_The Arrest_
When the girls came home from the fire that night they found Mrs. Gay and
Freckles both awake and dressed. The boy was pleading with his mother to
be allowed to go to the Smiths'.
"The fire's out," announced Jane, sinking wearily into the swing on the
porch. "Mary Lou passed out for a few minutes, too."
Mrs. Gay uttered an exclamation of alarm.
"Oh, but I'm all right now, Mother," her daughter hastened to assure her.
"Only I would like something hot to drink. And my own bed to sleep in, if
Freckles doesn't mind changing again."
"A hot drink?" repeated her brother, in amazement. "Why hot?"
Briefly Jane told the story of Mary Louise's daring act of heroism, and
Mrs. Gay hurried off to make her daughter comfortable for the night.
In their own soft bed again, the girls slept soundly until nearly noon
the following day. Mary Louise was vexed with herself for wasting so much
time when she saw the lateness of the hour. For if she was to do anything
about solving the mystery of the fires she hadn't a single minute to
lose.
"Have you heard any news this morning?" she demanded of her brother as
the family all ate their breakfast-lunch together.
"Not much," replied the boy. "We went over to see the place, of course,
as soon as we were up this morning. It must have been some fire! What's
left of the house isn't fit to live in.... Gee, Sis, you and Jane were
lucky to be in on it!"
"Lucky for the Smiths!" amended Mrs. Gay. "I shudder every time I think
of what might have happened to little Ethel."
"Where are the Smiths now?" inquired Jane.
"Moved over to the hotel. The chauffeur telegraphed Mr. Smith, and he and
Mrs. Smith are coming this afternoon, with clothes and stuff."
"Did you see the boys this morning?" questioned Mary Louise.
"Yeah," replied the boy. "I took the canoe across the river, where they
were in swimming early, with the chauffeur."
"And couldn't they tell you anything more about the fire?"
"Nope. Robby said he never wakened up till he heard the chauffeur yelling
at them. Then they all grabbed their clothes and ran. The nurse was
sleeping in the same room with little Ethel, and she saw to it that the
kid got out safely."
"And she went back for her dolly!" whispered Mrs. Gay, with a catch in
her voice.
"Mother, please stop thinking about that!" begged Mary Louise.
"Everything came out all right--so do try to forget it."
"I will, dear. But I think I've had enough of Shady Nook for one summer.
I've about decided to pack up and go home tomorrow."
"Oh, no!" protested Mary Louise, aghast. "We can't--run away!"
"If only your father were here, he'd find out what's the cause of all
these disasters. But I feel so unsafe--so helpless without him!"
"I'm going to find out!" announced Mary Louise, with determination in her
voice. "Just stay a little while, till we have a chance to see what
develops!"
"I won't promise. By the way, I've decided that we'll all go over to the
Royal Hotel for dinner tonight. It will be a nice change--and you girls
can dance afterwards, because practically everybody from Shady Nook eats
there now."
"Everybody except the Ditmars," said Mary Louise, with a significant look
at Jane.
She said nothing further about the young couple now, but an hour later,
when the two girls were getting into their bathing suits, she mentioned
the Ditmars again.
"I've come to the conclusion that the criminal, the person responsible
for the fires, is one of two people," she said, "with the possible chance
of a third."
"You suspect Horace Ditmar, of course?" asked Jane.
"Yes. I think everything points to him. First, he has the _motive_. To
get work for himself--to plan new houses to take the place of those that
have been destroyed. If you've noticed, Jane, the three places that have
been burned have all been big, expensive ones. The finest at Shady Nook!
The Smiths and the Hunters are rich people, well able to afford to
rebuild. And Flicks' was such a flourishing business that anybody would
naturally expect them to want to start it up again.
"Next, Horace Ditmar had the _opportunity_. He was absent from the two
parties which were going on when the Hunters' and Flicks' places burned,
and he could easily have slipped out last night and set Smiths' on fire.
"And last--and most important of all, Dad often says--Ditmar's the kind
of man who could do it. Quiet, almost sullen, I think, and deceitful.
I've never spoken two words with him, but that's my opinion."
Jane nodded solemnly: her chum's logic appeared sound.
"But still," she remarked, "Horace Ditmar isn't profiting any by these
fires. Nobody seems a bit inclined to rebuild."
"No. Not yet. But wait till the Smiths come, and see whether Horace
Ditmar tries to chum up with them. You know Adelaide Ditmar admitted that
they went over to call on Mrs. Hunter after their fire and the woman
almost snubbed her."
"True.... Who's your other suspect, Mary Lou? Is it--Cliff?"
"No. Positively not Cliff! In spite of that pack of cards they found over
there last night. Imagine Cliff Hunter setting fire to a house that had
three children asleep in it! It's unthinkable."
Jane breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear you say that," she
said.
"The other person I suspect strongly is Rebecca Adams," continued the
young detective. "I hate to, for she seems harmless, but you just never
can tell about a half-witted person like that. She wanders around at such
queer times, and then her coming here last night, after predicting a fire
in the afternoon, looks bad. She's got to be watched."
"Right again," agreed the other girl admiringly. "But go on, 'Spencer
Dean'! Who's your third suspect--the one you called a possible chance?"
"The hotelkeeper, Frazier. It's meant a lot to his business. He has the
motive all right, but I just can't see how he could have actually
accomplished setting the places on fire. He was with us all evening the
night Flicks' burned down, and Cliff says he was at the hotel when the
Hunters' cottage burned. Still, Frazier's sly. He might have managed it."
"I'll have to take a good look at him tonight when we go over to dinner,"
observed Jane, "and try to size up his character."
Mary Louise reached for her beach robe and stepped into her slippers.
"Come on, Jane," she said. "We've got to hurry, or the crowd will go home
before we get there."
They ran out to the canoe and jumped in, paddling down the river half a
mile to the spot which was generally accepted as the best swimming place
near Shady Nook. Here they found about twenty-five people gathered on the
shore, all talking in the wildest excitement. And not a single person was
in the water!
"What's happened?" demanded Jane. "Anybody drowned?"
"Another fire?" asked Mary Louise.
"Neither," explained Sue Reed, turning to the newcomers. "But something
almost as bad. A detective arrived from Albany and arrested Cliff Hunter!
As an incendiary, I believe he said. A person who sets things on fire."
"No!" gasped Jane in horror.
"But how could he?" cried Mary Louise incredulously. "I mean, how could a
detective from Albany know about the fires here at Shady Nook--let alone
suspect Cliff?"
"Somebody wired," said Sue.
"Who?" demanded both girls in the same breath.
Nobody seemed to be able to answer that question. All anyone knew was
that Cliff had gone off in the detective's car and that his mother had
insisted upon going with him. Mrs. Hunter was positive that it was all a
put-up job, a plot of some kind to kidnap her son.
The talking died down at last, and the crowd dispersed into the water.
But nobody seemed to enjoy the swim that day. Discouraged and worried,
Mary Louise and Jane decided to paddle back home in their canoe.
"All your detective work gone for nothing!" lamented Jane miserably. "I'd
just like to know, who's responsible for that arrest! It was such a dirty
trick. I wonder if it was one of the Smiths' servants."
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out tonight," returned Mary Louise.
"Thank goodness we're going to the Royal to dinner, where we'll see
everybody! Keep your eyes and ears open, Jane."
As soon as the girls reached their cottage they told Mrs. Gay the
startling news about Cliff Hunter. She was as much distressed as they
were over the announcement, for she had known the young man so long that
he seemed almost like a son. And, like the girls, she was positive of his
innocence.
"Let's get dressed early and go over to the hotel. Maybe we can find out
something there," she suggested.
"That's just what we're hoping," replied Jane. "And believe me, if we
find that the Smith chauffeur is responsible--or that sneaky Frazier----"
"It wasn't Mr. Frazier, I can assure you," interrupted Mary Louise.
"He'll be losing money without the Hunters and their friends. No--but
maybe----"
"Maybe what?"
"Nothing. No use of making guesses in the dark. We'll wait and see."
The girls went into their room to dress. Mary Louise was surprised to see
Jane take a simple white voile out of the closet.
"Why, Jane, we're going to the Royal Hotel! To dine and dance. Don't you
want to wear your pink georgette?"
Her chum shook her head.
"No. White's more appropriate for the way I feel tonight. I'm not in a
party mood. Maybe I'd wear black, if I had it!"
Mary Louise lowered her voice.
"Do you care that much about Cliff, Jane?" she asked seriously.
"I don't know about that part of it, Mary Lou--but I do feel dreadfully.
Cliff was always so care-free and happy--just like a child with his card
tricks. And then for somebody to pounce down on him like that and carry
him off without any chance to defend himself----"
"Don't worry about that, Jane," interrupted Mary Louise. "Don't forget
that the Hunters are rich, and Mrs. Hunter will hire the best lawyer in
the whole state of New York to defend him."
"Well, that's comforting! But, just the same, it was a mean trick. And
I'm going to miss Cliff dreadfully.... By the way, where was David McCall
today? I didn't see him in swimming."
Mary Louise frowned. "Neither did I," she muttered.
Jane swung about sharply.
"Mary Lou, you think David sent that wire, don't you?" she demanded.
"I'm trying not to think so!" responded her chum. "But we'll find out
tonight."
The girls were ready in a few minutes, but they waited for Mrs. Gay and
Freckles. They had expected to go across the river in the canoes, but
Stuart Robinson stopped in to invite them to join their family in the
motorboat, so that there was further delay. Instead of getting off early,
the party did not leave until after six.
Naturally, everybody talked of the arrest on the way over, but none of
the Robinsons knew who was responsible for it. Stuart blamed it upon the
Smiths' servants.
When they reached the porch of the hotel, they found it deserted.
Everybody ate early at the resort.
The large dining room, with its pale yellow walls, its long screened
windows, and its snow-white tables, was certainly a pleasant-looking
place. The floors were of polished hardwood, so that when these same
tables were removed the room was fine for dancing. The space was ample,
too, for it was intended to accommodate a couple of hundred people at a
meal. Tonight it looked fairly well filled, with all the guests from
Shady Nook in addition to the regular diners.
Mr. Frazier himself came up and found two tables for the Gays and the
Robinsons. The little man looked happy and confident tonight, pleased, no
doubt, that business was more flourishing.
"Is David McCall here, Mr. Frazier?" asked Jane abruptly.
"Yes," was the reply. "He's sitting with the Smiths this evening. Mr. and
Mrs. Smith arrived this afternoon."
"Thank you," answered Jane, without going into any explanation.
Mary Louise smiled. "Nothing like going right to the point, Jane," she
remarked when the hotelkeeper had turned away.
"I mean to ask David point-blank! I hope I can make him ashamed of
himself, if he did cause Cliff's arrest!"
"I'm afraid you can't do that," put in Mrs. Gay wisely. "These
self-righteous people who feel that it is their duty to tell on
others----" She stopped, wondering whether she was hurting Mary Louise's
feelings by speaking thus about David McCall, but her daughter was
scarcely listening. "I think he'll come over to see us," Mrs. Gay
concluded as she gave her order to the waitress, "with the Smiths."
Mrs. Gay was correct in her surmise: when the Smiths had finished their
dinner, they came straight to the Gays' table.
Mrs. Smith, a well-dressed woman of perhaps thirty-five--though she
looked much younger--put her hand on Mary Louise's arm.
"I can never thank you enough for saving my baby, Mary Louise," she said.
"All my life I'll be grateful to you!"
Mary Louise smiled.
"I'm thankful I was there in time, Mrs. Smith," she said. "Ethel is such
a darling."
"I wish we could do something for you, Mary Lou," put in her husband.
"Can't you think of something you want?" He was too well bred to offer
her a reward in money, the way old Miss Mattie Grant at Dark Cedars had
done.
"All I want is to find out who really did start that fire at your house,"
replied the girl. "Because I'm sure Cliff Hunter didn't!"
She was staring past Mrs. Smith right at David McCall as she said this,
with scorn in her eyes.
Jane couldn't keep quiet any longer. She turned angrily to the young man.
"Are you responsible for Cliff's arrest, David McCall?" she demanded.
"I am," he stated calmly. "I did it to protect our insurance company. It
just happens that our company holds most of the insurance up here at
Shady Nook. And they've paid enough already--or will pay. So I don't want
any more fires. It's my duty to protect their interests."
"Oh, yeah?" retorted Jane, hot with fury. "Well, you're not doing it!
Cliff Hunter never started those fires, and you'll find out soon he's
innocent!"
"How?" demanded David.
"There will be another fire, just the same. We haven't got the guilty
person yet. I know it!"
Mrs. Gay shuddered. "Oh, I hope not!" she exclaimed. "But I believe we'll
go home tomorrow."
"We're planning to stay on here at the Royal while we see about repairing
the damage," said Mrs. Smith. "But if it isn't safe----"
"I guess the hotel's safe enough," put in her husband. "It's practically
fireproof."
David turned nonchalantly to Mary Louise. "Will you dance with me after
supper, Mary Lou?" he asked. "It's my last night here. I'm going to
Albany tomorrow."
"I don't believe I care to dance," replied the girl icily--to Jane's
infinite delight. "Jane and I are going to stay with Mother this
evening."
The party moved on, and Jane reached for her chum's hand under the table.
"That's telling him!" she murmured in deep satisfaction.