CHAPTER XXIX
AT THE CRACK O' DAY
"Tony!"
There was no reply. Gus called again, more sharply, but still fearful ofbeing heard. Silence. There could be no delay in action. With his nervesstill a-tingle, the boy seized a stout bit of wood, evidently cut forthe fireplace, inserted it between the window bars, bore down and with alow squeak of protest the nails came out. Another pry, with the sill fora fulcrum, and there was a hole big enough for a body to get through.The bit of wood now acted as a step and in a moment Gus was inside thecabin.
At the extreme end, lying against the logs, lay a figure. Gus instantlystooped to shake it. Tony waked up with a cry of alarm.
"Don't, don't yell, Tony, it's Gus! Get up and come quick!"
Nothing more was required of Tony. He was instantly awake and in action.Not another word passed between the boys--but was that cry heard by thekidnapers?--the rescuer wondered--and with reason. They must be offinstantly.
To the window! As Tony drew near it, pulling Gus by the hand across thedark room, he paused. Outside there was the faint sound of a step. Tonyuttered a faint "sh," and grabbed Gus by the arm. It was the elderMalatesta.
"Ah! So? You make get-away. I fix that." The next instant the muzzle ofa rifle was poked through the broken place--poked well through, andpossibly this shrewd defier of law and order never made a greatermistake, which he recognized when he felt the muzzle seized and bentaside.
He pulled the trigger, but the bullet buried itself harmlessly in thewall of the cabin. Malatesta attempted to jerk the gun away, but Gus,fortified by the leverage against the sill and the window bars, held on,his own weapon crashing to the floor. How Tony managed to dive throughthat hole as he did, landing squarely on his enemy neither he nor Gusever could figure out, but when Gus found the weapon free in his hands,picked up his own gun and followed Tony he found the insensiblemiscreant, who had received a sufficient smash in the jaw from Tony'sheel.
"We must fly, my dear friend Gus," said Tony, "for now they willcome--those other two!"
"We will stay right here and give them a pleasant reception," said Gus."I will watch on the path, Tony. You take this gun. But first get arope, quick! Tie that chap's arms behind him and search him forautomatics, or anything."
It was but the work of a few minutes. Malatesta seemed to hesitate aboutcoming to his senses. This was a good thing for the success of thesubsequent capture; for the elder brother might have called out andwarned his two confederates.
Gus told Tony to guard the far side of the cabin and arranged thateither must come at the call of the other. They must shoot only whensure.
Back came the younger Malatesta, their better known enemy. From behind abush Gus poked his shotgun muzzle into the fellow's ribs, told him todrop his rifle and stick up his hands. As he did this, he uttered afrantic yell of warning. Then he, too, was seized and bound.
They waited long and eagerly for the American accomplice. Would he sneakthrough the woods and try to surprise them? To guard against this, Gusleft Tony with the two prisoners, thus reversing the conditions underwhich he had lately been held. There was no glee, no revengeful spiritshown by the fine-minded Italian youth, but a keen sense of satisfactionand determination glowed in his eyes.
Gus scoured the woods, hoping to find the accomplice, who would notrecognize him as an enemy. But the fellow was gone. It was an easy thingfor him to hide there--but not so easy to get away altogether, past thecordon of police now swarming over the peninsula. But he did get away,for he was never heard of again.
CHAPTER XXX
MORE MESSAGES
Oysterman Dan's little cottage became the scene of more than a reunionof old friends and of glad father and son. The news reporters also came,and, somewhat to his disgust, old Dan had to submit to his "pixturebein' took," along with the banker, Bill, Gus, Tony, and some of theinsistent police and detectives who are often too eager for notoriety.
The Malatesta brothers, too, were not forgotten. Before they were takenoff to a well deserved imprisonment, they were pictured and thusindelibly branded. Later they were returned to their native country.
All this business having been accomplished and Oysterman Dan rewardedutterly beyond his imagination, Mr. Sabaste took command with a lavishhand, and the return of the four principals, by yacht and motor car,became a gala affair. Bill and Gus refused beyond parley to accept thereward Mr. Sabaste had offered. What the boys had done was in friendshiponly. Expenses? The banker had the say as to that.
Tony, in spite of his long imprisonment, was speedily restored to hishappy, kindly state of mind. A long, roundabout trip took them all backto the Marshallton Tech where the late unfortunate could again outfithimself from an ample wardrobe, while Bill and Gus restored, with thejanitor's knowledge, the radio transmitting set and the portablereceiver. A new receiving set was to be completed soon and set up forOysterman Dan.
The Farrells were visited; Tony went to the room he had occupied, but hecould not remember a thing that had occurred there in connection withhis mysterious disappearance. The farmer's wife and daughter set themall down to a good, old-fashioned American dinner that the Sabasteslaughingly declared did not need spaghetti to make it perfect.
Then, at the school again, the banker requested the use once more of theradio transmitter. Bill sat, listening in. Gus and Tony stood in thedoorway, talking of school days.
"This is Angelo Sabaste speaking. I wish especially to convey a messageto my old friend Guglielmo Marconi, on his yacht, the _Elettra_."
Then followed many words in Italian, interspersed only here and therewith an American proper name.
At the end of the message there was the usual pause. The banker took upthe phones, Gus and Tony rushed to others. Presently they heard, inquiet, even tones, the hoped-for reply in English, as Mr. Sabaste hadrequested it should be:
"Senatore Marconi sends congratulations to Signor Sabaste that his sonis restored to him and that two criminals, though they are ourcountrymen, are to be sent from America, where too many such have comeand belittled the name of Italy. But men like Signor Sabaste will liftthat estimate.
"Senatore Marconi suggests, at your request, that the finest reward thatcould come to these young Americans who have shown such loyalty to yourson, with such ingenuity and mechanical ability, is that they beencouraged to complete their technical education and then, with yourson, to use their talents in a commercial way. Again congratulations foryour son and those young Americans and--the best of success!"
How Mr. Sabaste, eager to carry out this suggestion from the famousinventor of wireless communication, joined with the boys' old friend Mr.Hooper in the establishment of a company in mechanical and electricalengineering, under the name of The Loyalty Company, will be told in"Bill Brown, Radio Wizard."
THE END
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