The Motor Girls on the Coast: or, The Waif From the Sea
TextCHAPTER XXVII
A BOLD ATTEMPT
“Isn’t it romantic?”
“And to think of all that poor girl suffered!”
“I’d like to get hold of that miserable guardian of hers.”
“She has pluck, all right, to get out and hustle for herself.”
“Isn’t she pretty!”
“I do hope she gets all over her exposure.”
“Oh, yes, she is coming on finely.”
Rather disjointed talk, I am afraid, but that is exactly the way it went on–the motor girls and the boys discussing the story of Nancy Ford.
It was evening, and the boys had called to see the girls in the bungalow of the latter. Nancy had been visited by the doctor, who had reported her much improved. The telling of her story seemed to have taken an anxiety off her mind, and with food and medicine she was rapidly regaining her healthy young strength.
There had been rather a dramatic scene when Jack and Ed were first allowed to see Nancy. They both started back, and Jack exclaimed:
“It’s the girl!”
“And you are those nice boys–how odd,” Nancy had said.
“Please explain,” begged Cora.
“You know,” said Jack. “The night Ed and I got lost. It was Nancy we met and gave a ride in my auto.”
“I suspected it all the while,” said Cora, with a smile. “But I said nothing.”
“It was a mere accident,” explained Nancy. “I was just on one of the little trips I took after I ran away from the office, and I miscalculated my distance. It was awfully nice of your brother to help me.”
“Oh, Jack is always nice,” said Cora, smiling.
“That means you buy the candy, old man,” spoke Ed, with a laugh.
“Well,” drawled Jack, as he stretched out lazily on a sofa, later on, “now the only thing left to do is to find that Mrs. Raymond, and everything will be cleared up.”
“That, and putting that mean Mr. Cross in–in jail!” said Bess, with a vehement gesture.
“Would you be so cruel?” asked Walter.
“What else can you do with him?” demanded Belle. “He has certainly been mean enough to warrant being sent to prison.”
“‘In a prison cell I sit!’” chanted Ed.
“Stop!” commanded Cora. “Nancy may be sleeping, and the doctor said it was very important for her to sleep.”
“Then we’d better clear out of here,” was Norton’s opinion. “She’ll never get any rest while this crowd holds forth. Come on, Eline, I’ll take you to a moving picture show.”
“Not after what has happened to-day,” declared Mrs. Chester. “You young people have had your own way all day, and now I want you to quiet down. Boys, you will have to go home soon. Girls, it’s almost time you were in bed.”
“Aunt Susan is asserting herself,” remarked Jack, sotto voce. “But don’t count on me, Aunt Susan. I am immune.”
“You’ll go with the rest,” she told him.
They sat about for some time longer, discussing the strange tale related by Nancy. Then came good-nights.
Cora went to see Mr. Haley, the light keeper, next day. She told him what Nancy had related.
“Lobsters and crawfish!” he exclaimed, clapping together his brown hands. “Begging your pardon, of course, for using that sort of language, miss, but my feelings sure did get the best of me. And so this Nancy Ford can clear my sister’s name?”
“She can and she will. I have wired for mamma’s lawyer to come down, and he will arrange matters. There is only one difficulty.”
“What is that?” and the keeper of the light looked worried. “You mean that there is a possibility that my sister may even yet be guilty?”
“No; but where are we to find her?”
“That’s so. Poor Margaret! Where can she be keeping herself? If she would only come to me–or write, I could let her know that it was all right. And so those men were the robbers, after all?”
“It seems so, from what Nancy says.”
“Strange. I knew Margaret could not be guilty, but how to prove it was the hard part. When can we arrange it?”
“As soon as we can find your sister.”
“Oh, dear! And I haven’t the least idea where to look for her.”
“Don’t worry,” suggested Cora, gently. “We found our waif from the sea most unexpectedly, and I am sure we will find your sister the same way.”
“Not in a wreck, I hope,” said the light keeper, with a smile. “We don’t want any more wrecks on this coast. Which reminds me that I must see to the light.”
“It was no fault of your light that this wreck came,” said Cora. “Everybody says that.”
“I’m glad of it. If I had thought that my light failed, I–I’d never want to live longer,” and his voice trembled.
“The steering gear got out of order,” said Cora. “Nancy told me that. They could not control the vessel in the storm.”
“That’s always bad. Well, if we can find my sister all will yet be well. I can’t thank you enough for bringing me this good news.”
“I am glad I had it to bring,” said Cora, brightly.
Nancy Ford continued to gain in strength, and the day came when she could go out. There was a little celebration and the boys wanted to get up an auto or a motor boat party, but Cora drew the line.
“Some other time,” she said. Her mother’s lawyer came to Sandy Point Cove, and looked over some papers that Nancy had brought away with her. His opinion was that the dishonest guardian could be removed by the court, and he promised to take charge of matters. Nancy was much relieved.
“But where can we find Mrs. Raymond?” she asked.
“It will take time,” said the lawyer. “I will set some private detectives to work, and advertise, advising her that she can be proven innocent if she will come forward.”
Then came happy summer days. Nancy was adopted by the motor girls, and stayed with them in the bungalow. They went on long runs, or in trips in the boats on the beautiful bay.
They were always welcome at the lighthouse, and Mr. Haley liked nothing better than to sit and talk with the boys and girls, telling them sea stories, or listening to their little adventures.
But the search for Mrs. Raymond did not progress very rapidly. Nothing was heard from her. In the matter of removing Mr. Cross as Nancy’s guardian, the procedure had to be slow, as there were complications. But the lawyer was attending to matters, and promised that soon all would be straightened out.
By means of his representatives the lawyer, a Mr. Beacon, heard indirectly from Mr. Cross, but could not capture him. The latter was furious at the escapade of his ward, and threatened to have her brought back to him. In the matter of the robbery he insisted that Mrs. Raymond was guilty.
It was one glorious summer day when Cora had taken the whole party out for a spin. In her auto were Eline and Nancy, the others distributing themselves in the various cars as suited their fancy.
Several times, as they motored along the roads, they were passed, or passed themselves, a low, rakish motor car, of a dull dust color. Two men were in it, and once or twice they favored the occupants of Cora’s car with rather bold stares.
“I wonder who they can be?” asked Eline.
“Well, if they keep up this monkey business much longer I’ll find out,” declared Jack.
“Go easy, please,” suggested his sister.
The only incident, or, rather, accident that marred the trip, was when Cora’s car suffered a puncture. It was on the run home.
“You go on,” she called to the others. “I can fix it.”
“No, I’ll do it,” offered Jack. Perhaps the presence of Nancy in the car induced him to linger, together with Ed, who rode with him.
“All right,” assented Cora, not sorry to be relieved of the task.
As Jack was struggling with the tire irons, the rubber shoe being a most obstinate one, the low racing car that had several times passed them, again hove in sight. Cora was helping Jack, and Eline and Nancy had strolled down the road to gather a few wild flowers.
The racing car stopped, one of the men leaped out, and made a dash toward the two girls. Eline, looking around, screamed, and Nancy, hearing her, added to the exclamation.
“My guardian! My guardian!” she cried. “I won’t go–I won’t go!”
“Quick, Jack!” cried Cora. “They’re trying to take Nancy away. You must stop them!”
Jack, holding a heavy tire iron in his hand, leaped forward toward the two girls. The man had almost reached them, when there was heard the loud honk of an auto horn coming around the bend of the road.
CHAPTER XXVIII
A STRANGE MESSAGE
Nancy and Eline clung to each other. Nancy had started to run off into the woods, but found herself unequal to the task. A nervous tremor seized her.
“Oh, Eline, Eline!” she begged. “Don’t let him take me away! Don’t!”
But Nancy’s guardian was not destined to get her into his control this time. No sooner had the honk-honk of the other car been heard and it had swung into sight around the bend of the road, than the man in the other auto–the man who had accompanied Mr. Cross–called out:
“Look out, Rickford, this may be a trap!”
“You’d better believe it’s something to stop you!” cried Jack, still swinging forward on the run.
Cora, too, had started toward Eline and Nancy. She saw that the big car probably had nothing to do with the attempted abduction of the shipwrecked girl, and that it was only coincidence that brought it there at that moment. But it was a fortunate coincidence, for it frightened away the two men.
Like a flash Mr. Cross turned, sped back to his car, and in another instant he and his crony were speeding down the road.
“Oh, he’s gone–he’s gone,” sobbed Nancy on the shoulder of Eline.
“Of course he’s gone!” cried Jack. “If he hadn’t–” and he glanced significantly at the tire iron in his hand.
“Jack, dear,” said Cora, gently, with a warning glance at Nancy. Cora did not want her disturbed any more than was necessary.
“Well–” blustered Jack, and let it go at that.
“Was that really your guardian, Nancy?” asked Cora, when her new friend had somewhat composed herself.
“Yes, it was. Oh, has he gone?”
“Far enough off by this time,” declared Jack.
“I didn’t know him at first, for he has grown a beard,” said Nancy, “but when he came toward me I could tell by the look in his eyes that it was he. Oh, what an escape!”
“A very fortunate one,” said Cora.
The big car, the appearance of which had been instrumental, perhaps, in preventing the taking away of Nancy, drew near to the group of young people and stopped. There were two middle-aged men in it, and they looked at our friends curiously.
“Has anything happened–can we do anything?” asked the one at the wheel.
“Nothing but some tire trouble, thank you,” said Cora, quickly. “And my brother can manage that; can’t you, Jack?”
“Sure, Sis,” and he winked at her to show that he understood nothing was to be said about the affair that had so nearly been a real “happening.”
“If you want any help, don’t hesitate to ask us,” put in the other man. “We are in no hurry.”
“Oh, thank you, I can manage,” Jack answered. “I had the repairs almost made when the girls–thought they saw something, and screamed.” He winked at Cora again.
“Oh, I see!” exclaimed the steersman with a laugh. “A snake. We heard your screams, and thought perhaps – ”
“It was just–nothing,” Cora said with a smile. Eline and Nancy had turned and were walking back toward their car, so the tear-stained face of Nancy could not be observed.
With renewed offers of aid, which were courteously declined, the two men proceeded, and Cora and the others were free to discuss the recent happening.
“Do you really think he meant to take you away–your guardian?” asked Cora of Nancy.
“I really do. Oh, he must be desperate! He must be trying to get my property away from me.”
“We’ll soon have him attended to!” said Jack, fiercely. “Our lawyer says the case will come before the courts soon, and then good-bye to Mr. Cross!”
“I wonder how he knew where you were?” asked Eline.
“You forget that the rescue of Nancy was told of in the papers,” spoke Cora. “Doubtless he read of it, and came on. He, or some of his men, may have been spying around and knew just when we went for a ride.”
“And they followed us, that’s one sure thing,” added Jack. “Their car passed us several times. They were just waiting for a good chance, and they took the first opportunity.”
“I should have known him at once, when they passed, but for his beard,” said Nancy. “Oh, I feel so nervous and weak!” She was on the verge of tears again.
“Come, we will go back to the bungalow,” suggested Cora. “I must tell the lawyer about it. He may wish to take some action.”
A little later they were back in the summer cottage, where, to the wonderment of the others, the strange story was told with all the details, for when Cora’s car developed the tire trouble the rest had continued on, Jack and Ed remaining behind.
“Oh, I’m glad I was not along!” breathed Belle.
“And I wish I had been!” exclaimed Walter. “Jack, you and Ed had all the fun.”
“I didn’t do anything,” said Ed. “Jack was the hero.”
“Only a near-hero,” said Cora’s brother. “I didn’t get near enough to do any damage.”
Mr. Beacon, the lawyer, on hearing the account of what had happened, at once took steps to expedite the matter of the removal of Mr. Cross as guardian of Nancy Ford. He declared that the attempted abduction would operate against the unprincipled man. The matter of the loss of the money, for which Mrs. Raymond was once suspected, had been gone into, and the indications pointed in many ways to Mr. Cross and his crony.
“But it doesn’t seem as if Mrs. Raymond would ever be found,” sighed Cora. “Poor woman!”
“Yes, my sister must be having a hard time,” said the keeper of the light. “I wish she would come to me. I could give her a good home now. The work is almost too much for Rosalie.”
“Oh, I don’t mind, Daddy!” exclaimed the little “mermaid.”
Summer was wearing on. It had been a most glorious one and the bungalow residents had enjoyed it thoroughly. They went off on several motoring trips, but they were careful always to remain in one party, and even then Nancy could not forbear a nervous glance about whenever another auto approached.
But Mr. Cross appeared to have taken himself to parts unknown. Private detectives who were looking for him, on an order of the court to which Mr. Beacon had appealed, reported that they could get no trace of him. Nor was the whereabouts of the missing Mrs. Raymond discovered.
In their two motor boats the young people paid visits to many near-by resorts, occasionally, when the weather was fine, even venturing out on the ocean. But, save for Cora, the girls were always a little timid about this, and so the ocean trips were not numerous.
One day Mr. Haley came hurrying over to the girls’ bungalow from the lighthouse. He held a paper in his hand.
“Where is Miss Kimball?” he asked of Belle, who answered his knock. “I must see her at once.”
“Why, has anything happened?” Belle asked in sudden alarm. She looked down on the beach, and was relieved to see Nancy safe there.
“No, miss, nothing has happened–yet,” replied the keeper. “But I received a strange message just now, and I want to tell Miss Kimball.”
“Cora!” called Belle, and Cora, who had been in an inner room, came out.
“What is it?” she asked, and Mr. Haley handed her the piece of paper.
“I just found that on my doorstep,” he explained. “I was home all alone, my helper being in town buying supplies, and Rosalie and Dick being out in the boat. Read it.”
“But how did it get there?” asked Cora, as she stepped over to a window to see more plainly.
“I don’t know, except some boy must have brought it there, left it and run away. It was weighted with a stone.”
“Then that’s probably how it was left,” suggested Belle. “But what is so mysterious about it What does it say, Cora?”
Cora read:
“If you would have news of your sister come alone to Shark’s Tooth at nine to-night.”
CHAPTER XXIX
AT THE SHARK’S TOOTH
“What a strange note!”
“Isn’t it? And the odd way it was delivered!”
“What is the Shark’s Tooth, Mr. Haley?”
The boys and girls were all together in the bungalow of the latter–or, rather, were out on the broad porch, for, following the visit of the light keeper, with the strange letter, they had gathered to discuss the matter.
“The Shark’s Tooth,” said Mr. Haley, “is a long, low ledge of rock, jutting out in the water about a mile above the light. It looks somewhat like a big tooth–the end of it does, I mean.”
“Will you go there?” asked Jack.
“I sure will, my boy.”
“Maybe it’s a trap,” suggested Ed. “This fellow Cross may be trying to get hold of you, Mr. Haley.”
“I’m not afraid of him. I think I’ll be his match,” and certainly the sturdy keeper looked able to take care of himself.
“But he may not be alone,” suggested Walter.
“However, we could go with you,” he added hopefully.
“The note says to come alone, my lad, and alone I’ll go. I’d do more than that to get news of poor Margaret. I’m not afraid.”
“You boys might be within call,” suggested Cora. “You need not be seen.”
“Well, I’d consent to that,” agreed Mr. Haley. “And it might be a good thing. And yet, somehow, I’m not worried.”
“This is certainly a trap!” declared Norton. “They want you to go there, a lonely spot–after dark. Probably they’ll take you off in a boat! Ha! I have it! Wreckers!” and he struck a dramatic posture.
“Wreckers?” questioned Jack.
“Yes, don’t you see. They want to get Mr. Haley in their control. Then they’ll carry him off, some of them will put out the light and lure vessels ashore by means of a false beacon. Then they’ll get the booty!”
“Say, what sort of a dime novel have you been reading lately?” asked Ed, with a laugh. “Wreckers!”
“Sure!” maintained Norton, earnestly.
“No, lad,” said Mr. Haley, quietly, “it isn’t wreckers, for the light would be well defended by my helper, even if they got me. Besides it’s dead low water at nine to-night, and they couldn’t get a boat within a mile of the Shark’s Tooth without staving a hole in her. The only approach is from the beach. I’m not afraid.”
“Besides,” added Cora, “this note was written by a woman. That’s plain.”
“A trick!” declared Norton, who seemed to insist on the melodramatic theory.
“Is this like your sister’s writing?” asked Belle.
“I really couldn’t be sure. Margaret was never much of a writer, and I can hardly see to read print, let alone writing, even with my glasses. So I couldn’t say as to that. However, I’ll be there.”
“And so will we,” added Jack, “out if sight, of course.”
“This is getting more and more complicated,” declared Bess. “Oh, I do hope it won’t turn out to be that horrid Mr. Cross, or any of his men.”
“Hush!” said Cora, in a low voice. “Don’t make Nancy nervous. She is alarmed enough now.”
It seemed as if night would never come, and the boys and girls hardly had the heart for amusements to make the time pass more quickly. They remained near the bungalows, going in bathing when the tide was right. Belle was learning to swim with considerable confidence.
“You are getting quite brave,” Cora told her when she had gone out to the float and back all alone.
Eline, who was rather daring in spite of her timid manner, made a half-suggestion that the girls go out in autos to see what happened at Shark’s Tooth, but Mrs. Chester, exercising her authority, vetoed the scheme.
Mr. Haley started off alone, and was followed later by the boys, who arranged to conceal themselves where they could have a view of the ledge of rock that was uncovered at low water.
There was a half-moon that night and by the light of it Jack and his chums could see the long, black ledge extending out into the bay. They had a glimpse of Mr. Haley walking slowly up and down the beach, now and then looking at his watch to note the time. Jack and the others did likewise.
“It’s nine now,” whispered Walter, after a long–a seemingly long–wait, though it was really only a few minutes.
“And nothing seems to be happening,” remarked Jack.
“Look!” suddenly exclaimed Ed, pointing to the sandy stretch. A dark figure was seen gliding over it–a figure of a woman–alone!
The light keeper heard the approaching footsteps, and turned quickly. He stood for a moment The woman had halted. Then Mr. Haley cried:
“Margaret!”
“Jim!” she responded, and they clasped each other close.
“I guess it’s all right–they don’t need us,” whispered Jack. “It’s his sister. She wrote the note. It’s all right, we’ll go tell the girls the mystery is solved and the missing one found.”
“That’s right,” was the answer. “Say, this is great, isn’t it?”
“It sure is.”
“Now that they are together – ”
“Come on, they may hear us.”
“All right, I’m with you.”
But, as they started away, Mr. Haley called to them:
“Boys, come here. I want – ”
“No, no, Jim dear! Don’t call anyone!” interrupted Mrs. Raymond. “I dare not be seen. You don’t know the stigma I am under. I even hesitated to come and see you in this secret way, but I am in need of help. It was the only way I could think of. I am so–so afraid of arrest.”
“Well, you needn’t be!” cried her brother. “We can prove your innocence!”
“Prove my innocence! How? Only Nancy Ford can do that, and she can’t be found, I have been searching for her so long–so long!” Her sobs prevented her from talking.
“But Nancy Ford is found!” cried the keeper of the light, “and the boys I called to–or rather their girl friends–found her. It’s all right, Margaret. Your name will be cleared, and you will be happy with me. It’s all right, Sister!”
“Oh, thank the dear Lord for that!” she sobbed.