The on the March Part 10 (1/2)
”What's the game, Jeff?” asked the man Larry, in milder tones. ”We'll do as you say, all right, all right, but can't you tell a guy what's doin'?”
”I don't know myself, boys, and that's a fact,” said Jeff, seemingly mollified by this submission to his orders. ”But the boss wants them two gals--and what he wants he gits, sooner or later.”
”Guess he does!” laughed Tim. ”You said something that time, Jeff!”
”There's money in it, I know that,” Jeff went on. ”Big money--though I'm blowed if I see where! But we'll get our share if we do our part.”
”I can use any that comes my way, all right,” said Larry, with a smothered laugh. ”Always broke--that's what I am!”
”How about the morning, Jeff?” asked Tim. ”We can't stay here when it gets to be light. They'd spot us in a minute.”
”Won't be any need then, Tim. We can keep an eye on them from the yacht. And the boss is apt to turn up here himself most any time.”
”Why not pull it off to-night, Jeff?” asked Larry. ”It's a good chance, I'd say.”
”Ain't got my orders yet, Larry. As soon as the boss turns up there'll be plenty doing. Keep an eye out for a red light from the deck. That'll be a sign to watch out for anything that comes along. We may show it--we may not. But if we do, be lively.”
”All right,” growled Tim. ”But let's quit this nursemaid job as soon as we can, Jeff. We're good pals of yours--and this ain't no game for a grown man, you know that.”
”'Twon't be so bad,” said Jeff, comfortingly. ”Nights ain't so long--and you can take turns sleeping. It's all right as long as one of you stays awake.”
”So long, Jeff,” said both the men who were to stay behind, then, in unison.
”Good-night,” answered Jeff. ”I'll have a boat at the point for you at daylight. Good luck!”
And he went off, quietly, walking easily, so that the noise of his footsteps would not reach those on the beach below.
From the beach the voices of the girls rose faintly. Words could not be distinguished, but Bessie and Dolly could both guess that their prolonged absence must be beginning to give Miss Eleanor and the others some uneasiness.
They were trapped, however, although they were in no real danger. The men who had been left on guard were between them and the path; they could not possibly pa.s.s them without arousing them, and they did not care to take the chance of making a wild dash for freedom unless it became absolutely necessary.
Bessie weighed the chances. It seemed likely to her that she and Dolly, taking the two men by surprise, could slip by them and reach the beach safely. But if they did that, the men would know that their plans were known, and that their talk had been overheard, and that would be to throw away half of the advantage they had gained. It would be better a thousand times, Bessie felt, to wait, and take the faint chance that both men might go to sleep together, and so give them the chance to escape unseen.
For some minutes the silence was unbroken save for the faint murmur of the voices from the beach. Then Larry spoke to his companion.
”Say, Tim, don't think much of this game, do you?” he said.
”Sure don't!” grunted Tim. ”Just like Jeff, though. Takes the easy lay himself and don't care what he puts up to us.”
”Got any money?”
”About five dollars. Why? Want to borrow it? Just as soon you had it as me! Can't spend it here, anyhow.”
”No. Wouldn't do me any good. Got lots of my own out on the yacht.”
”Wish there was a place near here where I could get a drink. Seems like I was choking to death.”
”Lots of water right by you,” said Larry, with a hoa.r.s.e laugh. ”Help yourself--it's free!”
”Water--pah!” snorted Tim. ”That's not what I want, and you know it, Larry.”
”Say, come to think of it, there's an elegant little roadhouse a ways back in the country here, Tim. About half an hour there and back, I judge.”
Tim grunted uneasily.
”Think it's safe?” he queried. ”If Jeff got on to us----”
”Shucks! What could he do? We ain't his hired hands.”
”The boss, though--suppose Jeff told him?”
”He wouldn't, and how's he goin' to find out, anyhow? Nothin's goin' to happen to-night, you can bet on that. Come on, be a sport, Tim! We've got as much on Jeff as he's got on us, if it comes down to that, ain't we?”
”I dunno. I'm kind of leery, when he told us to stick, Larry.”
”I thought you had more nerve, Tim. Didn't ever think you'd stand for no game like this. But, if you're afraid--”
”Come on!” said Tim, angrily. ”I'll show you if I'm afraid! I guess it's safe enough.”
”That's more like my old pal Tim. I knew you had nerve enough. Let's be movin'. The sooner we go, the sooner we'll be back. And we'll show who's afraid--eh, old sport?”
”That's the stuff, Larry! Guess there ain't no one big enough to tell us what to do.”
And, with linked arms, they moved off. Bessie and Dolly, hardly able to believe in the good luck that left the way to the beach clear, held their breath for a moment. Then Bessie, seeing that Dolly was about to rise, whispered to her.
”Not yet, Dolly,” she said, tensely. ”Wait till we're sure they can't see us. No use taking chances now.”
”All right, Bessie, but what luck! I was afraid we'd have to stay here until daylight, and I was wondering what Miss Eleanor and the girls would think!”
”So was I. I'm afraid they're worried about us already. But it wasn't our fault, and it really is a good thing we heard them, isn't it? The 'boss' they're talking about must be Mr. Holmes, don't you think!”
”I don't see who else it could possibly be. Come on, Bessie. I think it's time now, they're out of sight.”
Slowly and carefully, to take into account the off chance that Jeff, the other man, might have come back to see if his sentinels were faithful, they slipped across the path and made their way down. And at the bottom, as they reached the beach, Eleanor Mercer spied them, with a glad cry.
”Oh, whatever kept you so long?” she exclaimed. ”How glad I am to see you back safely! We couldn't imagine what on earth was keeping you.”
”You shouldn't have stayed so long,” said Margery Burton. ”We were just going to start out to look for you.”
”You wouldn't have had very far to go. We've been right at the top of the path for three-quarters of an hour,” said Dolly, excitedly.
”It wasn't our fault, really! We couldn't get here any sooner,” said Bessie. ”You see--”
And, quietly, being less excited and hysterical than Dolly, she explained what they had discovered, and the trap in which they had allowed themselves to be caught.
”We thought it was better to wait there than to let them know we had heard them,” she ended. ”You see, they think now that we haven't any suspicions at all, and that we'll be off our guard. Don't you suppose Mr. Holmes must be coming on board that yacht, Miss Eleanor?”