BELLE SWIMS
The tide was just right. In their newest bathing suits the motor girls had
assembled on the beach in the hot sun. Their white arms and necks showed
the winter of indoors, but their faces had already taken on the tan of the
seaside. Soon arms and necks would be in accord.
The boys were out on the float, splashing about, occasionally "shooting
the chutes" and diving from the pier.
"Is the water cold?" asked Cora, going down to where the waves splashed on
the pebbles. Daintily she dipped in--just a toe. "How is it, Jack?"
Jack was tumbling about near the beach like a porpoise.
"Sw--swell!" he managed to gasp, the hesitancy being because a wave
insisted on looking at his tongue, or trying to scrub his already white
teeth--Cora could not decide which.
"Is it really warm?"
"Of course!"
"It feels cold."
"I know. That's because you stand there and stick one toe in. Get wet all
over and--you'll feel----"
Jack was suddenly plunged under water by Walter, who had come swimming
up, so the sentence was not finished. But Cora could guess it.
"I'm going in; come on, girls!" she cried.
"Oh, wait a little," pleaded Belle.
"And you said you were going to learn to swim to-day!" challenged Eline.
She looked particularly well in her dainty bathing costume.
"Well, I--I didn't know the water would be so deep!"
"Deep!" echoed Cora. "It's getting shallower all the while. The tide is
going out. Come on."
She waded out a short distance, bravely repressing the spasmodic screams
that sprang to her lips, and turning to the others said:
"It--it's--fi--fine--co--come on--in!"
"Listen to her!" cried Bess. "It must be like a refrigerator to make her
stammer like that."
"It is not," said Cora. "It--it's real--real warm--when you--you--get used
to it."
"I have heard said," remarked Eline with studied calmness, "that one can
get used to anything--if one only makes up one's mind to it."
"Come--come on----"
Cora did not finish. A wave splashed up on her, taking her breath. Then,
resolving to get it over with, she strode out, threw herself under water
and a moment later was swimming beside Jack.
"Cora's in!" exclaimed Bess. "I'm going too."
"So am I," added Eline. "Come on, Belle!"
Belle hesitated.
"I can only swim a few strokes," she said. "I learned at Lake Dunkirk."
"It's much easier in salt water than fresh," insisted Eline, taking hold
of Belle's arm. "Do try!"
Hesitatingly Belle waded out into the water. She gasped and choked as the
chill struck through her, then, resolving to be brave, she plunged herself
under. She gasped more than ever, but did not give up.
"You are doing fine!" cried Eline, as she struck out toward the float.
Suddenly Belle screamed.
"Are you going down?" asked Eline in alarm, yet they were not out beyond
their depth.
"No, she's going up!" asserted Walter, who was swimming near by.
"Don't make fun of her!" commanded Cora.
"I'm not. She's making fun of herself."
Again Belle screamed.
"Oh! Oh!" she cried. "Something has me! I--I'm sure it's a lobster."
"None of us boys missing!" joked Ed, as he splashed up.
"Lobsters are worth forty cents a pound! Save that one! Save it!"
commanded Norton, as he came alongside with strong, even strokes.
"Oh dear!" screamed Belle.
She really seemed in distress, but something nerved her to strike out as
she never had before, and before she knew it she was swimming.
A figure in red guided to her side--a veritable mermaid. It was the girl
from the lighthouse--Rosalie.
"Take it slowly--you are doing lovely!" she commended. "You are swimming!"
"Oh--Oh--I--I'm so glad!" cried Belle. "I've always wanted to, but they
said I--I would be afraid!"
Rosalie was half supporting her, but really Belle was doing well, and
gaining confidence every minute. As the lighthouse maid swam past Cora
she managed to whisper:
"Father wants to see you. Come over when you can. I think he has had some
word from Aunt Margaret."
CHAPTER IX
GATHERING CLOUDS
The word which the lighthouse keeper had received was rather indefinite.
It was a letter from his sister, but it only confirmed that which he
already knew.
"And it doesn't give me any address where I can write to her!" he
complained when Cora had paid him a visit, in response to the invitation
given by Rosalie during the swim. "It's postmarked at--maybe you can see
it, my eye-sight isn't what it used to be," and he held the envelope out
to Cora.
"Edmenton," she read. "That's in this State."
"Yes, but what good would it do to write to her there?" he asked. "She
evidently doesn't want me to know where she is. Just read the letter,
Miss."
It was not long and in effect said that Mrs. Raymond would not come back
to her relatives until she had found Nancy Ford, and cleared her name of
the suspicion on it.
"Don't try to find me," wrote Mrs. Raymond, "as I am going from place
to place, working where I can. I am seeking Nancy. I thought she might
have gone back where she used to live, but I wrote there and she had not
arrived. I must search farther. I am doing fairly well, so don't worry
about me. Some folks have been very kind--especially some young ladies.
I will tell you about them when I see you, brother--if I ever do."
"She must mean you--the time of the fire," said the light keeper. "I'm
sure I'm much obliged to you for befriending my sister."
"Oh, it was nothing," protested Cora. "I wish we could have done more. I
am sure we could have, had she not gone off in such a hurry. But we can't
blame her, for she was very nervous and excited."
"Poor Margaret," murmured Mr. Haley. "She was always that way. She tells
me not to worry--but I can't help it."
"I suppose not," agreed Cora. "You might try writing to Edmenton. The
postmaster there might give you a clue, or tell you some one who could
give information."
"I'll do it!" exclaimed the keeper of the light. "It will give me
something to do, anyhow," and he set to the task.
Cora had called at the light alone, not knowing what the nature of the
communication might be that the keeper wished to make to her. It was the
day after Belle had bravely struck out for herself in the water.
Cora said good-bye to Rosalie, who was busy about her household duties,
and waved to little Dick, who was playing on the beach. Then, getting into
the _Pet_ in which she had come to the lighthouse float, Cora turned the
bow toward the little dock at the foot of the slope on which the bungalows
were perched.
"Well, you were gone long enough!" complained Jack when she got back.
"I've been waiting for you."
"What for?" she asked. "Has anything happened?"
"Nothing except that we fellows have heard of a motor boat we can hire
cheap for the season, and we want to run over and look at it. The fellow
who has it is on the other side of the Cove. Can I take the _Pet_?"
"Certainly, Jack. We girls are going to the life-saving station, anyhow.
You'll be back before lunch; won't you?"
"I should guess yes!" exclaimed Walter, who had come up. "We wouldn't miss
our rations for anything."
Jack and his chums were soon speeding across the bay. There was quite a
sea on, for the wind was rising, and there seemed to be indications of a
storm. But a number of boats were out on the water, and the _Pet_ was a
staunch craft. Also, Jack and the other boys were able to manage her, and
all were excellent swimmers.
Cora and the girls went on to the life-saving station not far from their
bungalow. They were much interested in the method of launching the boat,
and the captain explained how it would right itself if capsized, and also
bail out the water that entered in a storm.
"What do you do when you can't launch a boat?" asked Belle.
"Use the breeches buoy," answered the grizzled old salt. He showed how
by means of a mortar a line was fired aboard the wreck, and how, by a
sort of pulley arrangement, the persons in danger could, one at a time, be
pulled ashore, sitting in the "breeches buoy."
"It's just like some of those apartment house clothes lines on high
poles," said Bess; "isn't it?"
"I never heard it called that afore," remarked the captain of the coast
guard, "but I s'pose you could call it that if you was a mind to. If
you'll stay around a bit you'll see our drill."
The girls were delighted, and eagerly watched while the mortar was fired,
the cylindrical shot carrying the line out to an imaginary wreck. Then
one man played the part of a shipwrecked mariner, and was hauled over
the sand, while Cora took several photographs of him.
"We've got her!" exclaimed Jack, as the girls returned to the bungalow.
"She isn't much for looks, but she can beat the _Pet_!"
"Who?" asked Cora, thinking of something else.
"The motor boat we hired. Come on out and we'll give you a race."
"Let's!" exclaimed Belle.
"My, but you're getting brave!" observed Ed. "The time was when a race
frightened you even if you read of it in the papers."
"I did not!"
"She can swim now," commented Bess.
Motor maids and motor boys went out on the bay in the two motor boats.
The craft Jack and his chums had hired was not very elegant, and she
seemed to be rather uncertain about starting, and when she did the engine
appeared to be protesting most of the while. But the boat made good time,
and though it did not really beat the _Pet_ (much to the disappointment of
boastful Jack) it kept well up with Cora's speedy craft.
For a week or more the young people enjoyed to the utmost the life on the
coast. More people came to the little summer resort, and several social
affairs were arranged.
There were swimming races, in which the girls and boys participated, even
Belle entering in the novice class. But she won no prize, nor did she
expect to.
"I just wanted to show Jack Kimball that I didn't have to wear a life
preserver nor be anchored to the shore!" she declared with spirit.
"I humbly beg your pardon!" said Jack, with a bow.
Then there were motor boat races, in which the _Pet_ did herself proud,
coming in first in her class. The boys had great hopes of the _Duck_,
as they had re-named the boat they hired, but when they were doing
well, and not far from the finish line, with every prospect of winning,
something went wrong with the ignition, and they were out of it.
There were affairs on shore too, several dances to which the girls and
boys went. Then there was a moving picture performance semi-occasionally,
and some other plays. Altogether the summer was a happy one, thus far.
Nothing was heard of Mrs. Raymond, though her brother wrote a number of
letters, and of course the missing Nancy Ford was not located. Though Jack
and the boys insisted on staring at all the pretty strangers they met,
playfully insisting that Nancy might be one of them.
"Of course she's bound to be good-looking," said Ed.
"Naturally," agreed Jack.
"How do you make that out?" Cora wanted to know.
"Everybody named Nancy is good-looking," asserted Norton, with his lazy
drawl.
The girls laughed at this reasoning.
"Let's go for a long run to-day, Sis!" proposed Jack one morning, when
he called at the girls' bungalow. "We can take our lunch, run around the
lighthouse point, into the Cove on the other side, and have a good time.
There's said to be good fishing there, too."
"I'll go if the others will," she agreed, and when she proposed it to them
the girls were enthusiastic about it. Soon two merry boatloads of young
people were speeding over the sun-lit waters of the Cove.
"We have to go right out on the ocean; don't we?" asked Belle with a
little shiver as she looked ahead at the expanse of blue water.
"Only for a little way," said Cora. "Just round the lighthouse point. Then
we're in another bay again."
"Are you afraid?" asked Eline.
"N--no," said Belle, bravely.
As they went on the sky became overcast, and Cora looked anxiously at them.
"I'm afraid it's going to storm, Jack," she said.
"Not a bit of it!" he cried. "I'll ask this fisherman," and he did,
getting an opinion that there would be no storm that day. Reassured, they
went on.
The sea was not a bit rough and even Belle's fears were quelled. They
went past the light, close enough to see Rosalie waving at them. High
up in the tower they could note Mr. Haley and his helper cleaning the
great lantern and lens.
They reached the other bay in due time, but the gathering clouds grew more
menacing, and Cora was for putting back.
"No," urged Jack. "Let's stay and eat our lunch. If it gets too rough we
can leave our boats here and walk back over the point. It isn't far."
So the girls consented. The clouds continued to gather.
CHAPTER XX
THE STORM
"Jack Kimball, I knew we stayed too late! Now look over there!" and Cora
pointed to the west, where a bank of dark and angry-looking vapor piled
up in contrast to the lighter-hued clouds that had caused apprehension
earlier in the day.
"That's right--blame it all on me--even if it rains!" protested Jack. "You
wanted to stay as much as we did, Sis."
"Well, perhaps I did," admitted Cora. "But really we should not have
stayed so long. I am afraid we will be caught in the storm."
"Do you really think so, Cora?" asked Belle, and she could not keep a
quaver out of her voice.
"If I'm any judge we're in for a regular old----"
"You're it, old man!" and Walter interrupted Ed, who was evidently on the
verge of making a dire prophecy concerning the weather. "Don't scare 'em
any more than you have to," went on Walter in a low voice, nodding at the
girls in the _Pet_. "We may have our hands full as it is."
"Do you think so?"
"Look at those clouds!"
It was enough. Indeed all were now anxiously scanning the heavens that
seemed to grow blacker momentarily. The little party, after having had
lunch on the beach of the smaller cove, around the lighthouse point, were
now on their way back in the two motor boats, and Cora, with a look aloft,
had made the observation to Jack that opened this chapter.
"Well, turn on all the gas you can, Sis, and we'll scud for it," called
Jack to his sister. "We may beat it out yet. If not, we can go ashore
almost any place."
"Except on the rocks," spoke Cora. "The worst part will be round the
point, in the open sea."
"Oh, we'll do it all right," asserted Norton, confidently. "The wind isn't
rising much."
The boats were close enough together so that talking from one to the other
was easy. They were headed out toward the open sea, and as Cora guided
her craft she could not help anticipating apprehensively the heavy rollers
that would be encountered once they were out of the land-locked shelter.
But the bow of the _Pet_ was high. She was a good craft in rough weather,
and as for the hired _Duck_, she was built for those waters.
"Let's be jolly!" proposed Jack, for a glance at the girls in their boat
had showed him that they were on the verge of hysterics. "Strike up a
song, Ed."
"Give us Nancy Lee," suggested Walter.
"Nancy!" exclaimed Cora. "I wonder where that other Nancy is?"
"No telling," declared Eline. "Oh dear! I hope it doesn't rain. This dress
spots so!" and she looked down at her rather light gown, which really
she ought not to have worn on a water picnic. Cora had said as much, but
Eline--well, it must be confessed that she was rather vain. She had good
clothes and she liked to wear them, not always at appropriate times.
"It won't rain!" asserted Jack. "Go ahead, Ed--sing!"
"'Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep' would be most appropriate," voiced
Norton. "We are rocking some."
It was indeed getting rougher, and the motor boats bobbed up and down on
the long swells. But as yet none had broken over the bows. Cora dreaded
this, not because of any particular danger, but because of the effect it
would have on her chums, particularly Belle, who, try as she might, could
not conquer her nervous dread of the water.
The boys started a song, and the girls joined in, but a sudden dash of
spray over the _Pet's_ stem brought a scream from Belle that made a
discord, and they all stopped.
Jack, who was steering the _Duck_, stood up and looked ahead. They were
approaching the point around which they must go to reach their own cove.
"Can we do it, old man?" asked Walter, in a low voice.
"We'll try," answered Jack, equally low. "If we give up now the girls will
get scared. We'll keep on a bit longer, and see where we come out."
"Can't you get a bit nearer in shore?" asked Norton.
"It's risky," said Jack. "It's low tide now, and while this old tub
doesn't draw much there are a lot of rocks here and there, sticking almost
up at low water. If we hit on one of them we'll be in the pot for fair.
The only thing to do is to stand out, and trust to luck. Once around the
point we'll be all right."
"They're coming in," said Walter, nodding toward Cora and the others.
"Keep out! Keep out!" cried Jack. "It's dangerous."
"But the girls want to land!" cried his sister.
"You can't now. The shore is too rocky. You'd pound her hull to pieces.
Keep on around the point. The storm won't break for half an hour yet."
Rather reluctantly Cora put the wheel over. Yet she recognized the truth
of what Jack had said. It would be dangerous to go ashore there. And to
turn back was equally out of the question, since the wind was rising. It
was at their backs, and to turn in the heavy sea now running might mean
an upset. To face the waves, too, would be dangerous. The only chance lay
in keeping on.
Jack's prophecy about the storm was not borne out. With a sudden burst of
wind, that whipped the salty spray of the waves over those in both boats,
and a sprinkle of rain that soon became a downpour, the tempest broke.
The girls screamed, and tried to get under some bits of canvas that Cora
had brought along to cover the engine. But the wind was so strong, and
the rain so penetrating that it was of little avail.
"Head her up into the waves!" cried Jack. "Take 'em bow on, Cora!"
"Of course!" she shouted back, and gripped the wheel with tense fingers.
A little later they were out on the heaving ocean. Fortunately the point
cut off some of the wind, and, having the gale at their backs helped
some. But the two motor craft, separated by some distance now, had no
easy time of it.
"Oh--oh!" moaned Belle.
"Be quiet!" commanded her sister. "Look at Eline!"
Eline was calm--that is, comparatively so.
"But--but she can swim better than I."
"Swim! No one will have to swim!" said Cora, not turning around. "I
wonder what's the matter with that man?" and she pointed to one in a
dory, who seemed to be signalling for help.
Then there came a further burst of the storm, and the rain came down
harder than ever.
CHAPTER XXI
THE WRECK
"There must certainly be something the matter with that man!" exclaimed
Cora. She had fairly to shout to be heard above the noise of the wind and
rain.
"Well, we daren't stop to see what it is," said Belle. "Oh, do go faster,
Cora! Get in quiet water! I am getting seasick!"
"Don't you dare!" cried Bess. "Think of--lemons!"
"I'm going to see what is the matter," declared Cora. "He's waving to us!"
"What about the boys?" asked Eline.
"They don't seem to see him. Besides, they're past him now, and it would
be risky to turn back. I can easily pass near him."
The man, who was in a power-driven dory, was waving and shouting now, but
the wind carried his words away. He seemed to be in some difficulty.
"Why doesn't he row in out of the storm?" asked Bess.
"Perhaps he has lost his oars," suggested Eline.
"Maybe that is the trouble," remarked Cora. "Well, we'll soon see."
She changed the course of the _Pet_, though it was a bit risky for the
seas were quartering now, and the spray came aboard in salty sheets. But
the girls could not get much wetter.
Cora slowed down her engine by means of a throttle control that extended
up near the wheel. She veered in toward the tossing dory.
"What is it?" she cried. "What's the matter?"
"Out of gasoline! Can you lend me a bit so I can run in? I came out to
lift my lobster pots, but it's too rough."
"Gasoline? Yes, we have plenty," said Cora. "I'll give you some."
"Don't come too close!" warned the fisherman. "Can you put it in a can
and toss it to me? That's the best way."
"I'll try," promised Cora, as she cut off all power. The _Pet_ was now
drifting, rising and falling on the swells. Belle looked very pale, and
Bess was holding her.
"Find something, and run some gasoline into it from the carbureter drip,"
directed Cora, as she clung to the wheel.
"What shall I find?" asked Bess.
"Would an empty olive bottle do?" asked Eline.
"The very thing!" cried Cora. "Has it a cork?"
"Yes, and one olive in it."
"Throw out the olive, and poke your handkerchief down in the bottle to
dry it out before you put in the gasoline. Even a drop of the salt water
the olives come in will make trouble in the gasoline. Hurry!"
"Look out!" cried the fisherman. "Fend off!"
"You'd better do it!" directed Cora. "We have no boat hook!"
"All right, I'll attend to it."
The two boats were drifting dangerously close together. The fisherman
caught up an oar he carried for emergencies, and skillfully fended off
the _Pet_, which was drifting down on him. In the meanwhile Bess, with the
help of Eline, had dried out the olive bottle, and had filled it with
gasoline.
"What shall I do with it?" she asked Cora.
"Throw it to the man."
"I never can throw it."
"Then give it to me," and, holding to the wheel with one hand, with the
other Cora tossed over the bottle of gasoline. The lobsterman caught it,
called his thanks and gave the _Pet_ a final shove that carried her past
him.
"Can you crank her?" asked Cora to Bess, nodding toward the engine.
"I'll try!"
It needed three tries, but finally the motor started, and the boat surged
forward again. Cora, bringing her head up to the seas, noted that Jack
had started to turn around to come back to her, but, seeing that the _Pet_
was under way again, had gone on his own course.
The wind continued to blow, the rain never ceased and the storm increased
apace. But finally, after a battle with the elements that made the hearts
of the girls quail, they passed the lighthouse point, and shot around
into the quiet and wind-protected waters of the bay. A little later they
were chugging into the even calmer cove.
"Oh Cora! So frightened as I have been!" exclaimed Aunt Susan, as the
dripping girls trooped up the hill to the bungalow. "Oh, what a storm!"
"But we weathered it!" laughed Cora, shaking back her damp hair. "It was
a bit scary at first, but we came out all right. It was fun at the finish."
"I'm never going out again when it's cloudy!" declared Belle. "Never!"
"Oh, you'll get used to it," said Eline.
Dry garments, hot tea, and supper coming in the order named restored in
the girls their natural happy dispositions. But the storm continued. It
grew worse as darkness advanced, and the wind rose to a gale. The rain
came down in torrents, and the boys, in spite of rain coats and umbrellas,
were drenched a second time in the short trip from their bungalow to
that of the girls, when they came to pay a visit.
"It's a wild night," declared Jack, as he and his chums got ready to go
back, about ten o'clock.
"There must be quite a sea on," said Ed.
"I wouldn't want to be out in it," remarked Walter.
"And I beg to be excused," came from Norton.
"Think of the poor sailors," said Eline, softly.
"I tell you what I'd like to do," observed Jack.
"What?" Ed wanted to know.
"Go over to the lighthouse. It must be great up in the lantern room in
a storm like this."
"Don't you dare to go!" cried Cora. "It might blow away."
"No danger," said Jack with a laugh. "But I'm not going. Another thing
we might do."
"What?" demanded Norton.
"Go out and find a beach patrol. We could walk up and down with him, and
maybe sight a wreck."
"Oh, don't speak of a wreck!" begged Bess. "A wreck on such a night would
be dreadful."
"This is just the kind of a night when they have wrecks," observed Ed,
as a blast of wind and rain shook the bungalow.
As the boys were going out into the storm there came a dull report,
reverberating on the night air.
"What was that?" gasped Cora.
"Sounded like a gun," said Jack. "Maybe a ship at sea----"
There was a flash in the sky. It was not lightning, for there was no
thunder storm.
"See!" exclaimed Eline.
"The lighthouse," ventured Norton.
"The light is over there," and Ed pointed to the flashing beacon in a
different direction.
"Then it's a rocket from some ship in danger," declared Walter. "There
goes another!"
It was unmistakably a rocket that went cleaving through the blackness.
It came from off the lighthouse point.
"Some ship is in danger, or maybe off her course," spoke Jack. "Well, we
can't do anything, and there's no use getting any wetter. Come on to bed,
fellows."
"Oh, the poor people--if that is a wreck," murmured Bess.
"If it was only daylight we might witness some rescues," said Cora. "But
at least let us hope it is nothing serious."
It was Rosalie who brought the news next morning. Through the driving
rain she came to the girls' bungalow, her face peering out from beneath a
sou'wester that was tied under her chin, her feet barely visible beneath
the yellow oilskin coat.
"There's a wreck ashore!" she cried. "I thought maybe you might like to
see it! It's out in front of our light, and they're bringing the crew
ashore!"
"Can they save them?" asked Cora, clasping her hands.
"Most of 'em, I guess. Want to come?"
"Of course we'll go!" cried Eline. "The boys won't want to miss this!"
CHAPTER XXII
THE RESCUE
Green masses of foam-capped water hurling themselves on the
sand--thundering and pounding. A spray that whipped into your face with
the sting of a lash. The wind howling overhead and picking up handfuls of
wet sand, scattering them about to add to the bite of the salt water.
The rain pelting down in torrents. A dull boom, repeated again and
again. The hissing of the breakers. And, out in the midst, out in a
smother of water, gripped on the sharp rocks that now and then could be
seen raising their black teeth through the white foam was the ship--a
wreck.
It was this scene that Cora, the other girls, and the boys saw as they
hurried out to the lighthouse point. And it was one they never forgot.
They had hurried out when Rosalie brought the news that in the storm of
the night a three-masted auxiliary schooner had come too far inshore
despite the warning of the light.
"Father was up all night tending the lantern, too!" she shouted--she had
to shout to be heard above the roar. "I helped him," she added. "But in
spite of it the schooner worked in. She couldn't seem to steer properly.
We could see her red and green lights once in a while. Then the current
caught her and nothing could save her. She went right on the rocks. Her
back's broke, Captain Meeker of the life guards said."
"Can they save the people?" Cora inquired, as she pulled her raincoat more
tightly about her, for the wind seemed fairly to whip open the buttons.
"They're going to try," answered the lighthouse maid. "They got some of
'em off in the motor life-boat early this morning, but it's too rough for
that now."
"What are they going to do, then?" asked Bess.
"Use the breeches buoy. It's the only way now!" cried Rosalie. "They're
going to fire a line over soon."
"We don't want to miss that," declared Jack.
The wreck had gone on the rocks nearly opposite the lighthouse that
guarded them. In this case the guardianship had been in vain, and the sea
was hastening to wreak further havoc on the gallant ship.
The boys and girls trudged down to the beach through sand that clung to
their feet. They could see the life-savers getting their apparatus in
order, and near them were huddled some men--evidently sailors.
"Those are the men who were rescued from the ship," said Rosalie. "There
are more on board, and some passengers, I heard. Some women and children,
too!"
"How terrible!" gasped Belle. "Oh, I don't see how any one can take a long
voyage. I am so afraid of the water."
"I don't blame you--not when it acts this way," spoke Eline. "It makes
me shudder!"
The big green waves seemed to be reaching hungrily out for those on the
strand, as though not satisfied with having wrecked the ship. The waters
fairly flung themselves at the men whose seemingly puny efforts were being
directed to save those yet remaining on board.
"Is the ship's captain among them?" asked Walter, pointing to the group
of sailors.
"No, indeed!" exclaimed Rosalie. "He'll be the last one to leave. They're
always like that. My father was a captain once," and she seemed proud of
the fact, though now she was glad that her father was safe in the staunch
lighthouse.
"That's so, I forgot," remarked Walter. "The captain is always the last
to leave."
"But I thought women and children came first in a rescue at sea,"
suggested Ed.
"The women and girls--I heard there were some girls," went on Rosalie,
"wouldn't get in the boat. They were afraid. Of course the breeches buoy
is safer, but look how they have to wait. She may go to pieces any time
now."
"It's dreadful," said Cora, in a low voice.
She and her companions drew closer to where the life-savers were at
work. The boys and girls were wet, for the rain penetrated through coats,
and umbrellas were impossible. But they did not mind this, and Mrs.
Chester had promised to have hot coffee for them when they got back to
the bungalow. She had refused to go out to look at the wreck.
"I just couldn't bear it!" she had exclaimed with a shudder.
The guards were burying in the sand a heavy anchor to which the main
rope of the breeches buoy would be fastened. The other end would be made
fast to the highest part of the ship, so that the person being pulled
ashore in the carrier would be as far above the waves as possible. The
three masts had been broken off, but the jagged stump of one stuck up,
and could be seen when there came a momentary lull in the rain.
It was not very cold, though much of the heat of summer had been
dissipated in the cool rain.
"If it was winter, how terrible it would be," said Eline. "Sometimes I
have seen lake steamers just a mass of ice."
"Yes, there is something to be thankful for," Cora agreed. "Oh, they are
going to fire, I think."
She pointed to where some of the men were setting the mortar, or small
cannon, which is discharged to send a line to stranded ships. The mortar
fires a long, round piece of iron, to which is fastened a light, but
strong, line. When this falls aboard the vessel a stronger rope is hauled
from shore by means of it.
"Yes, they're going to shoot!" agreed Jack. "They must have trouble
keeping their powder dry."
Bess covered her ears with her hands and cried:
"Oh, if they're going to fire I'm going to run!"
"Silly! It won't make much noise!" exclaimed Norton. "They don't use a
heavy charge."
"I don't care. I'm going to----"
But Bess did not have time to do anything, for at that moment the captain
pulled the lanyard that set off the mortar. The report was loud enough,
though partly smothered by the storm.
"It fell short!" exclaimed Rosalie, who was watching intently. "See, it
fell into the water!"
"Does that mean they can't make the rescue?" asked Belle, in an awed voice.
"Oh, no, they'll fire again," answered Rosalie.
A guard was hauling in on the line, which had the weight attached to it.
Soon it was in the mortar again, the line coiled beside it in a box in
a peculiar manner to prevent tangling.
Once more the shot was fired.
"There it goes! It's going to land this time!" shouted Rosalie in her
excitement. A shout from the group of rescued seamen, in which the life
guards joined, told that the shot had gone true.
Then began a busy time--not that the men had not worked hard before. But
there was need of much haste now, for it was feared the vessel would break
up. Quickly the heavy line was sent out and made fast. Then the breeches
buoy was rigged, and in a little while a woman was hauled in from the
wreck.
"Poor thing!" murmured Cora. "We must help her. She is drenched."
"Yes, we must do something!" cried Belle.
"We'll take her up to our kitchen," proposed Rosalie. "There's a good fire
there, and I'll make coffee."
The woman was helped out of the buoy, and the motor girls went to her
assistance. She seemed very grateful. She was the wife of one of the
mates, and he was not yet rescued.
"I will stay here until Harry comes ashore!" she declared, firmly.
"And you know he won't come, Mrs. Madden, until the rest of the women is
saved," explained one of the seamen. "Go with the young ladies. That is
best," and she finally consented.
In a short time several other women and two girls came ashore, one much
exhausted. But by this time a physician had arrived, and he attended to
her in the lighthouse.
Then the remainder of the sailors were brought from the wreck, the first
one to get ashore reporting that no more women or girls remained aboard.
"There was one girl," he said, "but she seems to have disappeared."
"Washed overboard?" asked Cora, with a gasp.
"I'm afraid so, miss. It's a terrible storm."
Finally the captain himself was hauled off, and he landed amid cheers
from the brave men who had helped save him. He said the vessel was now
abandoned, and would not last another hour. In less than that time the
wreck was observed to have changed its position.
Then amid the upheaval of the mighty seas the ship broke in two and was
soon pounded into shreds of wood by the terrible power of the storm-swept
ocean.
The shipwrecked ones were cared for among the different fishermen, some
staying in the lighthouse and some in the quarters of the life-savers.
The storm kept up harder than ever, and soon Cora and her friends decided
that it would be unwise to stay out longer in it. So they sought their
bungalows.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE FLOATING SPARS
Calm followed after the storm. The sea was sullen, and great waves broke
on the beach, but the rain had ceased, and the wind had almost died out.
But the tide heaved and seemed to moan, as though in sorrow for what it
had done.
It was the morning after the wreck, and Cora and the girls had gone to
the lighthouse to look out over the ocean. All vestige of the schooner
had disappeared. The sea had eaten her up.
"Where are the boys?" asked Eline, as she walked along beside Bess. The
girls had on rather make-shift garments, for they had become so drenched
in the rain that their clothes needed drying.
"I guess they are--pressing their trousers," remarked Cora. "Jack said he
was going to, anyhow."
"Vain creatures!" mocked Bess.
"I noticed you doing your hair up more elaborately than usual," remarked
Belle, with a glance at her sister.
"Oh, well, no wonder. It looked frightful--all wet as it was."
"Vain creatures--all of us," murmured Cora.
"Then the boys won't be out for some time," suggested Eline.
"I think not," answered Jack's sister. "I wonder what has become of all
the shipwrecked people?"
"A good many of them went on to New York last night," said Belle. "I met
Rosalie early this morning and she said only two of the women were over
at her place now. How did so many women, and those girls, come to be on
the schooner?"
"It was a sort of excursion party," explained Cora. "The schooner had an
auxiliary gasoline engine. The company that owns it does a small freight
business, and also takes passengers who like to go for a cruise. It seems
that a party was made up, and tickets sold. Quite a number of women and
girls, as well as some men, went along."
"I guess they are sorry they did," said Belle. "Oh, the dreadful sea. I'm
never going in bathing again."
"Oh, it's safe in Sandy Point Cove," exclaimed Eline.
"I wonder what happened to the missing girl?" asked Bess.
"Missing girl?" echoed Belle.
"Yes. Didn't you hear one of the sailors say a girl was missing--perhaps
swept overboard?"
"Oh yes! Poor thing!" and Cora sighed. "She may be--out--there!" and she
waved her hand to the heaving ocean.
The girls were on the beach where the rescue had been made. The waves were
still pounding away, but a life-guard who went past on his patrol remarked:
"She'll be down a lot by night."
"Were any of your friends hurt?" asked Belle.
"Working yesterday, you mean, miss?"
"Yes."
"No. Bill Smith got his hand jammed a bit, but that was all. We get used
to rough treatment."
"I suppose so. The sea is very rough--it's cruel."
"Not always, miss. If you could see it--as I often do--all blue under the
sun, and shimmering like--like your hair, miss, if I may be so bold, and
with the gulls wheeling about, and dipping down into it--why, miss, you'd
say the sea was beautiful--that's it--just beautiful."
"Oh, but it's so often the other way--terrible--hideous!" murmured Belle,
who seemed strangely affected.
"No, miss, begging your pardon. Even in a storm I love the sea. It it's
just grand, miss!"
"Well, I'm glad you can think so. I can't. It makes me--shiver!" and a fit
of trembling seized her.
The girls walked on. Some refuse--bits of wood and part of the cargo from
the wreck--was coming ashore. The girls continued on down the strand, now
and then venturing too close to the water, and being compelled to run back
when a higher wave than usual rushed up the shingle.
"I wonder if we couldn't go out in the boat?" spoke Cora at length.
"Don't you dare suggest such a thing--to me!" cried Belle. "I'll never go
out again--after that terrible wreck!"
"But I don't mean out on the ocean," said Cora. "I mean just around the
cove. It isn't at all rough there, and you won't mind it a bit."
"Do come!" begged Eline.
"There isn't a bit of danger," urged Bess. "Why, you've often been out
when there was more sea than this."
"But not so soon after a wreck."
"What has that to do with it?" Cora wanted to know. "The wreck is over.
It wasn't a bad one, except that the ship was lost. All the people were
saved. I think it was wonderful."
"All but that poor girl," murmured Belle.
"Well, we can't even be sure there was such a person," remarked Eline.
"It was only a rumor, and really, Rosalie said the captain could account
for everyone."
"You never can tell when there are a number of people," supplemented Cora.
"Perhaps this girl had her name down on the list, and, after all, did
not go. Then, when she was looked for, and not found, they jumped to the
conclusion that she had gone overboard. I've often read of such cases."
"So have I," declared Bess. "Come on, Belle. Let's go for a ride. It will
do us all good."
"Oh, well, I don't want to be a spoil-sport I'll go; but, Cora, dear, you
must take along a couple of life preservers."
"A dozen if you like, Belle."
"And you'll promise not to go outside the bay--you'll stay where it's
calm?"
"I promise!" exclaimed Cora, raising her right hand.
Rosalie came out of the lighthouse in her bathing suit.
"That girl fairly lives in the water," said Eline.
"If I could swim as she does I would too," spoke Bess.
"Hello!" called Rosalie, genially. "Isn't it lovely after the storm?"
"Yes," said Cora. "Have they heard anything more about the missing girl?"
"No. And no one seems to know who she was. Are you going for a spin?"
"We thought of it. Would you like to come?"
"I'd just love it! Only I haven't time to change, perhaps, and I don't
want to----"
"Come just as you are--in your bathing suit," invited Cora, and Rosalie
did.
The boys must have finished pressing their trousers, or attending to
whatever part of the personal attire needed attention, for when the
girls got back to the float, and were getting the _Pet_ in shape for
a spin, Jack and Ed hurried down to look over the _Duck_. Both boats
needed pumping out, for the water had rained in, and Walter and Norton
were good enough to attend to this tiresome work for the girls.
Soon the two craft were moving over the sparkling waters of the Cove,
which seemed to be trying to make up for what the sea had done the day
before.
The boats kept close together, and talk and gay laughter passed back and
forth. Then Jack and his chums, declaring they were going to see how
far out toward the sea they could venture with safety, speeded up and
left Cora and the girls in the _Pet_ somewhat behind. But they did not
mind--in fact, Belle insisted on keeping in safe waters. Nor was Cora
averse to this.
The girls had been cruising about for perhaps an hour when Eline called:
"What is that over there?"
She pointed to a dark mass on the surface of the bay. Rosalie stood up to
look.
"It's a lot of spars lashed together," she reported. "A sort of raft.
Maybe it is from the wrecked vessel."
"Then if it's a raft there is some one on it!" cried Eline.
CHAPTER XXIV
SAFE ASHORE
"It's a girl!"
It was Cora who said this as the motor boat drew close to the floating
logs.
"A girl!" echoed Belle.
"Yes; can't you see her long hair?"
All the girls were standing up--even Cora, who had to bend over to
maintain her grip on the steering wheel. They all peered anxiously
toward the floating object.
Certainly that was a figure on it--a figure of a girl--sea-drenched and
washed over by each succeeding wave.
"She's tied fast to that raft!" cried Bess.
"And her head is up on a sort of box--that keeps her mouth out of the
water," added Eline. "Oh, but she looks----"
"Don't say it!" commanded Cora, sharply, and Eline stopped.
"Oh, if only the boys were here!" breathed Bess. "They could help us--help
her," and she motioned to the limp figure on the raft.
"We don't need the boys!" exclaimed Cora, sharply. "We can make the rescue
ourselves. That is if----"
"Don't say it!" commanded Eline, thus "getting back" at Cora.
"Oh, do steer over there!" begged Bess, as Cora did not seem to be
bringing the motor boat quickly enough toward the raft of spars. "We must
get to her!"
"I am going to," answered Cora.
"Oh, do you suppose she can be from the wreck?" asked Belle.
"I think very likely," spoke Cora.
"Those spars--they are from the ship," declared Rosalie. "They are broken
pieces of the masts, perhaps. Some one must have made a raft before the
vessel broke up, and she lashed herself to it. I have often heard my
father tell of such things."
"Oh, do get her, Cora!" exclaimed Belle, clasping her hands.
"Don't go too close," warned the lighthouse maid. "Some of those spars
have jagged ends, and a bump would mean a hole in your boat, Miss Kimball."
"Don't, for mercy's sake!" voiced Bess, clutching Cora's arm.
"And don't you do that to my arm or I can't steer," came the retort. "I'll
be careful."
As the motor boat came nearer the girls could see more plainly the figure
on the raft. It was that of a young girl, with light hair, that was now
darkened by the sea water. She seemed to have wrapped herself in some
blankets, or rugs, tying them about her waist, and then had lashed herself
fast to the spars, or some seaman had done it for her.
She sat with her head against a box, which seemed to be nailed to the
raft, and several turns of rope were passed about this in such a manner
as to maintain the girl in a half-reclining position.
The waves broke over the lower part of her body, but her head was out of
the water, though whether this had been the case when the raft was in the
open sea was a question. Clearly much water must have washed over the
raft, and perhaps the buffeting of the waves had rendered her unconscious.
"Look out!" warned Rosalie, as Cora sent the boat in a graceful sweep
toward the raft. "Don't go any nearer."
"But we must save her!"
"Then let me try. I'll dive overboard and swim to the raft. Then I can
loosen the ropes and we'll see what can be done toward getting her aboard.
But be careful of your boat."
It was good advice and Cora followed it. Rosalie stood on the stern,
poised for a moment as Cora cut down the speed, and then gracefully dived
overboard.
Up she came, shaking the water from her eyes, and struck out for the raft
"She's alive--and--that's all!" called Rosalie to the girls in the motor
boat, as she bent over the one on the raft. "We must get her to a doctor
quick!"
"How can we get her into the boat?" asked Cora.
"I'll loosen the ropes, and then you can come up on this side. The spars
are smooth here and your boat won't be damaged!"
"Poor creature!" murmured Belle, as she watched Rosalie in her dripping
bathing suit bending over the girl on the raft.
The ropes were soon loosed, and then, with no small skill, Cora brought
the _Pet_ alongside the raft. It was not an easy matter to get the limp
and unconscious figure into the boat, but the girls managed it.
"Now for shore and the doctor!" cried Eline.
"Here is her valise," called Rosalie, casting loose a rope that held a
small suit case to the raft. "May as well take that, but I guess the
things in it are pretty well soaked. She must have been adrift ever since
the wreck went to pieces."
She tossed the bag into the boat, and clambered in herself. Then Cora
steered away from the raft, as Belle started the motor. They covered the
rescued girl with her own wet rugs--it was all they could do. She was
breathing--that was all.
Half an hour later they were safe ashore, and two fishermen on the beach
had carried the girl up to the bungalow. A doctor was telephoned for in
haste.
CHAPTER XXV
A SURPRISE
"Poor, poor girl!" murmured Cora. She was bending over the unknown who
had been rescued from the raft. The girl lay in a stupor on a couch in
the living room, having been made as comfortable as possible under the
circumstances, the girls having ministered to her with the aid of Mrs.
Chester.
"I wonder who she can be?" said Belle.
"We shall have to interview some of those who were saved from the wreck,"
spoke Bess. "One or two of the women, and two of the men are still here,
staying with some of the fishermen, I think."
"They might know," remarked Eline, "but if we could look at the passenger
list that would tell."
"Where could we get it?" asked Cora.
"The captain may have saved it, but of course he is gone. Perhaps he took
it with him."
"I'll ask my father," said Rosalie. "The captain may have left it, or a
copy of it, at the lighthouse. I'll ask Daddy."
The lighthouse maid had gotten out of her bathing suit on the arrival
of the motor boat in the cove, and, in her ordinary attire had come
over to the bungalow where the rescued girl was still in a state of
unconsciousness.
"That will be a good idea," said Cora. "I wish you would. But I don't see
why that doctor doesn't hurry. Perhaps we had better telephone again."
"I'll do it," offered Belle. "But perhaps we ought to try and revive her
ourselves--some ammonia--" and she looked at Cora questioningly.
"I had rather not," was the answer. "We don't know what injury we might
do her. She may have been struck on the head, or something like that. I
had rather a doctor would examine her. Poor creature. Who can she be?"
No one could tell. The strange girl was pretty, and her light brown hair,
now drying out, clustered around her pale face that looked so much like
death that the motor girls were greatly affected by it.
"Her people must be terribly worried about her," said Eline, softly.
"Just think of it! They will read of the wreck in the newspapers, and
see the list of those saved. Her name will not be among them, and they
will think her drowned."
"That is so," agreed Cora. "Oh, why doesn't that doctor hurry? If we could
revive her she would tell her name and we could notify her folks. I've a
good notion----"
Cora started for the telephone just as the bell rang. Cora snapped the
receiver down from the hook.
"Yes--yes!" the others heard her say eagerly. "Oh, that is too bad! Your
car has broken down while you were coming here? Yes, of course we want
you! We have a strange case here. Wait! I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll
come for you in my own car!"
Cora turned to her friends.
"Just think of it!" she cried. "Dr. Brown's car broke down while he was
on his way here. He's over at Siconset and I'll go over and get him."
"Then take our car!" suggested Bess. "It's just been filled with oil and
gasoline. Yours may not have any in."
"I will, thank you. You come with me, Bess; Belle and Eline can look after
things until we get back. It isn't far."
"Oh dear!" exclaimed Belle. "What--what will I do if she wakes up?"
"Oh, don't be nervous!" exclaimed Cora, vigorously. "If she comes to her
senses so much the better. Get her something warm to drink. She may be
starving."
"Very likely she is," said Mrs. Chester. "Run along, Cora. We'll look
after things here. Bring the doctor as soon as you can."
Outside Cora found Jack and the other boys anxiously waiting news of what
was going on. They cried:
"Who is she?"
"Has she come to yet?"
"How did she happen to be on the raft?"
"Has she told you her story?"
"I can't stop to talk now!" she replied. "I've got to go for the doctor.
Jack, be a good boy, and run the _Flyaway_ out for me. Bess and I are
going in that for Dr. Brown. He----"
"Didn't you telephone for him long ago?"
"Yes, but his car broke down."
"I see. I'll have the flyer here in a minute. Don't you want my car? It's
lighter."
"Or mine?" asked Norton eagerly, anxious to be of some service.
"Thank you both--no. Bess and I will make out all right. We don't know
who the girl is, nor what's the matter. Get the car, Jack, do."
The boys, who had come back from their little trip shortly after the girls
had made the strange rescue, talked about the happening, while Jack ran
the _Flyaway_ out from the shed where it was kept with the other cars.
Soon Cora and Bess were on their way to pick up the physician.
"She must have received a blow on the head. That is the only way I can
account for her long stupor. Or perhaps she has received some severe
mental shock. Of course the exposure and the fright of the wreck would
add to it."
It was Dr. Brown who spoke this way after examining the girl from the
raft. Cora and Bess had made good time to get the medical man and bring
him back to the bungalow.
"But she is coming around now," went on the physician. "We will have her
opening her eyes in a moment."
"Perhaps the sight of this may help her when she begins to come to her
senses," suggested Rosalie, bringing in the suitcase that had been on
the raft with the girl. "She seemed to value it very much, to take it
with her in the time of the excitement of the wreck," she went on. The bag
had been lost sight of in the confusion of bringing the strange girl to
the bungalow and in sending for the doctor. In fact, the other girls had
almost forgotten that such a thing existed.
Rosalie now brought it in, sodden and damp from the sea water. She placed
it on the floor near the couch on which the girl lay.
Idly Cora glanced at the suitcase. Some letters on it caught her eyes.
They were partly obliterated, either by abrasion, or the action of the
sea water, but Cora could see that they formed a name. She leaned forward,
and read half aloud:
"Nancy Ford."
"Girls! Girls!" Cora exclaimed. "Look--we have found her--the missing girl
that Mrs. Raymond wanted so much to find. Nancy Ford! There she is!" and
she pointed to the girl on the couch.
"Nancy Ford!" repeated Belle. "Who----"
"You don't mean to say you don't remember?" cried Cora. "The fire in our
garage--the strange woman--the story she told--of the robbers--of Nancy
Ford disappearing. There is Nancy Ford!"
"Look! her name is on the valise!" Cora pointed a slightly-trembling
finger at it. "She is our waif from the sea. Oh, if she will explain
things--if only everything is all right--and we could find Mrs. Raymond!"
"Perhaps--perhaps the missing money is in--that bag, girls!" whispered
Belle.
The doctor turned around.
"Please keep a little quiet," he suggested. "She will revive in a few
seconds, and I don't want her to have too much of a shock. She will be
all right, I think."
"To think that we have found Nancy Ford!" exclaimed Cora in a tense
voice, but the room was so silent just then that it sounded louder than
it otherwise would have done.
"Who is calling me?" came suddenly from the girl on the sofa. She sat up,
looked around with big, staring eyes, in which the wonder grew as she
noted the room and those in it.
"Who said Nancy Ford?" she demanded again.
"Easy, my dear, easy," said Dr. Brown, softly. "You are with friends and
you are all right. Drink this," and he held some medicine to her lips.
The girl drank unresistingly and then lay back again on the pillows.
CHAPTER XXVI
THE STORY OF NANCY FORD
"When do you think we can talk to her--question her?" asked Cora of Dr.
Brown. It was some hours after Nancy had regained her senses. She had been
fed some nourishing broth, and moved into a spare bedroom, where she was
made comfortable.
"Is it absolutely necessary to question her?" the physician asked in turn.
"It seems to be important," returned Cora. "If she is really Nancy Ford a
great deal depends on it. She may be able to clear the name of a woman who
has suffered much. If we could question her, learn her story, we might be
able to help both her and the woman in question, Mrs. Raymond, who is a
sister of Mr. Haley."
"Oh, yes, the light keeper. I understood there was some mystery about his
sister."
"She has disappeared, and is searching for this very girl we rescued from
the sea," went on Cora. "I do not wish to make her ill, or disturb her,
but if we could hear her story we might be able to act."
"Hum, yes!" mused Dr. Brown. "Well, I think by evening she will be strong
enough to talk. I want her to rest now. Yes, you may question her then. I
shall leave some medicine for her, but principally she needs rest, and
light but nourishing food. There is nothing serious the matter with her.
She has received no injury that I can find. The shock and the fright
caused her to lose her senses--that and being almost starved."
"Poor girl! Out all alone--all night--on the ocean on that raft," remarked
Cora.
"I should have died!" sighed Belle.
"Oh, human nature can stand more than we think," spoke the doctor. "Well,
I must be going. I don't know how I am to get around without my car."
"Use mine!" offered Jack, quickly. "I shan't need it. The old _Get There_
needs running to keep her in good humor."
"Very well, I will, and thank you."
Dr. Brown looked in on his patient.
"She is sleeping," he said.
"That is good," murmured Cora. "But, oh! I do wish we could hear her
story."
"The fellows are anxious, too," said Jack, he being alone allowed in his
sister's bungalow at this time.
There was a period of anxious waiting by Cora and her friends. Rosalie
had gone back to the lighthouse to see if there was a duplicate list
of the passengers on the wrecked schooner. She had come back to report
that her father had none, and did not know where one could be obtained.
The few members of the ship's company remaining in the village could
throw no light on the waif of the sea who had been so strangely picked up.
Undoubtedly she was the girl supposed to have been washed overboard.
"She is asking for you," reported Mrs. Chester, coming from the room of
the girl that evening after supper. "She wants you, Cora."
"Are you sure she said me, Aunt Susan?"
"Yes, she described you. She seems to be worried about something."
"I will see her."
Cora went into the room softly. The girl--Nancy Ford--to give her the name
on her valise, which had not been opened, was propped up amid the pillows.
She had some color in her cheeks now, and there was eager excitement in
her eyes.
"How are you--Nancy Ford?" greeted Cora, pleasantly.
"I am not Nancy Ford--how--how--why do you call me that name?"
"It is on your valise."
The girl started.
"My valise! Oh, yes! Was that saved? Oh, dear, I am so miserable! Yes, I
am Nancy Ford. I don't know why I said I was not. But I have been in such
trouble--I haven't a friend in the world, and--and----"
She burst into tears.
Instantly Cora was beside her, putting her arms around the frail figure
in the bed.
"I am your friend," said Cora, softly. "You may trust me--trust all of us.
We are so glad we found you. Mrs. Raymond will be glad, also."
"Mrs. Raymond!"
It was a startled cry.
"Yes."
"Why--why, isn't she still in the office? When--when I ran away she was
there, and, oh! I didn't dare go back. I--I was so afraid of those men.
One of them----"
"Wait, my dear," said Cora, gently. "Perhaps it will be too much for you
to talk now."
"No, that is why I sent for you. I wanted to tell you all. At first I
decided that I would say nothing, but you have been so kind that I decided
I must. Oh, that dreadful wreck! I shall never forget it. Poor Mrs.
Raymond! And she is gone?"
"Yes, and we do not know where. Suppose I tell you how I came to meet her,
and what happened?"
"Then I can tell you my story," answered Nancy. "Please do."
"First drink this," and Cora gave some of the medicine that had been left
by the doctor.
As briefly as she could Cora related the incident of the fire, and story
told by Mrs. Raymond.
"That is just how it happened," said Nancy, with a sigh. "Oh, I little
thought when I ran out of the office that I would cause such suffering
to an innocent woman."
"Then she is innocent?" asked Cora, eagerly.
"Of course she is!"
"Oh, I am so glad! I thought she was all the while. Now, dear, if it won't
tire you too much, please tell me as much as you wish to. Then I will let
the other girls know."
"Well, I am Nancy Ford. I am sorry I denied it, but----"
"That's all right, my dear. I understand."
Nancy struggled with her emotion for a moment, and resumed slowly, with
frequent pauses to compose herself.
"My parents died some time ago, and left considerable property to me,"
said Nancy. "Not a big fortune, of course, but enough so that I had to
have a guardian appointed by the court. And that made all the trouble.
At first Mr. Rickford Cross, my guardian, was very nice. He helped me by
advice, and suggested that I go to a boarding school.
"I did so, and spent some years there. Then, as the securities papa had
left me increased in value, I began to think that perhaps I ought to
know more about my own affairs, and not leave everything to my guardian.
So, without consulting him, I left the boarding school, and went to a
business college. He did not find it out for some time, as he was abroad.
"Perhaps I did wrong, but I wanted to know how to attend to my business
when I had to. Oh, but Mr. Cross was very angry when he found it out. He
wanted me to go back to boarding school, but I refused. I said I wanted
some practical experience in an office, and, after some argument, he
consented, and got me in the place where Mrs. Raymond worked. I liked
her very much.
"I think my guardian must have had some business dealings with the man who
ran the office. They were often together and finally I began to suspect
that all was not right. I think Mrs. Raymond did also.
"Then my guardian and Mr. Hopwood, the man I worked for, had a violent
quarrel. My guardian threatened to take me out of the place, and send me
back to boarding school, for he was angry at me because I would not give
him certain papers from my employer's desk.
"Then my guardian insisted that I come to live with him and his wife. I
did not want to, for I did not like either of them. But they made me go,
and oh, the life I led!"
"It must have been hard," said Cora.
"It was, dreadfully so. I was virtually a prisoner. Finally I decided to
run away, and do anything rather than submit to my guardian. I hated and
feared him. I got together what money I could, and it was a good sum,
for my quarterly allowance had just been paid. Usually after I got it my
guardian would take it away from me and dole out small sums. But this
time he had no chance.
"So I ran away! It was hard to do, but it was harder to stay. I left the
house one morning, taking my suitcase with me. I stopped in the office,
intending to say good-bye to Mrs. Raymond, and when I had been there a
little while my guardian suddenly came in with another man. I did not know
him, but I feared my guardian had come to take me back. I screamed and
ran out in fright before they could detain me. I have never been back, so
of course I don't know what happened to poor Mrs. Raymond. I did not
tell her my story, and she did not know that the man I so feared and ran
away from was my guardian. Oh, I didn't know what to do!"
"Of course not," agreed Cora, soothingly. "I can piece the story together
now.
"After you left Mrs. Raymond either fainted, or was made unconscious by
one of the two men--your guardian or the other. She doesn't quite know
what happened except that when she came to her senses you were gone, the
money was missing and the men had vanished. She told all she knew, but
her story was not believed, and her employer suspected her of taking the
money. In great distress she hurried away, and, after some happenings she
was found in our burning garage. I did not have a chance to ask all the
particulars. But she did so want to find you, to know why you ran away,
and who the men were you seemed to fear. She may still be searching for
you."
"But I don't want to meet her!" cried Nancy.
"Why not?"
"She may--she may be in league with my guardian."
"No, indeed--impossible!" cried Cora. "We will see that you are fully
protected. I will communicate with my mother's lawyer at once, if you
will allow me. There is such a thing as having a guardian removed, you
know. The courts will protect you."
"And oh, I do seem to need protection!" sighed Nancy.
"You poor girl!" and again Cora's arms went around her. "I will telegraph
mother at once. We will have the lawyer come here!"
"Oh, can you do that?"
"Certainly I will, my dear. You need a new guardian most of all."
"Oh, if I may only have one. Then I will be happy again. And I can clear
the name of Mrs. Raymond, for I am sure either my guardian, or the other
man, took that money."
"They must have. But you have not told how you came to be in the wreck."
"Oh, that was a mere accident. After I ran away I went from place to
place, fearing my guardian might trace me, for I am sure his object was
to get all my property into his hands. I heard of this sailing voyage, and
I put my name down in the passenger list. I thought a sea trip would do
me good, for I love the water. Then came the terrible storm--and they
said the ship was sinking. Some of the sailors made a raft, but did not
launch it.
"I was afraid to go in the boats, and more afraid of being pulled in on
the rope. So I got a little food together, took my suitcase, and tied
myself to the raft. I knew it would float, and I hoped to be picked up.
Then the storm grew worse. The vessel was all in confusion, for the rescue
was going on. No one noticed me. Then the ship went to pieces, and I
lost my senses. The raft must have launched itself, and I floated on it.
That is all I know until I found myself here. Oh, I can never thank you
enough for all you did!"
"It was nothing," said Cora. "If we could only find Mrs. Raymond now we
could complete the story; and she will be so glad to know that you can
clear her name."
"Oh, but I shudder when I think I have to meet my guardian to do it."
"You will not have to," promised Cora. "I will see to that, Nancy dear!"
"You are too good!"
"Nonsense. Anyone would be good to you after all you have suffered. Now
rest, dearie, and I will tell the others all about you."
"They won't blame me; will they?"
"Indeed not! They are all so interested in you, even the boys."
"Have you boys here?"
"Yes, my brother and his chums. I will tell you about them later. You will
like them, I think."
"I am sure I shall. Oh, but it is such a relief to tell this to you!"
"I am glad it was, my dear. Now rest. I am sure you must be tired. The
doctor will be here this evening."
CHAPTER XXVII
A BOLD ATTEMPT
"Isn't it romantic?"
"And to think of all that poor girl suffered!"
"I'd like to get hold of that miserable guardian of hers."
"She has pluck, all right, to get out and hustle for herself."
"Isn't she pretty!"
"I do hope she gets all over her exposure."
"Oh, yes, she is coming on finely."
Rather disjointed talk, I am afraid, but that is exactly the way it went
on--the motor girls and the boys discussing the story of Nancy Ford.
It was evening, and the boys had called to see the girls in the bungalow
of the latter. Nancy had been visited by the doctor, who had reported her
much improved. The telling of her story seemed to have taken an anxiety
off her mind, and with food and medicine she was rapidly regaining her
healthy young strength.
There had been rather a dramatic scene when Jack and Ed were first allowed
to see Nancy. They both started back, and Jack exclaimed:
"It's the girl!"
"And you are those nice boys--how odd," Nancy had said.
"Please explain," begged Cora.
"You know," said Jack. "The night Ed and I got lost. It was Nancy we met
and gave a ride in my auto."
"I suspected it all the while," said Cora, with a smile. "But I said
nothing."
"It was a mere accident," explained Nancy. "I was just on one of the
little trips I took after I ran away from the office, and I miscalculated
my distance. It was awfully nice of your brother to help me."
"Oh, Jack is always nice," said Cora, smiling.
"That means you buy the candy, old man," spoke Ed, with a laugh.
"Well," drawled Jack, as he stretched out lazily on a sofa, later on, "now
the only thing left to do is to find that Mrs. Raymond, and everything
will be cleared up."
"That, and putting that mean Mr. Cross in--in jail!" said Bess, with a
vehement gesture.
"Would you be so cruel?" asked Walter.
"What else can you do with him?" demanded Belle. "He has certainly been
mean enough to warrant being sent to prison."
"'In a prison cell I sit!'" chanted Ed.
"Stop!" commanded Cora. "Nancy may be sleeping, and the doctor said it
was very important for her to sleep."
"Then we'd better clear out of here," was Norton's opinion. "She'll never
get any rest while this crowd holds forth. Come on, Eline, I'll take you
to a moving picture show."
"Not after what has happened to-day," declared Mrs. Chester. "You young
people have had your own way all day, and now I want you to quiet down.
Boys, you will have to go home soon. Girls, it's almost time you were in
bed."
"Aunt Susan is asserting herself," remarked Jack, _sotto voce_. "But don't
count on me, Aunt Susan. I am immune."
"You'll go with the rest," she told him.
They sat about for some time longer, discussing the strange tale related
by Nancy. Then came good-nights.
Cora went to see Mr. Haley, the light keeper, next day. She told him what
Nancy had related.
"Lobsters and crawfish!" he exclaimed, clapping together his brown hands.
"Begging your pardon, of course, for using that sort of language, miss,
but my feelings sure did get the best of me. And so this Nancy Ford can
clear my sister's name?"
"She can and she will. I have wired for mamma's lawyer to come down, and
he will arrange matters. There is only one difficulty."
"What is that?" and the keeper of the light looked worried. "You mean that
there is a possibility that my sister may even yet be guilty?"
"No; but where are we to find her?"
"That's so. Poor Margaret! Where can she be keeping herself? If she would
only come to me--or write, I could let her know that it was all right.
And so those men were the robbers, after all?"
"It seems so, from what Nancy says."
"Strange. I knew Margaret could not be guilty, but how to prove it was
the hard part. When can we arrange it?"
"As soon as we can find your sister."
"Oh, dear! And I haven't the least idea where to look for her."
"Don't worry," suggested Cora, gently. "We found our waif from the sea
most unexpectedly, and I am sure we will find your sister the same way."
"Not in a wreck, I hope," said the light keeper, with a smile. "We don't
want any more wrecks on this coast. Which reminds me that I must see to
the light."
"It was no fault of your light that this wreck came," said Cora.
"Everybody says that."
"I'm glad of it. If I had thought that my light failed, I--I'd never want
to live longer," and his voice trembled.
"The steering gear got out of order," said Cora. "Nancy told me that. They
could not control the vessel in the storm."
"That's always bad. Well, if we can find my sister all will yet be well.
I can't thank you enough for bringing me this good news."
"I am glad I had it to bring," said Cora, brightly.
Nancy Ford continued to gain in strength, and the day came when she could
go out. There was a little celebration and the boys wanted to get up an
auto or a motor boat party, but Cora drew the line.
"Some other time," she said. Her mother's lawyer came to Sandy Point Cove,
and looked over some papers that Nancy had brought away with her. His
opinion was that the dishonest guardian could be removed by the court,
and he promised to take charge of matters. Nancy was much relieved.
"But where can we find Mrs. Raymond?" she asked.
"It will take time," said the lawyer. "I will set some private detectives
to work, and advertise, advising her that she can be proven innocent if
she will come forward."
Then came happy summer days. Nancy was adopted by the motor girls, and
stayed with them in the bungalow. They went on long runs, or in trips in
the boats on the beautiful bay.
They were always welcome at the lighthouse, and Mr. Haley liked nothing
better than to sit and talk with the boys and girls, telling them sea
stories, or listening to their little adventures.
But the search for Mrs. Raymond did not progress very rapidly. Nothing
was heard from her. In the matter of removing Mr. Cross as Nancy's
guardian, the procedure had to be slow, as there were complications. But
the lawyer was attending to matters, and promised that soon all would be
straightened out.
By means of his representatives the lawyer, a Mr. Beacon, heard indirectly
from Mr. Cross, but could not capture him. The latter was furious at the
escapade of his ward, and threatened to have her brought back to him. In
the matter of the robbery he insisted that Mrs. Raymond was guilty.
It was one glorious summer day when Cora had taken the whole party out
for a spin. In her auto were Eline and Nancy, the others distributing
themselves in the various cars as suited their fancy.
Several times, as they motored along the roads, they were passed, or
passed themselves, a low, rakish motor car, of a dull dust color. Two
men were in it, and once or twice they favored the occupants of Cora's
car with rather bold stares.
"I wonder who they can be?" asked Eline.
"Well, if they keep up this monkey business much longer I'll find out,"
declared Jack.
"Go easy, please," suggested his sister.
The only incident, or, rather, accident that marred the trip, was when
Cora's car suffered a puncture. It was on the run home.
"You go on," she called to the others. "I can fix it."
"No, I'll do it," offered Jack. Perhaps the presence of Nancy in the car
induced him to linger, together with Ed, who rode with him.
"All right," assented Cora, not sorry to be relieved of the task.
As Jack was struggling with the tire irons, the rubber shoe being a most
obstinate one, the low racing car that had several times passed them,
again hove in sight. Cora was helping Jack, and Eline and Nancy had
strolled down the road to gather a few wild flowers.
The racing car stopped, one of the men leaped out, and made a dash toward
the two girls. Eline, looking around, screamed, and Nancy, hearing her,
added to the exclamation.
"My guardian! My guardian!" she cried. "I won't go--I won't go!"
"Quick, Jack!" cried Cora. "They're trying to take Nancy away. You must
stop them!"
Jack, holding a heavy tire iron in his hand, leaped forward toward the
two girls. The man had almost reached them, when there was heard the loud
honk of an auto horn coming around the bend of the road.
CHAPTER XXVIII
A STRANGE MESSAGE
Nancy and Eline clung to each other. Nancy had started to run off into
the woods, but found herself unequal to the task. A nervous tremor seized
her.
"Oh, Eline, Eline!" she begged. "Don't let him take me away! Don't!"
But Nancy's guardian was not destined to get her into his control this
time. No sooner had the honk-honk of the other car been heard and it had
swung into sight around the bend of the road, than the man in the other
auto--the man who had accompanied Mr. Cross--called out:
"Look out, Rickford, this may be a trap!"
"You'd better believe it's something to stop you!" cried Jack, still
swinging forward on the run.
Cora, too, had started toward Eline and Nancy. She saw that the big car
probably had nothing to do with the attempted abduction of the shipwrecked
girl, and that it was only coincidence that brought it there at that
moment. But it was a fortunate coincidence, for it frightened away the
two men.
Like a flash Mr. Cross turned, sped back to his car, and in another
instant he and his crony were speeding down the road.
"Oh, he's gone--he's gone," sobbed Nancy on the shoulder of Eline.
"Of course he's gone!" cried Jack. "If he hadn't--" and he glanced
significantly at the tire iron in his hand.
"Jack, dear," said Cora, gently, with a warning glance at Nancy. Cora did
not want her disturbed any more than was necessary.
"Well--" blustered Jack, and let it go at that.
"Was that really your guardian, Nancy?" asked Cora, when her new friend
had somewhat composed herself.
"Yes, it was. Oh, has he gone?"
"Far enough off by this time," declared Jack.
"I didn't know him at first, for he has grown a beard," said Nancy, "but
when he came toward me I could tell by the look in his eyes that it was
he. Oh, what an escape!"
"A very fortunate one," said Cora.
The big car, the appearance of which had been instrumental, perhaps, in
preventing the taking away of Nancy, drew near to the group of young
people and stopped. There were two middle-aged men in it, and they looked
at our friends curiously.
"Has anything happened--can we do anything?" asked the one at the wheel.
"Nothing but some tire trouble, thank you," said Cora, quickly. "And my
brother can manage that; can't you, Jack?"
"Sure, Sis," and he winked at her to show that he understood nothing was
to be said about the affair that had so nearly been a real "happening."
"If you want any help, don't hesitate to ask us," put in the other man.
"We are in no hurry."
"Oh, thank you, I can manage," Jack answered. "I had the repairs almost
made when the girls--thought they saw something, and screamed." He winked
at Cora again.
"Oh, I see!" exclaimed the steersman with a laugh. "A snake. We heard your
screams, and thought perhaps----"
"It was just--nothing," Cora said with a smile. Eline and Nancy had turned
and were walking back toward their car, so the tear-stained face of Nancy
could not be observed.
With renewed offers of aid, which were courteously declined, the two
men proceeded, and Cora and the others were free to discuss the recent
happening.
"Do you really think he meant to take you away--your guardian?" asked Cora
of Nancy.
"I really do. Oh, he must be desperate! He must be trying to get my
property away from me."
"We'll soon have him attended to!" said Jack, fiercely. "Our lawyer says
the case will come before the courts soon, and then good-bye to Mr. Cross!"
"I wonder how he knew where you were?" asked Eline.
"You forget that the rescue of Nancy was told of in the papers," spoke
Cora. "Doubtless he read of it, and came on. He, or some of his men, may
have been spying around and knew just when we went for a ride."
"And they followed us, that's one sure thing," added Jack. "Their car
passed us several times. They were just waiting for a good chance, and
they took the first opportunity."
"I should have known him at once, when they passed, but for his beard,"
said Nancy. "Oh, I feel so nervous and weak!" She was on the verge of
tears again.
"Come, we will go back to the bungalow," suggested Cora. "I must tell the
lawyer about it. He may wish to take some action."
A little later they were back in the summer cottage, where, to the
wonderment of the others, the strange story was told with all the details,
for when Cora's car developed the tire trouble the rest had continued
on, Jack and Ed remaining behind.
"Oh, I'm glad I was not along!" breathed Belle.
"And I wish I had been!" exclaimed Walter. "Jack, you and Ed had all the
fun."
"I didn't do anything," said Ed. "Jack was the hero."
"Only a near-hero," said Cora's brother. "I didn't get near enough to do
any damage."
Mr. Beacon, the lawyer, on hearing the account of what had happened, at
once took steps to expedite the matter of the removal of Mr. Cross as
guardian of Nancy Ford. He declared that the attempted abduction would
operate against the unprincipled man. The matter of the loss of the money,
for which Mrs. Raymond was once suspected, had been gone into, and the
indications pointed in many ways to Mr. Cross and his crony.
"But it doesn't seem as if Mrs. Raymond would ever be found," sighed Cora.
"Poor woman!"
"Yes, my sister must be having a hard time," said the keeper of the light.
"I wish she would come to me. I could give her a good home now. The
work is almost too much for Rosalie."
"Oh, I don't mind, Daddy!" exclaimed the little "mermaid."
Summer was wearing on. It had been a most glorious one and the bungalow
residents had enjoyed it thoroughly. They went off on several motoring
trips, but they were careful always to remain in one party, and even then
Nancy could not forbear a nervous glance about whenever another auto
approached.
But Mr. Cross appeared to have taken himself to parts unknown. Private
detectives who were looking for him, on an order of the court to which
Mr. Beacon had appealed, reported that they could get no trace of him.
Nor was the whereabouts of the missing Mrs. Raymond discovered.
In their two motor boats the young people paid visits to many near-by
resorts, occasionally, when the weather was fine, even venturing out on
the ocean. But, save for Cora, the girls were always a little timid about
this, and so the ocean trips were not numerous.
One day Mr. Haley came hurrying over to the girls' bungalow from the
lighthouse. He held a paper in his hand.
"Where is Miss Kimball?" he asked of Belle, who answered his knock. "I
must see her at once."
"Why, has anything happened?" Belle asked in sudden alarm. She looked down
on the beach, and was relieved to see Nancy safe there.
"No, miss, nothing has happened--yet," replied the keeper. "But I received
a strange message just now, and I want to tell Miss Kimball."
"Cora!" called Belle, and Cora, who had been in an inner room, came out.
"What is it?" she asked, and Mr. Haley handed her the piece of paper.
"I just found that on my doorstep," he explained. "I was home all alone,
my helper being in town buying supplies, and Rosalie and Dick being out in
the boat. Read it."
"But how did it get there?" asked Cora, as she stepped over to a window
to see more plainly.
"I don't know, except some boy must have brought it there, left it and
run away. It was weighted with a stone."
"Then that's probably how it was left," suggested Belle. "But what is so
mysterious about it What does it say, Cora?"
Cora read:
"If you would have news of your sister come alone to Shark's Tooth at nine
to-night."
CHAPTER XXIX
AT THE SHARK'S TOOTH
"What a strange note!"
"Isn't it? And the odd way it was delivered!"
"What is the Shark's Tooth, Mr. Haley?"
The boys and girls were all together in the bungalow of the latter--or,
rather, were out on the broad porch, for, following the visit of the light
keeper, with the strange letter, they had gathered to discuss the matter.
"The Shark's Tooth," said Mr. Haley, "is a long, low ledge of rock,
jutting out in the water about a mile above the light. It looks somewhat
like a big tooth--the end of it does, I mean."
"Will you go there?" asked Jack.
"I sure will, my boy."
"Maybe it's a trap," suggested Ed. "This fellow Cross may be trying to
get hold of you, Mr. Haley."
"I'm not afraid of him. I think I'll be his match," and certainly the
sturdy keeper looked able to take care of himself.
"But he may not be alone," suggested Walter.
"However, we could go with you," he added hopefully.
"The note says to come alone, my lad, and alone I'll go. I'd do more than
that to get news of poor Margaret. I'm not afraid."
"You boys might be within call," suggested Cora. "You need not be seen."
"Well, I'd consent to that," agreed Mr. Haley. "And it might be a good
thing. And yet, somehow, I'm not worried."
"This is certainly a trap!" declared Norton. "They want you to go there,
a lonely spot--after dark. Probably they'll take you off in a boat! Ha!
I have it! Wreckers!" and he struck a dramatic posture.
"Wreckers?" questioned Jack.
"Yes, don't you see. They want to get Mr. Haley in their control. Then
they'll carry him off, some of them will put out the light and lure
vessels ashore by means of a false beacon. Then they'll get the booty!"
"Say, what sort of a dime novel have you been reading lately?" asked Ed,
with a laugh. "Wreckers!"
"Sure!" maintained Norton, earnestly.
"No, lad," said Mr. Haley, quietly, "it isn't wreckers, for the light
would be well defended by my helper, even if they got me. Besides it's
dead low water at nine to-night, and they couldn't get a boat within a
mile of the Shark's Tooth without staving a hole in her. The only approach
is from the beach. I'm not afraid."
"Besides," added Cora, "this note was written by a woman. That's plain."
"A trick!" declared Norton, who seemed to insist on the melodramatic
theory.
"Is this like your sister's writing?" asked Belle.
"I really couldn't be sure. Margaret was never much of a writer, and I
can hardly see to read print, let alone writing, even with my glasses.
So I couldn't say as to that. However, I'll be there."
"And so will we," added Jack, "out if sight, of course."
"This is getting more and more complicated," declared Bess. "Oh, I do hope
it won't turn out to be that horrid Mr. Cross, or any of his men."
"Hush!" said Cora, in a low voice. "Don't make Nancy nervous. She is
alarmed enough now."
It seemed as if night would never come, and the boys and girls hardly had
the heart for amusements to make the time pass more quickly. They remained
near the bungalows, going in bathing when the tide was right. Belle was
learning to swim with considerable confidence.
"You are getting quite brave," Cora told her when she had gone out to the
float and back all alone.
Eline, who was rather daring in spite of her timid manner, made a
half-suggestion that the girls go out in autos to see what happened
at Shark's Tooth, but Mrs. Chester, exercising her authority, vetoed the
scheme.
Mr. Haley started off alone, and was followed later by the boys, who
arranged to conceal themselves where they could have a view of the ledge
of rock that was uncovered at low water.
There was a half-moon that night and by the light of it Jack and his chums
could see the long, black ledge extending out into the bay. They had a
glimpse of Mr. Haley walking slowly up and down the beach, now and then
looking at his watch to note the time. Jack and the others did likewise.
"It's nine now," whispered Walter, after a long--a seemingly long--wait,
though it was really only a few minutes.
"And nothing seems to be happening," remarked Jack.
"Look!" suddenly exclaimed Ed, pointing to the sandy stretch. A dark
figure was seen gliding over it--a figure of a woman--alone!
The light keeper heard the approaching footsteps, and turned quickly. He
stood for a moment The woman had halted. Then Mr. Haley cried:
"Margaret!"
"Jim!" she responded, and they clasped each other close.
"I guess it's all right--they don't need us," whispered Jack. "It's his
sister. She wrote the note. It's all right, we'll go tell the girls the
mystery is solved and the missing one found."
"That's right," was the answer. "Say, this is great, isn't it?"
"It sure is."
"Now that they are together----"
"Come on, they may hear us."
"All right, I'm with you."
But, as they started away, Mr. Haley called to them:
"Boys, come here. I want----"
"No, no, Jim dear! Don't call anyone!" interrupted Mrs. Raymond. "I dare
not be seen. You don't know the stigma I am under. I even hesitated to
come and see you in this secret way, but I am in need of help. It was the
only way I could think of. I am so--so afraid of arrest."
"Well, you needn't be!" cried her brother. "We can prove your innocence!"
"Prove my innocence! How? Only Nancy Ford can do that, and she can't be
found, I have been searching for her so long--so long!" Her sobs prevented
her from talking.
"But Nancy Ford is found!" cried the keeper of the light, "and the boys
I called to--or rather their girl friends--found her. It's all right,
Margaret. Your name will be cleared, and you will be happy with me. It's
all right, Sister!"
"Oh, thank the dear Lord for that!" she sobbed.
CHAPTER XXX
HAPPY DAYS
The sun was shining on a shimmering sea. Little waves were breaking on the
white sands. The gulls were wheeling about in big circles. Gathered in
the old-fashioned living room of the lighthouse were the motor girls, and
two other girls, Rosalie and Nancy Ford. Also the boys were there, Mrs.
Raymond, her brother, and Mr. Beacon, the Kimballs' lawyer. He had just
concluded some remarks. It was the day after the strange night scene at
the Shark's Tooth.
"And to think how it all came about," spoke Cora. "It is like a play, or
a book."
"It fits together like one of those Chinese puzzles," remarked Jack. "At
first it seems as if it never will, but one little touch, and--there you
are!"
"And it was Cora who supplied the one little touch," said Belle.
"Oh, I didn't do it all," remonstrated Cora.
"Well, your finding Mrs. Raymond in the burning garage started the whole
affair," insisted Ed. "But for that we never would have known of Nancy
Ford, nor how important she was in this puzzle."
"I don't want to be important," answered Nancy, with a smile. "I just want
to go off somewhere quietly."
"And you may," spoke Mr. Beacon, the lawyer, with a smile. "The court
proceedings will not take long, now that your guardian is arrested. The
judge will require no further proof than his commission of the crime to
remove him from having charge of you and your property, and some one else
will be named in his place."
"I wish the judge would name you!" exclaimed Nancy impulsively.
"Thank you!" laughed Mr. Beacon.
Mrs. Raymond had told her story. On up to the time she had fled from the
office, when the two men came in, and her wanderings until she went into
the Kimball garage, my readers need no enlightenment. After leaving
Cora's house so suddenly, for fear she might be suspected of having
accidentally set the fire, the poor woman wandered from place to place,
vainly seeking Nancy Ford. It was Mrs. Raymond whom the sheep herder
had met that night when he spoke kindly to her. After that she kept
moving about, getting work in various offices, for she was an expert
in her line. But she could not find Nancy, for reasons very well known
to my readers.
"And oh, how kind one of you girls was to me!" exclaimed Mrs. Raymond.
"Your money saved my life I believe," and she held out the little silver
purse.
Finally, she explained, matters reached a point where she could get no
more work, and she had to appeal to her brother. She had refrained from
doing that fearing she might be traced through him, for she still feared
she would be arrested for the crime she had never committed. But, growing
desperate, she made the night appointment with her brother, hiring a boy
to leave the note at the lighthouse, intending to explain matters to
Mr. Haley, get some money, and go away again.
But it all ended happily.
"And so they caught Cross?" remarked Jack.
"Yes," said the lawyer, "one of the private detectives got a clue and
followed it up. They got his crony, too, the other man who came in the
office when you ran out, Nancy. And they both confessed, after pressure
was brought to bear on them. It is not the first crime Cross has been
guilty of. He has a bad record, I am told. I learned of his arrest after I
started here this morning, following your telegram," he said to Cora,
for, on learning of the arrival of Mrs. Raymond, Cora had wired to her
mother's lawyer to come in haste.
"Then my name is cleared?" asked Mrs. Raymond.
"Absolutely," answered Mr. Beacon. "You will not even have to appear in
court."
"I wish _I_ didn't have to," said Nancy, nervously.
"I can arrange to have a private hearing," went on the lawyer. "It will be
no ordeal at all."
Nor did Nancy find it so. A kindly judge in his chambers, several days
later, listened to the story, and named Mr. Beacon as guardian of Nancy
Ford, whose property was, in the main, saved from the clutches of Mr.
Cross. He had embezzled some of it, and that crime, with others, brought
him severe punishment.
As for Mrs. Raymond, she went to live with her brother in the lighthouse.
"And now for some good times!" exclaimed Cora when all the legal matters
had been attended to. "We have had enough of mystery and wonderings. You
can spend the rest of the summer here with us; can't you, Nancy?"
"If you want me, and have room."
"Of course we want you!" cried Jack. "Remember you promised to ride in my
car when we go over to Stony Beach to-morrow."
"I asked her first!" cried Norton.
"But she promised me," cut in Walter.
"Oh, what boys!" protested the blushing Nancy.
"Don't mind them," suggested Cora, putting her arms around her new friend.
"You'll soon get used to them."
"I think I can get used to almost _anything_--after that shipwreck," said
Nancy, with a smile.
"Well, I like _that_!" cried Jack. "Comparing us to a shipwreck! Come on,
fellows, let's go fishing. The tide is right for crabbing, too," and they
went out, leaving the girls to themselves.
"In spite of everything--the fire, the shipwreck and the many wonderings
it has been a wonderful summer," said Cora softly, as they sat on the
broad porch.
"And I wonder what the winter will bring forth--and next summer?" remarked
Belle. But the further adventures of the little band of friends must be
reserved for another volume, which will be entitled "The Motor Girls on
Crystal Bay; Or, The Secret of the Red Oar."
The summer vacation was almost at an end. There was one last motor boat
trip, and then the _Duck_ was returned to its owner, and the _Pet_ again
made ready for the land journey back to Chelton.
"Good-bye, bungalows, good-bye!" recited Cora on the day of their
departure, as she got into her big maroon car.
"Good-bye, my lighthouse, good-bye!" sang Bess.
"And don't forget to write to us, little mermaid," called Jack to Rosalie.
Blushingly she promised.
"What will Nancy say?" asked Eline.
"Oh, Nancy is coming to our house to stay--she won't have to write," said
the bold Jack.
There were more good-byes, to the light keeper and his sister, to many
fishermen and life-savers, whose friendship the boys and girls had made,
and then the autos started off on the long trip to Chelton.
Gaily fluttered in the wind the flags they bore, the sea smiled under the
yellow sun at the motor girls, seeming to beckon them to return, but they
could not. And so, for a time, we will also say good-bye.
THE END
PEGGY STEWART SERIES
By GABRIELLE E. JACKSON
Peggy Stewart at Home
Peggy Stewart at School
Peggy, Polly, Rosalie, Marjorie, Natalie, Isabel, Stella and Juno--girls
all of high spirits make this Peggy Stewart series one of entrancing
interest. Their friendship, formed in a fashionable eastern school,
they spend happy years crowded with gay social affairs. The background
for these delightful stories is furnished by Annapolis with its naval
academy and an aristocratic southern estate.
The Goldsmith Publishing Co.
CLEVELAND, O.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Motor Girls on the Coast, by Margaret Penrose