A BOW OF SCARLET RIBBON
In the three days that had passed since the disappearance of Tania from
the houseboat everything that was possible had been done to discover her
whereabouts.
It never occurred to Tom or to Mrs. Curtis to connect Philip Holt's odd
behavior with the lost Tania or the vanished treasure box. True, he had
not been seen for the past three days, but Mrs. Curtis had received a
note from him the day after his disappearance from her house, saying that
he had been unexpectedly called away on very important business so early
in the morning that he had not wished to awaken her, but he had left word
with the servants and he hoped that they had explained matters to her.
Mrs. Curtis's maids and butler insisted that Mr. Holt had given them no
message. They had not seen or heard him go. So, as Mrs. Curtis did not
regard Philip Holt's withdrawal as of any importance, she gave very
little thought to it.
Madge Morton, however, had a different idea. She laid Tania's
disappearance at Philip Holt's door. She, therefore, determined to take
Tom Curtis into her confidence, but to ask him not to betray their
suspicions of Philip Holt to Mrs. Curtis until they had better proof of
the young man's guilt. Madge had never told even Tom that she had once
overheard Philip Holt reveal his real identity, nor how much she had
guessed of the young man's true character from Tania's unconscious and
frightened reports of him.
Tom at first was indignant with Madge, not because she and the other
girls believed that Philip Holt had stolen both their little friend and
their new-found wealth, but because she had not sooner shared her
suspicion of his mother's guest with him. Tom had never liked Philip, so
it was easy for him to think the worst of the goody-goody young man.
Without a word to Mrs. Curtis, Tom and the houseboat girls set to work to
trace Philip Holt, believing that once he was overtaken Tania and the
stolen treasure would be accounted for.
It was not easy work. Philip Holt had not been a hypocrite all his life
without knowing how to play the game of deception. A detective sent to
New York City to talk to old Sal had nothing worth while to report. The
woman declared positively that Philip was no connection of hers; that she
had neither seen nor heard of the young man lately. As for Tania, Sal had
truly not set eyes on her from the day that Madge had taken the little
one under her protection.
Philip Holt knew well enough that his mother would be questioned about
his disappearance. He believed that Tania had told Madge his true
history. So old Sal was prepared with her story when the detective
interviewed her. Yet it was curious that the Cape May police were unable
to find out in what manner the young man had left the town. Inquiries at
the railroad stations, livery stables, and garages gave no clue to him.
The houseboat girls were in despair. Madge neither ate nor slept. She
felt particularly responsible for Tania, as the child had been her
special charge and protege. Madge had been deeply grieved when her
friend, David Brewster, had been falsely accused of a crime in their
previous houseboat holiday, when they had spent a part of their time with
Mr. and Mrs. Preston in Virginia; but that sorrow was as nothing to this,
for David was almost a grown boy and able to look after himself, while
Tania was little more than a baby. When no news came of either Philip
Holt or Tania, Madge began to believe that Philip Holt had accomplished
his design. He had managed to shut Tania up in some kind of dreadful
institution. The little captain did not believe that they would ever find
the child, and was so unhappy over the loss of her Fairy Godmother that
she lost her usual power to act.
Phyllis Alden, however, was wide awake and on the alert. She knew that it
was not possible for Philip Holt to leave Cape May without some one's
assistance. Some one must know how and when he had disappeared. The whole
point was to find that person.
Phil thought over the matter for some time. Then she quietly telephoned
to Ethel Swann and asked her to arrange something for her. She made an
appointment to call on Ethel the same afternoon, and she and Lillian
walked over to the Swann cottage together. It seemed strange to Madge
that her two friends could have the heart for making calls, but, as there
was absolutely nothing for them to do save to wait for news of Tania that
did not come, she said nothing save that she did not feel well enough to
accompany them.
As Lillian and Phyllis Alden approached the Swann summer cottage they saw
that Ethel had with her on the veranda the two young people who had been
most unfriendly to them during their stay at Cape May, Roy Dennis and
Mabel Farrar.
Roy Dennis got up hurriedly. His face flushed a dull red, and he began
backing down the veranda steps, explaining to Ethel that he must be off
at once.
Phyllis Alden was always direct. Before Roy Dennis could get away from
her she walked directly up to him, and looking him squarely in the eyes
said quietly: "Mr. Dennis, please don't go away before I have a chance to
speak to you. It seems absurd to me for us to be such enemies, simply
because something happened between us in the beginning of the summer that
wasn't very agreeable. I wished to ask you a question, so I asked Ethel
to arrange this meeting between us this afternoon."
"What do you wish to ask me?" he returned awkwardly.
Phil plunged directly into her subject. "Weren't you and Philip Holt
great friends while he was Mrs. Curtis's guest?" she asked.
Roy Dennis looked uncomfortable. "We were fairly good friends, but not
pals," he assured Phil.
"But you, perhaps, know him well enough to have him tell you where he was
going when he left Mrs. Curtis's," continued Phil in a calmly assured
tone. "Mrs. Curtis has not received a letter from him since he left here,
so she does not know just where he is. We girls on the houseboat would
also like very much to know what has become of Mr. Holt."
"Why?" demanded Roy Dennis sharply.
Phyllis determined to be perfectly frank. "I will tell you my reason for
asking you that question," she began. "You may not know it, but our
little friend, Tania, disappeared from Cape May the very same day that
Philip Holt left the Cape. We all knew that Mr. Holt had known Tania for
a number of years before we met her. He thought that the child ought to
be shut up in some kind of an institution, but Miss Morton wished to put
the little girl in a school. So it may just be barely possible that Mr.
Holt took Tania away without asking leave of any one." Phil made
absolutely no reference to the stolen money and jewels in her talk with
Roy Dennis. If they could run down Philip Holt and Tania the treasure-box
would be disclosed as a matter of course.
Roy Dennis hesitated for barely a second. Then he remarked to Phil,
half-admiringly: "You have been frank with me, Miss Alden, and, to tell
you the truth, I think it is about time that I be equally frank with you.
I have no idea where Philip Holt now is, but I do know something about
how he got away from Cape May, and I am beginning to have my suspicions
that there might have been something 'shady' in his behavior that I did
not think of at the time. Three nights ago, it must have been about
eleven o'clock, I was just about ready for bed when Mr. Holt rang me up
and asked to speak to me alone. He said that he had just had bad news and
wished to get out of Cape May as soon as possible. He asked me if I would
lend him my car so that he could drive to a nearby railroad station where
he could get a train that would take him sooner to the place he wished to
go. I thought it was rather a strange request and asked him why he didn't
borrow Tom Curtis's car? He said that Mrs. Curtis had gone to bed and
that he did not like to disturb her. He and Tom had never been friendly,
so he did not wish to ask him a favor. Well, I can't say I felt very
cheerful at letting Philip Holt have the use of my car, but he said that
he would send it back in a few hours and it would be all right. I got it
out for him myself and he drove away in it. It didn't come back until
this morning, and you never saw such a sight in your life, covered with
mud and the tires almost used up."
Phil nodded sympathetically. "Who brought the car back to you?" she
asked. "Was it Mr. Holt?"
Roy Dennis shrugged his heavy shoulders. "No, indeed! He sent it back by
a chap who wouldn't say a word about himself, Holt, or from which
direction he had come."
"Is the man still in town?" asked Phil, her voice trembling, "and would
you mind Tom Curtis's asking him some questions? We are so awfully
anxious."
Roy Dennis rose quickly. "I believe the fellow is around yet, and I'll
get hold of him and take him to Tom at once. I don't think that Philip
Holt has had anything to do with the kidnapping of the little girl, but
his whole behavior looks pretty funny. We will make the chauffeur chap
tell us where Philip Holt was when he turned over my car to him." Roy was
off like a flash.
Phyllis and Lillian were making their apologies to Ethel for being
obliged to hurry off at once to the houseboat when Mabel Farrar took hold
of Phil's hand. Her usually haughty expression had changed to one of the
deepest interest. "I am _so_ sorry about the little lost girl," she said.
"I hope you will soon find her. She is a queer, fascinating little thing.
I have watched her all summer, and she certainly can dance. I can't
believe that Philip Holt has actually stolen her, yet I don't know. Roy
Dennis just told Ethel Swann and me something awfully queer. He says he
found a bright scarlet ribbon, like a bow that a child would wear in her
hair, in the bottom of his motor car when the chauffeur brought it back
to him to-day."
Phil's black eyes flashed. "If I ever needed anything to convince me that
Philip Holt stole Tania away from us that would do it," she returned
indignantly. "Little Tania slept every night with her hair tied up with a
scarlet ribbon so as to keep it out of her eyes. When we find where
Philip Holt is we shall find Tania, and if I have any say in the matter
he shall answer to the law for what he has done."