The Mark On The Door Part 14

"We must talk to him. He doesn't seem to be a prisoner. If anyone can get us out of this jam it will be he," Joe declared.

"He hasn't seen us yet."

162.

163 Frank looked around at the guard. But that worthy was so absorbed in watching the ceremonial of the dance that he appeared to have forgotten his prisoners altogether. In a moment the two boys slipped away from his side and vanished into the shadows.

There was so much confusion as one native after another joined the ring of figures around the fire, that the Hardys were able to make their way close to the platform without being noticed.

Elmer Tremmer, his arms folded, gazed solemnly down at the crowd.

Frank knew that any open attempt to at* tract the man's attention might be disastrous, so the brothers edged their way as near the platform as they dared, and pretended to be absorbed in the spectacle before them. Frank had, at one time, tried to learn the tricks of ventriloquism and had taken lessons in the art from a famous vaudeville artist who was a close friend of Fenton Hardy. This practice now stood him in good stead.

Gazing straight before him, and without moving his lips, he said clearly: "Mr. Tremmer!"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the figure on the platform start violently. The man looked up, then all around him, his face a study in bewilderment. This was the last place 164.

The Mark on the Door in the world where the fugitive bookkeeper might have expected to hear his name called aloud.

"Look down," said Frank.

Tremmer obeyed. Then his eyes opened wide as he saw the two American lads almost at his feet.

"Who-who are you!" he stammered weakly.

"We're the Hardy boys from Bayport," Frank told him.

Elmer Tremmer's expression became instantly suspicious.

"Bayport!"

"Yes. We'd like to talk to you."

"Not here," muttered Tremmer hastily. "Not here. They-they may be watching us. It's dangerous."

"Don't you want to get out of this placet Perhaps we can help you escape.''

"I'll come to see you tonight," the man muttered. "Don't talk here. I'll come to your cave.''

"When?"

"As soon as I can get away. Midnight, probably. But don't talk any more now. Don't let on you know me."

Tremmer was evidently very much frightened, so the Hardy boys quietly withdrew and returned to their guard, taking up their posi165 tions at his side. The man, still staring at the dancers, had not even noticed their absence.

Frank plucked the guard's sleeve and made signs that they wished to go. He was evidently annoyed at having to miss the rest of the spectacle, but went back to the cave with them, grumbling all the way. They tried to persuade him to get them some food, but the man was now in a bad temper and their request was ignored.

Back in the cave the boys sat down to await the coming of Elmer Tremmer, and to make plans. If they could only escape from the canon with the fugitive witness, their mission to Mexico would be a success.

"He seemed to be scared stiff," remarked Frank. "I wonder if he is a prisoner after all. If they have him under guard he won't be able to come here."

"Perhaps he isn't closely watched."

The moon rose higher in the sky. The boys peered out of the cave. To their surprise they found that the guard had vanished.

Frank chuckled.

"I guess he thought we were asleep and figured he might as well go down again and watch the dance. He didn't like it very much when we made him leave right in the middle of the performance."

A few yards down the trail they heard a 166.

Tlie Mark on the Door light footstep. As the boys watched, a shadowy figure came moving quietly along the wall of rock.

"It's our guard coming back," whispered Frank.

"The guard wouldn't move that quietly. If must be Tremmer."

Swiftly and silently the man came nearer. Then with a few quick strides he reached the mouth of the cave.

"Yaqui!" cried the boys.

It was indeed their erstwhile guide. He was breathing heavily, as if he had traveled a long distance. Without a word he plunged into the cave and flung himself down on the floor, panting breathlessly.

"Yaqui, where did you come from? Where have you been?" the brothers demanded anxiously.

"Went for help," he gasped. "Got horses. And food."

He gestured weakly toward a bag slung across his back.

Frank and Joe were overcome with joy and not a little ashamed of the suspicions they had entertained that morning. Yaqui had not deserted them after all. How many miles he had traveled that day they did not know, but it was plain that his great strength was almost exhausted.

167 Ths boys opened the bag of food and ate hungrily, though sparingly, realizing that the food might have to last them for a long while. The Indian refused to eat.

After a time he recovered sufficiently to tell them something of his adventures. He had made his way down the back trail on foot until he had found tracks that led him to a small farm in the foothills. There he had .succeeded in borrowing horses and obtaining food.

While the Yaqui, in low tones, was telling his story, the boys again heard footsteps on the trail leading to the cave.

"Quick! Hide!" they urged the Indian. "It may be the guard."

Yaqui promptly concealed himself behind a niche of rock at the back of the cave. The boys waited as the cautious footsteps came closer. Then Elmer Tremmer sidled into their prison.

"I can't stay very long," he whispered. "If Vincenzo misses me he'll suspect something."

"Is Vincenzo in the camp now?" asked Frank.

"Yes, of course," returned Tremmer. "Oh, dear," he added mournfully, "if I'd known it was to be like this I don't believe I should have ever left the States."

"But why did did you leave?" Joe asked. you leave?" Joe asked.

"You know well enough," returned Trem168 The Mark on the Door mer. "I went away because I'd have been sent to prison if I had stayed. That's why you're here. You want to bring me back. But I'm not going back," he declared. "Even this is better than being in jail." jail."

"Then you came of your own free will! You aren't a prisoner?"

"I'm not supposed to be a prisoner, though I might as well be one," replied the former bookkeeper. "It was an unlucky day for me when I took that job with the Rio Oil Company, I tell you. Vincenzo promised me I'd have a wonderful life if I'd come to Mexico with him. Now, here I am in this miserable camp in the mountains. Nothing very glorious about it."

"Vincenzo told you that you'd be sent to jail if you stayed in Bayport?" inquired Frank.

Tremmer nodded. "He said the authorities were preparing to arrest me. You see, being the bookkeeper of the firm, I should have known that there was something crooked about the business. He says I'm legally just as much to blame as any of them. So I ran away."

"Vincenzo was lying to you," Joe said. "The authorities wanted you as a witness against the Rio crowd. That's why Vincenzo talked you into going away."

"That's your story," answered Tremmer 169 suspiciously, "but I know different. You're trying to talk me into going back with you.

'Then the moment I step on American soil you'll have me arrested. I'm not such a fool as all that. Fenton Hardy has trailed me ever since I left Bayport, and now you're trying to make me fall into his trap. No, sir!"

The boys had expected any att.i.tude but this. Patiently they argued with the man, aggravated by his stupidity. But Elmer Tremmer had evidently been thoroughly frightened by Vincenzo, and resolutely refused to return to Bayport.

"This isn't much of a place," he said, "but at least it isn't jail."

"Don't you believe we're telling the truth!" demanded Frank. "Don't you trust us?"

"No," returned Elmer Tremmer promptly. "You're detectives and you are trying to arrest me."

Half an hour of argument failed to alter the man's decision. He was convinced that his only safety remained in staying with Pedro Vincenzo. Nothing the boys could say would convince him otherwise. Finally, in desperation, Joe exclaimed: "Well then, if you won't come back to Bayport with us, surely you'll help us get away from here, won't you?"

In the moonlight that shone through the 170.

The Mark on the Door cave entrance they saw that Elmer Tremmer's weak face looked frightened. He shook his head.

"No. I couldn't do that. It's impossible."

"But why?" they asked, almost dumbfounded by his refusal.

"You're not getting away from here if I can help it. If you ever reach the city you'll tell everybody where I am. Besides, I don't dare make Vincenzo angry. He could turn me over to the police in a minute if he wished."

"Do you mean to say you won't help us?"

"I don't want to go to jail. And that's what will happen if I help you escape from here,"

declared Elmer Tremmer stubbornly.

The boys pleaded with him desperately, but Tremmer was not to be moved. He had a vein of obstinacy in his makeup that was hard to break. Yet back of everything was his fear that he would be taken to the States and sent to prison because of the Eio Oil frauds. Over and over again Frank and Joe tried to convince him that his fears were groundless and that he was playing into the hands of Pedro Vincenzo, but Elmer Tremmer refused to listen.

"It's all a trick!" he said. "Just a trick to get me back. I'm too smart to be fooled."

"Smart!" said Frank. "Vincenzo has fooled you from the beginning."

171 "Maybe. Maybe," replied Tremmer. "But he hasn't tricked me into jail yet, and that's what you're trying to do."

"You're a fine specimen if you won't help us escape from here, that's all I can ,say," Joe told him angrily.

Tremmer got up and moved toward the cave entrance.

"Can't help it. Can't help it," he said. "I have to look out for myself."

Then he scuttled out into the night.

CHAPTER XX.

THE REVOLT.

""what a pal!" exclaimed Joe in disgust. "I'm ashamed to think that a man like that comes from my own home town."

"He's stupid and weak-----"

"And scared pink."

"Yes, he's scared. That's the big trouble. Vincenzo has filled him up with a lot of lies. If Tremmer were as smart as he thinks he is, he would have seen through the scheme long before."

The tramp of heavy footsteps outside the cave silenced them. When they looked out they eaw that two sentinels had been posted at the entrance, one on either side. Frank whistled softly.

"The guard has been doubled. Now, I'll just bet that's some of Tremmer's work."

"He not only refuses to help us escape, but he's going to make mighty sure that we won't do so ourselves," grumbled Joe.

Yaqui emerged from behind the niche where lie had been hidden.

172.

173 "Don't worry," he advised softly. "I think everything be all right."

Thereupon he sprawled on the floor, pillowed his head on one arm, and fell fast asleep.

"It doesn't seem to worry him very much," murmured Frank.

"He knows it won't do him any good to worry. We may as well go to sleep, too, and try to forget it all."

So, following the philosophic example of the Indian, the boys also were soon asleep.

They were awakened in the morning by a disturbance at the mouth of the cave. Frank sat up, blinking, and saw a tall figure come striding through the entrance. Quickly he reached over and shook Joe.

"So!" observed their visitor. "The young detectives have slept well, I hope?"