Osceola opened the door indicated by Bill and they slipped through it, closing it softly behind them. They were now in a hall which ran forward bisecting this part of the house. There were two open doors on their left. Bill pointed to the nearer and they tiptoed to the sill.
Thin rays from the floodlights filtered in through half open blinds. By this dim light Bill and Osceola made out the figure of a man sprawled on a cot by the window. A small bureau, two straight chairs, a wardrobe trunk and grass matting on the floor completed the room’s furnishings. On one of the chairs lay a small pile of clothes; on the other, close to the head of the bed was an automatic revolver and a gold-faced watch.
Osceola passed like a shadow across the intervening space and grasped the gun. Bill closed the door to the hall. Neither made the slightest sound. Then Bill nodded to his friend. Osceola promptly kicked the side of the cot and the sleeper awoke to find himself looking into a blue-black muzzle.
“One peep out of you and I’ll blow your head off!” remarked the Indian in a low, dispassionate voice. “Turn on your face and put your hands behind your back.”
A single glance into his captor’s eyes was enough for the fellow on the bed. Those smoldering fires of pent-up hate won the battle before it was begun. The young man hastened to comply with instructions.
Bill came over to the bed and while Osceola continued to cover their prostrate prisoner with the automatic, he tore a sheet into long strips. With these the fellow on the bed was scientifically bound and gagged. Then the two friends moved on to the next room.
In there, exactly the same thing happened. Ten minutes after entering the bungalow, Bill and his Seminole friend were masters of the place.
“I don’t suppose this house has a cellar,” mused Bill. They were in the kitchen, preparing a much needed meal.
“Not a chance,” said Osceola, from the stove. “You’ll strike water a foot down anywhere in this compound. Haven’t you got those cans of corned beef open? This skillet is piping hot.”
Bill tossed him the cans, placed a bowl of eggs within reach of the cook and commenced to slice bread.