“Who knows? ’Fraid I’d get some one on their trail perhaps. I think they’ll use me for ransom, or a decoy sometime, maybe. Who could tell that? All I know is I’m here. Very little to eat. Freezing at night. Flying here, there, everywhere.”
“Have—have they a base?”
“I don’t know. Never been out of this cabin. They—”
“Listen!” Johnny laid a hand on his arm. “Some one climbing into the cockpit.”
At once the motors thundered. “Warming up.” D’Arcy formed the words with his lips, then made the motion of soaring with his hand. Johnny understood. They were leaving.
A glance out of the narrow window told him the weather had cleared.
“Took gas here,” he told himself. “Warmed themselves by my fire, ate my dinner; now we are away.” His heart was filled with impotent rage. “Probably leave my dogs to starve, or wander into the wilds!”
In this last he was wrong. Five minutes later the door was thrown open and a dog tumbled in. He was followed by four others. Then the door was slammed shut.
In their joy at finding him again the dogs nearly ate Johnny up.
“Good dogs!” The boy’s tone was husky. “Lie down, that’s a good fellow! Lie down.”