Prisoners in Devil's Bog

  CHAPTER XIV

  TALK AMONG FRIENDS

  The day dragged by and though Timmy seemed to have recovered from theeffects of his spell, he moped around, melancholy and wrapped in hisown gloomy thoughts.

  "He's goin' nuts, that's what he is," Nickie whispered to Skippy afterthe evening meal was over.

  "That's why we ain't stayin' to get like him," Skippy whispered back.

  Nickie winked and nodded. He was beginning to see Skippy's point ofview more and more.

  They had cleared away the dishes and sat down to a game of cards atShorty's suggestion, which was received with enthusiasm, and even Timmyhad brightened and apparently put out of his mind the fears that had sounnerved him during the day.

  Just before dusk, Devlin and Frost went out and locked the back doorbehind them. The boys hurried to the two back windows and peered outthrough the chinks in the shutters to watch the men go to the barn andpresently back out in the queer looking car.

  "Wonder where they're goin'?" Skippy asked of no one in particular.

  "Oh, they'll be back," said Timmy grimly. "For _me_!" He lunged back tothe table and took up his hand of cards with grim determination.

  "Atta boy!" Skippy said. "Gee, Timmy, don't get down again, huh? Devlincan't _make_ you do nothin' you don't wanta. You'll soon find out whathe's gonna tell you to do. Beat it after that; soon's you get thechance."

  "Yeah, some chance it'll be takin', I bet!" Timmy exclaimed. "I got ahunch an' that's all there's to it. But I ain't lettin' myself go offthe handle no more--I wanta keep what nerve I got to tell Devlin wherehe's gettin' off if he springs any killin' jobs on _me_."

  "That goes double," Nickie said, suddenly very serious. "I don't likethe look in Devlin's eye, he looks crazy b'lieve _me_, an' Timmy'sright bout needin' all his nerve. He'll need it--we'll all need it whenthe time comes. An' lissen, guys, maybe we'll wanta know how we makeout afterwards, hah? What d'ye say we dope out where we'll writeletters to, hah?"

  Shorty laughed. "Eet is funny, Neeckie. You talk lak that when mebbe weall see each other again some place out west together, eh? Ees that notwhat you thought when we come here, yes?"

  "Yeah--I thought a lotta things when I come here," Nickie answered."That's why I come. But I ain't so sure about Devlin sendin' ussomewheres out west where we'll meet--see! He ain't said nothin', so Iguess it means we say so long when we blow here. Anyways, we land someplace; there ain't no sayin' there won't be somewheres we'll go, so Isay let's write an' tell each other how we shook Devlin or how wedidn't. Now I got a aunt where you guys can write me in New York. AfterI get fixed wherever I go, I'll tip her off an' she'll send me theletters."

  "I got a aunt in Glens Falls," Timmy said brightening.

  "I got a aunt in New York, too!" Skippy added. They all laughed at thecoincidence, but Shorty and Biff broke into the conversation eagerly.

  "I got Pop an' Mom in New York!" Shorty announced proudly.

  "Me, too!" said Biff. "We leeve next door Shorty an' I bet they allcrazy we don't show at Delafield."

  They fell to talking about their parents proudly. Nickie did somereminiscing about his aunt's kindly care of him and it seemed thatTimmy had somewhat the same story to tell. Skippy was listeningintently, but at the same time his mind was going back to the nightbefore when he had heard Devlin denouncing Frost for having brought thetwo Greeks along.

  "Say, fellers," he said suddenly. "Shorty an' Biff got parents, huh?You, Nickie, an' Timmy an' me--we ain't got none. I heard Devlin an'Frost talkin' last night--I couldn't sleep so I heard what they said.One thing I know was that Devlin was burnin' up, 'cause he asked Frostwhat was he gonna do bout Shorty and Biff 'cause they're Greek'n' hecouldn't pass 'em off for his sons. So Frost says he'll take 'emhimself--one he'll take to Pittsburgh an' the other to Maine. Anyway,Devlin was mad that they came 'cause he said he didn't expect 'em. Soyou know what I think, fellers?"

  "Spill it, kid," Nickie said.

  "That Devlin picks on orphans a-purpose!"

  "Say," Nickie said, admiringly, "that's brains, kid, an' I don't meanmaybe. That's callin' the turn. Holy Smoke, if that don't seem likewhat he's doin'--the orphan racket, hah?" Nickie said as if to himself."I wonder why, hah?"

  Skippy grinned. "I doped out a little about him--maybe I can dope outthe rest, huh?"

  "Here's hopin', kid," Timmy said smiling. "Anyways, even if you don't,maybe when I find what's what an' get shipped west--maybe I can tip offthe bulls so's you guys won't have no killin' jobs to do when Devlinputs the bee on you. It'd be better to go to Delafield an' get a coupleyears off on good behavior than be in the spot I'm in tonight."

  "Yeah," said Nickie thoughtfully, "that's callin' the shot, Timmy. Evenmy full stretch'd be better'n what I'd get for goin' along with Devlin.Anyways, it ain't no bad idea to tip off the dicks if you can."

  "You speak crazy!" Biff interrupted. "Timmy teep off, yes, but where hetell them deecks to find us, eh? Do we know where we are, eh?"

  The looks they exchanged were an admission of defeat. After all, didTimmy know where he had been this past month and a half--did any ofthem in that damp, shadowy room have the slightest idea where thelonely house was situated? New York State? New Jersey? Pennsylvania?They might have been in the vast, trackless wilderness of Africa, socleverly had Devlin concealed from them the location of that dismalhouse.

  Skippy was reminded then of the boy Tucker about whom Mr. Conne hadtold him. Tucker hadn't known either where the house was located inwhich Devlin had kept him imprisoned for a full month. There wassomething very painstaking in Devlin's methods. He either completelyconfused his reform school "proteges" by taking them to live in a houseand street which had its counterpart in hundreds of other houses andstreets or else he confounded them utterly by driving them deep intothis swampy wilderness under cover of night.

  What were they to do?

  An idea came to Skippy--why not write a letter and give it to Timmy tomail? In the next second, he was thankful that the impulse hadn'tflourished under cold reasoning for he suddenly realized that Devlinwould be just the man to anticipate that sort of thing and Timmy wouldbe relieved of any such messages immediately. Also, he was reminded ofCarlton Conne's warning: "Get in touch with no one, kid--tell no one_anything_ unless you're certain that it's one of my men ... it's theonly way that Dean Devlin can ever be caught ... and your job, kid, isto help me set the trap!"

  _His job--to help set the trap!_ What was he to do?

  He was still asking himself that when Frost came into the back yard inthe noisy, ancient car. Devlin had preceded him in the closed car andwas already locking it up in the barn.

  "Looks like they took the junk pile to get the big guy's closed car,hah?" Nickie said, not exactly at ease.

  Timmy was looking over his shoulder, watching through the shutters thebackyard scene under Devlin's powerful flashlight. "Looks like I'mgonna ride in the junk pile tonight," he said simply. "I wonder why,hey?"

  Skippy felt suddenly choked and unable to utter a sound and, judging bythe silence, the other boys were experiencing the same difficulty.