Part 46 (1/2)
”That ot to be off,” exclai over in that speed-boat of yours?”
Gregory nodded ”That's what I was figuring on,” he said ”I' to send a radio to all my boats within a thirty-mile radius of the island to reinforce the fleet and mix it with Mascola off the hell-Hole Isthmus on the north side While they're busy on that side, it will leave us a clear field on the other”
dickie's eyes opened wide at his words As they ether in the direction of the cannery, she cried: ”I don't understand at all
Aren't you going to help the boys out?”
Gregory shook his head and the grihtened about his mouth
”No,” he answered ”Not this ti to do But I' back of all this that we can only guess at now Diablo has a secret our fathers died to learn I' to find out what it is”
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE ISLAND'S PRISONER
Diablo was steeped in leauarded the shore were robed in saffron and checkered with black by the dark shadows of the towering peaks as they fell athwart the hillsides and ed the canyons
Froure of ahis ith great caution along a winding sheep-trail, he reached the summit of the hill and looked about The da hair and caused him to look in the direction of the fleecy white clouds which were creeping upward fro Then he could continue on his way to the brackish spring on the bluff-side overlooking the south shore From there it was only a stone's throw to the beach where theso thickly to the rocks
The thought of the raw shellfish sickened hi closer into the shadows of the sage and cactus, he waited for the fog Then he could go on on his nightly journey How many months had he been a prisoner on El Diablo? He had lost all track of time But what did it matter? Soon he would be dead
For warive hi-wind came cries and shouts fro at last But no, it was only the fisher themselves off the hell-Hole He had heard them o away as they had always done and leave hi of a motor launch directed his attention to the sea
In the palingthe rocks and ed with the shadows It was the same boat he had seen so often in the past Always it caht ht he had seen e cave which extended far into the cliff As he had huddled closer into the scant shadows of the rock-e, other men had come down the trail fro waters of a grass-grown pool to escape detection Mother of God, it had been a narrow escape
The fog thickened and he continued on his way to the spring Creeping noiselessly through the brush he reached the trail which led doard to the beach Then he stopped and listened The soft grating of a rass and draw back Silently he retraced his steps until he reached the cover of the heavier brush which fringed the hillside
The strange vessel was dropping anchor again in the little cove He dared not run the risk of going farther down the trail There were et theone and he could return by the spring
The fog settled close about hi body For a rass Then he crawled on
Planing high on the glistening waves, the _Richard_ sped onward across the moonlit sea in the direction of El Diablo At the wheel, Kenneth Gregory strove to concentrate his ht obtruded with ever recurring frequency Why had he per to accoer There was always danger at El Diablo Landing upon the island would be an added risk if Hawkins' suspicions had any grounds for fact The girl's threat that she would withdraw her support froo with the expedition, was only a bluff: Why had he not reirl's eyes which he could not withstand So in her voice which left him powerless to refuse as she had said:
”Our fathers were not afraid They died in one boat to learn Diablo's secret We've fought together froht have added: ”If they get you, they et me too”
But her eyes told hiirl was here and it was up to him to leave her in a place of safety if such could be found upon the island While Hawkins conferred with his two friends, Gregory laid his plans
He would leave dickie with the _Richard_ She had her automatic and a rifle They would lay in close to shore on the south shore, opposite the hell-Hole The island was narrowest there and it was generally in that vicinity that things had happened oftenest in the past That here the _Gray Ghost_ put in, the place too where his father and Bill Lang hadMascola's boats on the north side the opposite shore of the island hts turned again to the girl by his side The rock-shadowed coves would afford a fair anchorage for the _Richard_, even on such a night as this There dickie could see without being seen Should danger threaten while the landing party were ashore, she must put to sea He must make that perfectly clear to her at once
As he expected, he encountered stubborn resistance fro to be found out, she wanted to be there to see it