CHAPTER VIII.
THE PLOT OF THE BRADY GANG.
The attack of the four men had been engineered with a suddenness thattook Matt's breath. The men were not common hoodlums, although theylooked the part, but all four of them were men whom Matt recognized.
They were all members of the Brady gang. One was Grove, who had escapedfrom the South Chicago authorities on the preceding afternoon; anotherwas Harper, who used to drive the Hawk for Brady when the air ship wasin his possession; another man was Pete, and the fourth was Whipple.
Matt had seen a picture of Harper in the "rogues' gallery" in thechief's office, and he had had no difficulty in recognizing the rascalat a glance. Harper had been with Grove at the time some blue printswere stolen from Hamilton Jerrold, another inventor of air ships,living in South Chicago. But Harper had been hurt in Jerrold's houseand had not got away in the air ship, which the thieves had used tohelp them commit their robbery.
Pete and Whipple had been with Brady in a rendezvous in Willoughby'sswamp, near Lake Station, Indiana. Matt had had some exciting dealingswith Grove, Pete, and Whipple, and knew them fairly well.
Ferral, hearing Matt's cry and the rush of feet, had run out of theshed and around the front of the car. As quickly as he could, he leapedto Matt's assistance.
But what could the two boys accomplish against four husky men, alldesperately determined to carry out the plot they had formed? Officersof the law were hunting for all of them, and if they did not succeed intheir nefarious work, it would not be many hours before they saw theinside of a prison cell.
Matt King never fought better than he did then. He had struck downWhipple, and had thrown himself at Pete.
About the same time, Ferral engaged Grove. Grove had science as well asstrength, and was keeping Ferral pretty well occupied.
Whipple, wild with fury, staggered to his feet. He was behind Matt, andFerral, out of the corner of his eye, saw him preparing to strike.
"Look out, mate!" warned Ferral. "There's a big swab behind you!"
But the warning came too late. Whipple's ham-like fist reached Matt'shead, and the young motorist staggered and flung up his arms. Again theenraged Whipple aimed a blow, but Matt dropped to one side, and thefist only grazed his shoulder. Pete, however, had been watching hischance. Throwing himself forward, he dealt a fierce blow with his fistthat toppled Matt to the ground.
Harper, meantime, had come up behind Ferral and successfully carriedout the same manoeuvre that had been made use of by Whipple. Both boyswere brutally knocked off their feet. The moment they were down, Harperfell on Ferral and Pete dropped on Matt, when Whipple turned on Grove.
"Go ter the side o' the shed, Grove," said he, "an' keep yer eyesskinned along the road. If ye see anyone comin', jest let out a yell."
"What's the use of fooling around here any longer?" demanded Grove."We've got the car, and all we have to do now is to get into her andlet the police look up at us."
"Do as I tell ye!" bawled Whipple. "Our work ain't done yet. The oleman told us what ter do with King, an' we're goin' ter do it. He'splayed hob with Brady's plans, an' the ole man is crazy ter git even.T'other chap, bein' with King, 'll have ter stand fer the same dose."
Grove, muttering to himself, moved off toward the corner of the balloonhouse. Whipple, hurrying to the car, took out a coil of rope. It wasnot heavy rope, but fine and pliable.
Cutting off four pieces of the rope, Whipple went to Matt. The youngmotorist was still dazed from the blows he had received, and it was notdifficult for Pete to hold him while Whipple tied his wrists at hisback and his feet at the ankles.
Thereupon Whipple passed to Dick and secured him in the same way.
"Anyone in sight yet, Grove?" Whipple asked as he straightened up.
"No," replied Grove.
"Well, keep yer eyes peeled. We're a good ways from bein' through." Heturned to Harper and Pete. "Lay holt o' the car, you two," he ordered,"an' pull the Hawk clear o' the shed. Mind ye don't let the gas bagtech the sides o' the door."
"This ain't the first time I've helped with the Hawk," said Harper. "Ireckon I know how ter handle her as well as anyone."
Harper and Pete managed to get the air ship out of the shed withoutinjury. This left the opening into the shed clear.
"You two," Whipple went on to Pete and Harper, "pick up that otherfeller an' kerry him in. I can handle King, all right."
The way Whipple handled Matt was to grab him by the collar and drag himthrough the door and the length of the shed. At the end of the big roomhe opened a door and pulled Matt into a small chamber not more than tenfeet square by as many high--hardly more than a big box. There was awindow in one wall, and two cots at each side.
Halting in front of one of the cots, Whipple picked Matt up in his armsand dumped him upon the narrow bed.
"Put your kid on the other cot," ordered Whipple to Harper and Pete.
Ferral was lifted and placed as the leader of the gang had directed.
Matt had been conscious of every move that was made, although his mindhad not been at all clear. By the time he had been placed on the cot,however, his faculties were as keen as ever, in spite of the pain hesuffered on account of his rough treatment.
"What are you trying to do, Whipple?" he demanded, turning his head sohe could look directly into the face of the leader of the gang.
"What we're tryin' ter do we've as good as done," was the fierceanswer. "We're undoin' the thing you done a week er more ago. Theperlice are after us, on account o' you, an' we're goin' ter make agetaway in the Hawk."
"The Hawk belongs to me and my friend, on the other cot."
"How d'ye figger that out? I reckoned the Hawk belonged ter Brady."
"Brady is a thief. He stole a lot of stuff, and the Hawk was sold tohelp pay back the losses of some of the people who were robbed."
"Oh, ho!" laughed Whipple, huskily, "that's the way of it, eh? An' youan' yer chum bought the Hawk?"
"Yes. If you steal her you'll get into trouble--a lot more trouble thanyou're in already. I guess you've got more now than you can take careof."
"An' it was you as made the trouble fer us!" cried Whipple, with ablack scowl, stepping closer to Matt and shaking a fist in his face."But you're right at the end o' your rope, my buck. Brady never fergitsa feller who crosses his plans like you done. Arter we leave here itwon't be you that makes the trouble fer us."
"Is Brady in this?" queried Matt, seeking information.
"He's on deck, you bet, an' we're goin' ter pick him up close terWilloughby's swamp; then we're goin' ter cross the lake an' come downin a place where we'll be safe fer a spell. While we got the Hawk we'resafe from the perlice, all right, but we got our operations ter attendto."
"More robbery, I suppose."
"Suppose what ye blam' please, ye'll never be able ter tell anyonewhat ye're hearin' from me now. What we're goin' ter do to you an' yerchum'll teach others ter let Hector Brady an' his gang alone. If I----"
Just then a shrill whistle came to the ears of those in the littleroom.
"Listen to that!" exclaimed Pete, in consternation.
"Somebody's comin'!" gasped Harper. "If we don't make a run out of thiswe'll be nabbed."
Whipple jumped to a gas bracket against one of the rough board walls.It was not an ordinary bracket, but had a wide mouth to which a pieceof hose could be attached. This had been used by the police officialsto replenish the gas in the silk envelope of the Hawk.
With one jerk of his hand Whipple turned the gas full on.
"Get out!" he called to the two with him.
Pete and Harper tumbled through the door into the shed. Whipple hurriedafter them but paused a moment on the threshold to give a wild,taunting laugh.
"That's what Brady told us ter do," said he, savagely, "an' we've doneit. Git clear o' this, if ye can!"
With that, Whipple slammed the door.
The fate to which the murderous scoundrel had consigned the two boyswas a fearful one. Even as the d
oor closed, Matt could smell the odorof gas pouring into the small room and poisoning the air.
"Dick!" he called. "Can you hear me? Do you know what has been goingon?"
"Aye, aye, old ship," came from Ferral. "We're bound for Jones', asstraight as we can go. We've lost the Hawk, and probably we've lost ourlives. Hard luck!"
"Hard luck!" exclaimed Matt. "Why, Dick, it's the hardest luck I everhad come my way. But there's a chance."
"What sort of a chance, mate? I can't see any."
"Grove, one of the gang, was left outside to watch. He was to whistleif anyone came along the road. Didn't you hear him give the warning? Ifanyone is coming, we can bring them here. Use your lungs, pard! Yellfor all you're worth! Our lives may depend on it!"
Fighting frenziedly to free themselves of the ropes about their hands,the boys shouted at the top of their voices for help. They could feelthe vitiated air of the room bringing their breath short and hard,and they knew that their voices were getting feebler by degrees.Desperately they continued to call, hoping against hope that they wouldbe heard, and that some one would come to their aid before it was toolate.