Two Surprises for Linda
Mike O’Malley, the young reporter who had volunteered his help in making
an investigation of the empty house, departed immediately after his
conversation with Linda and Dot on Sunday morning at Lake Winnebago.
“I’ll be over at the place to-morrow, late in the afternoon,” he
promised, as he put the map of directions into his pocket. “And I’ll
bring tools with me. Maybe I’ll even commandeer a ladder from the
nearest farmhouse, so we can climb in a window if it is necessary. Like
regular robbers!”
“That’s an idea!” approved Linda, thinking how useful such a thing might
be in getting into the tower. “Make it a good high one!”
The two girls left their secluded spot and strolled back to the Inn to
join the other guests. Here a surprise of an exceedingly unpleasant
nature awaited Linda. Her Aunt Emily handed her a telegram which was far
from being a message of congratulation upon winning the race, as the
older woman suggested that it might be.
Opening it hastily, she read these threatening words:
“Miss Linda Carlton,
Green Falls, Mich.
“You are hereby informed that my client, Mrs. Edward Tower (formerly
Mrs. Elsie Fishberry), of Chicago, will sue you for $50,000 damages
for striking her niece, Helen Tower, with your autogiro. We have a
witness.
Leo Epstein,
_Attorney at Law_.”
Linda read the message through twice before she could really believe it.
With a blank stare she handed it silently to her aunt.
“Why, that’s absurd!” cried the older woman, unusually angry for her.
“Fifty thousand dollars! Why, you haven’t got that much money!”
“I know. But I suppose Mrs. Fishberry thought we were enormously rich.
Mike O’Malley said there was something crooked about this woman, and I
believe him. I bet this is the only reason she bothered to get Amy
back.”
“It’s a frame-up, of course,” said Miss Carlton. “The witness is someone
who is being bribed to lie. And a dishonest lawyer, who is willing to
take the case for what he can get out of it. You have a witness too,
however, in Dot.”
“Yes, but the judge may say that since she’s my friend that of course
she would testify for me. Oh, Aunt Emily, what shall we do? Wire for
Daddy to come to Green Falls?”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that, my dear. I had a telegram from him
yesterday just before we left home—I forgot to tell you in the
excitement over the treasure hunt—informing me that he was sailing for
Paris to-day. He is going to wander about France, in some of the smaller
towns, partly on business and partly for pleasure. We simply can’t wire
him.”
“Then what shall we do?” repeated Linda, desperately.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to think about it. Write to Mr. Irwin, I
suppose. He is a wonderful lawyer, you know.”
“Will you do that for me right away, Aunt Emily?”
“Yes, dear, if you’ll promise to cheer up and forget it for the time
being. After all you have done nothing wrong, and there is nothing to
worry about— Now, will you go get ready for lunch? It ought to be
announced any minute now.”
Leaving the disagreeable telegram with her aunt, Linda went to her room
to dress. When she returned, another surprise awaited her, which she did
not know whether to regard as pleasant or not. She had tried to put the
thought of Lord Dudley out of her mind, and here he was again—as
fascinating and as handsome as ever.
He was standing in the corner of the reception room talking with Tom
Hulbert and another man, a stranger to Linda, when the girl came down
the stairs.
“Miss Carlton!” he exclaimed, with his charming smile, and in another
moment he was shaking hands with her and introducing the stranger, John
Kuhns, a friend of Tom Hulbert, to her.
“But how did you know about this party?” demanded Linda. “We all told
you about the treasure hunt, but I didn’t think you knew about the
house-party here at the lake.”
“Oh, Mr. Clavering invited me to join you all here, before I left Green
Falls. But I’ve been very busy, in Chicago, and I couldn’t get away last
night. If it hadn’t been for Mr. Kuhns, I shouldn’t be here now.”
At this moment Ralph Clavering and his father joined the little group,
the younger man as usual looking annoyed at the reappearance of another
admirer of Linda.
“I hope that you and Mr. Kuhns can arrange to stay until to-morrow, Lord
Dudley,” said the older man cordially. “The party isn’t breaking up till
the afternoon.”
“That’s awfully kind,” replied the Englishman, “but I’m afraid I can’t.
I have some rather important business on for to-morrow. So Kuhns and I
are flying back this afternoon.” He turned to Linda. “In which case,” he
said, “since my time is so short, may I have a stroll with you after
luncheon, Miss Carlton?”
Linda hesitated.
“We were all going to take our planes up this afternoon—” she began.
“That can be postponed until four o’clock,” suggested Mr. Clavering,
graciously. Ralph, however, frowned moodily, and walked away.
Linda herself was not so sure that she wanted a tête-à-tête with this
man. It would be easier to forget him if she did not see much of him.
But there was no real reason to refuse, so she met him again at
half-past two on the porch.
“I certainly want to congratulate you, Miss Carlton,” he said, as they
strolled towards the lake. “And I hear that the prize is money.”
“Yes,” she replied, smiling. “A thousand dollars. But I am sharing it
with Amy, because she really found the place.”
“Amy?” he repeated. “That girl—your protégée?”
“Yes.”
“And where is she now?” he asked casually. Linda wondered whether he
were merely talking to keep the conversation impersonal. Well, he
needn’t worry about her; fascinating as he was, she didn’t want to marry
him!
“Her aunt took her away from me,” she replied. “It seems that where the
treasure was hidden, was really her old home.”
“Indeed!” he remarked. “And you say you met her aunt? Then you found out
who she was, and everything is all right?”
“Yes. Her real name is Helen Tower. The woman had pictures, and a key to
the house. But she was a very disagreeable person.”
“Too bad for the child,” he muttered. “Did the girl know her?”
“No, she didn’t. And she didn’t want to go. But Mrs. Fishberry insisted.
And now she is making things very unpleasant for me.”
“How’s that?”
“She claims that I smashed into Amy with my autogiro—that there wasn’t
any car at all. And she’s going to sue me for fifty thousand dollars!”
“How can she?” demanded her companion, angrily. Then his eyes twinkled,
and he asked suddenly, “Was there really a car, Linda?”
Linda’s eyes blazed. Did this man actually think she would lie? Of
course, he hadn’t known her long, but she thought he knew her well
enough for that.
“Of course, there was a car,” she replied, haughtily. “A gray car,
driven by an elderly man, at eighty miles an hour—or something like
that. I have Miss Crowley as a witness, but they say they have one, too,
and I suppose I shall have to go to court.”
“Always in the newspapers,” he remarked, teasingly.
“Yes, and not only that, but I expect to take a job in the fall that may
take me far away from Chicago. It’s going to be awfully inconvenient,
even if I don’t have to pay any money.”
They strolled along in silence for a little while, and Linda had a
sudden desire to be back with her other friends. This Englishman was not
so fascinating upon further acquaintance, and she longed for Dot. If she
had a chance to talk to her about the telegram, she would feel better.
Dot always had such wonderful suggestions.
Lord Dudley, however, had one to offer.
“Why don’t you try to buy the woman off, Miss Carlton?” he asked.
“What for?” she demanded, angrily.
“Oh, say for about twenty-five thousand—maybe less, if she’d take it. It
would save you a lot of time and worry, and maybe money in the end. You
may be telling the truth, but how’s a judge to know that, if the other
people have a witness?”
Linda drew herself up proudly. She was actually beginning to dislike the
man.
“I wouldn’t think of it!” she exclaimed. “That would be the same as
admitting that I was guilty. No, thank you—I’d rather fight.”
Looking ahead of her, she suddenly spied Ralph sitting alone on a bench
beside the lake. He was probably furious with her for going off with
this stranger, and all of a sudden she saw his point of view. Who was
Lord Dudley anyhow, to step in between them like this?
“I’ll race you to that bench!” she challenged, abruptly. “Ralph looks
lonely.”
“I’m too old to run,” he replied, smiling. “But you go along. I really
must be getting back to the Inn. We’re leaving soon—” He hesitated, and
held out his hand. “It’s good-by, now, Miss Carlton. I’m sailing for
England early next week. I don’t suppose I’ll see you again till you
come there on one of your flights.”
“Good-by, Lord Dudley,” she replied. “But don’t expect me soon! I’ve
been across the Atlantic you know, and next time I’ll be flying the
Pacific.”