XX

The afternoon papers carried the story of the mysterious disappearance

of Queen Teresa and her bodyguard, but strangely enough, there was very

little in the story about the Evergreen. Indeed the store was merely

mentioned in the closing paragraph which reminded Waloo where Queen

Teresa had been found.

Granny had been interviewed, and she had tearfully told of the

appearance of a white-headed, big-nosed, fat man who had wanted to buy

the Sunshine Islands, and who had threatened the queen with all sorts of

barbarous cruelties if she did not abdicate at once. Granny made no

bones about telling the press what she knew of Frederic Pracht, which

was little, and what she thought of him, which was much.

"I don't believe the Sons of Sunshine have anything to do with this,"

she insisted. "I think it was all that Pracht man. He stole the marriage

license of her father and mother, and now he's stolen her. I know he

has!"

"Be careful, Granny," cautioned Joe with a worried frown. "You don't

want to say anything that will make it worse for Tess."

"No, I don't!" choked Granny. "But I think people should know the

truth. I'm not as pleased with this queen business as I was, Joe. I used

to think it was grand to be a queen, and there are parts of it that are

pleasant, I must say, but there are other parts that I don't hold with

at all. I don't see how Pete stood it all alone, away off there in the

Pacific Ocean. I've just about made up my mind that Tessie shan't ever

go there. She's too little and helpless. What could she do, if those

savages should turn against her? You don't think any one would hurt

little Tessie, do you, Joe? She's all right, isn't she?" And she went

closer to Joe and peered into his face so that her eyes, as well as her

ears, could tell her what Joe thought. "You'll find her for me, won't

you, Joe?"

"Sure, we'll find her!" declared Joe, with far more confidence than he

felt. "The police--every officer in Waloo!--is trying to find her!"

"I'll bet the Boy Scouts can find her!" bragged Johnny, who was thrilled

to the very marrow to think that his sister--his own sister who was a

queen--had been kidnaped. Gee whizz! what would the fellows say!

Joe gave a start and looked at Johnny. "Thunder!" he said slowly, and

then he added more quickly, "Johnny, I believe you've said something!

Who's at the head of your Scouts?"

"We got a Scoutmaster for every troop," boasted Johnny, but Joe did not

wait for him to finish. Joe was at the telephone impatiently asking

Central for heaven's sake to give him the number he wanted, and not half

a dozen numbers he couldn't use.

In an incredibly short time, each Scoutmaster in the city had been asked

to have the boys in his troop help find the missing queen of the

Sunshine Islands.

"Your boys have been taught to observe," Joe eagerly told the

Scoutmasters. "Perhaps one of them saw the car which carried off Miss

Gilfooly." Joe never could speak of Tessie as Queen Teresa. It was too

ridiculous, and then he did not believe in queens. "The number is

13,023. Just get in touch with your Scouts, and ask them if they have

seen it. I know it's just a chance, but Waloo is so big and Miss

Gilfooly is so little that we have to snatch at every chance. Her

brother is a Scout, you know," he added, while Johnny stood beside him

all puffed with pride.

"We'll do our best!" promised the Scoutmasters. "And our boys are all

over town. If one of them saw the car, I'm sure he'll report at once.

Sorry about the queen. She seemed a nice little girl!"

"She is a nice little girl!" declared Joe, with considerable emphasis.

"You'll find her all right," prophesied the Scoutmaster. "Queens can't

be kidnaped in this country."

"Miss Gilfooly was kidnaped!" Joe reminded him curtly. "If you hear

anything, call me up at once, at the Waloo!"

He did not feel quite as confident as the Scoutmaster, as he hung up the

receiver, but he nodded encouragingly to Granny.

"They'll find her," he said.

"I'm sure I hope so," wailed Granny. "Poor little Tessie! I never should

have allowed her to be a queen! I might have known there would be

trouble! Queens aren't as fashionable as they were."

"No," agreed Joe. "They aren't. Gee whizz, Granny!" He jumped to his

feet and stared down at Granny. "Where do you suppose Tessie is? And

Ka-kee-ta? I'd like to ring old Kingley's neck!" he said fiercely.

Granny stumbled to her feet and stared at him. "What has he got to do

with it?" she said quickly. "What has Mr. Kingley got to do with

Tessie's being kidnaped, Joe?" She caught his arm and held it tight as

she questioned him.

"That," Joe told her with a frown, "is something I'm going to find out."

"But there must be something that makes you think he had a hand in it?"

insisted Granny, clinging to his arm.

"Nothing definite," scowled Joe. "But it was his car that carried Tessie

away!"

Granny clutched his arm tighter and shook him. "You don't think Mr.

Bill had a hand in it too, Joe?" she cried shrilly. "You don't blame Mr.

Bill too, do you?"

"No!" Joe shook his head. He did not see how Mr. Bill could be blamed.

Mr. Bill had been working untiringly to find a clue which would lead him

to Tessie. He had sworn a mighty oath that he would not close his eyes

until he found Tessie. "No," Joe told Granny, "I don't think Bill

Kingley knows any more than I do."

"Oh!" Granny released Joe's arm and dropped into a chair. "I thought

perhaps you might mean that Tessie had eloped with Mr. Bill, and his

father knew about it. I thought that was what you might mean when you

said you'd like to wring old Mr. Kingley's neck."

"No, I didn't mean that!" But Joe did not tell her what he did mean. He

just stood and stared at the telephone, as if he would force it to ring

and tell him where Tessie was.

Granny threw her handkerchief over her face and broke into loud

lamentations. Johnny ran to her.

"Don't you cry, Granny! Don't you cry! The Scouts'll find Tessie all

right! I wish you'd let me go and help them!"

Granny put her arms around him tight. "No, you can't go, Johnny!" she

sobbed. "You can't go! The Sons of Sunshine might take you, too. You

stay here with me!"

"It's dreadful!" Norah Lee told Joe. Norah's face was white and anxious,

and her voice shook. "If you only knew where to look!"

"That's it!" groaned Joe. "We haven't any idea where to look! It's worse

than a needle in a haystack! She might be anywhere!"

"Poor little queen!" sighed Norah. "You know, Joe, there have been

moments when I've envied her. I know it was silly, but I did! It was so

romantic, you know, and old Mr. Kingley and everybody made such a fuss

over her. The world just seemed to center around Tessie Gilfooly. The

rest of us weren't there at all. We all envied her!"

"You can't envy her now!" Joe had nothing but scorn for one who envied a

queen. He looked oddly at Norah. He could not see why Norah should envy

any girl.

"No, we can't envy her now. I'm awfully sorry for you, Joe," she said

after a moment. "You must be nearly crazy!"

"It's not knowing where she is," Joe said simply. "And when you think

what savage brutes those Sunshine Sons really are, it's enough to make

us all crazy!"

"Poor old Joe!" And Norah put her hand on his and squeezed his fingers

with friendly sympathy. "Poor old Joe!"

"I'm not any good at all," frowned Joe. "That's what takes the starch

out of a fellow. I don't know what to do! Bill Kingley is running

around town like a mad dog, but he isn't getting anywhere. We aren't any

of us as helpful as Johnny here."

Johnny raised his head from Granny's shoulder. "The Boy Scouts'll help!"

he insisted. "You just see!"

At almost that very moment Charlie Deakin, the young Scoutmaster of

Beaver Troop in Northeast Waloo, was going home in the early twilight.

He had been thrilled to his heels when Joe called him to the telephone,

and asked him to help find Queen Teresa. He had been interested in the

queen ever since he read the first story in the _Gazette_. He had gone

to the sale in the Evergreen basement for the benefit of the Sunshine

Island's shoe fund, and had bought an aluminum stewpan which he had

given to his mother, to her undying amazement. He often had seen Tessie

driving with her bodyguard and had admired both of them immensely. And

now the queen had been kidnaped! He could not believe that any one would

be so dastardly as to kidnap such a charming little girl. But if any one

had, he would like to find her. He would give everything he had in the

world to find her. And as he went home in the early twilight, he

considered several plans for calling his troop together, and setting the

boys to the task so that they really would find Queen Teresa. At the

corner he met Neddie Black, who was an ardent young Scout.

"Hello, Ned!" called Charlie. "I'm glad I met you! I've work for you to

do! What's that in your hand?" For from Neddie's fingers dangled a

beaded bag, something no Scout would carry.

"I picked it up in the street," explained Neddie, "but I can't find the

owner. I thought it belonged to a girl who went into that red-brick

house, but no one answered when I rang the bell. There is a dollar and

seventy-five cents in it, a vanity case, a handkerchief, a pencil, a lot

of samples, some pieces out of the newspaper, a veil, three chocolates

and a piece of paper. See!" And he showed Charlie a card on which

several words were scribbled.

"'Talcum powder,'" read Charlie Deakin. "'Frederick O'Brien's South Sea

Island book!'" His voice rose excitedly. "'Insect powder.' 'Cocoanut oil

for Ka-kee-ta!' Where did you find this, Ned?" He gave Ned a little

shake, as he questioned him eagerly.

Ned told him that he had been playing ball with a bunch of fellows in

the vacant lot over there--he nodded in the direction of the red-brick

house--and a limousine had driven up to the curb. Their ball had rolled

under the car--the license number was 13,023--Neddie proudly

remembered, and he had run to pick it up and had found the purse.

"A girl got out of the car. I supposed it belonged to her. But when I

rang the bell, nobody came to the door. The car had gone away, so I put

the bag in my pocket. Whose is it, Mr. Deakin, do you know?"

"Neddie Black!" exclaimed Charlie, his voice shaking with excitement.

"You go and sit on that curb!" he pointed to the curb in front of the

red brick house. "And if any one comes out of that house, you yell as if

you were being killed. I have to telephone!" He looked wildly about for

a telephone.

"What is it, Mr. Deakin?" begged Neddie, pulling his sleeve. "What is

it?" He knew it was something, because Mr. Deakin was so excited and so

breathless. He felt a little tingle of excitement himself.

"It means we have a clue to Queen Teresa!" declared Charlie

triumphantly. "I'll go in here and telephone, and if you see any one

come out of that house, you yell. Gee whizz! Wouldn't it be great if we

were to find the Queen! Just suppose she is in the house now!" He stared

at the house. "I believe I'll ring the bell and see!"

"Nobody answers the bell!" Neddie told him. "I rang and rang and nobody

came. I'll sit here, Mr. Deakin, and play ball while you telephone, and

if anybody comes out, I'll yell like sixty. You go and telephone!"

"Well--" Charlie hesitated. He hated to turn his back on the red brick

house for fear some one would come out, but he really could do nothing

alone. He was not even sure that the little bag belonged to the queen,

although he thought it did. The memorandum which mentioned insect

powder, Ka-kee-ta, and cocoanut oil should be proof enough for anybody.

No one but Queen Teresa would be buying cocoanut oil for Ka-kee-ta. Of

course, the bag belonged to the Queen! And Neddie had found it in front

of that house, and so the Queen must be in the house. He would telephone

to Joe, and when Joe came with the police, he would go with them and

find the Queen. And while he telephoned, the Boy Scout would be on

guard.

"Keep your eyes and ears open, Neddie," he cautioned as he turned toward

the house on his left. "Don't let anything get by you!"

"You bet!" promised Neddie confidently. He threw his ball into the air

and caught it, and then bounced it up and down until it led him in front

of the red brick house. "I'll keep my eyes and ears wide open," he told

himself proudly. "I bet it'll be a good deed if I find a Queen!"