CONFESSIONS.
When Mrs. Hart and the two girls returned to Miss Vaughn’s palacial
home, they found the old lady alone. Her nephews, she explained, had
gone off on a camping trip, in Milton’s car.
“In what direction did they go?” asked Marjorie, suspiciously.
“I hardly know,” replied her hostess. “They didn’t leave any address—or
tell me when they would be back again. Now tell me all about your own
experience.”
As briefly as possible the girl related the story of the stolen car,
ending with the departure of the other three scouts for the east.
“And Lily and I are going as soon as we can arrange for accommodations,”
she concluded.
“No! No!” protested Miss Vaughn. “Not without your motor-car, Marjorie!
If ever a girl earned one, that girl is you!”
But Marjorie shook her head decidedly.
“Never will I accept one until Daisy’s and Florence’s innocence is
proved. And there doesn’t seem to be any hope of doing that!”
“Why not change your mind, Emeline, and believe the girls?” put in Mrs.
Hart. “I know that they are telling the truth!”
“No, we wouldn’t accept that!” protested Lily, with spirit. “But I do
think Marj might take hers!”
“Well, I won’t!” returned the other. “So let’s don’t talk about it any
more.”
“Visitors are coming, Emeline,” interrupted Mrs. Hart from her place
beside the window. “Why—I do believe it’s Milton!”
“Milton Crowell?” demanded Marjorie, in surprise.
“Yes—in his car.”
“And isn’t Vaughn with him?” asked the boys’ aunt.
They all looked up expectantly as the young man entered the room. He
appeared rather embarrassed at the presence of the girls, but greeted
his aunt with his customary kiss.
“Have a nice time?” asked Miss Vaughn.
“Yes—yes—fine,” he stammered.
“Where’s Vaughn?”
“Why—er—he’ll be along some time later, I expect. He went off fishing
with a bunch of fellows, and didn’t know just how long he’d be gone.”
“Aren’t you surprised to see the girls again?” questioned his aunt.
“Why—yes, of course. What—er—happened? Not bandits—?”
“Our car was in a garage for the night, and was stolen from there,”
replied Marjorie, watching the young man narrowly to see what the news
would mean to him. But if he was pleased at the idea of keeping all that
money for himself and his brother, he did not allow his expression to
betray him.
“Really? I’m awfully sorry!” he murmured, with apparent sincerity. “You
girls certainly do have hard luck!”
Again Marjorie eyed him suspiciously; was it possible that he and his
brother had had a hand in the theft? It seemed scarcely possible that
their car could have been stolen at random, by some ordinary thief. And
yet, how could these young men have obtained entrance to a locked
garage? The thought however, gave her new stimulus for investigation;
silently she made a resolve not to be in any hurry to leave Miss
Vaughn’s.
Mrs. Hart interrupted her musings with an announcement of her intended
departure.
“Indeed you aren’t going!” insisted Miss Vaughn, heartily. “You’re tired
out—and need a rest. Besides,” she added, with a twinkle in her eyes, “I
kept your room ready for you. I expected something like this to happen!”
“What?” demanded Marjorie, in surprise. “You didn’t expect us to
complete our trip, Miss Vaughn?”
“I hardly thought it possible.”
“Yes!” stormed Marjorie; “there is something against us—something too
big for us to fight against alone!”
Again she noted the uneasiness, the embarrassment of Miss Vaughn’s
nephew—an attitude so uncharacteristic of either of the young men as to
arouse her suspicions afresh.
“Have you seen Mr. McDaniel and Mr. Cryton since we left, Miss Vaughn?”
she asked, with apparent carelessness.
“No; but I know that they are in town. They telephoned last night to
find out whether I had heard from your girls.”
Marjorie closed her lips tightly; this piece of evidence cleared them
from implication in the theft.
“But Milton can telephone them and invite them to dinner if you wish,”
continued Miss Vaughn, anxious to do anything to divert the girls’ minds
from their misfortune.
“Oh, do!” cried Marjorie, enthusiastically, but for a reason very
different from the one Miss Vaughn believed.
Glad of the excuse to escape from the room and from the presence of the
two girls whom he so thoroughly disliked, Milton Crowell withdrew to
carry out Marjorie’s wish. A moment later the whole party separated.
As soon as Marjorie and Lily were alone, the latter began again with her
questions.
“You’re on the war-path again, Marj!” she exclaimed. “What have you up
your sleeve now?”
“Nothing definite, Lil,” replied Marjorie, smilingly. “But that Crowell
boy acts queerly—and I mean to try to find out more, before I leave!”
“Righto!” agreed Lily, throwing herself upon the bed, for she was
exceedingly weary. “But what makes you so anxious to see McDaniel and
Cryton?”
“I don’t know myself,” returned her companion. “Let’s take a nap now,
Lil; maybe something will be revealed to us in a dream!”
When the girls returned to the porch at six o’clock, they found all
three of the young men assembled. Marjorie greeted the new-comers
coolly, taking care to question them cleverly as to their whereabouts
since the scouts’ departure. But both Cryton and McDaniel told, without
any hesitation, all they had been doing in San Francisco during the
girls’ absence. They, in turn, demanded all the details of the girls’
trip, which ended in such disaster.
“But where is Vaughn?” asked Cryton, turning to Milton, after the story
was finished.
The latter repeated his explanation in the same embarrassed manner.
“He’ll be along directly,” he concluded, avoiding Marjorie’s eyes.
“Maybe this is he now,” remarked McDaniel, catching sight of a car that
was just about to enter the gate.
“No,” replied Milton immediately; “that’s a touring car, and his is a
racer.”
At these words Marjorie’s heart took a wild leap. A touring car! Could
it—was it possible that it could belong to the boys?
She did not have long to wait for her hope to be confirmed; a moment
later the machine stopped in front of the steps, but, to her
consternation, only her brother got out!
“Jack!” cried Marjorie and Lily, both rushing down the steps at the same
time. “Oh, where did you come from?”
“Sis!” he exclaimed joyfully, but taking care to hold her at arms’
distance. “I’m too dirty to touch—have been driving day and night!”
Almost beside herself with happiness, the girl led her brother up to the
porch and presented him to Miss Vaughn. Then she introduced the others,
recalling the fact of his previous acquaintance with Cryton and McDaniel
at Lima.
“This is lovely for Marjorie,” beamed Miss Vaughn, glad to see the girl
so happy again. “But tell us how you happened to come.”
“No,” interrupted Marjorie, too impatient to wait; “tell us what
happened to John!”
“He’ll be along directly,” replied Jack, with a twinkle in his eyes.
Turning to Miss Vaughn, he added, “And your other nephew is with him.”
Marjorie only had time to notice that Milton Crowell’s face grew deathly
white at this piece of information, and that Miss Vaughn’s took on a
puzzled expression. Before anyone could ask any questions, another
mud-spattered touring car came up the drive.
“It’s—it’s our own car!” cried Marjorie, jumping off the porch in her
wild haste and excitement.
“And Vaughn at the wheel!” gasped Lily in amazement.
The car pulled up in front of the porch, behind the other, with Marjorie
riding on the running-board. It seemed almost as if she wanted to hug
her precious possession.
Both girls had jumped immediately to the correct explanation of the
robbery, but both waited for the boys to relate the facts. They did not
even ask any more questions, but continued to watch John with admiration
as he accompanied Vaughn Crowell up the steps.
“There is a great deal to be explained, Miss Vaughn,” he began, after he
had been duly presented; “not only by us and your nephews, but—” he
glanced significantly at Cryton and McDaniel—“but by these other two
young men as well. So, if you will permit, I think the best thing to do
would be to go inside, and get it over at once!”
“Certainly,” murmured the puzzled Miss Vaughn, rising, and leading the
way.
When they were all seated again in the drawing-room, Jack turned to
Vaughn Crowell.
“Suppose you tell your story first, Mr. Crowell,” he suggested.
The young man acquiesced, sullenly.
“As some of the girls no doubt expected,” he began, “Milt and I got our
car and followed them back to the east. But they never camped at night,
and they never seemed to get far enough away from some other car to let
us plan a delay.”
“A delay?” interrupted his aunt, sharply. “You actually meant to prevent
the girls from making their trip?”
“Yes—we did,” admitted the young man.
“But why? Just for a joke?”
“Yes, of course!” put in Milton, hastily, grasping at the suggestion.
“We thought it would be fun to give them a scare in some way. They were
so cocksure of themselves—”
“Pardon me!” interrupted John, in a tone of disgust, “but there is not a
word of truth in that statement. We caught your brother and forced a
confession from him, his alternative being that we would hand him over
to the police for stealing the girls’ car! So please allow him to go on
with his story.”
“But your motive?” persisted the old lady.
“The money, of course!” John explained.
“Well,” continued Vaughn, more sheepishly than ever, “we hit upon the
plan of entering the garage where the scout car was stored, and watching
our opportunity to take it. We had no difficulty in accomplishing this.”
“But the garage was locked!” objected Marjorie; “and the bolt was found
unbroken!”
Crowell smiled grimly; even now he considered it a clever trick.
“Milt drove into the garage in our car,” he explained, “with me hidden
in the space in the back where we carry tools and baggage. He parked the
car there for an hour, and went away; meanwhile, I watched my chance,
slipped out of our car, and stored myself away in yours. When Milt came
back and drove off, the garage-man suspected nothing. I managed my
get-away while the garage was locked, and the man at supper.”
“But how did you bolt the door—from the outside?” inquired Lily.
“Easy! I left the office dead-latch off, went back after the car was
out, and let myself out through the office. Nobody was around, so I got
away without suspicion.”
“And we never discovered our loss until the next morning!” murmured
Marjorie, regretfully.
“No, because I left no clues. The garage-man found the garage as he left
it; why should he suspect anything?”
“And how were you caught?” flashed Marjorie.
“You tell it, John,” suggested Jack, modestly.
“There’s not much to tell,” replied John; “only that we recognized the
girls’ car, and gave it a chase.”
“And caught it!” added Marjorie, triumphantly.
To everyone the story seemed almost incredible in its exposure of the
Crowells’ villainy; but to Miss Vaughn each word was like a blow. Her
face grew ashen, and her expression distorted. For some moments she was
so angry that she could not speak.
Finally Jack broke the silence.
“That isn’t half of it,” he said. “We succeeded in learning all you
wanted explained about your trip out, Marj,” he added, turning to his
sister.
Marjorie’s eyes flashed expectantly; she glanced across the room at
McDaniel and Cryton, but found them looking fixedly at the floor.
“Proceed!” commanded Jack again, to the culprit.
“The whole thing started, as near as I can remember, about two months
ago,” said Vaughn, doggedly, “at a frat smoker. The fellows were all
talking about a new frat house, and nobody could see any way of getting
the money together. Then Milt and I hit on the plan of approaching
Auntie on the subject. And do you remember, Aunt Emeline, that you
turned us down on the grounds that this scout trip would eat too heavily
into your income?”
“Yes, I recall the circumstance,” nodded Miss Vaughn, with an effort.
“Then Milt and I suggested that if the trip fell through, or the girls
failed to earn their cars, that we should get the money. And you
agreed.”
Again the old lady nodded, coldly.
“So the idea must have come to one of us to make that trip fail, and we
let McDaniel and Cryton into the scheme, got all our details from
Auntie, and proceeded to do everything in our power to keep the girls
from winning.”
“But we won in the end!” retorted Marjorie, defiantly. “At least, we
would have, if you hadn’t lied!”
“And just what was this plan of action?” asked Miss Vaughn, turning not
to her nephews, but to McDaniel instead.
“What we wanted to do,” explained the latter, “was to delay the girls so
they wouldn’t get here on time, or else in some way to trick them into
accepting assistance from us. In other words, we meant to accomplish our
plan without doing any harm to the girls, if possible.”
“That was kind of you,” remarked Lily, sarcastically.
“So we scattered the tacks that made the punctures, obtained an
invitation for ourselves from Tom Melville at Lima and put forth every
effort to make ourselves so interesting that you girls would forget all
about time and stay over.”
“You tried to work that little stunt in Chicago, too, didn’t you?” asked
Marjorie, shrewdly. “And when you sent us out on that muddy road, you
weren’t surprised when we got stuck, were you?”
“No,” answered Cryton; “the thing that surprised us was your
persistence. Would you believe it, Miss Vaughn, these girls not only
turned us down, but a farmer with horses as well! Just because he was a
man!”
“Then,” inquired the hostess, “it is true that the girls never accepted
help from a man—all the way out?”
“It’s absolutely true!” cried McDaniel. “Those other two fellows were
bribed to lie!”
Miss Vaughn now looked utterly disgusted; indeed, it seemed as if she
hardly cared to hear the remainder of the story. Nevertheless, McDaniel
continued.
“Let’s see,” he mused; “what was it we did next?”
“Stole our food, wasn’t it?” prompted Marjorie. “So we had to lose all
that time getting more! And then made up a story about being at a smoker
that evening!”
“Yes, I guess that was our next offense,” admitted the young man.
“And stole our uniforms at Salt Lake City—and later Lily’s car!”
“Yes, yes—we’re guilty!”
“But how about the robbery?” asked Lily. “Surely you didn’t disguise
yourselves as bandits, and hold us up for our money and jewelry?”
“Yes, even that!”
“What did you do with the money?” asked Miss Vaughn, with a sudden
return of interest.
“It’s all here in an envelope,” replied McDaniel, reaching in his pocket
and handing it to Marjorie. “Will you see that it gets back to its
owners?”
“And where is my car?” demanded Lily, sharply.
“Stored in a friend’s garage, along the road. I’ll ship that east to you
soon. And your uniforms have already gone parcel-post to Daisy’s house.”
“One more thing,” persisted Marjorie; “did you have anything to do with
that woman and child whom we took back across the desert?”
“Yes, to that too,” replied McDaniel. “We bribed her, so that she would
beg you to take her. If she got you half way, she was to receive fifty
dollars; if she succeeded in making you take her all the way across, she
was to get a hundred.”
“And she succeeded all right,” concluded Marjorie. “For I saw her get
her money.”
Miss Vaughn rose suddenly; she had listened to enough.
“Stop!” she commanded. “I am simply astounded at your audacity—all four
of you boys. I am worse than ashamed of you! Needless to say, I do not
wish you to remain to dinner. In fact,” she concluded, addressing her
nephews, “you may pack your things and go over to your club. Don’t come
back until I send for you!”
Then, changing her tone, she issued a cordial invitation to Jack and
John to remain.
“Tell me one thing before you go to your rooms,” she said: “how did you
two young men happen to come from the east to track my nephews and their
friends?”
“Marjorie sent for us!” replied John Hadley, proudly. “She suspected
something—and wanted proof!”
“Good! Splendid!” exclaimed Miss Vaughn; and after all the young men had
withdrawn, she seemed quite herself again as she chatted cheerfully with
the girls until the summons to dinner.