Ned had done his work well, bringing back the chief of police of Fenwick, the town near which the robbers were camped, and with the chief came a score of men, for no chances were being taken.
A signal had been agreed upon, and when it was light enough to see, Tom gave it.
There was a concerted rush upon the camp, and the robbers were taken completely by surprise. Two tried to start the aeroplane, but though the propellers were spun there was no answering roar of the motor, for they were dead with the removal of the distributor which reposed snugly in Tom’s pocket.
Some of the men showed fight, but the police soon subdued them. Koku rushed up to Renwick Fawn and, catching hold of him, shook him as a dog shakes a rat. The giant then caught Barsky and was about to bang together the heads of the two men, and probably would have killed them, when Tom cried for him to stop.
“Why stop?” demanded Koku. “ ’Um tie me up in knots. Now I bust ’um in mince pies!”
But he was prevailed upon to release the greatly frightened men, who were then handcuffed with the others and put in the police auto.
“Well, Barsky, you didn’t think I’d get out of the cistern so easily, did you?” asked Tom of the red-haired man.
A snarl was the only answer.
“Are these yours?” asked the chief of police, as he showed Tom a bundle of Liberty Bonds. “We found them in a tin box in the tent.”
“They’re mine!” cried Renwick Fawn, throwing out his elbow in the peculiar manner that identified him.