by Edith Lavell
CHAPTER XV
_The Empty Island_
The same morning upon which Ralph Clavering and Jim Valier went intothe Okefenokee Swamp in a canoe, the fourth searching party arrived.Delayed by a stop-over in Norfolk, Virginia, where Ted had somebusiness for the company, he and Louise did not reach the JacksonvilleAirport until the morning of July second. Leaving the plane at thefield, they taxied immediately to the City Hall, arriving there alittle after ten.
They did not expect any good news about the missing girls, for theyhad read the papers and had inquired the latest word at the airport.They had gazed at the Ladybug, so forlorn and desolate in the hangar,and their fears were dark. Even Louise, who was usually optimistic,believed this time it was the end. Yet how dreadful it was! ThatLinda Carlton, so young, with such a glorious future before her,should perish like this before she was twenty! When she had the wholeworld at her feet--a world she had won not through mere beauty andcharm--although she was both beautiful and charming, but through hercourage, her ability, her modesty! Louise made no attempt to hide thetears that rolled down her cheeks; even her husband's strong arm abouther shoulders could not stop her sobs.
"Don't give up yet, dear!" he urged. "Why, you and I haven't even hadour try."
The girl smiled bravely through her tears.
"I know, Ted dear. I'll try to remember." Her eyes brightened withgenuine hope. "It always has been _you_ who have rescued her! Maybe youwill this time."
"We're going to make a bigger effort than ever before," he reassuredher. "Because this time I have you to help me."
The minute they entered the City Hall they saw that something hadhappened. Louise's heart gave a wild leap of excitement. Were Linda andDot safe?
But no. If they were, somebody would be shouting the news from thehouse-tops--and no one was looking particularity jubilant. There wasa crowd outside, but it was not an exulting one. Was it possible thatthey had found the girls--dead? In spite of the heat of the day, acold shiver of horror crept over Louise, and she clung tightly to herhusband's arm.
They had little difficulty in passing through the crowd to thecaptain's office, for the latter had given orders to his men that MissCarlton's and Miss Crowley's friends and relatives were to be admittedimmediately, whenever they appeared.
As they entered the room, they saw half a dozen officials standingaround, several in plain clothes, with only badges to identify them.And on a chair by the desk, opposite Captain Magee, a strange youngwoman was sitting.
The girl was flashily dressed--or over-dressed--in the latest style.A long green gown trailed almost to the floor, not quite concealing abandaged ankle. Her little, off-the-face hat of the same bright colorwas decorated with a diamond bar-pin. Her lips and her cheeks werepainted, and there was a gap in her mouth where two front teeth hadbeen knocked out.
The Captain nodded to the Mackays to sit down, and he continued thequestions he was putting to this young woman.
"You might as well confess if you know where that man is--with all thebank's money!" he was saying. "I know your scheme. Pretending you don'tknow where he escaped, so that you won't be locked up, and can get backto him!" His eyes narrowed, and he lowered his voice to an uncannywhisper. "But we'll keep you here till you tell where that thief is!"
"I can't tell you--when I don't know!" she persisted. "He ran off fromme--he never wanted me with him anyway. I'll swear to it, Sir, if youthink I'm lyin'.... Besides, he hasn't got that money."
"Then where is it?"
"Linda--and the cops she had with her--tricked us, double-crossed us,by swiping the money and fillin' the bags with sand. The Doc was insuch a Hurry to get away from those cops, he never found it out till wewere on that yacht. He was afraid to go back."
Captain Magee leaned forward eagerly at the mention of Linda Carlton'sname. She was far more important than the money that had been stolen.
"Miss Carlton?" he demanded. "With the police? Where did you see her?"
Susie shook her head.
"No, I didn't actually see her. But I saw her Bug, with her stuff init--a bag and a basket of food. I tossed them out of the plane, too, soshe wouldn't starve when we swiped the plane. You can put that down tomy credit."
"You stole the autogiro?"
"No. Only borrowed it. Left it on an island--you can get it when youwant it."
"We have it.... Now, suppose instead of my asking you questions, youtell us the whole story, Miss----?"
"_Mrs._ Slider, if you please," she said. "I am a widow." She loweredher eyes dramatically, enjoying the sensation of holding the center ofthe stage.
"Well," she began, "after my husband got killed in the plane accidentthat Linda probably told you about, she and I got to be quite goodfriends. I even promised to leave the gang and go straight, for I neverreally took part in any of their stealing myself--believe it or not!Linda left me on that island in the swamp, and promised to come backfor me when she came for the Bug."
"But you weren't there when Miss Carlton returned!" Captain Mageereminded her.
"No. I got terrible lonesome. If you ever spend a night in the swampwith only a dead man for company--oh, he was buried all right, but itwas spooky just the same--you'd excuse me for takin' the first way out,Sir. The Doc come along, in his canoe, and I promised him my diamondring if he'd take me away.... Well, we got out of the swamp in hisboat, and hired a Ford across Georgia. Then we took a motor-boat out tothat island in the ocean."
Everyone waited breathlessly; at last the girl was coming to the partthey all longed to hear about--the part of the story in which LindaCarlton figured. Pausing dramatically, Susie asked for a glass of water.
"Go on!" urged the captain, as soon as she had drained it.
"It was a terrible boat," she finally continued. "An awful old one. Youcan imagine going ten miles out to sea in a thing like that! The enginegave out----"
"Never mind all that!" commanded the officer, impatiently. "Come to thepoint."
"Yes, Sir.... Well, we got to the island finally, and waited for theyacht that was to pick us up and take us to Panama, but before she comealong, the autogiro arrived. Linda--and the police, of course."
"Did you see them--the police, I mean?" was the next question.
"No, we didn't. We were too scared, so we hid till they got out of theplane and searched the island. Then we grabbed the bags and ran for theplane. I flew the Bug out to sea, and in a few minutes we spotted ouryacht, and signaled it to stop on another island. That's where we leftLinda's plane.... When we got to Panama, the Doc slipped off, and I gotcaught.... So you see there's nothing to punish _me_ for--you got theautogiro back, and the cops, or Linda, took the money----"
"There were no policemen with Miss Carlton," Captain Magee informedSusie. "Only another girl. But they are lost."
"They must be still on that island, waiting for you to come for them.Nothing could hurt them, and they had some food...."
This was enough for Ted Mackay. Jumping to his feet, he announced hisintention of flying there immediately.
"Give me the latitude and longitude of that island!" he demanded."There isn't a moment to lose!"
"The what?" asked Susie, wrinkling her nose.
"Show me where it is on a map," explained Ted.
"Yeah," agreed Susie, pointing out the island on a map of the Georgiacoast, which the Captain took from his desk. "But what's the grandrush?"
"You've forgotten the storm we just had!" said the young man. "Thegirls may be sick or dead by this time."
"Girls," repeated Susie, significantly. "It beats everything the waythey fooled us--in their riding-breeches! If the Doc ever finds out heran away from a pair of girls----"
"Never mind all that, Mrs. Slider," interrupted Captain Magee,signaling to the prison matron to take the girl away.... "Now, Mr.Mackay, is there anything I can do for you, before you go?"
"You might get me a taxi," replied Ted. "To take my wife and myself tothe airport."
"Take my private car," offered the Capt
ain, rising to say good-by. "Andgood luck to you!"
Louise was so excited at the whole occurrence that she could scarcelysit still in the limousine, as it sped over to the airport.
"If we only aren't too late! Ted, do you suppose they're starved? Whatdoes it feel like to starve to death? Or to die of thirst?"
"I wouldn't worry too much about thirst," he reassured her. "Because ofthat big rain we had. They could get water from it, you know."
"I never thought of that!"
"The worst is over now, I'm sure," continued Ted. "Five days isn't solong, and the girl said they had food. Besides, it wasn't cold. Thinkof that time you girls were lost in Canada!"
Louise shuddered; she could still remember that long, hopeless nightvery vividly, when she and Linda had jumped from parachutes down intothe snow of the Canadian Woods, and how they had been forced to keepwalking to avoid freezing to death.
"Still, we found a shack to sleep in. And Linda and Dot haven't even ablanket to cover them in all that storm!"
"Well, they were together, that's one thing to be thankful for."
"Yes--and I'm glad Linda's companion is Dot. Of all our crowd at SpringCity, Dot Crowley is the nicest girl--after Linda, of course. Most ofthe girls, like Kitty Clavering--Kitty Hulbert, I mean--or Sue Emery,would be pitying themselves so that they'd make Linda miserable. Butnot Dot. She always sees the bright side of everything."
"And wasn't it clever the way they got hold of that money, and fooledthat bandit!" exulted Ted. "My, but that was slick. And think what it'sgoing to mean to that bank and its depositors! Because if that fellowhadn't been fooled, he'd have made off with it. I don't believe they'llever find him now."
"I guess nobody will care if he never comes back to the United States!"agreed Louise.
They arrived at the airport and found the plane in readiness, wheeledout on the runway, and Ted took time to give it an inspection himself,while Louise ran off to get the necessary supplies--some food andwater, and a first-aid kit, as a necessary precaution. She borrowedsweaters and knickers from the supply at the airport, for she reasonedthat Linda and Dot would be chilled and drenched from the rain. Dryclothing ought to be a god-send, even if they used it only on the shorttrip back in the plane.
Inside of an hour they took off. It was still drizzling, but Ted wassuch an experienced navigator that he had no difficulty at all inflying in any kind of weather, and he found the island from Susie'sdirections. Shortly after noon, he brought it down on the beach.
A feeling of apprehension stole over Louise, when she saw neither ofthe girls on the shore to greet them. In spite of the noise of ocean,surely they would have heard the plane! Why weren't they there?
Ted turned off the motor, and looked about expectantly.
"Do you suppose they're both sick--or injured?" faltered Louise. Shedid not add, "or dead," but she could not help thinking it.
"Maybe they didn't hear us. Let's shout together--'Linda and Dot!'If they hear their first names, they'll know we're friends, mayberecognize our voices. You see they may be hiding--for fear it's thatgangster returning."
"I never thought of that," replied Louise, more hopefully. "Allright--both together when I count three.
"One--two--three!"
"LINDA AND DOT!"
Their voices rose clearly over the splashing of the waves, and theywaited tensely.
But there was no reply!
They waited, and tried again.... Still silence.... Louise put out herhand, and grasped her husband's, in fear.
"What does it mean?" she cried, in anguish. "Is this surely the rightisland? There seemed to be a lot of them."
"Maybe it isn't" he answered, optimistically. "That girl seemed to betelling the truth--but she was a queer one. Besides, she might not besure which island it was.... Anyway, we'll search. If Linda and Dotwere here, we'll see some evidences of their camp--burnt out fires, orworn paths, or something. Come on, let's start!"
Arm in arm they began their search, stepping carefully through theunderbrush, now and then stopping to call, "Linda" or "Dot," in thehope that the girls might only have been asleep. They did not have togo far before they saw that at least someone had been here recently,for there was a path worn through the underbrush.
Farther and farther in they went, until they came to a small cluster ofpine trees. And here, sure enough, they found the remains, or ratherthe ashes, for the place had been left neat, of a camp fire.
The sight of this forsaken spot brought sudden tears to Louise's eyes.
"They've been dragged off and killed! I just know it!" she moaned.
"Don't cry, please, dear," begged Ted. "We're not sure yet. This maynot be their island--their fire. Somebody else may have camped here.Let's look about a bit."
Slowly they walked around the place, examining the ground for someforgotten belonging that would identify the former campers. Noticing apile of leaves where someone had evidently made a bed, Louise kickedthem aside with her foot, and she saw an empty matchbox. It wasn'tmuch, but it was something, and she leaned over and picked it up.
The letters on the lid leaped out at her like living tongues. Markedwith a purple rubber-stamp over the trade-mark, were the words:
"J. Vetter, Spring City, Ohio."
The explanation was only too plain. No one but Dot and Linda couldhave used that box. Louise dropped to the ground in an agony ofwretchedness, and buried her face in her hands.
Even the optimistic Ted found all his hopes blasted by this littlebox. Gloom spread over his features, and he sat down beside his wife,comforting her as best he could.
For fifteen minutes, perhaps, they remained motionless, overcome by thethought of their friends' awful death. The food which they had broughtwith the idea of sharing a gay picnic lunch with Dot and Linda wasforgotten. Though they had not eaten since breakfast, neither Ted norLouise could have swallowed a mouthful.
At last Ted got up, gently raising Louise to her feet. Each silentlydecided to make one more search--a gruesome one this time--for thegirls' bodies.
Round and round the island they walked, looking carefully, among theunderbrush, near to the beach, even scanning the water with theirspyglasses. But they saw nothing. That one matchbox had been their onlyevidence. Like good campers to the end, Linda and Dot had burned everytrace of rubbish.
It was mid-afternoon when Ted realized that Louise was faint fromhunger and thirst, and he made her sit down while he brought somesupplies from the plane. She drank the water eagerly, but she could noteat. For Louise Mackay was going through the deepest tragedy of heryoung life: her first experience with the loss of a loved one.
During the entire flight homeward she kept her hand on Ted's knee, butshe did not utter a word.
