A Daring Attempt
Judy hoped Blackberry would head straight for the main road where he
would be apt to find someone who might read the note attached to his
collar. Time was of the utmost importance. Horace must feel, as she
did, that it was rapidly running out.
“This story is burning a hole in my pocket,” he said now. “I’ve _got_
to get it to the _Herald_. Well, at least we’re trying—”
“Trying what?” cried Judy. “We’re just standing here on the coal pile
doing nothing. I don’t call that trying.”
“Maybe not,” Horace said, “but it is serving. ‘He also serves who only
stands and waits.’”
“You and your quotations! Maybe it is serving, but I don’t like it.
Maybe you like the thought of someone finding a big story in your
pocket after you’re dead, but I like the thought of being alive a lot
better—even with empty pockets. Why is your story so important,
anyway?” asked Judy. “What, exactly, did Dick Hartwell tell you?”
“He told me plenty,” replied Horace. “Enough to convict the whole Falco
gang of extortion as well as robbery. His story should solve Lorraine’s
problem—”
“Bother Lorraine!” exclaimed Judy. “If it hadn’t been for her and her
childish idea that she could wish away her troubles in the fountain we
might not have come here—”
“And Dick Hartwell might not have been found.”
Judy hadn’t thought of that. But what was the good of finding him if
there was no way to help him? Blackberry was, as Dick had pointed out,
only a cat. The note attached to his collar might be lost or
disregarded, probably the latter. Even if he delivered it to the right
people it might be much too late. As for Lorraine’s problem, Judy
announced that, whatever it was, it couldn’t compare with the problem
of life and death that she and Horace and Dick were facing here inside
the tunnel with the water rising.
“Perhaps not,” Horace admitted, “but it is pretty serious. Dick told me
that one of the signatures he forged was that of Arthur
Farringdon-Pett!”
“It was!” This information really surprised Judy. “That would mean
trouble for him, wouldn’t it? I suppose Dick was forced to copy it?”
“Yes, it was one of the first names Falco gave him,” Horace explained.
“He didn’t think it was too serious until he learned how it was being
used. It wasn’t on a bond or anything of value, Dick told me. It was
only on a sales contract.”
“I see. And how was it being used?”
“Dick didn’t say. Shall we go back and ask him?”
“We did promise to come back.”
Judy knew they had to keep that promise before the water rose much
higher. It continued to pour in from the broken pipes. Apparently
whoever had turned it on had no intention of shutting it off. Dick had
said the fountain was controlled from the tower.
“Horace,” Judy suddenly remembered, “you didn’t mention the tower in
your note.”
“I didn’t think of it,” he admitted.
“That’s all right,” Judy told him. “I didn’t think of it either until
just now. Whoever finds the note will figure out something. I hope
Blackberry doesn’t go back to the Brandt house with it. Oh, Horace!
Suppose he goes back to that room where we found him and just sits
there staring at those fish!”
“They should remind him of us. Seriously,” Horace pointed out, “he is
only a cat. We can’t expect him to have human intelligence.”
“We have it. We know the fountain is turned off from the tower. If we
could get out there—”
“We can’t, sis. There’s no use thinking about it.”
“I’d like to see it once more, anyway,” Judy said. “I’d like to stand
up there behind those cupids and look out at the back of the waterfall.
I’d like to make a wish or say a prayer or something before we go back
to where Dick is. Please, Horace!”
“Well, okay,” he agreed. “I’ll boost you up there if you think it will
do any good. You might yell for help once more while you’re at it.
Maybe we can still make ourselves heard.”
“We can try. Even if the crooks hear us, it’s better than nobody.”
Horace wasn’t so sure of that.
“But anyway,” he said, “you’ll be safer up there than down here. The
water is getting deeper all the time.”
Judy climbed down from the coal pile and waded bravely into the water
with Horace following close behind her. They were surprised to find the
water almost warm.
“You see what does it,” Horace pointed out as they passed the furnace.
Judy heard it sputter as if protesting against the water that was
pouring into it through the eye-like grate. It came out warm, but that
wouldn’t last long for the fire would soon be out. Then, thought Judy
with a shudder, cold and darkness would descend upon them. The water
would creep up, unseen, until it covered them....
“Oh, Horace!” she cried, clinging to him. “I can’t bear to think of
what will happen. It’s colder now—and so swift!”
The drain, they saw as they approached it, was still clear. Water
rushed down it in a whirlpool. It was all they could do to keep their
footing. But finally they were past the worst of it. Daylight came in
faintly from the opening overhead.
“Lift me, Horace!” Judy said at last. She had to raise her voice above
the roaring noise from the fountain which was now directly above them.
“Do you think anyone can hear me if I stand up there behind the cupids
and call for help?” she shouted.
Horace doubted it and told her so.
“Down here there’s an echo, but up there your voice would be drowned
out by the roar of the fountain. It’s haunted all right. I never expect
to hear anything more frightening than that roaring water above us.”
“It scares me, too,” Judy admitted, “but not as much as the water from
that broken pipe. If you lift me up we might yell together, me from up
there and you from down here. Then, if nobody hears us, there’s one
more thing I might try. You won’t stop me, will you?”
“That depends on what you have in mind,” Horace told her. “You’re the
only sister I have. Don’t try anything impossible.”
“I won’t,” Judy promised, “not if I’m sure I can’t make it. But I’m a
pretty strong swimmer. I think I can dive through that cascade and get
to the rim. Now lift me up!”
“No!” Horace protested. “It’s too dangerous. What if you don’t make it?
The fountain will knock the breath out of you and suck you under.”
“I don’t think so,” Judy said. “Besides, I’m so cold now that being a
little colder won’t matter, and I’m already soaking wet. Please,
Horace, I’ll have to try it.”
“I don’t like it a bit,” Horace said. “But what can I do? I’ll look
after Dick Hartwell and keep his head above water if it comes to that.
He wouldn’t make the effort to save himself.”
“No,” Judy answered, “I suppose he wouldn’t.”
Suddenly she threw her arms around her brother’s neck and kissed him.
“Cut it out!” he exclaimed. “This isn’t a last farewell. Go ahead,
climb up on my shoulder. I’m getting used to it by now. When you see
the water you may change your mind—”
“And yell for help!” Judy finished. “I think we ought to yell, anyway,
don’t you?”
Horace needed no urging. He waited until Judy was standing behind the
cupids with the waterfall all around her. Then, while she called,
“Help! Help! Help!” from her high perch, he joined in from below. They
both shouted and called until they were hoarse, but nobody answered.
“Is it because nobody hears us or because nobody cares?” Judy wondered.
Then, suddenly, she remembered what her grandmother had once told her.
“There’s always Someone who cares.” This thought renewed the determined
spirit within her.
“Go back!” she called down to her brother. “I’ll yell to you as soon as
I’m safe. Oh, Horace! It will be harder for you waiting down there with
the water pouring in than it will be for me going through it.”
“Pick yourself up fast,” he shouted. “Get to the edge of the pool and
then yell good and loud. I’ll be listening!”
“I will! I’ll make it. I’m sure I will.”
Judy kicked off her wet shoes and threw them to test the force of the
water. They immediately disappeared in the foam. Now she was not so
sure.
“Suppose it does knock me out,” she thought with a shiver. She had left
her coat behind to cover Dick Hartwell. For a moment she stood there in
her sweater and slacks, hesitating. Then, hurling herself forward with
all her strength, she plunged into the fountain.
------------------------------------------------------------------------