by Bess Moyer
CHAPTER VI
Trapped!
For a moment Terry withdrew her face from the opening, then like a flashshe had scrambled through the hole at the surface and was standing inplain view of the flyer. What's more, she was sobbing and shaking herfist toward Joe Arnold.
"It's _Skybird_! He's taking our plane!" she cried.
As if mocking her, _Skybird_ flipped its tail gracefully and zoomed intothe blue.
As Terry stepped on to the plateau, the women surrounded her, trying tohide her from the man watching them from above. Terry could not be surethat he had seen her, but Prim had no doubt in the matter.
"Now you've done it, Terry Mapes!" she cried. "Why don't you thinkbefore you do such a thing? You're apt to get these people into trouble!Joe said he'd clean them out!"
"Oh, I know, Prim. I'm sorry I did it, but just then I couldn't help it.I was crazy! I can't bear to have _Skybird_ used by a smuggler. I'llfeel as if my little plane were dirty after he's had his hands on her.Prim, what are we going to do?"
But Prim had no suggestions to offer. They were prisoners withoutquestion. How long they would have to remain here, she had no idea. Theyknew only too well what their father and mother were thinking. If Allanand Syd had escaped destruction in the storm, their report would leaveno doubt in Dick's mind, at least, that the girls had been lost in thehurricane. Terry knew that the suspense would mean torture for herparents. How thankful she was that Sally Wyn was with them to comfortthem and, with her cheerful ways, keep them hoping that all was well.
If Dick and Alice could only have seen them surrounded by a horde ofblacks, they would not have been any more hopeful of their final escape.
Joe Arnold had flown off into the blue with _Skybird_, and Terry's heartwas sore and bitter with anxiety and anger against her father's enemy.
If she could have known Joe's thoughts at that moment, she would haverealized that she was in grave danger. Joe Arnold had planned to searchfor the girls as soon as the important matter of the smuggled silk hadbeen attended to. He guessed that Terry was on her way to PeterLangley's mine to plead with him to renew the contract and extend theoption on the flying field. He had an idea that she was carrying somemoney.
Joe Arnold was not in a hurry. He had the girls safely on the island.They were his prisoners. He could take his time in getting the papersfrom them and not run any risk by rushing it. So when the captain of thetramp steamer decided not to leave the harbor that night, Joe and Budwere only too glad to go on board for a good meal, and it was well ontoward morning when they reached their huts and prepared to sleep.
In the morning when Joe Arnold went to find the girls, they haddisappeared. Pedro seemed truthful when he declared that his people knewnothing about them.
"If we see 'em, we catch 'em for you!" he said.
Pedro's savage grin assured Joe that he would be only too glad to do itand was eager to earn the reward which Joe offered to any of the tribewho would bring the girls to him.
But it did not take Joe long to suspect that the blacks were protectingthe girls. He threatened Pedro with destruction of his village, he sworethat no one would be left alive on the island, but the chief merelynodded and promised that he would find the girls and bring them to thecamp.
Joe knew that he did not dare to molest the blacks. He could rage andthreaten, but he dared not carry out his threats. Once angered, theywere ugly and he and Bud might be caught and tortured.
So Joe and Bud decided to wait their chance. Whenever the work at thebeach let up for a moment, Bud set out in search of Terry and Prim. Hewas anxious to curry favor with Joe by finding the girls himself andbringing them into camp.
So as soon as Joe Arnold flew off in _Skybird_ with a load of smuggledsilk to be turned into the much needed cash, Bud took this chance tolook about the island.
He left Pedro in charge at the beach and began wandering around thejungle, skirting the island. With the Big Chief out of the way hethought he could terrify the other members of the tribe and learn wherethe girls were hidden.
But Pedro had suspected his plan and, taking a short cut through thejungle, he hurried to the cave and talked to the girls.
"Let him come!" cried Terry. "I'm not afraid of Bud Hyslop. He's a bigbraggart, but it's all a bluff. He's just a coward!"
"I'd like to get Bud down in this cave and keep him here," said Primangrily. "I'd like to keep him here forever."
"I can't see how that would help any," answered Terry. "What we want todo is to get away from the island and down to Peru with this paper. Andwe'll not get away by making a prisoner of Bud. That won't help in theleast."
Pedro was shaking his head. He frowned and his face looked fierce andcruel. The girls felt shudders go through their bodies and realized thatthe tribe might be really savage if roused to anger.
Suddenly Pedro spoke, and in his halting, broken sentences he expressedhis ideas. Bud was on the way to the new village, and when he came, ifhe made trouble, it would be good to put him down in the cave. Besidesthey might make him talk so that they would know what Joe Arnold wasplanning to do.
"And where will _we_ stay?" asked Terry.
"My house!" replied the chief with a wave of his hand toward the hut."Pedro's house, your house!" And Rosa led the girls inside the hut.
Pedro covered the opening to the cave with straw mats and giving ordersfor his followers to guard the girls well, he left to go back to thebeach.
But Terry and Prim were far less comfortable here than they had been inthe cave. Here there was not a breath of wind, for Pedro's wife seatedherself in the opening and kept out what little air there was.
Finally Terry could stand it no longer. She jumped up and shoved Rosaaside. The big black woman laughed as she watched Terry and Prim moppingthe perspiration from their faces.
At that moment one of the half grown native girls ran with a cry of fearto Rosa. She pointed back toward the far side of the ridge, where a manwas scrambling up to the settlement.
There was no time to hide away. Terry and Prim stood face to face withBud Hyslop.
Bud laughed as he had seen Joe Arnold do, a sarcastic, triumphant laugh.He moved toward the girls aggressively, but Rosa was by their side andwas shoving them gently but firmly backward.
"You're to come with me, girls!" exclaimed Bud. "Hurry up and get going!I've got you now!"
Rosa pulled them back with a vigorous hand as Bud rushed at them. Buthis foot slipped, he stumbled and sprawled headlong for a second thenwent sliding down through the earth. For Rosa had cleverly moved aroundthe straw mats in a straight line from Bud, and when he charged at them,the force of his stride sent him slipping and sliding down the slipperywalls of the cave. He did not stop until he had bumped all the way downand splashed into the dark waters below.
"Help, help!" he cried. "You black rascals, get me out of here!"
A young native hauled him out to safety. Bud was half stunned and gladenough to stay in the cave for a little while until he could think whatto do. He finally called Terry, but the girl refused to go down into thecave to talk to him.
Hour after hour slipped by. Bud saw none of the brilliant colors of thecrystals. He was sore and disgusted, his plans had all gone wrong, andinstead of being praised by Joe, he would be despised and blamed andridiculed.
A strong guard was placed at the opening of the cave and Terry and Primcould enjoy the air. Muggy and oppressive though it was, it was betterthan the stifling closeness of the hut.
Rosa glowed with triumph, taking all the credit to herself for trappingBud, and for the rest of the day she was in high spirits, commanding theyoung blacks as if they were her slaves.
It seemed to Terry and Prim that these people were eating half theirtime. Huge amounts of fish and fruit were consumed. They started atsunrise and only ended at bedtime.
Terry and Prim slept that night in the chief's hut, with the faithfulRosa sleeping on a mat before the door. They rose at d
awn when theblacks began to stir.
It was still early in the morning when they heard the drone of a motorin the sky and hurried into the hut. For now the real trouble wasbeginning. Joe Arnold had returned. _Skybird_ soared, banked and circledabout the island. Joe headed her low over the plateau, so low thatTerry, peering through the matted vines, saw Joe's face distinctly. Hisgrin of triumph was always unpleasant, now it was threatening as well.
Terry's face went white with anger as she saw _Skybird_.
"How dare he use our little plane for his shady business! The crook!"she exclaimed.
If Terry and Prim could have heard the Big Chief when Joe Arnoldreturned to the beach, they would not have been so trusting. For Pedrotold Joe that his men had captured the girls and had them safely in thecave. Bud Hyslop was there now to guard them.
Joe nodded approvingly. Things seemed to be working out just as heplanned. His trip to the mainland had been successful and now he wasfree to fly to South America where he would attend to that little matterof taking up the option on the Dick Mapes Flying Field. But in themeantime he would search the girls and see if they were carrying themoney.
"Guess I'll go on up and take a look at them," said Joe carelessly. "Youmight fill up the plane with gasoline. I may need to go out on anothertrip soon."
As Joe followed the path through the jungle he thought to himself. "Youhave to handle these savages rough! If I hadn't threatened to kill themall, they'd have turned against me. Some day I'll have a big base hereand they'll all be working for me like slaves."
But Joe had come by the jungle path and the girls were fully warned ofhis approach. Rosa went to meet Joe Arnold with a broad grin on herface.
Terry's heart sank as she watched from the shelter of the hut. Shegripped Prim nervously. They clung together in terror. Why had they beenso easily fooled? There was Rosa telling Joe that she had the girlssafely trapped, waiting for him. The girls shrank back in the hut afraidto come out and face the man who had them in his power. With the wholetribe on Joe's side, there was little chance of escape. This was theend.
"I'd have sworn they were real friends," whispered Prim in a frightenedvoice. "It would be lots better to be on that island with wild beaststhan here with these treacherous savages."
But just then they heard Rosa directing Joe Arnold to the cave. With thefew words of English she knew she was telling him that the girls wereprisoners in the big cave. "You go down!" she said.
"Sure!" replied Joe with a broad smile. "I'll kill two birds with onestone. I've always wanted to see the inside of one of those big caves.And when I find those girls, I have a few things to say to them." Joeput his leg down the opening and felt for the rock. Then his other legfound a foothold. As his head disappeared. Bud's voice called to him.
"Watch out, Joe, they're tricky! The girls are not here!"
But it was too late. When Joe started to scramble out of the cave,shouting his threats, he was thrust back by a huge black, who held along knife in his hand. Down he tumbled, bruised and shaken.
At that moment Terry and Prim rushed out of the hut and saw Joedisappear. "Now is our chance to get away, Prim!" cried Terry. "Let'sget to the beach!" Terry grabbed up her flying coat and helmet.
"Hurry, hurry, Terry, he may get out!" cried Prim. Her face was whitewith the strain.
Terry was saying goodbye to Rosa and the other women of the village. Shewas trying to express her thanks. It seemed ungrateful to hurry awaywithout a farewell. But Rosa shook her head and shoved Terry ahead ofher toward the jungle path, calling back in a shrill voice to the women.
Suddenly Terry started and looked upward. "Listen Prim. It's a plane!"She had heard the distant hum of an airplane motor and was searching thesky anxiously. Then through the trees she saw the plane driving towardthem.
"Who is it, Terry?" asked Prim.
"I wish I knew. Maybe it is a friend of Joe Arnold's," replied Terry asshe gazed with dread toward the plane that was coming nearer and nearerto the island.
Now the plane was circling above them. The girls watched with anxiety asthe pilot put it into a long, fast dive toward the near-by clearing.
