“Okay, chief,” he said, sitting up and managing a weak grin. “Lucky we’re still in one piece!”
Quickly the boys got to their feet and looked at their captive. Johnson, too, apparently was only stunned.
“As long as he’s not hurt, let’s drag Johnson into the woods and leave him,”
Tom said. “We’ll come back later and get him.”
This accomplished, Tom plunged ahead.
“Where are you aiming?” Bud asked.
77
78 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ROCKET SHIP
“I think,” Tom replied, “that the only way out of this trap is to get to that clearing ahead. I spotted it just before we crashed.”
“Suits me,” Bud said, and after looking around at the wilderness, added, “Lead the way, trail blazer!”
For the next hour the boys, ignoring their injuries, continued toward the clearing Tom had spotted. Finally Bud saw a path. They followed it and moments later emerged on a corduroy road.
“Well,” Bud remarked, “the going won’t be so tough now.”
Their relief was short-lived, however. They heard the whir of an approaching helicopter and dived for cover. A bullet ripped into the floor of the forest only ten feet away!
When another shot struck directly in front of them on the road, Tom and Bud looked around frantically for a safe hiding place. Seeing a tumble-down shack a short distance from the road, they raced toward it.
Unfortunately, the shack proved to be a decoy. Suddenly a stranger with a rifle clutched in his hands came silently toward them from the shadows.
The man shot into the air. Then, pointing with his free hand, he motioned the boys to walk out to the road again. With no other choice they glumly obeyed. To their relief, the shooting had stopped. Evidently their captor had fired to announce that he had caught the intruders.