there was no question but that something unusual had taken place both inside and outside of the leftover cabin. the very absence of noise in hang gow’s kitchen was significant when one bore in mind the usual cheerful racket made by the chinese cook. the torn-up earth near the spot where bill cromley’s still lighted pipe had fallen was more evidence.
it took but a few seconds for all three lads to hurry around to the kitchen.
“he isn’t here!” announced bob, peering in.
“yes, there he is, lying under the table!” cried ned. “and he’s been hurt, too! look at the blood!”
there were some spots of red on the floor near the head of the chinese, and the kitchen showed signs of a struggle. a vague spirit of uneasiness and fear was overshadowing the boys. what would tinny find at the mine?
however, the lads were not the ones to waste time in useless conjecture. the three hurried[143] into the kitchen, and their first act was to raise hang gow.
“he isn’t badly hurt,” jerry announced, running his fingers lightly over the cook’s head. “just a scalp wound. he’s knocked out, that’s all. get me some water, ned.”
hang gow roused and opened his eyes as tinny came running back from the mine. the work was going on quietly, and a hail to one of the men had brought the information that cromley was not there.
not waiting, then, to voice any of his suspicions, tinny had hastened back to see if the boys had come upon any clews to the mystery which seemed settling down on leftover.
“what happened?” cried tinny, as he entered the kitchen and saw hang gow, blood on his face, being ministered to.
“he was knocked out. we found him unconscious under the table,” jerry reported. “he’s coming around all right now. maybe he can tell what it’s all about.”
but for a time hang gow could only babble in his own tongue, and no one could understand him. tinny knew a few words of chinese, but not enough for any practical purpose.
however, the dazed feeling caused by the blow gradually wore off, and after the cook had been given some hot coffee he sat up. seeing the[144] friendly faces about him he began to talk in a queer mixture of english and chinese.
this was almost as unintelligible as his own language, and it was not until tinny had taken a hand, speaking firmly to the cook, that he blurted out something that gave them a real idea of what had taken place.
“them take mista bill,” announced hang gow. “them take him off in wagon—thlee bad mans! them come in hang gow’s klitchen—me think wantee some glub. i say ‘no can do!’ them say bad talk—hit hang gow. me fight ’um, but too much. them take bill ’way!”
“you mean to say three men came here, knocked you on the head, and ran away with bill in a wagon?” asked tinny. “chop-chop now, hang gow! number one talk, you know—savvy?”
“me savvy all lite! them take bill. bill much fight, but ’um take him ’way!”
there was silence for a moment. then jerry exclaimed:
“it’s that noddy nixon crowd, i’m sure!”
“looks so,” admitted ned.
“do you mean to say that rascal and his cronies are as desperate as all this?” asked tinny.
“they sure are!” declared jerry.
“and the nerve of them coming in here and demanding something to eat!” cried bob, as if[145] this was the highest crime of all. “i’m glad hang gow didn’t give it to them!”
“guess he didn’t get the chance,” said ned grimly. “but, say, if noddy nixon has kidnaped bill he can have only one reason for it.”
“he can’t have done it to get a line on our mine,” said jerry. “we’ve got too big a crowd of men here for him to try to buck up against.”
“no, it isn’t that,” ned remarked. “but noddy and his two cronies know that bill has inside knowledge as to where the treasure chest went over the cliff. they want to get a line on that. so they have taken bill away and they’re going to try to make him guide them to the spot. i guess dolt haven doesn’t know as much about it as he said he did.”
“probably not,” assented tinny. “it’s all a fairy story about that treasure chest, anyhow.”
“and do you think they really have taken bill?” asked bob.
“it looks so—his pipe being dropped and all that,” jerry replied. “bill was very careful about his pipe. professor snodgrass had hard work to borrow it that time he smoked the hornets.”
“let me question hang gow a little more,” suggested tinny.
the chinese was feeling better now, and had recovered his nerve, so he was better able to tell what had happened. piecing together his[146] story, as drawn out by tinny, it appeared that three men, surmised to be noddy, jack and dolt haven, had suddenly appeared at leftover in the absence of the mine owners.
one of them had attacked hang gow on pretense of entering the kitchen to ask for something to eat. the chinese had been knocked out by a blow on the head with some blunt instrument, but before he lapsed into unconsciousness on the floor under his table he had seen through a window the attack on bill cromley.
in spite of his struggles, cromley had been overpowered and taken off in a wagon or an auto; hang gow was not quite sure or quite clear about this.
“at any rate, they’ve got bill!” exclaimed ned.
“it’s a wonder the men at the mine didn’t hear something of the fight,” remarked bob.
“they didn’t hear a thing,” reported tinny. “they were blasting about that time, and that probably accounts for their not hearing anything of what went on here. besides, it was all over in a few minutes, according to hang gow. they must have taken bill by surprise. but now that we know what happened, we’ve got to do something!”
“you said it!” cried bob, with sudden energy. “come on! let’s trail after noddy and his gang!”
[147]
“that’s what we’ll have to do if we want to get bill back,” added ned.
“if bill wasn’t handicapped by that lame leg of his,” said jerry, “he’d have put up a better fight, i’m sure.”
“well,” remarked tinny, “i think there’s only one thing to do, as you boys have suggested. we must begin a search for bill. we can’t leave him in the hands of those rascals, though they’ll probably treat him decently for the sake of the information they hope to get out of him.”
“then we’ve got to hit the trail?” asked bob.
“sure!” cried ned and jerry.
“i’ll put up the grub,” offered bob, in all seriousness. “hang gow can go to bed and get over his headache. i’ll look after things here.”
but this was just what the cook would not allow. as soon as he understood what bob’s object was—kindly though it was intended—hang gow made all sorts of chinese noises, and in effect said it would take more than a knock-out to keep him from his kitchen work.
the result was that after his head had been bound up hang gow resumed work where it had been interrupted.
then the motor boys and tinny began searching for clews that would put them on the trail of noddy and his crowd.
“we’d better go right down to livingston and[148] find out where they hang out,” suggested tinny. “where’s the professor?”
“out after bugs,” replied ned. “but he isn’t much good in a case like this.”
“he was all right when it came to the mountain lions,” remarked bob.
“that’s so!” agreed jerry.
“i didn’t think so much of taking him with us, as that if we go away we ought to leave word with him what it’s all about,” replied mallison. “he may come back, not find us, and imagine all sorts of things.”
“i don’t believe he’ll do much worrying,” said jerry. “if he gets here with some specimens he’ll sit down and make notes about them. when he’s found a new bug he doesn’t even know when it’s time to eat unless you tell him.”
the searching party was soon organized, two miners who were going off duty volunteering their aid, and word was left with the assistant foreman to tell professor snodgrass when he arrived what had happened.
“i hope we find bill,” remarked jerry, as they hastily prepared for the search.
