CHAPTER V
_Escape_
It was with a sigh of relief that Linda watched her captors disappear.Not that she had any hope of getting free--without gasoline--but atleast she would not see those dreadful men for a few hours. Susie wasnot nearly so bad.
"I hope you can cook," remarked the latter, surveying her bandagedankle.
"Oh, yes," replied Linda. "I've often camped out before."
"Then we can enjoy ourselves for a while. I'm glad to get rid of thatgang.... And, Linda--how 'bout if we be friends? No use making thingsworse by getting mad at _me_."
"True," admitted Linda, though she wondered what she could possiblyfind in common with the other girl that might inspire friendship.
Seeing a kettle of water steaming on the oilstove, she set herself tothe task of washing the dishes.
"Wish I could help," remarked Susie, in a friendly tone. "But afterthis there won't be so many dishes--for just the two of us."
"When do you expect them back?" inquired her prisoner.
"Tomorrow morning, probably. If they get their loot."
"Suppose they get caught?" suggested Linda.
"They won't. Don't worry! They've been planning this crack for months,and you can bet everything's all set just right. They never get caught."
Linda sighed. It wasn't very promising.
"Tell me how you got into a gang like this?" she asked, suddenly.
"I fell for Slats," replied the other girl. "Thought he was a richguy--he spent so much money on me. I was working as a clerk at anairport, and learning to fly. We ran off and got married."
"But when you discovered that he wasn't straight, why didn't you leavehim?"
"Couldn't. He said he'd hunt me down, and 'bump me off,' if I did.And he meant it, too. Slats isn't afraid of anything.... I saw rightaway that he didn't want a wife, but a pilot, who'd do what he said....The only fun I get out of it is in the winter, when we go to Europeor South America, and live like swells. Then he lets me spend all themoney I want."
"But doesn't it make you feel dreadful--at night, sometimes, or whenyou're alone--to think of leading such a wicked life?"
"Now, Linda, be yourself!" answered Susie, flippantly. "No preaching!From you, or anybody else!"
Linda turned away and completed her task in silence. What was theuse of talking to a person like that? She knew now what was meant bythe term "hard-boiled." If ever a word described anyone, that worddescribed Susie.
She wondered, as she worked, whether it would be worth-while to repeather suggestion of the night before. Susie's ankle was so much bettertoday that she would not be so eager to get to a real doctor. Still,there could be no harm in trying.
"Wouldn't you like to go off in my autogiro today?" she inquired,without turning around.
Her companion laughed bitterly.
"Not a chance!" she replied. "Didn't you see Beefy take that big can tothe boat with him? That was _gas_."
"Oh!" exclaimed Linda, her hopes dashed to the ground. "You mean theydon't trust you?"
"They don't trust anybody!" announced the other girl, emphatically. "Itdon't pay--in a game like theirs."
"Would you have gone with me?" inquired Linda. "If they hadn't takenit?"
"I don't know. My ankle's better. But I'm sick and tired of Slats,though I guess I'd miss the cash and the excitement. And I guess I'd betoo scared he'd get me in the end if I double-crossed him."
Linda was silent. Now that this hope was frustrated, she must thinkof something else. Surely this was her chance of escape--with the menaway, and her only companion a cripple.
But the swamp--the dreadful swamp was all about her. How far into thedepth of the Okefenokee she was, she did not know. It was all a vastunexplored wilderness to her.
"Alive with snakes and wild animals, and alligators, I suppose,"she mused. Yet nothing savage could be worse than those three fiendsin human flesh who were holding her captive. She determined to faceanything rather than them. Yes; she would run away, if it meantswimming the swamp!
There was no use loading herself down with food, she concluded,for most of her trip would be through the water. She would stop ather plane and take out some chocolate, and her knife; thus lightlyequipped, she would face the wilderness alone.
"Linda," said Susie, interrupting these thoughts, "will you go to mytent and get me a magazine I have there? I think it's under the cot."
Linda nodded, repressing a smile. She would go, but she would not comeback!
Stepping into the smaller tent, she dropped the flap, and picked up herflash-light. Then, raising the wall on the other side, she crept outthrough the trees to the edge of the island and circled about until shereached the autogiro. This would give her a few minutes extra beforeSusie should realize that she had gone.
As she stood there beside her plane for a moment, wondering whethershe would ever see it again, she had her first real sight of theOkefenokee Swamp from the ground. Cypress and slash pine trees grewin abundance, and heavy moss hung about. In the water all around her,she noticed rushes and water-lilies, and ferns grew everywhere inprofusion. Beneath the surface, she could see thick vegetation; wouldthis, she wondered, support her weight if she were to attempt to walkin it?
In the afternoon sunlight the water, the trees, were perfectly still;except for the birds, the silence was profound. How desolate it was!Her wrist-watch informed her that it was already four o'clock. Fivehours more, and darkness would come on, enveloping everything in ablackness such as a city-dweller never sees. Even the sky might behidden by the trees, and the wild animals would be prowling stealthilyabout in search of food. She shuddered and hesitated.
"But I have an even chance with the animals," she thought. "And withthose thieves, I am sure to lose!" So valiantly, she stepped out intothe water.
The depth was not great at this point, and she discovered that, thoughthe soft muck sunk beneath her feet, she could still make progress. Thehard rains of July and August had not yet set in, and the "bays," asthe stretches of shallow water were called, had not risen to any greatheight.
Laboriously she waded onward, choosing a thick growth of trees in thedistance as her goal. Surely, she thought, where the trees could growthere must be some dry land. If she could make that spot by nightfall,she could hide in their depths and sleep. Then tomorrow she could presson to the westward, and perhaps reach the end of the swamp.
It was a slow, weary progress that she accomplished, and she had topick her way carefully, measuring the depth of the water with a stickwhich she had cut from a pine on Black Jack Island, but she keptresolutely on until her watch registered seven o'clock. Then, all of asudden, the stick sunk so deeply into the muck that she knew she wouldhave to swim, and she hastily ate the chocolate which was to be herevening meal, and plunged forward to swim.
As the time slowly passed, she watched Black Jack Island fading inthe distance, and hope swelled in her heart. She was nearing landat last--perhaps only an island--but even if she were not out of theswamp, at least she would be away from her enemies. She smiled when shepictured the consternation and anger of the men at finding her gone.
She swam on for some distance, now and then pausing to cut the grassesthat became entangled about her legs. Her shoes were heavy, but shehated to take them off, for they were a help in the shallow water.
After an hour of this exercise, she was utterly exhausted, and shelooked about her in dismay. What if she should drown now, in themidst of her own country--after she had conquered the Atlantic Oceansuccessfully? The thought was absurd; she steeled herself to pressforward, for she was coming nearer to that bank of trees. Surely, therelay safety!
Had she but known it, she was now entering one of the so-called "GatorRoads" of the swamp--channels of water which the alligators followed.But it looked promising to the tired, hungry girl.
The foliage was growing thicker now, and the water-way narrowing. Somedistance on, the trees met overhead, and beautiful moss hung from theirbranches, shutting out the s
etting sunlight, and forming a lovely greenbower. But Linda was scarcely conscious of this beauty, for she wasbreathing with difficulty, panting with fatigue. If she could only makethat bank--where the land seemed firm!
A big tree had fallen across the water, and she managed to reach it,and to cling to it for support while she rested. Her feet hung down inthe muck, and she realized that the water was comparatively shallow.She wanted to laugh aloud in her relief.
Pulling herself up by her hands, she decided to walk the log to thebank, and had just poised herself upon its rather perilous roundsurface, when she encountered the greatest shock in her life thus far.Not ten yards away, in the very water where she would have been now,had she not mounted the log--was an alligator, at least eight feetlong! Brave as she was usually in the face of other dangers, she letout a piercing scream of terror at the sight of this horrible monster.
"Now I've got to walk the log!" she thought. "It's death if I fall off!"
She watched the alligator a minute or two while she regained herself-control, and made sure that he was not moving. Then, with eyesstraight ahead, she started to walk the log.
Once, toward the middle, she swayed, but it was only for a second. Shestraightened herself staunchly and marched on--to dry land.
Oh, the joy of feeling her feet on firm ground again! To know thatwhatever misfortune might come on the morrow, she was safe for thatnight at least! She could not drown, or be tortured by enemies; heronly danger would come from snakes. She would take the precaution toexplore her sleeping-place thoroughly before she lay down.
Weary as she was, she did not stop until she had gone farther into theisland. The trees were denser here than they had been at Black Jack;it would be more difficult to land an autogiro, if by chance Susieshould follow her. Nevertheless, she resolved to stay hidden as much aspossible.
Away from the shore, she finally dropped to the ground and took off herwet shoes and stockings.
"Not that it will do me much good in the morning to start off dry," shethought bitterly. "But anyhow, I don't want to sleep in them." And thenshe removed her outer garments.
"Wouldn't supper taste good!" she said aloud, envying Susie thatwell-filled larder at the camp. But Linda knew that there was nodanger of her starving so soon, after that big noon-day meal, and sheput the thought of food from her mind. Water she could not forget soeasily. After half an hour's thirst, she decided to risk a drink fromthe swamp. Had she but known that the water of the Okefenokee is notpoisonous, she would have enjoyed her drink more. The "peat" gives it aqueer taste, but it is harmless.
She was relieved, in her return to the water, to see that the alligatorhad gone--which way, she could not tell. Though she was desolatelylonely in that vast abandoned wilderness, she did not care for thecompanionship of so ugly a beast!
When she returned to the spot which she had selected for her camp, shetook her knife from its wet case and cut a few stout sticks from atree. With these she would explore the ground before she lay down, andkeep them at her side while she slept, as some sort of protection fromsnakes.
As with the water, however, Linda's fears regarding snakes provedunnecessary, for the report of a large number of these in theOkefenokee Swamp had been proved by hunters to have been exaggerated.As a matter of fact, Linda did not see one during her entire visit tothe swamp.
She waited until the daylight had faded, and darkness completelyenveloped the landscape before she lay down to rest. The stars werestill visible here and there through the trees, and, as upon theoccasion of her lonely flight to Paris, they somehow seemed friendly.After an hour or so, she slipped off to sleep.
Only once during that strange, desolate night did she awaken, andthat was when something cold and wet suddenly touched her face. Shestarted up fearfully, seizing a stick with one hand and her knifewith the other, squinting her eyes for snakes. Her flash-light had ofcourse been thrown away during her swim, so she could not immediatelyidentify the enemy that had awakened her.
She laughed out loud when she finally saw what it was. She had rolledover against her shoes, which were still cold and clammy with water!
She went back to sleep again, and did not awaken until the sun was wellup in the sky. She had no way of telling the exact time, for her watchrefused to go after its bath in the swamp, but Linda judged from thesun that it must be nine o'clock at least. Her clothing was dry, at anyrate, and her shoes only a little damp. But what a sight she was, shethought, after that long swim!
She went down to the water's edge to wash, and to drink the water thatmust serve as her breakfast, and looked carefully about her--into thesky, and on the water--for the sight of her enemies. For she had nodoubt that as soon as the thieves returned, they would go in search ofher, believing that she could not have gotten far away.
She was relieved to see nothing, no sign of human beings anywhere, andshe paused to watch some wild birds fly past overhead. Everything waspeaceful and quiet--like a Sunday morning in the country. It was hardto believe that wickedness existed in such a beautiful world.
Then, abruptly, she noticed the soft swish of water not far away fromher, and she looked up quickly, expecting to see the alligator again.In that awful second, her worst fears were realized. A canoe, with twomen aboard, was coming straight towards her. The thieves! They hadsighted her--they were wildly waving their arms.
It was too late to hide!