“Any positive way to identify it?”
“By the engine number. Ours was 985-877 unless I’m mistaken. I have it written down at home.”
“What’s the number of this engine?”
“The same!” Sara cried triumphantly after she had removed the canvas covering and examined it. “This is my property all right, and I shall take it back with me.”
“Old Noah spoke of two strangers who came here last night by boat,” Penny said thoughtfully.
“The fellow who stopped at the dock probably picked up a pal later on,” Sara commented, trying to shove the boat into the water. “My, this old tub is heavy! Want to help?”
“Wait, Sara!” Penny exclaimed. “Let’s leave the boat here.”
“Leave it here! Now that would be an idea! This little piece of floating wood represents nine hundred and fifty dollars.”
“I don’t mean that you’re to lose the boat,” Penny hastened to explain. “But if we take it now, we never will catch the fellow who stole it.”
“That’s true.”
“If we leave the boat here we can keep watch of the place and catch those scamps when they come back.”
“They may not come back,” Sara said, without warming to the plan. “Besides, I’ve no time to do a Sherlock Holmes in the bushes. I have my dock to look after.”
“Louise and I could do most of the watching.”
“Well, I don’t know,” Sara said dubiously. “Something might go wrong. I never would get over it if I lost the boat.”
“You won’t lose the boat,” promised Penny. “It’s really important that we catch those two men, Sara. From what Old Noah said, they may be connected with the bridge dynamiting.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because Old Noah found a cache of dynamite somewhere near here.”
“He won’t tell us its location,” added Louise.
“If it should develop that the men are saboteurs, we might learn something which would help your brother’s case,” Penny said persuasively. “How about it, Sara?”
“I’d be glad to risk the boat if I thought it would help Burt.”
“Then let’s leave it here. We can watch the spot night and day.”
“And what will your parents have to say?”
Penny’s face fell. “Well, I suppose when it comes right to it, Dad will set his foot down. But at least we can watch during the day time. Then if necessary, we might report to the police.”
“Let’s leave them out of it,” Sara said feelingly. “If you girls will remain throughout the day, I’ll stand the night watch.”
“Not alone!” Louise protested.
“Why not?” Sara asked, amused. “I’ve frequently camped out along the river at night. Once I made a canoe trip the full length of the river just for the fun of it.”
“Louise and I will stay here now while you return to the dock,” Penny declared. “Better call our parents when you get there and break the news as gently as possible.”
“What will you do for lunch?”
“Maybe we can beg a sandwich or a fried egg from Old Noah,” Penny chuckled. “We’ll manage somehow.”
“Well, whatever you do, don’t leave the boat unguarded,”Sara advised, starting away. “As soon as it gets dark I’ll come back.”
Left to themselves, Penny and Louise explored the locality thoroughly. Not far away they found a log which offered a comfortable seat, and they screened it with brush.
“Now we’re all ready for Mr. Saboteur,” Penny said. “He can’t come too soon to suit me.”
“And just what are we going to do when he does arrive?”
“I forgot to figure that angle,” Penny confessed. “We may have to call on Old Noah for help.”
“Noah will be busy doing a washing or giving the goat a beauty treatment,” Louise laughed.
The sun lifted higher, and steam rising from the damp earth made the girls increasingly uncomfortable. As the hours dragged by they rapidly lost zest for their adventure. Long before noon they were assailed by the pangs of hunger.
“If I could catch a bullfrog I’d be tempted to eat him raw,” Penny remarked sadly. “How about chasing up to the ark? Noah might give us a nibble of something.”
“Dare we go away and leave the boat?”
“Oh, it’s safe enough for a few minutes,” Penny returned. “The idea of staying here wasn’t such a good one anyhow. What if those men should never come back?”
“This is a fine time to be thinking of that possibility!”
Moving quietly through the woods, the girls came to the ark. They could hear the hens cackling, and as they called Old Noah’s name, the parrot answered, squawking: “Polly wants a cracker.”
“You’ve got nothing on me, Polly,” said Penny. “Where’s your master?”
The old ark keeper was nowhere in evidence. Nor were the girls able to board the boat, for the gangplank had been removed.
“Now if this isn’t a situation!” Penny exclaimed, exasperated. “It looks as if we’re going to starve to death.”
After lingering about the ark for a few minutes, they returned to their former hiding place. By this time they were so sorry for themselves that they could think of nothing but their discomfort. Belatedly, they recalled that Sara had smiled as she went away.
“She knew what we were up against staying here!”Penny declared. “Figured us for a couple of softies, I bet!”
“While everyone knows we’re regular Commandos,”Louise retorted sarcastically. “Why, if necessary we could go an entire day without eating.”
“That’s exactly what we will do,” announced Penny with renewed determination. “I’ll stay here until Sara comes if it kills me. But I hope you slug me if ever I get another idea like this.”
“Don’t worry, I will,” promised Louise. “In fact, I may not wait that long!”
The hours dragged slowly on. All amusements failing them, the girls took turns sleeping. Twice they went to the ark, but Old Noah had not returned.
At last, as shadows lengthened, Louise and Penny were confronted with a new worry. It occurred to them that Sara might not expect to take over her duties until long after dark. The air had grown chilly, and hungry mosquitoes were swarming from their breeding places.
“Even my Mother doesn’t seem concerned about me any more,” Louise moaned, slapping at a foraging insect.
Penny glared at the motorboat snugly hidden in the underbrush. “If that thing weren’t worth so much money, I’d certainly chuck this job. Even so, I’m just about desperate.”
Louise, huddled against a tree trunk, suddenly straightened alertly. Placing a warning finger on her lips, she listened.
“Someone’s coming, Penny!”
“Maybe it’s Sara with a basket of food. I’d rather see her than a dozen saboteurs!”
“Keep quiet, you egg,” Louise warned nervously.
Crouching low behind their shelter, the girls waited. They could hear a steady tramp, tramp of feet coming up the stream on their side of the bank.
“That’s not Sara,” murmured Penny. “She doesn’t walk like an elephant. What’ll we do if it should be a saboteur?”
“I’m scared,” Louise chattered, hugging her chum’s arm.
The footsteps came closer. Peering out through the screen of underbrush, the girls saw a young man coming straight toward their hiding place. In his hand he carried a safety-cap gasoline can.
“Who is he?” whispered Louise.
“Can’t tell yet,” Penny responded, straining her eyes to see. “He looks a little like—oh, my aunt! That’s who it is—Bill Evans! Now what’s he doing here?”
CHAPTER 19
STANDING GUARD
Keeping low amid the underbrush, Penny and Louise waited and watched. Bill Evans did not see them although he approached within a few feet of their hiding place. With no hesitation, he went to the motorboat and began filling the tank with gasoline.
“Bill Ev
ans, a thief and a saboteur!” Louise whispered. “I’ll never get over it!”
“Bill hasn’t the pep to be a saboteur,” Penny muttered. “There’s something wrong with this melodrama, and I’m going to find out about it right now!”
Before Louise could stop her, she arose from the underbrush to confront the dumbfounded young man.
“Bill Evans, what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded sternly.
Bill nearly dropped the gasoline can. “Why, I’m filling this tank,” he replied. “Why are you girls hiding behind that log?”
“Because we’ve been waiting to catch a motorboat thief! And you’re it!”
“Now listen here!” said Bill, setting down the gasoline can. “You can’t insult me, Miss Penny Parker! Just what do you mean by that crack?”
“This motorboat was stolen from Sara Ottman. You’re filling the tank with gasoline, so you must expect to make a get-away to parts unknown.”
“This boat belongs to Sara Ottman?” Bill demanded in amazement.
“It certainly does.”
“You’re kidding. It belongs to a Mr. Wessler.”
“Who’s he?” asked Penny. “I never heard of him.”
“Well, neither did I until this afternoon,” Bill admitted. “He gave me a dollar to come over here and fill the tank of this boat with gas. I’m only carrying out orders.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Penny declared with satisfaction. “How did you meet Mr. Wessler?”
“I was working on the dock, tinkering with my engine, when a man came up and started talking to me. He said he was a friend of Mr. Wessler who was planning a fishing trip. Then he told me where the boat was, and said he’d give me a dollar if I’d run over and fill the tank with gasoline.”
“Didn’t you think it a rather peculiar request?”
“Not the way the fellow explained it. Mr. Wessler is a busy man and doesn’t have time to look after such details.”
“Mr. Wessler is afraid this locality is being watched, and he isn’t taking any chances,” Penny said soberly. “Bill, you’ve been assisting a thief!”
“Gee Whiskers!” Bill exclaimed, aghast. “I never thought about him not owning the boat. What should I do?”
“First of all, don’t fill that tank with gasoline,”Penny advised.
“It’s about half full now.”
“Can’t you siphon it out?”
“Not without a tube, and I didn’t bring one.”
“You’ll never in the world make a G-man,” sighed Penny. “Well, at least you can describe the fellow who hired you.”
Bill’s brow puckered. “I didn’t pay much attention,” he admitted. “I’d say the fellow was about thirty-eight, with a little trick moustache.”
“That can’t be the man who originally rented the boat from Sara,” Penny remarked, frowning.
“Say, are you really sure this boat belongs to the Ottmans?” Bill asked. “You know they’re pretty badly tangled with the police. It said in the papers—”
“I know,” interrupted Penny wearily. “Or do I know? I’m so mixed I feel like a perpetual motion machine running backwards.”
“We’ve been watching here all day,” Louise added, her voice quavering. “We’ve had nothing to eat. No wonder our minds are failing.”
“Why don’t you go home?”
“And let a saboteur run off with this boat?” Penny demanded. “We promised to stay here until Sara comes.”
“Maybe she and her brother are pulling a fast one on you.”
“I might think so, only this was my own idea,”Penny answered. “Bill, did that man mention when his friend Wessler intended to go fishing?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“He might intend to use the boat tonight, and then again, perhaps not for several days. Say, Bill, how would you like to do your country a great service?”
“I’m aiming to enlist when I get through High School.”
“This would be immediate service. Why not stay here and watch until Sara comes? It shouldn’t be long.”
“And what if those men should show up?”
“Just keep watch and see what they do. Of course, if they try to get away in the motorboat, you’ll have to capture them.”
“Oh, sure,” Bill said sarcastically. “With my bare hands?”
“We won’t leave you here long,” Penny promised. “Louise and I haven’t had a bite of food all day—”
“Okay, I’ll do it,” Bill gave in. “But see to it you’re back here in an hour. Better bring the police too.”
Learning that the young man had crossed the river in his own motorboat, the girls obtained permission to borrow it for the return trip. They found the craft at the mouth of Bug Run, and made a quick trip to the Ottman Dock.
“No one here,” Penny observed as they alighted at the platform.
The boat shed was closed and locked. A small boy, loitering nearby, told the girls that he had not seen Sara Ottman for several hours.
“Now this is a nice dish of stew!” Penny exclaimed. “Where could she have gone? And why?”
“I know where I am going,” announced Louise grimly. “Home! Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like it when you’re tired and hungry.”
“But what about poor Bill? We can’t expect him to stay in the woods all night.”
“Well, there’s a hamburger stand at the amusement park,” Louise suggested after a moment. “We could go there for a sandwich. Then we might telephone home and request advice.”
“Not a bad idea,” Penny praised.
At the hamburger stand they ate three sandwiches each and topped off the meal with ice cream and pie. Seeking a public telephone, Penny then used a precious nickel to call her home. No one answered. Deciding that her father might be at the Star office, she phoned there. Informed that Mr. Parker was not in the building, she asked for Mr. DeWitt.
“DeWitt left the office a half hour ago,” came the discouraging response.
“I wonder where I can reach him?”
“Can’t tell you,” was the answer. “Burt Ottman has skipped his bail, and DeWitt’s upset about it. He may have gone to talk to his lawyer.”
“What was that about Burt Ottman?” Penny asked quickly.
“He’s disappeared—skipped town. Due for trial day after tomorrow, too. Looks like DeWitt is holding the bag.”
Penny hung up the receiver, more bewildered than ever. Without taking time to repeat the conversation to her chum, she called Sara’s home.
For a long while she waited, but there was no reply. At last, hanging up, she eyed the coin box, expecting her nickel to be returned. Though she jiggled the receiver many times and dialed to attract the operator’s attention, the coin was not forthcoming.
“You’ve had no luck,” said Louise, taking Penny’s place at the telephone. “Now it’s my turn. I’ll call home. Mother’s always there.”
She held out her hand, expecting a coin. Penny had nothing for her, and was forced to admit that she had used the last nickel on the preceding call.
“Then we have no bus money either!” gasped Louise.
“Stony broke—that’s us.”
“How can you be so cheerful about it?” Louise asked crossly. “We can’t walk home—it would take us all night!”
“There’s only one thing to do, Louise. We’ll have to go back and talk to Bill. At least he should be able to loan us bus fare.”
By this time the girls had lost all enthusiasm for saboteurs and sleuthing. As they recrossed the river in Bill’s boat, they vowed that never again would they involve themselves in such a ridiculous situation.
“And just wait until I see Sara!” Penny added feelingly. “If I don’t tear into her for playing a shabby trick on us!”
“She probably skipped town along with her brother,” Louise replied. “I’m beginning to wonder if that motorboat we guarded so faithfully ever belonged to the Ottmans.”
Landing not far from the mouth
of Bug Run, the girls proceeded afoot to the site where Bill Evans last had been seen. To their relief, he had not deserted his post. Cold, his face swollen by mosquito bites, he hailed them joyously.
“Thought you were never coming back! I’m getting out of here, and how!”
“What happened while we were gone?” Penny asked sympathetically. “Didn’t Sara come?”
“No one has been here.”
As Bill started away, the girls tried to dissuade him.
“I wouldn’t stay here another hour if you’d give me the boat!” he retorted. “I’m going home!”
Jerking free from Louise who sought to hold him by main force, he moved off.
“At least telephone our folks when you get to Riverview!” Penny shouted indignantly. “Tell our parents that if they’re still interested in their daughters to come and lift us out of this sink hole!”
“Okay, I’ll do that,” Bill promised. “So long.”
After the sound of footsteps had died away, Louise and Penny sat down on the log and took stock of the situation.
“Any way you look at it, we’re just a couple of goats,” Penny said dismally. “It wouldn’t be so bad if Old Noah would take us into his ark with the rest of the animals, but he’s not at home.”
“Sara played a trick on us, our parents went off and hid, and I don’t think we can trust Bill too far,”Louise sighed. “Why do we stay here anyway?”
“Well, something could have happened to detain Sara.”
“I wish I could think so, but I can’t. It would serve her right to lose this boat—if it actually is hers.”
“Sara always seemed sincere and honest to me,”Penny said, slapping furiously at a buzzing mosquito. “Until we have definite proof otherwise, I want to trust her.”
“Even if it means staying here all night?”
“Well, my trusting nature has a limit,” Penny admitted. “But surely our parents will come to rescue us before long.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Louise returned gloomily. “Bill was in a bad mood when he left here.”
The girls fell into a deep silence. They huddled together to keep warm, and slapped constantly at the insects. For a time it grew steadily darker, then a few stars brightened the patches of sky which could be seen through the treetops.
The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels Page 91
