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Show 5 ?V s CHAPTER VII Continued Dawn was Just beginning to streak the east with faint bars of light, but In the grove It was still dark and shadowy. In the half light, Dick Humbled along until he came to a fawning hole that stretched directly gcross his pathway. He stood on the very brink of it before be-fore he realized iti presence. Catching Catch-ing himself with a start, lie stepped back and peered down. The hole was a natural fissure or break In the rocks, four or five feet across and twice that distance in length. Its depth was problematical in the dim light. It was not, however, so much the discovery of the hole that startled Dick for he had stumbled upon many similar breaks in the plateau and along the face of the cliff as it was the sudden realization that the buzzing he had been following came directly from beneath his feet. Somewhere below, be-low, in the dark space yawning before him, the mystifying, but no longer muffled, muf-fled, noises were rising in sharp staccato stac-cato wave vibrations. They were wave vibrations all right. Dick recognized their cause the Instant he peered over the brink. They came from a wireless plant concealed below, and it had been only their muflled character, due to the surrounding walls of rocks, that had deceived him before. be-fore. It was Impossible to see more than a foot or two below the brink, and Dick was unwilling to risk exposure by venturing too near lie sat down on a rock and listened. Familiar as he was with various wireless plants, he was unable to read the messages that the unknown one below was sending through the air. "It's in code," he mused after n while. "Not much chance of reading it without the key." Nevertheless, he waited and listened, lis-tened, lie had a pretty accurate intuition in-tuition of the identity of the one below. be-low. Blake had spoken of sending instructions in-structions to the yacht by wireless, and by rising early for a dip in the ocean Dick had stumbled upon the hidden nlant. From that distance It was more than likely the sounds of the buzzing could not he heard up at the house. The plant was artfully concealed in the cave-like hole, and no one would be apt to stumble upon It accidentally. He raised his eyes to find the mast and aerials. They would at least have to be outside and in clear view. It was growing light rapidly, and the tops nf the trees were in sharp silhouette sil-houette against the sky. But there was no sign of a wireless mast. A little puzzled, Dick continued to search with his eyes until they suddenly sud-denly came to a focus on a point midway mid-way between two giant trees. A moment mo-ment later a smile parted his lips. It was all as plain as day. The aerials were stretched from tree to tree, but In such a way that they seemed to blend with the foliage. One would hardly suspect their presence without careful scrutiny even if on the lookout look-out for them. lie nodded his head. "Clever," he murmured. 'T.lnke knows his business." busi-ness." Suddenly he was Interrupted from Ids reveries by the sharp click of n Mono nelow. The wireless had ceased humming, and someone was climbing "at of the lode. Hick had just time to dodge back and hide behind a big tree. A few moments later Mr. Plaice emerged from he cave, and after a few hasty glances around in the dim hglit lie made a hurried exit from the Ki'ove. ij,.; watched him mil II he disappeared around the back of the house. "1 guess I'll take n look below," he murmured. "Don't think Blake will comeback In the daytime -Got n clear const flir Investigation There were no s.'eps leading down Into the crevice; that Is, none of man's making; but nature had provided an "isy descent, and as the rocks were "ell worn In places Dick had no dilli-"'ly dilli-"'ly In descending. It required a '"tie skill In the dim light to find his w".v around when he reached solid bottom, bot-tom, .'in eon few below the surface, the darkness was greatly Intensified. I'ick struck n match and glanced "round him. Nothing at first caught Ids attention, and when the name went ""t he scratched another match. This tune ho saw the wireless In one corner of the cave. partly ,i(M,,n fn)n, vl(,NV h.v green boughs thai formed a rustic screen In front of It. Oossi,,.,. the Intervening space, IM; began an examination of it; but !thout the aid of artificial light he could gel only superficial idea of i power. "I don't believe It has a radius of """' than thirty or forty miles." he muse, I. "ivrhaps less." I" paused to consider. "In that v""t." he added rh.u-hlfullv. -the T'"'ht is laid up not ,e,-v f.;r from here -''it is. unless ttmt s..i!..r's sMrv is Tr'' about her being wrecked." I H. It's h ;,art of the whole mvs-''"'ons mvs-''"'ons plot." frown,-,! at his Inability to piece together and find a solution J"''"' Alice Criers confession , ,' ' "r; "lake I'.'ul assume! all re- he"ror"l!' he0'"'"1 Puzzled than '."'"'idcr what excuse Make gave n "rp,ed wlth "'"'self. "lie ''-me given a sood one, or she George Et'aelfcert Walsh (Copyrtsht. 1925. by W. G. Chapman.) WNU Service would have been suspicious of him HI have to find out what he told her" He hesitated between two courses He felt quite sure Miss Cutler could help him to solve the puzzle, but she distrusted him, and would perhaps resent re-sent his inquiries. Marie, her maid, knew more about the mvstery than her mistress; but she was in love with Blake, and quite naturally she would not betray him. "I guess I'll have to go it alone," he added finally, aloud. "But I'll watch this wireless and try to Intercept Inter-cept some of Blake's messages. If I can get hold of his code, It will be easy." He began rummaging around in the dark. There were several old boxes and packing cases stowed in one corner, cor-ner, and Dick began going through their contents. He was using less caution cau-tion than the circumstances warranted, rattling the papers as he hauled them out to examine. The noise he made deafened him to a light step creeping up behind him, and he was totally unconscious of another an-other in the cave until a quick spring behind startled him.. He whirled around just in time to meet the blow of a club directly on his forehead. He had a glimpse of the ugly 'face of the sailor he had picked up out of the sea, and heard him snarl. "Let that teach you, me son, to keep your nose out of other people's business busi-ness !" After Mint nnma n clinipn np l,:n:.,... I stars and complete oblivion for a time. He crumpled down in a heap at the foot of his assailant, and lay there as still as death. After grinning down at his victim for a few moments, the seaman picked him up in a pair of strong arms and carried him across the cave as easily "Sure!" Grinned the Other. "I Won't Let Him Starve Not Quite." .as If he were a baby. Depositing him on the floor of a smaller cave that opened into the first one, he bound him hand and foot, and then proceeded to revive him. Dick regained consciousness under the usual process adopted for reviving the unconscious water from a bucket poured over his head and face until with a gasp he raised lits voice in sharp protest. "Don't! I'm coming to." "Keckon I didn't hurt you as much as you deserved," replied the seaman, bending over him. "Ail right. Sit up then an' make yourself easy." "I will if you'll give me a chance. This rope cuts." "Sur?. That's what I intended It should do." Sick and dazed by the blow, Dick stared at him. There was little comfort com-fort to be gained from a study of the brutal face. "Why'd you do that?" as asked finally. The man grinned. "Why'd you poke your nose down here?" "Was there any law against it?" Dick asked. "I didn't see any sign prohibiting it." "You're a cool one." retorted the other. Then, showing genuine curiosity, curios-ity, lie asked, "llow'd you get on tills island? Where',! you come from? Ar.J what d'you want here?" Iick hesitated a second before answering. an-swering. Then he said frankly: 'I came down on the yacht, of course. How else could 1 gel here?" "That. 1 ih.nk's a lie." was the retort. re-tort. "I'.ut ' n can tell it to Jlr. Ihake. He'll be interested." "Are you going to tell Mr I'dako?" "Sure.' He told me to spot you an' get you. He don't want a:.yho :y interfering in-terfering wi'ii his plans. Keckon I'll tell him how you're here anxious to see him. S'ioii.g." CHAPTER VIII Dick did not have to wait long for the return of the seaman, accompanied accom-panied by fluke. During the short interval, he made a careful survey of his surroundings, tested the rope that bound him, and vainly speculated upon his chance of escaping. There seemed to" be no outlet to the smaller cave he was in, except through the one In which the wireless was located. lo-cated. It was nothing more than a sort of recess or alcove extending back from the black hole Into which j he had let himself. He groaned from the pain in his head. j When the entrance to the cave was darkened by the appearance of the j two men, he silenced his groans and i compressed his lips firmly. The seaman sea-man led the way. and thrust an electric elec-tric torch in his face. "There he Is, sir," he said. "Reckon I did a good job of it." Mr. Elake stepped forward and thrust his face down' at Dick. For a moment he was quiet, inspecting him closely. Then a grunt escaped his lips. "Let me have that torch, McGee!" he said abruptly. Taking it from his companion's nana and thrusting it close into Dick's face, he scrutinized the features In silence. "We've met before," he added, frowning. "Your face is familiar." "Then perhaps you can tell me where," replied Dick, determined not to enlighten him. The man was busy with his thoughts, trying to summon from memory a vague impression. Suddenly Sudden-ly his face lightened. "I have It!" he exclaimed. "You're the man who fished Miss Cutler's bag from the river the day before we sailed. Aren't you? Yes, I recognize you. I don't need your answer." "I don't deny It, Mr. Blake. Glad to meet you again." The other grunted. Then he asked the inevitable question: "How'd you get down here?" "Came down on the yacht," replied Dick, smiling. Blake frowned. "You weren't a member mem-ber of the crew," he asserted. "No," smiled Dick, "I didn't have to work my passage." . "Stowaway?" "Well, not exactly call It an uninvited unin-vited guest." Sudden suspicion entered the other's oth-er's face. "Did Miss Cutler know you were aboard?" Dick laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Ask her," he replied Impudently. Im-pudently. An uneasy expression came Into Blake's eyes, and for a few moments he was quiet. Then quite coolly, having hav-ing made up his mind, he said, "No, I won't ask her. I'll leave you here for her to find. If she knows you're on the island, she'll hunt for you." He swung around, and faced the seaman. "Keep him here, McGee, and watch him. If Miss Cutler should stumble upon him let me know." He walked back into the main cave, followed by McGee. "Are you going to let me starve?" called Dick. "That's hardly fair, Mr. Blake. There's a law against slow murder." Without answering him, Blake spoke again to the seamon: "Give him enough food and wafer to keep him alive, McGee. But don't overfeed him. You understand?" "Sure !" grinned the other. "I won't let him starve not quite." When they disappeared up the rude steps provided by nature, Dick's heart sidpped a few beats. The prospect was not promising. His Imprisonment in the dark hole would not be pleasant. pleas-ant. The pain in his head, and the strain of the rope that bound him. were had enough; but Blake intended intend-ed lo increase his torture by half starving him. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |