The Abandoned Yacht
The door had swung back to reveal a wrecked stateroom. Everything was in
confusion. Chairs were upset, papers strewn over the floor and a table
lamp had toppled to the floor. Obviously, the room had been occupied by
Mr. Burnett, for his clothing hung on nails along the wall, but there was
no sign of the noted yachtsman. The bed had not been slept in on the
previous night.
Madge was thoroughly alarmed. It was immediately apparent to her that
something was radically wrong. She saw clearly that there had been a
struggle, and from the condition of the furniture and fixtures, it had
been a desperate one. What had become of Mr. Burnett and Enid?
“It’s a case for the police,” she decided instantly. “I must return to
the city as quickly as I can and bring someone here!”
Closing the door behind her, she ran back to the railing. Peering down,
she searched in vain for her boatman. Her eyes turned shoreward and she
saw him several hundred yards away, rowing hurriedly toward the harbor.
“Come back!” she called frantically. “I want to go with you!”
She shouted until she was nearly hoarse, but the boatman gave no
indication that he heard. He kept his face lowered and not once did he
glance back toward the yacht.
“Now what shall I do?” Madge asked herself in desperation. “I believe
that man left me stranded here on purpose! Oh, I could scalp him!”
She gazed resentfully after the retreating boatman, observing that he
made far greater speed than on the trip out to the yacht. Not for a
moment did she believe he had mistaken her order to wait.
She consoled herself with the thought that she would have him arrested
for carrying away her luggage. However, unobserved by her, the boatman
had brought the suitcase aboard. She saw it on the deck as she turned
around.
“He came aboard quickly enough when he wanted to!” she exclaimed. “I
wonder why he ran away? Perhaps he had a suspicion that something was
wrong here.”
She recalled his reluctance to rent his boat and his unwillingness to
make the trip to The Flora. Having taken an instant dislike to him, she
decided without further consideration, that he was a questionable
character and would bear investigation. She determined to speak of him
when she acquainted the authorities with the situation as she had found
it aboard the yacht.
For the present, her one desire was to reach shore as quickly as
possible. She gazed anxiously about for help. Several small boats were
plying in and out of the harbor, but they were too far away to be of aid.
As if by a preconceived plan, they kept beyond hailing distance.
“It looks as though I’ll be here for some time,” Madge commented
inwardly. “Oh, dear, and it’s so important that I notify the police
without delay. Something dreadful may have happened to Enid and her
father.”
Since it availed her nothing to stand helplessly by the railing, she
decided to look about the ship more carefully and see if she could make
further discoveries. It was difficult for her to believe that the yacht
had been entirely abandoned.
After visiting the kitchen and the lounge, she noticed a second cabin not
far from the one occupied by Mr. Burnett. The door was unlocked and she
entered, half expecting to find everything in disorder.
She found herself in Enid’s room. Nothing seemed to have been disturbed.
Toilet articles were neatly arranged on the dressing table, and in
opening a closet door, Madge saw a long line of pretty frocks. An empty
traveling bag occupied the shelf above.
“Enid couldn’t have gone away for the weekend or she would have taken her
things,” she reasoned.
Only the bed gave evidence that the room had been occupied within the
past twenty-four hours. The sheets were wrinkled and the blankets lay
upon the floor, as though the occupant had tossed them hurriedly aside
upon arising.
“It’s beyond me,” Madge mused. “Evidently, Enid slept here last night—or
at least a portion of the night, but Mr. Burnett didn’t.”
In her mind, the conviction was steadily growing that her friends had met
with violence. She had read that robberies were not an infrequent
occurrence aboard luxurious yachts, and Mr. Burnett was known to have
valuables and art treasures in his possession.
Sorely troubled, she returned to the upper deck to watch for a boat, but
as there was none close by, she wandered restlessly about.
“It’s odd what became of all the sailors,” she thought. “Surely someone
would be here to tell the story, even if there had been a robbery. It’s
the most mysterious thing I ever encountered.”
Presently, she reentered Mr. Burnett’s cabin to look again for clues.
Crossing to the desk, she jerked open a drawer. To her astonishment, she
saw, tucked beneath some papers, a leather billfold. A glance disclosed
that it contained two twenty dollar bills.
“This doesn’t look like robbery after all,” Madge told herself. “I don’t
know what to make of it now.”
She was even more puzzled when she entered the bathroom adjoining the
cabin and found a silver watch lying upon the shelf above the wash bowl.
She was still examining it when she became aware of a slight scraping
sound in the bedroom. At first she thought she must be mistaken, but as
she heard it again, she hastily retraced her steps.
All was quiet in the stateroom. Madge looked about but could see no cause
for the strange sound. She was about to turn away when it was repeated,
and this time she distinctly traced it to a closet on the opposite side
of the room.
“There’s some one in there!” she thought in excitement.
She ran to the door and tried to jerk it open. It was locked.
As she moved the handle, she heard the same scraping noise, louder than
before. Now she knew that someone was imprisoned within and pulled
frantically at the knob. Realizing that she was only wasting her
strength, she looked about the room for some object with which to break
the lock. Instead, her eye fell upon a key that lay on the carpet at her
feet. Evidently, it had fallen from the door or had been dropped
purposely.
With nervous fingers she fitted it into the lock. It refused to turn. She
worked with it and after several attempts, was rewarded by a sharp click.
She jerked open the door and stepped back in amazement and horror. There
at her feet, bound and gagged, lay Enid.