s she would remember the stark
horror of it as the plane roared through the darkness with the gunmen
in control.

Mellotti remained in the cabin, guarding the passengers. Up ahead Bardo
forced Charlie Fischer to swing the plane off the transcontinental
airway. They were flying north. That was all Jane knew.

The hours slipped away with aching slowness. Jackie Condon and his
mother remained calm and the traveling men started a card game. When
the sky finally lightened, they were over a great, flat expanse of
country with a chain of mountains barely visible in the west. Jane
guessed they must be somewhere in Canada, just east of the Rockies.

Fifteen minutes later the plane landed and taxied across a weedy field
to a lonely road that wound across the prairie. A truck, laden with
barrels of gasoline, was waiting. Jane and the others were not
permitted to leave the cabin while Bardo forced Charlie Fischer and his
co-pilot to help fill the wing tanks. When that task was done, Bardo
entered the cabin.

"Get out," he told the traveling men.

"Hey, you can't maroon us like this," the older one protested.

"Get out," repeated Bardo, his black eyes snapping, and they hastened
to obey.

Jane and Sue started to follow the traveling men, but Bardo's soft
voice stopped them.

"Stay here. We want you to take care of this youngster. His mother gets
off here."

Mrs. Condon's protests were to no avail and she was shoved roughly from
the plane.

Bardo disappeared up ahead and presently the motors started. Mellotti
locked the door and the plane swung around for a dash across the field.
Jane's face blanched as she saw Charlie Fischer and the co-pilot
standing on the ground. Bardo was flying the plane. She and Sue and
Jackie Condon were alone with the kidnapers.

Bardo appeared to be a flyer of above average ability for he handled
the large plane easily. They sped westward, climbing over what Jane was
sure were the snow-crested Canadian Rockies. Then they dropped down the
other side, and a great expanse of water loomed ahead.

The plane turned northward, skimming over the coast line. For fully an
hour they went on and then Bardo brought the transport down on a long
shingle of sand. It was an easy landing and Jane admired his skill.

Moored nearby was a seaplane and in a clump of trees a hundred yards
from the beach were two cabins. It was an ideal hideaway and Jane knew
that unless a miracle happened, there was little chance