Two of them hustled Bud down a hatchway. Another took Tom to a cabin amidships, thrust him inside the unlighted room, and locked the door.
Presently Tom heard the crew casting off, then the muted throb of the yacht’s diesel engines. By now his eyes were becoming accustomed to the darkness.
The faint glow of moonlight through the portholes enabled him to make out the contents of the cabin. It was furnished with armchairs, a bunk and nightstand, a table, and a desk.
How could he get free? Tom’s brain worked frantically. Perhaps the desk might offer some tool for escape! Tom strode over to it. Fortunately the desk was located under a porthole, so the objects on it were fairly visible.
Almost at once Tom noticed a penknife. It did not look sharp enough to cut his bonds, and besides, how could he brace it in position to saw through his wrist cords? Suddenly his attention was drawn to a heavy paperweight. It gave Tom an idea.
There was a lamp on the nightstand. Tom grasped the paperweight and walked toward the
136 AQUATOMIC TRACKER
bunk. As he had hoped, the lamp was attached rigidly to the nightstand. Tom plucked off the shade with his teeth. Then he turned around, and, with his arms thrust out in back of him, he managed to shatter the light bulb.
Tom waited for a moment, holding his breath. Evidently the sound had not been heard. Maneuvering awkwardly, Tom began to saw his wrist cords over the jagged glass of the bulb stump. He cut himself twice but at last he was free.
Now to find Bud! “It would sure help if I had something with which to defend myself,” Tom thought.
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127