Ka-kee-ta should have made the round trip to Mr. Pracht in the Pioneer
Hotel, which was one block from the Waloo, before Tessie was bathed,
dressed and breakfasted, but he did not return by the time she had
finished the last of the hot cakes. He did not return for lunch. Tessie,
who had a thousand-and-one things to do, began to wonder.
"Where do you suppose he is?" she asked Granny. "What do you suppose has
happened to him?"
"Maybe he met a friend," suggested Granny, who was wondering herself
what had detained the queen's messenger. "I hope you'll give him a good
piece of your mind when he does come back, Tessie. He shouldn't loaf
when you send him on an errand. Maybe he went to lunch with a friend."
Tessie laughed to think of frizzled Ka-kee-ta and his ax going to lunch
with a friend, but her face sobered when she remembered that, so far as
she knew Ka-kee-ta had no friends in Waloo.
"I'm worried," she told Granny, and she looked worried. "I suppose I'm
responsible for Ka-kee-ta. Do you suppose Mr. Pracht could have done
anything to him?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," confessed Granny with grim reluctance. "A man
who will threaten a little girl like you would do anything. Why don't
you call up Joe Cary and ask him what he thinks?" Granny had called on
Joe for so long that it had become a habit to consult him on every
occasion.
"I'll call up Mr. Bill! He knows more than Joe Cary. Joe Cary never went
to college. He only went to an art school!"
"There are some things you learn without going to college," murmured
Granny, as Tessie flew to the telephone.
"Lost Ka-kee-ta!" repeated Mr. Bill over the wire, and he laughed. "I
thought that was what you wanted to do."
"I never wanted to lose him!" Tessie declared indignantly. "I just
wanted him to leave me alone once in awhile. I'm afraid something has
happened to him."
"What could have happened to a big strong native with an ax in his
hands?" Mr. Bill laughed again. He sounded anything but sympathetic.
"Have you reported it to the hotel detective? He would know how to trail
your bodyguard. Or the police? A man like Ka-kee-ta couldn't disappear
without leaving some clue. I'll bring the store detective around if you
say so?"
"You needn't bother!" There was a bit of an edge in Tessie's voice, even
if it was tremulous. It hurt Tessie to have her call for help regarded
as a joke. "I'll speak to the hotel detective. And I'll ask Joe Cary to
help me find Ka-kee-ta. But as long as your father is so interested in
my islands, I wish you would ask him why the syndicate that wants to buy
them stole my bodyguard?"
"Tessie!" exclaimed Mr. Bill. He stopped laughing as soon as he heard
the edge in Tessie's voice. Perhaps the edge was sharp enough to cut
him. "Tessie!" he said again, but she did not answer him. He hung up the
receiver and hurried to get his hat. He would go right over to the Waloo
and see what was the matter with Tessie. He met his father at the door.
"Where are you going?" old Mr. Kingley asked young Mr. Kingley.
"To the Waloo!" Mr. Bill answered hurriedly. "Tessie Gilfooly has lost
that native bodyguard of hers."
"Lost--" Mr. Kingley caught his son by the sleeve and held him
tight--"wait a minute, Bill, and tell Gray. He might as well use the
story." He rubbed his hands together in his satisfaction. "My soul! We
must have had a million dollars' worth of good publicity out of Queen
Teresa already! Tell Gray all about it before you go, Bill. He will just
have time to catch the afternoon papers."
"Darn the papers!" cried Mr. Bill, trying to free himself from the
paternal clutch on his sleeve. But whether he wanted to or not, he had
to wait and tell Mr. Gray what Tessie had told him.
"Perhaps you shouldn't publish it yet," he said doubtfully, when at last
he was free to go.
"Not publish it!" His father was shocked at such a thought. "Of course
it should be published. Why not? Queen Teresa wants to find her
bodyguard, doesn't she? If the story is published, all Waloo will help
her. It can't hurt her to have it published. What could happen?" He
looked hungrily at his son as if, perhaps, he scented more publicity.
"She could be boiled in oil if the Sons of Sunshine got hold of her,"
muttered Mr. Bill, as he remembered what Tessie told him was sometimes
done to monarchs in the Sunshine Islands.
"Bill! Don't be flippant as well as foolish," counseled his disgusted
father. "Queens aren't boiled in oil now. That makes a fine story, Gray.
A fine story! I bet the other stores, the Bon Ton and the Mammoth, envy
us our queen!" He laughed with good-natured triumph. "You can run along
now, Bill, and tell Queen Teresa we want to help her in every way we
can. Be sure and put that in your story, Gray, that we are helping the
queen in every way we can to find her bodyguard."
But Mr. Bill had delayed too long. By the time he told the story to Mr.
Gray, Joe Cary had taken his hat and gone to the Waloo. Joe found only
Granny in the big sunny room, for Tessie had gone over to Marvin, Phelps
& Stokes, to ask Mr. Marvin if there wasn't a law which would make Mr.
Pracht stop threatening her, and stop stealing Ka-kee-ta. Tessie knew
that Mr. Pracht had stolen Ka-kee-ta.
"I wanted her to wait until you came," Granny said. "But she wouldn't do
it. She feels responsible for Ka-kee-ta. She said if it hadn't been for
her, he would be in the Sunshine Islands this minute, safe and sound."
"He would probably have been killed by the Sons of Sunshine," corrected
Joe. "You know I think I'm getting a line on this, Granny. And it's
bigger than I thought. I made it my business to talk to that Pracht last
night, and something he said roused my suspicions. If I'm right, Tessie
has a big power against her. She wants to be careful."
"What is it, Joe?" begged Granny. "What was Pete up to before he died?"
She was sure that Pete had been up to something, and her voice shook as
she begged Joe to tell her what it was.
"I'll tell you just as soon as I'm sure," promised Joe. "I'm going after
Tessie now. She shouldn't have gone out alone, not after defying Pracht
as she did."
"She wasn't alone. Johnny came back from camp this morning, and he went
with her."
"Johnny!" Joe laughed as if a Boy Scout would be little protection
against the power he feared. When he saw Granny's worried face, he
patted her arm comfortingly. "Don't you worry, Granny. Everything's all
right!" he declared. "I'll bring Tessie right back!"
But when he reached the sumptuous offices of Marvin, Phelps & Stokes,
Tessie had left.
"About five minutes ago," Bert Douglas told him. "Rum story she had to
tell, wasn't it? Of course Mr. Marvin is going to make that Pracht stop
frightening her. We don't stand for that sort of thing in this country.
She was as pretty as a picture when she told her story. But, Cary, there
must be something queer about those islands. Mr. Marvin thinks so, too,
but Mr. Phelps is nuts for them. He says it takes him back to the days
when he wanted to be a pirate."
"Were they able to help Tessie at all?" asked Joe. What did he care
about Mr. Marvin--or even Mr. Phelps?
"Not much. We've had a wire from Pitts, the special representative, from
San Francisco. I suppose when he comes the mystery will be cleared." And
he chuckled. The mystery intrigued Bert as much as the islands did Mr.
Phelps.
"San Francisco!" exclaimed Joe. "I thought he was a prisoner on the
islands?"
"I rather think Pracht sent us that word to scare the queen. Anyway, Mr.
Marvin had a wire this morning that seems all right. I was just going to
tell Miss Gilfooly when she came in, the Boy Scout at her heels. She
mustn't do anything until Pitts arrives. But I expect, and I know Mr.
Marvin thinks so, too, that Ka-kee-ta lost his way. Miss Gilfooly
probably found him at the hotel when she went back."
Joe looked at him. "You don't think there is anything in Pracht's threat
to make trouble for Tessie if she doesn't sell the islands to his
syndicate, do you?" he asked bluntly.
Bert regarded him with amused surprise. "My dear fellow, what could he
do? Use your gray matter! Those islands are in the Pacific Ocean, two
hundred and eighty-seven miles south of Honolulu. They are very
beautiful and may be very valuable, but Pracht wouldn't resort to crime
to get them. No syndicate would. It's ridiculous!"
"Two hundred and eighty-seven miles south of Honolulu," repeated Joe.
"And much nearer to the United States than Honolulu. Don't forget that!
There are people, Douglas, who would be glad to get control of a group
of islands near the United States."
Bert jumped to his feet and stared at Joe. "What do you mean, Cary? What
do you mean?" he demanded.
But Joe would not tell him what he meant. "Think it over," he advised,
instead. "Think several things over, and perhaps you'll understand that
Pracht means all, and more, than he threatens, that he is determined to
get possession of those islands. We've got to find Ka-kee-ta. I'll trot
back to the Waloo. Perhaps Tessie will be there by the time I am."
"Sure to be," agreed puzzled Bert. "She left a good ten minutes ago. But
I wish you'd make your meaning a little clearer, Joe. I'd like to have
it a little clearer before I speak to Mr. Marvin."
Joe was halfway to the elevator before Bert finished, and he did not
turn back to explain his meaning. He hurried to the hotel, but Tessie
was not there. Johnny was on the davenport with a big box of chocolates.
"I don't know where Tessie went," he told Joe languidly. "She asked me
to go in the Bon Bon Box, and buy her five pounds of chocolates, and I
did. I saw her get into a car and----"
"What car?" snapped Joe. "It wasn't her own car! Her own car was
standing in front of the hotel. I saw it when I came in."
"Not her own car!" cried Granny, and her face turned a pasty gray as she
stared at Joe. "Not her own car, Joe! Then somebody's kidnaped her! I
know they have! Poor little Tessie!"