Though outwardly calm, Captain Barker was beset as he appraised the situation. It would not be possible to get another tow line onto the Florence for already her decks had become untenable for the crew. The blazing vessel was drifting rapidly.
“We could ram her,” he muttered. “She might be nosed out into the channel again, and headed away from the freight docks.”
“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?” Sally asked anxiously. “We have at least fifty passengers aboard. In this high wind, the Queen would be almost certain to catch fire.”
“There’s nothing else to do,” Captain Barker decided grimly, signaling the engine room. “The Florence is drifting fast, and before the fire boats can get here, half the waterfront will be ablaze. Have the passengers wet down the decks and stand by with buckets!”
Penny and Sally worked feverishly carrying out orders. The deck hose was attached, and buckets were brought from below and filled with water. All survivors who were able to help, cooperated to the fullest extent, helping wet down the decks and assisting women and children to the stern of the ferryboat.
Captain Barker had given an order for the Queen to move full speed ahead.
In a moment the two boats made jarring contact. Penny was thrown from her feet. Scrambling up, she saw that blazing timbers from the Florence had crashed directly onto the River Queen’s deck. Sparks were falling everywhere. The ferryboat had caught fire in a dozen places.
Seizing a bucket of water, she doused out the flames nearest her. Heat from the Florence was intense, and many of the men who had volunteered to help, began to retreat.
Penny and Sally stuck at their post, knowing that the lives of all depended upon extinguishing the flames quickly. Crew members of the Florence worked beside them with quiet, determined efficiency.
In the midst of the excitement, the final boatload of picked-up survivors had to be taken aboard. Captain Jamison, one of the last to leave the Florence, collapsed as he reached the deck. Severely burned, he was carried below to receive first-aid treatment.
Undaunted, Captain Barker shouted terse orders, goading the men to greater activity when the flames showed signs of getting beyond control. After the first contact with the Florence, only occasional sparks ignited the Queen’s decks, but the heat was terrific. Women and children became hysterical, fearful that the ferryboat would become a flaming torch.
“The worst is over now,” Sally sighed as she and Penny refilled water buckets. “Pop knows what he’s doing. He’s saved the waterfront.”
“But this ferryboat?”
“It still may go up in smoke, but I don’t think so,”Sally replied calmly. “Pop is heading so that the wind will carry the flames away from us. He’ll beach the Florence on Horseshoe Shoal and let the wreck burn to the water’s edge.”
For the next fifteen minutes, there was no lessening of worry aboard the River Queen. The ferryboat clung grimly to the blazing excursion boat, losing contact at times, then picking her up again, and pushing on toward the shoal.
Fire fighting activities aboard the ferryboat became better organized; the passengers, observing that Captain Barker knew what he was about, became calm and easily managed. By the time fire boats arrived to spray the Florence with streams of pressured water, the situation was well in hand.
Collapsing on the deck from sheer exhaustion, Penny and Sally gazed toward the warehouses and docks on the opposite shore. Only one fire of any size was visible there.
“The fire boats will quickly put it out,” Sally said confidently. “But I hate to think what would have happened if the wind and current had driven the Florence along those wharves.”
Penny wiped her cheek and saw that her hand was covered with black soot. Sally too was a sight. She had ripped the hem from her skirt, her hair was an untidy mess, everything about her was pungent with smoke.
“Where were we when all this excitement started?”Penny asked presently. “If my memory serves me correctly, we had sent out a police call for Claude Harper and his pals to be arrested. It all seems vague in my mind, as if it occurred a million years ago.”
“Why, I had forgotten too!” Sally gasped. “I hope the police went there and caught those men before they made a get-away.”
Scrambling to their feet, the girls moved to the starboard side of the Queen, which permitted a view of the Harper house far upriver. They were startled and dismayed to see tongues of flame shooting from a window.
“That place has caught on fire too!” Sally exclaimed, then corrected herself. “But sparks from the Florence never could have been carried so far!”
“The house has been set afire on purpose!” Penny cried. “Oh, Sally, don’t you see? It’s a trick to destroy all the evidence hidden there! The Harpers intend to skip town tonight, and they’re taking advantage of this fire to make it appear that destruction of the house is accidental!”
CHAPTER 23
FIRE!
Sick at heart, the two girls realized with the Harper house aflame, their last chance of proving the guilt of the brass thieves might be gone. As they stood at the railing of the Queen, gloomily watching the spreading, creeping line of fire, a motorboat chugged up.
“Ahoy!” shouted a familiar voice. “Can you take aboard three more survivors? They’re the very last we can find on the river.”
“It’s Jack!” Penny cried, recognizing his voice though unable to see his face in the dark. “After we get the passengers aboard, perhaps he’ll take us upriver to the Harpers!”
The girls ran to help with the new arrivals, but sailors already had lifted them from the boat and carried them aboard the Queen.
“This is my last load,” Jack called out. “Nearly everyone was saved. Coast Guard boats are patrolling now, and if there are other survivors, they’ll be taken ashore.”
“Jack!” Penny called down to him.
“That you, Penny?” he demanded in astonishment. “Why didn’t you come back to Shadow Island this afternoon? We’ve all been worried about you!”
“It’s a long story, and there’s no time to tell it now! Jack, will you take us to the Harpers’ in your motorboat?”
“Now?”
“Yes, the house is on fire.”
Helping the girls into the boat, Jack turned to gaze upstream. “That’s strange!” he exclaimed. “How could sparks from the Florence have carried so far?”
“The answer is, they didn’t,” Penny said grimly. “The house was set afire on purpose. Just get us to the pier as quickly as you can.”
Somewhere along the shore a big city clock struck the hour of midnight. The young people did not notice. As the boat raced over the water, bouncing as it struck each high wave, they discussed what had happened just prior to the outbreak of fire aboard the Florence.
“I know part of the stolen brass was dumped into the river by Sweeper Joe,” Penny revealed excitedly. “The remainder was locked in the basement of the Harper house the last I knew. And I’m satisfied the brass lantern taken from the Queen by Adam Glowershick is among the loot. All the thieves expect to skip town tonight. Probably they’re gone by this time.”
Beaching the boat some distance from the burning house, the three young people ran up the slope. Firemen had not yet reached the scene, and the few persons who had gathered, were watching the flames but making no effort to battle them.
“It’s a hopeless proposition,” Jack commented. “This far from the city, there’s no water pressure. The house will burn to the ground.”
“And all the evidence with it,” Penny added gloomily. “What miserable luck!”
No boats were tied up at the dock, nor was there any sign of the Harpers or their friends in the crowd. Obviously, the entire party had fled.
“Isn’t there some place where we can telephone the police?” Penny suggested impatiently. “If they act quickly, these men still may be caught. They can’t be very far away.”
“The nearest house is up the beach about an eighth of a mile,” Jack informed. “May
be we can telephone from there.”
“You two go,” Sally said casually. “I want to stay here.”
At the moment, Jack and Penny, intent only upon their mission, thought nothing about the remark. Following the paved road which made walking easy, they hastened as fast as they could.
“Jack,” Penny said, puffing to keep pace with him. “There’s something I want to ask you.”
“Shoot!”
“Why have you felt so friendly toward that crook, Glowershick?”
Jack’s eyebrows jerked upward and he gave a snort of disgust. “Whatever gave you that crazy idea?”
“Well, he came to the island, and you borrowed money from me to give him—”
“So you recognized him that day?”
“Yes,” Penny answered quietly. “You tried to hide his identity, so I said nothing more. I kept thinking you would explain.”
“I’m prepared to pay you what I owe, Penny.”
“Oh, Jack, it’s not the money. Don’t you understand—”
“You think I’ve had a finger in lifting the brass lantern from the Queen,” Jack said stiffly.
“Gracious, no! But shouldn’t you explain?”
Jack was silent for a moment. Then he said,“Thanks, Penny, for having a little faith in me. I know I’ve been an awful sap.”
“Suppose you tell me all about it.”
“There’s nothing to tell. I went to the Harpers a number of times—attended their dances, and spent a lot of money. I got into debt to that fellow Glowershick and he pressed me for it.”
“There was nothing more to it?”
“Not a thing, except that I didn’t want my folks to hear about it. That’s why I pretended I didn’t know Glowershick. I was afraid you would tell them. Don’t you believe me?”
“Oh, I do, Jack. I’m so relieved. And the jitterbug girl at Harpers’—”
“Oh, her!” Jack said scornfully. “She was a stupid thing, and I don’t see how I stood her silly chatter. Most of the money I borrowed from Glowershick was spent on her. As I’ve said, I was a complete chump.”
Reaching a house some distance back from the river, they found the owner at home, and were given permission to telephone the police. Jack was promised by an inspector that all police cruisers would be ordered to watch for the escaped brass thieves. Railroad terminals, bus depots and all roads leading from the city would be guarded.
“Watch the riverfront too,” Jack urged. “The men may have gone by boat to Tate’s Beach, intending to catch a train from there.”
Satisfied they had done everything possible, Penny and Jack hastened back to the Harpers’. The sky was tinted pink and flames now shot from the roof of the house. A large crowd had gathered, and there was excited talk and gesturing.
“Something’s wrong!” Penny observed anxiously.
Pushing through the crowd, they sought vainly to find Sally.
A woman was talking excitedly, pointed toward the flaming building.
“I tell you, I saw a girl run in there only a few minutes ago!” she insisted. “And she didn’t come out! She must be in there now!”
The words shocked Penny and Jack as the same thought came to them. Could it be that reckless Sally had ventured into the basement of the house, hoping to recover the brass lantern or other evidence which would incriminate the thieves?
“She acted funny when we left her here,” Penny whispered in horror. “Oh, Jack! If she’s inside the building—”
Pushing through the crowd, she grasped the arm of the woman who was talking. “Who was the girl? What was she wearing?” she demanded tensely.
“A blue sweater,” the woman recalled. “Her hair was flying wild and her face was streaked with dirt as if she’d already been in the fire. I thought maybe she lived here.”
“It was Sally,” Penny murmured, her heart sinking to her shoe tops. “Why hasn’t someone brought her out?”
“No human being could get into that house now,” declared a man who stood close by. “The firemen aren’t here yet. Anyway, we ain’t sure there’s anyone inside.”
“I saw the girl run in, I tell you!” the woman insisted.
To debate over such a vital matter infuriated Penny and Jack. Sally was nowhere in the crowd and they were convinced she had entered the blazing building. Flames were blowing from some of the lower windows and smoke was dense. It was obvious that no man present was willing to risk his life to ascertain if the girl were inside.
“She must have tried to reach the basement!” Penny cried. “Oh, Jack, we’ve got to bring her out!”
Nodding grimly, Jack stripped off his coat. Throwing it over his head as a shield, he darted into the burning building. Penny, close at his heels, had no protection.
Inside the house, smoke was so black they could not see three feet ahead. Choking, gasping for breath, they groped their way through the living room to the kitchen. Penny jerked open the door leading into the cellar.
Flames roared into her face. The entire basement was an inferno of heat. No human being could descend the stairs and return. If Sally were below, she was beyond help.
Closing the door, Penny staggered backwards. Her head was spinning and she could not get her breath.
“It’s no use!” Jack shouted in her ear. “We’ve got to get out of here! The walls or floor may collapse.”
Clutching Penny’s arm, he pulled her along. In the black smoke swirling about them, they missed the kitchen door.
Frantically, they crept along a scorching hot wall, seeking to find an exit.
Then Penny stumbled over an object on the floor and fell. As she tried to get up, her hand touched something soft and yielding. A body lay sprawled in a heap beside her on the floor.
“It’s Sally!” she cried. “Oh, Jack, help me get her up!”
CHAPTER 24
DREDGING THE RIVER
Sally moaned softly but did not stir as Penny tried to pull her to a sitting position. The heat now was almost unbearably intense, with flying brands dropping everywhere. But near the floor, the air was better, and Penny drew it in by deep gulps.
Jack’s groping hand encountered the sink. Soaking his coat with water from one of the taps, he gave it to Penny to protect her head and shoulders.
“Help me get Sally onto my back in a Fireman’s carry,” he gasped. “We can make it.”
The confidence in Jack’s voice gave Penny new courage and strength. As he knelt down on the floor, she dragged Sally onto his back. Holding the inert body high on his shoulders, he staggered across the kitchen.
Penny guided him to the door. Flames had eaten into the living room, and a small portion of the floor had fallen through. To reach the exit was impossible.
“A window!” Jack directed.
Penny could see none, so dense was the smoke, but she remembered how the room had been laid out, and pulled Jack to an outer wall. Her exploring hand encountered a window sill, but she could not get the sash up.
In desperation, she kicked out the glass. A rush of cool, sweet air struck her face. Filling her lungs, she turned to help Jack with his burden. Before she could grasp him, he sagged slowly to the floor.
Thrusting her head through the broken window, Penny shouted for help.
Willing hands lifted her to safety, and two men climbed through the window to bring out Jack and Sally. Both were carried some distance from the blazing building to an automobile where they were revived.
However, Sally was in need of medical attention. Hair and eyebrows had been singed half away, and more serious, her hands and arms were severely burned. Jack and Penny rode with her to the hospital when the ambulance finally came.
Not until hours later, after Captain Barker had been summoned, did Sally know anyone. Heavily bandaged, with her father, Jack, and Penny at her bedside, she opened her eyes and gave them a half-hearted grin.
“The Florence?” she whispered.
“Safely beached on a shoal,” Captain Barker assured her tenderly. “T
here’s nothing to worry about. All the passengers have been taken to hospitals or to their homes. A preliminary check has shown only one man lost, an engineer who was trapped at his post when the explosion occurred aboard the Florence.”
“Pop, you were marvelous,” Sally whispered. “You saved the waterfront.”
“And nearly lost a daughter. Sally, why did you try to get into that burning building?”
Sally drew a deep, tired sigh.
“Never mind,” said Penny kindly. “We know why you went in—it was to find the brass lantern.”
Sally nodded. “When I got to the basement, flames were shooting up everywhere,” she recalled with a shudder. “I realized then that I couldn’t possibly find the lantern or anything else. I tried to get back, but smoke was everywhere. That was the last I remembered.”
“It was Jack who saved you,” Penny said, but he cut in to insist that the credit belonged to her rather than to him.
In the midst of a good-natured argument over the subject, a nurse came to say that Penny and Jack both were wanted on the telephone.
“The police department calling,” she explained.
They were down the hall in a flash to take the call. Captain Brown of the city police force informed them they were wanted immediately at police headquarters to identify Sweeper Joe, the Harpers, and Clark Clayton who had been arrested at the railroad station. Adam Glowershick also had been taken into custody.
At headquarters fifteen minutes later, the young people found Mr. Gandiss, Penny’s father, and Heiney Growski already there. Questioned by police, the young people revealed everything they knew about the case.
“We can hold these men for a while,” Chief Bailey promised Mr. Gandiss, “but to make charges stick, we’ll have to have more evidence.”
Penny had told of the cache of brass in the Harper basement, and also of seeing Sweeper Joe and Clark Clayton dump much of the loot in the river. She was assured that the ruins of the house would be searched in the morning and that a dredge would be assigned to try to locate the brass which had been thrown overboard into the deepest part of the channel.
The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels Page 146
