_The Return_
Until the second of July, Linda's aunt, Miss Emily Carlton, had
managed, with Mrs. Crowley's help, to keep hoping that the girls were
still alive. Then her brother's long-distance call from Jacksonville,
informing her that he was going to sea in a yacht in search of Linda
and Dot confirmed all the fears she was secretly cherishing. That night
she collapsed and went to bed a nervous wreck.
After once mentioning the fact that Linda was still reported missing
in the newspapers, Miss Carlton's housekeeper learned not to speak of
the girl again. It seemed as if the older woman could not bear to talk
about her niece; in the few days since her disappearance she had aged
rapidly. She lay listlessly on her bed, not seeing anyone, not even her
dear friend Mrs. Crowley.
It was about noon on the fourth of July that the telephone operator
informed the housekeeper that Havana was calling Miss Carlton. The good
woman replied that her mistress was sick in bed, and that she would
take the message for her. Her hands trembled as she awaited what she
believed would be the announcement of Linda's death.
Faint and far off came the astounding words: "Aunt Emily, this is
Linda."
"Wait!" cried the woman, shaking as if she had heard a ghost. "I'll get
your aunt, Miss Linda."
Rushing to the bed-room, she handed Miss Carlton the bed-side telephone.
"It's Miss Linda," she whispered.
Doubting her senses, the patient sat up and took the instrument.
"Hello," she said, doubtfully.
"Darling Aunt Emily! It's Linda!" was the almost unbelievable reply at
the other end of the wire.
Miss Carlton sobbed; she could not say a word.
"Aunt Emily? Are you there?" demanded the girl.
"Yes, yes--dear! Oh, are you all right? Not hurt?"
"Not a bit. Dot and I are both fine--she's talking to her mother now.
We're--in Cuba."
"Cuba!" repeated the startled woman. "I thought it was the Okefenokee
Swamp, or the Atlantic Ocean! Your father and Mr. Crowley are looking
for you."
"Yes, I know. Ted and Louise are here, and Ted's broadcasting the news
of our safe arrival now.... Probably Daddy has heard by this time."
"When will you be home, dear?" inquired Miss Carlton.
"Soon, I hope.... But we have to stop in Jacksonville first.... Aunt
Emily, couldn't you and Mrs. Crowley come to Jacksonville? We're just
dying to see you!"
Miss Carlton considered; she hated to tell Linda that she was sick in
bed. But wait--was she? Wasn't it only nerves after all? Why, this good
news made her feel like a different person!
"All right, dear," she agreed. "If Mrs. Crowley will, I'll try to
arrange it. Shall I send a wire?"
"Yes," replied Linda. "To Captain Magee, at the City Hall,
Jacksonville. I'll be there in a day or so.... Now good-by, dear
Auntie!"
While Linda waited for Dot to come back from her call, which the
latter had put in from another instrument, she opened the bag and took
out their few possessions that were covering the money. They must
be very careful not to let anything happen to all that wealth, she
thought--they must never go out of the room and leave it, if only for a
minute. How dreadful it would be if it were stolen now, after they had
successfully brought it through all their dangerous adventures!
Dot returned in a couple of minutes, and the girls got ready to enjoy
the luxury of a real bath, in a real tub. How good the warm water felt,
how wonderful the big, soft bath towels! They spent an hour bathing and
washing their hair, and trying to make their nails presentable with
Louise's manicure set.
They had scarcely finished when the latter returned, followed by a
porter carrying innumerable boxes and packages in his arms.
"I've bought everything for you from the skin out," she announced
gayly, as she put the load on the floor. "Even hats and shoes, though
I knew I was taking a chance at them. But I remembered that you and I
often wore each other's things at school, Linda, and I judged that Dot
would wear a size smaller. I do hope you can wear them, just till you
get to your trunks at Jacksonville."
"You're an angel, Lou!" cried Linda, excited at the prospect of looking
clean and respectable again.
"See if you like them," urged Louise. "I got a blue dress for you,
Linda, to match your eyes--and a pink one for Dot."
"To match my eyes?" teased the latter.
All three girls began immediately to untie the packages, and drew
out the purchases one after another with exclamations of admiration.
Dot said that she was so used to seeing dirty knickers that she had
positively forgotten what dainty clothing looked like.
"Well, hurry up and dress!" urged Louise. "We want to eat lunch in
about ten minutes. Ted means to take off at two o'clock, if you girls
think you can be ready by then."
"We surely can!" cried Linda, joyfully. She couldn't wait to get back.
"You'll burn your old stuff, won't you?" asked Louise. "This bag's a
sight, too--why not stuff your old clothing into it, and ask the porter
to take it away!"
Linda and Dot let out a wild cry of protest at the same moment, and the
other girl frowned.
"Why not?" she inquired.
"Sh!" whispered Linda. "That bag has thousands of dollars in it.
Belonging to the Jacksonville bank."
"Oh! You really have that money? And kept it all this time?"
"Yes. But don't say a word about it out loud. We'll take it with us
into the dining-room, and wear our new hats, so nobody will think it
queer."
They found Ted in the lobby of the hotel as they got out of the
elevator, and they went into the dining-room to order the meal that
Linda and Dot had been longing for on the island. It tasted good to
them, but not so good, they had to admit, as the sausages and stale
bread and hot tea which Captain Smallweed provided, when they were
almost starved.
It was during the meal that they pieced the story together. Linda
began by telling of the finding of the money in the bags and the
discovery of the last member of the gang on the island.
"But why he ran away without shooting us is a mystery to us," put in
Dot.
"He thought that you had armed policemen with you," explained Louise.
"We learned that later from Susie. She was captured a couple of days
ago--in Panama."
"Where is she now?" demanded Linda, excitedly.
"In jail, of course."
"And the man they called the 'Doc'?"
"No," replied Ted. "Unfortunately he got away--fled the country. Lucky
you girls got hold of the money, or the bank would never have seen it
again.... And by the way, there's a big reward--ten thousand dollars, I
believe."
"Ten thousand dollars!" repeated Dot, in amazement. "What do you think
of that, Linda?"
"Wonderful!" cried the latter, joyously. "Five thousand apiece. Well,
I'm glad you're going to get something out of this dreadful experience,
Dot--that I selfishly dragged you into. And my part will go towards a
new autogiro."
"A new autogiro!" exclaimed Louise, in surprise. "You don't need one,
Linda. The Ladybug's safe and sound--at the Jacksonville airport."
"What? You mean that?" Linda seized the other girl's hand in almost
incredulous rapture. "How did it get there?"
"The police found it that day it stormed so. And a pilot flew it back
to Jacksonville."
Linda and Dot gazed at each other in full realization at last of the
mysterious disappearance of the plane which they had mourned as lost
forever.
If Linda was eager to get back to Jacksonville before, she was doubly
so now. She could hardly contain her excitement during that flight
across the Gulf of Mexico and over the state of Florida to the northern
part. She kept urging Ted to put on more speed, to let the motor out to
its limit, but the young man, realizing the load he was carrying, was
not to be tempted beyond his better judgment.
They arrived at Jacksonville just as it was growing dusk, and flew
over the city, now so familiar to them all, to the airport on its
outskirts. Gracefully the skillful pilot swooped down the field to his
landing.
The usual number of employees came out to greet them, but hardly had
the girls climbed out of the plane when a resounding shout went up over
the field. Linda Carlton and Dorothy Crowley had been recognized!
A crowd collected immediately, a crowd that had been prepared by Ted's
radio message that afternoon, to welcome the two popular girls back to
civilization. It was all that Linda and Dot could do to wave and shout
greetings in return.
"I just want one look at my Ladybug," said Linda. "If you good people
will let me get through----"
At this request, an accommodating official picked her right up on his
shoulder, and carried her, amid the laughter of the crowd, triumphantly
to the hangar where the autogiro was housed.
"Oh, you dear Ladybug!" whispered Linda, not wanting anyone to think
she was silly, but so overcome with joy that she had to say something.
No one but a pilot could understand the genuine affection which she
felt for her autogiro.
"I'll be over to fly you tomorrow," she added, under her breath. Then,
turning to the man who had conducted her across the field, she asked
him whether he could as easily take her to the waiting taxi-cab.
They were off at last, waving and smiling to the enthusiastic crowd.
"Be sure to stay in Jacksonville till Saturday," the people begged
them. "We're going to celebrate for you then!"
The girls nodded, and the taxi driver sped away with orders to go
straight to the City Hall.
Captain Magee, who had received a call from the airport, was ready and
waiting for them. Ted carried the shabby, worn bag into his office, and
Linda put it into the Captain's hands herself.
"The bank's money," she explained. "And the two revolvers. We never had
to use them at all."
"But we'd have died without them," added Dot. "Of fright--if nothing
else."
In vain Captain Magee tried to tell the girls how wonderfully brave he
thought they had been, but he was so overcome by feeling that he groped
for words and stammered--ending by pressing both Linda's and Dot's
hands in silence.
"Two young girls like you--" he finally managed to say--"succeeding
where the police and everybody else failed! Capturing a hundred
thousand dollars by a clever trick----"
"Is there really that much?" inquired Dot. "Of course we never counted
it."
The officer smiled at their unconcern. In spite of all their ability,
they still seemed like children to him.
"By the way, Miss Carlton," he said, "I had a wire from your
aunt this afternoon. She will arrive in Jacksonville Saturday
morning--accompanied by Mrs. Crowley."
This final piece of good news was just what the girls needed to
complete their perfect day. Their eyes lighted up with happiness, and
they squeezed each other's hands in joy.
"And your fathers ought to be back tomorrow. I'll send them straight to
the hotel," he added. "So don't go away."
"Wild horses couldn't drag us!" returned Linda. "We're just dying to
see them.... Now, good-by, Captain Magee.... We must go and get some
dinner."
So, back in the hotel in Jacksonville, Dot Crowley and Linda Carlton
spent their first enjoyable evening for a week--celebrating their safe
return with their dear friends, the Mackays.