CHAPTER VII.
A HARD STARTER.
Hunting four thieves as shrewd as were Jurgens, Whistler, Bangs, andthe young fellow who had helped them, looked like a tremendous orderto Motor Matt. And recovering the diamonds made the prospect seem evenmore discouraging.
Matt, however, was on his mettle. He had given his promise, perhapsrashly, to Townsend, and Townsend, as well as every one else, knew thatMotor Matt's word was as good as his bond.
_He had promised to recover the diamonds!_
Townsend's mention of the Obeah woman had had not a little to do withthe promise.
The woman's name was Yamousa, and she lived in a hut near a bayou ofthe same name. Matt knew the place well, for he and his chums hadstopped there, a few days before, had been of some service to Yamousa,and had been repaid by her in a way that had caused, and was stillcausing, them any amount of wonder.
The voodoo priestess apparently possessed powers of divination thatwere inexplicable. Her arts may have been wholly trickery, but, if so,a wonderful chain of coincidences had lent a cast of truth to her magic.
Matt had no belief in the supernatural, and his common sense wasconstantly struggling against the results of Yamousa's occult powers,as he and his friends had witnessed them. As a last resort, it might bepossible to consult Yamousa with some show of success in this matter ofthe stolen gems.
This, at least, was what Matt had in mind when he left Townsend. Theauthorities, knowing the ins and outs of the Crescent City so well,could do infinitely more in the town than could Matt and his friends.
Without loss of time, Matt returned to the small hotel near StuyvesantDock, where he, Dick, and Carl had taken up their quarters. Dick andCarl were in their room, dressed and waiting to hear what Matt had tosay.
Quickly as he could, the young motorist set forth the amazing events ofthe night. The sailor and the Dutch boy were greatly wrought up.
"Carl and I are loaded to the marks with all the blame," scowled Dick.
"Ve made some popples," wailed Carl, "und dey vas vat dit der pitzness."
"What's the use of doubles, anyhow?" went on Dick.
"Vyefer do two people look so mooch alike in dis vorlt?" added Carl. "Ivonder oof I haf a touple? Oof I haf, he must be a bicture, aber I hopehe don'd shove indo anyt'ing vat habbens mit me."
"You boys made only a natural mistake," said Matt. "That leveepoliceman was fooled, Cassidy was deceived, and so was Townsend. Howcan you blame yourselves when every one else took this double of minejust as you did?"
"You've got a way, mate," observed Dick gratefully, "of tackingabout and trimming your sails to any breeze that blows in order tomake things easier for your friends; but Carl and I know that we'reresponsible for the whole blessed business."
"Well, if you're bound to have it so, let it go at that. I've promisedTownsend to hunt the thieves until I recover the diamonds. That meansthe work of our lives, for it's a promise I intend to live up to."
"Py shinks," cried Carl, "you can gount on me to do all vat I can tohelup."
"Aye, old ship," said Dick, "and me. Just show us where to begin andwe'll tear into the work like a couple of navvies. It's the best we cando to square ourselves."
"Led us dry und be as jeerful as ve can," suggested Carl. "Dot isspedder dan to be gloomed oop so mooch, hey?"
"You've raised the point that bothers me, Dick," said Matt, "and thatis, where to begin. The police are already at work in New Orleans,but I haven't any idea that they'll be successful. We're dealing withclever men, and mustn't forget that for a minute. Ever since thediamonds were found, Jurgens and Whistler seem to have been watchingTownsend. They had a spy across the street keeping an eye on the housewhere he is lying ill."
"Townsend missed it by not having that outfit jugged when he was able.If every man jack of them had been sent to the brig, we wouldn't be upagainst this proposition now."
"No use crying over spilt milk," returned Matt. "Townsend realizes thathe failed to do what he should have done, and it's that that worrieshim now. We'll take things as we find them and forge ahead. There'sone point we can look up, although it isn't very promising."
"Name it, mate."
"My double was taken from the levee in a carriage. It may have been oneof Jurgens' gang who helped him out of his trouble."
"The fellow didn't look like any of the gang."
"There may be some new members we don't know anything about. If we canfind the man who drove the carriage, we could discover where he tookthat young fellow."
"What good would that do? Jurgens and his outfit wouldn't come back tothat place. I'll lay a sov the lot of them tripped anchor and bore awaythe minute the stones came into their hands."
"That's my idea, Dick. I told you the clue wasn't very promising, butit appears to be the only one we have. Townsend, however, suggestedsomething which had also occurred to me."
"Vat it iss?" queried Carl. "I don'd vas mooch oof a handt to dig oopclues, aber I bed you I can tell a goot clue ven I come face to facemit it. Shpeak it oudt, Matt."
"Why not bear away in the air ship to Bayou Yamousa?"
Carl began to shiver.
"Nod dere! Ach, py shinks, don'd have somet'ing to do mit dot oltshpook laty again."
Carl's superstitious fears did not weigh very heavily with Matt andDick. The latter slapped his hands.
"First chop!" he cried. "It's the last shot in the locker, and whoknows but that it may be just the thing for us to do? I'm for beginningthe trip to Bayou Yamousa now. It's a still night, mates, and we couldget the _Hawk_ off the dock without any trouble. She's ripe and readyfor the flight of her life!"
"It's a still night, that's true, Dick," answered Matt, "but you forgetthat we have got to have daylight for finding the bayou. We can'tlocate it in the dark."
"But we're losing time," grumbled Dick, "and we haven't any to throw atthe birds."
"The more haste, the less speed," counseled Matt. "Better to go slowand be sure of what we're doing, Dick, than to run wild and get tangledup in our bearings. We'd probably lose more time in the end if we didthat."
"But Jurgens and his gang are getting farther and farther away all thetime."
"They'll go into hiding somewhere, if I'm any prophet, until the affairblows over a little. If Yamousa can tell us where they are----"
"Don'd try dot," put in Carl earnestly. "She vill vork a hogus-pogusund meppy ged all oof us indo drouple."
"We're going to pay Yamousa a visit, Carl," said Matt firmly. "There'snothing else we can do. The police will be able to handle this end ofthe work much better than we could. Go to bed, both of you. I'm goingover to police headquarters and tell the chief about the carriage thattook the man and the young fellow away from the levee. As soon as I dothat, I'll come back and pull covers myself. In the morning we'll havebreakfast, and then we'll make a start for the bayou."
As usual, Matt's ideas prevailed. Dick and Carl went to bed, Matt had atalk with the city authorities and gave as much further information ashe thought would help them, and then returned to the hotel and turnedin.
By seven in the morning they were up and eating their breakfast.Breakfast over, Matt sent Carl to the post office for any mail thatmight be there--he was constantly receiving letters from various partsof the country relative to the _Hawk_--and he and Dick started forStuyvesant Dock to make ready for the flight south and east.
On the way to the dock, Matt bought a morning paper. There was a briefand garbled account of the robbery, but it had little interest for theboys, although they had bought the paper in order to see what it had tosay about the diamonds.
But there was a paragraph of overwhelming interest to the lads tuckedaway in one corner of the first page. Matt's eye caught the paragraphcasually, then he gasped and his consternation grew, as he read:
"NOTED VOODOO WOMAN DEAD.
"From Chef Menteur, in the Parish of Orleans, comes news of the death of a famous character in those parts known as Yamousa, priestess of the voodoo
s. Years ago she lived in New Orleans, numbering her followers by hundreds, but was driven away by the police and found refuge on Bayou Yamousa. Those with any faith in the black arts credited the aged negress with being an adept in her particular line, but others with more common sense and less superstition considered her a grafter of remarkable ability. Her death, it is supposed, was the result of natural causes."
Here was a blow, and no mistake. Matt, greatly dejected, read theparagraph to Dick.
"Keelhaul me!" exclaimed Dick. "We're up in the air now for fair. Yourluck seems to have taken a turn for the worse, Matt. What are we goingto do? The last prop has been knocked out from under us."
The boys reached the dock and seated themselves moodily on a cottonbale not far from the _Hawk_.
Matt had not the remotest idea what they were to do. Yamousa had beentheir last hope, and a strange fatality had suddenly snatched it awayfrom them.
"The outlook is getting more and more dubious," said Matt. "Yamousamight not have been able to help us, but there was a chance that shecould. Now the chance, slim enough at best, is gone. It's a luckything, though, that I bought the paper and found that notice. If Ihadn't, we might have been wasting time, off in the southeast. If----"
"Ledders! ledders. Dree oof dem!"
Carl, at that moment, came ambling across the dock, dodging the boxesand bales and hurrying toward Matt and Dick. As he approached he heldup the three letters he had secured at the post office.
They were all for Motor Matt, two of them having been forwarded fromAtlantic City. One was from an amusement manager in Chicago, offeringa fancy figure to the boys to take the _Hawk_ to the great lakes forexhibition purposes; another was from an enthusiastic member of theA?ro Club of America asking the boys their price for the air ship; butthe third letter--that was the one that caused them to sit up and takenotice. It ran as follows:
"From what I've heard of you, you're a one-two-seven boy and all to the good. How'd you like to get your lunch hooks on that bag of sparks? You can pull it off, if you get busy, and the undersigned will help. All you need is nerve and ginger. I can furnish my share. You've got an air ship. Well, hit the clouds and fly to me. I'll put you wise. Meet me at Bayou Yamousa, wherever that is, and come in a hurry. I'm going there now and I've got the start of you by some hours. This is a hot starter, and no 'con.'
"A DUB WHO OUGHT TO HAVE KNOWN BETTER."