Part 4

Penny tried to intercede in the girl's behalf.

"I'm sure Sally knew nothing about the article being in her locker," she assured the forelady. "When she opened it a moment ago and lifted her jacket, the piece of brass fell from a pocket."

"Someone must have put it there!" Sally added indignantly. "I'm certain I never did."

"Have you given your locker key to anyone?"

"No."

"And have you always kept it locked?"

"Why, I think so."

"I am sorry," said Miss Grimley in a tone which implied exactly the opposite, "but I will have to report this. You understand my position."

"Please--"

"I have no choice," Miss Grimley cut her short. "Come with me, please."

Penny started to accompany Sally, but the forelady by a gesture indicated that she was not to come. The door closed behind them.

For ten minutes Penny waited, hoping that Sally would return. Finally she wandered outside. Sally was not on the floor and another girl had taken her place at the machine.

Seeing Joe the Sweeper cleaning a corridor, Penny asked him about Sally.

"No. 567?" the man inquired with a grin which showed a gap between his front upper teeth. "You won't see her no more! She's in the employment office now, and they're giving her the can!"

"You mean she's being discharged?"

"Sure. We don't want no thieves around here!"

"Sally Barker isn't a thief," Penny retorted loyally. "By the way, how did you know why the girl was taken to the office?"

The question momentarily confused Joe. But his reply was glib enough.

"Oh, I have a way o' knowin' what goes on around here," he smirked. "I figured that gal was light-fingered the day they hired her. It didn't surprise me none that they found the stuff in her locker."

"And who told you that?" Penny pursued the subject.

"Why, you said so yourself--"

"Oh, no I didn't."

"It was the forelady," Joe corrected himself. "I seen the brass in her hand when she came out of the locker room with that gal."

Disgusted, Penny turned her back and walked away in search of Jack. It was none of her affair, she knew, but it seemed to her that Joe the Sweeper had taken more than ordinary interest in Sally's downfall. His statements, too, had been confused.

"I don't trust that fellow," she thought. "He's sly and mean."

Penny could not find Jack, and when she returned to Mr. Gandiss' office, a secretary told her that the factory owner and her father expected to meet her at the main gate.

Hastening there, Penny saw no sign of them. Nor was the gateman on duty. However, hearing low voices inside the gatehouse, she stepped to the doorway. No one was in view, but two men were talking in the inner office.

"It worked slick as a whistle," she heard one of them say. "The girl was caught with the stuff on her, and they fired her."

"Who was she?"

"A new employee named Sally Barker."

"Good enough, Joe. That ought to take the heat off the others for awhile at least."

The name startled Penny who instantly wondered if one of the speakers might be Sweeper Joe. Confirming her suspicion, the man came out of the inner room a moment later. Seeing her, he stopped short and his jaw dropped.

"What you doin' here?" he demanded gruffly.

"Waiting for Mr. Gandiss," Penny replied. "And you?"

Joe did not answer. Mumbling something, he pushed past her and went off toward the main factory building.

"He's certainly acting as if he deliberately planned to get Sally into trouble," she thought resentfully.

Clayton, the gateman, showed his face a moment later, and he too acted self-conscious. As he checked a car through into the factory grounds, he glanced sideways at Penny, obviously uneasy as to how much she might have overheard.

"Been here long?" he inquired carelessly.

"No, I just came," Penny answered with pretended unconcern. "I'm waiting for my father."

The men did not come immediately. However, as Penny loitered near the gatehouse, she saw Sally Barker hurriedly leaving the factory building.

"Ain't you off early tonight?" the gateman asked as she approached.

"I'm off for good," Sally answered shortly. Her face was tear-stained and she did not try to hide the fact that she had been crying.

"Fired?"

"That's right," Sally replied. "Unjustly too!"

"Shoo, you don't say!" the gateman exclaimed, sympathetically. "What did they give you the can for?"

Sally, in no mood to provide details, went on without answering. Penny ran to overtake her.

"I'll walk with you to the boundaries of the grounds," she said quickly. "Tell me what happened."

"Just what you would expect," Sally shrugged. "They asked me a lot of questions in the personnel office. I told the truth--that I knew nothing about that putrid piece of brass that turned up in my locker! Then they gave me a nice little lecture, and said they were sorry but my services no longer were required. Branded as a thief!"

"Don't take it so hard, Sally," Penny said kindly. "Someone probably planted the brass in your locker."

"Of course! But I can't prove it."

"Why not appeal to Mr. Gandiss? He likes you and--"

"No," Sally said firmly, kicking at a piece of gravel on the driveway, "I'll ask no favors of Mr. Gandiss. He would have me reinstated, no doubt, but it would be too humiliating."

"Do you know of anyone in the factory who dislikes you?"

Sally shook her head. "That's the funny part of it. I'm not acquainted with anyone. I just started in."

"How about Joe the Sweeper?"

"Oh, him!" Sally was scornful. "He caught me in the hall the other day and tried to get fresh. I slapped his face!"

"Then perhaps he was the one that got you into trouble."

"He's too stupid," Sally dismissed the subject.

"I'm not so sure of that," returned Penny thoughtfully.

The girls had reached the street and Sally's bus was in sight.

"What will you do now?" Penny asked hurriedly. "Get a job at another factory?"

"I doubt it," Sally replied, fishing in her pocketbook for a bus token. "I'll help Pop on the _River Queen_. If I do take another job it won't be until after the sailboat races."

"I'd forgotten about that. When is the race?"

"The preliminary is in a few days--next Friday. The finals are a week later."

"I hope you win," said Penny sincerely. "I'll certainly be on hand to watch."

The bus pulled up at the curb. Swing-shift employes, arriving at the factory for work, crowded past the two girls. Impulsively Sally turned and squeezed Penny's hand.

"I like you," she said with deep feeling. "You've been kind. Will you come to see me sometime while you're here?"

"Of course! I've not brought back those clothes I borrowed yet!"

"I'll look for you," Sally declared warmly. "I feel that you're a real friend."

Squeezing Penny's hand again, she sprang aboard the bus and was lost in the throng of passengers.

CHAPTER 9 _SALLY'S HELPER_

Several days of inactivity followed for Penny at Shadow Island. For the most part, Jack was friendly and tried to provide entertainment. However, he was away much of the time, supervising the work of repairing and getting the _Spindrift_ into condition for the coming trophy race.

Sally Barker's name seldom was mentioned in the Gandiss household, though it was known that the girl intended to enter the competition regardless of her disgrace at the factory. Once Penny asked Jack point-blank what he thought of the entire matter.

"Just what I always did," he answered briefly. "Sally never took anything from the factory. It wouldn't be in keeping with her character."

"Then why isn't she cleared?"

"Father did take the matter up with the personnel department, but he doesn't want to go over the manager's head. The brass was found in her locker and quite a few employes learned about it."

"The brass was planted!"

"Probably," agreed Jack. "But it's none of my affair. Sally wasn't a very good factory worker and the personnel director thought he had to make an example of someone--"

"So Sally became the goat! I call it unfair. Did the thefts cease after she left?"

"They're worse than ever."

"Then obviously Sally had nothing to do with it!"

"Not just one person is involved. The brass is being taken by an organized ring of employes."

"I suppose it's none of my affair, but in justice I think Sally should be cleared. I don't know the girl well, but I like her."

"You may as well hear the whole story," Jack said uncomfortably. "Father wrote her a letter, inviting her to come in for an interview. She paid no attention."

"Perhaps she didn't get the letter."

"She got it all right. I met her on the street yesterday, and when I tried to talk to her, she threatened to heave a can of varnish in my face! Furthermore, she gave me to understand she intends to defeat me soundly in the race tomorrow."

"I'll be there to watch," grinned Penny. "The contest should be interesting."

While Jack was out on the river practicing for the approaching competition, Penny accompanied her father to the mainland to mail letters and make a few purchases Mrs. Gandiss had requested. In returning to the waterfront, they wandered down a street within view of the Gandiss factory.

Penny's attention was drawn to a man who came out of an alley at the rear of the plant and stood staring at a tiny junk shop which was situated directly opposite the Gandiss factory.

"There's Joe the Sweeper," she observed aloud. And then an instant later added: "That's queer!"

"What is?" inquired her father.

"Why, that junk shop! I've been down this street several times, but I never noticed it there before. I would have sworn that the building was empty."

Mr. Parker gave her a quick, amused look. "It was until yesterday," he informed.

"You seem to know all about it!" Penny suddenly became suspicious. "What are you keeping from me?"

Mr. Parker did not reply, for he was watching the man who had emerged from the alley. Joe seemed to debate for awhile, then crossed the street and entered the junk shop.

"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Parker. "Our bait seems to be working."

"What are you talking about?" Penny demanded in exasperation. "Will you kindly explain?"

"You recall Mr. Gandiss asked me to help him solve the mystery of those brass thefts at the plant."

"Why, yes, but I didn't know you had begun to do anything about it."

"Our plan may not succeed. However, we're trying out a little idea of mine."

"Does it have anything to do with that junk shop?"

"Yes, the place was opened yesterday by Heiney Growski."

Penny's blue eyes opened wide for she knew the man well. A prominent detective in Riverview, he had won distinction by solving a number of difficult cases.

"Heiney is an expert at make-up and impersonation," Mr. Parker added. "We brought him here and installed him as the owner of the junk store across the street. His instructions are to buy brass and copper at above the prevailing market prices."

"You expect employes who may be pilfering metals to seek the highest price obtainable!"

"That's our idea. It may not work."

"It should," Penny cried jubilantly. "Sweeper Joe went in there not three minutes ago! I've suspected him from the first!"

"Aren't you jumping to pretty fast conclusions?"

"From what I heard him say to the gatekeeper Clayton, I'm sure he's mixed up in some underhanded scheme."

"You're not certain of it, Penny. Joe has been carefully investigated. He seems too stupid a fellow to have engineered such a clever, organized method of pilfering."

"He never appeared stupid to me. Dad, let's drift over to the junk shop, and learn what is happening."

"And give everything away? No, Heiney will report if anything of consequence develops. In the meantime, we must show no interest in the shop."

To Penny's disappointment, her father refused to remain longer in the vicinity of the factory. Without glancing toward the junk shop, they walked on to the riverfront. The motorboat they had expected to meet them had not yet arrived. While Mr. Parker purchased a newspaper and sat down on the dock to read, Penny sauntered along the shore.

A short distance away on a stretch of beach, a boat had been overturned. Sally Barker, in blue overalls rolled to the knees, was painting it with deft, sure strokes. Penny walked over to watch the work.

Glancing up, Sally smiled, but did not speak. A smudge of blue paint stained her cheek. She had sanded the bottom of the _Cat's Paw_, and now was slapping on a final coat of paint.

"Will it dry in time for the race tomorrow?" Penny inquired, making conversation.

"The finish won't be hard, but that's the way I want it," Sally said, dipping her brush. "It makes a faster racing bottom."

"Then you're all ready for competition?"

"The boat is ready." Sally hesitated, then added. "But I may not enter the race after all."

"Not enter? Why?"

Having finished painting, Sally carefully cleaned her brush, and tightly closed the paint and varnish cans. She wiped her hands on her faded overalls.

"The boy who was racing with me served notice this morning that he had changed his mind. I haven't asked anyone else, because I didn't want to be turned down."

"But I should think anyone who likes to sail would be crazy for the chance--" Penny began. Then as she met Sally's gaze, her voice trailed off.

"You know what I mean," said Sally quietly.

"Not the factory episode?"

"Yes, word traveled around."

"Jack didn't tell?"

"I don't think so, but I don't know," Sally replied honestly. "Anyway, everyone learned why I was discharged. Pop is furious."

"Your mother too, I suppose?"

"I have no mother. She died when I was ten. Since then, Pop and I have lived aboard the _Queen_. Pop always taught me to speak my mind, never to be afraid, and above all to be honest. To be accused of something one didn't do and to be branded as a thief is the limit!"

Penny nodded sympathetically. "About the race," she said, reverting to the previous subject, "you aren't really serious about not entering?"

"It means everything to me," Sally admitted soberly. "But I can't race alone. The rules call for two persons in each boat."

"You need an expert sailor?"

"Not necessarily. Of course, the person would have to know how to handle ropes and carry out orders. Also, not lose his head in an emergency. To balance the _Cat's Paw_ right I need someone about my own weight."

"It has to be a boy?"

"Mercy, no! I would prefer a girl if I knew whom to ask." Sally suddenly caught the drift of Penny's conversation, and a look of amazed delight came upon her face. "Not you!" she exclaimed. "You don't mean you would be willing--"

"If you want or could use me. I'm a long way from an expert, but I do know a little about sailboats. We have one in Riverview. However, I never competed in a race."

"I'd be tickled pink to have you!"

"Then it's settled."

"But what about the Gandiss family? You are their guest."

"That part is a bit awkward," Penny admitted. "But they are all good sports. I'm sure no one will hold it against me."

"After I was discharged from the factory?"

"That really wasn't Mr. Gandiss' doing, Sally. The plant is so large he scarcely knows what goes on in some departments. You were discharged by the personnel manager."

"I realize that."

"Didn't Mr. Gandiss write you a letter asking you to come in for a personal interview?"

"Yes, he did," Sally acknowledged reluctantly. "I was angry and I tore it up."

"Then you shouldn't blame Mr. Gandiss."

"I'm not blaming him, Penny. I like Mr. Gandiss very much. In fact, I like him so well I never could bear to accept favors from him."

"Not even to clear your name?"

Sally washed her hands at the river's edge, and rolled down the legs of her overalls. "The person who put that brass in my locker hasn't been caught?" she inquired softly.

"Not to my knowledge."

"Then all Mr. Gandiss could do would be to offer me another chance," Sally said bitterly. "I'll never work in the factory on that basis. If I am cleared completely, then I am willing to go back."

"Mr. Gandiss is trying to solve the mystery of those thefts," Penny declared. "I know that to be a fact. Have you any idea who the guilty parties might be?"

Sally straightened up, digging at paint which had lodged beneath her fingernails. She did not answer.

"You do have a clue!" Penny cried.

"Maybe." Sally smiled mysteriously.

"Tell me what it is."

"No, I intend to work by myself until I'm sure that I'm on the right track. I've not even told Pop."

"Does it have anything to do with Sweeper Joe?"

Sally's expression became blank. "I don't know much about him," she dismissed the subject. "My information concerns a certain house upriver. But don't ask me to tell you more."

Hastily she gathered up paint cans and brush, turning to leave. "Are you really serious about racing with me tomorrow?" she demanded.

"Of course!"

"Then you're elected first mate of the _Cat's Paw_! Meet me at the yacht club dock at six in the morning for a trial workout. The preliminary race is at two."

"I'll be there without fail."

"And bring a little luck with you," Sally added with a grin. "We may need it to defeat the _Spindrift_."

CHAPTER 10 _OVERTURNED_

When Penny reached the dock next morning she found that Sally had preceded her by many hours. The varnished wood of the _Cat's Paw_ shone in the sunlight. Below the waterline, the boat was as smooth and slippery as glass.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Sally asked proudly, squeezing water from a sponge she had been using. "The rigging has been overhauled, and Pop came through at the last minute with a new jib sail. Every rope has been changed too."

"It looks grand," Penny praised. "You must have worked like a galley slave getting everything ready for the race."

"I have, but I want to win. This race means everything to me."

"Are you sure you want me to sail with you?" Penny asked dubiously. "After all, I am not an expert. I might handicap you."

"Nonsense! There's no one I would rather have--that is, if you still want to do it. Was Jack angry when you told him?"

Penny confessed that she had not spoken to any of the Gandiss family of her intention to take part in the race. "But it will be all right," she added. "Jack really isn't such a bad sport when you get to know him. I only hope we win!"

"Oh, we'll come in among the leading five--that's certain," Sally said carelessly. "This is only a preliminary race today. The five winning boats will compete next week in the finals."

"If you lose today must you give up the trophy?"

"Not until after the final race." Sally laughed goodnaturedly. "But don't put such ideas in my head. We can't lose! I'm grimly determined that Jack mustn't beat me!"

"I do believe the race is a personal feud between you two! Why does it mean so much to defeat him?"

Sally stepped nimbly aboard the scrubbed deck, stowing away the sponge under one of the seats. "Jack and I always have been rivals," she admitted. "We went to grade school together. He used to make fun of me because I lived on a ferryboat."

"Jack was only a kid then."

"I know. But we always were in each other's hair. We competed in everything--debates, literary competitions, sports. Jack usually defeated me too. In sailing, due to Pop's coaching, I may have a slight edge over him."

"Do you really dislike Jack?"

"Why, no." Sally's tone indicated she never had given the matter previous thought. "If he weren't around to fight with, I suppose I'd miss him terribly."

Penny sat down on the dock to lace up a pair of soft-soled tennis shoes. By the time she had them on, Sally was ready to shove off for the trial run.

"Suppose we take about an hour's work-out, and then rest until time for the race," she suggested. "You'll quickly learn the tricks of this little boat. She's a sweet sailer."

The _Cat's Paw_ had been tied to the dock with a stiff wind blowing across it, and larger boats were berthed on either side. To get away smoothly without endangering the other craft would be no easy task. As the girls ran up the mainsail, a few loiterers gathered to watch the departure.

"All set, mate?" grinned Sally. "Let's go."

With a speed that amazed Penny, she trimmed the main and jib sheets flat amidships, placing the tiller a little to starboard.

"Haul up the centerboard!" she instructed.

Penny pulled up the board, feeling a trifle awkward and inadept.

Sally leaped out onto the dock, and casting off, held the boat's head steady into the eye of the wind. With a tremendous shove which delighted the spectators, she sent the _Cat's Paw_ straight aft, and made a flying leap aboard.

With sails flat amidships, the boat shot straight backwards. As they started to clear the stern of the boat that was to starboard, Sally let the tiller move over to that side. The bow of the _Cat's Paw_ began to swing to starboard.

Not until then, did Penny observe that the _Spindrift_ was tied up only a few boat-lengths away. Jack, armed with several bottles of pop, came hurriedly from the clubhouse. Noting Sally's spectacular departure, he joined the throng at the railing.

"We'll give the crowd a real thrill," Sally muttered, keeping her voice low so that it would not carry over the water. "If this trick works, it should be good."

Even Penny was worried. The bow of the _Cat's Paw_ had swung rapidly to starboard. But Sally, calm and cool, still hung on to the sheets.

"Put your tiller the other way!" Jack shouted from the dock. "Let your sheet run!"

Enjoying the boy's excitement, Sally pretended to be deaf. Wind had struck the sails, but the _Cat's Paw_ continued to sail backwards. A crash seemed impossible to avert. Then at the last instant, the bow swung clear of the neighboring boats.

Grinning triumphantly, Sally put the tiller to port and started the sheets. They sailed briskly away.

"Beautifully done!" praised Penny. "Not one sailor in a hundred could pull that off. It took nerve!"

"Pop taught me that trick. It's risky, of course. If the sails should decide to take charge, or the tiller should fail to go to starboard, one probably would collide with the other boats."

"You surprised Jack. He expected you to crash."

"We'll surprise him this afternoon too," Sally declared confidently, steering out into mid-stream. "If this breeze holds, it's just what the doctor ordered!"

For an hour the girls practiced maneuvers until Penny was thoroughly adept at handling the ropes and carrying out orders. Although the rules of the race did not allow them to sail the actual course, Sally pointed it out.

"We start near the clubhouse," she explained. "Then, taking a triangular route we sail past Hat Island to the first marker. After rounding it, we keep on to the marker near the eastern river shore, and sail back to our starting point."

Sally was in high spirits, for she declared that if the breeze held, _Cat's Paw_ would perform at her best. Though no one knew exactly what Jack's new boat, _Spindrift_ could do, observation had convinced most sailing enthusiasts that it would be favored in a light breeze.

"I hope it blows a gale this afternoon!" Sally chuckled as they moored at the dock. "Get some rest now, Penny, and meet me at the clubhouse about one o'clock. The race starts sharp at two."

Penny did not see Jack when she returned to Shadow Island, so had no chance to tell him of her plan to sail with Sally in the competition. Her father, whom she took into her confidence, was not entirely in favor of the decision.

"We are guests of Mr. and Mrs. Gandiss," he reproved mildly. "To sail against Jack is a tactless thing to do. Though actually you may do him a favor, for you'll likely be more of a handicap than a help in the race."

"That's what I figured," laughed Penny.

By chance, Mr. Gandiss overheard the conversation. Entering the living room, he declared that Penny must not hesitate to enter the competition.