dbe afraid to take a train--or an automobile, for fear of being seen.Besides, I don't think he'd take a steamer right away. He'd want to goto that island first."
"In his canoe?" inquired the other, skeptically.
"No, of course not. He'd hire a motor-boat--or steal one."
"I still don't understand why he'd want to get to that island,"remarked Dot.
"For two reasons," explained Linda. "One because he expected to pick upthose jewels--which we have already taken away--and the other reason isthat the gang has arrangements with some party that owns a steamer, tostop at the island on certain specified dates. That would be his way ofgetting out of the country."
"It does sound plausible," admitted Dot. "What a brain you have, Linda!"
"Not a bit of that, Dot! It's only that I've been so closely associatedwith these criminals that I'm beginning to see their motives."
"And where does Susie come into all this?"
"The man must have seen her on Soldiers' Camp Island, from his canoe.Or rather, he saw the wrecked autogiro, and knew she must be there."
"And forced her to go with him?"
"Probably. He didn't want to take any chances, leaving her free to helpthe police."
Linda paused for a moment to eat the salad with which she had beenserved, and glanced about the dining-room. No one seemed to know her,or notice her--for that she was sincerely thankful.
It was not until they had finished their dinner and found a cool,secluded spot on the veranda, that she went on with her plan.
"What I mean to do," she said quietly, "is to fly back to the camp onBlack Jack Island early tomorrow. Not that I expect to find anyonethere--but merely to get my direction--to go on to that island in theocean. I don't know its name, so I couldn't look it up on the map."
"You really expect to catch those two on that island?" asked Dot,excitedly. "Will you take the police along?"
"No! I don't want to tell them a word about all this, except to saythat I am going scouting about the country, and to ask for a couple ofrevolvers.... And, in answer to your first question, I don't reallyexpect to find Susie and the 'Doc' there yet. But I believe they'll bealong soon."
"And we wait for them there?"
"Yes. Take them unawares. Susie will probably be on our side, and wecan plan something with her.... Of course this is all only theory.Maybe there isn't a thing in it. That gang was slick; they seemed toknow how to drop right off the face of the earth. And I believe thisman may be the cleverest of them all. He was quiet; it's the boastingkind, like Susie's husband, who usually get caught first.... So you cansee why I don't want any of the police along."
"We better take plenty of food, though," remarked Dot.
"We will take some--but don't forget that we can easily fly back to thecoast each night. The island is only a few miles out--it's nothing in aplane."
"True," admitted the other.
"And we'll keep our room here at the hotel, for we want some place asheadquarters. We'll put a few over-night necessities into my bag."
"O.K. I'll order a roast chicken and a chocolate cake from thedining-room tonight."
"Oranges, too," added Linda. "They always taste so good. I mustn'tforget to fill my thermos-bottles, either."
They went to bed early that night, in order to get a good start onthe following morning. Dot, who was particularly enthusiastic aboutthe chocolate cake, carried the basket of food, while Linda took thehandbag. They arrived at the City Hall immediately after breakfast, andwere ushered right into Captain Magee's office.
"No news of the fourth man yet," he said, after he had greeted Lindaand been introduced to Dot. "But I've sent out a call for him by radio,so that all ships are to be warned to be on the look-out for a fellowof his description."
"There's something else I want to tell you," added Linda, "that mayhelp to spot him. There is probably a girl with him." Then, ratherreluctantly, she told what she knew of Susie, begging the Captain notto punish her too severely if she were found.
"And now," she concluded, "Miss Crowley and I want to do a littlescouting ourselves--in the autogiro--and I want to know whether youwill lend us a couple of .38s for the undertaking."
The Captain smiled whimsically. What an unusual girl Linda Carlton was!No wonder she had done things no other girl had even tried.
"Of course I will," he said. "Though such a request is rather out ofthe ordinary----"
"This is an extraordinary occasion," remarked Linda.
"Don't you want a detective to go with you?" he asked.
"No, thank you, we haven't room in the autogiro. Besides, we don't wantto waste his time--for it may be only a wild goose chase. But if youwill lend us a couple of revolvers, I think we shall be safe."
"Can you shoot?"
"If it is necessary. But I don't think it will be. The girl got to bevery friendly with me, after her husband was killed. If I had onlygotten to her in time, I think I could have saved her. As it is, shemay not have joined the man of her own free will. You see she had beenhurt, and was partially helpless. So he could do most anything he likedwith her, if he had her alone."
"Well, good luck to you!" said the Captain. "I certainly take off myhat to a plucky pair of girls."
When Linda and Dot arrived at the airport they found the Ladybug inreadiness for its second flight into the swamp. Linda inspected her,and piled in the equipment.
"I feel as if the Okefenokee Swamp were my home," she remarked, as sheheaded the autogiro in that direction. "I could almost fly it blind!"
"Don't!" wa
rned Dot. "Your friend the Doc is still at large, and he maybe watching for us with a gun."
This was Dot's first view of the swamp, and as they approached it, shewas amazed at the vast expanse of it, stretching out in every direction.
"It's huge, isn't it?" she shouted to Linda, through the speaking-tube.
"Forty miles long and thirty wide," was the reply. "But we see only thesouthern end of it."
Conversation was difficult, so the girls gave it up until they came toBlack Jack Island, where Linda had been held a prisoner.
"Shall we get out?" she asked her companion. "Or go straight on to theocean?"
"Let's get out," replied Dot. "They might possibly be here, you know.Besides, I'm crazy to see their camp."
Linda brought the autogiro to earth and the girls climbed outcautiously, their revolvers in readiness, lest the enemy appear. Butthere was no human sound--nothing but the birds and the insects.
"Watch out for snakes, Dot!" warned Linda. "I'd almost rather meet theDoc than a snake, I believe."
They walked carefully towards the camp only to find it absolutelydeserted.
"Let's look all around," suggested Linda, who remembered everythingonly too well. "We'll begin with the mess-tent."
Quietly at first, they snooped around, peering into boxes ofprovisions, looking under the cots, behind the tents, and, when theywere quite sure that they were alone, they began to act more natural,to laugh and joke with each other.
Linda showed Dot the tent which she had shared with Susie that onenight of her captivity, and they both smiled over the sight of themagazine which had led to Linda's escape.
"We could even stay here all night if we had to," Dot remarked. "Seemscomfortable enough."
Linda shuddered.
"Never again!" she protested. "But we may as well eat some lunch beforewe fly to that island. I'm hungry."
"And thirsty. But it isn't so hot here as it was in Jacksonville."
"No. And the island out in the ocean ought to be cooler yet. You maylike it so well that you'll want to spend the summer there. Only it hasno tents or cots, like this camp."
"Thank you, I'd rather not play Robinson Crusoe," replied Dot.
"Poor man!" sighed Linda. "If he'd only had an airplane, how simple itwould have been for him."
They ate their lunch, and then, for the third time, Linda flew acrossthe Okefenokee and over the coastal plain of Georgia--out to the barrenisland in the ocean where the treasure had been hidden. The desolateloneliness of the spot impressed her companion.
"You suggested this as a summer resort!" she remarked, when they hadlanded. "Why, I don't even see a fishing-boat!"
"That's just the trouble," replied Linda. "The first time I flewhere--with Susie's husband--I looked about desperately for somebodyto shout to for help. And there wasn't a soul! Nothing but ocean andsky.... Do you have your revolver handy, Dot?"
"Yes. Right here. But I don't know much about shooting."
"I'm sure we shan't have to. I just want to explore. But 'be prepared'is our motto."
"I will be. I won't shoot you, either, Linda--you can count on me forthat."
Climbing out of the autogiro they walked towards the center of theisland where the sand was soft and the underbrush thick. Perhaps,thought Linda, there might be more hiding places than the one holewhich she knew; it would be worth while to make a thorough search. Onand on they plodded, the sand sinking into their shoes, the sun beatingdown upon them with full blast, for what trees there were, were nothigh enough to afford much shade. It was difficult to find the hidingplace in such monotonous desolation, but at last she came to the spot.
"Somebody's been here since I came with the police!" she said to Dot,"because we left the stones as we found them. But it looks as if thehole is empty."
She was correct in her surmise. After five minutes of pushing the sandaway, Linda had assured herself that nothing was there.
"Let's go down to the opposite shore from the one we came in on,"suggested Dot. "And explore that."
"All right," agreed Linda. "If you can stand walking through thissand again...." She stopped abruptly, peering towards the shore. Aninstant later she dragged the other girl to the ground. "The Doc!" shewhispered, hoarsely. "I saw him down by the water--maybe there's a boatcoming!"
"What shall we do?" demanded Dot, clutching her revolver tightly.
"Wait till he gets on--and follow in the autogiro. I've got plenty ofgas.... Let's be creeping back to the Ladybug."
The girls kept well hidden behind the underbrush, crawling along ontheir hands and knees. Suddenly Dot stopped; she had struck somethingsolid. A canvas bag--two bags, stuffed full with something. Could it bethe money?
Breathless, they both stopped while Linda untwisted with her pen-knifethe coarse pieces of wire around the tops of the bags, and dumpedout the contents. Money in an amount they had never seen before!Hundred dollar bills in rolls that they had no time to count, bonds inthousand-dollar denominations!
"Hide it quickly, Dot!" whispered Linda. "In your pockets, yourriding-breeches--stuff some of it in my clothes--while I re-fill thesebags with sand.... And have your revolver ready."