quickly, I got an awful bump on the forehead. It sort of knocked me silly. 

“Oh-h-h-h!” I groaned, falling back. 

There was a sudden silence. 

“I heard a voice,” breathed Jimmy Stricker. 

“Me, too,” another boy spoke up. 

“Under the stage.” 

A slit of light, from a flashlight, appeared in the crack through which the star had been visible to me in the moment of my awakening. 

“Look! Here’s a hatch.” 

“Raise it,” commanded Bid. “I’ve got a club. And if a head comes up I’ll whack it.” 

The hatch was raised cautiously … a light flashed into my blinking eyes. [23]

[23]

“It’s them!” cried Bid. “Close it—quick!” 

Bang! went the hatch. 

“Lock it!” cried Bid. 

Peg stirred at the slamming of the hatch. 

“What the dickens?…” he mumbled, awakening. “I must have been asleep.” He shook me. “Did you hear that loud thunder clap, Jerry? It woke me up.” 

I was dizzy. My head ached. But I was able to think and to talk. 

“It wasn’t thunder,” I told him. “It was the Strickers. They’ve captured our boat. We’re locked in.” 

He gave a queer choking throat sound and started to get up. 

“Ouch!” he cried, bumping his head. 

 Prev. P 25/153 next