Dorothy Dixon and the Mystery Plane Page 7

  Chapter VII

  SHANGHAIED

  Dorothy came slowly back to consciousness. She was vaguely aware of thechug-chug of a small engine somewhere near by. Her head swam and therewas a sickly sensation at the pit of her stomach.

  She tried to move, and found it impossible. She heard the splash ofwaves but could see nothing except the boarded wall of her prison a footor so away from her eyes.

  After a while she became accustomed to the gloom and her sight wasclearer. She decided that the rounded wall was the side of a boat.Turning her head slightly she saw that she lay on the flooring of anopen motor sailor, beneath a thwart. It had stopped raining. Now thesound of the engine and the gurgle of water against the hull told herthat the craft was moving.

  She hadn't the slightest idea where this cabinless craft was bound, orhow she came to be aboard. Gradually there returned to her a confusedmemory of the cottage on the dunes, voices through the window. Someone'sarm about her neck, forcing her head back--she remembered, now, andgroaned. Her body was one stiffness and ache.

  Again she tried to heave herself into a sitting position, only to findthat her ankles were bound with a turn or two of cord, and her wristswhipped together behind her back. She was trussed like a fowl, and bythe feel of her bonds, the trusser was a seaman. She wriggled andwrithed, consumed by rage at her own helplessness. The only result wasto restore her circulation and clear her faculties, allowing her torealize just what had happened.

  "Shanghied!" Dorothy muttered thickly. "Oh, if I'd only had a chance tolet loose a little jiu jitsu on that beast who scragged me!"

  Why had they brought her on board this boat and tied her hand and foot?Where was the motor sailor bound? What was going to happen to her next?Mr. Walters would probably get her letter during the afternoon. Yancyseemed a dependable sort of man. Without doubt a raid on the beachcottage would follow, but by that time the birds would have flown, andwhat good would the raid do her! Her thoughts ran on.

  Those men in the cottage were not fools. Their conversation, as they sataround the table, had meant little to Dorothy, but she no longer doubtedthat the gang was interested in an undertaking that was illegal andfraught with considerable danger to themselves. Could it be bootlegging?Possibly. But Dorothy did not fancy that idea. The Mystery Plane, (shehad got in the habit of calling it that now) hadn't enough storagecapacity to carry any great quantity of liquor. Where did that amphibiancome into this complicated scheme?

  This night's work had turned out a failure so far as she was concerned:she should never have undertaken the job of ferreting out the truthalone.

  If only Bill Bolton were not away. He would never have allowed her toget into this mess!

  Suddenly she heard the creak of a board and the sound of footstepsapproaching. Dorothy realized that she lay huddled in the bow of thecraft, with her head aft and her feet forward. That was why she had notbeen able to see anything of the crew. She shut her eyes again assomeone flashed a torch in her face.

  "She's not much better," said a voice she recognized as belonging to theman called Donovan. "Doesn't look to me as if she'd be out of it for along time. I think you must have given her an overdose of the stuff,Peters." He stirred her none too gently with his foot.

  "I hope I did!" answered a new voice. "That little wildcat got my thumbbetween her teeth while I was holdin' the rag to her face. She bit mesomethin' terrible, I tell yer."

  "Never mind your thumb. We've heard enough of that already. How long didyou hold the chloroform to her nose?"

  "I dunno. I gave her plenty. If her light's out, I should worry."

  "You're right, you should. I'm not handling stiffs on the price of thisjob." Donovan's tone was biting.

  A hand pressed Dorothy's side.

  "No stiffer than you are," affirmed Peters matter-of-factly. "I can feelher breathe."

  "She looks pretty bad to me," Donovan insisted. "The old man will raisethe roof if you don't get her over to Connecticut O.K. You know what hesaid over the phone!"

  "Then why not ask Charlie? He used to be a doctor before he did thatstretch up the river." He raised his voice. "Hey, there, Charlie! Leavego that wheel and come here for a minute."

  "Can't be done," replied Charlie, and Dorothy knew that the third man onthe beach cottage group was speaking. "What do you want me to do--runthis sailor aground in the shallows?"

  "Well, Donovan thinks the girl's goin' to croak."

  "That's your worry. You're the lad who administered the anesthetic. Youprobably gave her too much."

  "Say, Charlie, this is serious," Donovan broke in anxiously. "Quithigh-hatting and give us your opinion."

  The steersman snorted contemptuously. "She'll come out of it allright--that is, unless her heart's wobbly. If it is, I couldn't doanything for her out here. You're supposed to be running this show, Don,and Peters did your dirty work. I'm only the hired man. If she goes out,you two will stand the chance of burning, not me. Cut the argument!There's shipping ahead. What are you trying to do--wake the harbor?"

  Donovan and Peters stopped talking and went aft. Presently their voicesbroke out again but this time came to the girl in the bow as a low,confused murmur.

  So she owed this situation to Mr. Peters. Dorothy was feeling better nowand despite her discomfort she spent several minutes contemplating whatshe would do to Mr. Peters, if she ever got the chance.

  The motor sailor's engine stopped chugging and soon the boat came torest.

  "I'll carry her in myself," spoke Donovan from somewhere beyond herrange of vision. "Peters bungled the business when he was on watch atthat dump across the bay. I want no more accidents until she's safelyoff my hands."

  Dorothy was caught up in a pair of strong arms as if she had been somuch mutton.

  "Think I'd drop her in the drink?" laughed Peters.

  "You said it.--Sure this is the right dock, Charlie?"

  "No, Donny, it's the grill room of the Ritz--shake a leg there, both ofyou. We've got a long boat ride and a sweet little job ahead of us. Wecan't afford to be late--hustle!"

  Donovan did not bother to reply to this parting shot. He slung Dorothyover his shoulder, stepped onto a thwart, from there to the gunwale andon to the dock. They seemed to be in some kind of backwater from where aset of steps led up from the dock to a small wharfyard, shut in on threesides by high walls and warehouses.

  Donovan shouldered open a door and ascended a narrow flight of rottingstairs. It had been dark in the yard, but inside the warehouse the nightwas Stygian. At the top he waited until Peters came abreast.

  "Where's your flash, Peters?" he growled.

  "Haven't got one, Cap."

  "Here--take mine, then, and show a glim. It's in my side pocket. Myhands are full of girl!"

  "Got it," said Peters, a moment later.

  The light came on and Dorothy, between half-shut eyelids saw that theywere in a long, dismal corridor.

  "I'll go ahead," continued the man, "I've got the key."

  Down this long corridor they passed, then into another narrow passagerunning at right angles from the first.

  Peters eventually stopped at a door which he unlocked and flung open.

  "Here we are," he announced and preceded them over the sill.

  Dorothy caught a glimpse of a small room that smelt of rats andwastepaper with a flavor of bilgewater thrown in. Then she closed hereyes as Donovan dumped her on the bare floor, propping her shouldersagainst the wall.

  "Well, that's done," Donovan said with great satisfaction. "Are yougoing to wait here for the car, Peters, or out in the yard?"

  "The yard for mine, Cap. This joint is full o' spooks. It's jollieroutside."

  "Right. We'll get going then."

  Peters paused and looked at the girl. "There might be some change--maybea bill or two in the lady's pockets, Cap?" He winked at Donovanhopefully.

  "You leave the girl's money alone. The boss distinctly said not tosearch her. He wants
her delivered just as she is."

  "Well, what if she passes out on me hands, Cap?"

  "Deliver her just the same. And mind--you obey orders or you'll bite offa heap more trouble than you can chew. Come along now!"

  The two men left the room. The bolt in the door shot home, then the keyturned in the lock; As the sound of their footsteps over the bare floordied away, Dorothy opened her eyes. Summoning all her strength, shewrenched at the bonds that held her, but she accomplished no more thanlacerating her wrists.

  She was to be shifted to some safer place, presumably in Connecticut,where she was to be taken by car. Meanwhile, there was no escape fromwhere she was, even if her limbs were free. Should she show signs ofconsciousness, the best she had to hope for was another dose ofchloroform or a gag when that enterprising thug, Mr. Peters, returned.He was not the kind to leave anything to chance.

  Almost before she had got her wits to work, Dorothy heard steps in thepassage and let herself go limp again, her knees drawn up, her head andneck against the wall. The bolt was drawn, and Peters entered the room.He flashed the torch over his prisoner.

  "I don't think there'll be any harm in me takin' a dollar or two," hemuttered. "What's the use of money to a stiff? And you sure do look goodand dead, young woman!" he chuckled as he bent down to begin the search.

  "Guess again!"

  Dorothy's bound feet shot upward with the force of a mainspringuncoiling. Her neck was braced against the wall and the whole strengthof her thighs was behind the kick that drove her boot heels smashingunder her captor's chin. The gangster sailed backward. His head hit thebase of the opposite wall with a resounding crack and he lay like a log.

  The electric torch trundled over the planks and came to a standstill,throwing its pencil of light across the floor. For a couple of seconds,Dorothy peered and listened. Then with intense exhilaration of spirit,she rolled and wriggled herself across the intervening space until shewas underneath the window. Here, after a little straining and wobbling,that nearly cracked her sinews, she got on her knees. Then she heavedherself upright so that she leaned sideways against the sash. With athrust she drove her elbow through the pane. There was a crash and atinkle of falling glass.

  Two more thrusts shivered the pane until there remained only a fringe ofbroken glass at either side. Turning her back to it, she felt for thebroken edge with her fingers and brought her rope-lashed wrists acrossit. Splintered window glass has an edge like a razor. Dorothy fumbledthe cord blindly to the cutting edge, sawed steadily and felt one of theturns slacken and part.

  It was enough. In a few seconds her wrists were free and she stooped andcast loose the lashings from her ankles. She staggered a little andcollapsed on the floor. After chafing her arms and legs, she turned toattend to her companion.

  There was no need. Mr. Peters showed no further sign of animation than aham. To insure against interference or pursuit, Dorothy turned him over,untied a length of cord from her ankle-bonds, and cast a doublesheet-bend about his wrists.

  Picking up the flashlight, she hurried out through the door which thatcanny seeker of "pickings" had left open. She hurried along the twopassages and down the rickety stairs. The door at the bottom was closed,so snapping off her light, she pulled it open and stepped into the yard.

  But here she was certain there was no egress except by swimming unlessshe could find a way through the other side of the house. Somewhere outin the darkness she heard the lap and plash of water and the faint creakof rowlocks. Instantly she ducked behind a pile of empty barrels.

  A boat skulled stealthily through the gloom and fetched up alongside thedock. A tall figure made the little craft fast, climbed the steps andpeered around the yard.

  At that very moment, a water rat dropped from the top of the wall to theground by way of Dorothy's shoulder. It was impossible for her tosuppress the exclamation of fright that escaped her.

  The figure in the middle of the yard swung round and an electric torchflashed over the barrels.

  "Come out of that or I'll shoot!" ordered the stranger. "And come outwith your hands up!"