Louise and Ted Mackay did not go to the police headquarters that night. They were too miserable, too discouraged by the outcome of their excursion to the island. After leaving the plane at the airport, Ted called Captain Magee on the telephone, and briefly related the results of their flight.
Supper was a dreary affair for them both. It was only by putting forth a tremendous effort that they ate at all—in an attempt to stave off exhaustion. The ice cream, at least, tasted good to Louise, for she was still very hot.
The worst ordeal of all came after the meal, just as the saddened young couple were passing through the hotel lobby to take the elevator to their room. Louise suddenly recognized two familiar figures at the desk, two men who had just arrived with their luggage. Mr. Crowley and Mr. Carlton—the fathers of the two unfortunate girls!
The tears which Louise had bravely forced back ever since her collapse at the discovery of the matchbox on the island, rushed to her eyes again. How could they ever tell these two men the terrible news?
For an instant she hoped they would not see her or her husband, that she could at least put off the evil tidings until the morning. But it was not to be. Linda's father recognized her instantly, and came quickly towards her.
"Louise!" he exclaimed, holding out his hand. "And Ted! Any news?"
Louise could not answer for the sob that was choking her, and Ted, shy as he always was, knew it was his duty to explain.
"Bad news, Sir," he said. "We had information this morning that the girls were stranded on an island in the ocean, and that their autogiro had been stolen from them. As you probably read in the newspaper, it was found yesterday.... We—Lou and I—flew to the island where the girls were supposed to be, this afternoon, and found evidences of their camp—burnt out fires—but no trace of the girls."
Mr. Carlton looked grave.
"But they may have been rescued," suggested Mr. Crowley, who had the same optimistic disposition as his daughter.
"Possibly," admitted Ted. "But if they had, wouldn't we have heard? The whole country is waiting for news of those two brave girls."
"I'm afraid you're right," agreed Mr. Carlton, darkly. "Yes, you must be right. Foul play——"
"Or the ocean!" put in Louise. "Oh, the cruel, dreadful ocean! If it couldn't swallow Linda up on her flight to Paris, it had to have its revenge now!"
"Have you had your dinner, Sir?" asked Ted of Mr. Carlton.
"Yes. On the train. Suppose we get our rooms—I'll ask for a private sitting-room—and then we can all go up and discuss the matter together from every angle, and decide upon what is the best thing for us to do."
Louise brightened at this ray of hope.
"Then you're not going to give up yet, Mr. Carlton?" she inquired.
"Never, till we find them—dead or alive. We're going to think of no news as good news."
Mr. Crowley nodded his approval.
"I have a week's vacation," added Ted, "and I shall be at your service."
"Thank you, my boy," answered Mr. Carlton, gratefully. He was a great admirer of Ted Mackay, ever since he had recovered from his prejudice against him because he was the son of a ne'er-do-well.
The new-comers made their arrangements at the desk, and were fortunate enough to secure a very pleasant suite. Louise and Ted went up in the elevator with them, and Mr. Carlton ordered coffee to be sent to the room.
They settled down into the easy chairs and Louise poured the iced-coffee. The evening was hot, but there were large windows on three sides of the sitting-room, and a lovely breeze was blowing. Mr. Carlton brought out cigars and offered one to Ted.
"But I suppose you'd rather have a cigarette," he said, when Ted refused.
"No thank you, Sir. I never smoke. A great many of us pilots don't. We want to keep as fit as possible."
Mr. Carlton nodded. Linda had never expressed any desire to smoke, and he supposed it was for the same reason.
"There are two places where the girls might be," he said slowly, as he puffed on his cigar. "On another of those small islands, off the coast, or in some boat—on the ocean. If they had reached the coast, we should have heard of it."
"A boat!" repeated Louise, with sudden inspiration. "There was that broken down motor-boat, that the girl and the gangster used to get to the island! Could Dot and Linda have gone off in that?"
"What boat?" demanded Mr. Carlton and Mr. Crowley, both at once.
Louise explained by repeating most of the story which they had heard from Susie that morning.
"Funny we didn't think of that before," observed Ted. "Come to remember, I didn't see any boat this afternoon. Did you, Lou?"
"No, I didn't. And we searched the whole island," she explained to the older men. "We'd surely have seen it if there had been one."
"This sounds hopeful!" exclaimed Mr. Crowley, joyfully. "If it didn't have a leak——"
"But didn't you say that it was broken?" asked Mr. Carlton.
"The girl said the engine was broken, but as far as I know, the boat itself was sound," replied Ted.
"Linda could fix the engine!" cried Louise, almost hysterical in her relief. For the first time since the finding of the matchbox, she actually believed that Linda and Dot were still alive.
"We'll work on that theory, anyway," decided Mr. Carlton. "And go out on the ocean tomorrow."
Before they could discuss their plans any further, the telephone on the desk interrupted them, and Mr. Carlton was informed that there were two young men who wanted to see him—Ralph Clavering and James Valier.
"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Mr. Carlton, who had not even known that the boys had started South. "Yes," he added to the clerk on the phone, "ask them to come up right away, by all means."
"Who? What?" demanded Louise, eagerly. "Any news?"
"I don't know yet. Ralph and Jim are here."
"They would be," smiled Louise. Linda couldnever get away from Ralph Clavering, no matter how far she went.
A minute later the boys appeared, dressed in camping clothes, looking very unlike the neat, immaculate young men they always appeared to be at Spring City, or at Green Falls. Even if they took part in athletics at home, their white flannels were always spotless. But now, except for the fact that their faces were clean and shaved, they looked like tramps.
Ralph and Jim were just as much surprised to see Ted and Louise as the latter were at their visit.
"Where in the world have you been?" demanded Louise, in amazement at their appearance. "You both look as if you had been ship-wrecked and lost besides."
"We have," muttered Jim, sinking wearily into a seat, and extending his long legs in front of him. "Please pardon our slouching, Lou—but we're dead."
"But where have you been?" repeated Mr. Carlton.
"In the Okefenokee Swamp!" answered Ralph. "And if Lou weren't here, I'd tell you what it's like, in no uncertain language!"
Mr. Carlton smiled, and yet he was horror stricken. If these boys found it so dreadful, what must it have seemed like to Linda?
"Tell us about it!" he urged. "But wait, have you had your supper?"
"Yes. We had food along with us. We left the canoe at the edge of the stream, and taxied back here, because we have rooms in this hotel. They told us at the desk that 'Miss Carlton's father had arrived,' so we didn't wait even to change our clothing. We had to get the news of the girls immediately."
"I'm afraid there isn't much to tell," sighed Louise. "At least nothing hopeful." Briefly she repeated what she and Ted had been doing all afternoon, as a result of Susie's capture and story, and she displayed the matchbox, with the name of Spring City stamped on its lid.
"I recall Linda's getting that from her aunt," remarked Ralph, dolefully. "She asked for half a dozen boxes, and Miss Carlton got them right away, so she wouldn't forget."
"Now tell us what you boys have been doing," urged Mr. Crowley. "And Louise, why don't you pour them some of this iced-coffee? It really is very refreshing."
Briefly Ralph told his story, aided now and then by Jim. Their second expedition into the swamp had been as useless as their first, though they admitted the superiority of a canoe over a motor-boat, if one knew where to go. But they had become hopelessly lost in a couple of hours, in spite of their maps, and, as time passed, they became all the more certain that the girls were not in the swamp. They decided to turn back, in order to concentrate their efforts on the islands near where the autogiro had been found.
Susie's story naturally confirmed their suspicions, and they instantly agreed with Mr. Carlton to abandon all further search of the Okefenokee.
"I believe the thing to do," announced the latter, after serious contemplation, "is to hire a yacht, and cruise all along the Georgia and Florida coast. The most reasonable explanation to me is that Linda and Dot are adrift somewhere in that motor-boat. Either the engine is broken beyond repair, or the gasoline has given out."
"Or that terrible storm has wrecked them," faltered Louise, who could not silence her fearof the ocean. "Upset that little boat, and——"
"Don't, Lou!" cried Jim. "Don't even think of things like that, unless we find an empty boat!"
"I'll try not to," she promised.
"Well, whatever has happened, the ocean is the place for us to be, if we hope to rescue the girls," concluded Mr. Carlton, "You all agree on that point?"
Everyone assented, and Ralph and Jim expressed their desire to get into action immediately.
"We ought to be able to get a yacht tomorrow," continued Mr. Carlton. "Because of the publicity of this affair someone who has one ready will probably be glad to rent it to us on the spot. I think I'll go to the newspaper office tonight, and have the request broadcast by radio."
"Great!" exclaimed Louise, jumping up excitedly. "And can we all go with you tomorrow, on the cruise, I mean, Mr. Carlton?"
"You can do just as you prefer—go with me, or use your own plane to fly around over the islands."
"I think that would be the better plan forus, Sir," put in Ted. "And we can keep in touch with you by signals."
The group separated at last, the older men to call their families by long-distance, the young people to get a good night's sleep after their strenuous day. In the morning they re-assembled at breakfast, when Mr. Carlton announced the good news that he had been offered a yacht by a wealthy man in Jacksonville.
"He even refused to take any rent for it, much as I urged him to," he added. "And he's lending us the crew besides. It seems too good to be true."
"All of which goes to show just how popular Linda is—with everybody!" explained Louise. "Oh, we simply must find her!"
There were no preparations to be made for the cruise, because the owner of the yacht assured Mr. Carlton that everything was in readiness, so by ten o'clock on the morning of July third, the little party, composed of the two fathers and the two boy-friends of the lost girls stepped aboard the boat. It was a beautiful little yacht, complete in every detail. Under any other circumstances the men would have been overjoyed at the prospect of such a pleasanttrip. As it was, they were too worried to think of anything but Linda and Dot.
"What a marvelous time we could be having if the girls were aboard!" lamented Ralph. "Dance and play bridge all day, every day, with no other fellows to cut in on us, and take them away! I say, Jim, we might even come back engaged if we had a chance like that!"
"Much more likely they'd be so sick of us they'd never want to see us again!" returned the other, shrewdly. "No—cruising's all right. But I'd rather be in Green Falls if Linda and Dot were with us."
"Maybe this will teach Linda a lesson," grumbled Ralph. Then he suddenly remembered her job, with the Spraying Company in Atlanta. He couldn't pretend to be sorry if she lost it.
The speedy little yacht cruised all day along the coast, while the men played bridge, and smoked, and ate the most excellent meals, cooked and served by an efficient staff. But underneath all this comfort ran an under-current of anxiety, especially towards evening, when darkness came on, and no sign of the girls had been seen.
Several airplanes had flown over their heads during the day, and once they saw Ted's plane. Dropping low, Louise waved her handkerchief, which was the pre-arranged signal to tell them that the flyers had found nothing, and Ralph waved his in return, conveying the same information. Should they have anything to report, Ted announced that he would put his plane through a series of stunts, and, in the case of the yacht's making a discovery, Jim Valier promised to climb up on the rail.
But the airplane and the yacht passed each other with only a dismal fluttering of handkerchiefs.
"Something's bound to happen tomorrow," said Jim, as he crawled into his bunk that night. "It'll be the fourth of July!"
"By Jove! It will!" exclaimed Ralph. "We ought to get some bang-up excitement!"
But the thing that happened was what they had all been silently dreading—the fate which only Louise had mentioned, that night in the hotel sitting-room.
About noon—off the coast of Florida—Jim Valier spotted an overturned old motor-boat, bouncing helplessly about on the ocean!
When the storm came at dawn on the thirtieth of June, it awakened Linda first. As the rain descended upon the slickers that covered the girls, and upon their faces, Dot merely buried her head sleepily under the raincoat, but Linda sat bolt upright on the bed of leaves.
The wind was howling about the lonely island, and the rain was pouring down in sheets. The blackness of it all was terrifying, yet she knew that she must get up.
"Dot!" she whispered, hoarsely. "Wake up!"
Her companion opened her eyes sleepily as she pushed the slicker aside.
"Yes.... Why Linda, it's—pouring!"
"It certainly is." Linda was slipping on her shoes and her knickers over her pajamas. "We've got to rescue the boat."
"Why?"
"Because water mustn't get into the gasoline. And because the tide might come up high enough to wash the boat out to sea."
"O.K.," replied Dot, now quite wide awake. "I'm with you, Linda—in just a second."
Holding on to each other's hands, they made their way with difficulty down to the beach where the boat had been left, and together they dragged it back and covered it with one of the slickers.
Panting from the effort, they dropped back on the sand and sat down, not bothering about the rain that was descending relentlessly upon them, soaking them to the skin.
"We might as well use the other slicker as a roof for ourselves," suggested Dot, as she got to her feet again. "We can hang it over some bushes, and crawl under it."
"That's an idea!" approved Linda. "I was wondering how one raincoat could keep us both dry."
"It won't keep us dry—we're wet now. But it will protect us from the worst force of this cloud-burst."
They went back to their camping site and arranged the slicker as best they could—carefullyputting the bag of money and the box of tools under it, before they crawled in themselves. The bushes were wet, and so was the ground, but the girls were saved the discomfort of having the rain actually pour in their faces.
They watched the storm for some time, hoping that it would soon abate, and finally, becoming drowsy, they fell asleep again, with their feet sticking out under the covering.
Cramped by the awkward position, they awakened in a couple of hours. Daylight had arrived—but not sunlight. It was still raining steadily and dismally.
"Don't you suppose we can go today?" asked Dot.
"Maybe later on," replied Linda, cheerfully. "There's one thing good about this, Dot. We can get a drink."
"How heavenly!" exclaimed the other, sitting up. "But how do we manage it? We won't get much by just opening our mouths!"
"Get up carefully. I'm sure there's a lot of water lodging on the top of this slicker. Wait—get the thermos bottles out of the tool-box first. We'll use the cups, and then stand them up to catch the rain as it falls."
Linda's surmise was correct; there was so much water on the slicker that it was in danger of collapsing any moment. They dipped their cups into the pool and drank eagerly. How good it tasted to their parched throats!
"There must be more down on the boat's cover," suggested Dot. "Let's get it, and pour it into our thermos bottles."
When they had carried out this idea, they set the bottles firmly in the sand, and crept back under cover.
"Shall we eat?" asked Dot, after watching the rain for some minutes in silence.
"Let's wait a while—till noon, if we can. We have only those two oranges and a half a dozen crackers. It'll be something to look forward to."
"There's still some tea and sugar—and one can of milk," the other reminded her. "You know we didn't use them, because we couldn't afford the water. Now it'll be different."
"I'd forgotten all about that!" exclaimed Linda, smiling. "Let's have tea and one cracker for lunch, and save the oranges for supper."
"But how can we ever hope to build a fire in this rain? We'd never find any dry sticks—andif we made one under here, we'd be smoked out."
"I hadn't thought of that. But we can make cold tea. If we leave the leaves in the water long enough, they'll flavor it—anyway, that's what I read in an ad one time."
"You think of everything, Linda! It's no wonder you've gotten out of a dozen disasters that would have killed an ordinary girl!"
"Now Dot!" protested the other girl, modestly. "Just so long as we get out of this one, I'll be satisfied."
To help pass the tediousness of the long gloomy day, the girls took a brisk walk encircling the entire island. Soaked as they were before they started, they decided it would be foolish to stop because of the rain. The sight of the ocean, wild and angry as it was because of the storm, aroused their wonder and admiration, and rewarded them for their wet excursion. In vain they squinted through the spyglasses for a glimpse of the autogiro, but even the island on which it had been left by Susie was obliterated from their vision.
It was no wonder, therefore, that they did not see the plane which brought Sergeant Worthand the two pilots to that other island. All unaware that Ladybug had flown home that afternoon, the girls finally settled down after dark to try to sleep under their improvised roof.
When they awakened the following morning, they were disappointed not to see the sun. It was still raining, but no longer in torrents; the storm had slackened to a monotonous drizzle.
"We better go," said Linda, as they breakfasted on tea and two crackers apiece. "I can keep the engine pretty well covered up. And this rain may keep up for days."
"I shouldn't care to keep up this reducing diet for days," observed Dot. "If we were only too fat, Linda, how we would welcome such a chance to starve ourselves!"
"Yes.... If—Oh, Dot, don't you wish we had a thick steak now—smothered in mushrooms——"
"With creamed potatoes and fresh peas——"
"Fruit salad and cheese wafers——"
"Meringues, salted nuts, and coffee!"
Both girls suddenly laughed out loud.
"Anyway, we can both have our drinks ofwater," concluded Dot. "And they say thirst is worse than hunger."
"We'll fill both thermos bottles before we push off," said Linda. "But I'm counting on reaching the Ladybug before noon, and then we ought to get to the Georgia coast by two o'clock."
"Where we eat that dinner!" added Dot.
Carrying their belongings, they walked down to the beach in their rain-soaked clothing, and pushed the boat out towards the water. The ocean was still so high and so rough that Linda hesitated a moment.
"Do you think we can make it?" asked Dot, noticing the expression of doubt on her companion's face.
"Yes, I think so. That island didn't look far, yesterday."
"That's true. But I can't see it now, Linda. Suppose the storm had washed the Ladybug away—or even the whole island?"
Linda shuddered, realizing that there was that possibility. She took the glasses from her pocket, and peered through them in the direction she remembered the island to be.
"I can't see a thing but ocean," she stated."The waves are so high. But let's go in that direction anyway. It must be there."
She turned to the motor-boat and attempted to start the engine, but for some minutes she labored in vain, for the engine refused to catch. Was everything in the world against them, Dot silently wondered, as she watched Linda repeat her efforts with infinite patience.
At last, however, there was a sputter, and the motor started. The girls pushed the boat into the water and climbed into it.
It would have been great sport riding the waves, had it not been for the grave danger attached. This was no sporting contest, with a life-guard in readiness to rescue them if anything went wrong! It was a race between life and death.
The wind had died down, however, and the sea was gradually growing calmer. Up and down the little boat bobbed, now in the trough of a wave, seemingly under a mountain of water—now rising again to a height that made the girls think of a scenic-railway at a pleasure park. Dot screamed with excitement, but Linda's lips were set in a firm line of determination, her attention riveted on the engine.
By some miracle, it seemed to the girls, the little boat forged triumphantly ahead, with its motor running smoothly. A feeling of confidence was gradually taking the place of fear, and Dot strained her eyes for the island that was their goal. Half an hour later she spotted it, and almost upset the boat in her joy.
"There it is, Linda!" she cried, excitedly. "Oh, Linda, we're saved! We're——" She stopped suddenly, hardly able to believe her eyes. The autogiro was gone!
"What's the matter, Dot?" asked Linda, unable to understand the abrupt end of her chum's rejoicing. "Anything wrong!"
"Yes.... The Ladybug's gone!"
"What? Oh, it can't be!" Linda's voice was hoarse with terror. "Look again, Dot—you have the glasses."
Dot squinted her eyes, but was rewarded by no trace of the plane.
"You take a look, Linda," she suggested. "Maybe you can see better."
The other girl eagerly caught the glasses which her companion tossed, and with trembling fingers held them to her eyes. The island was in plain sight now, but it was a ghastlyfact that the autogiro had completely disappeared.
Linda continued to gaze at the barren spot, her eyes fixed and staring, as if she were looking at death itself. Then, dropping the glasses into her lap, she seemed to be thinking intently.
"It's true, Dot," she said, in an expressionless tone. "Yet that must be the right island.... Something has happened.... I don't know whether the wind could have lifted the Ladybug—or whether that gangster came back for it.... In any case, there's only one thing for us to do."
"Yes?" faltered Dot, biting her lips to keep back the tears. She must not fail Linda now, in her darkest hour.
"Turn the boat around, and make for the shore. We mustn't waste another drop of gasoline. It—won't last forever."
"Shall we go back to our island—if we can find it?" asked Dot, as she turned the wheel.
"No, we'll go straight west.... Or is that the west? Oh, if we only had a compass, or the sun to guide us.... But that must be the right direction."
Linda was speaking bravely, trying to keep her voice normal, and her companion took heart from her manner. The boat went forward in the opposite direction, presumably towards the coast.
Half an hour passed in silence, each girl intent upon her task. Linda took out her extra can of gasoline and filled the tank. Once Dot drank some water from the thermos bottle and reminded Linda of hers. All the while they continued to keep a sharp look-out for the coast.
Another hour passed, and the girls' hunger began to assault them. The rain continued to fall, and weariness stole over them both. They were too weak and too tired to talk.
At last Linda broke the silence by asking Dot to take another good look for the coast through the glasses. She did not add that it was vital this time, that the gasoline was running very low. On a rough sea like this, oars would be out of the question, even if the girls had been as strong as boys.
"I can't see anything but water," was the reply.
But just at that moment Linda saw something that held her speechless with terror. Theboat was springing a leak! Water appeared to be pouring in by the bucket-full!
As the significance of this catastrophe dawned upon Linda, her throat grew dry and parched; the words with which she meant to tell Dot choked her so that she could not speak. How, oh how could she possibly inform her brave chum of what was literally their death sentence!
It was Dot, however, who spoke instead. Rather, she cried out hysterically,
"Linda, I see a boat! A steam-boat! Coming towards us!"
"Where?" gasped the other girl, her heart beating wildly between hope and fear.
"Right ahead! Look! You can see her without the glasses now!"
Linda shot a swift glance at the approaching boat, then looked again at the floor, where the water was fast deepening. Would the rescue come in time? And would the boat stop at their signal of distress?
Wild with excitement, both girls raised their arms and waved desperately at the approaching craft, until it was only fifty yards away. Then they both shouted with a power and volumethat they would not have believed they possessed.
The oncoming boat decreased its speed until it was almost beside the girls' sinking craft. To their overwhelming joy and relief, they saw that it was stopping. A man appeared on the deck, and called to them in a pleasant voice.
"In trouble, girls?"
"Our boat's sinking!" shouted Linda to Dot's amazement, for the latter was still unaware of the immediate tragedy that was threatening them. "Can you take us aboard?"
"Sure!" he replied. "Wait till I get a rope ladder."
While he was gone, Linda pointed to the water in the boat, which by this time Dot had seen, and signaled to the other girl to say nothing of their experiences to this man, until they learned more about him. Linda's recent association with criminals had made her exceedingly wary.
"Pull up closer," instructed the man, as he returned with the ladder. "Now, can you climb?"
"Easily!" Dot assured him. "We're in knickers, anyhow."
"May we throw our stuff on board first?" inquired Linda, picking up the bag which contained, besides their few possessions, all the bank's money.
"Sure! Anything breakable in it?"
"Only a couple of mirrors," returned Dot, who had regained her cheerfulness with amazing speed. "And we're not afraid of bad luck," she added.
A moment later the girls climbed to safety, and pressed their rescuer's hand in gratitude. It seemed like a miracle to them both, and the old seaman was like an angel from heaven.
"How soon will we get to the coast?" asked Linda eagerly.
The man shook his head.
"We can't go to the coast," he replied. "We're headed for Cuba."
"But we must get back as soon as possible," pleaded Linda, beginning to wonder whether she was about to be kidnapped again.
"You were headed for the open ocean," the seaman informed her, to both girls' consternation. "And that's where we have to go. I can't stop at the United States.... I'm awfully sorry...."
Linda and Dot stood still on the deck of the old boat, grasping the rail with their hands, and looking intently at their rescuer. He was a typical old seaman, with tanned, roughened face, a gray beard, and kindly blue eyes.
"That was a narrow escape," he remarked. "What do you girls mean by going out on a rough sea like this, in a shell like you had?"
"We couldn't help it," Linda replied. "And we thought the boat was safe. We didn't know it was going to spring a leak.... Would it take very long to run us to the coast, Mr.—Captain——?"
"Smallweed," supplied the man. "And everybody calls me 'Cap'n'."
"Well, would it, Captain Smallweed?" repeated Linda, amused at the name. He ought to be at home on the island they had just come from, she thought—there were so many "small weeds" growing there!
"Too long fer me to stop," he replied, to the girls' dismay. "I got to get back to my family, in Havana." His blue eyes twinkled. "Why? What have you girls got in that bag, that's so important to deliver in a hurry?"
"You think we're boot-leggers!" laughed Dot. "Don't you, Captain?"
"I wouldn't be surprised at anything," he answered, smiling. "I've seen just as nice lookin' girls as you——"
"I'm afraid we're not very nice looking," sighed Linda, surveying their drenched, bedraggled clothing. "But we're really not boot-leggers.... We want to get back so that we can telephone to our families. They probably think that storm was the end of us."
"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't go off my course. Like to, if I had the time——"
"Well, if you can't, you can't—that's all there is to it," said Linda, philosophically. "We're glad to be alive at all, and I don't suppose a couple of days will make any difference."
"How long do you think it will take you to get to Cuba?" put in Dot anxiously. There was no use fussing, of course, but she could notforget that her mother and father would be frantic by this time.
"I'm reckonin' on dockin' at Havana the fourth of July. This is only the first, but these are stormy seas, and we have to expect delays.... Now come on inside, out o' this drizzle. You girls are drenched—I'll have to give you the only cabin I got. To get yourselves dry in."
Stooping over, he picked up Linda's tool-box, and finding it heavy, eyed it suspiciously.
"You girls gangsters?" he asked, unexpectedly. "Got any guns on you?"
Both girls felt themselves growing red at this accusation, yet they could not deny it wholly.
"That box has the tools in it which I used to fix up the engine of the motor-boat," Linda finally explained. "And you can take our word that we're not gangsters."
But they were exceedingly nervous as they followed the Captain to the cabin where there were two bunks, one on top of the other. Suppose he should decide to search them—and find not only the two revolvers, but all that money besides! He would never believe their story!
"When you get dry, I'll take you over thewhole boat," he said. "I carry tobacco up the coast every couple of months. Used to have a sail-boat—that was the real thing! But this little lady's speedy—and better in a storm like we just had."
"How can we ever thank you enough, Captain Smallweed?" cried Dot, suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude for their safety. "Our fathers will send you a handsome reward when we get back home."
"Never mind that," smiled the man. "I've got a girl of my own—she's married now—but she's still a kid to me, and I know how I'd want her treated.... Now, you can bolt this door if you want to, so there won't be any danger of either of the two other fellows aboard coming in accidentally—and you can get yourselves dry."
"There's—there's just one thing, Captain," stammered Linda. "We're dreadfully hungry. Could we have a piece of bread, or anything to eat?"
"You poor kids!" he exclaimed, in a fatherly tone. "Come on down to the kitchen, and you can help yourselves."
Though the food he provided was not thesteak dinner they had been dreaming about on the island, it tasted good to those two starved girls. Captain Smallweed made tea for them, and brought out bread and smoked sausages, and Linda and Dot ate every crumb of the repast.
"We were marooned on an island during that storm," Linda explained. "And we have had nothing but a couple of oranges and a few crackers for two days."
"Well, you'll get a good supper," the Captain promised them. "That's why I'm not givin' you more now. I'll knock on your door about eight o'clock, if you ain't awake before then. That's when we usually eat."
When the girls were finally alone in their cabin, they gazed first at their bag of money, then at each other, and suddenly started to laugh. It was such a ridiculous situation. During those lonely days of exile on the island they had pictured their return so differently. It would be a grand occasion, with exciting telephone calls to their families, a marvelous dinner at a hotel, perhaps a radio broadcast of their safe landing! Instead of all that, here they were, stowed away in a shabby boat, suspectedof crime, and feasting on stale bread and hot dogs for their banquet! Worst of all there would be three weary days of waiting before informing the world of their safety! Yet they were thankful indeed that they had been rescued at all, and by a man as kind-hearted as the old sea captain.
"I don't really think he'll bother any more about that bag," said Linda, as she took off her wet shoes. "If only we can get it back to Jacksonville safely, from Cuba! If we only had the Ladybug!"
"It's a mystery where she could have vanished to," observed Dot. "But I suppose that is a small thing, compared to saving our lives."
"You'll never go anywhere with me again," sighed Linda. "Dot!" she exclaimed abruptly, "I'd forgotten all about my job!"
"I hadn't forgotten I was to start back North today," remarked the other girl. "Jim Valier was going to motor over and meet me at the station when my train came in."
"Poor Jim!" sighed Linda, little thinking that the young man had no intention of doing that. "He'll have a good wait. But Jim can always sleep, on any occasion."
"I guess he won't expect me.... We must be reported as missing by now—in all the newspapers."
"Of course. I'd forgotten...."
The girls wrapped themselves in blankets and slept the rest of the afternoon, to waken in time to see the sun, which had appeared at last, just setting over the sea. Their clothing was still damp and disheveled, but they put it on and went up on deck to hunt their benefactor.
"We want you to let us cook," announced Dot, as she spied him. "We insist on making ourselves useful."
The man smiled pleasantly.
"All right," he agreed. "You can—tomorrow. But supper's ready now. Come on down."
They followed the Captain into the kitchen, where another man was placing a dish of potatoes on the wooden table, which did not boast of a cover.
"Meet Steve, ladies," her said—"my friend the pilot."
The girls nodded, and Dot asked, with anxiety, "But who's guiding the boat now, while Mr. Steve eats his supper?"
Both men laughed at her concern.
"There's another one besides us. He takes his turn, and so do I. We never all three eat or sleep at the same time."
It was a merry meal, though an exceedingly greasy one of fried potatoes and underdone bacon. The coffee, too, was none too good—for it was weak and muddy-looking. Nevertheless, both girls praised the supper extravagantly, for it tasted good to them, but they inwardly resolved to show the men the next day how food ought to be cooked.
The next two days passed pleasantly enough, for the girls were able to busy themselves with the meals, and the men's appreciation was plenty of reward for their efforts. In their off hours they relaxed by watching the ocean and scanning the sky for airplanes, the make of which Linda could often guess. Sometimes they played checkers with each other, or with Captain Smallweed, to the latter's delight. But never again was the suspicious-looking tool-box mentioned, until Linda herself handed it over to Steve, saying that she did not want to bother to take it to Havana.
By the time July third arrived, their boat was well out of the range of the yacht that wascruising in search of them, and on July fourth—the day that Jim Valier spotted the overturned motor-boat early in the morning—Captain Smallweed docked safely at Cuba.
"Where do you girls want to go now?" asked the Captain, as the party stepped ashore. "Want to come along home with me, and meet the wife? She can rig you up in some decent clothes."
"Thank you very much," replied Linda, "but we want to get to a telephone as soon as possible, so that we can get in touch with our families. So if you would just get us a taxi, and send us to the best hotel in Havana——"
"In those rigs?" inquired the other, in amazement. "Everybody will stare at you! They dress well in Cuba, you know."
"Oh, we're past caring about appearances," laughed Linda. "So stop that taxi for us, will you please, Captain?... And thank you a thousand times for all you have done for us."
"You'll hear from our fathers soon," added Dot, as she too shook hands with the old man.
Cautiously protecting the bag, into which Linda had stuffed the revolvers under the money, the girls taxied to the best hotel in thecity. The driver eyed them suspiciously, and the clerk at the desk stared at them as if they were hoboes. But he condescended to assign them a room when they showed evidence of paying in advance.
"We want a long-distance wire first of all," announced Linda. "We'd like to telephone from our rooms——"
She stopped abruptly, for two slender arms were suddenly thrust about her neck, and kisses were being pressed violently upon her lips and cheeks. Louise Mackay stood behind them! Louise, with her husband, both in flyers' suits.
Try as she could, the girl could not utter a word. The tears ran down her cheeks, and she continued to kiss first Linda and then Dot in the wildest ecstasy.
"I can't believe it!" she said at last. "Is it really, truly you, Linda darling?"
"What's left of us," replied Linda, laughing. "Did you ever see two such sights as we are?"
"I never saw anyone or anything in my life that looked half so good to me!" returned Louise, fervently. She stepped back and laid her hand on her husband's arm, for so far Tedhad not had a chance to say anything, or be included in the welcome. "Tell me it's true, Ted—that I'm not dreaming!" she urged. "I simply can't believe it."
"It's the best, the truest thing in the world," the young man assured her.
"We were positive you were dead," Louise explained. "We had so much evidence to prove it—the empty island where you were marooned, the overturned motor-boat that Jim Valier spotted early this morning——"
"Jim Valier!" repeated Dot, in amazement. "Where would Jim see our old boat?"
"Jim and Ralph and your two fathers are on a yacht, searching for you. They broadcast by radio any news they get. And Ted and I have flown to every island anywhere near the coast. We finished searching them all, so we landed here this morning, just for a rest."
"Then you have a plane!" cried Linda, in delight. "You can take us back to Florida! I'd so hate to get into another boat—I simply loathe the sight of them."
"Do tell us what happened to you," urged Ted. "I don't understand how we missed you everywhere."
"It's a pretty long story," replied Dot. "I think we better phone our families first. They must be almost crazy."
"They are," agreed Ted. "You go up in your room and phone them while I go to a radio station and broadcast the news."
"And I'll tell you what I'll do in the meanwhile," offered Louise. "I'll go out and buy you some decent clothing!"
Until the second of July, Linda's aunt, Miss Emily Carlton, had managed, with Mrs. Crowley's help, to keep hoping that the girls were still alive. Then her brother's long-distance call from Jacksonville, informing her that he was going to sea in a yacht in search of Linda and Dot confirmed all the fears she was secretly cherishing. That night she collapsed and went to bed a nervous wreck.
After once mentioning the fact that Linda was still reported missing in the newspapers, Miss Carlton's housekeeper learned not to speak of the girl again. It seemed as if the older woman could not bear to talk about her niece; in the few days since her disappearance she had aged rapidly. She lay listlessly on her bed, not seeing anyone, not even her dear friend Mrs. Crowley.
It was about noon on the fourth of July thatthe telephone operator informed the housekeeper that Havana was calling Miss Carlton. The good woman replied that her mistress was sick in bed, and that she would take the message for her. Her hands trembled as she awaited what she believed would be the announcement of Linda's death.
Faint and far off came the astounding words: "Aunt Emily, this is Linda."
"Wait!" cried the woman, shaking as if she had heard a ghost. "I'll get your aunt, Miss Linda."
Rushing to the bed-room, she handed Miss Carlton the bed-side telephone.
"It's Miss Linda," she whispered.
Doubting her senses, the patient sat up and took the instrument.
"Hello," she said, doubtfully.
"Darling Aunt Emily! It's Linda!" was the almost unbelievable reply at the other end of the wire.
Miss Carlton sobbed; she could not say a word.
"Aunt Emily? Are you there?" demanded the girl.
"Yes, yes—dear! Oh, are you all right? Not hurt?"
"Not a bit. Dot and I are both fine—she's talking to her mother now. We're—in Cuba."
"Cuba!" repeated the startled woman. "I thought it was the Okefenokee Swamp, or the Atlantic Ocean! Your father and Mr. Crowley are looking for you."
"Yes, I know. Ted and Louise are here, and Ted's broadcasting the news of our safe arrival now.... Probably Daddy has heard by this time."
"When will you be home, dear?" inquired Miss Carlton.
"Soon, I hope.... But we have to stop in Jacksonville first.... Aunt Emily, couldn't you and Mrs. Crowley come to Jacksonville? We're just dying to see you!"
Miss Carlton considered; she hated to tell Linda that she was sick in bed. But wait—was she? Wasn't it only nerves after all? Why, this good news made her feel like a different person!
"All right, dear," she agreed. "If Mrs. Crowley will, I'll try to arrange it. Shall I send a wire?"
"Yes," replied Linda. "To Captain Magee, at the City Hall, Jacksonville. I'll be there in a day or so.... Now good-by, dear Auntie!"
While Linda waited for Dot to come back from her call, which the latter had put in from another instrument, she opened the bag and took out their few possessions that were covering the money. They must be very careful not to let anything happen to all that wealth, she thought—they must never go out of the room and leave it, if only for a minute. How dreadful it would be if it were stolen now, after they had successfully brought it through all their dangerous adventures!
Dot returned in a couple of minutes, and the girls got ready to enjoy the luxury of a real bath, in a real tub. How good the warm water felt, how wonderful the big, soft bath towels! They spent an hour bathing and washing their hair, and trying to make their nails presentable with Louise's manicure set.
They had scarcely finished when the latter returned, followed by a porter carrying innumerable boxes and packages in his arms.
"I've bought everything for you from the skin out," she announced gayly, as she put theload on the floor. "Even hats and shoes, though I knew I was taking a chance at them. But I remembered that you and I often wore each other's things at school, Linda, and I judged that Dot would wear a size smaller. I do hope you can wear them, just till you get to your trunks at Jacksonville."
"You're an angel, Lou!" cried Linda, excited at the prospect of looking clean and respectable again.
"See if you like them," urged Louise. "I got a blue dress for you, Linda, to match your eyes—and a pink one for Dot."
"To match my eyes?" teased the latter.
All three girls began immediately to untie the packages, and drew out the purchases one after another with exclamations of admiration. Dot said that she was so used to seeing dirty knickers that she had positively forgotten what dainty clothing looked like.
"Well, hurry up and dress!" urged Louise. "We want to eat lunch in about ten minutes. Ted means to take off at two o'clock, if you girls think you can be ready by then."
"We surely can!" cried Linda, joyfully. She couldn't wait to get back.
"You'll burn your old stuff, won't you?" asked Louise. "This bag's a sight, too—why not stuff your old clothing into it, and ask the porter to take it away!"
Linda and Dot let out a wild cry of protest at the same moment, and the other girl frowned.
"Why not?" she inquired.
"Sh!" whispered Linda. "That bag has thousands of dollars in it. Belonging to the Jacksonville bank."
"Oh! You really have that money? And kept it all this time?"
"Yes. But don't say a word about it out loud. We'll take it with us into the dining-room, and wear our new hats, so nobody will think it queer."
They found Ted in the lobby of the hotel as they got out of the elevator, and they went into the dining-room to order the meal that Linda and Dot had been longing for on the island. It tasted good to them, but not so good, they had to admit, as the sausages and stale bread and hot tea which Captain Smallweed provided, when they were almost starved.
It was during the meal that they pieced thestory together. Linda began by telling of the finding of the money in the bags and the discovery of the last member of the gang on the island.
"But why he ran away without shooting us is a mystery to us," put in Dot.
"He thought that you had armed policemen with you," explained Louise. "We learned that later from Susie. She was captured a couple of days ago—in Panama."
"Where is she now?" demanded Linda, excitedly.
"In jail, of course."
"And the man they called the 'Doc'?"
"No," replied Ted. "Unfortunately he got away—fled the country. Lucky you girls got hold of the money, or the bank would never have seen it again.... And by the way, there's a big reward—ten thousand dollars, I believe."
"Ten thousand dollars!" repeated Dot, in amazement. "What do you think of that, Linda?"
"Wonderful!" cried the latter, joyously. "Five thousand apiece. Well, I'm glad you're going to get something out of this dreadful experience, Dot—that I selfishly dragged you into.And my part will go towards a new autogiro."
"A new autogiro!" exclaimed Louise, in surprise. "You don't need one, Linda. The Ladybug's safe and sound—at the Jacksonville airport."
"What? You mean that?" Linda seized the other girl's hand in almost incredulous rapture. "How did it get there?"
"The police found it that day it stormed so. And a pilot flew it back to Jacksonville."
Linda and Dot gazed at each other in full realization at last of the mysterious disappearance of the plane which they had mourned as lost forever.
If Linda was eager to get back to Jacksonville before, she was doubly so now. She could hardly contain her excitement during that flight across the Gulf of Mexico and over the state of Florida to the northern part. She kept urging Ted to put on more speed, to let the motor out to its limit, but the young man, realizing the load he was carrying, was not to be tempted beyond his better judgment.
They arrived at Jacksonville just as it was growing dusk, and flew over the city, now sofamiliar to them all, to the airport on its outskirts. Gracefully the skillful pilot swooped down the field to his landing.
The usual number of employees came out to greet them, but hardly had the girls climbed out of the plane when a resounding shout went up over the field. Linda Carlton and Dorothy Crowley had been recognized!
A crowd collected immediately, a crowd that had been prepared by Ted's radio message that afternoon, to welcome the two popular girls back to civilization. It was all that Linda and Dot could do to wave and shout greetings in return.
"I just want one look at my Ladybug," said Linda. "If you good people will let me get through——"
At this request, an accommodating official picked her right up on his shoulder, and carried her, amid the laughter of the crowd, triumphantly to the hangar where the autogiro was housed.
"Oh, you dear Ladybug!" whispered Linda, not wanting anyone to think she was silly, but so overcome with joy that she had to say something.No one but a pilot could understand the genuine affection which she felt for her autogiro.
"I'll be over to fly you tomorrow," she added, under her breath. Then, turning to the man who had conducted her across the field, she asked him whether he could as easily take her to the waiting taxi-cab.
They were off at last, waving and smiling to the enthusiastic crowd.
"Be sure to stay in Jacksonville till Saturday," the people begged them. "We're going to celebrate for you then!"
The girls nodded, and the taxi driver sped away with orders to go straight to the City Hall.
Captain Magee, who had received a call from the airport, was ready and waiting for them. Ted carried the shabby, worn bag into his office, and Linda put it into the Captain's hands herself.
"The bank's money," she explained. "And the two revolvers. We never had to use them at all."
"But we'd have died without them," added Dot. "Of fright—if nothing else."
In vain Captain Magee tried to tell the girlshow wonderfully brave he thought they had been, but he was so overcome by feeling that he groped for words and stammered—ending by pressing both Linda's and Dot's hands in silence.
"Two young girls like you—" he finally managed to say—"succeeding where the police and everybody else failed! Capturing a hundred thousand dollars by a clever trick——"
"Is there really that much?" inquired Dot. "Of course we never counted it."
The officer smiled at their unconcern. In spite of all their ability, they still seemed like children to him.
"By the way, Miss Carlton," he said, "I had a wire from your aunt this afternoon. She will arrive in Jacksonville Saturday morning—accompanied by Mrs. Crowley."
This final piece of good news was just what the girls needed to complete their perfect day. Their eyes lighted up with happiness, and they squeezed each other's hands in joy.
"And your fathers ought to be back tomorrow. I'll send them straight to the hotel," he added. "So don't go away."
"Wild horses couldn't drag us!" returnedLinda. "We're just dying to see them.... Now, good-by, Captain Magee.... We must go and get some dinner."
So, back in the hotel in Jacksonville, Dot Crowley and Linda Carlton spent their first enjoyable evening for a week—celebrating their safe return with their dear friends, the Mackays.