There was another short, sharp, silent struggle near the
doorway, and once more Wicker Bonner stood victorious over an
unsuspecting and now unconscious bandit. Sam, a big, powerful man, was
soon bound and gagged and his bulk dragged off to the tent among the
bushes.
"Now for Davy," muttered Bonner, stretching his great arms in the pure
relish of power. "There will be something doing around your heart, Miss
Babe-in-the-Woods, in a very few minutes."
He chuckled as he crept into the cabin, first having listened intently
for sounds. For some minutes he lay quietly with his ear to the floor.
In that time he solved one of the problems confronting him. The man Davy
was a son of old Mrs. Rank's murderer, and the "old woman" who kept
watch with him was his mother, wife of the historic David. It was she
who had held the lantern, no doubt, while David Wolfe chopped her own
mother to mincemeat. This accounted for the presence of the gang in the
haunted house and for their knowledge of the underground room.
Bonner's inspiration began to wear off. Pure luck had aided him up to
this stage, but the bearding of David in his lair was another
proposition altogether. His only hope was that he might find the man
asleep. He was not taking the old woman into consideration at all. Had
he but known it, she was the most dangerous of all.
His chance, he thought, lay in strategy.
Pages:
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187