Moored nearby was a seaplane and in a clump of trees a hundred yards from the beach were two cabins. It was an ideal hideaway and Jane knew that unless a miracle happened, there was little chance of searching parties finding them.
The girls and Jackie were ordered to the larger of the two cabins.
“You take care of the boy. It’ll be just too bad if anything happens to him,” said Bardo darkly. They had been joined by a third man, evidently the pilot of the seaplane. Like the gunmen who had captured the transport, he was dark and swarthy.
Jackie was a delightful youngster and Jane and Sue admired his calm courage.
“Of course I was scared,” he said, “but I didn’t dare let those fellows know. I guess we’ll just have to wait until someone comes along and rescues us.”
He was brave about it, but Jane knew that no one was going to come along and rescue them. They would be held until Jackie’s mother paid the ransom demand or––. But Jane couldn’t think of the other possibility and she set her mind to working on some plan of escape.
There was plenty of food in the cabin and the girls and Jackie were given the freedom of the beach. That first night Jane couldn’t sleep much, turning and tossing as she tried to evolve some plan of escape. To attempt to flee in the transport was impossible for she didn’t know the first thing about piloting one of the big ships. But the seaplane. That was different. Of course she had never flown one, but it looked like a common biplane only instead of wheels it had pontoons. Certainly the operation must be the same.
Jane was up with the dawn. The seaplane was still moored a few yards from the beach, the canvas cover shielding the motor.
Throughout the day she waited, hoping the men might leave the beach for a few minutes, but her hopes were unavailing. Night came and they were locked in the cabin.
When she was sure that no one was within earshot, Jane told Sue and Jackie what she hoped to do.