CHAPTER XXVII
THE CHAUFFEUR OF THE TOURING CAR
"Let us run the biplane down the road a way and then into another fieldand down among the trees," suggested Tom. "No use of leaving it too nearhere--some of that gang might come and ruin it."
Tom's advice was considered good, and once more the three Rover boyshurried to the _Dartaway_. As there was still no wind, it was an easymatter to roll the machine along on its wheels. They found a field wherethe fence was down, and ran the biplane across this and in among sometrees and bushes.
"Are you going to take the lantern?" asked Sam. "It seems to me it won'tbe wise to let them see us, at first."
"I'll take it along unlit," answered his big brother. "It may come inhandy later."
"Let us get some clubs," suggested Tom. "They may come in handier thanthe pistols."
"Right you are!" cried Dick. "We don't want any shooting if it can beavoided."
"Evidently you think they are close at hand," remarked Sam, while theywere cutting stout sticks from among the brushwood.
"They can't have gone so very far, in that dense woods," answered Tom."Why, the auto couldn't get through."
At last the boys were ready to continue the search, and stick andlantern in hand, Dick led the way, with Tom and Sam close behind. Theyhad to bend close to the ground, to make sure that they were followingthe tracks of the touring car.
The trail led among the trees onto what was evidently a road used forhauling out timber. Following this for about a quarter of a mile, theyouths discovered a dark object, resting near what looked to be the endof the road.
"It's the auto!" whispered Dick.
"Anybody around?" questioned Tom, in an equally low voice.
"I don't know. Be careful and we'll see."
With extreme caution the boys walked closer to the touring car and thenall around it. Nobody was at hand, and not a sound broke the silence ofthe night.
"Deserted!" whispered Sam. "Where did they go to, I wonder?"
"Hush!" returned Dick. "They may be close enough to hear you."
With strained ears, the Rover boys listened for some sound that mightindicate the presence in that vicinity of those they were after. Butthey heard nothing but the call of a night bird and the far-off hoot ofan owl.
"They have gone on," said Dick, at last. "We'll have to find the trailand follow. Maybe I'll have to light the lantern."
"Say, let us fix the auto first--so they can't use it, if they comeback!" exclaimed Tom.
"A good idea, Tom," answered his big brother. And, as soon as Dick hadlighted the lantern, Tom and Sam set to work to render the touring carunusable for the time being by turning off the flow of gasoline from thetank and disconnecting the spark plugs.
"That will keep 'em guessing for a while, if they try to run it," wasSam's comment.
In the meantime Dick was examining the ground, and soon he found themark of many footprints in the moss and leaves. They led along awell-defined footpath running through the woods and up something of ahill.
"They went this way," he said. "The fact is, I don't see how they couldgo any other,--the brushwood is so thick."
"Maybe there's a house back there," suggested Tom.
"I shouldn't be surprised. That path must lead to somewhere."
The boys had just started to move along the footpath when from out ofthe darkness came an unexpected hail:
"Hello, there! Who are you?"
The call came from ahead, and at a turn of the trail the lads saw, bythe dim rays of the lantern, the form of a man, wearing a fur coat andan automobile cap.
"The driver of the car!" burst out Dick.
"I say, who are you?" called the man, coming to a halt. Evidently he wascoming back to take care of the automobile, or run it away.
"Hello, yourself!" answered Dick, boldly. "What are you doing here thistime of night?"
"Humph! Is that any of your business?" growled the man. He was evidentlya rough customer and not pleased at being thus surprised.
"I don't know; perhaps," answered Dick, drawing closer. "Don't let himget away," he whispered to his brothers.
The boys made a rush forward, raising their sticks as they did so, andbefore the man could think of retreating they had him surrounded.
"Say, look here, what does this mean?" demanded the fellow, trying toput on a bold front, although he was much disturbed.
"You'll find out what it means before we are done with you," cried Tom,hotly. "More than likely it means state's prison for you."
"State's prison!" The man shrank back. "Why--er--I haven't done anythingwrong."
"Oh, of course not!" returned Dick, sarcastically. "Abducting two youngladies isn't wrong I suppose!"
"I didn't abduct anybody," growled the man. "Somebody hired my car,that's all I know. Now the job is done, and I'm going about mybusiness."
"Not just yet," said Dick, quietly but firmly. "Tell me, what have theydone with the two young ladies?"
"That ain't my business," commenced the chauffeur, savagely. "You let mego, or I'll----Oh!"
He stopped short and let out a yell of pain and fright. He had tried topush Dick out of his path. The oldest Rover boy had dropped the lanternand struck out fairly and squarely with his fist, and the blow hadlanded on the man's jaw, nearly taking him from his feet.
"Now behave yourself and come along!" cried Dick, and caught the man bythe arm. "Don't let him escape!" he cried, to his brothers. "Use yoursticks, and your pistols, too, if it is necessary."
The boys closed in, and the sight of the sticks and the pistolsfrightened the chauffeur greatly. He saw that he was trapped, and thatresistance might put him in a worse hole.
"I didn't do it!" he whined, as the boys hurried him back towards theautomobile. "I was hired for a certain job, that's all. The men saidthey had a right to carry the young ladies off--that one of 'em was theold man's stepdaughter, and that both of 'em had run away from a girls'school and wouldn't learn their lessons."
"And you mean to tell me that you believe such stuff!" snorted Tom.
"Well, that's what they told me," answered the man doggedly. "They hiredthe car first without telling me what sort of a job it was. Then theytold me they wouldn't give me a cent if I didn't do what I was told todo. I'm a poor man, and----"
"You tell it well, but I don't believe a word of it," interrupted Dick."You have committed a serious crime, and the only way in which you canhelp yourself at all is by helping us."
"Will you let me go if I help you?" demanded the chauffeur, eagerly.
"We'll see about that later," answered Dick, briefly. "For the presentwe intend to keep you a prisoner."
"A prisoner! You haven't any right----"
"We'll take the right."
"That's the talk!" put in Tom.
By this time the party had reached the automobile. As Dick had surmised,several straps and ropes lay in the box under the back seat, and withthese they bound the man's hands behind him. Once he started to resist,but when Tom raised his shining pistol he wilted.
"Now you tell me where they took the young ladies," said Dick, after thefellow had been strapped fast to his own automobile.
"They took 'em up to the house."
"What house?"
"The old mansion back there on the hill."
"Who was in the crowd?"
"The old man and the old lady, and the two young ladies, and the threeyoung men, and the doctor."
"The old lady!" cried Dick. "Who was she? What was her name?"
"I think they called her Sobber, same as one of the young fellows. Theyhad her along to look after the girls."
"It must be the one from Boston!" cried Sam. "Tad's aunt, or whatevershe is."
"Where did they pick her up?" asked Dick.
"Down at Fremville. She was waiting with one of the young men, a chapthey called Koswell."
"Are they all up at that old mansion now?"
"I suppose so. They were there when I left."
"Who lives at the place?"
"I don't know,--I didn't see anybody."