Part 6

Penny and her father chose to enter a bakery which adjoined the building. A stout woman in a white apron, who was arranging frosted cakes in a showcase, favored them with a professional smile.

"Good morning," Mr. Parker greeted her, removing his hat. "Can you tell me what has become of the cafe next door?"

"Are you from the police?" the woman asked quickly.

"No, I'm connected with the _Star_."

"Oh, a reporter!" assumed the woman, and Mr. Parker did not correct her. "I thought maybe you were from the police. Yesterday I saw a man watching The Green Parrot and I said to my husband, Gus, 'The cops are going to raid that place.'"

"And did they?" interposed Mr. Parker.

"Not that I know of. The outfit just moved out. And a queer time to be doing it too, if you ask me!"

"When did they leave?"

"The van pulled up there about two o'clock last night. They were loading stuff in until almost dawn."

"Can you tell me where they went or why they moved out?"

"No, I can't," the woman replied with a shrug. "Like as not they were afraid the police were going to raid 'em. I'm telling you that place deserved to be closed up."

"Just what went on there?"

"I never was inside the place, but some mighty queer acting people seemed to be running it. Why, I've seen men go in and out of there at four o'clock of a morning, hours after the cafe closed up."

"Foreigners?"

"I couldn't rightly say as to that. My husband, Gus, thinks a lot of gambling went on. Anyway, I'm glad the outfit's gone."

Unable to learn more, Penny and her father left the bakery and walked toward their parked car. The information they had gained was not likely to prove very helpful. Obviously, The Green Parrot had closed its doors, fearing an investigation. Whether it had moved elsewhere or gone out of existence, they could not know.

"The call that Jerry, Louise and I paid there last night may have had something to do with it," Penny remarked. "I know the head waiter was eager to be rid of us."

As Mr. Parker and his daughter walked slowly along, several persons ran past them toward an alley. Approaching its entranceway, they saw that a throng of people had gathered not far from the rear exit of The Green Parrot.

"Wonder what's wrong back there?" speculated Mr. Parker, pausing. "Probably an accident of some sort."

"Let's find out," proposed Penny.

She and her father joined the group of excited men and women in the alley. They were startled to see a young man sprawled face downward on the brick pavement. A garbage collector jabbered excitedly that he had found the victim lying thus only a moment before.

Mr. Parker pushed through the circle of people. "Has anyone called an ambulance?" he asked.

"I'll send for one, Mister," offered a boy, hastening away.

Mr. Parker bent over the prone figure.

"He ain't dead is he?" the garbage man asked anxiously.

"Unconscious," replied the newspaper man, his fingers on the victim's wrist. "A nasty head wound. I'd say he either fell or was struck from behind."

Carefully Mr. Parker rolled over the limp figure. As he beheld the face, he stared and glanced quickly at Penny.

"Who is he, Dad?" she asked, and then she saw for herself.

The young man was Burt Ottman.

CHAPTER 14 _TEST BLACKOUT_

As Mr. Parker covered Burt Ottman with his overcoat, the young man stirred and opened his eyes. He gazed at the newspaper owner with a dazed expression and for a moment did not attempt to speak.

"Take it easy," Mr. Parker advised.

"What happened to me?" the young man whispered.

"That's what we'd like to know. Were you struck?"

"Don't remember," Ottman mumbled. He closed his eyes again, but aroused as he heard the shrill siren of an approaching ambulance. "Don't let 'em take me to a hospital," he pleaded. "Take me home."

The ambulance drew up in the alley. Stretcher bearers carefully lifted the young man.

"I'm all right," he insisted, trying to sit up. "Just take me home."

"Where's that?" asked one of the attendants.

Burt Ottman mumbled an address which was on a street not far from the boat dock he operated.

"We'll take you to the hospital for a check up," the young man was told. "Then if you're okay, you'll be released."

Deeply interested in the case, Mr. Parker and Penny followed the ambulance to City Hospital. There, after an hour's wait in the lobby they were told that Burt Ottman had suffered no severe injury. A minor head wound had been dressed, and he was to be released within a short while.

"What caused the accident?" Mr. Parker asked one of the nurses. "Did the young man say?"

"He couldn't seem to remember what happened," she replied. "At least he wouldn't talk to the doctor about it."

Overdue at the _Star_ office, Mr. Parker could remain no longer. However, Penny, whose time was her own, loitered about the lobby for an hour and a half until Burt Ottman came down in the elevator. The young man's head was bandaged and he walked with an unsteady step as he leaned on the arm of a nurse.

"I'll call a taxi for you," the young woman said. "You're really in no condition to walk far, Mr. Ottman."

Penny stepped forward to offer her services. Her father, knowing that she might have use for the car, had left it parked outside the hospital.

"I'll be glad to take Mr. Ottman home," she volunteered.

The young man protested that he did not wish to cause anyone inconvenience, but allowed himself to be guided to the waiting automobile.

As the car sped along toward the riverfront, Penny stole quick glances at Burt. He sat very still, his gaze on the pavement ahead. She half expected that he would offer an explanation of the accident, or at least ask a few questions, but he remained silent.

"You took rather a hard blow on the head," she remarked, seeking to lead him into conversation.

Burt merely nodded.

"Dad and I were astonished to find you lying in the alley at the rear of The Green Parrot," Penny went on. "Don't you remember how you came to be there?"

"Mind's a blank."

"You must have been struck by someone," Penny said, refusing to be discouraged. "Can't you recall whom you were with just before the accident?"

"What is this, a third degree?" Burt asked, and only a faint, amused smile took the edge from his question.

"I'm sorry," Penny apologized.

"It doesn't matter what happened to me," Burt said quietly. "I just don't feel like talking about it--see?"

"Yes."

"I don't mean to seem unappreciative," the young man resumed. "Thanks for taking me home."

"You're very welcome, I'm sure," Penny responded dryly.

The car drew up in front of the home where Burt and his sister lived. A pleasant, one-story cottage rather in need of paint, it was situated high on a bluff overlooking the river.

As Burt stiffly alighted from the car, the cottage door opened, and Sara came running to meet him.

"You're hurt!" she cried anxiously. "Oh, Burt, what happened to you?"

"Nothing," he answered, moving away from her encircling arms.

"But your head!"

"Your brother was hurt sometime last night," Penny explained to Sara. "Just how, we don't know. My father and I found him lying in an alley at the rear of The Green Parrot."

"The Green Parrot--that night club!" Sara gazed at her brother in dismay. "Oh, Burt, I was afraid something like this would happen. Those dreadful men--"

"Now Sara," he interrupted brusquely. "No theatricals, please. Everything's all right." Giving her cheek a playful pinch, he wobbled past her into the cottage.

Sara turned frightened eyes upon Penny. "Tell me exactly what happened," she pleaded.

"I honestly don't know, Sara. My father thought someone must have struck your brother from behind, but he's not told us a thing."

"I just knew something of the sort would happen," Sara repeated nervously.

"What do you mean?" inquired Penny. "Does your brother have enemies who would harm him?"

"Burt's been trying to find out who framed him in the bridge dynamiting. He won't tell me much about it, but I know he's been trailing down a few leads."

"Isn't that work for the police?"

"The police!" Sara retorted bitterly. "Their only interest is in piling up more evidence against Burt!"

"Your brother knows the identity of the saboteur?"

"He won't tell me, but I think he does have an idea who blew up the bridge."

Penny scarcely knew whether or not to accept Sara's explanation of her brother's activities. Unquestionably, the girl believed that he was innocent of all charges against him. For one not prejudiced in his favor, there were many factors to be considered. Why had Burt denied losing the leather billfold? And with whom had he kept the Tuesday night appointment at The Green Parrot?

"If your brother has any clue regarding the real saboteur, he should present his evidence to the police," Penny advised Sara.

"He'll never do that until he's ready to appear in court. Not after the way the police treated him."

Penny realized that nothing was to be gained by discussing the matter further with Sara. Offering a few polite remarks to the effect that she hoped Burt would soon recover completely from his injury, she drove away.

Later, in repeating the conversation to her father, she declared that she could not make up her mind regarding Burt Ottman's guilt.

"The case does have interesting angles," Mr. Parker acknowledged. "I talked to the Police Commissioner this morning about The Green Parrot. The place long has had a reputation for cheating customers, and lately it's been under suspicion as a rendezvous for anti-American groups."

"That would fit in with what the bakery woman told us. What became of The Green Parrot, Dad? Have the police been able to trace it to a new location?"

"Not yet. The cafe may not open up again, or if it does, under a new name."

For two days Penny divided her time between school and the river. As the water remained too rough for safe sailing, she and Louise spent their spare hours painting and cleaning their boat. Upon several occasions they called at the Ottman Boat Dock. Burt never was there, but Sara assured them that her brother had completely recovered from his recent mishap.

"Did he never tell you how he was struck?" Penny inquired once.

"Never," Sara returned. "I've given up talking to him about it."

With the river high, the girls had no opportunity to visit Old Noah at his ark. However, Sara told them that she was quite certain Sheriff Anderson had not succeeded in getting rid of the old fellow and his animals.

"The ark is still anchored up Bug Run," she laughed ruefully. "I know because a steady flow of blue bottles has been floating down here!"

"Do you always read the message?" Louise inquired.

"Not always," Sara replied. "Frequently I do because they're so crazy."

Since his arrest and subsequent release from jail, Burt Ottman had seldom been seen at the boat dock. Harassed and overburdened, Sara endeavored to do the work of two people. She ran the motor launch, taking passengers up and down the river. She rented canoes and row boats, and looked after repair work which came to the shop. If she felt that her brother was shirking his duties, she gave no inkling of it to the girls.

"When does Burt's trial come up?" Louise remarked to Penny late Thursday night as they walked home from the Public Library. "Next week, isn't it?"

"Yes, the twenty-first," her chum nodded. "From all I can gather, he'll be convicted, too."

"I feel sorry for Sara."

"So do I," agreed Penny. "At first I didn't like her very well. Now I know her brusque manner doesn't mean anything."

The girls were passing a drugstore. In the window appeared a colored advertisement, a picture of a giant chocolate soda, topped with frothy whipped cream. Penny paused to gaze longingly at it.

"That's a personal invitation addressed to me," she remarked. "How about it, Lou?"

"Oh, that same picture has been in the window for months," her chum said discouragingly. "You can't get whipped cream unless you steal it from a cow."

"Well, how about a dish of ice cream then? I'm horribly hungry."

"That's your natural state," teased Louise, pulling her on. "If we stop now, we'll be caught in the test blackout."

"Is there one tonight?"

"Don't you read the papers? It's to be held between nine and ten o'clock. And it's ten after nine now."

"I think it might be fun to be caught out in one--just so long as it's not the real thing."

"I want to get home before the street lights are turned out," Louise insisted. "In fact, I promised Mother I'd come straight home when the library closed."

"Oh, all right," Penny gave in reluctantly.

The girls began to walk faster for they were many blocks from their own street. Now and then they met an air raid warden and so knew that the time for the test blackout was close at hand.

"Louise!" Penny suddenly exclaimed, stopping short.

"Now what?" the other demanded. "Don't you dare tell me you've left something at the library!"

Penny was staring at a man who only a moment before had come through the revolving doors of the Hotel Claymore.

"See that fellow!" she said impressively.

"Yes, what about him?"

"He's the head waiter at The Green Parrot."

"Why, you're right!" Louise agreed. "For a minute I didn't recognize him in street clothes."

"Let's follow him," Penny proposed as the man started down a side street. "Maybe we can learn the new location of The Green Parrot."

"Oh, Penny, I told Mother I'd come straight home."

"Then I'll follow him alone. I can't let this opportunity slip."

Louise hesitated, and then, unwilling to have Penny undertake an adventure alone, quickly caught up with her.

"There's no telling where this chase will end," she complained. "That man may not be going to The Green Parrot."

"Then perhaps we'll learn where he lives and police can question him."

As Penny spoke, a siren began to sound. A car which was cruising past, pulled up at the curb and its headlights went off. All along the street, lights blinked out one by one.

"The blackout!" Louise, gasped. "I was afraid we'd be caught in it. Now we'll lose that man, and what's worse, I'll be late in getting home!"

CHAPTER 15 _A DRIFTING BARGE_

Upon hearing the shrill notes of the air raid siren, the man whom Penny and Louise followed, quickened his step. Hastening after him, the girls turned a corner and came face to face with an air raid warden.

"Take shelter!" he ordered sternly. "The closest one is across the street--the basement of the Congregational Church."

Penny started to explain, but the warden had no time to listen. Waving the girls across the street, he watched to see that they actually entered the shelter.

"I guess he thought we weren't very cooperative," Louise remarked as they followed a throng of persons downstairs to the basement. "These blackout tests really are very important."

"Of course," agreed Penny. "It's a pity though that our friend, the waiter, couldn't have been sent into this same shelter. Now we'll lose him."

For nearly twenty minutes the girls remained in the basement until the All Clear sounded. As they returned to the street level, lights were going on again, one by one. Pedestrians began to pour out of the shelters, but the girls saw no one who resembled the waiter.

"We've lost him," sighed Penny. "I guess we may as well go home."

"Let's hurry," urged Louise who was glad to abandon the pursuit. "Mother will be worried about me."

At the Sidell home, Penny turned down an invitation to come in for a few minutes. As she started on alone, she paused and called to her chum who was on the porch: "Oh, Lou, how about a sail early tomorrow morning?"

"Isn't the river too high?"

"It was dropping fast this morning. The current's not so strong now either. Let's get up bright and early."

"How early?" Louise asked dubiously.

"Oh, about seven o'clock."

"That's practically the middle of the night," Louise complained.

"I'll come by for you at a quarter to seven," Penny said, as if the matter were settled. "Wear warm clothes and don't you dare keep me waiting."

The next morning heavy mists shrouded Riverview's valleys and waterfront. Undaunted by the dismal prospect, Penny proceeded in darkness to the Sidell home. There, huddling against the gate post, she whistled several times, and finally tossed a pebble against the window of Louise's room. A moment later the sash went up.

"Oh, is it you, Penny?" her chum mumbled in a sleepy voice. "You surely don't expect to go sailing on a morning like this!"

"The fog will clear away just as soon as the sun gets up. Hurry and climb into your clothes, lazy bones!"

With a groan, Louise slammed down the window. Ten minutes later she appeared, walking awkwardly because she wore two pair of slack suits and three sweaters.

"Think we'll freeze?" she inquired anxiously.

"You won't," laughed Penny, giving her a thermos bottle to carry.

By the time the girls reached the dock, the rising sun had begun to scatter the mist. Patches of fog still hung over portions of the river however, and it was impossible to see the far shore.

"Shouldn't we wait another hour?" Louise suggested as Penny leaped aboard the dinghy.

"Oh, by the time we get the sail up the river will be clear," she responded carelessly. "Toss me the life preserver cushions."

While Penny put up the mainsail, Louise wiped the seats dry of dew. Her fingers stiff with cold, she cast off the mooring ropes, and the boat drifted away from the dock.

"Well, the river is all ours this morning," Penny remarked, watching the limp sail. "That's the way I like it."

"Where's the breeze?" demanded Louise suspiciously.

"We'll get one in a minute. The headland is cutting it off."

"You're a chronic optimist!" accused Louise. Wetting a finger, she held it up. "I don't believe there is any breeze! We'll just drift down stream and then have to row back!"

"We're getting a little now," said Penny as the sail became taut. "Hold your fire, dear chum."

The boat gradually picked up speed, but the breeze was so unsteady that the girls did not attempt to cross the river. Instead, they sailed in midstream, proceeding toward the commercial docks. The mists did not entirely clear away and Penny began to shiver.

"Don't you wish you had one of my sweaters?" asked Louise, grinning.

Penny shook her head as she reached to pour herself a cup of steaming coffee from the thermos bottle. Before she could drink it, a large, flat vessel loomed up through the mist ahead.

"Now don't try to argue the right of way with that boat," Louise advised uneasily.

"Why, it's a barge!" Penny exclaimed, bringing the dinghy about. "I do believe it's adrift!"

"What makes you think so?" Louise asked, staring at the dark hulk.

Penny maneuvered the dinghy closer before she replied. "You can see it's out of control. There's no tow boat anywhere near."

"It does seem to be drifting," Louise acknowledged. "No one appears to be aboard either."

Realizing that the large vessel would block off all the wind if she approached too close to it, Penny kept the dinghy away. The barge, almost crosswise to the current, was floating slowly downstream.

"How do you suppose it got loose?" Louise speculated.

"Saboteurs may have cut the hawser."

"The big mooring rope _has_ been severed!" Louise exclaimed a moment later. "I can see the frayed end!"

Penny came about again, tacking in closer to the drifting vessel.

"That certainly looks like the barge Carl Oaks was hired to guard," she declared with a worried frown. "Can you read the numbers, Lou?"

"519-9870."

"Then it is his barge!"

"He must have deserted his post again."

"In any case that barge is a great hazard to other vessels," Penny declared, deeply troubled. "Not even a signal light on the bow or stern!"

"Oughtn't we to notify the Coast Guards?"

"We should, but while we're reaching a telephone, the barge may ram another boat. Why not board her and put up signal lights first? In this fog one can't see a vessel many yards ahead."

"It doesn't look possible to climb aboard."

"I think I can do it," Penny said, offering the tiller to her chum. "Here, take the stick."

"You know what happens when I try to steer," Louise replied, shrinking back. "I'll be sure to upset. The wind always is tricky around a big boat."

"Then I'll take down the sail," Penny decided, moving forward to release the halyard.

The billowing canvas came sliding down. Penny broke out the oars, and maneuvered the dinghy until it grated against the hull of the barge.

"Even a trained monkey couldn't get up there," Louise declared, staring at the high deck.

Penny rowed around to the other side of the barge. Discovering a rope which did not give to her weight, she announced that she intended to climb it.

"You'll fall," Louise predicted.

"Why, I'm the champion rope climber of Riverview High!" Penny chuckled, thrusting the oars into her chum's unwilling hands. "Just hold the dinghy here until I get back."

"Which shouldn't be long," Louise said gloomily. "I expect to hear your splash any minute now."

Penny grasped the dangling rope. With far more ease than she had anticipated, she climbed hand over hand to the deck of the barge. Once there she lost not a moment in lighting signal lamps at bow and stern. The task accomplished, she was moving amidships when she thought she heard a slight sound from within the deck house. Pausing to listen, she called:

"Is anyone here?"

There was no answer, but distinctly she heard a scraping noise, as if someone were pushing a chair against a wall.

"Someone _is_ in there!" Penny thought.

Darting across the deck, she tried the door of the cabin. It had been fastened from the outside. Fumbling with the bolt, she finally was able to push it back. The door swung outward.

For a moment Penny could discern no one in the dark, little room. Then she saw a man lying on the floor. A gag covered his mouth and his hands and feet were tied with cord.

The prisoner was Carl Oaks.

CHAPTER 16 _DANGER ON THE RIVER_

Throwing the door open wide to admit more light, Penny darted into the cabin. Bending over the prisoner, she began to untie the cords which bound his wrists.

"I'll have you free in a minute, Mr. Oaks," she encouraged him.

The cords had been loosely tied. Undoing the knots, she next pulled away the gag which covered his mouth.

"What happened, Mr. Oaks?" she demanded. "Who did this to you?"

The old watchman sat up, stretching his cramped arms. He did not reply, but watched Penny intently as she loosened the thongs which bound his legs. Getting up, he walked a step or two across the cabin.

"Tell me what happened," Penny urged impatiently. "Don't you feel able to explain?"

"I'm disgusted," Mr. Oaks returned. "Plumb disgusted."

"I don't doubt you feel that way," agreed Penny. "This barge is floating in mid-channel, a hazard to incoming and outgoing vessels. We'll have to do something about it."

"I'm through with this job! I didn't want it in the first place!"

"That's neither here nor there," Penny replied, losing patience. "Suppose you stop grieving over your bad luck for a minute, and explain what occurred."

"Well, it was about midnight when they sneaked aboard."

"The men who attacked you?"

"Yes, there were three of 'em. I was in the cabin at the time, reading my newspaper. Before I knew what was happening, they were on top of me."

"Did you recognize any of the men, Mr. Oaks?"

"No."

"What did they look like?"

"It was dark and I didn't see their faces."

"How were they dressed?"

"Didn't notice that either," Mr. Oaks returned grumpily. "I was too busy tryin' to fight 'em off. They trussed me up and then cut the barge loose."

"Saboteurs!"

"Reckon so," the old watchman nodded.