Besides the man who had met Enid at the white birch, there were three others in the room. Two of them Madge had never seen before. They were Indian natives, dressed in strange costumes befitting their race. The third man had his back turned to the cellar door. As he moved, Madge saw his face distinctly. It was the boatman who had taken her toThe Floraon the day of her arrival!
“I knew it!” she told herself excitedly. “The entire affair is clear to me now. Enid and her father are in very grave danger.”
Madge was convinced that she was dealing with a fanatical group of Zudi Drum worshipers who sought retribution for the loss of their trophy. How an organization which was thought no longer to exist, had traced the drum to Mr. Burnett, she had no way of knowing. And matters at hand were too pressing to consider any question save a means of securing the immediate release of her friends. From the cruel faces of the kidnappers she read that the return of the Zudi Drum was not all they wanted. They intended to inflict punishment upon their victims.
“Enid, dear, you shouldn’t have come,” she heard Mr. Burnett say to his daughter. And then to the kidnappers, “Let her go free and I’ll give you anything you ask.”
“So you’re ready to come to terms now, are you?” was the cool retort. “It’s too late. We gave you your chance and you refused to turn over the Zudi Drum.”
“I told you I would be willing to give up the drum, providing you could establish ownership. All this threatening and kidnapping and violence goes against my grain.”
“You and your daughter shall both pay for taking the drum away from India,” came the solemn announcement.
“Enid had nothing to do with it,” Mr. Burnett returned earnestly. “How was I to know the drum had been stolen? I purchased it from a reputable antique dealer and paid a good price for it. Will you let my daughter go?”
The spokesman for the three smiled. At a signal from him, the other two fell upon Enid and before she could make a move, securely bound her hands and feet. Mr. Burnett struggled to free himself and only succeeded in drawing his bonds tighter until they cut deeply into his flesh. He groaned and fell back on the couch.
“Now we’ll have a look at the Zudi Drum,” the spokesman declared.
Madge held her breath as he picked up the wrapped package. What would he do to Enid and her father when the deception was discovered?
The Indian cut the strings and the paper fell away. A cry of rage escaped him.
“Tricked!” he exclaimed, his face convulsed with anger and hatred. “Ah, you shall pay for this!”
“It’s a mistake!” Enid cried. “I had the drum when I leftThe Floratonight. Don’t hold me responsible for something I didn’t do!”
The men paid not the slightest attention to her excuses. They moved to the other end of the room and conversed in a tongue which Madge had never heard before, but from the vehemence with which they spoke, she guessed that they were plotting a cruel punishment for Enid and her father.
“Oh, this is dreadful!” she thought. “I can’t bear it to stay here and do nothing. Why doesn’t Rex come?”
Abruptly the three natives left the room above and a minute later, Madge heard them moving about on the second floor.
“They’ve gone up there for something,” she told herself. “If I don’t save Enid and Mr. Burnett now, I’ll lose my chance. I can’t wait for Rex. He may not get here until it is too late!”
With a courage born of desperation, she quietly opened the door and slipped into the room. At sight of her Enid stifled a scream. Madge held up a warning hand, and with a hasty glance directed toward the stairs leading to the second floor, snatched up a knife lying upon the table. Enid was nearest her and with several sharp thrusts with the blade, she had cut Enid’s bonds and set her free.
She turned to aid Mr. Burnett. Just at that moment, she heard footsteps on the stairs.
“Go!” Mr. Burnett whispered tensely. “It’s your only chance!”
Madge wheeled about but already escape was cut off. The door was blocked by the three natives.
At sight of the three men, Enid uttered a piercing scream. Madge made a wild break for the cellar door but half way across the room she was clutched roughly by the shoulder and flung backwards with such force that she fell to the floor.
“So you thought you would meddle, eh?”
She started to retort but the words froze on her lips. Distinctly, she had heard footsteps on the porch! It was too much to hope that rescue was at hand.
Then the door was flung wide and two young men with drawn revolvers stepped into the room. Close behind were several policemen.
“Rex!” Enid cried joyfully.
“Jack French!” Madge exclaimed.
She had no time to wonder how he came to be there, for in the next few minutes, everything was confusion. Undaunted by the odds against them, the three kidnappers dashed out the light. Furniture crashed to the floor and an occasional bullet flew. Through it all the girls clung tightly together and huddled in a corner.
The kidnappers put up a desperate but losing battle and soon were subdued. Someone lighted a lantern. Madge was relieved to see that no one was seriously injured. The police lined the kidnappers up and took them away under close guard.
At the first opportunity, Enid had gone to her father’s side, cutting the ropes which bound him.
“Tell us everything,” she urged. “Who are these dreadful men and why did they want the Zudi Drum?”
“There are a number of things to be explained,” her father replied with a smile, “but first, I owe your friends my deepest thanks for their timely arrival.”
Mr. Burnett knew Madge and Rex but Jack French was a stranger. Madge introduced him and he gravely shook the ranger’s hand.
“Jack must tell us how he came to be here at the psychological moment,” Madge declared, “but first, you must relate your experiences, Mr. Burnett.”
“There’s not so much to tell,” he responded. “I bought the Zudi Drum in India of an antique dealer. I suppose the fellow resorted to questionable means in obtaining it but at the time I thought him reliable. At any rate, the first intimation I had of trouble was when I received a threatening note, warning me to give up the drum or suffer the consequence.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” Enid observed.
“No, I didn’t wish to alarm you. If the men had come to me in a straightforward way and asked for the drum, I would have given it to them, but instead, they tried to force me. I placed the Zudi Drum in the safe at home.”
“The house was entered,” Enid informed, “but they didn’t get the drum.”
“I suspected they would ransack the place. They tried to force me to tell where I had hidden the trophy, but I refused. Then when all else failed, they tricked my daughter into coming here.”
“I walked straight into the trap,” Enid admitted. “Madge tried to keep me from it but I wouldn’t listen. And it wasn’t my fault that I didn’t bring the drum. I can’t imagine what became of it.”
Madge explained the substitution she and Rex had made, and likewise told of her visit to the jeweler.
“You had the situation sized up correctly,” Mr. Burnett praised. “The kidnappers are Zudi worshipers, and are the last of a tribe that for years has been thought no longer to exist. As I understand it, the drum was formerly used for ceremonial dances and the like. Then it was stolen, or so these men claimed. The order is characterized by a particular symbol which appears on the drum and also on pins they wear.”
“It was the jade pin that gave me my first clue,” Madge declared.
“How did the natives trace the drum to you, Mr. Burnett?” Rex asked.
“I don’t know that, but they were willing to cross an ocean to find me. Perhaps after all, I should turn the drum over to them.”
“You’ll not be able to do it for a good many years,” Jack French observed. “Unless there’s some slip, they’ll all get stiff sentences in the pen. The sect should be broken up.”
“After all you’ve gone through, I think you deserve to keep the drum,” Rex added.
Madge was curious to know how Jack and Rex had met and the former obligingly told the story.
“After I received your telegram, Madge, I hopped a train and came as fast as it would carry me. I arrived at Cheltham Bay and learned thatThe Florawas still anchored in the harbor. I went down to the wharf, thinking I’d hire a boat to take me out there.”
“Then he ran into me,” Rex interrupted. “I had my amphibian tuned up and was watching the yacht to see when you girls started away in the motor boat. He asked me how he could get out there and I suspiciously demanded his name and his business. As soon as I learned he was a friend of yours, Madge, I invited him to join the festivities.”
“I guess I arrived too late to be of much service,” the ranger said regretfully.
“Not much you didn’t!” Rex protested. “If you hadn’t been along, I doubt if we’d have found this place. When we landed at the beach and were puzzled which way to go, he picked up Madge’s trail like a blood hound.”
“A blind man could have followed it,” Jack declared modestly.
The young people decided to allow other questions to go unanswered until they reached the yacht, for Mr. Burnett was in need of food and rest. While the kidnappers had not actually mistreated him, they had grilled him at all hours and had shortened his rations to the vanishing point.
“When I get toThe FloraI want a big juicy steak, French fried potatoes, several pies and at least a gallon of good, hot coffee,” Mr. Burnett announced, “and you all must share the feast with me.”
With Rex and Jack supporting him on either side, he was able to walk. They helped him down to the beach and established him comfortably in the cockpit of the amphibian. Jack, Madge and Enid said they would return in the motor boat, and before leaving Cedar Point, watched the amphibian take off.
During the long trip back toThe Flora, Madge and Jack had ample opportunity to renew acquaintances. They had been separated less than a month yet from their conversation a stranger would have judged that they were meeting after several years’ absence. Enid piloted the boat, obligingly keeping her eyes glued on the course. She experienced no difficulty in avoiding Clingman’s Rock and brought them safely into harbor.
“I hope the Zudi Drum is still here,” Madge said as they stepped aboard the yacht. “If it isn’t, I’ll go jump off the deep end.”
She found the trophy in Mr. Burnett’s cabin where she had hidden it.
There was no sleep for anyone that night. Jose, the cook, was rousted from his bed to prepare the most ambitious meal of his life. The feast came to an end just as the sun was coloring the east.
“‘All’s well that ends well,’ as our good friend Shakespeare once said,” Mr. Burnett quoted when the party showed signs of breaking up. “I particularly want this affair to end pleasantly. As soon as I feel able to handle a sail again, I want the vacation to go through as it was originally planned. Enid and I will not be satisfied unless you all join us. You’ll come, won’t you, Mr. French?”
Jack looked at Madge and smiled as he saw her quickly nod.
“I’ll be glad to come,” he accepted. “I’m on my vacation and have more time than I know how to use.”
“Here’s to a glorious cruise!” Enid cried. “Now that everything is settled, let’s all stagger off to bed.”
Stagger they did, and nearly slept the clock around. When Madge awoke it was to find herself famous, for the newspapers, securing the story from the police, had given her credit for the important part she had played in Mr. Burnett’s rescue.
She was destined to have a more substantial reward for her services. Mr. Burnett recovered the jade pin from the jeweler, and after conferring with the police, insisted that Madge accept it as a slight compensation for all that she had done.
“Slight compensation!” she protested. “Why, it must be worth a great deal—Mr. Dewitt told me that. I’d be afraid to keep it. When those men get out of jail they might make trouble.”
“You need not fear on that score,” Mr. Burnett assured her. “The kidnappers have relinquished all claims to both the pin and the drum. They have long sentences to serve. By the time they are set free, the Zudi sect will no longer exist.”
Madge continued to offer objections but in the end she was induced to accept the pin.
In a very few days, Mr. Burnett had recovered his strength and announced that he was ready to leave Cheltham Bay. One fine morningThe Florasailed majestically out of the harbor on a two weeks’ cruise. Rex and Jack learned a great deal about sailing from Mr. Burnett but that was by no means their major interest.
“It’s been a glorious vacation,” Madge told Enid one day as they sat together on the sunny deck. “I can’t believe it will all be over in a few days.”
“You’re feeling blue because Jack soon will be returning to Canada,” her friend teased.
“I’ll hate to see him go,” Madge admitted, “but I wasn’t thinking of that. When I leave here I must go back to Michigan and school. How dull it will seem after such an experience as I’ve had this summer.”
“School isn’t so exciting,” Enid agreed, “but perhaps you can stir things up a bit.”
At the moment, neither of the girls had the slightest intimation of what really lay ahead of Madge. Her exciting days were by no means over. Just around the corner—at Claymore, Michigan—an adventure awaited her arrival. The story is related in the third volume of this series, “The Secret of the Sundial.”
“Oh, well,” Madge remarked optimistically, “the memory of this summer may tide me over for another year or so.”
She said no more for someone had started the phonograph and it was grinding out an inviting dance tune. Jack came to claim her for a partner.
“What were you saying about memories?” he asked as he swept her away. And then in an undertone, intended for her ears alone: “Don’t think for one minute that you can pack me away in moth balls and lavender. I’m like those big mosquitoes we have at Loon Lake—I’ll pester you ’till the end of time!”
THE END