William Arden - The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow

Pete clung to Natches, and Bob to Nanika. Then, without another word, the two Yaquali dropped over the edge of the cliff. Pete’s head seemed to spin as he felt himself falling into space, and Bob clutched tightly to the straps in Nanika’s back.

The two Yaquali bounced down the sheer cliff with the speed and agility of flies on a wall. They slid down the ropes, bouncing from rock wall to crevice as they descended swiftly and without pause. At times they swung far out into open space while Bob and Pete clung desperately to their backs. Then the two Indians would swing back to the cliff face at exactly the right spot to continue their unhindered descent. They went down the cliff face in the darkness as easily as other men walk a city street.

The boys hung tight, their eyes closed. It seemed as if the trip down would never end. At last they realized that the Indians were on flat ground again. Cautiously they lowered their legs and opened their eyes.

“We made it!” Bob cried in relief.

Natches grinned. “Is not so bad. That easy.”

“Don’t tell me about the hard ones then,” Pete declared weakly. “But we’d better hurry. Where’s your car, Natches?”

“Road to left. We go for police? They will help?”

“They sure will when we tell them what we know Bob declared.

They all hurried along a trail towards the place where Natches and Nanika had parked their old car.

Just as they reached the road, the bright lights of a truck flashed on, blinding them.

Mr. Harris stepped out of the shadows, holding a rifle “You two boys are beginning to become tiresome. But at least you have brought me my Yaquali friends. I was just a little worried about them running loose.”

“How… ” Bob stammered, “how did you… ”

“Find you? Simple, I saw your signals and came to investigate.”

“Oh, no!” Pete groaned.

Mr. Harris laughed, turning to speak to his burly assistant, Sanders, who stood behind him with another rifle. In that instant, Nanika muttered something and leaped at Mr. Harris. The fake vegetarian stepped adroit]y aside, striking Nanika on the head. The Indian fell to the ground and lay there, motionless.

“Mr. Harris!” Sanders cried. “The other one!”

Harris whirled, but Natches had vanished into the night. He was nowhere to be seen. Mr. Harris glared furiously at the boys. His confident manner vanished for a moment. Then the thief and confidence man laughed coldly.

“No matter, let him go. We’ll soon be far away and, one missing Indian won’t bother us.”

Sanders looked uneasy. “You sure, boss?”

“Of course I’m sure, you idiot! Go and get Carson from his post in front of the cabin. We’ll have to take these meddling fools with us. I’m tired of them bothering me. We’ll put an end to that!”

Sanders went off into the night. Nanika still lay silent the ground, and Mr. Harris continued to glare at Bob and Pete. In sudden fear, they realized that this time they could not get away.

In front of the big Spanish estate house, Chief Reynolds returned from the police car. “No report on those dark men or their car. I’m sorry, Mr. Andrews. But we’ll think of some way to find them.”

“How?” Bob’s dad said nervously. “We don’t have any idea where they are. We’ve found no trace of them!”

They were all out in front of the house where the moonlight turned all the shadows into silver ghosts. Jupiter paced up and down, his round face looking like a miniature owl deep in thought.

“Chief, we do have some idea where they are, I think,” he said slowly. “First, the Hoard must be in the mountains on the estate somewhere. Second, Mr. Harris has a car and a truck. Third, it’s almost certain he plans to get the Hoard tonight. His various ruses to get us out of the way were not designed to hold us for long, just to delay us.”

“But how does all that help us, Jupiter?” Ted said, puzzled.

“It means that he is planning to use a road, and the road is almost certainly on the estate. It probably goes into the mountains, and isn’t very far from here,” Jupiter explained eagerly. “We can rule out the road to the house, and the road to the lodge. So what other roads are there?…Miss Sandow can tell us.”

“By golly, Jupiter, I think you’re right,” said Reynolds.

The Chief turned to Aunt Sarah, while Mr. Andrews, Ted and Worthington all stared out into the night towards the eastern mountains.

“What other roads are there, Miss Sandow?” Reynolds asked.

“Well,” the fragile, little lady said, blinking her eyes as she thought, “I haven’t been around the estate much in recent years, but — ”

Ted suddenly interrupted, “Look! Over there! A light see? It’s flashing.”

They all looked towards the mountains. No one breathed. They waited. Then the faint point of light flashed again — low in the sky, just above the nearest trees

“It’s an SOS!” Jupiter cried. “I bet it’s Bob and Pete. They’re probably being held prisoner up there.”

“About five miles away, I’d say,” Chief Reynolds said “And just about where the foothills of the high mountains begin.”

“Due east, also, Chief,” Worthington pointed out.

The pinpoint of light flashed once more.

“What is out there, Miss Sandow?” Jupiter asked excitedly.

“Why, I’m not sure,” Aunt Sarah said. “It’s been so long. Wait now, yes, my father had an old cabin on the east range. My goodness, I’d forgotten all about that. No one goes out there any more.”

“How do we reach it, ma’am?” asked Mr. Andrews.

“Well, there is a road — rather narrow. It goes on into the high mountains. The road runs just below the cabin. You see, it’s built on a mesa on top of a cliff. It’s quite hard to reach.”

“Just where Mr. Harris would hold prisoners,” Jupiter observed.

They all stared in the direction of the light, but it did not flash again. Though they waited expectantly, there were no more signals.

“Something must have happened.” Mr. Andrews looked worried.

“Let’s head for that cabin,” Chief Reynolds said “There’s no time to lose.”

The Rolls-Royce led the way with Jupiter, Chief Reynolds, Ted and Mr. Andrews in the back seat. The police car came behind, carrying the Chief’s men, except for one who was left behind to guard Miss Sandow. They raced along the highway until they reached the dirt side road described by Miss Sandow.

As they entered the mountain road, they turned off their lights. In the dark they had to proceed more slowly, though the moonlight outlined everything in its ghostly glow. Soon they were at the very bottom of the towering mountains. Both cars drew to a stop and everyone got out.

Jupiter pointed upwards to where a small cabin was clearly visible, bathed in moonlight and nestled on a kind of mesa.

“There it is!”

“There’s no light now,” Mr. Andrews whispered. “We’ll work our way up carefully. It could be a trap,” Chief Reynolds said.

“Hurry, Chief. Bob and Pete may be in immediate danger,” Mr. Andrews said urgently.

“They may be in worse danger if we’re spotted too soon,” the Chief pointed out. “Stay back, Jupiter. Harris Is a dangerous man.”

Jupiter nodded reluctantly, and stayed behind as the Chief and his men started up the steep, narrow path that led up to the mesa. A sudden commotion to the right made them all stop. Worthington and Mr. Andrews, who had been standing near the Rolls-Royce, were struggling with a short, powerful man.

“The dark men!” Jupiter cried.

“Bring him here, men!” Chief Reynolds commanded his policemen.

Two of the policemen joined Worthington and Mr. Andrews and dragged the struggling Natches to where the Chief and Jupiter were waiting. When the Yaquali saw Jupiter, he stopped struggling, and an eager smile spread across his dark face.