“It would be a dangerous operation, Ted,” Nelson objected. “So many things could go wrong.”
“But desperate men might be willing to take the risk. If Mr. Winslow allows them to operate, and it turns out to be a larger operation than he suspected, that doesn’t put him in a very sound legal position.”
“Ted, I think you’ve got something. And to think of all the pity I wasted on those poor miners last night. How much do you suppose they make?”
“A good deal more than they let us think. And it’s as Mr. Winslow says: forget all about safety and overhead. If they aren’t actually ‘borrowing’ his equipment, I’ll bet they’re at least using his tracks and supports and relying on his air conditioning and pumps. They’re probably overlooking a small detail called income tax. Save a little of your pity, though, Nel. It is hard work, and it’s dangerous in two ways—you might get blown up or you might get caught. Certainly it’s nothing you can build your future on.”
“You may have a good story there, Ted, but how do we prove it?”
“By observation, I guess. We’ll scout around tonight to see if there really is a barge, or whether I dreamed up the whole thing.”
With a few hours to spare, Nelson suggested that they drop in at the Canteen. He still was unwilling to forget about the gun planted on him.
“All right, Nel, but what sort of clue do you expect to find?”
“Maybe nothing more than a guilty look—something like that.”
“It’s pretty doubtful that anyone who would do that would feel guilty about it.”
“Just the same I’d like to know who it was that introduced you to Estelle, Ted. Don’t you remember who it was?”
“No, someone just took my arm, and there I was. If she’s there tonight, I’ll ask her.”
They were fortunate to find Estelle was there. It was between dances, and she came over toward Ted as soon as she saw him.
“Nice to see you again, Estelle,” Ted said. “Say, how about settling a bet between Nelson and me over who introduced us. Do you remember?”
“Come on, I’ll show you.” She led him to the opposite side of the room, Nelson following a little behind. “Ted, I want you to meet Jerry Jansen,” and suddenly Ted found himself staring straight into the eyes of the pirate captain’s son.
They shook hands mechanically as they stared at each other. Had Ted given away the fact that he recognized their guide? He didn’t know, but he was afraid that he had. Then the music began, and he turned away, realizing that Estelle had taken it for granted he was to dance with her.
“You see,” she went on to explain, “I heard who you were, and told Jerry I wanted to meet you, so he got hold of you, even though he hadn’t met you himself. It was supposed to be my dance with him, but he sat there and watched us the whole time instead. Wasn’t that nice of him?”
“Very generous, I’m sure. He keeps sort of late hours, doesn’t he?”
She looked up at him. “Then you do know about it? My parents don’t approve of him because of that, but I don’t think he can help it. He wouldn’t do it if there was any other choice. Don’t you think so, Ted?”
“He seems to be a fine young man. I’m not quite sure just what standards are acceptable around here.”
“Ted, I really did enjoy our dance the other night, but I wasn’t quite honest, either. I wanted to find out how much you knew about things, and then, maybe, to ask you for a promise.”
“What promise, Estelle?”
“That no matter what happens, you won’t use his name in a newspaper story.”
“Unless he’s arrested, I promise not to use his name, Estelle. That’s our usual policy anyway.”
“Thanks, Ted. You’ve relieved my mind.” And Estelle gave him a big smile.
“Did you recognize Jerry?” Ted asked Nelson later.
“Not until I saw from your attitude that something was wrong. Then I caught on. Think maybe he planted the gun on us, Ted?”
“Estelle gives him an alibi. She says he was watching us the whole time we were dancing.”
“And I know better than to suggest they were in it together,” said Nelson with a laugh. “I didn’t do any better myself—not a guilty look anywhere.”
It was ten-thirty as they set out, Nelson first checking the glove compartment in his car, but finding nothing unexpected. Though they went by car, they dared not approach too close to the mine or one of its many undisclosed entrances. Instead they parked in a secluded spot they felt was well beyond the area of the pirates’ operations. Leaving the car, they climbed one of the low hills that lined the east bank of the river. The moon was bright that night, and they were careful to keep in the shadows as much as they could. Upon reaching the river bank, they began to work their way northward, back toward the mine.
“Of course we don’t know that the barge will come tonight, even if there is a barge,” Nelson observed.
“In that case, we’ll keep coming back every night till we do find it, or are convinced there isn’t any such thing.”
“How long is it going to take to convince us?”
But that was a question Ted could not answer. He knew that a paper the size of the Town Crier could not afford to keep him out on a story like this for long, no matter how good the story looked. But he knew that he had Mr. Dobson’s confidence and understanding, and he hoped that something would break soon. Meanwhile he was keeping his expenses to a minimum.
It was not easy going, even by the light of the first-quarter moon. Already the moon was approaching the western horizon. When it set, it would be harder. But then, Ted thought, that might be exactly what the pirates were waiting for.
They had walked quite some distance, when Nelson suggested, “Why don’t we climb part way up one of these hills, and hide there? It would give us a pretty good view of the sweep of the river. We don’t actually have to be sitting in their laps in order to know what goes. In fact, I’d much prefer not to get too close. Those pirates were awfully friendly last night, when they were showing us what they wanted us to see. They’re going to be a good deal less friendly if we see something they don’t want us to.”
Ted agreed that a certain amount of caution represented the better part of valor, and they climbed till they found a suitable spot. There they took their places in the silent night. The dark river swept past them with only the faintest of ripples; a few fireflies were still out; from time to time a bat or nighthawk glided noiselessly overhead. The stars were bright in a cloudless sky, but the moon would be setting soon.
Almost as the moon set, as though by pre-arranged signal, a big black hulk, visible only as a silhouette against the lighter shore, came into view from around the bend some miles upstream. They could hear no sound of engines as it drifted over toward the eastern shore and was made fast in an incredibly short time.
“So they really are pirates,” Nelson whispered, although there seemed no need for such exaggerated quiet. “I thought that was a queer name for them, but when they take to the water, I guess the name is just right.”
Ted was happy that a boat that had existed only theoretically had turned out to be real.
There was little chance of discovery from the opposite shore, sparsely inhabited with woodland and marshes reaching down to the water’s edge at that particular point. If the boat were seen, it might never be reported because it would be assumed there was a little legitimate mining going on.
“But what about the boat, Ted? You can’t hope to hide a big thing like that on a river.”
“They might not have any reason to hide. Once they’ve pulled away from the shore and got a mile or so downstream, they may turn on their lights again and act as though everything is all right. There still are mines open, farther up the river, and the boat might be coming from there, as far as most people could tell.”
“Except for speeding or jaywalking, I don’t remember ever seeing a crime committed before, Ted. What should we do?”
“I’ll have to tell
the story. Let other people catch the criminals. I certainly don’t know their names or exactly where they live.”
“Shouldn’t we report this to Mr. Winslow?”
“His interests might be exactly the opposite of mine. Oh, I suppose he’d stop the operation, but he wouldn’t like the idea of publicity, either. He’d suppress the story if he could, but he isn’t going to have the chance.”
“One thing gets me, Ted. Why doesn’t Mr. Winslow know about this operation? He couldn’t be in with the pirates, could he?”
“I shouldn’t think so. I imagine it would be small potatoes to him. It must be that he doesn’t know about it because he doesn’t think it’s possible. He was never given the benefit of a personally conducted tour by a pirate captain, and just happened to hear the hum of a generator in the background.”
They were too far away to tell what methods were being used to load the barge, but it was being done with speed. Long before the first gray streaks of dawn, the job was finished, and the barge was silently caught up in the currents in midstream, passed the onlookers by, and disappeared around a bend below.
Nelson stood up. “Don’t you feel like somebody’s watching us, Ted?”
“Yes, dozens of people. Let’s get out of here before we get caught by daylight.”
Somehow feeling guilty for having seen something they weren’t supposed to see, they returned to the car, and drove back to the cabin.
CHAPTER 12.
WHAT HAPPENED?
AT least we didn’t let the pirates buffalo us, Ted,” said Nelson with grim satisfaction next morning as they got a late start.
But Ted didn’t have much to say about the story. He was still too busy planning it in his mind. The pirating was a good story and a big one, but it still wasn’t the whole story by any means. Quite a number of other problems puzzled him: where Alice had spent that first night, which might be merely a matter of curiosity but could on the other hand hold some deep significance for them; whether the Llewellyn children were menaced; who planted the gun on them and made the fake telephone call; who was the ghost in the mine; and perhaps most important of all, how could all the opinions about the mine and its situation be somehow reconciled, so that everyone would work for the reopening of the mine?
He replied, in answer to a question from Nelson, that he really did believe that the same person had planted the gun and made the call, or perhaps the same group of persons, if there was some organized plot to get them out of town.
“And I’m pretty sure it isn’t the coal pirates, Nel. For all they know, we’re still on their side. We won’t have any trouble with them unless they catch us nosing around too much—or until my story appears.”
“I’m glad it wasn’t Jerry. I thought he was kind of nervous, but I guess that’s natural, knowing what he did about the real operations there. But the chief didn’t seem upset at all. It just goes to show you.”
“Whoever made that call would have to know quite a bit about my work here, and the Town Crier, and our deadlines. He had to call almost at the last minute, for otherwise I might be in contact with Phil and realize the story was a fake.”
“I don’t think it would be much of a problem to find out about your deadlines, Ted. Phil’s probably been going around town for years, telling people, ‘Be sure to let me know before eleven o’clock. That’s my deadline time.’ “
“Well, yes, I suppose anyone could know, if he wanted to,” Ted conceded.
They stopped first at the drugstore to pick up Ted’s notebook. Phil had a copy of that morning’s Town Crier, and showed them the story about the doctor. It was a small item, tucked down at the bottom of the front page. “Just where people are most likely to see it,” said Ted with a groan.
Since Phil was busy, they went off for a combination breakfast-lunch at a cafeteria. Then they decided to take a walk through the park. Afterward they both claimed they saw it first: a man sitting on a park bench quietly eating his lunch from a metal box colored the brightest orange they had ever seen!
“Hey!” Nelson exclaimed involuntarily.
“Take it easy. That’s probably not the only orange-colored lunch box in town.”
“But what a shade of orange, Ted—brilliant, just the way I told you. What were we saying about having some important instruments in there? What can be more important than food?”
They walked past the man, looking at him casually, but well enough so they felt confident of recognizing him again. Then they sat down on another bench at a little distance.
“Are we going to try to identify him, Ted?”
“I’d like to. I wonder if he walked or drove here?”
“Probably left his car in the parking lot and walked over here, just the way we did. We could wait till he leaves and then see which car is his.”
“Yes, but that might be too late to get his license number.”
“Don’t worry, if I get a good look at the car I’ll be able to recognize it again. Meanwhile, I’ve got a bag of peanuts and we can sit here and feed the squirrels.”
“I don’t see any squirrels.”
“Haven’t you got any imagination?”
But they did not have a very long wait. When the man had finished his lunch, he put everything away carefully, and sauntered toward the parking lot. The boys followed at a little distance, but the man never glanced behind him, and seemed not to notice them at all. Apparently he merely wanted to get something out of his car, and having done so, he walked off again, leaving the lunch box behind him. There was no trouble at all about getting the license number.
“Well, we did it,” Nelson gloated, clapping his hands with satisfaction.
“Did what?”
“Identified the ghost.”
“All I’ve got here is a license number of somebody who might be the ghost.”
“Well, isn’t that enough? Or should we wait around and try to follow him?”
“No, I don’t think it would do much good. I don’t believe he has any intention of going back to the mine today, judging by the clothes he’s wearing. And if he’s staying at the hotel, or with friends in town, what good does it do us?”
“At least we can find out his name now.”
“Do you want to go to the police and ask them?”
“No,” Nelson decided, recollecting certain circumstances.
“I don’t either. But I think if I put through a call to Forestdale, Sergeant Jeffers might be willing to help out.”
Ted put through the call, and Sergeant Jeffers said he would oblige. Getting the man’s name would take only a few minutes, but if Ted wanted more information about him, that would take longer. Ted decided that the name wouldn’t help much unless he knew a little more about the man.
“I’ll call you back later in the day, because you might have trouble reaching me here. Thank you, Sergeant.”
Ted had at least two more people he wanted to interview from Mr. Allen’s list, plus some others besides, and it was time for Nelson to begin taking some pictures of the people Ted intended to quote in his article. Expecting that they would proceed with this assignment, Nelson was surprised when Ted hesitated.
“I wonder, Nel, if this wouldn’t be a good time for us to go back down in the mine.”
“Why now, Ted?”
“Because we’re pretty sure our ghost isn’t there, and I’d just as soon not run into him again below ground.”
“You mean we’ll try to find out what he was up to?” asked Nelson.
“No, I don’t have much hope of that, at least until I hear from Sergeant Jeffers. Probably all we’d see would be a few places where he was digging, and it wouldn’t mean anything to us. But I want to get a little better acquainted with that mine, and this time I want to turn right.”
“Hey, you’re getting as stubborn as Alice,” said Nelson with a laugh, but he agreed with Ted’s idea. They had begun to get a notion of what the mine was like along the left turn, so why not try the other one?
It wa
s decided that Nelson would not carry his camera this time, for he had already taken a number of pictures there, and he had little hope of finding another ghost. If they encountered anything strange perhaps they could come back at a later time for the picture. The main reason for leaving the camera behind was that they had found it awkward to have only one flashlight. It would be much better for each of them to carry a light.
“Then if a flashlight burns out, at least we won’t have to change it in the dark,” Nelson remarked, “although my logic teacher might point out that they could both burn out at the same instant.”
“We’ll chance that,” Ted decided.
They bought another flashlight, and after making sure they had plenty of replacement lights and batteries, they set out on their fourth journey into the mine. And although Ted had no clear idea what he was after, he was resolved that this was going to be their deepest and most thorough penetration. His notebook was ready, too. He intended to make maps such as he had made before, and whenever he found himself underneath the same portion of the map again, he would mark the point with an X and flip to the next page. Nelson was relying on his chalk, as before.
They parked their car in the usual place, climbed the hill to the entrance, and almost by instinct took a long look around them at the outside world. Then they went inside, and within a few minutes were down at the junction where Ted wanted to turn right. He had his notebook out, and was beginning a new map.
The right-hand corridor offered nothing unusual, except that it was remarkably long and took a number of turns, all of which Ted carefully noted. There was nothing for Nelson to do for a while, for there were no branches leading off it. They were going downhill at a fairly steep rate. It would have taken strong, sure-footed mules to haul coal up this incline, if that had once been done. It must have been a long time ago, for the tracks had been taken up and no trace of them remained.
The Abandoned Mine Mystery Page 9
