Part 2 (1/2)
”Now tie up these smart alecks.”
With a sneer the driver of the car pulled several lengths of heavy cord from his pocket. Robby bound the Hardys' wrists behind their backs, while Zeke began tying their ankles together.
As his henchmen finished, Hopkins snapped, ”I have to get downtown. Nick, go out and start the car.”
When the chauffeur left, Hopkins said to Zeke and Robby, ”Don't forget-I'll need one of you a little later.”
”How about me?” Robby asked hopefully.
”You'll do.” Hopkins glanced at his wrist.w.a.tch. ”There'll be a taxi here to pick you up at noontwenty-three minutes from now. Be ready.”
As Hopkins moved toward the door, Joe asked hotly, ”How long are you going to keep us here?”
”Until your father drops the case he's on.”
After a short interval there came the sound of a car driving away. Within seconds Zeke said to Robby, ”Let's go downstairs and eat some lunch.”
”And leave these boys?” Robby asked. ”Zeke, you're crazy. They might get loose.”
A crafty look came into Zeke's eyes as he gazed at a closet. It had an old-fas.h.i.+oned wooden latch.
”We'll lock 'em in there,” he said. ”If they try to bust out, we'll hear 'em and come runnin'.”
”Okay,” Robby agreed. ”And for safety we'll lock the hall door.”
Frank and Joe were dragged into the closet and the latch was secured. The men left the room. At once the Hardys began trying to free themselves. Frank managed to back close to his brother, and with his fingers, work at Joe's wrist bonds.
”We sure pulled a b.o.n.e.r,” Frank said grimly. ”Dad told us before he left that the gang he's after is widespread.”
”What puzzles me,” Joe replied, as he finally extricated his hands from the loosened ropes, and untied Frank's wrist cords, ”is how they knew we were heading for the West?”
Frank shrugged as he and Joe freed their ankles. ”We'll find out later. Right now we must escape.”
Joe was already feeling around the closet. On a hook hung a slender metal coat hanger. ”I'll try this,” he said. ”The door crack by the latch is pretty wide. Hurray! The hanger goes through!”
It was only a matter of moments before the wooden latch had been pushed upward, and the boys stepped out of the closet. They pocketed the tickets, money, and wallets, which were still on the table.
Joe whispered, ”The hall door won't be so easy.”
Frank had tiptoed to the one window in the room. He pushed aside the shade and looked down onto a shabby backyard adjoined by empty lots.
”Too far to drop down there,” he muttered. ”We'll just have to rush those men when they come back.”
The next instant came the sound of heavy footsteps pounding up the stairs. Joe stepped to one side of the door while Frank crouched in the center of the room.
The key turned in the lock and the door burst open. Frank charged forward, b.u.t.ting Zeke squarely in the stomach. The blow sent the man reeling across the hall against the hallway railing. Zeke toppled over it backward with a shriek of panic and would have plunged to the floor below had he not grabbed one of the rails.
Enraged, Zeke's partner seized Frank by the shoulder and swung him around for a punch. Joe rushed out through the doorway. His fist landed hard on the back of Robby's skull and the man collapsed in a heap.
”Come on! Let's go!” Frank exclaimed.
Zeke snarled and tried desperately to pull himself back up over the railing as the two boys dashed downstairs and out the front door. To their relief, they saw a taxi waiting at the curb, its motor idling.
”Boy! We timed things just right!” Joe exclaimed gleefully.
The driver, a thin-faced, hawk-nosed man, looked at the boys in surprise as they yanked open the car door and climbed in.
”O'Hare Airport,” Frank ordered. ”Fast as you can make it!”
The driver threw the car into gear and pulled away from the curb. Frank and Joe looked back at the house. As the taxi reached the corner and swung onto the avenue, the boys caught a glimpse of Robby rus.h.i.+ng from the house.
”I'll bet he's mad enough to chew nails!” Joe thought with a chuckle.
”I'd like to see Hopkins' face when Robby reports what happened,” Frank whispered.
”Can't you go any faster?” Joe asked the driver. ”We have to catch a plane.”
The taxi driver glanced at the Hardys in his rearview mirror. ”Sure. I'll take a shortcut.”
He turned right at the next corner. After threading his way through several narrow side streets, the driver came to another avenue. Here he swung right again.
The Hardys were puzzled. Although the side streets had slanted and twisted somewhat, it seemed as if they were now heading back in the same direction from which they had come! Joe was about to protest when Frank clutched his arm.
He pointed furtively to the taxi driver's identification card. The photograph on the card showed a chubby man with a small b.u.t.ton nose. He looked nothing like the hawk-featured driver.
Joe gulped as he realized that this driver was an impostor-most likely one of Hopkins' thugs! The boys had escaped from Zeke and Robby only to fall straight into the clutches of another member of the gang!
CHAPTER IV.
A Painted Warning THE Hardys looked at each other, speechless. No wonder the taxi driver had seemed surprised! He must have guessed they had escaped from Zeke and Robby. But he had not dared risk any strong-arm tactics in full view of the neighboring houses.
Probably, Frank thought, he had driven around to gain time while figuring out his next move. Maybe the driver, too, had glimpsed Robby and was circling back to the house for help.
Joe wondered, ”Could we tackle this hood without causing an accident? I'm afraid not.”
As if reading his brother's mind, Frank scribbled a note on his plane-ticket envelope: Hop out at first stoplight!
Joe nodded tensely. Two blocks later a traffic signal loomed. It was just changing to yellow. The driver tried to beat the light, but an oncoming car made a left turn, blocking his way, and he had to slam on the brakes. Frank nudged his brother toward the right-hand door and Joe jerked it open.
”Hey! What's the idea?” the driver snarled as the boys leaped out. ”Come back!”
Frank and Joe sprinted across the street. Reaching the curb, they glanced back. The driver was still snarling at them, but they could not hear what he was saying. Then the light changed and he was forced to move on in the surge of traffic.
”He may try a U-turn!” Frank said. ”Let's go!”
”Wait! Here comes another taxi!” Joe exclaimed. They flagged it down and jumped in. ”O'Hare Airport!