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THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON LAKE LUNA
Or
The Crew That Won
by
GERTRUDE W. MORRISON
Author of The Girls Of Central High, The Girls of Central High at
Basketball, Etc.
Illustrated
New York
Grosset & Dunlap
Publishers
[Illustration: CENTRAL HIGH HAD WON!]
CONTENTS
I THE LONE MAN ON THE ISLAND
II MISSING: THE SHORT AND LONG OF IT
III TONY ALLEGRETTO
IV A SOLEMN MOMENT
V AUNT DORA
VI WHICH IS WHICH?
VII HOW TO GET A NEW SHELL
VIII HIDE AND SEEK
IX ONE IS A HEROINE
X BAKED IN A BISCUIT
XI THE BOAT IS FOUND
XII IN THE CAVE
XIII THE STRANGE MAN AGAIN
XIV THE NEW SHELL
XV TOMMY LONG HAS A BAD DAY
XVI THE CANOE RACE
XVII MISS CARRINGTON IN JUDGMENT
XVIII MOTHER WIT'S DISCOVERY
XIX THE RESCUE
XX BILLY'S STORY
XXI IN PRACTICE AGAIN
XXII THE STOLEN SHELL
XXIII BILLY'S GREAT DIVE
XXIV THE BIG DAY
XXV THE RACE IS WON
THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON LAKE LUNA
CHAPTER I
THE LONE MAN ON THE ISLAND
"There! I see him again," whispered Dora Lockwood.
A half-minute's silence, save for the patter of the drops from the
paddles as the light cedar canoe shot around East Point of Cavern
Island.
"So do I!" cried Dorothy, but in a low tone. "My! what frightful
whiskers."
"He looks just like a pirate," declared her sister.
"He _is_ a pirate--or a robber--I wager," returned Dorothy.
"Maybe he's one of those horrid men who robbed Stresch & Potter Tuesday
night."
"Oh, Dora! Let's hurry by."
Both girls redoubled their efforts at the paddles and the canoe shot
past the little cove which lay at the foot of the eminence known as
Boulder Head. The black hair and ferocious whiskers of the person upon
whom they made these comments dipped down behind a big rock on the shore
and disappeared.
"There! he's gone," sighed Dora, with relief.
"I'm glad. _Do_ you suppose he had anything to do with the robbery at
Stresch & Potter's department store? They say the thieves got more than
ten thousand dollars."
"I don't know whether the lone pirate is one of them or not," laughed
Dora; "but _somebody_ must have committed the robbery--and why not he?"
"That's heartless," sniffed Dorothy. "They say that a small boy helped
the robbers, too. They had to push a boy through the wire screen they
cut out, and he opened a cellar door to let the robbers in."
"Don't I know that? And don't I know who is suspected, too?" returned
Dora.
"Oh, Dora! Don't say it!" protested Dorothy, in horror.
"I don't say I believe it. But you know very well that Billy is up to
all sorts of mischief."
"But Billy Long is one of our own boys."
"I know he goes to Central High. But all the boys who go to our school
are not angelic."
"Far from it," sighed her sister, pensively.
"And 'Short and Long' is a regular little _snipe_, sometimes!" said
Dora, with emphasis.
"But to rob a store!" gasped her twin sister.
"He was seen around there the afternoon before. Why, I know that a
policeman has been to his house looking for him, and nobody has seen
Short and Long since Thursday night."
"But the robbery was committed some time Tuesday night."
"He wasn't suspected at first. Perhaps he thought nobody had noticed him
helping the men in the afternoon."
"If they were the men--those surveyors."
"Of course they were!" cried Dora. "The city engineer's office sent no
men to run that street line. Those fellows were taking measurements
right back of Stresch & Potter's building--and Short and Long was
helping them. And, now, when the hue and cry is raised, he's gone."
"Oh, Dora! It would be dreadful," sighed Dorothy. "One of our Central
High boys."
"And one that's always been just as full of mischief as an egg is full
of meat," snapped Dora.
Now, supposing there had been a blind person in the canoe with the
Lockwood sisters, that unfortunate person could never in this world have
told which girl spoke at each time. Their voices were exactly alike--the
same inflection, the same turning of phrases, the exact tone.
Nor could this supposititious blind person--had his eyes been suddenly
opened--have been able to tell the girls apart, either!
For Dora and Dorothy Lockwood were exactly the same height, of the same
physical development, and with the same mannerisms and carriage. Both
had a wealth of rather light brown hair, and that hair was tied with
ribbons of exactly the same shade, and tied in exactly the same kind of
bow. They possessed two pairs of very nice gray eyes, usually sparkling
with fun. Each had a dimple at the left side of her pretty lips, and
when they smiled that dimple came into prominence at once. The turn of
their chins, the shape of their noses and ears, the breadth of their
foreheads--every feature was the same. One's reflection in the
looking-glass could be no more exactly like the original than was her
sister.
So, unless some person was near enough to watch the play of the twins'
lips, it would have been impossible to tell which girl spoke.
They had been paddling for some time--from the boat landing at the
Girls' Branch Athletic Field of Central High, at Centerport, to the East
Point of Cavern Island, and beyond.
Lake Luna was a beautiful body of water some twenty miles in length and
a half-mile broad. Cavern Island lay in its middle directly opposite the
city of Centerport. At the upper, or west end of the lake, lay
Lumberport, another lively town, at the mouth of Rocky River; and at the
far eastern end of the lake its waters flowed out through Rolling River
at the city of Keyport.
Back of the city of Centerport, which was by far the largest and most
important of the three, was a range of beautiful hills--hills which were
now clothed in their mantle of full summer verdure. There was, about in
the middle of the big town, a slight elevation occupied by the best
residences. This "hill section" of Centerport was flanked on either hand
by business portions of the city; but on the lake shore side of the Hill
there were beautiful estates, boat clubs, bathing pavilions, and the new
Athletic Field established for the use of the girls of Central High
School, at which institution the Lockwood twins were pupils in their
sophomore year.
The twins were, too, dressed alike, in very pretty blue and white
boating costumes, with broad-brimmed canvas hats; but despite these hats
they were as brown as berries, and the red blood showed through the tan
on their cheeks like the hue of blush-roses. Their arms, bared to the
elbow, were very brown, too.
A number of the girls of Central High were possessed of canoes; but none
was a better paddler than the Lockwood twins. Either singly, or
together, Dora and Dorothy, in competition with most of their mates,
whether of sophomore, junior or senior class, could hold their own.
Besides the twins rowed respectively Number 6 and Number 2 in the
eight-oared shell.
For some few months now the girls of Central High had been particularly
enthusiastic about athletics of all kinds. They were rivals for all
athletic honors with the two other high schools of Centerport--the East
and West Highs--as well as with the high school girls of Lumberport and
Keyport.
Recently there had been a rowing race between these high school crews of
eight, and the girls of Central High had been beaten. There were coming
soon, however, the annual boat races and other aquatic sports on Lake
Luna which were each year contested and supported by the athletic clubs
of the three cities of the lake.
It was an all-day tournament, and it always embraced swimming, rowing
and paddling for prizes, as well as fun in the shape of "bunting,"
water-polo, marine hare and hounds, and other games. But if the truth
were told, the main interest of the Lockwood twins and their girl
friends was at present centered in the eight-oared shell race between
the five high schools.
As the twins swept on in their canoe, and turned Boulder Head, hiding
the place where they had seen the bewhiskered poll of the individual
whom Dora had called the lone pirate, she said:
"Do you suppose, Dory, that anybody will be good enough to really
present the crew with a new shell?"
"Somebody's got to--if Central High is to win," declared Dorothy,
vigorously.
"That's so. We can never beat East High with our old tub--let alone the
Lumberport or Keyport eight."
"Leave it to Mother Wit," laughed Dorothy. "She has her thinking cap
on."
"But we can't leave everything to Laura Belding," declared Dora. "She
shouldn't be called upon to do everything. She got Colonel Richard
Swayne interested in our Girls' Branch Athletic League, and so we are to
have a fine new field, they say. That's enough for Laura to do."
"But Mother Wit is always turning up unexpectedly with something new,"
laughed Dorothy. "And she says we must have a new shell in time to use
it in the race on the big day."
"Who's launch is that, Dory?" asked her sister, suddenly.
A motor-boat had just come into sight around a point of the island
ahead.
"Why--why----Isn't that Pretty Sweet's _Duchess_?" asked Dorothy.
"Maybe. It's missing explosions dreadfully. Nasty thing! I don't like a
motor boat."
"Well, a canoe or a sailboat is more fun, I believe, unless you want to
go fast," said the other twin.
"Speed up, Dory. We can cross the bow of that boat. It _is_ Purt's
boat."
"And there are two other boys aboard."
"Chet and Lance, I declare!"
"Laura said she and Jess were coming over to the island to-day; funny
the boys aren't with them."
"Then somebody else would have to go with Purt, for he could never run
that motor alone. Oh, look!"
As Dorothy spoke there was a big puff of smoke from the middle of the
launch and they heard the boys shouting excitedly.
[Illustration: AS DOROTHY SPOKE THERE WAS A BIG PUFF OF SMOKE FROM THE
MIDDLE OF THE LAUNCH.]
"Now you've done it, Purt!" was an exclamation the twins heard.
Then flames shot up where the smoke had been and the twins both cried
out.
"Their gasoline's afire! It's the tank!" exclaimed Dora.
She had scarcely spoken when there came a muffled report, another great
balloon of smoke, and the launch seemed to be afire from end to end. Out
of the smoke and flames three figures, one after the other, leaped into
the lake, while the burning launch darted on across the path of the
girls' canoe.