CHAPTER VIII
AGAINST HEAVY ODDS
AGAINST HEAVY ODDS
AGAINST HEAVY ODDS
The face of the bully wore an ugly scowl, and Bobby and his friends realized that they were in for trouble. However, it was not of their seeking, and there was no way out except flight, which did not even occur to them.
“You fellers are certainly easy,” sneered Lemming. “You came to make us a nice little visit, didn’t you? Well, now that you’re here, we’ll try to give you the kind of welcome you deserve after chasing us away from Doc Raymond’s apple tree.”
“That was your own fault, and there’s no use holding a grudge against us for it,” answered Bobby.
“Don’t argue with him, Hen,” growled one ugly-looking member of the gang. “Let’s give ’em the lickin’ that’s comin’ to them, an’ git it over with.”
“If it comes to lickings, maybe it will be the other way around,” said Fred, his quick temper rapidly rising to the boiling point. “It’s a poor game that two can’t play at.”
The bullies made no answer to this, but began to close in on the boys. Opposing the toughs were Bobby, Fred, Mouser, and Billy. They were outnumbered by Hen’s gang, which consisted of four besides himself. They were so much larger and heavier than the boys they confronted that they seemed to think they had “soft pickings” ahead of them.
But in this they reckoned without their host. The boys’ blood was up, and even in a hopeless battle they were not going to be beaten without a struggle. The bullies made a concerted rush at Bobby and his friends, and by mere weight made them give ground for a moment. But they were right back at their foes and struck out gallantly with all their force. They were strong and athletic for their age, and the school sports had kept them in fine condition, while the bullies, though older, were soft and dissipated. Bobby lashed out and caught Lemming with a well-directed punch in the jaw while the other boys fought like young wildcats.
The fight waxed fast and furious in the narrow alleyway. Mouser was knocked down, but Bobby and Fred stood over him and beat his assailants off until their comrade could struggle to his feet.
Fierce wrath was in the hearts of the trapped boys and the light of battle gleamed in their eyes.
Their unexpectedly strong resistance daunted the gang opposed to them, and there was still a chance that the boys might win when three other toughs dashed out of the hallway and joined the gang. This accession of force was too much, and Bobby and his chums were overborne. Then their hands were tied and they were carried into one of the mean and dirty-looking houses.
Once inside the house the bullies went through their pockets and took their money, watches and everything else of value. The rascals then withdrew to one corner of the room and held a lengthy whispered conversation which the boys could not hear. It was not hard to deduce that they were the subjects of the discussion, however, and the boys waited with what patience they could muster for the next move.
Nor had they long to wait. The conference in the corner came to an end, and Hen Lemming approached them.
“You fellers will be sorry that you ever interfered with me before I get through with you,” he blustered. “It will be a long time before you get back home. I’ll show you that it doesn’t pay to butt in on my affairs.”
“We don’t ask any pay; it’s a pleasure,” said Billy, with an attempt at a grin, but Hen’s scowl only grew deeper.
“You’ll be laughing out of the other side of your face pretty soon,” he threatened. “Take them down to the cellar, boys, and be sure you lock the door after you when you come up. I don’t want to take any chances of their getting away.”
Resistance in their present predicament was out of the question, and the four boys were hustled down a dark flight of steps and into a damp and moldy cellar, without a ray of light in it except the few feeble gleams that percolated down from the door at the top of the stairs. Even this was soon shut off, and they heard the door slam and the sound of a key being turned in the lock.
Bobby was the first to speak.
“We seem to be out of luck, fellows,” he said, with an extremely rueful laugh. “I never thought that big bully would ever get the best of us, but it looks as though he had at last.”
“It’s his turn now, all right, but ours will come,” said Fred. “I wonder if there isn’t any way out of this black hole.”
“You wouldn’t be able to see it, if there were,” said Bobby. “Let’s feel around the walls and see if we can discover anything.”
This they did, but without success. The damp walls seemed unbroken by any opening save that place where the stairs led down from the floor above. Time and again they felt painstakingly about the clammy place, but the last trip was no more profitable than the first.
“I guess we’re up against it,” said Mouser, at last. “About the only thing left to do is sit down and wait for the next move on the part of the jailers. They’ve got us dead to rights, and I suppose there’s no use squealing.”
“Not a bit in the world,” agreed Bobby. “Likely enough they’re only trying to scare us, anyway. Maybe when they think we’ve been down here long enough, they’ll let us go.”
“Well, I’d like to get a wallop or two at Lemming before I go,” remarked Fred, grimly. “That was a beaut that you handed him at the beginning of the scrimmage, Bobby.”
“I landed him the best I knew how, anyway,” acknowledged his friend. “I guess he knew something had hit him.”
The boys did their best to keep up their spirits and remain cheerful, but as the hours dragged themselves along and no sound came from their captors, their misgivings grew stronger and stronger. What had Hen Lemming meant when he had said that it would be a long time before they saw home again? Was this mere idle talk on the part of the bully, or was there a sinister intention behind it? These and many other speculations occupied their minds in the endless hours that they spent in the moldy cellar, and it was with sensations of relief that they at last heard the key grate in the lock at the head of the stairs.
“Come up here one by one, you fellows, and be quick about it,” ordered the harsh voice of the leader of the bullies, and the boys had no choice but to obey.
Bobby was the first to ascend the stairs, and as he reached the top he was seized, a gag thrust into his mouth, and something smothering and muffling descended over his head. He struggled fiercely, but he had no chance against the superior numbers of his captors. A heavy sack was drawn down over his head and shoulders until it reached his feet, and then the open end was gathered together and he found himself as helpless as a prisoner well could be. What had happened to his companions he did not know, and was almost afraid to imagine.
He was dropped none too gently to the floor, where he lay for quite a while. He could hear his captors moving about the room and talking in low voices, but could not make out what was said. After a long time he heard the voice of Lemming, apparently giving some order, and shortly afterward he was lifted to the shoulders of two of the gang. These men descended a different flight of steps from those leading into the cellar where the boys had originally been confined, and near the bottom they set Bobby down and seemed to be fumbling with something.
In reality, one of them was undoing a padlock that secured a door set into a stone wall, and after considerable difficulty he yanked the door open and the two men picked up their helpless burden again and proceeded through a narrow and damp tunnel. The passage was scarcely five feet high, and many times Bobby was bumped and scraped against the roof as the two men carried him along.
At length the narrow passage broadened out, and they set Bobby down with grunts of relief. After resting a few minutes they carried him up a slippery ladder to an old wharf. Alongside this floated a small rowboat, and into this Bobby was thrown in no gentle manner. Then each of the two men picked up a pair of oars, and Bobby could hear the regular beat of the oars in the rowlocks and the lap and murmur of water under the boards on which he lay.