MORE DISCOVERY
There was early rising at the Eyrie on the morning after they had shared
their supper with the new camper. Jack arrived from Steeple Rocks even
before the men who were to help Dalton, and wore his working clothes. He
reported that Peggy was up, expecting the girls at any time, but he drew
Leslie aside, as he sometimes did, to tell her the developments at
Steeple Rocks. Leslie was glad that Sarita was still getting ready, for
Sarita was inclined to tease her over Jack's preference. It was clear
that Jack valued Leslie's opinion on affairs at least.
"My aunt is nervous and worried, Leslie," said Jack. "She announced this
distinguished company about to arrive, but does not seem certain just
when they will arrive. The Kravetz is back, but disappears for a long
while and pays no attention to Peggy. I overheard her say to Mrs. Ives
that it was absurd to dress up Peggy to help entertain '_for so short a
time_.' Then my aunt said that she intended to have someone of her own
right at hand, and she said it almost in a tone of desperation. The
Kravetz sometimes has an air of dictating to my aunt that I have
wondered about.
"Aunt Kit said 'all my own friends have been sent away on one excuse or
another and I have this lot of foreigners to entertain _again_, half the
time without my husband, I suppose!'
"'He will be here,' the Kravetz said, 'and the Count and I will help
you.'" Jack laughed. "The Kravetz got up and went into the house, and
Aunt Kit, who knew that I was in the hammock, came right over to me.
'Jack,' she said, 'if I ever needed my own people it's now. Promise me
that no matter how insulting Madame Kravetz or anyone may be, you will
stay around.' So of course I promised, though if I get scared out at
'royalty' I may come here and bring Peggy any time. Peg, though, is all
keyed up and tickled over her new clothes. It will be all right if I
escape to the Eyrie, will it?"
"You know that it will, Jack," said Leslie heartily. "Do you know who
any of them are?"
"No, not by name. I supposed that they were people of title that my aunt
and uncle met abroad; but from something she said I think that they are
people whom she has never met at all. Yet she spoke of entertaining them
'again.' How do you account for that, Leslie?"
"Perhaps she has had to entertain a different lot of them some other
time," said Leslie.
"I expected you to say that. I rather think that she has, and if they
are like the Kravetz, well, good-night!"
Leslie laughed at Jack's expression, but Jack looked around to see that
no one was near and bent to say something low into Leslie's ear. "Jack!"
she exclaimed, as if startled. Then she looked into his eyes. "Jack,
you've got it! That must be the matter over there,--and your aunt
suspects it, but isn't sure, or else,--"
Leslie broke off, for Sarita was coming. They both turned with smiles
and Leslie said, "Jack was just telling me of all the excitement over
the guests that are coming. He does not appreciate it at all and would
rather help build log cabins, I guess."
As Dalton came up to claim Jack, the girls started toward Steeple Rocks.
Sarita led the way, partly by the woods, but they decided to enter the
grounds near the cliffs and Sarita suggested visiting the "Retreat," or
Peggy's little Eyrie.
They found the rocks slippery from the mist, but the more cautious
Leslie followed Sarita's lead and they reached the cave without
accident. "That was a bit risky, Sairey," she said. "We'd better come
here when it is dry." But Sarita hushed her and reminded her that they
had come to see if they could notice smoke again.
Stooping, they went as far back as they could and Sarita observed that a
piece of rock was loose at the hole where Peggy had been tempted to
crawl in. She knelt and tugged at it, without any particular purpose
except that of general investigation. To her surprise, it gave way and
she nearly fell backward, losing her hold upon the rock, which rolled in
the other direction, instead of out, though it seemed to stop with a
bump against something.
Sarita looked up at Leslie with a comical expression as she straightened
herself and leaned forward to the opening again. She was about to say
something, when to the girls' surprise they heard an exclamation, "What
is that?" someone asked. Both girls instinctively drew back and put
their fingers to their lips in warning to each other. But what they next
heard they placed more as if the sound were conveyed through a speaking
tube in this curious place.
Another voice was answering. "Rocks fall once in a while. There's quite
a crack by you. It's more or less honeycombed, but there is no danger
here."
"I see. I noticed a little draught when I lit my cigaret." More
followed, but the persons speaking were not in the proper position now
for more than a murmur to be heard.
"How _lucky_ that we didn't say anything near that hole!" whispered
Sarita, as both girls withdrew toward the entrance. "Do you suppose that
anything we _have_ said here has been heard?"
"I scarcely think so. Something would have been done about it, you know.
It looks as if the secret of Steeple Rocks were nearly ours, Sarita,
doesn't it?"
"It certainly does. Wait. I'm going back a minute." Sarita knelt again
at the opening and thrust her head within, to Leslie's disapproval. She
followed her, catching hold of her dress and looking at the rocks above
her to see if any more had been loosened. She was relieved when Sarita
drew back again. "Too dark to see anything, Leslie," she reported when
they were outside.
They covered the rest of the way to Peggy's house with very little
conversation. "That was a stranger," Sarita commented.
"The other voice was like the Count's," said Leslie.
"Shall we tell Peggy?"
"I suppose so," said Leslie doubtfully. She was thinking about that.
What Jack suspected she would keep to herself for the present, but Peggy
had a right to know the secret of her Retreat.
Peggy was delighted to see them and took them to her room for what she
called the "gorgeous display," some very pretty but suitable frocks for
a young girl about to mingle with others who had them. "It is going to
be quite a house party," Peggy said, "and a few of them may stay for
some time, Mother says. It's awfully interesting, though 'royalty'
doesn't mean so much any more. We had a princess once while we were in
Florida and she had wonderful jewels. Mother thinks that there is one
girl about my age. You simply must come over, girls!"
"Clothes, my dear Peggy. Wouldn't we look great to a grand duchess, in
this rig, for instance?"
Leslie turned slowly around, with the air of a fashion show model,
displaying a sweater much the worse for wear and her oldest gym
bloomers. "I really meant to put on something better, like Sarita, but I
thought that I could sneak up to your room without your mother's seeing
me, and we want to go out in the boat afterwards, or we _did_ want to
go."
"I mind the maids more than I do your mother," laughed Sarita. "The last
time, you should have seen the scorn with which your mother's maid
looked at me."
"Pooh! What's the difference? You girl's always look like somebody nice,
no matter what you have on. Jack says so, too. But what has happened to
change you about going out in the boat? Is it going to be bad weather?"
Peggy glanced toward the window, where sunshine was driving the mists
away.
"Mercy no! It's going to be a _wonderful_ day. Leslie, tell Peggy what
we heard. It's a great discovery, Peggy."
Peggy threw across the bed her most cherished frock which she had saved
for the last to show them, and clasped her hands together in her
eagerness to hear what had happened. They all sat down together on
Peggy's low day bed, a pretty wicker affair which stretched at the foot
of the other bed. Peggy was in the middle. A background of silk and
fluffy chiffon and tulle behind them set off the three heads bent close
together, as the girls related in whispers what had occurred.
Peggy was delighted, with little thought of what the discovery might
imply. "Then there _is_ a cave somewhere! Girls, we have simply _got_ to
find it! Will you go back there now with me? I'll call Pugs, to hang up
the things, and get into my knickers and sweater in a minute!"
Peggy's maid came into the room while the girls were still waiting for
Peggy to scramble from one costume into another. She tried to smile and
help Peggy, but the girls could see that she had been crying. Peggy
explained as soon as they started out.
"I didn't know that dear old Pugsy cared that much for me. I've been a
lot of trouble to her. But honestly, she's almost a part of the family
to Mother and me. Perhaps Mother can get out of it, but Dad says that
Pugsy's got to leave. I must have a maid that speaks French now! If it
were Mother that wanted it, I could understand, but what does Dad care
whether I speak French or not?"
"It will be fine when you travel," said Sarita.
But Leslie, thinking of what Jack had said, wondered if Mr. Ives did not
want to employ another foreigner instead of "Pugsy."
A dark-browed maid who was dusting in the hall looked at them in none
too friendly a way. Even Sarita spoke of it afterward. But Peggy paid no
attention to their surroundings as they left the house behind and darted
past flower beds and masses of shrubbery on their way to the rocks.
Once there, Peggy viewed the hole and was duly impressed. She had
brought a flashlight, which disclosed nothing but rock beyond the hole,
with a slight descent to where the loose rock had rolled. Granite walls
and an arching ceiling were above.
Leslie knew that it was foolish for all of them to enter, though Sarita
declared that never a rock could fall on them. Nevertheless the prospect
was so tempting that Leslie crawled in after the others. There was at
least good air within. They hoped to find a passage to the cave whence
the voices had come; but after a short distance, which they could cover
without stooping, they were stopped by a granite wall as hard as the
rest of Steeple Rocks. There was a deep fissure, however, and there they
could feel a decided draught.
The light turned off, they sat down to listen. Perhaps they could hear
something more, if the people were still in the cave. Peggy suggested
that perhaps they had heard the Count and someone back in the office. "I
feel pretty sure that they have something back in the rock," whispered
she, "perhaps a real cave, and more than just Dad's safe."
But Leslie shook her head. "I may be mistaken, but I think that this
came from below."
As if to confirm her words, there came the sound of conversation, a mere
murmur at first, then a few words very loudly conveyed by this queer
speaking tube which nature had provided. The next were fainter, and then
there was the murmur. "He's walking around," Leslie suggested.
Peggy had a picture of someone restlessly pacing a cave.
"Well, I hope that Ives will hurry up this house party. I'm certainly
sick of staying here. How do I make up as an English lord, Bill?"
A hoarse laugh was the answer to this, but Bill was not standing so
close to the fissure, it was obvious.
"And how am I going to get out of this?"
"Same way you got in, by boat and at night."
"Why can't I leave in the daytime if you can?"
"Well, in the first place, you wouldn't care to play the fisherman, I
think, the way you look now, or to stay in one o' the shacks with the
rest o' the crowd. I kin take you out to-night, if you want to go, but
what I'm going to do now is to swim under water a ways. Want to try it?"
"No thanks. But I'll join the rest to-night. A little dirt on my face
will make it all right, and I'd rather be with folks than in this
terrible place."
"A little timid, huh?"
"I'll show you whether I'm timid or not!"
The girls were breathless, wondering what was going to happen, but the
ferocious Bill was evidently possessed of soothing powers. "No, now
there ain't no call to git excited. There's going to be enough people
here when the schooner comes in."
"Yes," sarcastically said the other man. "You're going to make enough
money to give up fishing by that time, aren't you?"
"I might if they wasn't others I had to divide with," growled Bill. "You
pay attention to yer own affairs. You got it fixed with Ives about
yerself?"
"Yes."
The girls heard Peggy gasp, but the voices were not sounding as if
either man were very near the "Steeple Rocks speaking tube," as Leslie
began to call it. Probably Peggy would not be heard.
For some little time the girls sat still, in uncomfortable positions,
but they heard nothing more. Peggy was the first to jump up, and by the
light of the flashlight which she carried, they all found their way back
to the opening and crawled out. "I forgot to look, girls," said Leslie,
"to see if there were other rocks that could get loose outside, and
after we were in there, listening to Bill and that other man, I began to
think what if a rock fell down and closed up this hole!"
"We could have called down the speaking tube, Leslie," Sarita suggested.
"Yes," said Peggy, "and have Bill see that we stayed in there forever!
'Sad loss of three bright young people at Steeple Rocks', would be in
the paper."
Peggy was so funny as she said this that Leslie and Sarita both laughed,
though the subject was far from laughable. Peggy was frowning now.
"Let's go right now and tell Jack," she said. "I certainly heard enough
about Dad, didn't I?"
Neither Leslie nor Sarita replied to this question, for they knew that
Peggy did not expect comment. They were helping each other around the
jutting part of the cliff now and did not resume conversation until they
were on the path. Then Peggy cried, "Oh, girls! I was going to watch to
see where Bill came out, weren't you?"
"Yes," said Leslie. "I thought of it when Bill said that he was going to
'swim under water a ways.' What possessed us? But, after all, we could
not have seen anything from the Retreat. Come on; let's climb down sort
of near your yacht dock, Peggy. Perhaps we can see Bill come out of the
water yet."
This was no sooner said than done. As quickly as possible, the girls
found a spot which would command most of the shore around the bay. The
girls looked over the surface of the cliff, as they had done many times
before, without finding any opening. "If he has to swim under water, the
cave _must_ be at the bottom," said Leslie, decisively, "and the only
place, girls, where a boat could go in, is in Pirates' Cove!"
"Then Bill will swim out there and get to the rocks outside on _this_
side,--unless he has a boat tied in the channel."
"I think that it would be too great a swim to the channel, unless it
would be right near our dock around there, and Bill would run the risk
of Mother's coming down to the beach or of somebody's seeing him from
the house."
"Your mother wouldn't be surprised to see Bill there,--not very, would
she, Peggy?"
"Perhaps not. Let's get up a step higher. We can look over these rocks
then, and duck down if Bill should come out anywhere near the dock.
_Then_ we shall have to scamper up and out of sight as quickly as
possible." In spite of Peggy's evident chagrin at the implications about
Mr. Ives in the conversation which they had overheard, she was enjoying
the excitement, Leslie could see. There might be some compensations for
Peggy, Leslie thought, in the discovery of Mr. Ives' operations, if it
led to her freedom from their shadow. But would it? What ought to be
done now? She must tell Jack at once,--so much was clear. But it might
be even dangerous for anyone who interfered. Could Jack and Peggy keep
their knowledge from Mr. Ives and that household of suspicious foreign
servants? The more Leslie thought, the more undecided she felt.
For some time the girls waited uneasily. Perhaps Bill had gone, or
perhaps he was taking some time, making ready for the "enough people"
who were to be there when the "schooner" came in! Probably they would
miss him altogether. No! There he was!
Peeping over the rocks, the girls caught each other's hands in their
excitement. Bill came up out of the water and shook it from him like a
big mastiff. He looked around hastily to see if he were observed and the
girls kept very still. Sarita and Leslie, indeed, ducked behind the
rocks, but Peggy, who had taken a black silk handkerchief from her neck,
wrapped it about her head and kept on looking.
It was not very likely that Bill would see them, yet he might if he
looked above on his way over the rocks from those at the base of Steeple
Rocks, where he had emerged from the Cove waters.
Peggy gave the word to start up. "He's going over the rocks now. Stoop
low and you'll get to the top in a jiffy! He'll only hope that we
haven't seen him, if he does see us. But it isn't so wonderful for a
person to go in swimming anywhere here."