CHAPTER VI

Trapped!

For a moment Terry withdrew her face from the opening, then like a flash she had scrambled through the hole at the surface and was standing in plain view of the flyer. What's more, she was sobbing and shaking her fist toward Joe Arnold.

"It's _Skybird_! He's taking our plane!" she cried.

As if mocking her, _Skybird_ flipped its tail gracefully and zoomed into the blue.

As Terry stepped on to the plateau, the women surrounded her, trying to hide her from the man watching them from above. Terry could not be sure that he had seen her, but Prim had no doubt in the matter.

"Now you've done it, Terry Mapes!" she cried. "Why don't you think before you do such a thing? You're apt to get these people into trouble! Joe said he'd clean them out!"

"Oh, I know, Prim. I'm sorry I did it, but just then I couldn't help it. I was crazy! I can't bear to have _Skybird_ used by a smuggler. I'll feel as if my little plane were dirty after he's had his hands on her. Prim, what are we going to do?"

But Prim had no suggestions to offer. They were prisoners without question. How long they would have to remain here, she had no idea. They knew only too well what their father and mother were thinking. If Allan and Syd had escaped destruction in the storm, their report would leave no doubt in Dick's mind, at least, that the girls had been lost in the hurricane. Terry knew that the suspense would mean torture for her parents. How thankful she was that Sally Wyn was with them to comfort them and, with her cheerful ways, keep them hoping that all was well.

If Dick and Alice could only have seen them surrounded by a horde of blacks, they would not have been any more hopeful of their final escape.

Joe Arnold had flown off into the blue with _Skybird_, and Terry's heart was sore and bitter with anxiety and anger against her father's enemy.

If she could have known Joe's thoughts at that moment, she would have realized that she was in grave danger. Joe Arnold had planned to search for the girls as soon as the important matter of the smuggled silk had been attended to. He guessed that Terry was on her way to Peter Langley's mine to plead with him to renew the contract and extend the option on the flying field. He had an idea that she was carrying some money.

Joe Arnold was not in a hurry. He had the girls safely on the island. They were his prisoners. He could take his time in getting the papers from them and not run any risk by rushing it. So when the captain of the tramp steamer decided not to leave the harbor that night, Joe and Bud were only too glad to go on board for a good meal, and it was well on toward morning when they reached their huts and prepared to sleep.

In the morning when Joe Arnold went to find the girls, they had disappeared. Pedro seemed truthful when he declared that his people knew nothing about them.

"If we see 'em, we catch 'em for you!" he said.

Pedro's savage grin assured Joe that he would be only too glad to do it and was eager to earn the reward which Joe offered to any of the tribe who would bring the girls to him.

But it did not take Joe long to suspect that the blacks were protecting the girls. He threatened Pedro with destruction of his village, he swore that no one would be left alive on the island, but the chief merely nodded and promised that he would find the girls and bring them to the camp.

Joe knew that he did not dare to molest the blacks. He could rage and threaten, but he dared not carry out his threats. Once angered, they were ugly and he and Bud might be caught and tortured.

So Joe and Bud decided to wait their chance. Whenever the work at the beach let up for a moment, Bud set out in search of Terry and Prim. He was anxious to curry favor with Joe by finding the girls himself and bringing them into camp.

So as soon as Joe Arnold flew off in _Skybird_ with a load of smuggled silk to be turned into the much needed cash, Bud took this chance to look about the island.

He left Pedro in charge at the beach and began wandering around the jungle, skirting the island. With the Big Chief out of the way he thought he could terrify the other members of the tribe and learn where the girls were hidden.

But Pedro had suspected his plan and, taking a short cut through the jungle, he hurried to the cave and talked to the girls.

"Let him come!" cried Terry. "I'm not afraid of Bud Hyslop. He's a big braggart, but it's all a bluff. He's just a coward!"

"I'd like to get Bud down in this cave and keep him here," said Prim angrily. "I'd like to keep him here forever."

"I can't see how that would help any," answered Terry. "What we want to do is to get away from the island and down to Peru with this paper. And we'll not get away by making a prisoner of Bud. That won't help in the least."

Pedro was shaking his head. He frowned and his face looked fierce and cruel. The girls felt shudders go through their bodies and realized that the tribe might be really savage if roused to anger.

Suddenly Pedro spoke, and in his halting, broken sentences he expressed his ideas. Bud was on the way to the new village, and when he came, if he made trouble, it would be good to put him down in the cave. Besides they might make him talk so that they would know what Joe Arnold was planning to do.

"And where will _we_ stay?" asked Terry.

"My house!" replied the chief with a wave of his hand toward the hut. "Pedro's house, your house!" And Rosa led the girls inside the hut.

Pedro covered the opening to the cave with straw mats and giving orders for his followers to guard the girls well, he left to go back to the beach.

But Terry and Prim were far less comfortable here than they had been in the cave. Here there was not a breath of wind, for Pedro's wife seated herself in the opening and kept out what little air there was.

Finally Terry could stand it no longer. She jumped up and shoved Rosa aside. The big black woman laughed as she watched Terry and Prim mopping the perspiration from their faces.

At that moment one of the half grown native girls ran with a cry of fear to Rosa. She pointed back toward the far side of the ridge, where a man was scrambling up to the settlement.

There was no time to hide away. Terry and Prim stood face to face with Bud Hyslop.

Bud laughed as he had seen Joe Arnold do, a sarcastic, triumphant laugh. He moved toward the girls aggressively, but Rosa was by their side and was shoving them gently but firmly backward.

"You're to come with me, girls!" exclaimed Bud. "Hurry up and get going! I've got you now!"

Rosa pulled them back with a vigorous hand as Bud rushed at them. But his foot slipped, he stumbled and sprawled headlong for a second then went sliding down through the earth. For Rosa had cleverly moved around the straw mats in a straight line from Bud, and when he charged at them, the force of his stride sent him slipping and sliding down the slippery walls of the cave. He did not stop until he had bumped all the way down and splashed into the dark waters below.

"Help, help!" he cried. "You black rascals, get me out of here!"

A young native hauled him out to safety. Bud was half stunned and glad enough to stay in the cave for a little while until he could think what to do. He finally called Terry, but the girl refused to go down into the cave to talk to him.

Hour after hour slipped by. Bud saw none of the brilliant colors of the crystals. He was sore and disgusted, his plans had all gone wrong, and instead of being praised by Joe, he would be despised and blamed and ridiculed.

A strong guard was placed at the opening of the cave and Terry and Prim could enjoy the air. Muggy and oppressive though it was, it was better than the stifling closeness of the hut.

Rosa glowed with triumph, taking all the credit to herself for trapping Bud, and for the rest of the day she was in high spirits, commanding the young blacks as if they were her slaves.

It seemed to Terry and Prim that these people were eating half their time. Huge amounts of fish and fruit were consumed. They started at sunrise and only ended at bedtime.

Terry and Prim slept that night in the chief's hut, with the faithful Rosa sleeping on a mat before the door. They rose at dawn when the blacks began to stir.

It was still early in the morning when they heard the drone of a motor in the sky and hurried into the hut. For now the real trouble was beginning. Joe Arnold had returned. _Skybird_ soared, banked and circled about the island. Joe headed her low over the plateau, so low that Terry, peering through the matted vines, saw Joe's face distinctly. His grin of triumph was always unpleasant, now it was threatening as well.

Terry's face went white with anger as she saw _Skybird_.

"How dare he use our little plane for his shady business! The crook!" she exclaimed.

If Terry and Prim could have heard the Big Chief when Joe Arnold returned to the beach, they would not have been so trusting. For Pedro told Joe that his men had captured the girls and had them safely in the cave. Bud Hyslop was there now to guard them.

Joe nodded approvingly. Things seemed to be working out just as he planned. His trip to the mainland had been successful and now he was free to fly to South America where he would attend to that little matter of taking up the option on the Dick Mapes Flying Field. But in the meantime he would search the girls and see if they were carrying the money.

"Guess I'll go on up and take a look at them," said Joe carelessly. "You might fill up the plane with gasoline. I may need to go out on another trip soon."

As Joe followed the path through the jungle he thought to himself. "You have to handle these savages rough! If I hadn't threatened to kill them all, they'd have turned against me. Some day I'll have a big base here and they'll all be working for me like slaves."

But Joe had come by the jungle path and the girls were fully warned of his approach. Rosa went to meet Joe Arnold with a broad grin on her face.

Terry's heart sank as she watched from the shelter of the hut. She gripped Prim nervously. They clung together in terror. Why had they been so easily fooled? There was Rosa telling Joe that she had the girls safely trapped, waiting for him. The girls shrank back in the hut afraid to come out and face the man who had them in his power. With the whole tribe on Joe's side, there was little chance of escape. This was the end.

"I'd have sworn they were real friends," whispered Prim in a frightened voice. "It would be lots better to be on that island with wild beasts than here with these treacherous savages."

But just then they heard Rosa directing Joe Arnold to the cave. With the few words of English she knew she was telling him that the girls were prisoners in the big cave. "You go down!" she said.

"Sure!" replied Joe with a broad smile. "I'll kill two birds with one stone. I've always wanted to see the inside of one of those big caves. And when I find those girls, I have a few things to say to them." Joe put his leg down the opening and felt for the rock. Then his other leg found a foothold. As his head disappeared. Bud's voice called to him.

"Watch out, Joe, they're tricky! The girls are not here!"

But it was too late. When Joe started to scramble out of the cave, shouting his threats, he was thrust back by a huge black, who held a long knife in his hand. Down he tumbled, bruised and shaken.

At that moment Terry and Prim rushed out of the hut and saw Joe disappear. "Now is our chance to get away, Prim!" cried Terry. "Let's get to the beach!" Terry grabbed up her flying coat and helmet.

"Hurry, hurry, Terry, he may get out!" cried Prim. Her face was white with the strain.

Terry was saying goodbye to Rosa and the other women of the village. She was trying to express her thanks. It seemed ungrateful to hurry away without a farewell. But Rosa shook her head and shoved Terry ahead of her toward the jungle path, calling back in a shrill voice to the women.

Suddenly Terry started and looked upward. "Listen Prim. It's a plane!" She had heard the distant hum of an airplane motor and was searching the sky anxiously. Then through the trees she saw the plane driving toward them.

"Who is it, Terry?" asked Prim.

"I wish I knew. Maybe it is a friend of Joe Arnold's," replied Terry as she gazed with dread toward the plane that was coming nearer and nearer to the island.

Now the plane was circling above them. The girls watched with anxiety as the pilot put it into a long, fast dive toward the near-by clearing.