Part 5

Penny turned on the ignition and started the car. "I'm just not interested," she announced flatly. "Mrs. Deline has taken all the fun out of me. Want to go for a ride?"

"Where?"

"Oh, just up the beach."

"Isn't it dangerous to drive on the sand?"

"Everyone does it at low tide. The sand is hard and firm along this stretch of beach."

Louise offered no further objection, so Penny drove slowly away from the hotel. The car rode on silken tires, making only a soft swishing sound as it rolled smoothly over the sand.

"Oh, this is fun!" Louise cried in delight.

"We might drive to the lighthouse," Penny proposed, steering to avoid two bathers who crossed in front of the car.

Following the curve of the beach, the girls kept on until the sand became so soft that they were afraid to drive farther. The lighthouse was close by. Penny, curious to learn what sort of reception the keeper would accord her on the second visit, proposed to Louise that they call there.

"If he let Mrs. Deline visit the tower why can't we?" she argued. "Come along, let's try to get in!"

Abandoning the car on the beach, they waded through the dunes, climbed a fence, and ultimately reached the base of the tower. No one seemed to be in evidence. Penny started boldly up the iron steps. However, before she had gone very far, the keeper, Jim McCoy, came out on the platform.

"Didn't I tell you no visitors are allowed here?" he called down angrily.

"I saw a lady come here yesterday!" Penny returned.

"You must have dreamed it," retorted the lighthouse keeper. "No visitors allowed. Don't make me tell you again!"

Penny retreated, decidedly crushed.

"You asked for it, kitten," Louise teased as they walked toward the car. "I don't blame the keeper for not wanting visitors."

"Mrs. Deline was there," Penny insisted stubbornly. "Why should he deny it?"

Half way to the car, the girls paused to pick up a few large shells lying in the deep sand. The task became an absorbing one. Before they realized it, the sun was high overhead and their faces were being burned by the direct rays.

"Let's go," Louise urged. "The tide turned a long while ago. We should be returning to the hotel."

"Okay," Penny agreed. She stooped to pick up another shell. As she straightened, she observed an old man in ragged clothing coming down the beach.

"Lou," she said in a low tone, "there's that same man Mr. Emory was telling us about!"

"The beachcomber?" Louise turned to stare.

"Yes, and he's coming this way. Perhaps it might be worth while to watch him."

"He's not seen us yet."

Penny glanced about for a hiding place. The only one that offered was a huge sand dune. Pulling Louise along with her, she crouched down out of sight.

In a moment the old beachcomber came along. He was whistling and seemed to have not a care in the world. His face, viewed at close range, was weather-beaten, his hair uncombed, and his clothing had not been washed in many a day.

"What's so mysterious about him?" Louise whispered. "Why did Mr. Emory say he'd bear watching?"

"Maybe he's not really a beachcomber," Penny returned, low. "He may be an Enemy Agent in disguise."

"You have Enemy Agents on the brain!" Louise chuckled. "Likewise, man-snatching widows."

The beachcomber passed within a few feet of the girls. He crossed the courtyard of the lighthouse and was seen to take a trail which led amid the rocks.

"Lou, perhaps he's going to one of the caves!" Penny cried. "You know Mr. Emory said this locality is honeycombed with them."

"Let him go," Louise answered indifferently. "It's lunch time and I'm hungry."

"Your appetite will have to wait. I'm going to follow that man!"

"Oh, Penny."

"But this may be important."

"And it may be just another of your so-called bright ideas," Louise retorted. "Well, lead on, and let's get it over with."

The beachcomber already had disappeared amid the mass of piled-up rock farther back from shore. Penny had marked the locality well with her eye. She was able to lead Louise to the place where he had vanished.

"See, there's a well-worn trail," she indicated triumphantly. "He must have taken it."

They followed the path, and a moment later caught a fleeting glimpse of the beachcomber. At times the trail was so narrow that the girls barely could squeeze between the rocks. Wind whistled around the cliffs, whipping hair and blowing skirts.

Unexpectedly, Penny, who was in the lead, came to the low entranceway of a cave.

"He must have gone in there!" she declared excitedly. "Listen!"

From deep within the cave the girls could hear a strange sound.

"Rushing water!" Louise said in awe. "The Cave must have a waterfall or an underground river."

"We'll soon know." Penny started into the cave only to have Louise clutch at her hand.

"Don't be silly, Penny. We have no flashlight."

"But we can't let that beachcomber get away. We want to learn what he does."

"I can bear up without knowing."

"Well, I can't," Penny announced with equal firmness.

"But it may be dangerous. Let's go back to the hotel and get Jerry or your father."

Penny hesitated, then shook her head. "You stay here if you like, Lou," she replied. "I'm going inside."

Before her chum could detain her, she stooped low and crawled into the narrow, dark tunnel.

CHAPTER 12 _CAUGHT BY THE TIDE_

Unwilling to be left behind, Louise followed her chum into the dark cavern. Once she and Penny were well beyond the yawning mouth of the cave, they could not see a foot ahead of them. Guided by the sound of rushing water, they groped their way along a damp wall.

"This is awful!" Louise whispered nervously. "Let's turn back."

Penny might have yielded to her chum's coaxing but at that moment the tunnel broadened out and became lighter. Directly ahead a series of steps led down to a lower room of the cave.

"This place must be safe enough or steps wouldn't have been built here," she whispered. "Don't be nervous, Lou. We may discover something important."

Louise muttered that they were more likely to break their necks. However, she cautiously followed Penny down the rock-hewn steps. Half way down, they both paused. From below came a weird sound.

"What was that?" Louise whispered.

"It sounded for all the world like the note of a pipe organ!" Penny observed. "There it is again--a different tone this time."

Noiselessly the girls moved on down the steps. Ahead of them they now could see a moving light which undoubtedly was a flash lantern carried by the beachcomber. Drawing closer, they saw the man himself. In the great cavern his shadow appeared grotesque and huge.

"What is he doing?" Louise whispered in awe.

The man was unaware that he had been followed. He stood in the center of the great chamber, gazing with wrapt expression at the stalagmites which rose in strange formations from the cave floor. The girls could hear him muttering to himself. At the risk of being seen they moved closer.

"Music! Music!" the old man mumbled. "Talk about your pipe organs! They ain't in it with _this_!"

He held a long stick in his hand and with it began to explore the row of stalagmites, striking them one by one, at first with a slow tempo and then faster and faster. The weird sounds echoed and reached through the galleries of the cavern.

"Pretty!" the old man prattled. "It's the music o' Heaven. There ain't no music to equal it."

Again the beachcomber struck the stalagmites, listening raptly while the sounds died slowly away.

"Come on, Penny," Louise urged, tugging at her hand. "Let's get out of here. That old goof has lost his buttons."

Decidedly crestfallen, Penny permitted herself to be pulled along the passage and up the steps. As the girls groped their way to the cave's mouth, they still could hear the weird echoing tones.

"That was a good joke on you!" Louise teased. "You thought you were going to find a hidden radio station!"

"Well, we did find a cave," Penny said defensively.

"We didn't exactly discover it," Louise amended. "This must be Crystal Cave. Seemingly that old beachcomber regards it as his own personal property."

"Mr. Emory certainly gave us a wrong steer. A mysterious character, my eye!"

"You'll admit that the old fellow is interesting," Louise laughed. "However, I doubt he'll warrant much attention from the FBI."

"All right, laugh," Penny retorted grimly. "You think my detective efforts are a joke anyway."

"No, I don't, Penny. But I will say I doubt you'll have success tracing a hidden radio station. After all, it's a problem that has the State authorities baffled. Not to mention Uncle Sam's Army."

The girls stepped from the cave out into the brilliant sunshine. Gazing toward the sea, they were amazed to see how high the tide had risen. Giant waves were washing very close to the Parker automobile left on the beach.

"Ye fishes!" Penny exclaimed in horror. "I forgot all about the car!"

"And the tide's coming in fast!"

"The Point will be cut off in a few more minutes!" Penny added, recalling Mr. Emory's warning. "We'll have to travel, and travel fast!"

Scrambling down from the rocks, the girls plunged through the dunes to the beach. A wind was blowing and the sea had an angry look.

"If just one wave strikes the car, the wheels will sink in the sand, and then we'll be in it!" Penny cried.

With increasing alarm she noted that sand was damp within a foot of the rear wheels. And as she jerked open the car door, a greedy wave nipped again at the rubber.

"We'll soon be out of here," Louise said encouragingly.

Penny stepped on the starter and to her relief the motor caught instantly. In great haste she turned the car around, circling away from the inrushing sea.

"Careful!" Louise warned. "The sand is dreadfully soft this far up shore."

Too late Penny realized the same thing. She could feel the car starting to bog down. The motor began to labor. Then the car stalled completely.

"We're stuck!" she gasped.

Both girls sprang out to look at the wheels. Their spirits sank. On one side, front and rear tires were bogged deep in sand.

"Start the engine again!" Louise urged desperately. "I'll try to push."

Penny obeyed, but her chum's puny strength made not the slightest impression upon the car. It could not be moved a foot. The spinning wheels only drove deeper and deeper into the sand.

"What shall we do?" Louise asked helplessly. She turned to stare at the incoming sea. Each wave was breaking a little closer to the car.

"This place will be under in another twenty minutes," Penny calculated. "Even if the car isn't washed away, the salt water will ruin it. How did we ever get into such a mess?"

"Just by being careless. If only we weren't so far from the hotel!"

"I'll run to the lighthouse," Penny decided desperately. "Maybe the keeper will help us."

Both girls were badly frightened, not for their own safety, but because they feared that the car would be damaged beyond repair. Once the waves began to strike it, it would sink deeper and deeper into the sand. Salt water would corrode all of the bright chromium.

"We've no time to waste!" Penny cried, darting away.

The girls plunged through the sand drifts to the lighthouse. Evidently the keeper already had observed their plight, for he was standing on the upper platform peering down into the courtyard.

"Our car is stuck in the sand!" Penny shouted. "Can you help us get it out?"

"No, I can't," the keeper answered gruffly. "You should have watched the tide."

"There's no one else to help us," Penny pleaded. "Just a little push--"

"I'm forbidden to leave my post."

"Then will you telephone to the Inn? Or to a garage?"

"I could 'phone but it wouldn't do any good," the keeper said reluctantly. "Your car will be under water before a tow-car could get here."

Exasperated by the man's unwillingness to help, Louise and Penny ran back to the car. Already waves were lapping against the rear wheels. The situation seemed hopeless.

"Shall I try to push again?" Louise asked.

"It wouldn't do any good. We're not strong enough." In desperation, Penny's gaze wandered down the deserted shore. Suddenly she saw a lone fisherman who was wading through the surf. She recognized him as George Emory.

"He'll help us!" she cried confidently.

The girls shouted Mr. Emory's name. Apparently he heard, for he turned his head quickly. Their plight, they thought, must be instantly evident, but Mr. Emory did not seem to comprehend. He waved his hand as if in friendly greeting, and then, reeling in his fish line, turned and walked away from them.

CHAPTER 13 _A HIDDEN PACKAGE_

"Why, Mr. Emory doesn't understand!" Penny cried, aghast. "Can't he see that we're stuck here with the tide rolling in?"

The girls shouted again and again. If the man heard, he gave no sign.

"I don't believe he wanted to help us!" Penny declared furiously. "Probably he's afraid he'll over-strain himself pushing!"

Unwilling to give up without a last try, she sprang into the car and once more started the engine. It roared and labored but could not pull the vehicle. Sick with despair, Penny allowed the motor to idle. She slumped behind the steering wheel, only to straighten suddenly as she thought she heard her name called.

Louise too heard the cry for she turned quickly toward the main road some yards back from the beach. A young man in uniform was running across the dunes toward the girls.

"It's Jerry!" Penny cried jubilantly. "He'll help us!"

"He will if he can," Louise corrected. "The tide's coming in so fast now. I doubt anyone can get us out of here now."

Jerry did not waste time asking questions. Taking in the situation at a glance, he instructed Penny to remain at the wheel. With the motor racing, he and Louise pushed with all their strength. At first the rear wheels kept spinning in the sand. A great wave slapped the rear end of the car, spraying Louise from head to foot.

"It's no use!" she gasped. "We can't do it."

"Yes, we can!" Jerry insisted. "Try once more, Louise."

Again they pushed and this time the car actually moved a few feet before it bogged down. Encouraged, Jerry and Louise tried harder than before. The wheels suddenly struck firm sand, dug in, and the car began to creep forward. Penny kept it moving until she was sure the footing beneath the tires was solid. Then she pulled up so that Jerry and Louise might leap aboard.

"Drive as fast as you can for the hotel!" Jerry instructed crisply. "We'll be lucky to make it."

Where an hour before the roadway along the beach had been wide and ample, there now was only a fringe of white sand. To avoid the incoming waves, Penny had to drive dangerously close to the dunes. And midway to the hotel, they came to a flooded stretch of beach.

"We'll have to risk it," Jerry advised as Penny hesitated to drive on.

The water was not deep but the sand was wet and treacherous. Choosing a moment between breakers, Penny braved it, and to her intense relief the car rolled through without sinking down.

"It's clear sailing now," Jerry said as a wider strip of beach opened before them. "We're well beyond the Point."

Mr. Emory was walking along the shore and as the car went past, he waved his hand in a friendly way. Penny did not bother to return the salute, pretending she did not see him.

"I'm sure he knew we were in trouble and didn't want to help," she told Jerry. "The more I see of that man the less I like him."

"Who is he anyhow?"

"Just a vacationer. He got Lou and me all excited yesterday with his talk about that hidden radio station."

"How do you mean?" Jerry asked with interest.

Penny repeated the conversation, and mentioned how Mr. Emory had suggested that the old beachcomber was a mysterious character that would bear watching.

"Not old Jake Skagway?" Jerry asked, amused.

"I believe that was his name."

"Jake's the only beachcomber I know hereabouts. He makes his living picking up things on the beach and selling them. Folks say he buries some of his loot in the caves."

"How do you know so much about him, Jerry?"

"Oh, I used to run down to Sunset Beach real often years ago. I know this locality like a book. Guess that's why the Army sent me here to do a little scouting around."

Penny waited expectantly, but Jerry offered no more information as to the reason for his visit to Sunset Beach.

"Probably Lou and I were taken in by Jake Skagway," she admitted after a moment. "If we hadn't followed him into the cave, we certainly wouldn't have involved ourselves in such difficulties."

Upon reaching the Crystal Inn a few minutes later, the girls searched for Mr. Parker. He was nowhere to be found. After waiting for a time, they left the car with Jerry and hiked to the forest camp. There the early afternoon was devoted to camp tasks. When Mr. Parker still did not come, Penny proposed that they return to Sunset Beach for a plunge in the surf.

"Too cold," Louise shivered.

"Well, let's go down to Sunset Beach anyhow," Penny urged. "I get restless just sitting here in camp."

"You know you want to see Jerry again," Louise teased. "'Fess up."

"All right, I do want to see him," Penny admitted unabashed. "Jerry's my very best friend. I've not been with him in months and I suppose in a few days he'll be shot off to goodness-knows-where."

"He's not told you very much about why he came here."

"No," Penny said briefly. The subject was a sore one with her. She felt that both her father and Jerry were keeping secrets.

The tide was still high when the girls reached the beach, but the flow was outward. Sprawling in the warm sand, they watched the gulls.

"Wonder what became of Jerry and Dad?" Penny speculated. "They're probably together somewhere."

"Or with Mrs. Deline," Louise suggested wickedly.

She was sorry that she had spoken for Penny's face immediately became as black as a thundercloud.

"Sorry," Louise apologized. "I was only joking."

Penny continued to scowl for at that moment she glimpsed Mrs. Deline walking rapidly down the beach. The widow came from the direction of the lighthouse and was alone. To avoid the incoming waves she waded ankle deep through the great sand ridges along the drift fence.

"That's queer," Penny muttered, sitting up.

"What is?"

"Why, Mrs. Deline apparently has been at the lighthouse again. What's she doing now?"

The widow had paused. Carefully she gazed up and down the deserted shore, but she did not see Penny and Louise who were hidden from view by a sand dune. However, by raising up slightly, they could see her plainly.

Mrs. Deline carried a package of considerable size under her arm. Seemingly satisfied that no one was at hand to observe her actions, she moved swiftly to one of the sand dunes near the drift fence. As the girls watched in amazement, she dug a deep hole and buried the package. Her work completed, she carefully brushed sand over the spot and obliterated her own footprints one by one.

"What was the idea of that?" Louise asked in bewilderment.

"That's what I want to know!" Penny muttered. "We'll wait until she leaves and then find out the contents of that package!"

But Mrs. Deline did not immediately go away. Instead she sat down in the sand close by. The girls could not see very well but they thought she was writing something on the skirt of her white suit.

"Why is she doing that?" Louise asked in bewilderment.

"I'll bet a cookie she's writing down the location of what she hid in the sand dune!" Penny speculated. "That's so she can find it again!"

"But why write it on her skirt? And why should she hide anything here on the beach?"

"Because she's a spy!" Penny declared triumphantly. "I've been suspicious of her from the first!"

"Yes, you have, darling," agreed Louise. "But would a spy necessarily hide a package? If Mrs. Deline had information to communicate wouldn't she send it to her superiors? Besides, Sunset Beach isn't even an important manufacturing town."

"That's true. But I've heard Dad say that the Coast Guards watch this place closely. Because of its isolation and jagged coastline it's considered a likely spot for surprise night landings by the Enemy."

"Only this morning you thought old Jake Skagway was a rascal," Louise chuckled. "You don't catch me falling for your theories this time."

"Then you have no interest in that hidden package?"

"Of course I have! I merely don't agree that Mrs. Deline is a spy."

"Quiet!" Penny warned. "Here she comes!"

Mrs. Deline had arisen from the sand and came rapidly down the beach. She did not see the girls until she was very close to them. Involuntarily, she paused, and looked somewhat disconcerted. Recovering, she spoke coldly.

"Hello," Penny responded, her gaze on the woman's white flannel skirt. It bore not a single tell-tale mark.

Mrs. Deline went on down the beach.

"You see," Louise whispered when the woman was beyond hearing, "she didn't write anything on her dress."

"But we saw her do it!"

"We only thought we did."

"Maybe she wrote it in invisible ink."

"Oh, Penny, you certainly have an imagination," Louise sighed.

"I suppose I imagined about the package too?"

"No, she really did bury something in the sand."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Penny demanded, leaping to her feet. "Let's dig it up, and then maybe we'll have the answer to a few of our questions."

CHAPTER 14 _VOICE FROM THE CAVE_

From a distance Penny and Louise had marked well the spot where Mrs. Deline had buried the package. But as they approached the drift fence all of the dunes seemed strikingly similar in appearance. They could not agree as to the exact mound which contained the hidden package.

"It was buried in this one, I think," Penny said, starting to dig. "Mrs. Deline certainly did a good job of covering her tracks."

"You're wasting time working on that dune," Louise insisted. "I'll get busy over here and turn up the package in nothing flat."

Selecting a mound of sand several feet from Penny, she began to dig with a will. The mysterious package proved elusive. Scarcely had the girls started work than a few raindrops splattered down.

"Oh, it's going to storm!" Louise exclaimed, turning startled eyes toward the dark sea.

The rain came down faster and faster. Faced with a choice of abandoning the search or being drenched, the girls decided to make a dash for the hotel.

As they darted up the steps at the Crystal Inn, they were surprised to see Mrs. Deline sitting on the veranda. A spyglass lay in her lap. Whether she had been watching the sea or their own antics they had no way of knowing.

"Have you seen my father, Mrs. Deline?" Penny asked, shaking the raindrops from her flying hair.

"Indeed, I don't keep track of his whereabouts," Mrs. Deline replied coldly. "By the way, did you find what you were searching for in the sand?"

The question caught Penny off guard. She stammered a few words which only caused the widow to smile in a knowing, amused way.

"I don't mind telling you what I buried in the sand," she resumed. "It may save you a little trouble. The package contained nothing but fish bones."

"Fish bones!"

"Yes, I had just visited my friend, Jim McCoy, at the lighthouse. It's most difficult to bury anything there because of so many rocks. He asked me to dispose of the scraps for him."

"Oh," Penny murmured, completely deflated.

"I've been watching you girls through the spyglass," Mrs. Deline went on. "It really was amusing."

"I can imagine," Penny agreed grimly. "Oh, well, I'm glad to provide a little amusement for this dead place."

She and Louise retreated until they were screened from the widow by a potted palm.

"I guess she scored on you that time, Penny," Louise commented. "So we wasted our strength digging for garbage!"

"You needn't rub it in."

"But it's all so silly. Why don't we try to like Mrs. Deline, Penny?"