Penny joined a throng of curious bystanders at the Harper property.
Police had taken complete charge and were raking the smoldering ruins.
"Find anything?" Jack asked a policeman he knew.
The man pointed to a small heap of charred metal which had been taken
from the basement. There were many pieces of brass, but the missing
lantern was not to be found in the pile.
However, from a member of the arson squad, they learned that enough
evidence had been found to prove conclusively that the fire had been
started with gasoline.
"Ma Harper spilled the whole story," one of the policemen related. "She
and her husband were fairly straight until they became mixed up with
Sweeper Joe, who has a police record of long standing. Ma had a black
market business in silk stockings that didn't amount to much. So far as
we've been able to learn, she and a taxi driver whom we've caught, were
the only ones involved. Her husband and the other men considered the
stocking racket small potatoes for them."
After talking with the policemen for awhile, the young people wandered
down to the river's edge to see how dredging operations progressed.
"They're hauling something out of the water now!" Jack exclaimed. "By
George! It looks like brass to me!"
Finding a boat tied up at the dock, they borrowed it and rowed rapidly
out to the dredge. There they saw that some of the metal which Sweeper
Joe had dumped, had indeed been recovered.
Prodding in the muddy pile in the bottom of the dredge net, Penny uttered
a little scream of joy. "The brass lantern is here, Jack! What wonderful
luck!"
Seizing the slime-covered object, she washed it in the river. "Let's take
it straight to Sally at the hospital!" she urged.
Because the lantern would be important evidence in the case against
Glowershick, police aboard the dredge were unwilling for it to be
removed. However, the young people carried the news to Sally.
"Oh, I'm so glad the lantern has been recovered!" she cried happily.
"Jack, you'll win it in the race Friday."
Jack and Penny exchanged a quick, stricken glance. Temporarily, they had
forgotten the race and all it meant to Sally. With her hands bandaged
from painful burns, she never would be able to compete.
"We'll postpone the race," Jack said gruffly. "It would be no competition
if we held it without you."
"Nonsense," replied Sally. "It will be weeks before I can use my hands
well, so it would be stupid to postpone the race that long. Fortunately,
the doctor says I may leave the hospital tomorrow, and I'll not be
scarred."
"If you can't race, I won't either," declared Jack stubbornly.
"Jack, you must!" Agitated, Sally raised herself on an elbow. "I'd feel
dreadful if you didn't compete. The race has meant everything to you."
"Not any more. Winning doesn't seem important now. I'll not sail in the
race unless the _Cat's Paw_ is entered, and that's final!"
"Oh, Jack, you're such an old mule!" Sally tossed her head impatiently on
the pillow. Then she grinned. "If my _Cat_ is in the race, you'll sail?"
"Sure," he agreed, suspecting no trick.
Sally laughed gleefully. "Then it's settled! Penny will represent me in
the race!"
"I'll do what?" demanded Penny.
"You'll skipper the boat in my stead!"
"But I lack experience."
"You'll win the trophy easily," chuckled Sally. "Why, the _Cat's Paw_ is
by far the fastest boat on the river."
"Says who?" demanded Jack, but without his old fire.
"But I couldn't race alone," said Penny, decidedly worried. "Sally, would
you be able to ride along as adviser and captain bold?"
"I certainly would jump at the chance if the doctor would give
permission. Oh, Penny, if only he would!"
"The race isn't until Friday," Jack said encouragingly. "You can make it,
Sally."
The girl pulled herself to a sitting posture, staring at her bandaged
hands.
"Yes, I can," she agreed with quiet finality. "Why, I feel better
already. Even if I have to be carried to the dock in a wheel chair, I'll
be in that race!"
CHAPTER
25
_THE RACE_
A mid-afternoon sun beat down upon the wharves as a group of sailboats
tacked slowly toward the starting line for the annual Hat Island trophy
race. The shores were lined with spectators, and from the clubhouse where
a band played, music carried over the water.
At the tiller of the _Cat's Paw_, Penny, in white blouse and slacks, hair
bound tightly to keep it from blowing, sat nervous and tense. Sally,
lounging on a cushion in the bow, seemed thoroughly relaxed. Though her
arms remained in bandages, otherwise she had completely recovered from
her unpleasant experience.
"Isn't the wind dying?" Penny asked anxiously. "Oh, Sally, I was hoping
we'd have a good stiff breeze for the race! Handicapped as we are--"
"We're not handicapped," Sally corrected. "Of course, I can't handle the
ropes or do much to help, but we have a wonderful boat that will prove
more than a match for Jack's _Spindrift_."
"You're only saying that to give me confidence."
"No, I'm not," Sally denied, turning to study the group of racing boats.
"We'll win the trophy! Just wait and see."
"If we do, it will be because of your brain and my brawn," Penny
chuckled. "I'll admit I'm scared silly. I never was in an important race
before."
Conversation ceased, for the boats now were bunching close to the
starting line, maneuvering for position. Jack drifted by in the
_Spindrift_, raising his hand in friendly greeting. As he passed, he
actually glanced anxiously toward Sally, as if worried lest the girl
overtax herself.
"I hope he doesn't try to throw the race just to be gallant," Penny
thought. "But I don't believe he will, for then the victory would be a
hollow one."
The change apparent in Jack so amazed Penny that she had to pinch herself
to realize it was true. Since the night of the fire, he had visited Sally
every day. In a brief span of hours, he had grown from a selfish,
arrogant youth into a steady, dependable man. And it now was evident to
everyone that he liked Sally in more than a friendly way.
"Better come about now, Penny," Sally broke in upon her thoughts. "Head
for the starting line. The signal should be given any minute now."
The boats started in a close, tight group. Jack was over the line first,
but with _Cat's Paw_ directly behind.
In the first leg of the race, the two boats kept fairly even, with the
others lagging. As the initial marker was rounded, there was a noticeable
fall-off in the wind.
"It's going to be a drifting race," Sally confirmed, raising troubled
eyes to the wrinkled sail. "We're barely drawing now and Jack's boat has
the edge in a calm."
The _Spindrift_ skimmed merrily along, now in the lead by many yards.
Though Penny held the tiller delicately, taking advantage of every breath
of wind, the distance between the two boats rapidly increased.
"We're out of it," she sighed. "We can't hope to overtake Jack now."
Sally nodded gloomily. Shading her eyes against the glare of the sun, she
gazed across the river, studying the triangular course. Far off-shore,
well beyond the line the _Spindrift_ and their own boat was taking, the
surface of the water appeared rippled. Ahead of them there was only a
smooth surface.
"Penny," she said quietly. "I believe there's more breeze out there."
Penny nodded and headed the _Cat's Paw_ on the longer course out into the
river. To many spectators ashore it appeared that the girls deliberately
had abandoned the race, but aboard the _River Queen_, Captain Barker
grinned proudly at his guests, Mr. Parker, and Mr. and Mrs. Gandiss.
"Those gals are using their heads!" he praised. "Well, Mr. Gandiss, it
looks as if the Barkers will keep the trophy another year!"
"The race isn't over yet," Mr. Gandiss rumbled goodnaturedly.
Aboard the _Cat's Paw_, Penny and Sally were none too jubilant. Although
sails curved with wind and they were footing much faster than the other
boats, the course they had chosen would force them to sail a much longer
distance. Could they cross the finish line ahead of the _Spindrift_?
"Shouldn't we turn now?" Penny asked impatiently. "Jack's so much closer
than we."
"Not yet," Sally said calmly. "We must make it in one long tack. He will
be forced to make several. That's our only chance. If we misjudge the
distance, we're sunk."
Tensely, they watched the moving line of boats close along shore. The
_Spindrift_ seemed almost at the finish line, though her sails barely
were drawing and she moved through the water at a snail's pace.
Again Penny glanced anxiously at her companion.
"Now!" Sally gave the signal.
Instantly Penny swung the _Cat's Paw_ onto the homeward tack. Every inch
of her sails drawing, she swept toward the finish line.
"We're so much farther away than the _Spindrift_," Penny groaned,
crouching low so that her body would not deflect the wind. "Oh, Sally,
will we make it?"
"Can't tell yet. It will be nip and tuck. But if we can keep this
breeze--"
The wind held, and the _Cat's Paw_, sailing to windward of the finish
line, moved along faster and faster. On the other hand, the _Spindrift_
was forced to make several short tacks, losing distance each time. The
boats drew even.
Suddenly Sally relaxed, and slumped down on the cushions.
"Just hold the old girl steady on her course," she grinned. "That brass
lantern is the same as ours!"
"Then we'll win?"
"We can't lose now unless some disaster should overtake us."
Even as Sally spoke, boat whistles began to toot. Sailing experts nodded
their heads in a pleased way, for it was a race to their liking.
A minute later, sweeping in like a house afire, the _Cat's Paw_ crossed
the finish line well in advance of the _Spindrift_. Jack's boat placed
second with other craft far behind.
Friendly hands assisted the girls ashore where they were spirited away to
the clubhouse for rest and refreshments. As everyone crowded about to
congratulate them upon victory, Jack joined the throng.
"It was a dandy race," he said with sincerity. "I tried hard to win, but
you outsmarted me."
"Why, Jack!" teased Sally. "Imagine admitting a thing like that!"
"Now don't try to rub it in," he pleaded. "I know I've been an awful
heel. You probably won't believe me, but I'm sorry about the way I
acted--"
"For goodness sakes, don't apologize," Sally cut him short. "I enjoyed
every one of those squabbles we had. I hope we have a lot more of them."
"We probably will," Jack warned, "because I expect to be underfoot quite
a bit of the time."
Later in the afternoon, the brass lantern which had been turned over to
the club by the police, was formally presented to Sally. She was warned
however, that the trophy would have to be returned later for use in court
as evidence against Adam Glowershick.
The nicest surprise of all was yet to come. Captain Barker was requested
by a committee chairman to kindly step forward into full view of the
spectators.
"Now what's this?" he rumbled, edging away.
But he could not escape. Speaking into a loudspeaker, the committee
chairman informed the captain and delighted spectators, that in
appreciation of what he had done to save the waterfront, a thousand
dollar purse had been raised. Mr. Gandiss, whose factory certainly would
have faced destruction had wharves caught fire, had contributed half the
sum himself.
"Why, beaching the _Florence_ was nothing," the captain protested, deeply
embarrassed. "I can repair the damage done to the _Queen_ with less than
a hundred dollars."
"The money is yours, and you must keep it," he was told. "You must have a
use for it."
"I have that," Captain Barker admitted, winking at his daughter. "There's
a certain young lady of my acquaintance who has been hankerin' to go away
to college."
"Oh, Pop." Sally's eyes danced. "How wonderful! I know where I want to go
too!"
"So you've been studying the school catalogues?" her father teased.
Sally shook her head. Reaching for Penny's hand, she drew her close.
"I don't need a catalogue," she laughed. "I only know I'm scheduled for
the same place Penny selects! She's been my good luck star, and I'll set
my future course by her!"
Transcriber's Notes
--Replaced the list of books in the series by the complete list, as in
the final book, "The Cry at Midnight".
--Silently corrected a handful of palpable typos.
End of Project Gutenberg's Guilt of the Brass Thieves, by Mildred A. Wirt