The Message In The Hollow Oak Part 26

The watchers looked at one another, then got ready to attack!

CHAPTER XIX.

Surprise!

THE fake guards were taken completely by surprise. Ned and Dave gave them a football rush that knocked the two men over.

For a few seconds Bob did not know what was going on. He put up his fists to ward off anyone who might attack him. Instantly Nancy and Bess came to his rescue. Quickly they untied his blindfold and pulled the gag from his mouth.

"Nancy!" Bob cried out. "Where did you come from?"

Without waiting for an answer he pitched into the fight to help Ned and Dave. The kidnappers were quickly subdued. Exhausted, they did not try to escape.

Nancy introduced her friends to Bob. He thanked them for rescuing him, and said, "How did you ever find me?"

Nancy explained and added, "Oh, Bob, we're so glad to see you!"

He managed a smile. "Am I glad to see you! How's everything at the dig?"

Quickly Nancy told about the attempted thievery, then asked, "Who kidnapped you?"

Bob confirmed that it was Kit Kadle. "By the way, he does use the alias of Tom Wilson."

Nancy quizzed the prisoners, but they sat on the ground, looking glum and refusing to answer. Bob said he did not know their names but the men were pals of Kit Kadle.

"Did you hear the radio message I sent that a ham picked up? Evidently he pa.s.sed it on."

"Yes, to a broadcasting company," Nancy replied. "Later we learned the ham thought you were in this general area."

Just then George and Burt came around the side of the hill. They stopped short at the surprising scene before them, then hurried over, full of questions.

Swiftly Ned explained the situation and Nancy introduced the newcomers to Bob. Then she turned to George. "Why did you leave the well house?"

"Because the police have the well house surrounded. One of the officers spotted us and said it wasn't necessary for us to keep watch. We came to see if you needed our help."

Bob nodded. "How about tying up these men? There's some rope in that car of theirs, and by the way, the ignition key is in it."

The two prisoners suddenly tried to make a break, but they were quickly stopped by the four boys. Since it seemed best for all of them to hold onto the men, George went to the car and found the rope. She helped tie the men's hands behind their backs and hobbled their feet.

The prisoners sat down again, glaring at their captors. Burt offered to bring back a couple of policemen who were staking out the well house.

While Burt was gone, Bob explained how he had been kidnapped. "It happened while I was near the dig," he said. "These two guys came out of nowhere. While one of them stuffed a gag in my mouth, the other one grabbed me and tore my s.h.i.+rt. A piece of it came off in my hand when I tried reaching for the guy's arm. Before they had a chance to tie me up, I pretended to pa.s.s out. I staggered toward a tree and stuck the material in it. They dragged me away and made me walk in a brook a long distance. The whole time I kept wondering what my capture was all about.

"Later I found out Kit Kadle was in back of the whole thing. He was very nervous about being found, so he had these men moving me from place to place in their car. They had another car they had stolen but were afraid to use it.

"I told them I didn't know anything about the hollow oak, but they didn't believe me. Kadle figured that the message contained directions to a hidden treasure. If he could find it, he would be a rich man. And I guess he also planned to sell whatever he could steal from the dig."

George said, "We found the note you left in the well house. Did they keep you a prisoner there part of the time?"

"Yes," Bob replied. "One or the other of the two armed guards always kept watch outside the places where Kadle and I stayed. Kadle was away a lot, so I had plenty of time to try figuring out how I could save myself."

Nancy was curious about the strange row of stones she had found. "Did you leave them?"

"Yes. When the men took me out for exercise, they untied my hands. I spotted the spearheads in a heap. While they were busy talking, I filled my pockets with them. Later, they moved me. When they weren't watching me for a few seconds, I dropped the spearheads onto the ground one by one. Once I tried to get away but it was hopeless."

Bess spoke up. "I think you were marvelous to rig up a sending set and get a message out. Where did you find the equipment?"

Bob laughed. "I'm studying to be an electrical engineer, and you'd be surprised at all the odd little things I gathered in that shack where Kadle was staying. I worked on the set whenever he was out."

"Where is this shack?" Nancy asked.

"I don't know," Bob replied. "In the woods somewhere. I was blindfolded whenever they moved me in and out of it."

"Is he at the place now?" asked Ned.

Bob said Kadle had gone off somewhere but had told the men he would join them later.

"In the meantime they were to move me to a new hideout. Kadle caught me sending the radio message last night and figured the police would soon locate the place where we were staying."

"When is he going to the well house to pick up the ransom?" Nancy asked.

"Sometime this morning," Bob replied. "That's all I know. Nancy, did you find the message in the hollow oak?"

"No," she said, "but apparently Kadle thinks I did, because he made it part of the ransom."

Bob shook his head. "Kadle doesn't know whether you have or haven't. He just put that in the ransom note in case you had. Anyway, he figures he'll get five thousand dollars."

Ned grinned. "Is he in for a surprise!" Bob laughed when he was told about the dummy sack.

Ned turned to the prisoners and questioned them about where they had planned to take Bob. The men remained silent.

"It doesn't matter now, anyway," said Nancy. "The police should be here soon."

To her dismay Burt returned without them, saying he could not find any of the officers. "I figure they either captured Kadle or are trailing him."

After a discussion it was decided that Bob and Burt would use the prisoners' car and take the kidnappers to the authorities.

"Bob, please don't go before you answer a few more questions," Nancy requested. "Did you ever find out why you were abducted?"

"Yes," Bob replied. "Two reasons. One, Kadle hoped my disappearance would frighten you off the case. Two, he thought I could give him a clue to the hollow oak. He was sure I had picked up information about it from you."

"How did he learn the story of the oak?" Nancy asked.

"He overheard the New York detectives talking about it when they were out here," Bob answered.

Nancy asked him if he knew one of those detectives had been kidnapped by Kadle. "No. But I'm not surprised. Kadle is a fanatic on the subject of the hollow oak. He's determined to find it first and won't let anything stand in his way.