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Contents
ADVERTISEMENT FOR "DARTMOOR HERITAGE."
CHAPTER 1. A SHOT ON THE MOOR
CHAPTER 2. "TOO MUCH MONEY."
CHAPTER 3. IN THE SILENT MINE
CHAPTER 4. UNDER THE FALLING ROOF
CHAPTER 5. "YOU LOOK PROSPEROUS."
CHAPTER 6. "NO VIOLENCE-REMEMBER!"
CHAPTER 7. MIAMI FLIGHT
CHAPTER 8. ABOARD THE MOCASSIN
CHAPTER 9. "WE DON'T WANT STRANGERS."
CHAPTER 10. THE SCOWLING HOST
CHAPTER 11. MR CABOT-WITH MACHINE- GUN
CHAPTER 12. INVADER'S ULTIMATUM
CHAPTER 13. BOB'S COUNTER- ATTACK
CHAPTER 14. WORTH THE HAZARDS
CHAPTER 15. THE SECRET OF COTTONMOUTH KEY
CHAPTER 16. STRANDED IN A SWAMP
CHAPTER 17. FORESTALLED BY TIBER
CHAPTER 18. THE CRUISE OF THE CAT- BOAT
CHAPTER 19. SETTLEMENT AT SEA
CHAPTER 20. TIBER TRIES AGAIN
CHAPTER 21. A LETTER FOR BOB
CHAPTER 22. "SHE'S AFTER US."
CHAPTER 24. DENE HAS TALKED
CHAPTER 25 "I'LL BURN YOU."
CHAPTER 26. GUN-FIRE FROM THE SEA
CHAPTER 27. FINISH FOR THE FLAME
CHAPTER 28. HALFORD TURNS TRAITOR
CHAPTER 29. DENE DECIDES
CHAPTER 30. ADVENTURE FOR TWO
CHAPTER 31. CABOT TRIUMPHS
CHAPTER 32. THE ENEMY COMES BACK
CHAPTER 33. ABE'S CHANCE
CHAPTER 34. RAFFY IS ROUSED
CHAPTER 35. BATTLE
CHAPTER 36. PETE ON THE JOB
CHAPTER 37. DENE'S LAST EXIT
CHAPTER 38. HUMAN BAIT
CHAPTER 39. STORM AT DAWN
CHAPTER 40. CABOT BEATS THE AMBUSH
CHAPTER 41. "I'LL SHOOT THEM!"
CHAPTER 42. HALFORD SHOWS HIS METTLE
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CHAPTER 1. A SHOT ON THE MOOR
BOB HAMLYN was awakened by a scratching on his bed-clothes. He sat up to find Judy, his terrier, standing on her hind legs beside him. He got up at once. Judy was a wise old lady, and never disturbed him without reason. It was very dark in his small, low-roofed bedroom and he quickly lit a candle and thrust his, feet into a pair of slippers. Judy was at the door and the moment he opened it, ran down the narrow stairs. It might be, he thought, that she merely wanted to go for a run, but, when he opened the front door she walked out, whined significantly and waited for him. He stopped only long enough to get a stick and a torch, then followed her.
"Someone after the chickens, eh, old girl?" he asked, but instead of going, towards the chicken house, Judy led the way to the garden gate and, when he opened it, down the rough cart road which led to the river bridge in the valley.
The night was cloudy and threatened rain, but, there was a moon behind the clouds so it, was not quite dark. There was no wind, it was quite, warm, and the only sound Bob could hear was the soft murmur of the Strane among its boulders.
He was puzzled. There was nothing whatever in the little farm house, where he lived alone, which could attract thieves. All he could think of was that fish poachers might be at work in his stretch of the river. Judy, he realised, was following a trail, so it was evident that someone had been near the house. Yet the last thing that poachers would do would be to risk waking him. His few neighbours on Dartmoor, who did a bit of poaching, knew that he kept the cleverest dog on the moor.
Suddenly Judy swerved off the road and, still keeping her nose close to the ground, began to work across the new-take, the rough pasture, to the left. At the far side she went nimbly over the dry-stone wall and led Bob through the rough heather beyond.
Bob was more puzzled than ever. There was nothing in this direction except the old Bittifer tin mine which lay just inside his eastern boundary. Yet this seemed to be the point for which Judy was making. The mine had ceased working 80 years ago, the timbering in its galleries had long rotted and Bob himself had never risked going inside it.
"Judy!" he called in a low voice. Judy stopped obediently but did, not come back. She was waiting for her master to come to her. With her head cocked and one paw raised, she said plainly that she was still on he job. Bob stood quite, still.
Dimly, in front of him, he could see the great mound of red earth and rock, spoil from the mine. In all these years nothing had grown over it. He could also just perceive the almost roofless ruin of the old mine-house.
The stillness was broken by a faint click. Bob knew what that was. A small stone had rolled down the spoil heap. So someone, was there. He shrugged. A tamp taking shelter in the min house. Poor devil, he wasn't worth bothering about. Still, Bob felt he would like to be sure.
"Hulloa!" he called.
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