THE REWARD
Colonel Baxter was not very sure that they would ever be able to prove
who stole the fan. He confided that much to Bet at lunch time, when he
returned from Hermit's Hut.
The girl looked relieved. "I almost wish you wouldn't. Let's drop it.
Did you get Shirley's camera, Dad? Oh I do hope she got a wild animal
picture!"
"Tell Shirley that the trap was sprung, and the flash powder had gone
off, and it is almost certain to have been a deer. Ask her to come to
the shop right after school and I'll bring the camera down."
"Won't she be happy!" Bet squealed with delight.
The school room clock had never ticked off its minutes so slowly as it
did that afternoon; each minute seemed like an hour to the excited
girls whose minds were centered on Shirley's luck. Deer got all mixed
up with their history lessons and Miss Elder cast reproving glances
more than once at the Merriweather Girls who were finding it so hard to
settle to work.
In her heart she didn't blame them. Vacation was such a glorious time
for fun and she knew the girls' capacity for getting the most joy out
of everything in life.
She thought: "The darlings! And I have to be the one to order them
back to their books!"
At five minutes to three, Bet bent her head over her book, declaring
that she would not look at the clock again until it was three. Then,
when she was certain that the minute hand must be pointing to twelve,
she looked up and gave a gasp. Only one minute had gone by! How the
time dragged!
But at last the welcome sound of dismissal bell did come and the girls
were free. They ran all the way to the shop.
"It's a good thing I carry my key with me, or we would have lost about
ten minutes," said Shirley and she unlocked the door and let the girls
in.
Shirley made a dive toward the dark room.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Joy.
"I'll get everything ready in here to develop the plate; just as soon
as Colonel Baxter comes."
At exactly quarter past three Bet's father arrived, bearing Shirley's
camera as if it were the queen's fan itself.
"Here's your deer, Shirley. Put him in the bath and let's have a look
at him. I'm first!"
"You've earned that right," Shirley answered.
"All right! No one must come near until I call." He and Shirley
disappeared behind the curtained doorway and silence settled over the
group as Shirley developed the negative.
After much waiting and eager straining of ears, the girls caught a
startled cry from Shirley. They crowded into the dark room, as Shirley
said impatiently:
"Oh Colonel Baxter, it isn't a deer at all! Isn't that mean? Look
here! Oh, I won't go on with it, I'll smash the old thing!" and
Shirley made as if to throw the plate into the discard.
Colonel Baxter caught her arm in time to save it. "Hold on there,
Shirley. That plate may be worth more to you than the prize contest
would bring. Finish developing it."
"What is it?" cried Bet. "Do let us see!" and the three girls crowded
closer.
"What's all the excitement about? What are the Merriweather Girls
doing now?" asked Bob Evans as he and Phil Gordon came into Shirley's
Shop and followed the girls to the dark room.
"Ssh! Bob! We think Shirley's got a picture of a deer or some other
wild animal. Keep quiet."
"Yes, keep quiet Phil!" laughed Bob. "The wild animal might get
excited and run."
Everything in the dark room was quiet as Shirley developed the plate.
Colonel Baxter and the girls pressed closer together to let the boys
crowd in.
"Why Dad, it isn't a deer at all, it's a man!" exclaimed Bet as she
stood looking over Shirley's shoulder.
"I suspected as much, but we want to know who the man is."
"Oh Dad...." Bet left the sentence unfinished. She edged close to her
father and held his hand. Her own felt cold and clammy while her face
burned. She did not dare to turn toward Phil, whose face showed dimly
in the red glow.
"I'm so disappointed!" exclaimed Shirley. "I could just weep!"
"Who is it?" asked Phil.
The Colonel answered quietly: "If I am not mistaken, it's the man who
stole the fan."
"Then let me nearer. I think I have first right, don't you, Colonel?"
"You have, Phil!" Colonel Baxter made room for the boy to pass.
"Why I see!" cried Shirley. "It's somebody sneaking into Hermit's Hut."
"Who is it? Tell me Shirley!" exclaimed Kit.
"It--it looks like old Peter Gruff! It is! No mistake!"
"There, didn't I tell you all along there was something suspicious
about that old man!" Kit was jubilant. "He's slinking back to find
the fan."
"Well that clears you, Phil. Not even Edith Whalen can cast slurring
remarks at you now," said Bob.
"I'm glad to be free of this suspicion, but I'm sorry for that old
rascal, too."
"I wouldn't waste any sympathy on him," remarked Joy Evans
vindictively. "He let people believe you had done it and helped along
the suspicion by saying that you had tried to sell him a fan. I hope
he goes to jail!"
Colonel Baxter spoke: "Now come on out and let Shirley finish it up.
Could you get a good print by this evening? The plate would do, but
we'd like to have a clear print to show the old fellow. I'll go down
and see Chief Baldwin now."
"I'll have it ready at eight o'clock!" answered Shirley from the dark
room.
It was in the back room of Shirley's Shop where Chief Baldwin brought
old Peter Gruff, confronted him with the picture and accused him of
stealing the fan.
"I steal Colonel Baxter's fan!" he exclaimed violently. "Why should I
take the fan when I have enough of my own?"
"That is the question I am asking you. Now, Peter, confess and get it
over with. If you do not tell us everything, I'll send this picture to
the New York police and get your record. Maybe there is another
picture of you in the Rogues Gallery!"
The old man started excitedly. "No, no, don't do that!" he cried.
Then feeling that he had given himself away, added, "I don't like
policemen; they ask too many questions. I have done nothing. I'm an
old man and don't want to be disturbed."
"All right, Peter, out with the story! If you say you stole the fan,
we'll go easy with you. --That is, if you confess. The girls have
asked me not to be too hard on you."
"Those girls!" exclaimed Peter Gruff, throwing his hands up in dismay.
"They come and they come and they look into every corner of the shop!
They are a nuisance!"
The Chief laughed heartily. "All right Peter, now why did you take the
fan?"
"I wouldn't steal the fan," began Peter Gruff, but Chief Baldwin rose.
"All right, we'll get the city police on the job and it will likely
mean a long term in prison for you."
At the word "prison," Peter Gruff jumped to his feet. "No, no, Chief,
not that! I'll tell." And with the helpful questioning of the Chief,
the old man blurted out his story. It began with the night of the
party. He had looked for the fan in the attic. It was his footprints
in the dust and the snow.
"How could that be?" laughed Chief Baldwin, looking at the tiny foot of
the old man. "Those feet were big."
Peter hesitated a moment then continued: "I put on big shoes so they'd
think a big man did it."
He owned that he had slipped back into the house and had been seen by
some of the young people. Finally he had hidden away in a closet and
waited until the party was over. When he thought everyone was asleep
he had crept into Colonel Baxter's study and stolen the fan, and later
he had hidden it in Hermit's Hut.
"But why did you hide it away out there?" asked the Chief.
"I didn't think anybody would go out there in the winter. Nobody ever
does. But those girls! They go everywhere! I thought I would leave
the fan there until people had forgotten it. It was a good hiding
place."
"But as usual when a man does something wrong, he gets found out! The
girls were too smart for you!" answered the Chief. "Why did you want
the fan? Tell me that."
"I had a big offer from a dealer in Paris. That dealer told me it was
owned by someone in Lynnwood, he didn't know who. But I knew that
Colonel Baxter would be the only person who could have it. So I got
it."
"If I had my way," said Chief Baldwin sternly, "I'd put you in jail and
keep you there a long time. But Colonel Baxter is kind and is willing
to give you another chance. So let this be a lesson to you to go
straight."
The old man seemed to have shrunk to half his size as he rose and
followed the Chief out of the door. In the outside room he met Colonel
Baxter. "I'm sorry," he said and was gone, but whether he was sorry he
had done wrong or sorry he had been caught was doubtful.
"So that solves the Mystery of the Queen's Fan," said Colonel Baxter as
the young people came into the shop a few moments later. "Old Peter
has confessed."
"Colonel Baxter, you don't know what a relief it is," cried Phil. "I
got so nervous, being shadowed all the time, that sometimes I wondered
if I _had_ stolen it." Phil laughed in a strained manner. "It's a
great relief. You know, half the time, I think the girls believed I
_was_ guilty."
"Why Phil Gordon! What an idea!" exclaimed Kit Patten. "We all stood
by you to a man! Every single moment you were backed by the
Merriweather Girls! And you know it!"
"Yes, I guess I do. You are friends worth having, but it all looked so
bad for me that I wouldn't have blamed you in the least."
"We didn't doubt you for a single minute!" exclaimed Shirley.
"You should have heard Bet defending you to that dumb detective, Amos
Longworth!" cried Joy.
Bet could laugh now as she recalled the conversation. Her relief was
great, especially as Colonel Baxter had plead for Peter Gruff and he
was to go free, on the promise that he would leave the village and
never come back.
As the group left the shop, Bet caught Phil by the arm.
"Phil, I must talk to you alone."
"All right. Let the others go on," suggested the boy. "We'll walk
slowly."
Colonel Baxter turned and saw his daughter and knew that she was making
a clean breast of her suspicions against her friend. He smiled and
spoke to the other girls. "Come on Kit, we'll take you home first.
You're the nearest!"
When a short distance was between them, Bet suddenly caught Phil's arm.
"Phil, I must tell you that, since Saturday when I found the fan, I
thought you had taken it."
Phil stopped short. The color had left his face. "Bet! How could
you!" There was a real hurt in his voice. "I thought you knew me
better than that."
"I did, Phil. When I finally showed Dad the evidence against you I
made him promise not to believe that you did it, even when things
looked bad."
"But what was the evidence against me, Bet? I don't understand."
"The fan was wrapped in your handkerchief!"
"Of course it was. I forgot that until this minute. I was afraid the
fan would get dirty so I wrapped it in my handkerchief."
"And Phil, I'd have known it was that way, if I hadn't been so terribly
worried."
"How did the other girls feel about it when you told them?"
"Oh I wouldn't tell them. I hid the handkerchief. No one knows about
it except me and Dad."
"Bet, you're a sport! I like you! Now, forget that you ever blamed
me, and don't feel badly about it."
They hurried ahead to catch up with the others and all met at Kit's
gate.
"Isn't it a wonderful night!" Bet exclaimed suddenly, looking up into
the sky. "Why, I never saw so many stars before! They fairly sing!"
"The singing is in the heart of the Merriweather Girls who have saved
the Manor from being sold and have also saved the reputation of their
good friend," suggested Colonel Baxter.
"It's good to be alive!" cried Phil.
Then the Colonel hesitated a moment. "You know I am going to reward
the Merriweather girls for finding the queen's fan."
"Hooray!" shouted Bet. "What's the reward?"
"We don't need any reward! We're glad we got the fan and found the
thief," said Shirley, and Kit and Joy agreed with her.
"I was thinking I'd like to send Bet and her chums to a mountain camp
for the summer. What is that place I investigated last year, that
sounded so attractive? What was the name of it?"
"Do you mean, Campers' Trail? Oh Dad, do you mean it?"
"Yes! I'll invite all of you to go to that camp for the summer."
"The Merriweather Girls on Campers' Trail," laughed Bet heartily.
"Doesn't that sound like a jolly story!"
"We can have fun there and ride horses over the hills!" Bet shouted
happily.
"We'll fill it full of adventure!" exclaimed Joy.
"And love, loyalty and helpfulness!" said Shirley quietly.
"Then yo-ho-ho for Campers' Trail!" they chanted in a gay chorus.
THE END
CHEER LEADER
By JANET SINGER
Anne Benson, a Junior in the Oxford high school, has set her heart on
winning the coveted position of "Head Cheer Leader." Although this
seems a simple enough desire, Anne finds herself involved in a series
of baffling adventures in trying to attain it--including the
machinations of a gang of professional gamblers, and the mysterious
kidnapping of the football team's star fullback. It is a quick-moving,
vital story that will appeal to every American girl.
JANE, STEWARDESS OF THE AIRLINES
By RUTHE S. WHEELER
We feel positive this book is the best girl's story we have ever
published. Air travel has created an entirely new profession for
girls, and it goes without saying that these hostesses have the
thrilling and romantic experiences young girls will want to read about.
The story is "chock-full" of adventure. From the time Jane Cameron
obtains her position as stewardess on a large air transport, her
experiences with passengers, the thrills of meeting movie stars and
other celebrities becomes more and more exciting, until Jane, herself,
gets into the movies.
PEGGY STEWART SERIES
By GABRIELLE E. JACKSON
Peggy Stewart at Home
Peggy Stewart at School
Peggy, Polly, Rosalie, Marjorie, Natalie, Isabel, Stella and
Juno--girls all of high spirits make this Peggy Stewart series one of
entrancing interest. Their friendship, formed in a fashionable eastern
school, they spend happy years crowded with gay social affairs. The
background for these delightful stories is furnished by Annapolis with
its naval academy and an aristocratic southern estate.
The Goldsmith Publishing Co.
CHICAGO, ILL.