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NAN SHERWOOD
AT
PALM BEACH
OR
STRANGE ADVENTURES AMONG
THE ORANGE GROVES
BY
ANNIE ROE CARR
Author of "Nan Sherwood at Pine Camp," "Nan
Sherwood's Winter Holidays," "Nan Sherwood
at Rose Ranch," etc.
_ILLUSTRATED_
NEW YORK
GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
BOOKS FOR GIRLS
BY
ANNIE ROE CARR
THE NAN SHERWOOD SERIES
NAN SHERWOOD AT PINE CAMP
Or The Old Lumberman's Secret
NAN SHERWOOD AT LAKEVIEW HALL
Or The Mystery of the Haunted Boathouse
NAN SHERWOOD'S WINTER HOLIDAYS
Or Rescuing the Runaways
NAN SHERWOOD AT ROSE RANCH
Or The Old Mexican's Treasure
NAN SHERWOOD AT PALM BEACH
Or Strange Adventures Among the Orange Groves
GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY
NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT 1921, BY
GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY
_Nan Sherwood at Palm Beach_
_Printed in the U. S. A._
[Illustration: The music carried them far away on golden wings of
melody. (_See page 190_)]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE CRASH ON THE HILL 1
II. NEARLY A TRAGEDY 13
III. THE OLD LADY 20
IV. SOLVING A PROBLEM 27
V. CALLED TO ACCOUNT 34
VI. A GLORIOUS PROSPECT 41
VII. IN THE DORMITORY 47
VIII. ON THE ROAD 55
IX. THE JOY OF GIVING 62
X. A MIDNIGHT FEAST 69
XI. A DANGEROUS PLOT 76
XII. ALMOST A DISASTER 85
XIII. THE WILY STRANGER 94
XIV. GREAT EXPECTATIONS 104
XV. WE'RE OFF! 114
XVI. FUN AND NONSENSE 123
XVII. THE MYSTERIOUS MEN 131
XVIII. A STARTLING REVELATION 138
XIX. AN ATTEMPTED THEFT 147
XX. THOSE MEN AGAIN 156
XXI. THE BEGINNING OF ROMANCE 165
XXII. PALM BEACH AT LAST 173
XXIII. A TROPICAL PARADISE 181
XXIV. NAN IS FRIGHTENED 188
XXV. MOONLIGHT 198
XXVI. WORTH A FORTUNE 208
XXVII. WALTER TO THE RESCUE 217
XXVIII. CAUGHT 228
XXIX. "WHEN THE SPIRIT MOVES" 237
ILLUSTRATIONS
The music carried them far away on the golden wings of melody
(Page 190) _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
The three girls bent eagerly over Mrs. Bragley as she opened one
paper after another 66
Nan's eyes were following the figures of two men strolling down
the deck 140
He pushed Nan from him with such force that she stumbled and
fell 216
NAN SHERWOOD
AT PALM BEACH
CHAPTER I
THE CRASH ON THE HILL
"Smooth as glass!" ejaculated Nan Sherwood, as she came in sight of
Pendragon Hill and noted the gleaming stretch of snow and ice that ran
down to the very edge of Lake Huron.
"And you're the girl that said coasting time would never, _never_ come,"
laughed her chum, Bess Harley, who was walking beside her with her hand
on a rope attached to a bobsled that four girls were drawing.
"Never is a long word," admitted Nan. "I didn't quite mean that; but the
weather's been so mild up to now that I was getting desperate."
"Nan registering desperation," put in Laura Polk, she of the red hair
and irrepressible spirits.
Laura struck an attitude of mock desperation, but the effect was marred
when her foot slipped and she went down with a thump.
Her laughing mates helped her to her feet and brushed the snow off her
dress.
"The wicked stand on slippery places," quoted Grace Mason mischievously.
"Yes," Laura came back, as quick as a flash, "I see that they do, but I
can't."
The shout of laughter that followed atoned somewhat for her loss of
dignity--although she had not lost much, for Laura and dignity were
hardly on speaking terms.
Laughing and chattering, all trying to talk at once and all succeeding,
the bevy of light-hearted girls reached the top of the hill.
Before them stretched Lake Huron, extending farther than their eyes
could see. For a long distance out from shore the lake seemed frozen
solid. A small island rose above the ice about half a mile distant, and
this was the limit fixed upon for the coasters. The cove between the
foot of the hill and the island had a glassy coating of ice that had
been swept and scraped and served for skating as well as coasting.
"I wonder if it's perfectly safe," remarked Grace Mason, a little
timidly. "You know this is the first time the cove's been frozen this
winter, and we haven't tried it yet."
"Bless your little heart, you'll be as safe as if you were on a
battlefield," was the dubious comfort that Laura held out.
"Much safer than that," interposed Professor Krenner, the teacher of
mathematics and architectural drawing at the Lakeview Hall school that
the girls were attending. "You can be sure that neither Dr. Prescott nor
I would take any chances on that score. A heavy logging team went over
it yesterday, and the ice didn't even creak, let alone crack. And every
day that passes of this kind of weather makes it thicker and stronger."
"My, but that's a comfort," remarked Laura. "I'd hate to have this young
life of mine cut off just when it's so full of promise."
"How Laura hates herself," put in Bess Harley.
"You're perfectly safe, Laura," Nan assured her. "Only the good die
young, you know."
The professor's kindly eyes twinkled as he looked from one to the other
of the rosy-cheeked, sparkling-eyed girls, bubbling over with fun and
vitality. He had just come up from the queer little cabin in which he
lived at the edge of the lake. It was part of his work to supervise the
coasting and, as far as possible, keep it free from accident.
About his sole diversion was playing on a key bugle, and the
long-drawn-out notes of the instrument, sometimes lively and sometimes
in a minor strain, were familiar sounds to the girls, and often an
occasion of jesting.
Professor Krenner held the bugle in his hand now, and after glancing at
his watch, he raised the instrument to his lips and blew a clear call
that had the effect of hastening the steps of some of the groups that
were coming toward the hill from the Hall, the roof of which could be
seen over the tops of the trees.
Outdoor sports were made much of at Lakeview Hall, not only in the
catalogue designed for the perusal of parents, but in actual fact. "A
sound mind in a sound body" was Dr. Beulah Prescott's aim for her
pupils, and exercise was as obligatory as lessons. None was excused
without an adequate reason, and the group upon the hill grew in numbers
until it seemed as though all the members of the school were present
except the smaller girls, who had a slide of their own.
"All here except the queen," remarked Laura, as she looked around her.
"The queen?" repeated Bess Harley, staring at her.
"Queen Linda of Chicago," explained Laura, with a wicked twinkle in her
eye.
"For goodness' sake, don't ever let Linda Riggs hear you say anything
like that, Laura Polk," admonished Bess. "She's so conceited that she
wouldn't know it was sarcasm. She'd think it was a tribute drawn from an
unwilling admirer."
"I know," laughed Laura. "It doesn't take much to set her up. If she had
water on the brain, she'd think she was the whole ocean."
"Here she comes now," remarked Nan, after the laughter caused by Laura's
sally had subsided.
A tall girl, wearing expensive furs and having a supercilious air, came
along with two or three companions. It was noticeable that she left to
them the work of drawing the bobsled, while she sauntered along,
ostentatiously adjusting her furs as though she sought to call attention
to their quality.
"Hurry up, Linda," called out Laura. "I believe you'd be late at your
own funeral."
"I never get anywhere early," snapped Linda. "It isn't good form. When I
go to the theater I always get in late. I always have the best seat that
money can buy reserved for me, so what's the use of hurrying? Of course
it's different when one has to go early and scramble for a seat."
"That may be your habit in Chicago, but it isn't in favor here, Miss
Riggs," said Professor Krenner dryly. "But now that all seem to be here,
we'll start the races. You understand that all sleds are to keep three
minutes apart so as to avoid accident. The course is straight out on the
lake, and the best two out of three trials win the race. Miss Sherwood,
since you are nearest the starting line, suppose you get your sled in
position to lead off. Not so fast, Miss Riggs," he went on, as Linda
tried to shove her sled to the crest of the hill. "I said Miss Sherwood
was to go first."
"I don't see why I should have to wait," pouted Linda, as she
reluctantly drew back her sled before the decided look in the
professor's eye. "Hateful old thing," she remarked in a low voice to her
special friend and intimate, Cora Courtney. "He favors Sherwood because
she attends his poky old lectures on architectural drawing and pretends
she likes them."
"I shouldn't be surprised if that were just it," replied Cora, who made
a habit of agreeing with the rich friend whose friendship often proved
profitable to Cora. She had no money herself but clung closely to those
who had.
"Who was it," asked Rhoda Hammond in an amused whisper of Nan, "who
wrote an essay once on the 'gentle art of making enemies'?"
"I'm not sure," laughed Nan in reply, "but I think it was Whistler. Why
do you ask?"
"Because," replied Rhoda in the same low voice, "I think he must have
had Linda or somebody just like her in mind, for she has the art down to
perfection."
There would have been little dissent from Rhoda's verdict, for Linda had
few real friends among the girls of Lakeview Hall. She was purse-proud
and vulgar, and, though her money gave her a certain prestige among the
shallow and unthinking, she lacked the qualities of mind and heart to
endear herself to any one.
By this time the girls who were going with Nan had taken their places
on the sled. It was a new one that Nan had received as a present from
her father, and it had not yet been tested. Nan had named it the _Silver
Arrow_, and she had high hopes that its speed would justify the name.
Nan sat at the head, with the steering wheel in her hands. The wind had
brought the roses to her cheeks, and her clear eyes shone like stars.
Behind her in order sat Bess Harley, Rhoda Hammond, Grace Mason and
Laura Polk, each girl holding tightly to the belt of the girl in front.
"All ready?" asked the professor.
"All ready, Professor," was Nan's reply, as her hands tightened on the
wheel.
Professor Krenner lifted the bugle to his lips and gave a clear,
sonorous blast that served at the same time as a signal for starting and
as a warning to any one who might be crossing the path at the foot of
the hill.
Then he tipped the sled over the ridge of the hill and it started on its
journey.
For a mere fraction of a second it seemed to poise itself for flight.
Then it moved, slowly at first, but gathering speed with every second,
until it seemed to be flying like an arrow from the bow.
There were delighted and at the same time somewhat fearful squeals from
the girls, as the wind whistled past their ears while the sled flew on
at a speed that quickly reached a mile a minute. They held on to each
other for dear life, but Nan had no eyes or thought for anything except
that shining ribbon of path.
She made the turn at the foot of the hill, the sled yielding to her
slightest touch, and she only breathed freely when it shot out on the
lake and there were no further obstacles to circumvent or fear.
On, on it went like a thing of life, as though it would never tire, and
Nan's heart beat fast as she realized that she was going to make a
better mark than she had ever done before.
But gradually the weight on the level surface began to tell, and the
bobsled slowed up as though it were as reluctant as its passengers to
find itself at its journey's end.
There was a chorus of joyous exclamations from the girls, as they rose
to their feet and noted how far out they were on the lake.
"What a perfectly lovely sled!" exclaimed Rhoda Hammond. "I never had
such a ride as that in my life."
"You darling!" said Nan impulsively, as she patted the wheel of her
treasure.
"The other girls will have to go some to come anywhere near that mark,"
bubbled Bess.
"Linda will be green with jealousy," laughed Laura. "She thinks that
that _Gay Girl_ of hers is the fastest thing that ever wore runners."
"She'll take it as a personal affront if she doesn't win," giggled
Grace. "I wish she'd come along while we're here. I'd like to see just
how far we've beaten her."
"We haven't beaten her yet," observed Nan, "and perhaps it's just as
well not to be too sure. But now let's get our skates on and pull the
sled back. There are to be three trials, you know."
They took their skates from their shoulders and adjusted them with
nimble fingers. It was the work of only a few moments. Then they rose,
patted down their dresses and struck out for the shore, drawing the sled
behind them.
They had to keep a wary lookout for the other sleds. One came rushing
along with its laughing crew, but they could see at a glance that it was
not making the speed that their own had reached. Just as they reached
the edge of the lake, another sled flew past, and amid the bevy of girls
on it they discerned Linda Riggs.
"There goes the _Gay Girl_," remarked Rhoda Hammond.
"And she's going like the wind, too," chimed in Bess a little anxiously.
"Let's wait here a moment, girls. I want to see how far out she goes."
"I do hope she won't beat our mark," said Grace, as she snuggled her fur
more closely about her neck.
They watched with straining eyes as Linda's sled gradually slowed up,
and a sigh of relief came from all when they saw that it stopped about
a hundred feet this side of the spot that they had reached.
"She didn't beat us!" cried Bess exultantly.
"Too close to be comfortable, though," murmured Nan, as her eyes
measured the distance.
"Well, a miss is as good as a mile," declared Rhoda.
"We're all right so far, as the man said as he was passing the second
floor after falling seventeen stories," put in Laura.
"Let's get every ounce out of the _Silver Arrow_ on the next try,"
adjured Grace, as, after having taken off their skates, they were
trudging up the hill.
By the time they reached the top, most of the other sleds had been sent
off and they had not long to wait. They settled themselves firmly in
their seats.
"Let's clinch it now," laughed Nan, as she took the wheel. "Just put on
your wishing caps and wish as hard as you can, and the _Silver Arrow_
will do the rest."
"I'm wishing so hard that it hurts," gurgled Bess.
"If wishing will do it, we've won already," chimed in Laura. "We're all
ready, Professor."
A clear call from the bugle, a helping hand over the ridge, and the
_Silver Arrow_ was off again.
It may have been due to the more slippery condition of the hill caused
by the sleds that had already passed over it, but there was no doubt in
the minds of the girls that the bobsled was going even more swiftly than
it had at first. They were almost frightened at the speed it developed,
and yet they were delighted, for they had set their minds on beating
their earlier mark.
Halfway down the hill they passed Linda and her group, who had drawn up
at one side to let them pass. Even at that breakneck rate of speed they
could see the sneer on Linda's lips as she recognized the sled and its
crew.
But they were nearing the curve now and Nan's eyes were fastened on the
path ahead while she tightly gripped the wheel.
"Hold fast, girls!" she warned, as they neared the bend in the road and
the sled swerved at her touch.
The next instant they rounded the curve, and a cry of horror burst from
their lips.
Directly in their path was an elderly woman who had just started across
the road.
She looked up as she heard them scream. Terror and bewilderment came
into her face. She started back, then forward. Then, utterly paralyzed
with fright, she stood helpless in the path of the bobsled that was
rushing toward her with the speed of an express train.
The girls shouted at her, but her brain, numbed by fear, refused to act.
"Oh, she'll be killed!" wailed Grace.
"Oh, Nan, can't you do something?" cried Bess frantically.
Nan's brain was working like lightning. She was white to the lips, but
never for an instant did she lose her presence of mind.
At the left of the road was an almost solid row of trees. It was certain
death to turn that way. At the right there was an opening that led into
a little glade. She determined to steer into that.
She swerved the sled in that direction. She could have made it if the
woman had remained where she was. But just then she backed a step to the
right. The sled struck her and hurled her aside, and she went down with
a scream.