CHAPTER XII.
THE FIGHT IN THE CABIN.
THE FIGHT IN THE CABIN.
THE FIGHT IN THE CABIN.
“It strikes me,” Havens observed, as he sat at the little table in the screened-off corner of theNancy’scabin, gazing at the brutal features of Captain DeMott, the son of the old hag who had so deceived him. “It strikes me,” he repeated, “that you people have some strong motive for getting me out of the way.”
“Sartin, sure,” answered Captain DeMott.
“I must give you credit for capable management,” Havens went on, with a smile. “How did you ever get me out of the stateroom?”
DeMott chuckled, shaking his broad shoulders, but did not answer the question. Then his wicked face hardened.
“Fishing for millionaires in New York,” he commented, “is about the surest and safest sport a-going at this time.”
The old fellow poured himself a liberal portion of whiskey from the bottle and drank it greedily, smacking his lips heartily.
“We had trouble getting you to the house,” he finally said, “and were afraid to carry you from there on board theNancy. So the old woman says to me that if we would leave you to her care for a short time, she’d send you into the cabin of this here vessel of your own accord.”
“Very cleverly done!” commented Havens.
The man took another drink out of the bottle and refilled his foul briar pipe. Havens sat in a brown study during the latter operation. Captain DeMott seemed to be the only person besides himself on board the boat, and he was wondering if it would be possible to overcome the fellow and secure his freedom.
Once out of the boat and into the river, he would be safe from pursuit, for a police barge would undoubtedly spring into motion at the splash.
Desperate as the situation was, the young millionaire decided that he ought at least to make the attempt.
Presently DeMott, probably entering upon a small celebration in honor of an adventure so craftily carried out, stepped to the cupboard and brought forth another bottle of liquor.
“You needn’t mind inspecting the fastenings of the hatch or the windows,” leered the captain as he seated himself again. “I saw you doing of it while I was at the cupboard, so I’ll tell you for your own information that the hatch is locked down hard and fast, and that the windows are likewise fastened.”
Havens smiled grimly but made no reply.
“Likewise,” continued the captain, his voice growing slightly unsteady, “I hold in these here pockets of mine two automatic revolvers which I have a habit of using in case anything unpleasant turns up.”
“I presume,” Havens said after a time, “that the offer I made to Mother DeMott would be rejected by you.”
“I haven’t seen Mother DeMott,” was the answer.
“I offered her twenty-five thousand dollars,” said Havens.
“That is a tidy sum, too,” the captain mumbled. “And yet,” he went on, “what would twenty-five thousand bucks amount to if one got a knife in his back for the taking of ’em?”
“You seem to be connected with a cheerful sort of a gang,” Havens suggested. “I don’t think I’d like such associates.”
“It’s a gang that meets treachery with cold steel!” said the captain savagely. “Always cold steel for traitors!”
“I’ve heard,” Havens observed in a moment, “that Phillips and Mendoza regard human life very lightly.”
Captain DeMott sprang to his feet with an oath.
“I said nothing about Phillips and Mendoza,” he shouted, shaking his fist in the millionaire’s face. “I never saw either one of them!”
Notwithstanding the emphatic denial of the captain, Havens knew then where to look for accessories after the fact in the case of the two murderers. There was no longer any doubt as to the interest which had connived at his abduction.
The clock on the cabin wall denoted the hour of three, and Havens knew that whatever was done must be done at once.
With the morning others would undoubtedly make their appearance on board theNancy, and then escape would be practically impossible. The captain sat at the table for some moments, now, in gloomy silence, occasionally lifting a pair of bloodshot eyes to the face of his captive. At last, however, the millionaire’s opportunity came.
DeMott, swinging sullenly about in his swivel chair, brought his broad back against the edge of the table, on the other side of which Havens sat.
Havens lifted suddenly in his chair, seized the brawny neck with both muscular hands and drew the fellow back upon the table. The furniture was old and creaky, but it held under the added weight. DeMott naturally threw his great hands to his throat to remove the pressure which was shutting the air out of his lungs, but Havens held fast.
The man struggled fiercely, desperately, but the nervous fingers never left his throat. Finally the captain managed to throw himself to the floor, and then he almost succeeded in gripping the throat of his opponent. But Havens was an athlete, and an expert at the wrestling game, so the fellow’s effort failed of success.
After what seemed to the millionaire to be an infinite number of hours, DeMott lay unconscious on the cabin floor. Possessing himself of one of the fallen man’s automatic revolvers, Havens looked about for the key to the cabin hatch. It was not in the captain’s pocket, but he found it in a drawer of the desk.
When he opened the hatch there was a pearly light in the east, and already the river was astir with moving craft. After a moment’s thought, he got softly into the water and moved toward the pier. He heard a shout and saw a police boat moving toward him.
Uttering a cry for assistance, he remained stationary until he was picked up by the guardians of the river. Very fortunately the man in charge of the squad was an intelligent and observing officer of long experience in river work. He knew the shady reputation of theNancy, and remembered, also, that her captain was in great demand at Sing Sing, from which place he had taken his departure without the formality of a permit. This being the case, Havens had little difficulty in explaining the situation. He was permitted to depart after disclosing his identity.
When he turned back to the pier and looked at theNancyin the growing light of day, he saw half a dozen blue-coated officials swarming over the sides. Shivering from his bath in the river, faint from the excitement and exertion of the night, the millionaire waited at the head of the pier on the chance of seeing a taxicab.
None appeared, however, and he was obliged to walk some distance before seeing one of the nighthawks which prowl the streets of New York between midnight and morning. Without stopping a moment for refreshment, he ordered the chauffeur to drive with all speed to his city garage. His own chauffeur was awakened with difficulty, but finally the journey to the hangar in Westchester county was fairly begun.
In five minutes after the arrival of the master the whole place was illuminated and a dozen men were at work.
“Look here, Hilton,” Havens said to the night-watchman, “I want theAnnput in shape for a long journey, and I want the trick turned in less than an hour. I want provisions and gasoline sufficient for two days, and I don’t want a word spoken concerning the departure of the flying machine. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” answered Hilton.
“If any of the people ask about the departure of theAnn,” the millionaire went on, “tell them that she has gone out on a trial trip. They will presume, of course, that she was taken out by an aviator.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Hilton.
“And, another thing,” commanded Havens, “if any telegrams arrive here for me, the reply is to be made that I took a sleeper for the west last night. It may be also said if the messages are pressing that I unaccountably left the sleeper before the departure of the train, and since that time have not been seen.”
“You expect telegrams, sir?” asked Hilton.
“There may be several,” answered the millionaire.
In an hour, as per orders, theAnnwas ready for flight, fully provisioned for a long voyage and with tanks well loaded with gasoline. After giving Hilton positive instructions to inform his secretary that all inquiries should be answered as stated above, Havens stepped into the seat and whirled away.
At that hour, it will be remembered, the boys were watching their machines in the open field a short distance east of the Mississippi river. All that day, while the lads waited in and about the St. Louis post-office, telegraphing to the hangar at frequent intervals, the millionaire was speeding swiftly in their direction. At the Forest Park hangar Havens secured his first news of the boys.
However, the superintendent knew nothing whatever of the destination of theLouiseand theBertha. The boys, he reported, had been non-communicative. The millionaire, however, was glad to learn that the lads had proceeded thus far on their way without serious accident. After filling his tanks and taking a short rest at one of the leading hotels, Havens continued his way.
As will be seen by the reader, he was only a short distance in the rear of theLouiseand theBertha. TheAnnwas a much more powerful machine than either of the ones owned by the boys, and Havens was noted for his reckless driving, so it is quite possible that he would have caught a glimpse of the two flying machines at some stage of the journey if the latter had kept farther to the north as had been agreed upon.
As Havens swept rapidly over the country he was more than satisfied with the steps he had taken to prevent pursuit. But he was out of touch with the boys as well as with his business associates! He still considered the situation a desirable one for the reason that he was also out of touch with the mercenaries who had given him such a bad night on the water front!
And so, flying swiftly, stopping only to rest for a few hours at time, and for gasoline and provisions, Havens crossed the continent in his powerful machine, and, one morning, caught sight of the pretty little city of Monterey, nestling on the border of the bay of the same name. His next task would be to locate theLouiseand theBertha.