Part 27 (1/2)

”I don't know. He did not seem very clear about it.”

”Just the same,” Tom observed, sinking his paddle again in the water, ”there may be trouble in the air.”

”Trouble on the river, I guess you mean,” giggled Helen.

But she giggled because she was excited and nervous. She was quite as alarmed as Tom was over the possibility that Chess and Ruth had got into some difficulty on the King of the Pipes' island.

CHAPTER XXIII

TROUBLE ENOUGH

Returning to Ruth Fielding in the cavern: Although her heart beat rapidly and she really was fearful, she showed little perturbation in her countenance and manner after she had talked with Charley Pond, if that was the real name of the King of the Pipes.

Just how mentally disturbed the old man was it was difficult for the girl to judge. But she feared that he had, after all his claims, absolutely no influence with the Chinamen.

She believed that the leader of the Orientals was the heavy-set Chinaman who had struck Chessleigh Copley down with the club. The others--some smoking the little bra.s.s pipes, and others not smoking--were probably men who were endeavoring to get into the States without the knowledge of the emigration authorities. Indeed, they were already in New York. This island was south of the American line. But from the Kingdom of Pipes to any city where the Chinamen would be safe from apprehension was a pretty big jump.

As for the opium--the smoke of which Ruth smelled now for the first time--she had no idea how that commodity might be handled or disposed of.

She knew that it was valuable, even when imported for medicinal purposes.

There was a heavy tariff on it, as well as restrictions upon the trading in it.

If those boxes--each as heavy as a man could lift and which she and Chess had seen brought ash.o.r.e on this island--contained opium, there might be many thousand of dollars' worth of the drug, in its paste form, here now.

Perhaps it was hidden somewhere in this cave.

Ruth had seated herself upon the end of one of the low tables. She knew that all the furniture in the cavern, including the rugs, must be of Chinese manufacture. There could be no doubt that the place was fitted up for the convenience of the Orientals.

She looked about, trying to penetrate the obscurity of the place. Were there pa.s.sages besides the one by which she and Chess had been dragged in? Were there other apartments in the cavern, shut off by some of the hanging rugs which she saw?

Her princ.i.p.al thought, however, was of the possibility of escape. And she wished heartily that she and Copley could get out of the cave before the arrival of the ”others” of whom the King of the Pipes had spoken. Whoever they might be--or whether Horatio Bilby was one of them--Ruth did not want to meet the smugglers and Chinese runners.

She feared very much for her safety, and for that of her companion. The law-breakers would know immediately that their safety was threatened.

They must know that if they allowed Ruth and Chess to depart from the cave, their presence here and what they were doing would be reported to the police. And men like Bilby, who would stoop to anything for money, were not likely to give over such a profitable business as the smuggling of opium without a fight.

Just how much did Bilby and his companions care for the law? It was a question that created no little anxiety in Ruth's mind. And she wondered, too, what Chess thought about it.

The young fellow lay upon the floor of the cavern, silent and immovable.

She was quite sure, by the exceedingly knowing wink that he had given her, that he was neither panic-stricken nor seriously hurt. He was merely waiting to see what would turn up.

And what would happen when the new chance did turn up? Already Chess was in opposition to at least seven Chinamen, if he attempted anything. And if those the old man had spoken of, likewise appeared, what could Copley do against such numbers?

There was nothing Ruth, herself, could do. She sat quietly on the end of the low table and looked sadly about the dimly lighted place. This was certainly a situation from which her usually ingenious mind could invent no means of escape.

Suddenly the old man who called himself the monarch of this island came from the corner where he had been standing, watching Ruth, and made his way swiftly to the entrance to the cave. The big Chinaman got up and looked at him. The King of the Pipes waved his hand and pointed through the pa.s.sage.

It seemed to be sufficiently clear--that gesture--for the Chinaman began to gabble to his friends. They scrambled to their feet--all but two who had fallen into a sluggish state after their indulgence in the use of the drug. They looked toward the cavern entrance. The King of the Pipes disappeared through the pa.s.sage.