CHAPTER VII
THE HOUSE FORGOTTEN
The question pounded in his head more insistently than the pain he wassuffering. Did not this whole unlooked-for episode of Frost and Barkersmack too much of Dean Devlin's tactics? And could it not be possiblethat Devlin might change not only his name but his tactics also? Afterall, he concluded, it was but a step from Barker to Devlin and from theDelafield Reformatory to the Juvenile Court. The man Devlin thatCarlton Conne had told him about was certainly clever enough to keep astep ahead of the police every time.
Skippy felt more hopeless about it all as the minutes sped by. Herethey were going farther and farther away--heaven only knew where; and,though he was aware that due to the accident, Mr. Conne could not butthink him blameless, he felt that in a measure he had failed. He hadn'tany business, he told himself, to strike his head and fallunconscious--it was his job to _stay_ conscious!
A DINGY SQUARE ROOFED HOUSE LOOMED UP BEFORE THEM.]
The fact that Dorcas, a trusted and experienced detective, had alsobeen knocked senseless seemed not to lessen this feeling of guilt.Skippy was steeped in remorse because an unkind Fate had seen fit tohave Fallon carry him away from Dorcas' side, away from the influencethat was Mr. Conne's and which spelled safety to him.
And yet, at that moment, he was not afraid, notwithstanding the factthat he felt that Barker and Dean Devlin might be the same person. Hewas merely puzzled as to how he should get word to Mr. Conne if it wasgoing to be as Fallon said, that Barker would keep them under cover fora month.
He decided that he was feeling too sick to worry about it yet. Helonged only to get in a bed and sleep and let the morrow take care ofitself. And if Barker proved to be Devlin, he could only hope thatFortune would smile upon him and help him to succeed despite themischance that had cut him off from Mr. Conne's help and theInternational offices.
A long silence prevailed in the car. Shorty and Biff were sound asleepon each other's shoulders and emitting soft nasal sounds. Nickie Fallonwas hunched in his corner in a half doze and up in front Frost andBarker were deep in whispered conversation.
The road was rough but Frost handled the car expertly, driving it as ifhe knew the bad spots by experience. He had only his parking lights onnow and they were speeding along with surprisingly little sound fromthe engine.
After a time they entered a narrow, wooded lane and Frost seemed topick his way more carefully. Skippy was quick to note that the trees,in places, interlaced and during their entire journey through thatsection, one could stretch one's arms at either side and touch theoverhanging branches. For at least an hour, he guessed, they hadn'tpassed a house.
"We come up back roads, I betcha," Nickie Fallon whispered suddenly asif guessing his thoughts. "Looks like we're miles from nowhere. Thisguy Barker knows his hide-outs, hah?"
"Mm," said Skippy. "Gee, we wouldn't know howta get back home if wewanted to, huh?"
"Frost says we can't an' what's more we ain't to try, in case we getthinkin' we're smarter than him or Barker is. He says kids like us 'udrun right into the bulls an' that 'ud make it bad for them--see? Himan' Barker'd do a long stretch if we squealed that they helped uscrash. So Frost says they ain't takin' no chances on lettin' us thinkwe can get anywheres alone. They're gonna treat us swell s'long aswe're stickin' under cover till they help us go west. So we gotta getused to stayin' quiet a little while--see?"
"Yeah," Skippy answered, "I think so." He could feel Nickie Fallonlooking at him curiously. Suddenly he felt the boy move closer to him.
"Say, lissen, kid," he whispered, "d'you feel funny 'bout this Frostan' Baker?"
"Gee," said Skippy, not a little startled, "I--I dunno.... I--whaddayou mean, huh?"
Fallon's lips almost touched Skippy's ear. "Listen kid," he confided,"I ain't been doin' what I done, an' not learnin' that guys don't donothin' for love. How come, they been takin' all this trouble for somekids they ain't never laid eyes on 'fore today, hah?"
"Whadda you s'pose?" Skippy whispered timidly.
"We ain't tippin' off Shorty or Biff, but between you'n me, kid, Ithink these guys got some job for us what they can't dothemselves--see? A little job, mebbe."
"Yeah, an' if they have, it's all right, huh?" Skippy retorted making abrave effort to measure up as one of Nickie's kind.
"Sure, only if it's bigger'n we can do an' we get grabbed--we're outaluck. That'd mean double time. Aw, it ain't no use worryin'. If theylet us put the feed bag on regular an' give us bunks, it's worth doin''em a favor."
Skippy nodded but did not answer. He was too intent on watching thenumber of turns that Frost had made within the past few moments. Theyhad already made three off the wooded road and now with the fourth onethey were in a dense woods and proceeding very slowly along a roadlittle wider than a footpath. Then suddenly they rolled into a clearingand stopped. Frost chuckled and switched on his headlights.
A house, square-roofed and dingy, loomed up before them. Its shingleswere so devoid of paint that it was impossible to say what color theyhad originally been painted. Blistered and peeling from long years ofneglect and with its shutters closed like so many pairs of sleepingeyes the structure presented a picture of abject loneliness.
Unkempt grass and weeds grew up to the high stoop; there was no porch.Behind the house and a little to the left, Skippy glimpsed a barn thatwas also in disrepair. Notwithstanding this, he supposed that Barkerand Frost parked their car in it.
"No bulls'll turn you kids up here," Frost said, as if reading theirthoughts. He turned a leathern-looking face toward Skippy, smiling outof shrewd eyes. "This house usta be in the center of a village till afire burned the town out. Then the railroad decided to run twenty-fivemiles away so the folks left it flat. This bein' the only house leftthey let the woods grow up 'round it and now, after seventy-five years,nobody knew about it, 'cept an old nit-wit hermit that put me andBarker wise. Last year he died so there ain't nobody now'll bother youkids, much less the bulls."
Barker turned to them and in the half-light his long, grave face andstaring light eyes contrasted strangely with the dark wisps of hairthat straggled from under his hat and down on his forehead. But it waswhen he talked that Skippy was startled, for the man's voice was sosolemn and sonorous that it was eerie.
"Now boys," he was saying, "you see how safe you are here. Keep it inmind and don't get the idea that you can manage your own freedom betterthan I can. For one thing, it would get Frost and me into trouble ifyou were picked up and if you weren't, you'd get in trouble yourselves,because this place is almost all surrounded by swamps and you might notfind your way out. When I say the coast is clear to ship you west--allright. You'll come out of this house then, and not before!"
There was a warning note in his voice that sent a chill up and downSkippy's spine. He wished his Airedale, Mugs, had lived to be with himat a time like this. Shorty and Biff exchanged a few words in theirnative tongue and suddenly Nickie Fallon's hand stole over and comingin contact with Skippy's wrist, he grasped it tightly.