CHAPTER XX

Mrs. Klenger Intervenes

joe removed the gag from Chet Morton's mouth and loosened the short pieces of wire which bound his hands and feet.

"Wow!" Chet gasped. "Am I glad you two came along!"

"Not so loud," Frank cautioned him in a low voice, glancing toward the office.

"How did it happen?" Joe asked.

In an undertone Chet recounted how, after a late movie, he had walked through the neighborhood toward the lot where his car was parked and decided to pass by the plumbing shop to see if everything was in order.

To his surprise, he saw a light-and cautiously investigated. But a bell tinkled the moment Chet stepped into the shop, and he barely had time to bat an eye before he found himself bound and gagged and dumped behind the counter.

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172 The Secret of Skull Mountain

"I guess I'm not much of a detective," Chet sighed dejectedly as the boys grinned. He looked at them queerly. "Hey," he inquired. "How come the bell didn't ring when you came in?"

Joe described Frank's use of the handkerchief.

"What I don't understand," the blond-haired boy whispered, frowning, "is why the men didn't lock ;he door after they discovered you were able to enter the shop."

"Lock's jammed," Chet replied promptly. "I heard one of the men say so."

"Who were the men, Chet?" Frank queried.

"Sweeper and Limpy," he told Frank. "They went into that office at the back of the store."

The three boys looked at the light in the transom over the closed door. Although they could hear the men's voices, the sound was too faint for them to distinguish the words.

Suddenly a new sound came through the slightly open transom-a sustained, rushing noise similar to the sound the boys used to make by blowing across the rim of a drinking glass.

The youths stared at one another, puzzled. Frank tiptoed close to the door and placed a chair beside it. He mounted the chair and gently pushed open the transom a few inches more. Then he looked inside the office.

Sweeper and the man with the limp were kneeling on the floor in front of a small iron safe. Sweeper

Mrs. Klenger Intervenes 173

was holding an acetylene torch, and its bluish flame was cutting a circle through the metal around the lock of the safe.

Frank felt a tug at his trouser leg and looked down. It was Chet. Joe had discovered the door's keyhole was empty, and was intently observing the men through the tiny aperture. But Chet was completely mystified as to what was taking place.

He looked up at Frank, his face tortured with curiosity. "What's going on?" he demanded in a hoarse whisper.

Frank started to tell his impatient friend, then wisely decided to climb down from the chair lest his voice carry through the transom.

"They're cracking the safe with a blowtorch," he told Chet when he was standing beside him.

"Blowtorch!" the boy breathed. "Lemme see!"

He climbed eagerly up on the chair.

"Take it easy, Chet," Frank whispered urgently, "or you'll give us away!"

Chet nodded reassuringly, then tried to peek through the transom. But being inches shorter than Frank, he found his eyes were below the tilted glass.

"I can't see!" he whispered. "Try to locate a couple of books for me to stand on, willya?"

Frank sighed and nodded reluctantly. Something told him Chet was headed for trouble.

He brought back a few bound catalogues from the counter and stacked them on the seat of the chair.

174 The Secret of Skull Mountain

Chet climbed on top of the stack, teetering precariously.

"Watch out-!" Frank whispered sharply.

He sprang forward to support the youth, but Chet was past all aid. He gave Frank a wild, despairing look as the catalogues skidded out from under him, and he had to leap to the floor past the tumbling books!

The boys heard startled exclamations from inside the office-and the acetylene torch was shut off.

"Behind the counter!" Frank whispered. "Quick!"

He pulled the chair from its position in front of the door, and then the three youths ducked behind the end of the long counter loaded with plumbing gadgets.

A moment later, the office door was flung open, and Sweeper stared out.

Limpy's face, pale with fright, appeared at the Hhin man's shoulder.

"What was it?" he asked, trembling.

Sweeper stared at the books sprawled near the upright chair. At that moment a black cat walked into the rectangle of light which streamed through the open doorway. He stopped and looked at the two men, then meowed piteously.

Sweeper laughed.

"A snooping cat-that's what it was!" he said, pointing. "Must've jumped on the chair and knocked all those books off!"

Mrs. Klenger Intervenes 175

He picked up a book and threw it at the animal. The cat squealed with fright and anger, and ran to another part of the shop.

"Black!" Limpy whispered, staring after it. "That means bad luck!"

"Forget it," Sweeper told him shortly. He went back into the office. "Come on," he said impatiently. "We've got to finish this job."

The small man limped after him and closed the door.

Soon, the boys heard the sound of the acetylene torch again. They crept out from behind the counter, and Frank again placed the chair beside the door.

"This time," he whispered to Chet, "you stay on the floor where nothing can happen-I hope!"

He stood on the chair and peered through the transom, while Joe resumed his position at the keyhole.

Sweeper and Limpy were concentrating on the safe, but their voices could be heard over the sound of the blowtorch.

"Plane all set for the getaway?" Sweeper asked.

Limpy nodded. "It's waiting for us at the south end of the airport."

Getaway! Airport!

Frank signaled a huddle.

"We've got to think of some way to stop them," he muttered to the others. "But how?"

176 The Secret of Skull Mountain

"We'd better ask Dad to take a hand in this," Joe whispered. "Those men may have guns."

Frank approved, but Chet shook his head.

"Won't work," he whispered back. "Your dad's in Washington."

"Washington!" gasped Joe.

"He got a phone call shortly after you left for the mountain," Chet went on. "Said he'd be back as soon as he could."

Joe groaned inwardly. "And we wanted to tell him about the cavern!"

Chet looked interested, but Frank headed him off.

"If I know Dad, he'll be back in time for the fireworks." He turned to Chet. "The roadster's parked a few doors to the left of the shop," he said in a rapid undertone. "Drive to Chief Collig's house and bring him here!"

Chet quailed as he thought of the burly, gravel-voiced chief of police.

"In the middle of the night?" he protested. "I'll have to wake him up!"

"I don't care if you have to drag him out of bed!" Frank told him firmly. "Just bring the chief here as fast as you can!"

Chet sighed and tiptoed out of the shop.

Frank and Joe resumed their watch-Joe at the keyhole, Frank on the chair.

A few moments later, they saw the acetylene torch cut a complete circle through the metal of the safe, and the lock fell out onto the floor.

Mrs. Klenger Intervenes 177

The small but neavy door swung open, and Sweeper reached eagerly into the safe and took out a metal box. He snapped the lid open and dumped the contents of the box hurriedly on a desk.

The thin man fumbled through some papers impatiently, then snatched up an envelope. He drew out a wad of currency.

"There it is!" he cried exultantly, flipping the bills with his thumb. "Five thousand bucks! Klen-ger's promised me this cash ever since I started to do his dirty work-but he never delivered. Well, we're square now-even if Klenger doesn't know it!"

But Limpy wasn't listening. The small, furtive man was nervously poring through the scattered papers, wetting his lips and muttering under his breath.

Finally he found what he was so anxiously looking for-a bank check. He stared at it, his fingers trembling.

"That it?" Sweeper asked.

"Yes," Limpy told him. He looked at Sweeper, his mouth quivering. "For years, Klenger's been holding this against me," he said, "-this check. I used to be a respectable accountant. I worked for Klenger. Then, to get more money for my family, I forged his name to this check." He broke off and stared at the slip of paper. "Klenger threatened to expose me-to have me sent to jail unless I helped him carry out his schemes. But now I have Klenger's evidence against me!" he said, his voice sud-

178 The Secret of Skull Mountain

denly gleeful. "I'll destroy the check and be freel"

Sweeper laughed.

"We're both free, Limpy! You to go home to your family-me to spend five thousand smackers!"

So engrossed were the boys with the scene inside Klenger's office that they almost failed to notice that someone was entering the street door of the shop.

Frank turned sharply as he heard the front door close, and saw the shadowy figure of a woman outlined against the glass panel.

He snapped his fingers to attract Joe's attention, then stepped softly down from the chair.

A moment later, from behind the counter, the boys saw the woman approach the office and open (the door. The light fell on her face.

"It's Mrs. Klenger!" Joe whispered excitedly.

The woman stared at the open safe, then at Sweeper and Limpy.

"What are you two doing here?" she said coldly,