Part 8

"Dare we go away and leave the boat?"

"Oh, it's safe enough for a few minutes," Penny returned. "The idea of staying here wasn't such a good one anyhow. What if those men should never come back?"

"This is a fine time to be thinking of that possibility!"

Moving quietly through the woods, the girls came to the ark. They could hear the hens cackling, and as they called Old Noah's name, the parrot answered, squawking: "Polly wants a cracker."

"You've got nothing on me, Polly," said Penny. "Where's your master?"

The old ark keeper was nowhere in evidence. Nor were the girls able to board the boat, for the gangplank had been removed.

"Now if this isn't a situation!" Penny exclaimed, exasperated. "It looks as if we're going to starve to death."

After lingering about the ark for a few minutes, they returned to their former hiding place. By this time they were so sorry for themselves that they could think of nothing but their discomfort. Belatedly, they recalled that Sara had smiled as she went away.

"She knew what we were up against staying here!" Penny declared. "Figured us for a couple of softies, I bet!"

"While everyone knows we're regular Commandos," Louise retorted sarcastically. "Why, if necessary we could go an entire day without eating."

"That's exactly what we will do," announced Penny with renewed determination. "I'll stay here until Sara comes if it kills me. But I hope you slug me if ever I get another idea like this."

"Don't worry, I will," promised Louise. "In fact, I may not wait that long!"

The hours dragged slowly on. All amusements failing them, the girls took turns sleeping. Twice they went to the ark, but Old Noah had not returned.

At last, as shadows lengthened, Louise and Penny were confronted with a new worry. It occurred to them that Sara might not expect to take over her duties until long after dark. The air had grown chilly, and hungry mosquitoes were swarming from their breeding places.

"Even my Mother doesn't seem concerned about me any more," Louise moaned, slapping at a foraging insect.

Penny glared at the motorboat snugly hidden in the underbrush. "If that thing weren't worth so much money, I'd certainly chuck this job. Even so, I'm just about desperate."

Louise, huddled against a tree trunk, suddenly straightened alertly. Placing a warning finger on her lips, she listened.

"Someone's coming, Penny!"

"Maybe it's Sara with a basket of food. I'd rather see her than a dozen saboteurs!"

"Keep quiet, you egg," Louise warned nervously.

Crouching low behind their shelter, the girls waited. They could hear a steady tramp, tramp of feet coming up the stream on their side of the bank.

"That's not Sara," murmured Penny. "She doesn't walk like an elephant. What'll we do if it should be a saboteur?"

"I'm scared," Louise chattered, hugging her chum's arm.

The footsteps came closer. Peering out through the screen of underbrush, the girls saw a young man coming straight toward their hiding place. In his hand he carried a safety-cap gasoline can.

"Who is he?" whispered Louise.

"Can't tell yet," Penny responded, straining her eyes to see. "He looks a little like--oh, my aunt! That's who it is--Bill Evans! Now what's he doing here?"

CHAPTER 19 _STANDING GUARD_

Keeping low amid the underbrush, Penny and Louise waited and watched. Bill Evans did not see them although he approached within a few feet of their hiding place. With no hesitation, he went to the motorboat and began filling the tank with gasoline.

"Bill Evans, a thief and a saboteur!" Louise whispered. "I'll never get over it!"

"Bill hasn't the pep to be a saboteur," Penny muttered. "There's something wrong with this melodrama, and I'm going to find out about it right now!"

Before Louise could stop her, she arose from the underbrush to confront the dumbfounded young man.

"Bill Evans, what do you think you're doing?" she demanded sternly.

Bill nearly dropped the gasoline can. "Why, I'm filling this tank," he replied. "Why are you girls hiding behind that log?"

"Because we've been waiting to catch a motorboat thief! And you're it!"

"Now listen here!" said Bill, setting down the gasoline can. "You can't insult me, Miss Penny Parker! Just what do you mean by that crack?"

"This motorboat was stolen from Sara Ottman. You're filling the tank with gasoline, so you must expect to make a get-away to parts unknown."

"This boat belongs to Sara Ottman?" Bill demanded in amazement.

"It certainly does."

"You're kidding. It belongs to a Mr. Wessler."

"Who's he?" asked Penny. "I never heard of him."

"Well, neither did I until this afternoon," Bill admitted. "He gave me a dollar to come over here and fill the tank of this boat with gas. I'm only carrying out orders."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Penny declared with satisfaction. "How did you meet Mr. Wessler?"

"I was working on the dock, tinkering with my engine, when a man came up and started talking to me. He said he was a friend of Mr. Wessler who was planning a fishing trip. Then he told me where the boat was, and said he'd give me a dollar if I'd run over and fill the tank with gasoline."

"Didn't you think it a rather peculiar request?"

"Not the way the fellow explained it. Mr. Wessler is a busy man and doesn't have time to look after such details."

"Mr. Wessler is afraid this locality is being watched, and he isn't taking any chances," Penny said soberly. "Bill, you've been assisting a thief!"

"Gee Whiskers!" Bill exclaimed, aghast. "I never thought about him not owning the boat. What should I do?"

"First of all, don't fill that tank with gasoline," Penny advised.

"It's about half full now."

"Can't you siphon it out?"

"Not without a tube, and I didn't bring one."

"You'll never in the world make a G-man," sighed Penny. "Well, at least you can describe the fellow who hired you."

Bill's brow puckered. "I didn't pay much attention," he admitted. "I'd say the fellow was about thirty-eight, with a little trick moustache."

"That can't be the man who originally rented the boat from Sara," Penny remarked, frowning.

"Say, are you really sure this boat belongs to the Ottmans?" Bill asked. "You know they're pretty badly tangled with the police. It said in the papers--"

"I know," interrupted Penny wearily. "Or do I know? I'm so mixed I feel like a perpetual motion machine running backwards."

"We've been watching here all day," Louise added, her voice quavering. "We've had nothing to eat. No wonder our minds are failing."

"Why don't you go home?"

"And let a saboteur run off with this boat?" Penny demanded. "We promised to stay here until Sara comes."

"Maybe she and her brother are pulling a fast one on you."

"I might think so, only this was my own idea," Penny answered. "Bill, did that man mention when his friend Wessler intended to go fishing?"

"No, he didn't."

"He might intend to use the boat tonight, and then again, perhaps not for several days. Say, Bill, how would you like to do your country a great service?"

"I'm aiming to enlist when I get through High School."

"This would be immediate service. Why not stay here and watch until Sara comes? It shouldn't be long."

"And what if those men should show up?"

"Just keep watch and see what they do. Of course, if they try to get away in the motorboat, you'll have to capture them."

"Oh, sure," Bill said sarcastically. "With my bare hands?"

"We won't leave you here long," Penny promised. "Louise and I haven't had a bite of food all day--"

"Okay, I'll do it," Bill gave in. "But see to it you're back here in an hour. Better bring the police too."

Learning that the young man had crossed the river in his own motorboat, the girls obtained permission to borrow it for the return trip. They found the craft at the mouth of Bug Run, and made a quick trip to the Ottman Dock.

"No one here," Penny observed as they alighted at the platform.

The boat shed was closed and locked. A small boy, loitering nearby, told the girls that he had not seen Sara Ottman for several hours.

"Now this is a nice dish of stew!" Penny exclaimed. "Where could she have gone? And why?"

"I know where I am going," announced Louise grimly. "Home! Be it ever so humble, there's no place like it when you're tired and hungry."

"But what about poor Bill? We can't expect him to stay in the woods all night."

"Well, there's a hamburger stand at the amusement park," Louise suggested after a moment. "We could go there for a sandwich. Then we might telephone home and request advice."

"Not a bad idea," Penny praised.

At the hamburger stand they ate three sandwiches each and topped off the meal with ice cream and pie. Seeking a public telephone, Penny then used a precious nickel to call her home. No one answered. Deciding that her father might be at the _Star_ office, she phoned there. Informed that Mr. Parker was not in the building, she asked for Mr. DeWitt.

"DeWitt left the office a half hour ago," came the discouraging response.

"I wonder where I can reach him?"

"Can't tell you," was the answer. "Burt Ottman has skipped his bail, and DeWitt's upset about it. He may have gone to talk to his lawyer."

"What was that about Burt Ottman?" Penny asked quickly.

"He's disappeared--skipped town. Due for trial day after tomorrow, too. Looks like DeWitt is holding the bag."

Penny hung up the receiver, more bewildered than ever. Without taking time to repeat the conversation to her chum, she called Sara's home.

For a long while she waited, but there was no reply. At last, hanging up, she eyed the coin box, expecting her nickel to be returned. Though she jiggled the receiver many times and dialed to attract the operator's attention, the coin was not forthcoming.

"You've had no luck," said Louise, taking Penny's place at the telephone. "Now it's my turn. I'll call home. Mother's always there."

She held out her hand, expecting a coin. Penny had nothing for her, and was forced to admit that she had used the last nickel on the preceding call.

"Then we have no bus money either!" gasped Louise.

"Stony broke--that's us."

"How can you be so cheerful about it?" Louise asked crossly. "We can't walk home--it would take us all night!"

"There's only one thing to do, Louise. We'll have to go back and talk to Bill. At least he should be able to loan us bus fare."

By this time the girls had lost all enthusiasm for saboteurs and sleuthing. As they recrossed the river in Bill's boat, they vowed that never again would they involve themselves in such a ridiculous situation.

"And just wait until I see Sara!" Penny added feelingly. "If I don't tear into her for playing a shabby trick on us!"

"She probably skipped town along with her brother," Louise replied. "I'm beginning to wonder if that motorboat we guarded so faithfully ever belonged to the Ottmans."

Landing not far from the mouth of Bug Run, the girls proceeded afoot to the site where Bill Evans last had been seen. To their relief, he had not deserted his post. Cold, his face swollen by mosquito bites, he hailed them joyously.

"Thought you were never coming back! I'm getting out of here, and how!"

"What happened while we were gone?" Penny asked sympathetically. "Didn't Sara come?"

"No one has been here."

As Bill started away, the girls tried to dissuade him.

"I wouldn't stay here another hour if you'd give me the boat!" he retorted. "I'm going home!"

Jerking free from Louise who sought to hold him by main force, he moved off.

"At least telephone our folks when you get to Riverview!" Penny shouted indignantly. "Tell our parents that if they're still interested in their daughters to come and lift us out of this sink hole!"

"Okay, I'll do that," Bill promised. "So long."

After the sound of footsteps had died away, Louise and Penny sat down on the log and took stock of the situation.

"Any way you look at it, we're just a couple of goats," Penny said dismally. "It wouldn't be so bad if Old Noah would take us into his ark with the rest of the animals, but he's not at home."

"Sara played a trick on us, our parents went off and hid, and I don't think we can trust Bill too far," Louise sighed. "Why do we stay here anyway?"

"Well, something could have happened to detain Sara."

"I wish I could think so, but I can't. It would serve her right to lose this boat--if it actually is hers."

"Sara always seemed sincere and honest to me," Penny said, slapping furiously at a buzzing mosquito. "Until we have definite proof otherwise, I want to trust her."

"Even if it means staying here all night?"

"Well, my trusting nature has a limit," Penny admitted. "But surely our parents will come to rescue us before long."

"I wouldn't count on it," Louise returned gloomily. "Bill was in a bad mood when he left here."

The girls fell into a deep silence. They huddled together to keep warm, and slapped constantly at the insects. For a time it grew steadily darker, then a few stars brightened the patches of sky which could be seen through the treetops.

"Imagine explaining all this to Mother," Louise murmured once. "Why, it doesn't even make sense to me."

The noises of the forest began to annoy the girls. Overhead an owl hooted. Crickets chirped, and at frequent intervals a frog or a small animal would plop into the water.

"Listen, Lou!" Penny presently whispered. "I hear something coming!"

"Maybe it's a bear," Louise shivered.

"Silly! There aren't any bears in this part of the country."

"How do you know what sort of animals are around here?" Louise countered. "Maybe one escaped from Old Noah's zoo."

As the sound grew louder, the girls crouched low amid the brush. Through the trees they saw the gleam of a flashlight and distinguished the figure of an approaching man.

"It's probably my father!" Louise whispered, and started forward.

Penny jerked her back. "Bill hasn't had time to get to Riverview yet! This may be the big pay off!"

"A saboteur?"

Penny nodded, her gaze on the approaching figure. The man was tall and muscular and walked with a cat-like tread. He came directly to the motorboat, muttering under his breath as he examined the half empty fuel tank.

Straightening, he turned so that he faced the girls. For a fleeting instant Penny thought that he was Burt Ottman, and then she recognized her mistake. The man was the one who had rented Sara Ottman's boat--the head waiter of The Green Parrot.

CHAPTER 20 _A SHACK IN THE WOODS_

Fearing detection, Louise and Penny remained motionless as the man stared in their direction. He did not see them, and after puttering about the boat for a few minutes, started off through the woods.

"Now what shall we do?" Louise whispered anxiously.

"Let's follow and find out where he goes," proposed Penny, stealing from her hiding place.

None too eager for the adventure, Louise nevertheless kept close beside her chum as they followed the stranger. Instead of returning to the main river, he chose a trail which led deeper into the woods. Coming soon to the ark which loomed dark and mysterious against a background of trees, he paused for a moment to gaze at it. Then he veered away from the well-trampled path, keeping on through the dense thickets.

"Don't you think we should turn back?" Louise whispered anxiously. "There's no guessing where we'll end up. We easily could get lost."

Penny was plagued by the same worry, but she bantered: "Why, Lou, your Scout leader would blush with shame to hear you say that! The woods stretch for only a few miles. We always can find our way out."

"What if our folks come searching for us while we're wandering around?"

"I try not to think of such unpleasant situations," Penny responded cheerfully. "You may be sure we'll have to do some tall explaining. But if this fellow we're tailing should prove to be a saboteur, everything will be lovely."

"That's not the word I'd use," Louise muttered.

The girls had fallen many yards behind the head waiter. Failing to see the flash of his light, they quickened their pace and for a minute or two feared they had lost him. But as they paused in perplexity, they again saw a gleam of light off to the right.

"Let's do less talking and more watching," Penny said, hastening on. "If we're not careful we'll lose that fellow."

Taking care to make no noise in the underbrush, the girls soon approached fairly close to the waiter. Apparently he knew his way through the woods, for not once did he hesitate. Occasionally he glanced overhead at dark clouds which were scudding across the sky. Reaching a small clearing, he paused to look at a watch which he held close to his flashlight beam.

"What time do you suppose it is?" Louise whispered to her chum.

"Not very late. Probably about nine o'clock."

Because the waiter had paused, the girls remained motionless behind a giant oak. They saw the stranger switch off his light and gaze carefully about the clearing. In particular his attention centered upon a little shack, though no light showed there.

"Whose cabin is it?" whispered Louise. "Do you know?"

"I'm not sure," returned Penny. "I think it was built several years ago by an artist who lived there while he painted the ravine and river. But he moved out last winter."

The cabin was a curious structure, picturesquely situated beneath the low-spreading branches of an ancient tree. No windows were visible at the front, but a raised structure on the flat roof gave evidence of a large skylight.

After gazing at the shack for several minutes, the waiter raised fingers to his lips and whistled twice. To the surprise of the girls, an answering signal came from within the dark cabin.

A moment later, the front door opened, and an old man stepped outside.

"That you, Jard?" he called softly.

Without replying, the waiter left the shelter of trees to cross the clearing.

"Had any trouble?" he asked the old man.

"Everything's been going okay. I'll be glad to pull out o' here though."

The waiter made a reply which the girls could not hear. Entering the cabin, the men closed the door behind them.

"Who was that old man the waiter met?" Louise asked curiously. "Did you know him, Penny?"

"I couldn't see his face. He stood in the shadow of the door. His voice sounded familiar though."

"I thought so, too. What do you suppose those men are up to anyway?"

"Nothing good," Penny responded grimly.

The girls huddled together at the edge of the clearing, uncertain what to do. If a light had been put on inside the shack it did not show from where they stood.

"Why not go for the police?" Louise proposed hopefully.

"I have a hunch those men may not stay here long. By the time we could bring help, the place might be deserted. Besides, we haven't a scrap of real evidence against them."

"How about the stolen motorboat?"

"We're not even sure about that, Lou. Sara and her brother both have disappeared. Accusing a man falsely is a very serious offense."

"Then what are we to do?" Louise asked despairingly. "Just stand here and wait until they come outside?"

"That's all we can do--unless--"

"Unless what?" Louise demanded uneasily as Penny interrupted herself.

"Lou, I have a corking idea! See how those tree limbs arch over the roof of the shack? Why, that old maple is built to our order!"

"I don't follow you."

"You will in a minute if you're a good climber!" chuckled Penny. "We can get up that tree and onto the roof. Even if it shouldn't have a skylight we can see through, at least we can hear what's being said."

"Let's just wait here."

"And learn nothing," Penny said impatiently. "How do you expect ever to be a G woman if you don't start practicing now?"

"I'm going to be a nurse when I grow up. Climbing trees won't help me at that."

"Then wait here until I get back," Penny said, starting across the clearing.

As she had known, her chum could not bear to be left alone in the dark woods. Louise hastened after her and together they crept to the base of the scraggly old maple.

The branches were so low that Penny pulled herself into them without difficulty. She then helped Louise scramble up beside her. They clung together a moment, listening to make certain that no sound had betrayed them.

"So far, so good," Penny whispered jubilantly. "Now to get onto the roof. And it does have a skylight!"

"We'll probably tumble through it," Louise muttered.

A dim light, which came from a candle, burned inside the shack. Nevertheless, from their perch on the overhanging limb, the girls were unable to see what was happening below. Penny decided to lower herself to the roof.

"Put on your velvet shoes," she warned as she swung lightly down from the lower branch. "The slightest noise and we're finished."

Dropping on the flat roof, she waited a moment, listening. Satisfied that the men inside the shack had not heard her, she motioned for Louise to follow. Her chum however, held back, shaking her head vigorously.

Abandoning the attempt to get Louise onto the roof, Penny crept toward the skylight. Lying full length, she pressed her face against the thick glass.

In the barren room below a candle burned on a table. The head waiter whom Penny first had seen at The Green Parrot sat with his legs resting on the fender of a pot-bellied stove. Opposite him was the older man whose face she could not immediately see.

"I tell you, I'm getting worried," she heard the old fellow say. "When the Coast Guards took me off that coal barge they gave me the third degree. I can't risk having anything hung on me."

Penny pressed her face closer to the glass. Her pulse pounded. She was certain she knew the identity of the old man.

"I wish he'd turn his head," she thought. "Then I'd be sure."

As if in response to the unspoken desire, the old man shifted in his chair. The light of the candle flickered on his face, and Penny saw it clearly for the first time.

"Carl Oaks!" she whispered. "And to think that I ever helped him!"

CHAPTER 21 _THROUGH THE SKYLIGHT_

Greatly excited to learn that the old watchman and the waiter of The Green Parrot were fellow conspirators, Penny strained to catch their words. She heard the waiter reply:

"You've done good work, Oaks. All you have to do now is sit tight for a few more hours. We'll give you a five hundred dollar bonus if the job comes off right."

"That won't do me any good if I end up in jail."

"Nothing will go wrong. Everything has been planned to the last detail."

"I'm already in bad with the police," the old watchman whined. "I wouldn't have gone in with you if I'd known just what I was doing."

"You got your money for the Thompson bridge job, didn't you?"

"A hundred dollars."

"It was more than you earned," the other replied irritably. "All you had to do was let me get away after I dynamited the bridge. You blamed near shot off my head!"

"I had to make it look as if I was doin' my duty. Those girls were watching me."

"That Parker pest came snooping around at The Parrot," the waiter said, letting the tilted chair legs thud on the floor. "Brought a reporter with her too. I got rid of 'em in short order."

"She didn't act very friendly when she found me bound and gagged aboard the coal barge," Carl Oaks resumed. "I think she may have suspected that it was a put up job. That's why I want to get out o' town while the getting is good."

"You can leave after tonight. We blast the Seventh Street bridge at one o'clock."

"And what about this prisoner I've been nursemaiding?"

"We'll plant enough evidence around the bridge to cinch his guilt with the police. Then we'll dump him in Chicago where he'll be picked up."

"He's apt to remember what happened and spill the whole story."

"Even if he does, the police won't believe him," the waiter said. "They'll figure he's only trying to get out from under. Anyway, we'll be in another part of the country by then."