043 The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XI

Yankee Warning

HEARING Chet’s warning, Frank and Joe turned abruptly. Two shadowy figures had sneaked up near them. Each held a raised club, about to descend on the Hardys’ heads!

With quick reflexes, Frank and Joe struck out and sent their assailants spinning down the steps. Then the brothers raced for the top of the pyramid.

As they ran Frank gasped, “Maybe we’re running into a trap! The light on top may belong to the gang that’s after us!”

“You mean we’d better not take a chance?” Joe asked.

Frank continued to dash upwards, saying, “I don’t think we have any choice. We know there are enemies below and—”

He suddenly stopped talking and stood still. After gazing all around, he said worriedly, “Where’s Chet?”

Joe looked about him. The moonlight was bright enough for him to get a clear view of the steps. Chet was not on them.

“I guess he didn’t follow us,” Joe said finally. “When Chet saw those men, he ran away.”

“But where is he?” Frank persisted. “He may have been attacked!”

Their eyes roved slowly across the great plaza below them. There was no sign of their chum.

Panic seized the Hardys. “Those hoods we knocked down probably got him!” Frank gritted.

“But Chet warned us,” Joe reminded his brother. “Why wouldn’t he have run away?”

“The men who tried to club us probably had pals with them,” Frank reasoned. “They nabbed Chet!”

The Hardys wasted no more time in conversation. Abandoning the plan to find out who had been using the light at the top of the pyramid, they hurried down to the base. Without depending entirely on moonlight for their search, the brothers swung their flashlights in great arcs. They failed to pick up any trace of their chum. Sure now that he had been kidnapped, the boys berated themselves for failing to check on him when they had started up the steps.

“How could we be so stupid?” Joe said glumly. “I suppose we’ll have to go back to town and—”

He stopped speaking as the boys noticed two figures hurrying from a doorway in one of the ancient stone buildings. Instinctively, the Hardys followed. But the men were some distance ahead and apparently more familiar with the place than the brothers. They turned a corner of a temple and disappeared.

Frank and Joe doubled their speed but were unable to catch a glimpse of the fleeing figures. A few minutes later they heard the roar of a car motor and were sure that the men had left the area.

“One thing is certain,” said Joe. “They didn’t have Chet with them.”

Frank nodded. “Which leads me to believe that they may have left him in that building they came out of.”

The brothers started back on a run. When they reached the doorway, the boys beamed their lights inside. It revealed nothing but an empty room.

“Maybe Chet’s tied up nearby,” Joe suggested. “Let’s call him.”

He shouted into the building, then outdoors. There was no reply.

“We’ve heard only one car leave,” said Frank. “If some of the gang took Chet with them, they carried him off before those two men fled.

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