“I’m not blaming you boys for your gallant attempt to win freedom,” said Mr. Temple, “but our position now could hardly be worse.”
“I’m sorry, Dad, if you think I made matters worse by jumping on that rascal,” said Bob. “When I saw him threatening you I saw red.”
“Anyhow,” declared Frank, “if we had captured them, Uncle George, without being surprised by these others, we might have used them as hostages to obtain our freedom.”
“Perhaps,” said he, “but it was a very long chance. However, we shall have to make the best of it.”
“At least we have won a respite,” said Jack. “We have pretty well laid out their two leaders. They won’t recover for some time to come, if I’m any judge of broken heads. And meantime it isn’t likely, is it, that this other fellow, who seems to be one of their lieutenants, will do anything to us?”
“Probably you are right, Jack,” said Mr. Temple, “and we will be kept prisoners but not harmed, pending the recovery of this ‘Black George’ if not the Chinaman. But afterward——”
He left the sentence unfinished, but Bob took up his thought.
“We can face that when we have to, Dad,” he said. “We’re safe enough.”
“Yes, I presume we are safe for the present,” said his father. “Nevertheless, do you realize there is no friend at large who has any idea of our whereabouts, or knew that we came sightseeing to Chinatown tonight? We did not tell the clerk at the hotel. The only persons who know are the people that villain declared are his creatures—the head waiter at the restaurant, and the chauffeur and our original guide.”
“But surely,” expostulated Frank, “when we fail to return to the hotel, there’ll be a big uproar. You are a man of importance, and your business representative here as well as the hotel people will get the police on the case.”
“Very true,” said Mr. Temple, thoughtfully. “Yet this is evidently a well-organized gang that has captured us, and we might be hidden away forever in such a place as this without being found.”
“But you forget Inspector Burton,” said Frank. “When he hears of our disappearance, he will put two and two together and will realize that we have fallen into the hands of the man whose plans we thwarted—namely, this ‘Black George’.”
“Yes,” admitted Mr. Temple, “there is a little hope for us there. Yet Inspector Burton planned to leave for southern California tonight to watch Handby as well as try to locate the smugglers’ radio with Inventor Bender’s sound detector. He may not hear of our disappearance for some time.”