CHAPTER 25 _OUTWITTED_
For an endless time, it seemed, the party moved deeper and deeper intothe swamp. As the night became cool, Penny shivered and leaned close toher father.
Worn out, she slumped against his shoulder and finally dropped into alight sleep. When she opened her eyes, a pale moon had risen over thetreetops, lighting the way.
At last, the boat brought up in a cove at Black Island.
"We're leavin' ye here," Coon informed the prisoners. "Maybe ye'll befound tomorrer or next week after we're safe away. If not, well hit'sjest too bad!"
Penny and her father were hustled ashore. Despite vigorous struggles, Mr.Parker then was bound by Coon and Hod and lashed with his back to a tree.Before Penny could be treated likewise, a dog began to bark.
"It's Bones!" she cried. "You have him here on the island!"
"Sure, we got him," agreed Hod indifferently.
Penny loudly called the dog's name and he bounded through the brushtoward her. His long hair was matted with burs, but he seemed in goodhealth and well fed.
Before Penny could get her hands on him, Coon seized and tossed the doginto the boat.
"Please let me keep Bones!" she pleaded.
"Yeah, leave the dog on the island," growled Danny Deevers. "He'll be abother to us."
"Git the dog then, gal," commanded Coon.
Penny scrambled aboard the Hawkins' boat. Bones had crawled far forward.
As she bent to gather him into her arms, her hand encountered a gunnysack. Inside were wrapped three hard, round objects.
"The cans of stolen money!" Penny thought, her pulse jumping.
Without considering the punishment that might be meted out to her, sheseized the sack.
"Hey!" shouted Coon furiously. "Drop those cans!"
He sprang aboard, intending to strike her a stunning blow. Penny leapedfor shore, but the boat shot from beneath her feet.
Misbalanced, it went over, tumbling Coon and herself into the water.
But as Penny went down, she clung fast to the cans of money. Fortunately,the muddy water was shallow. Her feet touched bottom and she came upsputtering.
Hod and Danny started for the boat on a run, intending to seize her.Suddenly, they halted, listening intently.
"What was that?" Danny demanded. "Thought I heard the splash of apaddle!"
"Two boats are coming!" Hod cried hoarsely. "Police!"
"Come on!" ordered Danny, seizing one end of the overturned boat. "Helpme right this! We'll still get away! The girl goes with us as a hostage!"
Hod grasped Penny's arm, while his brother aided Danny with the boat.
"No go!" ordered a cool voice from the thicket. "I gotta you covered!"
As the three men whirled around, Tony, rifle in hand, came out of thedeep shadows.
"Stand-a by tree!" he commanded, motioning with the gun. "Keep-a handsup!"
Sullenly the three men obeyed. Tony guarded them closely until policemenswarmed over the island.
In the first boat were Salt, Jerry and several officers. Behind came asecond boat, also loaded with policemen.
Danny, Hod and Coon quickly were handcuffed and placed under heavy guard.Tony then helped Penny release her father.
"What about Ezekiel?" the publisher asked. "We ought to get him too!"
Jerry revealed that the swamper already had been taken prisoner atLookout Island. Two policemen had remained behind to guard both him andhis wife.
"Oh, Jerry! I'm so glad you got through safely!" Penny declared. "Did youhave any trouble?"
"Not a bit," he replied. "When I reached the farmhouse, police alreadywere there. Mrs. Jones had telephoned them."
"We arrested Mrs. Hawkins," Salt took up the story. "Then we capturedEzekiel at Lookout Point, and followed your boat here. Most of the timewe had you in sight, though from a long distance."
Penny was greatly relieved to be able to turn over the three cans ofstolen money to police officers. By lantern light a hasty count was madeand it was disclosed that a sizeable portion of the funds were missing.
However, when Danny Deevers, Hod, and Coon were searched, a large roll ofbills was found in the escaped convict's pocket.
"This should account for it all," said the police officer, taking chargeof the money and adding it to the other. "So you were trying todouble-cross your pals, Danny? Figured on keeping the lion's share!"
Danny glared at the officer, refusing to answer.
"So you got nothing to say, eh?" the officer prodded. "Maybe you'll be ina more talkative mood when we get you back to the pen. You'll do doubletime for skipping out!"
Danny's sullen gaze fastened briefly on Jerry Livingston.
"I got only one regret!" he muttered. "I wish I'd slugged that guy harderwhen I had the chance!"
"May I ask the prisoners a question or two?" Penny asked the officer incharge.
"Sure, go ahead," he nodded. "If you get anything out of 'em, you'regood."
Penny knew that Danny, a hardened criminal, would never give her anyinformation, so she centered her attention upon Hod and Coon.
At first, they only eyed her sullenly, refusing to speak. But after shehad pointed out that a more cooperative attitude might bring a lightersentence, they showed a little interest.
"How did you come to be mixed up with Danny?" she asked. "Were you alltogether in the big bank robbery?"
The question drew fire from Hod.
"No, we weren't!" he shouted. "We never even knowed where Danny hid themoney until tonight!"
"Then why were you so willing to hide and help him?"
"'Cause him and Paw always was good friends! Danny come here, saying thecops was after him and would we give him some clothes and hide him fer aday or two? So like fools we was, we took him in and kept him in thewoodshed. It would have been safe enough if you hadn't come snoopin'around!"
"No doubt you all would have gone free if you hadn't made the mistake ofkeeping Louise's dog," Penny retorted. "However, you seem to forget youwere operating a still illegally."
"Anyone else in on that business?" the policeman cut in. "How'd theymarket the stuff?"
"Through a trucker at Hartwell City," Penny exclaimed. "I think theycalled him Ike."
"Too bad the bird will go free, while these eggs do a stretch in thepen," commented the policeman. "You can depend on it though, they'llnever do the smart thing and turn him in."
"Oh, wouldn't we?" growled Hod. "He was no pal o' ourn!"
"Would it git us a lighter stretch if we was to turn him in?" asked Cooncraftily.
"It might."
"His name's Ike Glanzy and he stays mostly at the Devon Club in HartwellCity," Hod volunteered.
"We'll pick him up," said the policeman. "Depend on it, he'll be behindbars before another twenty-four hours. Now let's get out of here!"
As the boats began to load for the return trip through the swamp, Pennyglanced anxiously about the tiny clearing.
"Where's Tony?" she asked.
No one had seen the Italian lad in the last few minutes. Unnoticed, hehad slipped away into the interior of the island.
"We can't leave without Tony!" Penny protested. "He's afraid he'll besent back to Italy, so he's run off somewhere!"
"He can't have gone far," said Salt. "We should be able to find him."
However, an intensive search of the bushes nearby did not reveal themissing youth. At last, in desperation, Penny called his name severaltimes.
"Please, Tony, give yourself up!" she pleaded. "You won't be sent back toItaly! I'm sure of it! Please come out of hiding!"
"If that appeal doesn't fetch him, nothing will," said Salt. "We've heldup the party too long now, Penny. We've got to shove off."
Penny nodded disconsolately. When the photographer took her arm andstarted back toward the waiting boats, she did not resist.
But after they had gone a few yards, she abruptly halted.
<
br /> "Tony _is_ close by!" she insisted. "I can _feel_ that he's watching usnow! Listen! Don't you hear the bushes rustling?"
"I do hear something. Maybe it's only an animal."
"Tony," Penny made one last appeal, "if you're back there in the dark,please come out. Don't you understand? You were a hero tonight--you savedthe day by popping out of the bushes at just the right moment. Pleasedon't fail me now."
The leaves were stirring again. Then, to Penny's joy, the branchesparted. Grinning sheepishly, Tony shuffled out.
"You call-a me?" he grinned.
"Oh, Tony!" Penny seized his arm and held fast. "We've practically tornout the lining of our lungs, trying to find you! Come on! You're goingback with us!"
"Not to Immigration mens!"
"Oh, don't worry about that now, Tony! My father has a little influenceand he'll help you all he can. Besides, you're almost certain to win aportion of the reward offered for Danny Deevers' capture."
"Money no good if they send-a me back to Italy!" Tony said stubbornly."Want-a stay in America. I work-a hard. Go to school!"
"I think perhaps it can be arranged," Penny promised recklessly. WithSalt's help, she kept steering the boy toward the boat. "After all you'vedone tonight, Immigration authorities couldn't be hard-hearted enough torefuse you citizenship."
Tony allowed himself to be persuaded and entered a boat with Penny andother members of the party. After a long and tiring but uneventful tripthrough the swamp, the Hawkins' farm finally was reached.
At the farmhouse, Mrs. Hawkins and her husband were being held prisonersby other policemen. Also waiting were the Widow Jones and Trapper JoeScoville, whom she had summoned.
"Praises be! The police got to ye in time!" the widow exclaimed, givingPenny's hand an affectionate squeeze. "If harm had befallen ye thisnight, I never would have fergiven myself fer having taken ye into theswamp."
"Maybe what happened'll teach ye a lesson, but I got m' doubts,"interposed the old trapper with a chuckle. "Wimmin is mighty stubborncritters!"
As Mrs. Hawkins and her husband were led out of the house, the womancaught sight of her two sons handcuffed to officers. "Hod! Coon!" shescreamed hysterically.
She tried to break away from the policemen who held her, and would haveattacked Danny Deevers had they not restrained her.
"Ye'r the one who got us into this mess!" she accused the convict. "Ihope they lock ye up fer the rest o' y'er life!"
Much later, after all the prisoners had been confined in Riverview jail,Mr. Parker and Penny obtained custody of Tony. Arrangements were made sothat the lad might remain in the Parker home while Immigration officialsconsidered his case.
The Italian boy proved to be a perfect guest. Not only did he help aboutthe house and yard, but he never overlooked an opportunity to improve hiseducation. Many a time Penny or her father came upon him in the library,reading a book.
"If he doesn't get to stay, it will be a crime!" the girl declared. "Oh,why doesn't the Immigration department reach a decision?"
Despite Penny's fretting, weeks dragged on and still Tony's case hungfire. Many telegrams went back and forth between Riverview andWashington, D. C. So involved did the affair become that even Mr. Parkerbegan to lose hope the boy could be kept in America.
But at last word came that the last bit of red tape had been cut. A highimmigration official had ruled that although it was irregular, Tony mightremain in Riverview, providing someone would guarantee his support.
Mr. Parker willingly signed the necessary papers. A job next was inorder, but this Penny easily arranged through Mark Fiello, the hamburgershop man.
As for Danny Deevers, the convict promptly was returned to prison, andthe stolen $50,000 turned over to the Third Federal Bank.
In due time, Ezekiel, Coon, Hod and Mrs. Hawkins were convicted oncharges of harboring a fugitive from justice. At their trial, evidencealso was introduced, showing they had operated a still illegally.
For many days the _Riverview Star_ carried front page stories of thehappenings. Penny wrote several of the articles, while others carriedJerry's byline.
"The best part of all is that with Danny behind bars, you'll no longer bein danger," the girl remarked one day to the reporter. "He really was outto get you."
"I suppose so," Jerry agreed, "but I never was much worried. Danny's realmotive in coming back to Riverview was to recover the hidden $50,000.Running into me--and particularly you--proved his undoing."
In days that followed, Penny drove many times to the swamp to see Mrs.Jones and Trapper Joe. Both rejoiced that Danny Deevers and the Hawkinsfamily could cause no more trouble.
One afternoon as the girl paid the widow a long call, they fell totalking over their swamp experiences.
"It was mighty excitin' out there--you and me in the boat," Mrs. Jonesrecalled. "Now that it's all over, I hain't ashamed to say I was plentyskeered we'd never git out o' the swamp alive."
"So was I," grinned Penny.
"Revenooers was in yesterday to smash up Ezekiel's still."
"They were!"
"Yep, and they got track o' that trucker who was in so thick with theHawkins boys." The widow sighed and pulled aside a kitchen curtain togaze thoughtfully toward the swamp. "Well, I reckon the last bit o'evil's been driv' away from Black Island. From now on, the land'll jestlie there and belong to the wind and the rain."
"And to us," Penny added softly.
The widow nodded as her gaze lingered long on the fringe of toweringpines. "One o' these days, when the spirit moves us, we'll go backthere," she promised. "The swamp always belongs to them that loves it!"
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