“No! I’ll wait here for my father!” she cried. “Keep your promise. You have the Zudi Drum—now free my father.”
“He is inside,” the man told her. “If you wish to see him, you must enter.”
Enid hesitated, beside herself with doubt and suspicion. Then the desire to find her father overshadowed all else, and she reluctantly entered the house. Instantly, the door slammed shut.
“They have her now!” Madge thought in alarm. “She walked straight into their trap.”
For a full minute she stood at the edge of the clearing, trying to decide what was best to do. Should she return to the beach there to await Rex and the authorities or attempt to find out what was transpiring inside the house?
“Rex may not have seen my signal rocket,” she told herself anxiously. “In that case, help will never come. If it comes to the worst I must make an effort to save Enid myself.”
Convinced that it would never do to leave the scene, she stealthily moved across the clearing. Once she paused to look back toward the forest, feeling that someone was following her.
The windows of the house had been darkened and in only one room was there a sign of a light. Madge tiptoed across the porch and tried to peer inside. The crack between the bottom of the curtain and the window sill was too small to permit even a glimpse. She could hear a faint murmur of voices inside but was unable to distinguish a word.
“It’s possible the men really mean to release Mr. Burnett,” she considered. “If they intend to keep their promise, Enid should be coming out in a minute or so.”
Then she thought of the Zudi Drum Bowl and the substitution she and Rex had made. If the package were opened, Enid would be involved in even more difficulties.