CHAPTER XXII
Not until they had rushed up out of the coulee and had reached the pathliketrail did the screaming cease. For barely an instant MacDonald paused, andthen ran on with a speed that taxed Aldous to keep up. When they came tothe little open amphitheatre in the forest MacDonald halted again. Theirhearts were thumping like hammers, and the old mountaineer's voice camehusky and choking when he spoke.
"It wasn't far--from here!" he panted.
Scarcely had he uttered the words when he sped on again. Three minuteslater they came to where the trail crossed the edge of a smallrock-cluttered meadow, and with a sudden spurt Aldous darted ahead ofMacDonald into this opening, where he saw two figures in the moonlight.Half a dozen feet from them he stopped with a cry of horror. They were Pauland Peggy Blackton! Peggy was dishevelled and sobbing, and was franticallyclutching at her husband. It was Paul Blackton who dragged the cry from hislips. The contractor was swaying. He was hatless; his face was covered withblood, and his eyes were only half open, as if he were fighting to pullhimself back into consciousness after a terrible blow. Peggy's hair wasdown, her dress was torn at the throat, and she was panting so that for amoment she could not speak.
"They've got--Joanne!" she cried then. "They went--there!"
She pointed, and Aldous ran where she pointed--into the timber on the farside of the little meadow. MacDonald caught his arm as they ran.
"You go straight in," he commanded. "I'll swing--to right--towardriver----"
For two minutes after that Aldous tore straight ahead. Then for barely amoment he stopped. He had not paused to question Peggy Blackton. His ownfears told him who Joanne's abductors were. They were men working underinstructions from Quade. And they could not be far away, for scarcely tenminutes had passed since the first scream. He listened, and held his breathso that the terrific beating of his heart would not drown the sound ofcrackling brush. All at once the blood in him was frozen by a fierce yell.It was MacDonald, a couple of hundred yards to his right, and after thatyell came the bellowing shout of his name.
"Johnny! Johnny! Oh, Johnny!"
He dashed in MacDonald's direction, and a few moments later heard thecrashing of bodies in the undergrowth. Fifty seconds more and he was in thearena. MacDonald was fighting three men in a space over which thespruce-tops grew thinly. The moon shone upon them as they swayed in astruggling mass, and as Aldous sprang to the combat one of the three reeledbackward and fell as if struck by a battering-ram. In that same momentMacDonald went down, and Aldous struck a terrific blow with the butt of hisheavy Savage. He missed, and the momentum of his blow carried him overMacDonald. He tripped and fell. By the time he had regained his, feet thetwo men had disappeared into the thick shadows of the spruce forest. Aldouswhirled toward the third man, whom he had seen fall. He, too, haddisappeared. A little lamely old Donald brought himself to his feet. He wassmiling.
"Now, what do 'ee think, Johnny?"
"Where is she? Where is Joanne?" demanded Aldous.
"Twenty feet behind you, Johnny, gagged an' trussed up nice as a whistle!If they hadn't stopped to do that work you wouldn't ha' seen her ag'in,Johnny--s'elp me, God, you wouldn't! They was hikin' for the river. Oncethey had reached the Frazer, and a boat----"
He broke off to lead Aldous to a clump of dwarf spruce. Behind this, whiteand still in the moonlight, but with eyes wide open and filled with horror,lay Joanne. Hands and feet were bound, and a big handkerchief was tied overher mouth. Twenty seconds later Aldous held her shivering and sobbing andlaughing hysterically by turns in his arms, while MacDonald's voice broughtPaul and Peggy Blackton to them. Blackton had recovered from the blow thathad dazed him. Over Joanne's head he stared at Aldous. And MacDonald wasstaring at Blackton. His eyes were burning a little darkly.
"It's all come out right," he said, "but it ain't a special nice time o'night to be taking a' evening walk in this locality with a couple o'ladies!"
Blackton was still staring at Aldous, with Peggy clutching his arm as ifafraid of losing him.
It was Peggy who answered MacDonald.
"And it was a nice time of night for you to send a message asking us tobring Joanne down the trail!" she cried, her voice trembling.
"We----" began Aldous, when he saw a sudden warning movement on MacDonald'spart, and stopped. "Let us take the ladies home," he said.
With Joanne clinging to him, he led the way. Behind them all MacDonaldgrowled loudly:
"There's got t' be something done with these damned beasts of furriners.It's gettin' so no woman ain't safe at night!"
Twenty minutes later they reached the bungalow. Leaving Joanne and Peggyinside, now as busily excited as two phoebe birds, and after Joanne hadinsisted upon Aldous sleeping at the Blacktons' that night, the two menaccompanied MacDonald a few steps on his way back to camp.
As soon as they were out of earshot Blackton began cursing softly under hisbreath.
"So you didn't send that damned note?" he asked. "You haven't said so, butI've guessed you didn't send it!"
"No, we didn't send a note."
"And you had a reason--you and MacDonald--for not wanting the girls to knowthe truth?"
"A mighty good reason," said Aldous. "I've got to thank MacDonald forclosing my mouth at the right moment. I was about to give it away. And now,Blackton, I've got to confide in you. But before I do that I want your wordthat you will repeat nothing of what I say to another person--even yourwife."
Blackton nodded.
"Go on," he said. "I've suspected a thing or two, Aldous. I'll give you myword. Go on."
As briefly as possible, and without going deeply into detail, Aldous toldof Quade and his plot to secure possession of Joanne.
"And this is his work," he finished. "I've told you this, Paul, so that youwon't worry about Peggy. You can see from to-night's events that they werenot after her, but wanted Joanne. Joanne must not learn the truth. And yourwife must not know. I am going to settle with Quade. Just how and where andwhen I'm going to settle with him I don't care to say now. But he's goingto answer to me. And he's going to answer soon."
Blackton whistled softly.
"A boy brought the note," he said. "He stood in the dark when he handed itto me. And I didn't recognize any one of the three men who jumped out onus. I didn't have much of a chance to fight, but if there's any one on theface of the earth who has got it over Peggy when it comes to screaming, I'dlike to know her name! Joanne didn't have time to make a sound. But theydidn't touch Peggy until she began screaming, and then one of the men beganchoking her. They had about laid me out with a club, so I was helpless.Good God----"
He shuddered.
"They were river men," said MacDonald. "Probably some of Tomman's scow-men.They were making for the river."
A few minutes later, when Aldous was saying good-night to MacDonald, theold hunter said again, in a whisper:
"Now what do 'ee think, Johnny?"
"That you're right, Mac," replied Aldous in a low voice. "There is nolonger a choice. Joanne must go with us. You will come early?"
"At dawn, Johnny."
He returned to the bungalow with Blackton, and until midnight the lightsthere burned brightly while the two men answered a thousand questions aboutthe night's adventure, and Aldous told of his and Joanne's plans for thehoneymoon trip into the North that was to begin the next day.
It was half-past twelve when be locked the door of his and sat down tothink.