Part 9

Treading water, the girl shouted for help and waved an arm. Her voice was weak even to her own ears, and could not possibly carry to the pilot house of the _Queen_. Would her frantic signals be seen? The night was dark, and she was not yet in the arc of the vessel's lights.

Penny swam a few more strokes, then treaded water again, and signaled frantically. The _River Queen_ did not slacken speed.

"They haven't seen me!" she thought desperately. "It's useless."

Now a new danger presented itself. The _Queen_ had swerved slightly so that Penny was directly in its path. Still she had not been seen. Looming up in gigantic proportions above her, the ferry threatened to run her down.

CHAPTER 21 _RESCUE_

Fearful that she would be killed, Penny screamed and waved. Straight on steamed the _River Queen_, so close now that she could see Sally Barker on the starboard deck. But the girl was gazing away from her, toward Sweeper Joe and the other drifting boat.

"Help! Help!" screamed Penny in one last desperate attempt to save herself.

Her cry carried, for she saw Sally whirl around and stare intently at the dark water ahead. Then she shouted an order to her father. There came a clanging of bells, and the _Queen_ swerved to port, missing Penny by a scant ten feet.

Great waves engulfed her, and she fought to keep above the surface. Her strength was practically gone. She rolled over on her back, gasping for breath.

Then she saw that the _Queen_ had greatly reduced speed and was turning back on her course. A lifeboat also was being lowered.

"They're going to pick me up!" Penny thought, nearly overcome by relief.

The next minute Sally and a sailor were pulling her into the boat.

"Why, it's Penny! And she's half drowned!" she heard her friend exclaim.

Then she knew no more.

When she opened her eyes, Penny found herself in a warm, comfortable bed. Sally stood beside her with a cup of steaming hot soup.

"You're coming around fine," she praised. "Drink this! Then you'll feel better."

Penny pulled herself up on an elbow and took a swallow of the soup. It was good and warmed her chilled body. She gulped the cupful down.

"Sally--"

"Better not try to talk too much now," Sally advised kindly. "How did you get into the water?"

The question aroused Penny, bringing back a flood of memories. She suddenly realized that she was in Sally's cabin on the _River Queen_ and the ferry was moving.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"You're safe," Sally said soothingly. "You were swimming in the river. We nearly ran you down. Lucky I saw you just in time and we picked you up."

"Yes, I know," Penny agreed. "But _where_ are we? Near the Harpers?"

"Oh, no, we passed their place long ago. We're far upriver."

Penny struggled up, swinging her feet out of the bunk. She saw then that she was wearing a pair of Sally's pajamas, and that her own wet garments hung over a chair.

"We must turn back!" she cried. "Tell Captain Barker, please! Oh, it's vitally important, Sally!"

Sally was maddeningly deliberate.

"Now don't get excited, Penny," she advised. "Everything will be all right."

Penny resisted as Sally tried to push her back into bed. "You don't understand!" she protested. "Sweeper Joe, Claude Harper, and Clark Clayton are expecting to make their get-away tonight. They're the ones who have been stealing brass from the Gandiss factory. It's all cached in the basement of the Harper house--or was unless they've dumped it."

"Penny, are you straight in your head? You know what you're saying?"

"I certainly do! I went there this afternoon. When I learned too much, they tried to hold me prisoner. I escaped by the river--hid in the grass patch. But they followed me there, and were about to get me, when the _River Queen_ steamed by."

"I did see two small boats there. Just before you shouted I wondered what they would be doing at this time of night."

"Sweeper Joe and Clark Clayton have been dumping the stolen brass! Unless police stop them before they dispose of it all, not a scrap of evidence will be left! All those men expect to leave town tonight!"

"Thank heavens, we have a ship-to-shore radio telephone!" Sally cried, thoroughly aroused. "I'll have Pop call the police right away!"

She bolted out the cabin door.

Every muscle and joint in Penny's body ached, but there was no time to think of her misery. Her own clothes could not be put on. Searching in Sally's wardrobe, she found a sweater and a skirt, and undergarments she needed. By the time her friend returned, she was dressed.

"Penny, you shouldn't have gotten up!" Sally protested quickly.

"I can't afford to miss the excitement," Penny grinned. "Hope you don't mind lending me some of your clothes."

"Of course not, and if you must stay up, you'll need a pair of shoes." Sally found a pair of sandals, which although too large, would serve. After Penny had put them on, she said: "Let's go to the pilot house, because I want you to tell Pop exactly what happened."

"Did you notify police?"

"Pop sent the message. It may take a little while, but police should be at the Harpers' almost anytime now."

"Those men saw me taken aboard this boat," Penny worried. "I'm afraid they'll get away before the police arrive."

The girls climbed to the pilot house where Captain Barker had just turned the wheel over to a helmsman. All members of the crew remained aboard, for with the _Queen_ late on her run, there had been no opportunity as yet to put the men ashore.

"We may need all our hands tonight," Captain Barker predicted. "No telling what may develop. I have one of those feelings."

"Now Pop!" reproved Sally. "The last time you made a remark like that, we smashed a rudder. Remember?"

"Aye, I remember all too well," he rejoined grimly.

Urged by Sally, Penny related everything that had happened at the Harpers', and told of her endurance contest in the grass patch.

"We'll head back that direction and see what's doing," Captain Barker offered to satisfy her. "Maybe we'll catch sight of those rascals in their boats."

Although the _Queen_ cruised slowly near the shoal area where Penny had encountered adventure, there was no sign of any small boat. The ferry crept dangerously close to the grass patch.

"Watch 'er like a cat!" Captain Barker warned the helmsman. "Cramp her! Cramp her!"

When the man did not react speedily enough, he seized the wheel and helped spin it hard down. The _Queen_ responded readily, moving into deeper waters.

Satisfied that there were no small boats in the vicinity, Captain Barker, headed upstream toward the Harpers'. Across the water, lights were to be seen on both floors of the two-story river house, but so far as could be discerned, no boats were tied up at the pier or docks.

"The place isn't deserted, that's certain," Penny declared, peering into the wall of darkness. "How long should it take the police to get there?"

"If the radio message we sent was properly transmitted, they should be on their way now," the captain replied.

Sally, impatient for action, was all for taking a crew and descending upon the house and its occupants. Puffing thoughtfully at his pipe, her father considered the proposal, but shook his head.

"We have no authority to make a search," he pointed out. "Any such action would make us liable for court action. Just be patient and you'll see fireworks."

Knowing that to stand by near the Harpers' pier would warn the house occupants they were being watched, Captain Barker ordered the _Queen_ to turn downriver toward the main freight and passenger docks.

An excursion boat, the _Florence_, passed them, her railings lined with women and children who had enjoyed an all-day outing and were returning home. The steamer tied up at the Ninth Street dock and began to disgorge passengers.

Then it happened. Penny saw a sudden flash of flame which seemed to come from the hold of the excursion ship. The next instant fire shot from the portholes and began to spread.

Captain Barker gave a hoarse shout which sent a chill down her spine.

"The _Florence_!" he exclaimed huskily. "Her oil tanks must have exploded! She'll go up like matchwood, and with all those women and children aboard!"

CHAPTER 22 _CAPTAIN BARKER'S COURAGE_

Never did a fire seem to spread so rapidly. In less than three minutes, as those aboard the _River Queen_ watched in helpless horror, the _Florence_ became a mass of flames from stem to stern. Terrified passengers jammed the gangplank as they tried to crowd ashore. Some of them leaped from the excursion boat's high railings to the dock below.

"Her mooring lines are ablaze!" Captain Barker shouted a moment later.

"And the freight sheds are catching afire," Penny added, observing a telltale line of flame starting from the flimsy wooden buildings along the wharf, directly back of the dock where the _Florence_ had moored.

The blazing sheds worried Captain Barker far less than the fact that the mooring lines had caught fire. If the _Florence_ should be cut loose from the dock, helpless women and children would be carried out onto the river in a flaming inferno.

"Why don't the fire boats get here!" Sally murmured nervously. "Oh, this is going to be a dreadful disaster if something isn't done to save those helpless people!"

At the bridge leading to the pilot house, Captain Barker stood tensely watching, his hand on the signal ropes.

"There go the mooring lines!" he shouted. "The current should bring her this way!"

As the _Florence_ slowly drifted away from the blazing wharf, men and women began to leap over the railings into the dark waters.

"Man the lifeboats!" Captain Barker ordered his crew tersely. "I'm going to try to get a tow line on 'er!" He signaled the engine room, and the _River Queen_ began to back rapidly toward the flaming excursion boat.

Penny and Sally ran to help launch the lifeboats. With the _River Queen_ desperately short handed, they would be needed to handle oars. A fireman, an engineer, Captain Barker and a helmsman must remain at their posts, which left only three sailors to pick up passengers.

Leaping into the first boat launched, the girls rowed into the path of the blazing vessel. In its bright glow against the sky, they could see panic-stricken passengers running about the decks. An increasing number were leaping into the water, and many could not swim.

Ignoring the cries of those who had life belts or were swimming strongly, they rapidly picked up survivors. To pull children aboard was a comparatively easy task. But many of the women were heavy, and the combined strength of the girls barely was sufficient to get them into the boat without upsetting.

Finally the lifeboat was filled beyond capacity, and they turned to land their cargo aboard the _Queen_. Only then did they see what Captain Barker intended to do.

His men had succeeded in making a line fast to the _Florence's_ stern. By this time the excursion boat was a flaming inferno, with only a few passengers, the captain, and crew remaining aboard.

"Pop's going to tow the _Florence_ downstream away from the freight sheds!" Sally cried. "Some of those buildings are filled with war materials awaiting shipment--coal, oil and I don't know what all! If a fire once gets going there, nothing will stop it!"

Working feverishly, the girls unloaded their passengers and went back for more. Motorboats had set out from shore, and they too aided in the rescue work. Some of the survivors were taken to land, and others were put aboard the _Queen_.

Aided by a sailor they had picked up, the girls worked until they no longer could see bobbing heads in the swirling waters.

"We've done all we can," Sally gasped, as they helped the last of the passengers aboard the _Queen_. "The captain and most of his men will stay on the _Florence_ as long as they are able."

Though exhausted by their work, the girls did what they could for those aboard. Sally distributed all the blankets she could find, and Penny helped a sailor revive two women who were unconscious from having swallowed too much water.

Suddenly there came a loud report like the crack of a pistol.

The tow line to the _Florence_ had parted! Once more the excursion boat, now a roaring furnace, was adrift in mid-stream.

In an instant it was apparent to Penny what would happen. The cross-current was strong, and in a minute or two would carry the burning vessel into the wharves and sheds. When the boat struck, flying sparks would ignite the dry wood for a considerable distance, and soon the entire waterfront would be ablaze.

Though outwardly calm, Captain Barker was beset as he appraised the situation. It would not be possible to get another tow line onto the _Florence_ for already her decks had become untenable for the crew. The blazing vessel was drifting rapidly.

"We could ram her," he muttered. "She might be nosed out into the channel again, and headed away from the freight docks."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?" Sally asked anxiously. "We have at least fifty passengers aboard. In this high wind, the _Queen_ would be almost certain to catch fire."

"There's nothing else to do," Captain Barker decided grimly, signaling the engine room. "The _Florence_ is drifting fast, and before the fire boats can get here, half the waterfront will be ablaze. Have the passengers wet down the decks and stand by with buckets!"

Penny and Sally worked feverishly carrying out orders. The deck hose was attached, and buckets were brought from below and filled with water. All survivors who were able to help, cooperated to the fullest extent, helping wet down the decks and assisting women and children to the stern of the ferryboat.

Captain Barker had given an order for the _Queen_ to move full speed ahead.

In a moment the two boats made jarring contact. Penny was thrown from her feet. Scrambling up, she saw that blazing timbers from the _Florence_ had crashed directly onto the _River Queen's_ deck. Sparks were falling everywhere. The ferryboat had caught fire in a dozen places.

Seizing a bucket of water, she doused out the flames nearest her. Heat from the _Florence_ was intense, and many of the men who had volunteered to help, began to retreat.

Penny and Sally stuck at their post, knowing that the lives of all depended upon extinguishing the flames quickly. Crew members of the _Florence_ worked beside them with quiet, determined efficiency.

In the midst of the excitement, the final boatload of picked-up survivors had to be taken aboard. Captain Jamison, one of the last to leave the _Florence_, collapsed as he reached the deck. Severely burned, he was carried below to receive first-aid treatment.

Undaunted, Captain Barker shouted terse orders, goading the men to greater activity when the flames showed signs of getting beyond control. After the first contact with the Florence, only occasional sparks ignited the _Queen's_ decks, but the heat was terrific. Women and children became hysterical, fearful that the ferryboat would become a flaming torch.

"The worst is over now," Sally sighed as she and Penny refilled water buckets. "Pop knows what he's doing. He's saved the waterfront."

"But this ferryboat?"

"It still may go up in smoke, but I don't think so," Sally replied calmly. "Pop is heading so that the wind will carry the flames away from us. He'll beach the _Florence_ on Horseshoe Shoal and let the wreck burn to the water's edge."

For the next fifteen minutes, there was no lessening of worry aboard the _River Queen_. The ferryboat clung grimly to the blazing excursion boat, losing contact at times, then picking her up again, and pushing on toward the shoal.

Fire fighting activities aboard the ferryboat became better organized; the passengers, observing that Captain Barker knew what he was about, became calm and easily managed. By the time fire boats arrived to spray the _Florence_ with streams of pressured water, the situation was well in hand.

Collapsing on the deck from sheer exhaustion, Penny and Sally gazed toward the warehouses and docks on the opposite shore. Only one fire of any size was visible there.

"The fire boats will quickly put it out," Sally said confidently. "But I hate to think what would have happened if the wind and current had driven the _Florence_ along those wharves."

Penny wiped her cheek and saw that her hand was covered with black soot. Sally too was a sight. She had ripped the hem from her skirt, her hair was an untidy mess, everything about her was pungent with smoke.

"Where were we when all this excitement started?" Penny asked presently. "If my memory serves me correctly, we had sent out a police call for Claude Harper and his pals to be arrested. It all seems vague in my mind, as if it occurred a million years ago."

"Why, I had forgotten too!" Sally gasped. "I hope the police went there and caught those men before they made a get-away."

Scrambling to their feet, the girls moved to the starboard side of the _Queen_, which permitted a view of the Harper house far upriver. They were startled and dismayed to see tongues of flame shooting from a window.

"That place has caught on fire too!" Sally exclaimed, then corrected herself. "But sparks from the _Florence_ never could have been carried so far!"

"The house has been set afire on purpose!" Penny cried. "Oh, Sally, don't you see? It's a trick to destroy all the evidence hidden there! The Harpers intend to skip town tonight, and they're taking advantage of this fire to make it appear that destruction of the house is accidental!"

CHAPTER 23 _FIRE!_

Sick at heart, the two girls realized with the Harper house aflame, their last chance of proving the guilt of the brass thieves might be gone. As they stood at the railing of the _Queen_, gloomily watching the spreading, creeping line of fire, a motorboat chugged up.

"Ahoy!" shouted a familiar voice. "Can you take aboard three more survivors? They're the very last we can find on the river."

"It's Jack!" Penny cried, recognizing his voice though unable to see his face in the dark. "After we get the passengers aboard, perhaps he'll take us upriver to the Harpers!"

The girls ran to help with the new arrivals, but sailors already had lifted them from the boat and carried them aboard the _Queen_.

"This is my last load," Jack called out. "Nearly everyone was saved. Coast Guard boats are patrolling now, and if there are other survivors, they'll be taken ashore."

"Jack!" Penny called down to him.

"That you, Penny?" he demanded in astonishment. "Why didn't you come back to Shadow Island this afternoon? We've all been worried about you!"

"It's a long story, and there's no time to tell it now! Jack, will you take us to the Harpers' in your motorboat?"

"Now?"

"Yes, the house is on fire."

Helping the girls into the boat, Jack turned to gaze upstream. "That's strange!" he exclaimed. "How could sparks from the _Florence_ have carried so far?"

"The answer is, they didn't," Penny said grimly. "The house was set afire on purpose. Just get us to the pier as quickly as you can."

Somewhere along the shore a big city clock struck the hour of midnight. The young people did not notice. As the boat raced over the water, bouncing as it struck each high wave, they discussed what had happened just prior to the outbreak of fire aboard the _Florence_.

"I know part of the stolen brass was dumped into the river by Sweeper Joe," Penny revealed excitedly. "The remainder was locked in the basement of the Harper house the last I knew. And I'm satisfied the brass lantern taken from the _Queen_ by Adam Glowershick is among the loot. All the thieves expect to skip town tonight. Probably they're gone by this time."

Beaching the boat some distance from the burning house, the three young people ran up the slope. Firemen had not yet reached the scene, and the few persons who had gathered, were watching the flames but making no effort to battle them.

"It's a hopeless proposition," Jack commented. "This far from the city, there's no water pressure. The house will burn to the ground."

"And all the evidence with it," Penny added gloomily. "What miserable luck!"

No boats were tied up at the dock, nor was there any sign of the Harpers or their friends in the crowd. Obviously, the entire party had fled.

"Isn't there some place where we can telephone the police?" Penny suggested impatiently. "If they act quickly, these men still may be caught. They can't be very far away."

"The nearest house is up the beach about an eighth of a mile," Jack informed. "Maybe we can telephone from there."

"You two go," Sally said casually. "I want to stay here."

At the moment, Jack and Penny, intent only upon their mission, thought nothing about the remark. Following the paved road which made walking easy, they hastened as fast as they could.

"Jack," Penny said, puffing to keep pace with him. "There's something I want to ask you."

"Shoot!"

"Why have you felt so friendly toward that crook, Glowershick?"

Jack's eyebrows jerked upward and he gave a snort of disgust. "Whatever gave you that crazy idea?"

"Well, he came to the island, and you borrowed money from me to give him--"

"So you recognized him that day?"

"Yes," Penny answered quietly. "You tried to hide his identity, so I said nothing more. I kept thinking you would explain."

"I'm prepared to pay you what I owe, Penny."

"Oh, Jack, it's not the money. Don't you understand--"

"You think I've had a finger in lifting the brass lantern from the _Queen_," Jack said stiffly.

"Gracious, no! But shouldn't you explain?"

Jack was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Thanks, Penny, for having a little faith in me. I know I've been an awful sap."

"Suppose you tell me all about it."

"There's nothing to tell. I went to the Harpers a number of times--attended their dances, and spent a lot of money. I got into debt to that fellow Glowershick and he pressed me for it."

"There was nothing more to it?"

"Not a thing, except that I didn't want my folks to hear about it. That's why I pretended I didn't know Glowershick. I was afraid you would tell them. Don't you believe me?"

"Oh, I do, Jack. I'm so relieved. And the jitterbug girl at Harpers'--"

"Oh, _her_!" Jack said scornfully. "She was a stupid thing, and I don't see how I stood her silly chatter. Most of the money I borrowed from Glowershick was spent on her. As I've said, I was a complete chump."

Reaching a house some distance back from the river, they found the owner at home, and were given permission to telephone the police. Jack was promised by an inspector that all police cruisers would be ordered to watch for the escaped brass thieves. Railroad terminals, bus depots and all roads leading from the city would be guarded.

"Watch the riverfront too," Jack urged. "The men may have gone by boat to Tate's Beach, intending to catch a train from there."

Satisfied they had done everything possible, Penny and Jack hastened back to the Harpers'. The sky was tinted pink and flames now shot from the roof of the house. A large crowd had gathered, and there was excited talk and gesturing.

"Something's wrong!" Penny observed anxiously.

Pushing through the crowd, they sought vainly to find Sally.

A woman was talking excitedly, pointed toward the flaming building.

"I tell you, I saw a girl run in there only a few minutes ago!" she insisted. "And she didn't come out! She must be in there now!"

The words shocked Penny and Jack as the same thought came to them. Could it be that reckless Sally had ventured into the basement of the house, hoping to recover the brass lantern or other evidence which would incriminate the thieves?

"She acted funny when we left her here," Penny whispered in horror. "Oh, Jack! If she's inside the building--"