CHAPTER VIII
THE RESCUE
Needless to say, it was some time after he was roughly thrown into thebottom of the motor boat before Jack came to his senses. Thechloroform had taken effect quickly, and the soaked handkerchief hadnot remained very long over his mouth and nostrils, or Jack might haveended his career then and there. As it was, however, the rush of thecool night air as the swift motor boat sped along the quiet waters ofthe lake did a good deal to revive him, and it was, comparativelyspeaking, only a short time before he realized where he was--or,rather, realized that he had been snatched from his blanket, and wasbeing carried off somewhere, probably by those who had anything butgood-will toward him.
His first impulse was to cry out, but he checked himself, for herealized that his best chance just then was to feign an ignorance ofhis surroundings that would throw his abductors off their guard. If hemade them think that he was still senseless, he might find some way ofescape opening before him, and he might, too, overhear something thathe could turn to his own advantage.
It was pitch dark in the bottom of the boat, and his eyes, moreover,were aching. His whole head throbbed as he came out of the effects ofthe deadly drug that had been used to make him helpless, and he decidedthat the first thing he should do was to give nature and the healingair a chance to restore him to his senses and some semblance of abetter physical condition. He was in no state now to do anything tohelp himself, and he had no idea of whether or not any of his comradeshad taken the alarm when he was carried off. He was senseless when themen who had caught him were making their escape, and he had no way oftelling what had happened.
He guessed, even before he saw the evil face of the man who sat up inthe bow, stripped now of his black mask, and gloating over his success,that it was one of the trapped and disappointed train wreckers who nowhad him in his power, and he shivered a little at the thought of whathis fate might be. A man who had planned such a fiendish crime was notlikely to be anything but brutal in his treatment of one of those whohad helped to foil him, and Jack understood that perfectly well. If hehad needed anything more to make him realize his position it wassupplied in a moment.
"I wonder if that young whelp's shammin', or if we really knocked himout with the dope?" asked the man who had worn the mask.
And, by way of finding out, he lurched back, and kicked Jack brutallyin the ribs. Jack expected the blow, and managed to relax so that nobones were broken by the kick, though he was sore for hours. Moreoverhe fortified himself so that, although the pain of the kick was farfrom trifling, he did not cry out.
Satisfied, the man made his way to the bow.
"Dead to the world!" he said. "That's all right! We'll get himthrough the lock. That's better. I don't want to knock him on thehead and throw him overboard here--his body would turn up too soon.Once we're through the lock we can get down the river all right, andthey'll never know what happened to him. I hope Dick don't make anymistake about meeting us with the big boat. This is a tidy littlecraft, but she's not meant for deep water sailing."
"How about the others?" asked the man at the wheel, in a nervous, timidtone that made Jack grin. Only one of his captors was formidable,anyhow, and that was something to be thankful for.
"I don't care about the others," replied the other, with a vile oath."They'll have to save themselves. And they'll be in jail for the nextten years, sure. More fools they for gettin' caught! An' it was onlykids as did them up. If they'd taken my advice, it wouldn't never havehappened."
"You oughtn't to have stopped for this kid. It was too risky."
"Risk? My eye! Ain't everythin' we do risky? An' it's the onlychance the others have got, anyhow. He's the biggest witness againstthem. He saw their mugs--no one else did. They'll have troublegetting off, anyhow, even if he ain't there. But he'd finish them,sure. An' he cost me twenty thousand dollars with his infernal buttin'in, too. I ain't overlookin' a chance to get hunk with him, the littlerip!"
He was almost shouting in his rage.
"Easy there!" said the timid one, in a low tone. "We're getting nearthe lock. Look out, or you'll have everyone on to us."
"Right, oh! I'll shut up. Time enough to attend to him later, anyhow."
The boat slowed down, now, and Jack guessed that they were near thelock that formed the outlet of the lake into the river that ran throughthe city, the same river on which he had his exciting experience withthe river pirates. Late as it was, the lock was quickly opened at theinsistent, shrill call of the power boat's whistle, and in a moment itwas in the narrow channel that led from river to lake.
It was Jack's chance. Here, where the banks were close on either side,if he could slip overboard, there was a chance to swim to the safety ofthe shore. He was still weak and dizzy from the effects of the drug,but he had an idea that if he could get into the water it wouldcomplete the work of reviving him, and he determined to make theeffort. Both of the men who made up the crew of the little craft werebusy as they passed through the lock, and, thinking him unconscious,they paid no attention to him.
Silently he slipped to the side. And, a second later, he droppedoverboard. Silent as he was, he made a splash as he struck the water,and, at the sudden curse from the robber in front, and his quick leaparound, Jack determined on the boldest and the riskiest move he couldhave made. But it was also the safest. Instead of striking out atonce for the shore, he slipped around behind the motor boat, and clungto the stern as it swept along, clear of the propeller, but hidden bythe shadow from the overhanging stern.
At the same moment there was a sudden outburst of shouts from theshore, and where all had been silence and darkness lights sprang outand the forms of excited, running men and boys appeared.
The headlight of an automobile was suddenly thrown on the scene, andJack, guessing who was there, called out that he was safe and in thewater.
"Swim ashore, Jack," shouted Dick Crawford's welcome voice, and amoment later, all fear of his captors gone now, Jack was helped up thesteep bank.
"We got them in a trap," cried Dick Crawford. "I figured they'd haveto come this way. They can't turn around, and the gate of the lock isclosed against them at the river end. They're bottled in here, andthey can't escape, no matter which way they turn."
In the power boat the big man who had carried Jack off was standing upnow, cursing volubly, and trying to see what lay ahead of him. But itdid not take him long to see and realize that all hope of escape inthat direction was cut off. The boat had come to a full stop, and helooked about him in desperation, his mask on his face again. He held arevolver in his hand, but, for some reason, he did not fire.
"Careful, fellows!" cried Dick Crawford. "He's got a gun there, andyou can't tell how soon he'll begin shooting."
"Not very soon, Dick," said Jack Danby, with a laugh. "He left his gunwithin reach of me, thinking I was still senseless, and I took all thecartridges out. There was a box half full of cartridges and I droppedthat overboard, too, so I guess his teeth are drawn unless one of themhas another gun."
"Good work, Jack! He'd find it hard to hit any of us, but it's good tothink he can't even try, anyhow. You surely had your nerve with you tothink of that."
"I had to, Dick. I was going to make a break for it here in the lock,anyhow, and I didn't want him to be able to take a shot at me frombehind while I was trying to climb up to the shore. It would have beentoo easy for him to hit me, and from the way he talked there's nothinghe'd like better than to use me as a target."
Suddenly the roar of the boat's engine broke put again.
"What's he trying to do now?" shouted Dick, racing for the opening ofthe lock.
The gate that barred the boat was in place. But suddenly Dickunderstood. The desperado in the launch intended to be true to hisnature. He saw just one chance of escape in a thousand, and he meantto take it, perilous as it was.
Straight for the gate he drove the boat. The man at the wheel wascrying out in piteous fear and th
e burly ruffian stepped back from thebow, crushed his friend to the deck of the boat with a brutal blow, andtook the wheel himself.
"They'll both be killed," cried Dick. "He can't mean to drive againstthe gate."
But that was just what was in the desperate robber's mind. He saw andweighed the chances that were against him, but he was ready to risklife itself for liberty, and, in that desperate moment even Dick andJack, debased as they knew the man to be, could not but admire hisdaredevil courage.
At top speed the launch crushed into the barrier. There was a terrificcrash, and those, including Durland, who stood on the gate, leaped backprecipitately.
For an instant the timbers shivered. Then, with a crash, they gaveway, and the launch hurled through and dropped to the surface of theriver. There, for a moment, it spun around. But the boat was wellbuilt. It stood the shock, and the next second, swaying from side toside, it was dashing away, past the possibility of pursuit. Jack wassaved, but the villain had escaped--for the time at least.