The Secret at the Seashore Page 7

  “I’ll see if I can rescue your scarf,” Hal said. “Oh, let it go!” Nan said with a shiver. “He might hurt you!”

  “Snapping turtles are rather dangerous,” Hal admitted, “but maybe I can fool him!” The boy picked up a stick and prodded the creature’s long neck.

  Immediately the turtle let go of the scarf and grabbed the stick. Then he waddled awkwardly away. The children stood still until they saw him slide into the lake.

  “That’s funny,” Harry remarked. “We find turtles on our farm and they always pull their heads and tails in under the shell when they see anyone.”

  “Those are probably box turtles,” Hal explained. “A snapping turtle’s head is too big to get under the shell. This one must have been out looking for something different to eat. They don’t usually get very far away from the water.”

  “You seem to know a lot about turtles, Hal,” Nan said admiringly.

  “I’ve read a bit about them,” the boy replied, picking up Nan’s scarf and handing it to her. “That large upper shell is called the carapace and the bottom shell the plastron. You’d be surprised at the different markings on turtles’ shells.”

  “Turtles are fun,” Dorothy joined in. “I’ve had them for pets. Some of them will even eat from your hand!”

  “That’s right,” Hal agreed. “You just happened to run into the mean type, Nan. Most of them are harmless.”

  “Well, if you think Nan’s friend is safely in the water,” Bert said with a grin, “let’s see if we can discover anything on the lake shore.”

  The children walked along the edge of the lake a short distance in both directions from the spot where Hal’s canoe had been found. They scanned the ground carefully, but found nothing unusual. Finally they turned back to the canoe.

  As Harry started to step into the craft a small piece of paper at the edge of the water caught his eye. He bent down and picked it up. Then he called to the others, “Look at this!”

  Bert ran up and took the paper. “Why,” he cried, “it’s a ticket to the Underground City!”

  CHAPTER XII

  RUNAWAY SAILBOAT

  “THE Underground City!” the others echoed.

  “Yes,” Bert replied. “I guess Freddie was right when he said he saw Garry in there.”

  “Let’s take this to the police,” Nan suggested. “It’s more evidence that Albert Garry was here.”

  The children piled into the canoe again. This time they did not stay along the shore but paddled in a straight line toward Ocean Cliff. When they reached police headquarters they were glad to find their friend Officer Weaver at the desk.

  “Well, well, here are the young detectives!” he said cheerily. “Any more clues for us? We still haven’t been able to put our hands on that airline thief!”

  When Bert gave him the ticket which Harry had found, the police officer said, “Garry must be hanging out in that park. But we’ve searched every inch of it without finding him! I’ll put a special plainclothes guard at the entrance to the Underground City in case he tries to get in there.”

  He thanked the children for their help, then they went home. All the grownups were away except Dinah. Nan asked her where Freddie and Flossie were.

  “Some neighbor took ‘em over to the lake to sail that boat Freddie won,” the cook replied.

  At this moment the phone rang. Bert answered it. “What!” he exclaimed. “Yes, we’ll be right over!”

  Bert ran to the others. “Freddie and Flossie have disappeared! That was Mrs. Smith, who took them to the lake. She left them for a few minutes to go for some ice cream. When she came back, they were gone!”

  The five children dashed from the house and raced toward the lake.

  An hour before this, Freddie and Flossie had been playing contentedly in a little cove on the lake shore with Mrs. Smith watching them.

  The breeze had been coming from just the right direction. It filled the sails of the toy boat and sent it flying across the narrow strip of water that formed the cove.

  “It’s a fast boat!” Freddie said proudly. He ran along the shore and picked it up when it touched land.

  Then Flossie had a turn at launching the miniature craft. After they had sent the boat across the cove several times, Flossie suggested they play water carnival.

  “How can we do that when there aren’t any other boats?” Freddie objected.

  “We could dress this one up,” Flossie insisted.

  “How?”

  “With flowers and leaves and things,” Flossie replied.

  “Okay.”

  Freddie put the boat on the ground and helped his twin collect a few wildflowers and some trailing vines. Mrs. Smith said, “While you’re doing that, I’ll get ice cream for all of us. You’d like some, wouldn’t you?”

  “Oh, yes, thank you,” the twins answered, and she hurried off to the amusement park to make the purchase.

  Flossie and Freddie wound the trailing vines around the masts and put the flowers on the deck.

  “There! The boat looks bee-yoo-ti-ful!” Flossie cried, as she set the little craft in the water again.

  While the children had been gathering the flowers, the wind had changed. Now, instead of sailing across the cove, the boat headed out into the lake.

  “Oh, stop it, Freddie !” Flossie shouted.

  “I can‘t!” Freddie answered in distress. “It’s too far out!”

  The little boat sailed farther and farther away from the shore. Freddie looked around in desperation.

  A short distance up the shore he saw a small rowboat tied to a dock. Freddie ran toward it.

  “We can borrow this,” he called back to his twin.

  “Oh, I don’t think we should!” Flossie objected. “Besides, you can’t row!”

  “Sure I can!” Freddie replied. “It’s not hard!”

  “We-ell,” said Flossie doubtfully. “I guess we’ll have to take the boat if we want to rescue your prize.”

  Freddie climbed in and took the middle seat “Take that rope off the pole,” he directed. “Then we can go.”

  Flossie untied the rope, then sat down timidly, facing Freddie. The little boy put his hands on the oars and began to row.

  “You watch the sailboat, Flossie!” he said, “and tell me when we get close to it.”

  “It’s going awfully fast,” Flossie reported. “You’ll have to hurry to catch it!”

  Freddie tried to row faster, but the oars were too heavy for him. As he gave a hard pull on one oar it skimmed the water, splashing Flossie from head to toe.

  “Oh, Freddie!” she protested. “You don’t know how to row at all!”

  “I do so!” he said. But the next minute he dug the oars too deeply into the water. They flew from his hands and one struck him on the chest. He fell backward off the seat into the bottom of the rowboat! The oars had unlocked and started to float away.

  “Oh, Freddie,” said Flossie, her lip trembling. “Are you hurt?”

  Freddie struggled back onto the seat. “I’m all right.” He tried to reach the oars, but they were too far away.

  “Maybe we could just paddle with our hands,” Flossie suggested. “You paddle on one side and I’ll take the other.”

  This did not work either. The boat moved quietly along, blown by the brisk wind.

  “Can you see the sailboat?” Freddie asked.

  “Yes, but we’re not getting very near it,” Flossie replied. “Maybe we should go back.”

  “Not until we get my prize boat!” Freddie said firmly.

  “But I want to go home!” Flossie wailed.

  “Oh, all right,” Freddie said, a little annoyed at his sister. He thought, “If I go home now, my little boat will be lost forever!”

  Both children again paddled very hard with their hands, but the rowboat drifted farther and farther away from the shore. It was headed around a bend.

  “Look, Freddie!” Flossie cried out. “An island. Let’s land there !”

  “Okay,” F
reddie agreed. “Maybe we can find someone to row us home and get my sailboat!”

  The wind blew the boat nearer and nearer the island. “Watch out! We’re going to bump!” Flossie called.

  At that moment the boat did bump on the shore of the island. Freddie stood up. “Come on, Flossie!” he said. “Let’s explore!”

  But as Flossie rose to take her brother’s hand, a harsh voice called out:

  “Get away from here! Don’t land on this island!”

  “Who’s that?” Flossie whispered, her face white.

  “I don’t know, but we’d better leave!” her twin said, sitting down quickly.

  They managed to turn the boat around so it was heading toward the shore of the lake.

  But the wind was still blowing strongly up the lake, and the children could make no headway.

  “Let’s yell, Flossie!” Freddie said. “Maybe someone will hear and come for us.”

  “Help! Help!” the small twins shouted.

  At this moment Nan, Bert, Harry, and Mrs. Smith were standing on the shore. Hal had brought up his canoe. There was no sign of the small twins.

  “Freddie! Flossie!” Nan and Bert shouted.

  “Listen!” Dorothy commanded. “I think I hear someone calling.”

  The five children became quiet. From far down the lake they heard the cry: “Help !”

  “That sounds like Freddie!” Nan said fearfully. “They must be in trouble!”

  “Come on, Bert!” Hal called. “We’ll take my canoe and go after them!”

  The two boys jumped into the canoe and paddled swiftly out into the lake. In a short while the watchers on the bank saw two boats round the bend. Hal and Bert were paddling The Swan, with Freddie and Flossie seated in it. The borrowed rowboat was tied on behind.

  “Thank goodness !” said Mrs. Smith in relief.

  On the way back Hal picked up the lost oars, and Bert rescued the sailboat.

  “We got scared by that awful voice,” said Flossie.

  “What voice?” Bert asked quickly.

  The small twins told him. After they all reached the shore and the girls were making a fuss over Freddie and Flossie, Bert took the boys aside.

  “I’d like to know who was on that island,” he said. “How about our going over there tomorrow and looking around?”

  “Sure! Let’s go!” the other boys agreed.

  As Bert and Harry walked back toward the group, Uncle William came hurrying from the Minturn boathouse. “Did any of you take out the Firefly?” he asked.

  “No, sir,” Bert replied, “we went in Hal’s canoe. Why?”

  “I thought the motor was sputtering a bit yesterday,” Uncle William explained. “I planned to work on it before supper, but the boat’s gone!”

  “Gone!” Bert echoed in dismay. “We put it away last night. It must have been taken this morning!”

  As soon as they reached home, he reported the loss to the police, who promised to look for the boat.

  “Do you suppose Albert Garry stole our boat?” Dorothy wondered as she and the other two girls climbed into their beds that night.

  “I don’t know,” Nan admitted sleepily. “But I wish we could catch him!”

  The girls had been asleep only a short while when they were awakened by a loud ringing noise.

  “What’s that?” Nan cried, sitting up in bed.

  CHAPTER XIII

  THE STRANGER’S CAP

  FLOSSIE and Dorothy also sat up. “It sounds like an alarm clock!” Dorothy said in bewilderment.

  Nan turned on the light and peered at the clock on the bedside table. It was not an alarm clock. “Why, it’s only eleven. Why would an alarm go off now?”

  “I don’t know,” Dorothy replied, jumping out of bed, “but we’d better shut off the alarm.”

  “I’ll get it,” Flossie offered. “Where is the clock?”

  Dorothy looked around the room. “I had an alarm clock, but I haven’t used it in ages. I don’t even remember where I put it.”

  “The ringing seems to be coming from your bookcase,” Nan observed. She ran across the floor. The sound was indeed in that location, but there was no clock in sight.

  Finally Flossie pulled an old battered clock from behind the books on the lowest shelf. “Here it is!” she said triumphantly.

  Dorothy took the clock and pushed the little button which shut off the alarm bell. “That’s funny,” she said. “I don’t remember putting the clock there, but I guess I must have.”

  “Well, I hope it doesn’t go off again,” Nan said as she turned out the light. “I’m sleepy!”

  Everything was quiet and the girls were sound asleep when suddenly the room was again filled with the sound of ringing.

  This time Dorothy sat up first. “Oh, no,” she cried, “not again!”

  Flossie slept on, but Nan jumped out of bed. She ran over to the bookshelves and picked up the alarm clock. “Why, this isn’t ringing!” she exclaimed.

  “There must be another clock!” Dorothy said with a yawn. “But where is it?”

  The two girls ran around the room, peering under the beds, looking into bureau drawers and every other place they could think of. Still the ringing continued.

  Finally Dorothy pulled open the door of the clothes closet. “It must be in here!” she called. She pushed the dresses aside and picked a clock from one of the pockets of the shoe bag on the door.

  “Why did you put a clock in there?” Nan asked curiously.

  Dorothy laughed. “I didn‘t, but I think I know who did!”

  “Bert and Harry!” Nan exclaimed. “They’re getting even with us for that bottle we put in the water!”

  At this moment Flossie awakened. “What are you doing up?” she asked sleepily. “Is it morning?”

  Nan and Dorothy told her about the second clock, and she laughed. But before anything else was said, Flossie was fast asleep again.

  The next morning when the girls came down to breakfast Bert and Harry were already at the table. “Hi!” Bert said. “Did you girls sleep well last night?”

  “Just fine!” Nan replied brightly.

  “Of course, we did hear some bells ringing,” Dorothy put in. “Did they bother you?”

  “Never heard a thing,” Bert declared innocently.

  The boys grinned and went on with their breakfast. A few minutes later, Aunt Emily came in with the message that Mrs. Weller had called to invite all the children to lunch at the amusement park. She had some news for them.

  “Do you suppose it’s about Mr. Weller?” Nan asked excitedly.

  “We’ll have to put off our trip to the island,” Bert said to Harry in a low tone. “I’ll call Hal and tell him we can’t make it.”

  When the six children arrived at the Lakeside Park, Cindy was waiting for them at the gate. She led them to an attractive outdoor restaurant where Mrs. Weller had reserved a large table.

  “This is pretty!” Flossie said admiringly, as she looked around at the other tables covered with bright-colored cloths.

  As the children enjoyed delicious sandwiches and chocolate milk, Mrs. Weller, a happy smile on her face, said:

  “I’ve had a phone call from Mr. White at the airplane factory. He says one of their search planes has sighted a man on an island in the ocean near where my husband went down.”

  “I’m sure it’s Daddy Pete!” Cindy’s face shone.

  Mrs. Weller went on, “The man had placed white stones to form the letters I and A on the ground in an open area.”

  “Are the search planes going to land on the island?” Bert asked excitedly.

  Mrs. Weller explained that the island was very small and there appeared to be no place for a plane to land. “They’re going to send a helicopter out from an airfield in the Azores, which is the nearest group of islands,” she said.

  “That’s wonderful!” Nan said. “We’re so happy for you!”

  “If the man is my husband, you children will deserve the credit for his rescue,”
said Cindy’s mother.

  There was much excited chatter while her guests ate their ice cream and cake.

  When it died down, Flossie said, “Do you think while we’re here we could try to catch the fairy?”

  “Yes, let’s go there!” Bert agreed. “Harry hasn’t seen the fairy castle.”

  Nan and Dorothy decided they would not make the visit. “Maybe we can help you in your booth,” Nan suggested shyly to Cindy’s mother.

  “I’d be glad to have you girls,” Mrs. Weller said gratefully. “We’re sometimes very busy in the afternoons.”

  Bert and Harry and the small twins thanked their hostess, then went off in the direction of the Fairyland attraction. Nan and Dorothy walked over to the booth with Mrs. Weller and Cindy.

  Mrs. Weller removed the “Closed” sign and raised the shutters. Then Nan and Dorothy helped her arrange her wares. They piled the sandals, scarves, and bags on the counter and hung the straw hats by strings from the edge of the canopy roof. They had just finished this when a boy of about ten came up to the booth.

  “What would you like?” Nan asked. “We have some good puzzles.”

  The boy looked wistful but shook his head. “No,” he said, “I’ve come for a cloth cap—one with a visor.”

  Mrs. Weller had heard him. “There are some back of you, Dorothy,” she said.

  Dorothy picked up the pile of caps and took them over to the boy. She rummaged through the collection and picked out one.

  “This looks like a small one,” she said. “Try it on.”

  “Oh, no, it’s not for me,” the boy said. “It’s for a man.”

  “What size does he take?” Nan asked.

  “I don’t know. He just gave me this dollar and told me to come over here and buy a cap for him.”

  “Is he a big man?” Dorothy inquired, looking through the pile of caps again.

  “No, he’s sort of small and his hair sticks up on top of his head,” the boy replied.

  “This is a medium size,” Dorothy drew out a cap. “And it’s just a dollar. Maybe it would do.”

  “Thanks.” The boy grabbed the cap, put a dollar bill on the counter, and ran off.

  Nan looked at Dorothy in excitement. “He said the man was small and had hair that stuck up! Do you think he could possibly be Albert Garry?”