A Motor Boat Chase
Madge quietly opened the door and moved stealthily toward Mr. Burnett’s
cabin. Enid, terrified at the thought of remaining behind, followed.
They stole softly along the deck, every muscle tensed for the unexpected.
Madge stepped over a coil of rope in her path and too late turned to warn
her chum. Enid failed to see it. She stumbled and fell flat on the deck,
letting out a sharp exclamation.
Before she could regain her feet, a figure darted from Mr. Burnett’s
cabin. He went over the railing like a flash and was lost to view.
“Oh, we mustn’t let him get away!” Madge cried.
She jerked Enid to her feet and they reached the railing just in time to
see a motor boat speed away from the yacht.
“Enid, can you run your father’s motor boat?” she demanded.
“Yes, but——”
“Then come on! Our only chance of tracing your father is to follow this
man!”
Rex had filled the tank of the motor boat that afternoon, but it required
several minutes before Enid had the engine going. Madge cast off and they
moved away from the yacht.
“To the right!” she directed. “I saw him head that way.”
Enid swung the wheel and they made for the open water. The boat rapidly
gathered speed until the sea split from under her prow in huge waves.
“Can you see him, Madge?”
“Dead ahead. He has the engine muffled.”
“Then we’ll lose him if we’re not careful.”
“Can’t you go faster?”
Enid shook her head.
For a few minutes longer they kept the boat in sight but it was
increasingly apparent that they were running a losing race. The man they
were following knew the channels and his boat was fast. Soon he was
swallowed by the night.
After it was evident that they had lost him, Enid stopped the engine.
They listened for a few minutes but there was no sound of a motor boat.
“I guess we may as well turn back!” Madge said in disgust.
“It was all my fault,” Enid grieved. “Of course, I had to stumble over
that old rope!”
“It wasn’t your fault, honey,” Madge comforted. “It was just a bad break
of luck.”
Enid was silent as they slowly steered back toward The Flora. Madge too,
was occupied with her own thoughts. She wondered what could be the
meaning of the midnight visit. Had the prowler come for the purpose of
ransacking the cabin or was it possible that he had brought some message?
The girls were thoroughly chilled by the night air before they reached
the yacht. Yet, the adventure had made them far too nervous to even
consider going back to bed. After lighting nearly all of the lamps, they
screwed up their courage and entered Mr. Burnett’s cabin. A hasty glance
about assured them that nothing had been touched.
“I guess he didn’t have time to do any damage,” Enid declared. “What do
you suppose brought him here tonight?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Well, I think Rex was right about staying here alone. It was a terribly
foolish thing to do. I’ll not spend another night here without a guard.”
After a time they settled themselves in deck chairs, and there, snuggled
down under steamer rugs, they spent the remainder of the night. For some
reason they felt safer out in the open where they could see any boat that
might approach. Occasionally, they dozed off, but for the most part they
maintained a vigilant watch.
At dawn they stretched their cramped limbs and went to Enid’s cabin to
freshen up. Hot coffee revived their spirits and strengthened their
morale. As the sun beat down upon the deck it was difficult for them to
believe that they had spent such a harrowing night.
“We must report to the police immediately,” Madge advised. “They may
attach special significance to what happened during the night.”
Soon after breakfast, Mr. Burnett’s cook and three sailors appeared upon
the scene, and after she had given them orders for the day, Enid was
ready to leave.
“It’s a relief to know someone will be at the yacht while we’re gone,”
she said to Madge as they drove away in the motor boat. “Jose the cook
was quite broken up to hear about Father. And the sailors too have always
liked him.”
At the police station, the girls related the happenings of the night.
While the authorities offered no comment other than to ask a few
questions, it was plain that the incident puzzled them. Enid had hoped
the police would have good news to report, but seemingly, the case was at
a standstill.
“There’s very little we can do until some communication is received from
the kidnappers,” Mr. Randall told her. “Rest assured a demand for ransom
will be made soon.”
“But more than twenty-four hours has elapsed already,” Enid protested.
“If those men were after money I should have thought they would have left
a note behind at the time of the kidnapping.”
The girls spent over an hour at the station and left more discouraged
than ever. Although Enid was trying desperately to maintain her courage,
she was beginning to fear that she might never see her father again.
Before returning to their motor boat they stopped at a street corner to
purchase newspapers. The story of the kidnapping had been spread out on
the front page in bold print and their own photographs stared them in the
face.
“Oh, dear,” Enid lamented, “it’s dreadful to get you mixed up in this. I
invited you here for a pleasant vacation and instead, plunged you into
all this publicity.”
“I’m here to help,” Madge assured her. “If only we had something to work
on!”
They walked on to the water front and were just boarding the motor boat
when Madge clutched her friend by the arm.
“See that man over there! He’s the one I told you about—the boatman who
ran away and left me aboard the yacht.”
Enid turned to look.
“Oh, I think I’ve seen him before. I don’t know his name but I’m sure
he’s all right. He probably didn’t understand that you wanted him to
wait.”
“Just the same, I’d like to talk with him again,” Madge said quietly.
They started toward the man but without seeming to observe their
approach, he moved swiftly away to lose himself in an alley.
“See that, Enid! He knew we intended to question him!”
“Why, he didn’t even see us coming.”
“I think he did,” Madge insisted. “He pretended not to be looking our
way, but all the while he was watching out the corner of his eye. One of
these times I’ll catch him unaware!”
Since there was slight chance he would return, the girls went back to
their boat and soon reached The Flora. They were informed by a sailor
that during their absence Rex had been there. A number of reporters had
called too, but had not been permitted to board the vessel.
“After lunch I must straighten up Father’s cabin,” Enid remarked to her
chum. “I’d do it now only I have a headache. I believe I’ll lie down for
an hour or so.”
After her friend had gone to her room, Madge sat out on deck and tried to
read. Soon the magazine fell to her lap and she stared thoughtfully out
across the bay. At length she arose.
“I may as well put Mr. Burnett’s cabin to rights,” she decided. “I know
it’s a task Enid dreads.”
She found the cabin door unlocked and entered. Everything was just as she
had discovered it the morning of her arrival at Cheltham Bay. After a
preliminary survey, she began at one corner of the room, straightening
rugs and rearranging furniture. She picked up newspapers, books and
articles which had been hurled to the floor in the desperate struggle.
In righting the objects on the desk, her attention was attracted to a
scrap of paper which had fallen to the floor. Madge did not recall having
noticed it there before. Thinking that it must have blown from the desk
when the door was opened, she bent down and picked it up.
She gave it a casual glance and then stared in blank astonishment.
“Great jumping snakes!” she exclaimed. “Where did this come from?”
With the paper clutched tightly in her hand, she darted out the door and
ran toward Enid’s cabin.