DOLLY RANSOM MAKES GOOD
"Keep still, and you won't be hurt!" commanded the man who held them.
Bessie had no choice in the matter for his hand covered her mouth, and,
even had she wished to do so, she could not have cried out.
In a moment, too, looking toward Zara, she saw that she had fainted, and
her own predicament was made worse than ever, since the ruffian who held
her could now devote all his attention to her. So, utterly helpless, and
almost ready to despair, Bessie had to submit to being carried up the
little companion ladder that ran to the yacht's deck.
As soon as she was on deck a handkerchief was slipped over her eyes,
and, though she could hear the low murmur of voices, and was almost sure
that one was that of Mr. Holmes, her arch enemy, she could not be
positive. Her one hope now was that Dolly or some one of the others on
the beach would have seen her abduction. But, even if they had, what
could they do?
"Suppose they did see," poor Bessie thought to herself; "they couldn't
do anything. It would take a lot of strong men to come on board this
yacht and get us off, and the girls wouldn't be able to do anything at
all."
She was not left long on the yacht's deck. Almost at once she was
carried below, and in a few minutes she found herself in a cabin, where
the handkerchief was taken from her eyes. The cabin was a pretty one,
but Bessie was in no mood to appreciate that. She hated the sight of its
luxury; all she wanted was to be back with the girls on the beach, no
matter how great the discomfort after the fire might be.
Zara, who had not yet revived, was brought down after her and laid on a
sofa. Then she and Bessie were left alone with the big man who had
carried Bessie from the beach. She thought that he was Jeff, the man who
had left the two faithless sentinels to watch the path from the cliff.
And she noticed, to her surprise, that, though his speech and manners
were rough, there was a look about him that was not unkindly.
"Now, see here, sis," he said, gently enough, "we don't aim to treat you
badly here. You've run away from home, and that's not right. We're going
to see that you get back to them as has the best right to look after
you, but we don't want you to be uncomfortable."
"How can I help it?" asked Bessie, indignantly.
"Just you behave yourself and keep quiet, and you'll be all right," said
Jeff. Bessie was sure of his identity now. "You'll have this pretty room
here to yourselves, and you'll have lots to eat. It'll be better food
than you got with that pack of chattering girls, too. We'll up anchor
and be off pretty soon, and then you can come up on deck and have a good
time. But as long as we're here, why, you'll have to stay below."
Bessie got her first gleam of hope from that speech. If they stayed in
Green Cove a little while, there was always the chance that something
might happen.
"You see, sis," said Jeff, with a grin, "after a while your folks there
will find you're missing, and, like enough, they'll suspicion that we
done it; took you off, I mean. 'Twouldn't make no great difference if
they did know it," Jeff went on. "But the boss thinks it's just as well
if we throw them off a bit--guess he wants to have some fun with them."
"Who is your 'boss'?" asked Bessie, quickly. "I should think you would
be ashamed of yourself, treating girls who can't fight back this way! Do
you call yourself a man?"
"Easy there, sis!" said Jeff, with a roar of laughter. "You can't make
me mad. Orders is orders, you know, and you did wrong when you run away
like you did. And I ain't tellin' you who the boss is. What you don't
know won't hurt you--and that goes for your friends, too."
He left them alone then, and a faint hope was left behind him. Now that
she had the chance, Bessie turned her attention to Zara. There was
water in the cabin, and in a few minutes she had revived her chum, and
was able to tell her what had happened. Poor Zara seemed to be
completely overcome.
"Oh, Bessie, we haven't got a chance this time!" she said. "I'll have to
go back and work for Farmer Weeks, and you--will they make you go back
to Maw Hoover?"
"Never say die, Zara! As long as the yacht stays in the cove there is a
chance that we'll be rescued. That man didn't know it, but he'll never
be able to make Miss Eleanor believe we're not on this yacht.
Listen--what's that?"
There was a sound of hasty footsteps outside, and Jeff came in
hurriedly. He slipped back a panel at one side of the cabin, and
revealed a little closet.
"In there with you--both of you!" he said. "And I'm sorry, but you'll
have to be quiet, and there's only one way."
In a trice their hands and feet were bound, and handkerchiefs were
stuffed into their mouths. Then they were pushed into the closet and the
panel was slipped back into place. They were helpless. Unable to speak,
or to beat hands or feet against the thin wood, there was no way in
which they could make their presence known. And in a moment they knew
the reason for this precaution. For, through the wood of the panel,
wafer thin, they heard Miss Eleanor's voice.
"You can't deceive me, sir!" they heard her say. "Those girls must be on
this yacht, and I warn you that you had better give them up. Kidnapping
is a serious offence in this state."
"You can see for yourself they're not here, ma'am," said Jeff. "And I
don't take this kindly at all, ma'am. Why, when I saw the fire in your
camp, I went ashore with my men to try to help you--and now you make
this charge against us."
"I certainly do!" said Eleanor, with spirit. "I am quite sure that this
is the only place where my girls can be, and I mean to have them back.
As to the fire, you helped us, it is true. But I am as certain as I can
be of anything that you had something to do with starting it before you
tried to put it out!"
"There's no use talking to you, ma'am, and I won't try it," said Jeff.
"If you're crazy enough to believe anything like that, I could talk all
day and you'd still believe it. Here's the yacht--you're welcome to go
over her and see for yourself. You won't find the girls, because they're
not aboard. That's a good reason, I guess."
"Then let me see Mr. Holmes."
"There you go again, ma'am! Didn't I tell you on deck that there's no
such party aboard, and that I never even heard of him? If you're
satisfied now, we'll be glad to have you go ashore, because I want to
sail. I've got business down the coast."
"I shall not go ashore until I have found my girls," said Eleanor. There
were tears of baffled anger in her voice, and Bessie thrilled with
indignant sympathy at the idea that she was within a few feet of her
best friend without being able to let her know that she was there.
"Then you'll be put ashore--gently, but firmly, as the books say," said
Jeff. "You're dead right, ma'am, kidnappin' is a bad sort of business in
this state, and I don't aim to give you a chance to say we carried you
off with us against your will. Sail we will--and you'll stay behind.
This is my boat, and I've got a right to put off anyone that is
trespassin'."
"You brute!" gasped Eleanor. "Don't you dare to touch me!"
"Will you go of your own accord, then?"
"I suppose I must," gasped Eleanor tearfully. "But you shall pay for
this, you scoundrel! You're tricking me in some fashion, but you can't
deceive me, and you can't keep the truth quiet forever."
Then there was the sound of retreating footsteps, and a few minutes
later Bessie and Zara were released by Jeff, who was grinning as if it
had been a great joke.
"Well, sis, we're off now!" he said. "Come on! I don't want to be hard
on you. Come out here in the passageway, and you can have a look at the
shore as we go off."
He led them to the stern, and to the little cabin, in which was a
porthole. Looking out, Bessie saw the beach indistinctly. The ruined
tents were there, and several of the girls, in bathing suits. And,
swimming slowly to the shore she saw a girl in a red cap, which, as she
knew, belonged to Dolly. How she longed to be able to call to her! But
Jeff was at her side, and she knew that the attempt would be useless,
since he was watching her as if he had been a cat and she a mouse.
A bell clanged somewhere below them, and the next moment there was a
rumbling sound as the machinery was started. At the same moment there
came the grinding of the anchor chains as they were raised. But the
yacht did not move! Even after the anchor was up there was no movement
except the throbbing of the whole vessel as the engines raced in the
hold! Jeff's face grew black, and he turned toward the passage with a
scowl.
"What's wrong here?" he shouted, going to the door. At the same moment,
seizing her brief chance, Bessie gave a wild scream, and saw, to her
delight, that those on shore had heard it. In a moment she was pulled
roughly from the porthole, and Jeff, his face savage and all the
kindness gone out of it, scowled down at her.
"Keep quiet, you little vixen!" he shouted. "Here, come with me!"
At the foot of some steps that led up to the deck he left the two girls
in the care of Larry, one of the two men she had seen the night before.
"Keep them quiet," he commanded, as he sprang up the steps. "What's
wrong, Larry; do you know?"
"Something the matter with the propeller. Can't tell what," said Larry.
And above, on the deck, there was a wild rushing about now. Orders were
shouted to the engineers below; hoarse answers came back. The engines
were stopped and started again. But still the yacht did not move. A
grimy engineer came up and stood beside her.
"Propeller's fouled," he said to Jeff. "We'll have to send a man
overboard to clear it."
"How long will that take?" roared Jeff.
"Maybe an hour--if we're lucky."
"You're a fine engineer, not to have the boat ready to start!" screamed
Jeff, mad with rage. "You'll lose your berth for this!"
"Guess I can get another," replied the engineer calmly. "It's been done
on purpose and it's the business of the deck watch to keep the stern
clear, not mine."
With frantic haste a man was sent overboard. He dived and found the
propeller. Bessie heard his report. The screw was twisted around with
rope--knotted and tied so that, even with a knife he would have to make
many descents to clear it. Without a diving suit it was impossible for
the man to stay under water more than half a minute at a time, and, as
it turned out, he was the only man on board who could dive at all.
Jeff raged in vain. The work of clearing the propeller could not be
hastened for all his bellowing, and the precious minutes slipped by
while the diver worked. Each time that he came up for rest and air he
reported a little more progress, but each time, too, as he grew tired,
his period of rest was lengthened, while his time below the water was
cut shorter.
And then, when he had reported that two more trips would mend the
trouble, there was a sudden bumping of boats against the yacht, on the
shoreward side, which had been left without watchers, it seemed, and
there was a rush of feet overhead. Bessie cried out in joy, and the next
instant a dozen men tumbled down the steps and overpowered Larry.
"Are you Bessie King?" asked their leader. "I've got a search warrant
empowering me to search this yacht for you and one Zara Doe and take you
ashore."
"We're the ones! Take us!" pleaded Bessie.
And, sobbing with joy, she went up the steps to the deck. There Jeff,
furious but powerless in the grip of two men, watched her go over the
side and into a small boat in which sat Eleanor, who threw her arms
joyously about the recovered captives. Dolly was there, too, and she
kissed and hugged Bessie as soon as Eleanor was done.
"The men got here in time from Bay City," said Eleanor. "Thank Heaven! A
few minutes more, and they would have been too late. I telephoned as
soon as I could, and I knew the district attorney there was a friend of
Charlie Jamieson. He came at once with his men."
"The propeller was fouled. That's why they couldn't get away," said
Bessie. "Wasn't that lucky?"
Dolly snorted.
"Luck nothing!" she said, perkily. "I swam out with a rope, and they
never saw me! I was there, diving up and down, for half an hour. I
thought they'd have a lovely time getting it clear when the knots I
made had swollen up!"
"Yes, it was Dolly who saved the day," said Eleanor.
"Shall we row you ashore, ma'am, or do you want to see the rest of the
fun on board?" asked one of the oarsmen.
"Take us ashore, please. I'll hear all about it later," said Eleanor.
And in five minutes the Camp Fire Girls were reunited.
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| Transcriber's Note |
| |
| Campfire as one word appears in the list of books |
| and title page, whereas two words have been used |
| throughout the rest of the book. Similar usage |
| has been retained in this e-book. |
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