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diff --git a/20737.txt b/20737.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..91f7304 --- /dev/null +++ b/20737.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6935 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Madge Morton's Secret, by Amy D. V. Chalmers + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Madge Morton's Secret + + +Author: Amy D. V. Chalmers + + + +Release Date: March 3, 2007 [eBook #20737] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADGE MORTON'S SECRET*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/c/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 20737-h.htm or 20737-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/7/3/20737/20737-h/20737-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/7/3/20737/20737-h.zip) + + + + + +MADGE MORTON'S SECRET + +by + +AMY D. V. CHALMERS + +Author of Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid; +Madge Morton's Trust, Madge Morton's Victory. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: The Girl in the Apple Tree Read on. + +_Frontispiece._] + + + + +Philadelphia +Henry Altemus Company +Copyright, 1914, +by Howard E. Altemus + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER. + PAGE. + + I. THE INTERRUPTED STORY 7 + + II. WHAT MADGE FOUND IN THE ATTIC 18 + + III. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 35 + + IV. THE CHALLENGE 46 + + V. THE MYSTERIOUS BOX 57 + + VI. FLORA BETRAYS A STATE SECRET 66 + + VII. AWARDING THE PRIZES 76 + + VIII. THE HOUR OF TRIUMPH 95 + + IX. MADGE MORTON'S SECRET 102 + + X. ADRIFT ON CHESAPEAKE BAY 108 + + XI. THE AWAKENING 120 + + XII. A DESERTED ISLAND 132 + + XIII. LIFE IN THE WOODS 142 + + XIV. CAUGHT IN A STAMPEDE 152 + + XV. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS 165 + + XVI. THE DISAPPOINTED KNIGHTS 173 + + XVII. CAN WE GO TO THE RESCUE? 183 + +XVIII. A NEW USE FOR A KITE 193 + + XIX. THE IMPOSSIBLE HAPPENS 201 + + XX. THE RECOGNITION 212 + + XXI. BACK TO THE "MERRY MAID" 219 + + XXII. THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER 226 + +XXIII. THE SURPRISE 237 + + XXIV. THE TELLING OF THE SECRET 248 + + + + +Madge Morton's Secret + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE INTERRUPTED STORY + + +A girl in a green gown was cosily ensconced among the spreading +branches of an old apple tree. She was reading, and she never stirred +except to turn the pages of her book or to reach out for another red +apple after dropping the core of the previous one. + +It was a glorious morning in early September, and the old Virginia +orchard was sweet with the odor of ripening apples. A press under a +tree still dripped with the juices of yesterday's cider-making. The +bees and flies buzzed lazily about it. There was no one but the girl in +sight. + +Some distance to the left was a red brick house, separated from the +orchard by a low stone fence and the length of the kitchen garden. It +had a big, white colonnaded balcony in front and a smaller veranda in +the rear. + +The girl in the apple tree read on, unaware that a carriage had driven +up to the front of this house and that a woman and a young man were +alighting from it. A few moments later a girl came out on the back +veranda. She put her hands to her lips and hallooed. She whistled and +called. Then she ran up and down the garden, searching everywhere. + +"Madge, Madge! where are you?" she cried. "Oh, do answer me in a hurry! +I have something so important to tell you!" + +The girl in the apple tree did not stir. She was oblivious to +everything except her story. Her cousin, Eleanor, called and called +again, then ran to the stables. Pompey, the colored boy, declared that +he had not seen Miss Madge all morning. Once Eleanor leaned over the +orchard fence. The green of Madge's frock was too near the color of the +foliage to show through the trees. Eleanor gave up her search in +despair. + +"All right, Madge Morton," she murmured, "if you will go off by +yourself without telling a soul where you are going, you must take the +consequences--though I am so sorry," added Eleanor. "Poor Madge will be +so disappointed." + +An hour later a book dropped from the apple tree to the ground, +bringing a scurry of leaves with it. Madge Morton descended after her +book, swinging herself down without a thought of her dignity. "Oh, dear +me!" she exclaimed. "Why did I have to drop my book when I had only a +few more pages to read? I suppose it is nearly luncheon time now, and I +ought to see what has become of Nellie." + +Madge strolled lazily along under the fruit trees. Now and then she +stopped to look critically at the heavily-laden branches. Mr. William +Butler, her uncle, owned a fruit farm, consequently the girl was +interested in their autumn and winter crop of apples. + +At the gate of the orchard she paused to peep at her book for another +stolen moment and came face to face with her cousin. Although it was +not yet midday, Eleanor Butler had on a white company frock and her +hair had been freshly braided. Madge did not see her cousin at first. +Nellie eyed her sympathetically, but at the same time her face wore an +expression of disapproval. "Where have you been, Madge?" she demanded. +"You've gone and done it this time, I can tell you; I have been looking +for you for more than an hour." + +"Sorry, Coz," returned Madge lightly. "Did Aunt Sue want me? I have +been reading in the orchard. But why are you dressed so bravely? We +can't be having a party at this early hour of the day." + +Nellie looked serious. "We have not had a party," she returned, "but we +have had some visitors. We had iced tea and cakes on the front porch, +too." + +"Lucky me, to have escaped the company, Eleanor. It is much too warm +for morning callers, even if it is September," declared Madge +indifferently. "I'll wager that they talked gossip and bored you and +Auntie dreadfully." + +"They did no such thing," replied Eleanor, nettled by her cousin's +bantering tone. "If you'll stop talking a minute, I'll tell you who our +visitors were. You'd never be able to guess in a thousand years. Our +old friends, Mrs. Curtis and Tom, have been to 'Forest House' to see +us. They were passing through the town on their way to Richmond and +stopped over between trains." + +"Take me to them, take me to them!" cried Madge, setting off for the +house on a run, closing the orchard gate behind her with a force that +caused it to shut with a resounding bang. + +Nellie followed her tempestuous relative, calling, "You can't see them. +That is just the trouble. Mrs. Curtis and Tom drove away about a +quarter of an hour ago. I am so sorry, but I did look for you +everywhere; so did Pompey. We called and called you. Mrs. Curtis and +Tom were dreadfully disappointed. They were afraid to wait any longer +for fear they would miss their train. They left a great deal of love +for you. Mrs. Curtis was charmed with 'Forest House.' You may see them +soon again. Mrs. Curtis wants us----" + +"Oh, I am so sorry I missed them," lamented Madge. "When does Mrs. +Curtis's train go?" + +"At one o'clock," answered Eleanor. "Mother wished them to stay to +luncheon, but they had hired such a slow old horse at the station that +they thought it wisest to leave in time." + +"And they have been on the way only a quarter of an hour?" questioned +Madge. "I know what I am going to do: I am going to ride Dixie down to +the station. I know I can overtake Tom and Mrs. Curtis before their +train leaves the station. I may be able to get just a peep at them. +Here, take my book, please, Nellie. Make it all right with Uncle +William and Aunt Sue. I am sure to be late for luncheon." Madge was off +across the fields, running as though her life depended on it. + +Readers of "MADGE MORTON, CAPTAIN OF THE 'MERRY MAID'" already know the +story of how four girls, with more enthusiasm than money, found and +transformed a dilapidated old canal boat into the pretty floating +summer home which they christened the "Merry Maid" and launched on a +quiet shore of Chesapeake Bay. + +Their subsequent meeting with a Mrs. Curtis and her son, Tom, persons +of wealth and social position, who were summering at one of the +fashionable hotels along the shore of the bay, prepared the way for a +series of eventful happenings in which the crew of the "Merry Maid" +amply proved their mettle. + +It was through the efforts of Madge Morton and Phyllis Alden that a +young woman was rescued from the clutches of a family of rough and +uncouth fisher folk, and taken aboard the "Merry Maid," where it +developed that she was none other than the daughter of Mrs. Curtis who +had been lost at sea twelve years previously. + +After a succession of happy weeks on the houseboat, the girls repaired +to their various homes to spend the remainder of their vacations with +their families. They had promised Mrs. Curtis, however, that for two +weeks before returning to school they would be her guests on their own +houseboat, which she had arranged to have removed from Pleasure Bay, +where it still lay, to a spot opposite Old Point Comfort, where she and +her son and daughter were spending a few weeks before returning to New +York City. + +Madge knew without being told that the time for their happy holiday had +come. Still, it was not of this she was thinking as she raced across +the fields. She had missed Mrs. Curtis more than she could say, and her +sole desire was to see the woman who had done so much to add to their +pleasure on their previous trip. + +In a nearby meadow Dixie, Madge's fat black pony, was lazily eating +grass. Her mistress called to her coaxingly as she ran toward the +enclosure. But the pony was bent on a frolic. She heard Madge, saw her +approaching, and, eager for a game, the pony kicked her heels together +and trotted off across the field at a lively pace. + +Madge was in despair. Every moment was precious. Why should Dixie +choose this time of all others to refuse to come when she called to +her? With a sudden thought Madge reached into her pocket. There, to her +joy, she discovered an uneaten red apple. Madge held it out invitingly, +standing perfectly still, as though she had no intention of stirring. + +The pony threw back her head, neighed softly, then came trotting over +to her mistress and appropriated the apple; but the next instant +Madge's hand was in her mane, and she vaulted lightly on Dixie's +slippery back, still keeping a tight hold. + +"Nellie," she called, as she cantered past her cousin, "tell Aunt Sue +she must forgive my riding bareback this time. I never will again. But +I simply couldn't wait to put a saddle on Dixie. I might miss seeing +Mrs. Curtis and Tom. No; they won't be shocked. They'll know it is only +Madge!" + +She rode swiftly away, sitting on the pony's uncovered back as easily +as though she had been riding in the most comfortable of saddles. + +It was three miles down the pike to the railway station nearest to the +old Butler homestead. Madge knew that her friends had hired a carriage +at the depot, and that her pony was capable of making twice the speed +of any horse that they had been able to hire. But the day was warm. It +was near Dixie's feeding time, and the animal saw no reason for making +unnecessary haste. Madge coaxed and urged her pet to do her best. If +she could only overtake her friends in their journey to the station! +But the pony would not hurry. At last Madge stopped under a big maple +tree, breaking off a switch. A few mild cuts from an unaccustomed whip +made Dixie leap ahead. + +The pike followed the railroad track for a mile. At the end of the +mile, at a sharp curve, the track crossed the road. There was no +watchman stationed at the crossing to give the signal, not even a red +flag to tell of danger, only a great sign, printed in huge, black +letters: "Look Out for the Locomotive. Stop. Look. Listen." + +A hundred times Mr. Butler had warned Eleanor and Madge of this +dangerous point in the road. Almost every day they crossed this track, +driving back and forth from the village and they had always heeded Mr. +Butler's warning. + +To-day, just as reckless Madge neared this point in her journey, she +saw a rickety carriage drive over this crossing about a hundred yards +ahead of her. + +"Wait, Mrs. Curtis! Stop, Tom!" cried Madge joyfully. Her blue eyes +were shining, her cheeks were flushed. Madge's old-time heedlessness +was upon her. She gave no thought to her promise to her uncle, to the +chance of the oncoming trains. Madge-fashion, she saw only the goal +ahead of her. "Go it, Dixie, darling!" she entreated, touching her pony +sharply with her maple switch. + +At the girl's first call Tom Curtis had reined in the old horse he was +driving. His mother leaned out of the carriage to look back. "Madge!" +she cried sharply. + +At the same instant Madge plunged recklessly toward the railroad +crossing. It was too late to rein in her pony. She and Dixie dared not +take that risk. She saw a huge monster bearing down upon her. A shriek +from the engine, a hoarse call from the engineer as he swept around the +curve and saw the pretty figure on the track so close to his train. +Madge felt the wave of heat from the locomotive. It seemed almost to +scorch her, it was so near. She felt her fingers stiffen with fear; her +hold on her pony's mane relaxed. She knew she was slipping off her +horse's back and down on the track. + +But she was country born and bred. She had ridden horseback all her +life. In that moment of terror she flung herself forward, with both +arms about her pony's neck. Dixie gave a single, frightened leap. She +cleared the track just as the train raced by. Then Madge slid limply to +the ground, while her pony stood by her shivering with fear. + +"Don't scold me, and don't tell Uncle," she pleaded as Mrs. Curtis and +Tom climbed hurriedly from the wagon and came back to her. "I know it +was dreadful of me, and Uncle would never have forgiven me if I had +killed myself." + +At this characteristic speech both Madge and her friends laughed. Madge +kissed Mrs. Curtis affectionately. Then, holding out her hand to Tom, +she said, "Do you think I could let you get away without seeing you for +a minute at least? Perhaps you had better go on to the station. I will +follow you on Dixie. We can talk after we reach there." + +The carriage, closely followed by Madge on her pony, reached the little +station at least ten minutes before the time for the Curtis's train. +Madge could not leave Dixie to walk to the front of the station, so +Mrs. Curtis and her son walked to the road where Madge had alighted and +stood waiting for them, one hand in her pony's mane. + +Tom thought he had never seen her look so pretty, but he was too wise +to say so. He had learned by embarrassing experience that Mistress +Madge frowned disapprovingly at the slightest intimation of a +compliment. + +"Tom and I stopped at 'Forest House' to tell you that we are ready for +you. We wish you four girls to be our guests as soon as you can make +ready to come to us. Your uncle and aunt have given their consent to +the arrangement. We leave it to you and Nellie to communicate with +Lillian, Phil, and Miss Jenny Ann. You must rally the houseboat party. +Write to Madeleine and me and tell us anything you think you would like +to do. We are at Old Point Comfort. Good-bye, dear; here comes our +train. Don't disappoint us." + +Mrs. Curtis and Tom boarded their train, leaving Madge staring after it +in happy anticipation of the good times that were sure to be theirs +when once more aboard the "Merry Maid." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +WHAT MADGE FOUND IN THE ATTIC + + +"Aunt Sue," declared Madge gravely, wrinkling her straight, dark +eyebrows into a solemn frown, "there is only one thing that worries me +about our second houseboat party: Nellie and I haven't enough pretty +clothes." + +Mrs. Butler looked as though she quite agreed with her niece. It was +the day after Mrs. Curtis's hurried call. + +"You see, it is this way, Auntie. On our first trip our houseboat was +anchored in a quiet, out-of-the-way place. We met Mrs. Curtis only by +accident and had a few parties at the Belleview Hotel. This time we are +to be Mrs. Curtis's guests. Although the houseboat won't be on the +Virginia side of the bay, because the water is much too rough there, we +shall probably be crossing over to Fortress Monroe and Old Point and +all the lovely places near. Mrs. Curtis will be sure to get up parties +for us. We may even look on at some of the dances at Fortress Monroe. +So Nellie and I ought each to have a new evening gown, besides our +white silk gowns. Don't you think so?" + +Aunt Sue sighed in answer to Madge's question. + +"I don't see where new party gowns are to come from, dear. Even if I +felt we could afford them, I simply haven't time to go to town to get +the material for them. It has taken a great deal to get you and Nellie +ready for school, since you will go directly to Miss Tolliver's when +your houseboat party is over. Fortunately, your new school clothes will +be suitable for most occasions, as the weather will probably be cool. +Somehow I feel uneasy about this second houseboat party. I have a +premonition that something will happen to you girls. Your uncle thinks +I am absurd. He says you are very fortunate to have made a friend like +Mrs. Curtis, and to have another opportunity to enjoy your houseboat. I +suppose I am foolish." Mrs. Butler smiled nervously. "You know I am +rather given to having premonitions, so don't concern yourself about +anything I have said to you." + +Mrs. Butler was a delicate, high-bred looking woman, with soft blue +eyes and brown hair lightly streaked with gray, who was quite likely to +be influenced by her wilful niece's opinions. It was in her Uncle +William that Madge met her match. + +"Nellie!" called Madge when her aunt had finished speaking, "please +come in here. I want to persuade Auntie to do something that I am going +to ask of her, and I wish you to help me." + +Nellie appeared at the dining room door, her fingers stained with +grape-juice. She was determined to help her mother with the jelly +before she and her cousin left for their second houseboat holiday. + +"You don't need any one's help when it comes to having your own way," +retorted Mrs. Butler. "What do you wish this time?" + +Madge lowered her voice. "Auntie, you know that upstairs in Mother's +old trunk there are two rolls of silk--a roll of rose-color and one of +turquoise blue. You have always said that Father brought them home to +Mother from China just after I was born, and that Mother never had them +made into dresses, because she died soon afterward, when Father failed +to return from his trip." + +Mrs. Butler bowed her head quietly. She looked away from her niece. + +"Yes, that is what I have told you. I am saving the silks until you are +older. You have very little else of your mother's except her jewelry." + +Madge clasped her hands together pleadingly. "O Aunt Sue! why must I +wait until I am grown for those silks? I wish you to give them to +Nellie and me now. Please, please do. I am sure we are old enough to +appreciate them. Nellie would be a perfect dream in the pink silk, and +I should dearly love to have the blue. We never, never can need the +dresses more than we do _now_! Why, in two or three years Nellie and I +may be rich! Who knows? What is the use in keeping them for some future +time, when Nellie and I need them at the present moment? You know we +ought to have one handsome gown apiece, Auntie. Mrs. Curtis and +Madeleine are always beautifully dressed." + +"Yes, Mother, please let Madge have her way," entreated Nellie. "But I +can't accept one of the frocks. I wouldn't take it away from you for +the world." + +"Very well, Auntie," replied Madge, with a little choke in her voice. +"I am sorry I mentioned the subject to you. I don't care for the silks, +then. I won't even look at them, unless Nellie will take one of them." + +"Silly Madge!" remonstrated Eleanor, coming up behind her cousin and +tweaking a loose curl of her auburn hair. "I know you wish me to share +everything with you, and I thank you just the same. But, Madge, I can't +accept one of those dresses. Don't you see, they were your mother's, +and that makes all the difference in the world." + +"I can't see what difference it makes if I wish to do it. You always +divide everything you have with me, and I don't see why you can't let +me be generous for once." + +Madge's eyes were misty. The thought of her mother and father made it +hard for her to speak without emotion. "Besides," she added, smiling in +her charming fashion, "I will never wear a pink gown. No one need try +to persuade me. It wouldn't be in keeping with my red hair!" + +Eleanor put her arm around her cousin. She understood the little quaver +in Madge's laughing voice. + +"Of course I will have the dress, if you feel that way about it," she +said gently. "And I shall adore it. Why, I can see myself in it this +minute, with a pink rose fastened in my hair. But all this time you and +I have been arguing Mother has not yet said that you could use the +silks. Please consent, Mother; there's a dear." + +Mrs. Butler looked grave. "I suppose it is all right," she hesitated. +"The silks belong to Madge and she is old enough to decide what she +wishes to do with them. Look in my left-hand bureau drawer, Madge; you +will find the key to your mother's trunk there. The silks are in the +bottom of the trunk, wrapped in a piece of old, yellow muslin. We might +as well find out whether the material is still good before we decide +what we will do about it. I must go back now to my jelly; it must be +nearly done." + +"Come up to the attic with me, won't you, Eleanor?" invited Madge. + +Eleanor shook her head. She knew her cousin liked best to make these +visits to her mother's trunk alone. "No," she answered, "I must help +Mother with the jelly." + +Nellie slipped quietly away and left Madge looking dreamily out on the +elm-shaded lawn, her thoughts busy with the story of her own past and +the little she knew of her father. + +He had been a captain in the United States Navy, and one of the +youngest officers in the service. The Mortons were an old Virginia +family, and after Robert Morton's graduation from Annapolis he was +rapidly promoted in the service. He had married Mrs. Butler's only +sister, Eleanor, for whom Nellie was named. Two months after Madge's +birth, while her husband was away on a cruise, Madge's mother died at +her sister's home, and, as her father never came back to claim her, she +had been brought up by her uncle and aunt. This was all she had been +told of the story of her mother and father. It made her aunt unhappy to +talk of them, so Madge had asked few questions as she grew to young +womanhood. But to-day she felt that she would like to know whether her +father had died and been buried at sea--she always thought of him as +dead--or whether a tablet had ever been erected to his memory at +Annapolis. She had never been to Annapolis, although it was not a great +distance from Miss Tolliver's school, but she knew that the Government +often honored its brave officers and sailors with these memorials. + +She was thinking of these things as she left the dining room and +climbed the steep, ladder-like stairs that led to the attic. The attic +of "Forest House" was worth a longer journey than Madge had to make. It +was built of solid cedar wood, with beams a foot thick over head, and +put together with great cedar pegs. The attic was a long, low-ceilinged +room, dark and fragrant with the odor of the cedar. It was lit by four +big, old-fashioned dormer windows in the front and four in the rear. + +Her mother's trunk was kept in one corner of the attic behind an old +oak chest. Mrs. Butler did not wish to be haunted by sad memories when +she made her frequent trips to her attic to look after the family +clothing and bedding, so she had partly hidden her sister's trunk. + +Madge opened the trunk in the half light. On top of everything was a +pile of her first baby dresses. Farther down she came upon a sandalwood +box containing her mother's jewelry. The box contained a beautiful and +unusual collection of rare stones. Captain Morton had brought many of +the jewels back from the Orient as presents to his wife. + +Madge picked up a necklace of uncut turquoises, set in links of +curiously carved dull gold. For an instant she looked at it, then +slipped it over her head. There was also a tortoise-shell comb of +wonderful beauty to match the necklace. The crown of the comb was +formed of turquoises and pearls. Just in the center of the comb was a +tiny scarab made of turquoises. The scarab Madge knew to be a beetle +sacred to the Egyptians. She wondered if the beautiful set of jewelry +had an unusual history. Madge put the comb in her hair, then plunged +deeper into the lavender-scented trunk. Under a pile of old-fashioned +gowns she found the bundle that she desired, tied up in yellow muslin +just as her aunt had described it. Tucking it under her arm she hurried +to the front windows and sat down Turk fashion on the floor. She wished +to examine carefully the well-remembered silks. It had been several +years since she had seen them, yet how well she recalled them! She and +Nellie had never grown tired of marveling at the beautiful fabrics +when, as little girls, they were allowed to glance at the silks by way +of a special treat. + +The young girl untied her precious bundle slowly. She gently unrolled +the pink silk. It was a wonderful rose color, a pure Chinese silk, as +light and soft as a butterfly's wing. Madge saw a vision of Nellie in +this dress. It must be trimmed with an old collar of Venetian point +lace, which was one of Mrs. Butler's heirlooms. Then she unrolled the +blue silk. The material to be used for her frock was a Japanese crepe. +It had a border of shaded blue and silver threads forming a design of +orchids. It was too beautiful a costume for a young girl, Madge +thought. She held her breath as she looked at it. Would her aunt allow +her to use it? + +Spying a broken mirror on an old bureau in the attic, she brought it +over to the light and propped it against the back of a worn-out chair. +Then she wrapped the blue silk about her shoulders and stared at +herself in the mirror. + +Madge was an exceedingly pretty young girl. This afternoon her face +showed a promise of the unusual beauty that was to come to her later in +life, when she had learned many things. There was a hint of tragedy in +her charming, wayward nature. The friends who loved her knew that her +path through life would not follow an easy and untroubled road. She +could never do anything in a half-way fashion, whether it were to love +or to hate, to be happy or to be miserable. + +To-day her blue eyes were dark with wonder at her own appearance and +with the memory of her dead mother and father. With the strange jewels +in her hair and about her throat, the beautiful blue robe around her +shoulders, little country-bred Madge looked as though she might have +been a beautiful princess of the long ago. + +Being free from vanity, however, she calmly folded up her silks, took +off her jewels, and turned from the window to go downstairs to show her +cousin her treasures. + +At the door of the attic she paused and glanced back at the open trunk, +then, walking slowly toward it, deposited her jewel box and armful of +silks on the top of the old cedar chest and sat down before the trunk. +What strange influence drew her back to it that day Madge could never +explain. She knew only that the longing for the love of the father she +had never seen, and the mother she could not remember, was strong +within her. + +"What made you leave me when I needed you so?" she murmured, half under +her breath. Then she bowed her head on the edge of the trunk and her +tears dropped on a little, old-fashioned black velvet coat that had +been her mother's. Impulsively Madge caught it up and pressed it to her +lips. After a long moment she laid it across her lap and began +smoothing it with loving hands, tenderly tracing its lines with her +forefinger. As she was about to fold it and lay it in its accustomed +place her hand came in contact with something hard in the cuff of one +sleeve between the velvet and the satin lining. + +"What can it be?" she wondered, as she fingered it through the cloth. +"It feels like a key. If I break two or three stitches, I can pull it +out." + +It was at least five minutes before she managed to make an opening +large enough to admit the working out of the little hard object. As she +had guessed, it was a small brass key with a bit of faded violet ribbon +attached to it. + +Madge looked curiously at it as it lay in her hand. To whom did the key +belong? What did it unlock? Why had her mother sewed it into the sleeve +of the black velvet coat? Or had her mother placed it there? The little +captain sighed. She could ask endless questions concerning her find, +but she could answer none of them. + +"There may be a box in the trunk which I have overlooked," she +reflected. "I never do things thoroughly." + +Springing from the floor, Madge ran across the attic to where her aunt +always kept a pile of brown wrapping paper. Tearing off a strip she +carried it to her corner and, laying it on the floor at one side of her +mother's trunk, sat down beside it. One by one, with reverent hands, +she lifted the various garments from it, piling them over one another +on the paper. But when the trunk, bereft of its last article, stood +empty before her, she stared in disappointment at the pile of articles +at her side. There was nothing in it that bore the slightest +resemblance to a box. + +"It's like 'hunting for a needle in a haystack,'" she mourned. "This +key might fit a lock thousands of miles from here. It can't be the key +to the trunk; it is too small." She bent forward to examine the lock. +"No, the key to this trunk is ever so much larger. Perhaps the trunk +has a false bottom!" + +This being a positive inspiration, Madge set to work on the bottom of +the trunk, her investigations meeting with no success. She was more +disheartened than she cared to admit, even to herself, as she replaced +the contents of the trunk and, reluctantly shutting down the lid, +gathered up her treasures and went down the stairs with dragging feet. +Her pleasure in the beautiful fabrics had vanished, and the longing to +probe into the past of her dear ones was uppermost in her mind. + +Her first impulse on entering the kitchen, where Eleanor and her mother +still labored with the jelly, was to show them the little key. Then the +same strange influence which had forced her to return to the trunk kept +her silent. The finding of the little key should be her secret. + +Mrs. Butler and Eleanor exclaimed admiringly over the silks. It was as +though they were seeing them for the first time. Eleanor was delighted +with the prospect of possessing an evening gown of the rose color, and +the two girls were soon deep in planning the way in which they intended +having their frocks made. + +"May I keep Mother's jewel box with me, Aunt Sue?" asked Madge an hour +later, as she rose to go to her room, her roll of blue silk tucked +under one arm, the sandalwood box in her hand. + +"Of course you may, my dear. As long as you are going to use the silks +you might as well take the jewels too," sighed Mrs. Butler. + +"Thank you," returned her niece, bending to kiss the older woman's +cheek, then she walked quietly from the room, her cheerful face +unusually sober. + +"Madge is always sad after a visit to her mother's trunk," remarked +Eleanor, after her cousin had gone. + +Mrs. Butler nodded, her own face saddened as she went back over the +years. Some day she would tell Madge the truth concerning her father +and why he had never returned to the homestead, but not now. She did +not wish to cast the slightest shadow upon her niece's joyous +anticipations of the coming trip. + +Once in her room Madge took the little key from the pocket of her middy +blouse and laid it on her dressing table. Drawing up a chair, she sat +down, and opening the jewel box, began taking out the ornaments, +spreading them on the table before her. To her eyes, unaccustomed to +the sight of jewelry, they made an imposing array. When the last +trinket was out she turned her attention to the box itself. Empty, it +was larger and deeper than she supposed. Despite the fact that the +jewelry had been removed it was still heavy. + +"It must be the weight of the wood that makes it feel heavy," she +reflected. "Why, it has a keyhole! I never noticed that before, it is +so far down, and, besides, the box has been unlocked ever since I can +remember." + +She carefully examined the keyhole, then, with a swift rush of +disappointment, came the thought that the mysterious key was merely +that of the sandalwood box. To be sure, there were two little brass +catches which fastened the box tightly together. The lock had been put +on, no doubt, as an extra security, and rarely, if ever, used. But if +such were the case, why had the key been secreted in the sleeve of the +black velvet coat? After all, it might not fit the lock on the box. If +it did, then her secret was not really a secret after all. Madge +reached for the object of her cogitations and inserted it in the lock. +It fitted. She gave it one quick turn, then endeavored to pull it out. +It stuck. Madge held the back of the box with one hand to keep it from +slipping and pulled hard. She felt the box itself give. Then to her +astonishment she saw that the lower part of the box formed a drawer, +the existence of which was cunningly hidden by the carving, and it now +stood open before her. In it lay a small black leather book, and under +the book was a single envelope addressed to her mother. + +With wondering eyes the girl peered into the envelope. Her hands shook +as she drew forth several closely written sheets of paper. Unfolding +them she saw only the salutation, "Beloved"; then she turned to the +signature. It read, "Your devoted husband, Robert Morton." + +Madge gazed in fascination at her father's clear, bold handwriting. If +it were in the least indicative of character, her father must have been +a good man and true. Undoubtedly he had proved himself an honor to the +Navy and the Flag he had sworn to serve. She experienced a curious +thrill of satisfaction at this thought. Tearing her eyes from the +beloved name, she went back to the first page of the letter and began +to read, but when she reached the end of the second page she cried out +in anguish, and, laying her curly head on the dressing table, sobbed +heart-brokenly. + +"I can't bear it!" she wailed. "O Father, Father! how could they be so +cruel?" After a few moments she raised her head with a long, quivering +sigh, and went on with the letter. When she had finished it, she took +up the little black book. Her tears fell fast as she perused its pages. +It was her father's log book and contained, besides the notes +concerning his last fateful voyage as a naval officer, memoranda of his +personal life aboard ship as well. + +Over the last half dozen pages--the record ended abruptly--Madge's +grief burst forth anew. After she had finished she sat for a long time +holding the little book against her cheek. The distant ringing of the +supper bell brought her to a realization of her surroundings. Tenderly +she laid the book and the letter in the secret drawer that had held +them so faithfully, inviolate from the eyes of the world; then, locking +the drawer she withdrew the key, and, taking from a box on the dressing +table a slender gold chain, her only bit of ornament outside her +mother's jewelry, Madge opened the catch and hung the key upon it. + +"It will be safe there," she said half aloud. "But now I have a secret +worth keeping until I find the man who spoiled my father's life. And +when I do"--Madge's red lips set in a determined line--"I'll make him +tell the truth about Father to the whole world." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +AN UNEXPECTED MEETING + + +Although the prospect of the coming visit to Old Point Comfort filled +Madge and Eleanor with a delightful sense of their own importance, they +still had certain misgivings as to what might be expected of them as +the guests of Mrs. Curtis. She had written them that as long as they +were to be anchored near Fortress Monroe, she hoped to show them the +social side of the Army and Navy life centered there. To the two +country girls the idea of "Society" was a trifle appalling. Phyllis +Alden had also written them that she knew nothing of Society and was +almost afraid to venture into that awe-inspiring realm, while Miss +Jenny Ann at first refused to consider the idea, but finally relented +and made her preparations to join the girls in anything but a joyous +frame of mind. + +Lillian Seldon was the only one of the little company who took the +prospect of balls and parties and meeting hosts of new people quite +calmly. She had two older sisters, who had made their entrance into +Philadelphia society, and Lillian had been allowed to be present at +their coming-out parties. Mrs. Seldon, Lillian's mother, was devoted to +Society, while Mrs. Butler cared for nothing outside her own home +interests, and Mrs. Alden was too busy taking care of a large family on +a small income to think of anything else. Phil's life had been largely +centered in her school. Eleanor and Madge had divided their allegiance +between Miss Tolliver's and "Forest House" until their houseboat had +opened a new world to them. + +After a long talk with Eleanor, Madge finally wrote Mrs. Curtis, +confessing that they were rather afraid to venture into the social life +of the point. In reply Mrs. Curtis only made light of their fears and +misgivings and insisted that they should come. Tom, who had undertaken +the duty of finding a landing for the houseboat, announced that it was +safely sheltered near the southern end of Cape Charles; it was too +rough to anchor the boat on the Virginia side of the shore. Besides, +Tom was camping with some college friends on the shore of the cape, and +had arranged that the houseboat should be no great distance from his +camp. The houseboat party could cross over to Old Point, or any of the +resorts on the opposite beach, in a small steamboat that made its way +back and forth from one coast to the other, or in Tom's new motor +launch, which would be always at their disposal. + +The careful way in which the Curtises had arranged for the comfort of +their young guests finally conquered the last faint objection on their +part, and when on the morning of the day appointed, escorted by Mrs. +Curtis and Tom, the four girls and Miss Jenny Ann boarded the "Merry +Maid" for their two weeks' stay, their former fears and misgivings were +entirely forgotten. They remembered only that they had come into their +own again through the generosity of Mrs. Curtis, and for her sake were +willing to brave even "Society." + + * * * * * + +The ballroom of the great hotel at Old Point Comfort was crowded with +dancers. It was an official military ball. The army officers were in +full-dress uniforms. The midshipmen from the fleet were in white. There +was a large sprinkling of naval officers from the battleships in the +harbor at Hampton Roads. Many of them were foreigners, as there were +several ships of other nations anchored there. There were beautiful +women in beautiful gowns and wonderful jewels. Altogether it was a +scene calculated to make a lively impression upon Madge and her +friends, and it was with rapidly beating hearts that, in company with +Mrs. Curtis, Madeleine and Tom, they entered the brilliantly lighted +ballroom which contained for them no familiar faces. + +"Oh, dear, Miss Jenny Ann," whispered Eleanor, keeping close to her +chaperon's side, "why did we ever imagine we could appear at home in a +place like this? I wish we had not come." Her distress looked out from +her brown eyes as she watched the throng of fashionably dressed women +and uniformed men swaying and gliding in the figures of one of the new +dances that had taken society by storm. + +"Don't be afraid, Nell," returned Phil, fighting down her +self-consciousness, "they are just mere men and women. Besides, they +are too busy to think of us." + +Just then an elderly man in uniform, accompanied by a woman of about +his own age, stepped forward and claimed the attention of the Curtises. +For the moment the girls, who were following their friends, became +separated from them by the dancers. Realizing that they were too near +the center of the ballroom for comfort, the little party stepped back, +edging nearer the wall. Madge, too fully absorbed in the gay scene +before her to see just where she was going, collided with a young +woman, who, accompanied by two young men, was coming from the opposite +direction. Before she could apologize an unpleasant voice broke upon +the ears of the houseboat party with disconcerting distinctness. + +"Oh, dear, let us move out of the way, if we can. It is quite evident +that certain other persons have no intention of doing so. Such +stupidity! Still, what can one expect from a crowd of country folks? I +wonder how they happened to be here? I doubt if they were invited. It +is a pity we can't keep tiresome nobodies from spoiling our hops here +at the hotel." + +A moment later the owner of the voice, a young woman of perhaps twenty +years, had the grace to blush under the battery of five pairs of +indignant eyes that was turned upon her. Miss Jenny Ann, Lillian and +Eleanor looked cold astonishment at the rude speaker. It was plain to +be seen that Phyllis was very angry. To Madge, however, was left the +"retort courteous," and before Miss Jenny Ann could lay a restraining +hand lightly upon her arm, the little captain said in a sweet, clear +voice: "We are so sorry to be thought stupid. It is very unfortunate +that we stepped in your way. As you remarked, we are from the country, +but, at least, we have been taught that courtesy is a most desirable +virtue. Rest assured we would not be here without an invitation. Mrs. +Curtis is our hostess. It is possible you may know her." + +Madge's tones were freighted with such unmistakable sarcasm that the +rude young woman was too thoroughly taken aback to reply. She had fully +intended her ill-bred speech to be overheard, but she had not for a +moment imagined that one of these apparently shy newcomers would fling +back an answer. The two young men with whom she had been talking looked +very uncomfortable. There was an instant's strained silence, then the +ill-bred young woman found her voice. + +"I did not think you would hear what I said." She turned haughtily to +Madge. "As you did hear me, I suppose I owe you an apology. I am one of +the hostesses here to-night, as my father is an officer at Fortress +Monroe. I know Mrs. Curtis and also her son and daughter." + +Madge acknowledged the grudging apology with the merest inclination of +her head. She was too angry to trust her voice. She turned away, and +the little party was about to move on when Tom Curtis hurried to her +side. + +"How did you become separated from us?" he asked. "Mother thought you +were directly behind her. Why, good evening, Flora," his eyes happened +to rest on the disagreeable young woman, "you are just in time to meet +Mother's guests." + +Tom proceeded to introduce the houseboat party to her. "I am sure you +will be pleased to know Miss Harris," he declared innocently. Then he +presented the two young men respectively as Lieutenant Lawton and Mr. +Thornton. + +Miss Harris acknowledged the introduction with far more graciousness +than she had previously exhibited. It was evident to the girls that she +did not wish Tom Curtis to know how rudely she had treated his friends. + +The young man introduced as Mr. Thornton addressed Madge with a view +toward being gracious, but she replied briefly and turned her attention +to Tom. Far from being dismayed with the rebuff, he tried again. + +"I am over in camp with your friend, Mr. Curtis," he volunteered. + +"Are you?" rejoined Madge indifferently. + +"Yes," he went on, unabashed. "I came over to the dance to-night +because Miss Harris is a great friend of mine. Don't hold that rude +speech of hers against us; she did not imagine you would overhear it. +Mr. Lawton and I were awfully cut up over it." He was doing his best +to melt the snow image he was addressing. Madge showed no sign of +relenting. + +"Do you golf?" he questioned, hurriedly changing the subject. + +Madge shrugged her pretty shoulders. "Not well enough to count," she +answered. + +"Do you swim?" was his next question. + +Receiving no answer, he continued: "It is getting rather late in the +year for sea bathing. The water is too cold for comfort." + +"I like to swim in cold water," commented Madge stiffly. Then, taking +pity on the discomfited young man, she smiled faintly and said, "I +should not blame you for your friend's rude remarks, but I am still +very angry with her. Her conduct was insufferable." + +"She didn't mean what she said," defended Alfred Thornton. "I can't +understand why Flora spoke as she did. She is a splendid girl. I've +known her for a long time. She is the daughter of an officer whose +father is a retired admiral in the Navy and a favorite socially at Old +Point." + +"That is very nice for her," returned Madge without enthusiasm. In the +face of the discourtesy which Miss Harris had just exhibited she +thought Mr. Thornton's eloquent defence in rather bad taste. She was +about to retort that her father, too, had been an officer in the Navy; +then, remembering, her face flushed and she compressed her red lips. +Not yet. Not until she had found the man she sought and cleared her +father's name. Suddenly the thought came: "Suppose I were to hear news +of him while at Old Point? Suppose he were known to some of the +officers whose ships are stationed here? Perhaps it was Fate that sent +us to visit Mrs. Curtis." + +"Have you decided to be angry, after all?" Alfred Thornton's voice +recalled Madge to her surroundings. + +"I am not angry," replied Madge. "To tell you the truth, I was not +thinking of my own grievances." + +"Sorry to interrupt conversation, Thornton," broke in Tom Curtis, "but +there is a whole line of midshipmen waiting to be introduced to my +friends." + +"I hope you will give me a dance, Miss Morton," said Alfred Thornton. + +Madge assented, although she felt more inclined to refuse. She was not +in the least certain that she liked this dark, thin-faced young man. +When he talked he had a peculiar trick of turning his eyes away from +the person with whom he was talking that did not please her. + +"Come on over in that corner, girls," invited Tom. "There we shall be +out of the way of the dancers and you can hold court. Just wait until +you see that line of midshipmen!" + +Keeping out of the way of the dancers, the party moved toward the +corner designated by Tom. There he left them, returning shortly with +several young men in the midshipmen's uniform, who seemed not only +willing, but eager, to have the pleasure of dancing with the four +girls. Miss Jenny Ann, who looked very handsome in a pretty gown of +black net over white silk, came in for a full share of attention, and +was not a little worried as to whether as chaperon she ought to sit +quietly and watch her charges or dance. She confided this to Madge, who +merely laughed, told her that she looked "too sweet for anything" and +to "go ahead and have a good time." Whereupon Miss Jenny Ann sank her +last scruples and proceeded to enjoy herself as much as did the four +girls, who did not miss a dance. They were showered with attentions +from not only the midshipmen, but the old officers as well asked the +privilege of a dance. + +Pretty Lillian Seldon was in her element. This was her first real ball +and she was delighted with the opportunity it afforded to play "grown +up." She wore her golden hair piled high on her shapely head, and as +her white silk evening gown was the longest frock she owned she felt at +least twenty, which to her seemed very old indeed. + +Phil danced for the pure love of dancing. She was more level-headed +than Lillian and was less likely to be carried away by pleasure. Still, +she felt as though she would like to go on dancing forever with +Lieutenant James Lawton, who she decided was the nicest young man she +had ever met. + +Undoubtedly it was the excitement of the dance that appealed most +strongly to Madge. The music, the flowers, the beautiful gowns worn by +the women, the subdued murmur of laughing voices, stirred her +imaginative temperament as the sunshine awakens flowers. The earlier +thought of her father that had threatened to cloud her pleasure +disappeared and she gave herself up to the enticement of the gay scene +and the invitation of the music. + +It was after midnight before the ball ended. Tom's car was at the hotel +entrance to take the tired but enthusiastic girls and their chaperon +down to the landing where the launch lay ready to take them to the +"Merry Maid." + +"I've had the most glorious time," exulted Lillian. + +"And I," was the chorus. + +"It was too delightful for words," declared Madge, with shining eyes. +Then the light suddenly left them and she became strangely silent. "I +forgot you, Father," she said under her breath. "I was so busy having a +good time I didn't ask a single officer if he knew that dreadful man. +But another time I'll not forget. I'll find out where he is before we +leave here if there is any possible way to do it." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CHALLENGE + + +"I declare, Miss Jenny Ann," declared Madge fervently, "I believe I was +born to live on a houseboat, I feel so perfectly at home. Do you think +I care so much for the sea because my father was a sailor?" + +"I suppose you do, my dear," returned the chaperon, who sat listening +to Madge's animated chatter with an indulgent smile. + +Several days had passed since the ball, and the girls had settled down +to a thorough enjoyment of their floating home. Madge, who was looking +particularly pretty in her sailor suit of blue serge, had been +energetically sweeping the decks. Now she paused for a moment to lean +on her broom and survey Miss Jenny Ann reflectively. + +The "Merry Maid" now lay at anchor along a stretch of sandy beach, in a +cove formed by a point of land that jutted out into the bay. It was the +quietest spot Tom Curtis could find in the vicinity. But the landing +was so near the mouth of the great Chesapeake Bay that, should a storm +blow in from the Atlantic Ocean, the houseboat would probably be lashed +by the waves. There was no shade along the beach, so Mrs. Curtis had +transformed the houseboat into a charming Japanese pagoda. Mammoth +Japanese umbrellas were swung above the decks. The latter were covered +with pretty straw mats. There was a dainty green tea table securely +fastened near the stern, with half a dozen green chairs near it. The +window boxes around the upper deck of the boat had been refilled with +bright scarlet geraniums and nasturtiums, as they would bloom until +late in the autumn. Fresh draperies hung at the little cabin windows. +Wrought-iron lamps, holding beautiful yellow-tinted glass globes, were +attached to the outside cabin walls, so the entire deck of the +houseboat could be lighted at night. Indeed, "The Merry Maid" presented +a far more elaborate appearance than she had worn during the first of +the houseboat vacations. + +It was small wonder that the four girls sighed from pure content. Mrs. +Curtis had not spent a great deal of money in re-decorating the little +boat, she did not wish her guests to feel under any obligation to her, +but she had made their holiday craft as attractive as possible, and had +stored their small larder with all the good things she could find to +eat. + +"Miss Jenny Ann!" exclaimed Madge impulsively for the second time in +five minutes, "do you think it is wrong to dislike people very, very +much?" + +The little captain's expression had entirely changed. She was frowning +as though recalling something unpleasant. + +"I suppose it is," answered Miss Jones gravely. She knew that Madge's +likes and dislikes were not unimportant--they were so intense that they +were likely to change not only the course of the girl's whole life but +to influence the circumstances of the people about her. + +"I am sorry," answered Madge, "because I have taken a dreadful dislike +to that Flora Harris whom we met at the ball the other night. I wish +that Tom had not asked us to invite her to the houseboat this +afternoon. I did not like to refuse him, but I wish that I never had to +see her again." + +Madge returned to her sweeping with redoubled ardor. She acted as +though she were trying to sweep the objectionable Miss Harris off of +the houseboat. + +"Don't take a rude speech so to heart, my dear," remonstrated Miss +Jenny Ann. "Really, Miss Harris isn't worth it. It's dreadful to have a +long list of grudges; it only hurts one to remember them." + +Madge listened politely, though she didn't appear convinced by their +chaperon's remarks. Wilful Madge was never convinced except by +experience. + +"I don't hate the Harris girl just because she made one rude speech, +Miss Jenny Ann," she returned; "I hate her because she is hateful! She +was impolite to us, and a sneak not to tell Tom Curtis what she had +said about us. Then she is very haughty and proud because her father is +a prominent officer at Fortress Monroe. She treated us as though we +were nobodies from nowhere!" + +"Here, here, Madge!" cried Phyllis Alden, appearing suddenly with the +bread knife--she had been making sandwiches for their party--"them's my +sentiments to a T! I'll cut off Miss Harris's head with the carving +knife if you say so." + +Madge laughed. "Oh, no, Phil, I suppose we shall have to be as sweet as +cream to her because her friends are our Mrs. Curtis's friends. Miss +Harris will probably be invited to all the parties we have while we are +here." + +"Lieutenant Lawton is nice and interesting, at any rate," interposed +Phil. "Don't think that he talked to me about himself. He only said +that he was in the Navy. But Tom told me that Lieutenant Lawton was +working on a wonderful invention. I think it is something about a +torpedo-boat destroyer that will go twice as fast as any other torpedo +boat," Phil went on vaguely. "Lieutenant Lawton has a work-shop near +Fortress Monroe. It is kept absolutely private through fear that some +one will steal the model for the boat before Lieutenant Lawton has +completed it." + +"You became very well acquainted with this young lieutenant, Phil," +teased Madge. "I suppose he will be rich if he succeeds with his +invention." + +Phil shook her dark head enthusiastically. "No; that is why I think he +is so splendid," she argued. "He will make no money, unless our +Government chooses to make him a gift, or to give him a higher rank in +the Navy. Tom says that several foreign countries have offered +Lieutenant Lawton thousands of dollars for his invention. There are +American ship-building companies, too, that would give him a great deal +of money for it. Two men are at Old Point now trying to tempt +Lieutenant Lawton to sell his secret. But Tom says nothing will +influence him; he is such a patriot!" + +"Girls, it is time to dress for your tea-party," announced Miss Jenny +Ann. + +For an instant she experienced a vague regret that her girls were about +to come in contact with so many fashionable people. She wished that she +could transplant them to the free outdoor life that had characterized +their first houseboat holiday. Here was sensible Phil, her head filled +with stories of wonderful secret inventions and young inventors. And +Phil had been the most dependable of her charges. + +But Miss Jenny Ann was looking in the wrong direction for trouble. She +should have concerned herself with the naughty plan that was forming in +Madge's mind. It had never been worth while to pretend that the little +captain was always noble and high-minded. She was capable of generous +impulses and she loved her friends so dearly that she would do anything +in the world for them. But she was proud and a trifle vain. She hated +to be snubbed and treated as though she were absolutely of no +importance. So she had quite made up her mind to be revenged on Flora +Harris. Just at the time she could think of no better way than to make +friends with Flora's particular admirer, Alfred Thornton. He was an +extremely wealthy young man in prospect, his father being a Pittsburg +millionaire. Flora was a snob; she was only seventeen, but her mother +was a foolish, flighty woman, who allowed her daughter to think that +she was already grown-up. Although Flora was not out of school, her +mother never ceased to preach to her that she was not to marry a poor +Army officer, so the young girl was pleased to have a wealthy young man +as one of her admirers. + +Madge knew that Alfred Thornton was snobbish and mean-spirited. She did +not like him. She decided that on the night of the ball. She had seen +him exchanging smiles with Miss Harris behind their backs before Tom +Curtis had introduced him as his friend. This merely confirmed her bad +opinion of him. But she realized that young Thornton had been attracted +by her, and she naughtily resolved to turn his attentions from the +elegant Miss Harris to herself. When she went into her cabin to dress +for their tea-party it was with the determination to teach the girl she +disliked that Madge Morton, country-bred though she might be, was a +force yet to be reckoned with. + +At two o'clock that afternoon Miss Jenny Ann and the four girls +received their guests, and a little later tea was served on the deck at +the dainty tea table under the big Japanese umbrellas. Madge, looking +radiant in a little frock of white organdie dotted with tiny green +leaves, poured the tea. + +Tom Curtis had brought with him four or five young men from the camp. +Flora Harris, looking utterly bored, a faint smile of cynical amusement +on her face, accompanied by her cousin, Alice Paine, had crossed the +bay in a steam launch with Jimmie Lawton. Never before had the +houseboat held so many visitors, and the young hostesses did all in +their power to entertain their guests. + + * * * * * + +"We have had a delightful afternoon," smiled Alice Paine as, later, the +two young women declared that they must go back to Old Point. "I think +the 'Merry Maid' is lovely, don't you, Flora?" + +"The _boat_? Oh, yes," drawled Flora. Then with a touch of malice she +added, "You told me you made your houseboat from an old canal boat, +didn't you, Miss Morton?" + +"Yes," returned the little captain briefly; then, as though unconscious +of any malice aforethought on the part of the other girl, she continued +a laughing conversation with Tom Curtis and Alfred Thornton. + +"I should have guessed it," commented Flora Harris, shrugging her +shoulders. She frowned as she noted that Alfred Thornton appeared to be +enjoying himself immensely. Furthermore, no one had paid the slightest +attention to her malicious little thrust. Madge had answered her +without seeming to realize the insult her words contained. + +Madge had fully realized, however, the hidden insolence of Flora +Harris's reply, but she would have died rather than allow the other +girl to know it. + +"Did you say I didn't dare, Tom?" she exclaimed in answer to a laughing +remark on the part of the young man. "I don't see anything very daring +about your proposal. O Phil!" she turned to Phyllis, "Tom and Mr. +Thornton dare us to row against them in the camp regatta next week. +Will you do it?" + +"Of course," agreed Phyllis, who would have cheerfully acquiesced to +almost anything Madge saw fit to propose. "We are likely to come in +last, but never mind a little thing like that. We are out of practice +though. I wonder if we can't persuade a number of other girls to enter +the race too?" + +Flora Harris glanced disdainfully at Madge and Phyllis. She and Alice +had lived near salt water all their lives, and had been taught to row +by experts. It was too absurd to think of these two country girls +rowing against them! As for entering a racing contest with boys from +the camp--surely they were joking! But if they meant it seriously, she +and Alice were ready for them. + +"Oh, yes, we will enter the race," she answered with a kind of amused +indifference. "I suppose Alice and I can row as well as your other +friends. But we really must be getting back to the Point. Lieutenant +Jimmy, we are sorry to interrupt you, but we have a long trip ahead of +us." Her significant tone caused Phyllis and that young man to flush. + +It was quite true that Lieutenant Jimmy had devoted himself exclusively +to Phyllis, and that she had forgotten every one else in listening to +the stories of naval life which he had been relating to her. Still, +Flora Harris need not have directed the attention of the others to +their absorption in each other. The young lieutenant looked rather +sulky as he bade good-bye to his hostesses, with his eyes on Phil, and +helped Miss Harris and Miss Paine into the motor boat. + +Alfred Thornton and Tom Curtis left the "Merry Maid" soon after +Lieutenant Lawton's launch steamed away, and when the five young women +were alone they looked at one another in silence. Each one of them was +possessed of the same thought. It was Phyllis who voiced it. + +"I quite agree with you, Madge," she said, a note of anger in her +voice. "I think that Miss Harris is detestable. One thing is certain, +we must outrow those two girls in the race. I couldn't endure seeing +them win." + +"Nor I, Phil," returned Madge. "We'll win that race just to spite that +hateful Miss Harris. I despise her snobbishness." + +"That is a very ignoble spirit in which to enter it," reproved Miss +Jenny Ann. + +"Remember, we are to race with a very ignoble person," retorted Madge. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE MYSTERIOUS BOX + + +After the tea-party a variety of things came up to engage the attention +of the "Merry Maid's" crew. For the first time since they had banded +themselves together their interests lay apart. Phyllis Alden was so +deeply impressed with the fact that Lieutenant James Lawton had chosen +her as a confidante and insisted on telling her all his aims and +aspirations, that she had thought of little else except him. Lillian +Seldon was experiencing her first taste of society and it had gone to +her head. The young officers at Fortress Monroe and the midshipmen vied +with one another in paying her devoted attention, and she reveled in +the knowledge that she was pretty and a favorite. Madge's sole idea in +life seemed to consist in annoying Flora Harris, and with this intent +she deliberately encouraged the attentions of Alfred Thornton, thus +arousing the lasting resentment of that young woman, who looked upon +young Thornton as her own particular cavalier. Secretly Madge despised +him, nevertheless she concealed her dislike under a gay, gracious +manner that she used continually to draw him away from the girl whom +she had resolved to annoy and tease on every occasion. + +Only Eleanor and Miss Jenny Ann remained unchanged. Both women loved +the quiet of the "Merry Maid" far better than they did Society, and +while Madge, Phil and Lillian flitted here and there like gay young +butterflies, the chaperon and the little brown-haired daughter of +Virginia kept the boat ship-shape and looked after the wants of the +others. + +They were by no means stay-at-homes, however. Mrs. Curtis had arranged +all sorts of good times in which the five young women took part. One of +her latest ideas was that her young guests should give a play. She had +engaged the private ballroom of the hotel for a certain evening, and +had arranged for the erection of a temporary stage on the day previous +to the evening on which the play was to be given. She and Madeleine had +invited a number of their friends and there would be a supper and dance +afterward. + +Madeleine, who had developed into a veritable bookworm, had, after +considerable hunting, found a story called "The Decision," which she +had arranged as a play. There were but five characters in the play, +which was the story of a girl who, holding a position as private +secretary in the home of a man of wealth, discovers that his daughter, +a girl about her own age, has been unduly extravagant and, needing +money, has forged a check in her father's name. While she deliberates +as to what is to be done, the father discovers the forgery, and taxing +his daughter with it, she becomes panic-stricken and lays the forgery +at the door of the private secretary. Her employer, a hard man, brings +the two girls together, declaring that if his daughter is at fault he +will turn her from his home and utterly repudiate her. + +A struggle begins in the secretary's mind. She realizes that if she +confesses falsely to the forgery, it means not only the loss of her own +position but her good name as well, whereas if she makes the daughter +of her employer admit her fault, it means that, driven from home, the +girl whose weakness has brought about this distressful situation stands +little or no chance of redeeming her error if thrust upon the mercy of +the world. + +In the end the secretary shoulders the daughter's guilt and is about to +leave her employer's house forever, he having declined to prosecute +her, when his daughter, aroused to latent remorse by the nobility of +spirit of the girl she has wronged, confesses the truth, and is +forgiven by her father solely on account of the earnest pleading of the +other girl. + +Madge had been chosen to play the secretary, Flora Harris the daughter. +Tom Curtis was to portray the role of the stern father, while Lillian +Seldon played a pert maid and Alfred Thornton an inquisitive footman. + +Flora Harris was secretly chagrined when she discovered that the role +of heroine had fallen to Madge. Although the part of the erring +daughter furnished plenty of opportunity for acting, the honors of the +play fell to Madge. Flora was far too clever to show by any outward +sign that she was not pleased with the part assigned to her, but +privately she registered another grievance against the little captain, +and the determination to lower Madge's pride to the dust was never long +out of her thoughts. Just how this was to be done she could not yet +see, but she felt that sooner or later the opportunity was sure to +present itself. + +Of one thing she was certain, Madge Morton and Phyllis Alden should not +win the boat race. She did not believe there was much possibility of +their winning. She had watched them rowing about in the "Water Witch" +and had decided that they possessed neither skill nor speed. She knew +that since their agreement to enter the race the two girls had been +practising diligently during the mornings on their side of the bay. She +and her cousin Alice had not been idle. They had done considerable +rowing in the mornings, also, and confidently expected to carry off the +prize, whatever it might be. + +As for Madge and Phyllis, they entertained little idea of winning the +race. It was not to be expected, considering the fact that they were +competing with boys. Still, they hoped to make as good a showing as +Flora Harris and Alice Paine. They devoted their morning hours to their +practice, for the rehearsals of the play occupied Madge's afternoons, +and it must be confessed that Lieutenant James Lawton took up the +greater part of Phil's evenings. But whatever may have been his +failings in this direction, he was proving himself to be an efficient +coach. + +His two pupils had placed themselves entirely under his training and, +according to his enthusiastic commendation, were improving rapidly. + +"You girls are doing better with every minute!" was his lively praise +one morning as they rowed the "Water Witch" toward the houseboat. Their +practice was over for the day, and Lieutenant Jimmy was to take +luncheon with them. + +It had been a particularly interesting morning. Madge felt more drawn +toward the young lieutenant than on any previous occasion. He had been +telling her and Phyllis of his life in the Navy, his hopes and +aspirations, and Phyllis had purposely drawn him into describing his +invention. He had just completed a model of his torpedo-boat destroyer +and expected to take it to Washington within a few days. He was to show +his model boat to a committee of naval experts, who were to decide +whether his invention were of value. + +Aside from the pleasure it gave him to tell the girls of his invention +he had another graver reason for doing so. He had decided to ask +Phyllis to do him a great favor. From the beginning of their +acquaintance the young man had been impressed with Phil's sterling +qualities. She was loyal to her friends and absolutely dependable. He +felt certain that she would respect a confidence and keep a secret. He +believed her to be the one person he could trust absolutely. Yet he did +not wish to draw her into a promise without the knowledge of at least +one of her friends. For this reason he had chosen to make Madge his +confidante also. + +Just how to begin he hardly knew, and it was not until they had rowed +within close range of the houseboat, where Tom Curtis and Alfred +Thornton stood waving from the deck, that he said nervously: + +"Won't you and Miss Morton stop rowing for a moment, Miss Alden? I +wouldn't have bored you with the story of my invention, except that I +wish to ask you a strange favor. If I go away in a few days, of course +my work-shop will be closely watched and guarded. Yet I shall not feel +it to be perfectly safe. I alone know that I am being spied upon, that +certain men are shadowing me ready to report every movement that I +make. If, after leaving here, I should fall ill unexpectedly, +or--disappear suddenly, the secret of my invention might never be +known. So I wish to ask you, Miss Alden, to keep a small, square box, +which I shall give you before I leave. I shall ask you not to examine +its contents unless some unusual circumstance should develop, when you +feel obliged to ascertain what the box contains. You may think it +strange that I do not ask one of my men friends to do this favor for +me. But I have a special reason for desiring to place the box in the +care of some one who will never be suspected of having it. Will you +keep it for me, say for a week, or until I ask you or write to you for +it?" + +The skiff had nearly reached the houseboat. Madge and Phyllis were +allowing the "Water Witch" to drift in. Their friends on board had seen +them and were signaling for them to come aboard. + +Madge's usually sunny face was clouded with disapproval. Why should +Lieutenant Lawton wish a young girl like Phyllis, a mere acquaintance, +to guard a mysterious box for him? What could possibly happen to him +when he went to Washington! It was all too vague and too absurd. She +decided that she and Phyllis would have nothing to do with Lieutenant +Lawton's invention. + +"I don't believe, Phil, that you and I ought to do what Lieutenant +Lawton asks unless he takes us fully into his confidence," she +protested. + +Phyllis closed her lips with an expression of quiet resolution. "I will +take care of the box for you while you are away, Lieutenant Lawton," +she declared. "If Madge doesn't wish to have anything to do with it, +she will keep your secret, at any rate. I know it will be all right, +Madge; I am sure you will agree with me," she ended coaxingly, turning +to her chum. "We could not refuse to do such a simple favor for a +friend. And I think Lieutenant Lawton is a true patriot to give his +invention to his country, instead of selling it to make a fortune, as +so many other men would do, and I am proud to aid him in even the +smallest way." + +Lieutenant Lawton blushed. It occurred to Madge that she and Phyllis +knew little of the young officer's real character. Suppose, after all, +he did not intend to present his discovery to his Government? Were she +and Phil to be used as dupes? A long, searching look into the young +man's earnest face seemed to reassure her. + +"When do you wish to give Phil the box, Mr. Lawton?" she said slowly. + +"To-night, when you come to Mrs. Curtis's to rehearse for your play," +replied Lieutenant Jimmy. "I shall want to see you and Miss Alden alone +somewhere. It will only take a minute to hand you the box, but do not, +for the world, let either Tom Curtis or Alfred Thornton know what I +have asked of you." + +"We won't," promised Phyllis readily. + +"Then I can depend on you?" asked the young man anxiously. "You are +certain that you are willing to stand by me, Miss Morton?" + +"Yes." Madge gave an emphatic nod. "I feel that you would not ask us to +do anything unless you were sure that it was for the best. We will take +care of the box for you and no one need suspect that we have it." + +"I thank you." Lieutenant Lawton shook hands with the two girls, and +thus the compact, involving far more than either of the girls could +possibly guess, was sealed. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FLORA BETRAYS A STATE SECRET + + +Alfred Thornton had not come to spend several weeks in camp with Tom +Curtis and a dozen other of his acquaintances solely for the pleasure +of the outdoor life and sports. He had a secret and far more important +mission. His father was a steel magnate. He was also a silent but +deeply interested partner in one of the largest ship-building concerns +in the United States. The elder Mr. Thornton and his associates had +heard rumors of Lieutenant Lawton's probable invention. + +If the young officer could be induced to sell the model of his +destroyer to their concern, it would mean millions of dollars. If their +company alone could make the fastest torpedo-boat destroyer in the +world, not only would the United States Government be forced to buy +such boats from them, but every government in Europe would have to seek +them to find out the secret of the highest speed ever attained by such +a craft. + +Alfred Thornton had been appointed to watch Lieutenant Jimmy Lawton. He +was to make him an offer for his patent, if it could be managed without +the knowledge of the Government authorities. In any case, he was to +wire his father the moment he believed Lieutenant Lawton had completed +the model of his boat. + +It was easy, therefore, to see why Alfred Thornton had cultivated the +friendship of Flora Harris. He wished to be about Fortress Monroe in +order to hear the gossip of the Army and Navy people, to see Lieutenant +Lawton, yet never in any way to be suspected of spying upon him. For +this reason Alfred had chosen to live over in the camp with Tom Curtis +and his friends, rather than to be any nearer the scene of action. + +It occurred to the young man on the night of the first rehearsal of +their play in Mrs. Curtis's private drawing room that he had been +paying too much attention to Madge. He did not wish to estrange Flora +Harris. He must be more careful. For this one evening, at least, he +would leave Madge to herself. Had Madge been able to read his thoughts +she would not have been disturbed at his decision. She was growing +tired of her new acquaintance. She thought him dull and too curious +about other people's affairs. He was too fond of referring to Phil's +friendship for Lieutenant Lawton in a joking manner. For the moment +Lieutenant Lawton and the mysterious box occupied her thoughts so +completely that she forgot Alfred Thornton's existence. + +She saw Lieutenant Lawton come into the drawing room, watched him as he +explained his unexpected appearance to Mrs. Curtis. Then, looking pale +and worried, he took his seat next to Phyllis, though he did not have a +chance to say a word to her that would not be overheard. For once Miss +Jenny Ann Jones, who had always been the most lenient of chaperons, +determined to play the part of a stern dragon. She decided that, of +late, the young man had been altogether too attentive to Phyllis. She +sat on the girl's side and took part in the conversation between her +and the young lieutenant. When he proposed that Miss Alden walk with +him in the hotel garden, Miss Jones quietly rose and went out with +them. + +Lieutenant Lawton was desperate. He must give Phyllis the box which he +desired her to keep for him before the evening was over. Yet how could +he appoint the time and place where she could receive it if he never +had a moment with her in private? Miss Jenny Ann entered first the +revolving door that formed the ladies' entrance to Mrs. Curtis's hotel. +Before the door swung around again Lieutenant Lawton had time to +whisper: + +"You and Miss Morton meet me, if you can, by the tree on the south side +of the hotel porch just before you start for the houseboat." + +Phil had just time to nod in reply when she caught Miss Jenny Ann +gazing at her reproachfully through the glass of the door. + +If Phyllis had not thought Lieutenant Jimmy Lawton a patriot and a +genius, she would never have undertaken to help him without being +allowed to confide her part in the affair to her chaperon. But if Madge +were romantic in her way, Phil was equally so in hers. While Madge +dreamed of lovely ladies and romantic knights in the days of chivalry, +Phyllis had visions of the glory of self-sacrifice, of patriotism, of +doing great deeds for other people. She wanted to study medicine +because she thought some day she might be able to go as a hospital +nurse on the field of battle. To be able to help Lieutenant Lawton in +even the smallest way to do a service for his country was a source of +great delight to Phil. She was actually thrilled by it. + +Madge, who had been watching her friend, wished that she would not show +her feelings so plainly. Across the room she could see that Phyllis was +pale and restless. Once or twice Madge saw Alfred Thornton staring at +Phyllis; then he turned to hold a whispered conversation with Flora +Harris. + +Early in the evening Lieutenant Lawton disappeared from the drawing +room. As soon as the rehearsal of their play was over Alfred Thornton +made his escape. + +Lieutenant Jimmy did not go to his work-shop; he went to his quarters. +Half an hour later he returned with a square box in his hand, which +looked like a five-pound box of candy. Instead of returning to the room +where Mrs. Curtis and her guests were, he strolled nervously about the +grounds of the hotel. It was dark under the tree where he had asked +Phil and Madge to meet him. About ten minutes before he could look for +them he went cautiously toward this tree and waited with his back close +against it. + +A figure, coming up behind him suddenly, startled him. The man had time +only to lean over and say, "Two hundred thousand dollars!" when a sound +of voices was heard at the southern end of the hotel veranda. + +Phyllis also had found it difficult to have a private word with Madge, +but toward the close of the evening she did have time to whisper the +account of her appointment. + +When Miss Jenny Ann suggested that it was time to leave for their +houseboat, Madge and Phyllis went hurriedly, ahead of the others, into +Mrs. Curtis's dressing room. They slipped into their evening coats, +and, taking their pink and blue chiffon scarfs in their hands, they +reached the hotel veranda before any one missed them. + +There were few people staying in the big summer hotel, for it was late +in the season. The night was cool and the big front porch was almost +deserted. The two girls felt like conspirators. They were perfectly +willing to keep Lieutenant Lawton's box for him. But why was he so +mysterious? + +At the southern end of the long veranda they plainly espied the figure +of a man walking slowly up and down in the darkness. It was too dark to +distinguish Lieutenant Lawton's uniform. The girls called faintly to +the man under the trees. He did not hear them, nor move in their +direction. + +"Come on, Madge," whispered Phyllis impatiently. "If we are going to +help Lieutenant Lawton by taking care of his box for him, we may as +well go out on the lawn to receive it. Miss Jenny Ann will be after us +in a minute, if we don't hurry. I believe she thinks I am getting into +mischief. She told me yesterday that she thought we were all behaving +in much too grown-up a fashion." + +They were talking as they walked toward the solitary figure they had +seen standing under the tree. "Lieutenant!" Phyllis called softly. The +young officer did not reply. The girls drew nearer. The man was not +Lieutenant Lawton! + +Alfred Thornton was grinning maliciously. "Were you looking for +Lieutenant Lawton?" he inquired. "He was here a few minutes ago. He has +gone back to his home. I can look him up for you if you are really +anxious to see him, Miss Alden." + +Phyllis turned pale with embarrassment. She made no reply. + +Madge answered for her. "No, Mr. Thornton," she returned quietly, "it +won't be necessary. We _did_ wish to see Lieutenant Lawton on a little +matter of business. It was not important. We shall probably see him +some other time. We are sorry to have disturbed you." + +Madge spoke calmly, but her cheeks were flushed. It did look rather +ridiculous for them to be searching the hotel grounds for a young man +who had not even waited to see them. + +Alfred Thornton insisted on walking back to the hotel with Phyllis and +Madge. He even accompanied them to the motor launch, but as the girls +were going aboard he purposely dropped behind the party, apparently to +talk to Flora Harris. He had seen Lieutenant Lawton reappear among the +group of his friends. The young officer went straight up to Phyllis, +handing her the oblong box under the cover of the darkness. "Here is +the box," he whispered, when he caught Miss Jones looking directly at +him. + +Phil took the box. It was extremely heavy. She could scarcely hold it. +But she never put it down until she had safely reached the shelter of +the houseboat and had placed it at the bottom of her steamer trunk. + +Alfred Thornton did not cross to the camping grounds with Tom Curtis in +his motor launch that night. He had decided, for reasons best known to +himself, to spend the night on the Virginia side of the bay. After +seeing Madge and Phyllis to the launch, he returned to the hotel in +time to walk home with Flora Harris. + +"By the way," she exclaimed, as they were about to say good night, +"didn't you once ask me to tell you if I ever heard that Lieutenant +Lawton were about to leave Fortress Monroe? Why did you wish to know?" + +Alfred Thornton glanced sharply at his companion. His father had +promised him ten thousand dollars if he managed his detective work +successfully. Was it possible that this girl possessed valuable +information concerning the affairs of Lieutenant Lawton? + +"Oh, I have a personal reason," he answered with an assumed +carelessness. + +Flora Harris was not deceived. She had read eagerness in his quick +glance. She therefore intended to tell him that which he wished to +know, because she desired having him on her side if any difficulty +should arise between herself and Madge Morton. + +"Well," she continued, after a moment's pause, "I am telling you a +state secret, and one I really have no right to know. I believe that +Lieutenant Lawton leaves for Washington within a few days. He has +finished the model of that old torpedo-boat destroyer that everybody is +making such a fuss about. It is a great secret, so don't let any one +know that I have told you. Lieutenant Jimmy came to see Father to-day +and had a long talk with him. Afterward I overheard Father tell Mother +that things were O.K. with Jimmy Lawton, but she was not to mention +the subject to a soul." + +Flora laughed. She did not in the least realize the importance of the +information she had just given. Yet she did know enough to understand +that she should never have repeated a word that she had heard within +her father's house that in any way referred to Government business. + +"Oh, well, you needn't worry over having told me," assured Alfred +Thornton. "As I am a friend of Lawton's, naturally I am interested in +anything pertaining to his invention. He has been so very stiff and +close-mouthed about it, he would be rather surprised if he knew that +I'd found out something about it, after all." + +"Don't you dare let him know that I told you anything!" exclaimed Flora +in alarm. "If you do, it will go straight to Father and then---- I wish +I hadn't told you," she concluded regretfully. + +Flora's sudden change of mood caused Alfred Thornton to purposely look +offended and say haughtily, "I am sorry you have such a bad opinion of +my honor." + +Flora, who had not intended to make the young man angry, tried +instantly to apologize, and after a certain amount of sulky hesitation +he condescended to accept her apology. If she had seen the expression +of triumph that gleamed in his eyes as he turned from her door and +strode down the walk, she would have been still more alarmed. + +That night Alfred Thornton sent a telegram to his father. It was +written in a code that had been arranged between them. When the +messenger boy departed the young man went to his room in the hotel with +the air of one whose mission had been accomplished. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +AWARDING THE PRIZES + + +The boat race between the four girls and six men at the camping +grounds, which had begun as a joke, was really to take place. + +The boys had desired to do something for the entertainment of their +friends on the houseboat at Old Point Comfort. So the day of the boat +race was to be turned into a long day of feasting and amusement. + +The summer camp was about to break up, and the young men who had been +members of it were to return to their homes to get ready for the +opening of college. The picnic at the camp was to be their swan song. +The camp was composed of fourteen young men and two professors from +Columbia University. Professor Gordon looked after the athletics and +Professor Gamage the general management of the camp. The men lived in +three small, portable houses, which were set up along the shores of +Oyster Sound, a little stretch of quiet water between the mainland and +a small island. + +Tom Curtis and Alfred Thornton, insisting that they be allowed to act +as masters of ceremony for the day's amusements, had arranged a regular +programme for their guests. + +Madge requested Tom Curtis to let their boat race take place first. She +and Phyllis were nervous and wished to have the race over in order that +they might be free to enjoy the day's pleasures. But, for once in their +acquaintance, Tom was obdurate and would not agree either to Madge's +entreaties or to her commands. He had arranged his programme and would +make no changes in it, he declared stubbornly. + +The guests were to arrive at the camp and eat their luncheon; an hour +later the young men were to give an exhibition of wrestling and racing. +As a last feature of the day the famous race was to take place between +the boys and girls. The race was supposed to be rowed "just for fun," +but Mrs. Curtis had secretly provided two silver cups. One was to be +presented to the victors, the other was to be awarded to whichever of +the two pairs of girls outrowed the other. + +Madge and Phyllis had no particularly pretty suits to wear in the +coming race. The sailor suits they had worn on their first houseboat +excursion were now quite shabby, but neither of them felt that they +could afford to buy new ones. Two days before the boat race Miss Jenny +Ann came to the rescue. She made two beautiful new blouses of white +flannel with wide collars and cuffs of pale blue. Upon the right sleeve +of each blouse Eleanor embroidered in a shade of blue that exactly +matched their collars and cuffs the mysterious letters, M.M.M., which +stood for "Mates of the Merry Maid." These blouses worn with their dark +blue serge skirts made very attractive rowing costumes. + +The time appointed for the boat race was at noon on Saturday. The boys +had worked manfully and the grounds looked as though they had been +arranged for a Fourth of July picnic. + +When the houseboat party arrived they were greeted with great +cordiality by the young men of the camp. Flora Harris and Alice Paine +did not put in an appearance until within five minutes of the starting +time of the race. Both young women were attired in expensive boating +costumes of heavy cream-colored pongee. They wore white silk stockings +and white buckskin shoes. Their only touches of color were the scarfs +of pale green crepe de chine which were passed under their sailor +collars, and tied in a sailor knot at the open necks of their blouses. + +Madge could not help feeling a tiny pang of envy as she gazed at her +beautifully dressed rivals. It was only for a moment, however. She +turned to Tom Curtis, who had hardly left her side since her arrival, +and said, "I have one last particular favor to ask. Will you ask your +crew to come and stand in a line before me?" + +"Certainly," agreed Tom wonderingly. The next instant the six men stood +in a line before her. They were Tom Curtis and Alfred Thornton, who +were to pull together, Harry Sears and a Maryland boy, named George +Robinson, and two brothers, Peter and John Simrall. The six youths had +on their rowing costumes, with their sweaters over them. They looked +like a row of good-natured giants as they smiled cheerfully down on +Madge. + +Phyllis, Eleanor and Lillian were standing just behind her. Flora +Harris and her cousin, Alice Paine, were not far away. Flora Harris and +Madge had barely spoken to each other all day. Before she had an +opportunity to explain what she wished of the young men, Flora +whispered to her cousin, so audibly that not only Madge but her three +friends heard "I suppose Miss Morton has arranged this tableau to make +herself conspicuous, as usual." + +Madge flushed hotly. A quick reply sprang to her lips. The three girls +cast indignant glances at Flora. Madge shook her head slightly. She +meant that they were to remain silent. She had determined not to lose +her temper again with Flora Harris, no matter what the other girl said +or did, and she did not wish her friends to fight her battles. Then she +turned to the boys, who stood in an expectant row. + +"Gentlemen," she began solemnly, not a sign of laughter on her usually +merry face, "before we begin our boat race, you will have to make us a +solemn promise." She gazed searchingly at the six oarsmen. "You must +promise us that you will play fair this afternoon in our rowing +contest." + +"Why, Madge Morton!" exclaimed Tom, "what do you mean? Do you take us +for cheats?" + +Madge smiled. "No, I don't take you for cheats. I am afraid that you +are going to behave like knights of chivalry, and that you will not try +to win the boat race, which you are to row against Miss Harris, Miss +Paine, Phil and me. So you must vow that you will row fairly and +squarely and that you will not hold back or give us any unfair +advantage." + +The young men hesitated, looking sheepishly at one another. How had +Madge guessed their plan? + +"We won't row with you unless you make us this promise," threatened +Phyllis. + +Flora Harris and Alice Paine also insisted that this promise be given, +and after a good-natured protest on their part, the young men finally +agreed to Madge's demand. + +The five sculls were waiting out on the water. There was a sixth boat +for the umpire, Professor Gordon, to follow the race. Professor Gamage +was to act as judge at the finish. + +The girls got into their boats first, taking their station a hundred +yards ahead of the three sculls to be pulled by the men. + +Madge and Phyllis, who were on the inside course, remembered every word +of Jimmy Lawton's coaching. They had won the spring regatta at Miss +Tolliver's school. But then they had rowed only against other girls. +Now, they were to enter into a different kind of contest. They did not +even know how skilful their feminine competitors were. The boys, of +course, had superior strength and training. + +Lieutenant Lawton had declared that the one chance for Phyllis and +Madge lay in the start. If they could get away in good style, and make +a spurt toward the goal, the fact of their hundred yards advantage and +the shortness of the course would give them considerable chance of +winning the race. + +The disadvantage under which Madge and Phil labored was that they had +not been accustomed to rowing in anything but quiet waters. Flora and +Alice were accustomed to rowing in the surf. The few days' practice on +the bay under Lieutenant Jimmy's direction had helped the two girls. +They had learned the advantage of the long stroke with the high +"feather." Phil was acting as stroke oar in their boat, Madge as +bowman; Alice Paine was stroke and Flora bowman in the rival skiff. + +The four girls pulled gloriously. It was a lovely September day, and no +time or strength was wasted in false starts. None of the girls dared to +look back at the men when the signal to get away rang out. No cry of +false start rang after them, and they saw that their masculine rivals +were in close pursuit. + +At the beginning of the contest Phyllis and Madge made the best forward +spurt. A moment later Flora and Alice brought their boat up bow and +bow. + +Neither Madge nor Phil glanced toward their opponents. Their work lay +plainly ahead of them. The girls sat squarely in their skiff, their +bodies bending sharply forward, then back to recover. They held their +oars firmly but lightly, and pulled for their lives. + +The four girls saw that the men were gaining on them. But they had +already covered half of the course. None of them cared very much +whether the boys were the victors. The two pairs of girls were intent +only on outstripping each other. + +Madge and Phil knew they could not hold out long. But how they were +pulling! They had never done such splendid work before in their lives. +The boys were amazed. They were trying to keep their word to Madge. Now +it struck them that, after all, they would have to make a real effort +to win. The girls had made such a splendid advance that the men pulled +a little harder at their oars. + +Flora Harris and Alice Paine gained a few feet on the other girls. The +experience of the former pair in rough waters was beginning to show. + +Determination to win made Madge and Phil redouble their efforts. Their +opponents were only a shade ahead of them now. The boats were keeping +to their straight courses in the open sound. It is a first rule, in +boat racing of any kind, that each boat shall keep to its own water +throughout the race. + +Flora Harris, as bowman, was responsible for the steering of her boat. +Whether from accident or intention, just as the bow of the rival skiff +came about midway the body of their shell Flora Harris pulled harder on +her port oar. Her boat swerved to the left. For a brief second the bow +crossed directly in front of the skiff rowed by the "Merry Maid" girls. +Madge was taken completely off her guard. She had not time to call out +to Phil. Phyllis, as stroke oar, was not expected to know what was +happening. Her duty was to row steadily ahead. Her companion's sudden +exclamation, the unexpected vision of the other boat in their course, +confused Phil. She lost her stroke. In the same second, Flora Harris +and Alice Paine returned to their course and pulled triumphantly ahead. +Their mistake lost them first place. But they outclassed Madge and +Phil. Harry Sears and George Robinson swept past and came up to the +stake. Flora and Alice were second. Tom and Alfred, the two Simrall +brothers, pulled past Madge and Phil. They had fulfilled Phil's +prediction and brought up the rear. + +Professor Gordon, who, as umpire, had been following the race, was +worried. Of course, he had seen the foul made by Alice and Flora. Yet +he did not know exactly what to do. It was possible that girls did not +understand the rules of boat racing. This race was being rowed for +pleasure. The girls were the guests of his boys at the camp. Flora +Harris's father was an officer at Fortress Monroe. It would hardly do +to accuse his daughter of cheating. He decided to allow the competitors +to register a complaint. He would say nothing until the complaint was +made to him. + +When Madge and Phyllis pulled in to the line of the other racing boats +Professor Gamage, the judge at the finish, was about to announce the +victors. Phil's face was white. She looked tired and dispirited. +Madge's cheeks were flaming. Every muscle in her body was tense. She +did not appear to feel the slightest fatigue. + +"Don't say anything, Madge," pleaded Phil, before they came up with the +others. "If the umpire does not declare the race to be a foul, we must +not mention it. We were rowing only for fun. We don't wish to make a +scene. If we were to accuse Alice and Flora of committing a foul, they +would be likely to deny it." + +"I must speak! I won't bear it!" breathed Madge passionately. "Why +should I allow Flora Harris the use of what we have rightfully won? Tom +or Alfred Thornton ought to speak." + +Phyllis had no chance for further argument with her friend. The +announcements were being made. + +"Sears and Robinson, first place; Miss Harris and Miss Paine, second," +the judge called out. "If you will row back to the starting place, I +believe Mrs. Curtis has some prizes to award. We couldn't manage to +transport our audience up here." + +The crews accepted the verdict in silence. Harry Sears and George +Robinson looked appealingly toward Madge and Phil, then toward their +umpire. Madge glanced at Tom from under her long lashes. Tom's face was +flaming, yet he said nothing. During the short row back to the camping +grounds the canoe crews were significantly silent. + +At the starting place Mrs. Curtis, Madeleine, Lillian and Eleanor +waited to greet them, their arms filled with flowers. Before leaving +for Washington, Lieutenant Lawton had placed an order with a florist +for two bouquets of red and white roses tied with blue ribbon, to be +presented to Madge and Phil. + +When Madeleine presented the bouquets the girls took their flowers with +half-averted faces. + +The guests of the day, however, were eagerly watching Mrs. Curtis, who +was holding two beautiful silver loving cups in her hands. Professor +Gordon announced Harry Sears and George Robinson as the winners of the +race. They received the larger of the cups in rather an embarrassed +fashion. + +"But I wish to know the girl winners," protested Mrs. Curtis, glancing +about the group of young people. + +Flora came toward her smiling in the superior manner that proud Madge +particularly disliked. "I believe we came next, Mrs. Curtis," she +announced. + +[Illustration: Madge Surprised the Little Company.] + +Mrs. Curtis had just opened her lips to congratulate the winners when a +high, clear voice surprised the little company. + +"Professor Gordon, did you not, as umpire, see that Miss Harris and +Miss Paine committed a foul which disqualified them in our boat race?" + +"O Madge!" Mrs. Curtis spoke in a tone of intense displeasure. +Madeleine's lovely face flushed with embarrassment. Lillian and Eleanor +felt the color rise to their own faces. Miss Jenny Ann stepped to the +side of impetuous Madge, who had precipitated this awkward situation. + +Flora Harris paused with her hand lifted to receive the prize. Her +cousin, Alice Paine, looked as though she would like to sink through +the earth. + +"Does Miss Morton object to our receiving the prize?" Flora queried +icily. "Then, please don't give it to us. I hardly thought Miss Morton +could endure to see any one but herself as the winner. An Army +officer's daughter is not likely to receive a reward after she has been +accused of cheating, nor will she ever overlook the insult." + +Flora moved away from Mrs. Curtis, her head held high, her face white +with anger. + +The sympathy of most of the onlookers was at present with Flora and +Alice. Phyllis said nothing, but she moved nearer to Madge, her lips +closed in the firm line which never meant retreat. + +"You should have made your complaint to me, Miss Morton, before we left +the boats," answered Professor Gordon sternly. "Don't you think it is +too late, now that we have come ashore and the places have been +awarded?" + +"It is not the prize that we wish," returned Madge unsteadily. "It is +only that I think it is dreadful to win anything unfairly. Tom, you saw +what happened. Will you not speak?" + +"Yes," began Tom sturdily, determined to stand by Madge, "I saw +Flora----" + +Mrs. Curtis laid her hand on her son's arm. With one appealing glance +at his mother Tom subsided. "I am sorry this error has occurred," she +announced to the assembled guests. "I am sure that, if an error in the +race were committed, it was not intentional. I insist on Miss Harris +and Miss Paine accepting this cup. Madge should not have made her +accusation at such a time and place. I think that she owes her +opponents an apology." + +Mrs. Curtis was gazing at Madge with more disfavor than she had ever +before shown her favorite. + +The little captain felt that she would like to put her arms about some +one's neck and cry her heart out. She was sorry she had spoken, she was +ashamed to have made such a scene and to have spoiled the boys' party, +but she was not ready to apologize for having told the truth. Now her +eyes were flashing ominously and her red lips were curled in scorn. She +had never looked prettier or more obstinate. + +"Any apology I have to offer will have to be made to you, Mrs. Curtis," +she answered between her teeth. "I can not apologize to Miss Harris or +Miss Paine for having told the truth. Of course, I accept the umpire's +decision. I know that we should have entered our protest before we left +our boat." + +Madge walked proudly away from the group. Her arms were full of +flowers, but her heart was full of woe. Why did she always seem to be +in the wrong where Flora Harris was concerned? What a bad-tempered girl +everyone must think her! + +Phyllis turned to follow Madge, nor would she desert her chum for a +moment until the houseboat party left the camping grounds. Mrs. Curtis +did not notice Madge. She was thoroughly incensed. Tom had only a +chance to whisper: "Course you were right, dear girl. Flora Harris and +Alice cheated abominably. It was my fault too. I should have spoken up +at first. I let things go only because Mother was set on it, and I +didn't wish to see our party break up in a quarrel. All the fellows in +the race are with you. They saw what happened. They were cowards, just +as I was. They didn't want to raise a fuss with the girls." + +The rest of the day did not pass very pleasantly for Madge. Mrs. Curtis +could not forgive the little captain for what she considered her lack +of diplomacy, and, knowing herself to be under the ban of her friend's +displeasure, Madge was singularly uncomfortable and ill at ease. Miss +Jenny Ann and the three "Merry Maid" girls could not help feeling that +though Madge had been somewhat hasty, still she had done nothing +reprehensible, and that it looked as though Mrs. Curtis were almost +taking sides with Flora Harris. + +It was with unmistakable relief that the houseboat party said good +night to Mrs. Curtis and boarded Tom Curtis's launch for the ride back +to the "Merry Maid." + +Madge drew a little apart from the others, staring moodily out over the +moonlit water. Finally Tom seated himself beside her and they talked +impersonally. She was too proud to bring up the subject of what had +occurred on shore, and Tom's sense of delicacy prevented him from +trying to discuss the disagreeable scene she had precipitated with her. + +Once on board their boat the girls were unusually quiet, and +preparations for bed that night were accompanied by little +conversation. Knowing Madge's disposition, and that she was already +suffering deeply from her too frank expression of opinion that +afternoon, her friends had decided among themselves to allow the +subject to rest. + +It was long after midnight, and the "Merry Maid" and her crew were +supposedly deep in slumber when Miss Jenny Ann was awakened by the +sound of low sobbing from Madge's berth. A moment later the chaperon +was bending over the little captain. + +"Madge, dear, what is the matter?" she asked in alarm. + +"O Miss Jenny Ann!" wailed Madge, "when shall I learn to keep my +temper? Phil told me to say nothing, and I did intend to hold my +tongue. But when that Harris girl stepped up so coolly to receive the +prize, knowing what a cheat she was, the words rushed out before I knew +they were coming. No one will ever forgive me for spoiling the day. +I'll never forgive myself." + +"Don't cry so, Madge, dear," soothed Miss Jenny Ann. "You mustn't blame +yourself too severely. You had great provocation." + +"I am not a bit sorry for what I said." Madge sat up in bed, a defiant +gleam in her eyes. Then her lips quivered and she said brokenly: +"It--it's--Mrs. Curtis. I--am--sorry--she--is angry with--me." + +"You had better go over to the hotel and see Mrs. Curtis in the +morning," advised Miss Jones, "then, if she decides it to be necessary, +you must apologize to Flora Harris." + +"Why should I apologize to her?" Madge's eyes grew dark with anger. +"She behaved very dishonorably." + +"But you precipitated a very disagreeable scene, which, as you yourself +have said, spoiled the pleasure of the party for all Mrs. Curtis's +guests," reminded her teacher. "I know that you were severely tried. My +private opinion of Flora Harris is not a flattering one, but Madge +Morton is too great of spirit not to admit her fault and apologize to +Miss Harris for telling the brutal truth in a brutal manner." + +Madge gazed almost sternly into the other woman's serious eyes. "I will +apologize to Miss Harris on one condition only," her red lips took on +an obstinate curve, "if Mrs. Curtis wishes me to do so." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE HOUR OF TRIUMPH + + +The morning after the boat race Tom Curtis came over to see the girls +in the launch, and took Madge back to Old Point with him to see his +mother. + +Mrs. Curtis was not proof against Madge's sincere apology. She had been +very angry with her young friend until Tom had privately assured her +that Madge's abrupt accusation was true. Flora and Alice had won the +race unfairly. One pleading look from the little captain's blue eyes +the next morning caused her to surrender. She was no longer sure that +she wished Madge to apologize to a girl who had been guilty of so +dishonorable an action. + +"I am sorry that you and Flora are not on friendly terms," she said +regretfully. "I am afraid we can not give the play. Flora Harris will +no doubt withdraw from the cast simply to complicate matters." + +"Mrs. Curtis," said Madge with compelling directness, "would you rather +I should apologize to Flora Harris?" + +Mrs. Curtis eyed Madge reflectively. "I don't know, my dear," she +hesitated. + +"I am going to do it!" cried Madge, springing to her feet. "Don't say a +word; I'd rather make Miss Harris fifty apologies than spoil all your +lovely plans." + +Mrs. Curtis insisted firmly on accompanying Madge to Flora Harris's +home. The little captain walked across the parade ground at Fortress +Monroe to the house of Colonel Harris, her face very pale, her auburn +head held high. + +They had been seated in the Harris's drawing room for at least ten +minutes before Flora Harris entered. She did not so much as glance at +Madge, although she greeted Mrs. Curtis rather effusively. + +If Mrs. Curtis could have signaled to Madge, she would not have +permitted her to humiliate herself by an apology to this ill-bred girl. +She was extremely angry at Flora's rudeness and regretted that she had +held the slightest sympathy for her. But before she could catch Madge's +eye the little captain had begun her apology. + +"Miss Harris," she declared quietly, "I am very sorry to have created +the scene that I did at the boat race yesterday. It was not very +diplomatic in me, and I am afraid I destroyed everyone's pleasure in +the party." + +Flora Harris favored Madge with the merest fraction of a glance. "I +thought you would soon see your mistake," she answered coolly. + +"My mistake?" For an instant Madge's blue eyes glittered with anger. +Then, rallying her self-control, she said sweetly, "I suppose it _was_ +a mistake to speak openly. It must have been very disagreeable for you. +It would have been kinder to remain silent." + +Flora Harris turned scarlet. Mrs. Curtis bit her lips to keep from +smiling. Madge bowed distantly to Flora. Then she rose and said +demurely: "Are you ready to go, Mrs. Curtis? Good afternoon, Miss +Harris." + +There was a distinct note of constraint in Mrs. Curtis's voice as she +said good-bye to Flora Harris. She was heartily disgusted with the +cavalier manner which the officer's daughter had exhibited, and +privately registered a vow that after the play she would invite Miss +Harris to her hotel but little. + +Madge stayed to luncheon with Mrs. Curtis and Madeleine. In the +afternoon Tom came in with the news that the Army headquarters at +Fortress Monroe were ringing with the story of the disappearance of +Lieutenant Jimmy Lawton. It was rumored that he had started for +Washington, where he was to appear before a body of naval experts +selected to judge the value of his invention. Up to that time he had +not arrived in Washington. He had made no report in regard to his +failure to appear. Gossip was beginning to whisper that Lieutenant +Jimmy was not such a patriot after all. Possibly he had run away to a +foreign country to sell his model to the highest bidder. He might never +again be allowed to wear his uniform as an officer in the United States +Navy. + +Madge wondered what she ought to tell Phil in regard to the strange +rumors. She was afraid Phyllis would be grieved, and be sadly worried. +What had the two girls concealed in the mysterious package left in +their charge by the vanished officer, who had evidently foreseen that +gossip would follow his mysterious departure? + +Madge need not have troubled herself on Phil's account. That young +woman took the report of Lieutenant Jimmy's disappearance with perfect +calmness. "He will be back very soon," she asserted to Madge. "Then he +will be able to explain everything to everyone's satisfaction. +Lieutenant Lawton is not a traitor. Just you wait and see!" So Phyllis +continued to have faith in the young officer. She never reflected on +what the box in her trunk contained, but she never left the trunk +unlocked for a moment. Nor did she ever fail to wear a small brass key +about her person. + +On the evening appointed for the performance of "The Decision" all +personal differences were apparently forgotten. Madge thought no more +of her trouble with Flora Harris. She had tried to be as polite to her +as possible and Flora had appeared to accept her apology. Flora Harris +had determined that it was the wisest thing that she could do to appear +to be friendly with Madge. It would make the revenge which she had +planned against Madge the more complete. Then, if she let it be known +that Miss Morton had withdrawn the accusation against herself and +Alice, no one could possibly believe there had been any truth in it in +the beginning. Her act would appear to be inspired only by her own +chagrin over defeat in the race. + +The day of the play Lillian and Madge were radiant over the prospect of +the evening's gayety. Eleanor, Phil and Miss Jenny Ann were equally +interested. The four girls sewed and talked the entire morning. They +had not had such a good time together since the beginning of their +second houseboat holiday. In a few days "The Merry Maid" would be sent +up the bay to be looked after for the winter; the four comrades would +return to Miss Tolliver's school; Miss Jenny Ann would be turned from +chaperon to teacher. The girls were enthusiastic about their winter. Of +course, they would study harder and accomplish more than they ever had +before, they promised themselves. + +The private ballroom in her hotel, which Mrs. Curtis had engaged for +the performance of the little drama, was delightfully arranged. A small +stage was erected at one end of it, and low-growing flowers and palms +banked about it. There was little light in the back of the room, where +the audience sat, but the miniature stage was brilliant with the glow +of delicately shaded electric lights. + +Mrs. Curtis had invited about fifty guests, her friends from the nearby +hotels and cottages, and a number of Army and Navy officers with their +families. The season was almost at an end. Mrs. Curtis, Madeleine and +Tom would leave for New York in ten days. They wished their last +entertainment to be a memorable one. + +Miss Jenny Ann sat in one of the front row chairs with Eleanor and +Phyllis. In their dressing room, Madge was trying to comfort Lillian, +who had lost her courage at the eleventh hour. When the time came for +her to go on, however, Lillian forgot her stage fright and made her +first entrance with the air of a seasoned trouper. The heavy work of +the play lay between Flora Harris and Madge, and in the enactment of +the little drama that followed it was difficult to realize that neither +of the two young women was a professional. + +"Flora Harris's part is pretty well suited to her," Tom Curtis had +confided to Madge at the dress rehearsal the day before. "I can imagine +she would be quite likely to load the blame for her own misdeeds on the +other girl's shoulders. She wouldn't experience a change of heart at +the end of the stunt the way this girl did, either." + +And Madge, being merely human, could not resist flashing him a glance +which meant that she quite agreed with him. + +It was in the final scene, where the secretary makes her appeal to the +father of the girl, that Madge scored her greatest triumph. The rise +and fall of her clear voice, that Madeleine always asserted had "tears" +in it, coupled with the intense earnestness with which she made her +plea, called forth ungrudging applause, and when, after the cast had +taken several encores the audience still kept up a steady clamor, she +was obliged to appear between the silken curtains and make a little +speech. It was indeed Madge Morton's hour of triumph. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MADGE MORTON'S SECRET + + +Mrs. Curtis had arranged that her younger guests should have +refreshments served to them in the small private dining room as soon as +their play was over. The older guests were to be served in another +larger room which she had engaged for that purpose. + +In the middle of the dining room was a table decorated with a model +houseboat made of crystal candy. There were flowers, fruits and candies +on the table, which was lighted with candles. + +When Madge, Lillian, Tom Curtis and Harry Sears entered the room +Eleanor and Phil were standing at one side of this table, talking to a +group of their friends. Directly after they took their places the two +Simrall boys and half a dozen other young people were ushered in, until +the room was comfortably full. + +Suddenly, as though drawn by a curious force, Madge lifted her eyes. +She saw the dining room door open and Flora Harris enter. She was +followed by Alfred Thornton, whose face was a dull red and whose eyes +were lowered. Madge felt a premonition of disaster, an apprehensive +shudder passed over her. Flora continued to walk the entire length of +the room, speaking to no one. When she came to Madge she halted, +staring at her through insolent, half-closed eyes. + +Tom looked at Flora Harris in angry amazement. He knew she was about to +make a disagreeable speech, but he wondered what had actuated her to do +so. He frowned over the heads of the girls at Alfred Thornton. He tried +to signal to him to steer Miss Harris in some safer direction, but +Alfred would not return his glance. + +"Miss Morton," began Flora, in an unusually high voice, "I wish to +congratulate you on your success to-night. There is no doubt about your +talent as an actress." Flora laid such stress on the word "actress" +that Madge blushed hotly. + +"Thank you," she answered, fighting back her temper. + +Alfred Thornton leaned over to whisper to Flora, "Don't, Flora, please, +don't." + +Flora Harris tossed her head angrily. For some time she had been +stealthily planning her revenge against Madge. Now that she had an +unusually good opportunity to put her plan into action, she did not +intend to allow the little captain to escape her unscathed. + +"It is a matter of surprise to me, Miss Morton, that you could have the +temerity to come here to Old Point Comfort, knowing it to be a military +post," she continued. + +Madge started slightly. The movement of her body was scarcely +perceptible, yet Flora saw it. + +"Oh, I see you understand me," she sneered, "but as it is very bad form +to exchange confidences when others are present, let us have done with +confidences. I am sure everyone here will be deeply interested in my +story, which is this: Once upon a time there was an officer in the Navy +whose name was Robert Morton. He proved himself unworthy to be a naval +officer and was dismissed from the service in disgrace and disappeared. +Miss Morton will tell you the rest of the story. As Robert Morton was +her father, it is just possible that she can tell us something further +about him." Flora's face shone with cruel triumph. + +Madge looked at her tormentor with unseeing eyes. For the instant she +was stunned by the blow. Then reason returned. White to the lips, she +fixed Flora with the stern question, "Where did you hear this story?" + +The others of the party sat staring in horrified silence. + +Flora shrugged her shoulders. "Anything to oblige you," she retorted, +"but don't attempt to say the story isn't true. I know it to be true +because my grandfather was your father's superior officer at the time." + +Madge gave one sharp cry that brought the company to their feet in +alarm. "Your grandfather's name--tell me--I must know." + +"Richard Foster Harris," replied Flora, gazing at Madge with a deep +frown. What was the matter? Her vengeful announcement was having an +entirely different effect upon the girl she disliked than that which +she had anticipated. "My grandfather is an admiral now. He was in line +for promotion when your father was dismissed in disgrace." Flora +lingered over the word "disgrace." + +"Your grandfather, Richard Foster Harris," repeated Madge brokenly. +"Then he is--he is--oh, I am not so cruel as you. I can not speak +against----" + +"What do you mean?" almost screamed Flora. "How dare you even insinuate +anything against my grandfather? He is an admiral, do you understand, +an _admiral_!" + +Madge glanced about her, meeting the anxious, sympathetic faces of her +friends. They were for the moment completely taken aback by this sudden +turn in affairs. Alfred Thornton's eyes was the only pair which refused +to meet hers. He averted his head. + +"I thought," she said, addressing Miss Harris with a gentle dignity +that went straight to the hearts of her hearers, "that I could +retaliate, that I could say to you words that would cut into your soul +as deeply as your words have cut into mine, but there are strong +reasons why I can't say them." + +"And I insist that you explain your insinuation," flung back Flora. "Do +so at once, or I will send for Mrs. Curtis and force you to do as I +say." + +"Send for Mrs. Curtis if you wish." Madge's face was a white mask +lighted by the defiant gleam of eyes that seemed almost to flame. "Do +not imagine, however, that I shall either explain or retract what I +have just said." + +Letting her gaze wander from one to the other of her friends, she said +with finality: "I can not even discuss the charge Miss Harris has made +against my father. It is true that he was once in the Navy, and that I +once believed him to be dead. More than that I can not tell you. It is, +and must forever be, my secret." + +Turning to Madeleine she said quietly, "Will you forgive me for having +been the cause of this scene and allow me to go?" + +For answer Madeleine drew Madge within the circle of her arm and kissed +her tenderly. + +"Good night." As one in a dream the little captain bowed to the company +and walked to the door. Tom Curtis followed her, casting a wrathful +glance at Flora Harris, who for once in her life could think of nothing +to say. + +There was the sound of a closing door, then Phil's voice rang out in +tones of bitter denunciation: + +"Miss Harris, you are the cruelest, most despicable girl I have ever +known. Madge reverenced the memory of her father as something too +sacred for discussion. I know that her greatest ambition in life was to +find some one who had been his friend, some one who could tell her of +him. Happily for Madge, I do not believe your accusation to be true. I +am equally sure that her motive for silence is one you could never +understand." + +With a stiff little nod to the others Phil walked proudly to the door. +She was followed by Lillian and Eleanor. Three minutes later Flora +Harris and Alfred Thornton stood alone in the pretty banqueting room. +Her revenge had cost her far more dearly than she had anticipated. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ADRIFT ON CHESAPEAKE BAY + + +"Alfred Thornton, you must do it." Flora Harris spoke under her breath. +Half an hour had passed since she and Alfred Thornton had left the +hotel. + +The young man was about to say good night to her at her gate after +having stubbornly refused to execute a certain commission for her. + +"I can't do it," he protested. "If I were you, I'd let Madge Morton and +her crowd alone. I did not believe to-night, until the last minute, +that you would do as you had threatened. You didn't distinguish +yourself by it." + +Flora Harris shrugged her thin shoulders in the darkness. "Don't +pretend to be shocked," she sneered, "and never mind lecturing me. Are +you going to help me or are you going to play the coward at the last +moment?" + +"I have given you my answer. I'm not going to change it, either," +repeated the youth sullenly, edging away from Miss Harris. "I think +Miss Morton and her friends have had trouble enough. I don't wish to do +anything that might possibly endanger their safety." + +"Oh, very well," rejoined Flora angrily. "You know the alternative. If +you won't do what I ask of you, I shall tell my father that you have +been down here as a hired spy to find out about Jimmy Lawton's +invention. I shall tell him that you offered Jimmy thousands of dollars +for his patent, and advised him to sell out to you, and then to tell +the Government that he had failed with his model. It would ruin not +only your reputation, Alfred Thornton, for me to tell this story about +you, it would probably do your father a great deal of harm. It would be +a serious thing for your father if certain persons were to find out +that he was trying to steal a valuable invention from his own country." + +"You wouldn't tell, would you, Flora?" Alfred Thornton wiped his +forehead nervously with his handkerchief, though it was a cool night. +"Whew, if only I'd never let you find out what I was after!" + +"You couldn't help yourself," retorted Flora airily. "You needed me. I +would have done a great deal more for you, too, if you had not +developed such a liking for Madge Morton. You thought you were managing +so cleverly that I would not notice. Of course, I am not angry with +you, but I think you ought to do something to make amends for being so +deceitful." + +Alfred Thornton flushed and hesitated. + +"You see, Alfred, it is like this," went on Flora, taking advantage of +his hesitation. "You must help me get the 'Merry Maid' away from our +neighborhood. I believe I told the truth about Madge Morton's father. +But if my father or grandfather ever learn of what happened to-night, +they will be furious with me. I overheard my grandfather telling the +story to my father the other night. When he mentioned the name of +Captain Robert Morton, I remembered hearing Miss Butler telling Mrs. +Curtis when the 'Merry Maid' girls were here before that Miss Morton's +father had been an officer in the Navy, and that his name was Captain +Robert Morton. Miss Butler is Miss Morton's cousin, you know. They live +in the same house. When I heard that I put two and two together and +took a chance on saying what I did. Now that you know the whole story +you can easily see why I am anxious to have the 'Merry Maid' anchored +as far from me as possible. If you will cut the rope of the houseboat +and let the silly old craft drift away somewhere, the girls will be so +busy with getting it back here that by the time they have done that +their vacation will be over, and in the hurry of packing they won't +have much chance to make a scene. I think my scheme is very clever." + +Alfred Thornton looked overhead. It was a dark night. The stars had +disappeared. Black clouds were gathering in the east. + +The young man realized that he could do as Flora Harris demanded of him +with very little danger of detection. The houseboat was moored along +the beach by means of a heavy anchor tied with a thick rope. As an +additional safeguard the stern hawser had been hitched about a post +several yards up the beach out of the line of the tide. It would take a +very few minutes to cut these ropes. What took place afterward he would +not wait to see. He therefore reluctantly gave Flora the desired +promise. + +When the houseboat party boarded Tom's motor launch for the ride to the +"Merry Maid" after Madge's tragic scene in the dining room they were +strangely silent. Even Miss Jenny Ann, who had not been with the girls, +did not know what had happened. A glance at Madge's face was enough to +reveal to her that it had been serious. The little captain sat white +and cold as a statue. She looked like the ghost of the radiant girl who +had crossed the bay a few hours before. She shed no tears, and seemed +rather to resent any expression of sympathy. When Eleanor took her +cousin's cold hand, Madge held it loosely for a minute, then allowed it +slowly to slide from the grasp of her icy fingers. + +When Tom Curtis helped her out of his launch he had the courage to +whisper: "Of course, dear girl, we are all with you. Don't you worry. +Just leave matters to me. I'll see that Flora Harris doesn't escape +censure. I am going to inform her father of her conduct to-night." + +Madge smiled a faint good night to Tom when he took her limp hand in +his own. + +Once the girls were on the deck of their own boat she turned quietly to +their chaperon. + +"Miss Jenny Ann," she murmured, "the girls will tell you what happened +to-night. I can't talk of it now. May I lie down on the couch in the +living room? Will every one please leave me alone?" + +The three other girls and Miss Jenny Ann sat for a while on the deck of +their pretty boat. Eleanor kept her head buried in her chaperon's lap. +She cried a little, partly from sympathy with Madge and partly from +amazement and horror at the story she had just heard. + +Very quietly Lillian told what had happened. + +"Madge is right," Miss Jenny Ann concluded at the end of Lillian's +recital. "We must not talk to her of this insult to her father. It is +enough to let her know we do not believe it." + +The little party did not linger out on deck after the story had been +told. It was midnight and chilly. The wind was blowing over the water, +lashing the waves to a white foam. As Miss Jenny Ann retired to her +cabin the thought came to her that they had lingered too long aboard +their houseboat. It was getting late in September. Any day they might +be overtaken by an equinoctial storm. She wished that they had brought +more coal and fresh water aboard the houseboat, and that the provisions +in the larder had not run so low. She wondered if the boy who attended +to their marketing, and carried things to and from the shore, would +come down to them in a heavy rain. + +Miss Jenny Ann did not attempt to go to sleep. She put on her dressing +gown and lay down in her berth to think over their situation and decide +what had best be done. + +The other girls were soon asleep. But in a little while Miss Jones +heard a faint sound. It came from their sitting room. Some one called +her name. It was Madge. + +Miss Jenny Ann went softly in, to find Madge still lying on the sofa, a +little leather book clasped in her hands. + +"I wish to tell you a story, Miss Jenny Ann," began Madge solemnly. "I +have never told it to any one else, but I have come to the place where +I feel that I ought to talk things over with some one I can trust. I +know of no one else, not even Phil, to whom I would rather tell it. +Would you like to hear it?" + +"My dear, my dear," said Miss Jenny Ann tremulously, "I know of no one +else whose confidence I should so prize as yours. But are you sure that +you wish to tell me?" + +Madge nodded. The hands of the two met in a strong, steady clasp, then +Madge began the story of her discovery in the attic of the secret +drawer and its contents, and of how the vow she had made that day had +been broken in what promised to be the hour of its fulfillment. + +After she had finished she lay back on the couch, staring out the cabin +window. Knowing Madge as she did, the chaperon still sat beside her in +sympathetic silence. She recognized the nobility of Madge's sacrifice. +The girl's words: "He is an old man. I can not bring this humiliation +upon him. My father would not wish it," rang in her ears. + +"I think you are right, Madge," Miss Jenny Ann said at last. "In fact, +I am sure you are. But it is very bitter for you." + +"But don't you believe my father would wish me to keep his secret?" +asked Madge anxiously. + +"Yes, I believe he would," responded the chaperon, after a brief +hesitation. + +"And I shall do it," vowed Madge. "But some day, Miss Jenny Ann, +perhaps the man who is really to blame for all my father's suffering +will come to a realization of his own unworthiness and clear my +father's name. I can't believe that Father is dead. I always think of +him as being alive, and that some day I shall see him." + +"I hope with all my heart that you will," said Miss Jenny Ann +fervently. "Now you mustn't grieve any more, dear. You must go to +sleep. It is long after midnight." + +The chaperon bent down to kiss Madge good night. + +"Good night, Miss Jenny Ann," said Madge. "I shall go to see Mrs. +Curtis in the morning and apologize to her for leaving the party so +suddenly. I seem destined always to be making apologies." + +But for reasons which she could not foresee, Madge's apology was to be +delayed indefinitely. + + * * * * * + +The night had grown pitch dark when Alfred Thornton crossed the bay. He +had engaged a fast-going sea launch for his use during the evening of +their play, and as his boat rushed along through the sea, which was +rapidly growing rougher, he debated in his mind as to whether he was +acting wisely. + +Alfred Thornton was not a high-minded youth. He was often dishonorable +and unscrupulous in his dealings with men, but he thoroughly disliked +the hateful task ahead of him. Yet he moved doggedly toward it. He must +save his own and his father's reputation, perhaps his fortune! There +was no reason for him to believe that Flora Harris would spare him +unless he did what she had demanded. He had that evening seen how far +the spirit of revenge could lead her. + +While Alfred Thornton was on his way to the houseboat Tom Curtis lay +awake on his camp cot thinking of Madge and of what he could do to +disprove the cruel story that Flora Harris had told. Of course, it must +be false. Yet the girl would hardly have dared to tell such a tale +unless a grain of truth had been hidden in it somewhere. Poor Madge! +Tom wondered how her proud, passionate spirit would bear up under the +shadow of such a sorrow. + +In the meantime Alfred Thornton brought his launch in to the shore. He +landed about a mile below the houseboat. The "Merry Maid" was anchored +near a point of land known as Wayside Point. Alfred left his shoes in +his launch, walking up the beach in his stocking feet. He waded in the +water the greater part of the time, so as not to leave the imprint of +his feet in the sand. A storm was blowing in from the ocean. The +singing sound of the wind came over the face of the waters. Alfred knew +that the night was working with him. If he could accomplish his secret +design without being discovered in the act, the houseboat party and +their friends would believe that the houseboat had been torn from her +moorings by the force of the September gale. + +He reached the neighborhood of the boat without meeting any one. It was +an ideal night for prowling along the beach. The "Merry Maid" lay +quietly at anchor, although the waves were beginning to lash against +her sides with more than their accustomed energy. The youth was guided +toward her by the golden lights that shone through the yellow lamps +outside her cabin. + +There was absolute silence aboard the little boat; not a sight or a +sound of any one stirring inside the cabin. Alfred Thornton pulled a +large clasp knife from his pocket, then sawed savagely at the heavy +rope that secured the anchor. It was the work of a moment to sever it. +Next he pulled the divided ends into strands, hoping that the rope +would look as though it had broken apart. There still remained the +second rope that was twisted around the stake. Alfred crept cautiously +out of the water up the little stretch of beach. This was his moment of +danger. Any one looking through one of the cabin windows might see his +dark figure. Yet Thornton hesitated. The wind was blowing strongly. +Surely the pretty houseboat would not drift out into dangerous waters. +Surely she would come aground a few miles further down the shore. The +minutes were precious. Alfred Thornton quickly cut the second rope. +Then, without glancing behind him to see the result of his deed, he ran +with all speed to his own motor launch. + +"I know I am late," Thornton muttered to Tom Curtis as he crept into +the cot alongside of Tom's. "I had to take that Harris girl home. She +kept me talking on her porch for ages. A storm was coming up and it was +hard to get across the bay. I shall be glad when this foolishness is +over and we break camp and get back home again." + +When the ropes of the "Merry Maid" were cut she did not drift at once +from the shore and in adventurous fashion, make use of her new freedom. +The way outside was strange and uncertain. The "Merry Maid" had never +traveled from a safe anchorage except when she was under escort and +protection. Now she lingered, drifting uncertainly, but keeping close +to the shore and moving very slowly. + +Half an hour after midnight the tide changed. The water ran away from +the shore. The wind rose to a shrieking gale. But the "Merry Maid" was +not unstable. The bottom of the boat was flat, she was broad and roomy. +She did not pitch and roll, as a lighter craft would have done; she +simply moved quietly away from the shore, borne by the wind and the +tide. + +The houseboat had been anchored for two weeks along the southwest shore +of Cape Charles, not many miles from where the great Atlantic Ocean +enters the Chesapeake Bay. Slowly but steadily the "Merry Maid" drifted +down the Maryland coast. Once out on the deep waters the pretty toy +boat moved on and on. In the cabin Miss Jenny Ann and the girls slept +peacefully, unconscious of danger. + +Soon the lights in the yellow-shaded lamps went out. The boat was in +utter darkness. + +If there had been lights aboard the "Merry Maid," if early in her +perilous voyage cries for help had sounded from her deck, the little +boat would soon have been rescued. But with no lights and no sounds +aboard, the houseboat passed on her way, and purely by chance her +course did not cross the line of another craft. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE AWAKENING + + +It was about an hour before dawn when Phyllis Alden awoke with an odd +sensation. She had dreamed that she had been traveling in an airship +and had grown seasick from the motion. She heard a sound of wind and +pouring rain, and a far-off muffled roar of thunder. A storm had come +up, of this Phyllis was sure. But why did she continue to feel seasick? +How the wind and the waves were rocking the poor "Merry Maid"! + +The boat lurched a little. Phil clutched at the side of her berth. By +this time she was wider awake. "What a terrific storm!" she thought to +herself. "I hope we won't be blown away." Phil turned over on her +pillow. It was incredible that everybody else should be asleep when the +wind made such a noise. Besides, the boat was moving; Phil felt sure of +it. + +She sat up in her berth. At this moment a heavy wave struck the "Merry +Maid" on her port side. Phil rolled out of bed and ran to the tiny +cabin window. The rain was coming down so hard and fast that, try as +she might, she could not see the familiar line of the shore. + +Once Phil's feet were on the floor she realized that their boat was +actually moving. Seizing her dressing-gown, without calling to one of +the other girls, she rushed out on the rain-swept deck. For a moment +the rain filled her eyes and blinded her. Her breath left her. She +clung to the railing outside the cabin. Far off, back of them, a +single, far-reaching light shone on the water. To the right a dimmer +glow burned. But everything else was a blank waste of water. She stood, +a white and terror-stricken figure, realizing in the instant their +great disaster. + +"Miss Jenny Ann! Madge!" she shouted, going back into the cabin. "Wake +up, won't you? Put something warm around you and come out on the deck +with me. I am afraid the houseboat has broken from her anchorage and +drifted some distance from the shore." + +Miss Jenny Ann sprang up at once. For some time she had been conscious +of the storm. The peculiar sound of the lashing waves and the movement +under her she had ascribed to the gale. Once on her feet, she, too, +realized that the boat was rocking violently. They must be at the mercy +of the heavy seas. It was unbelievable that they had not awakened when +the houseboat had first slipped from her moorings. + +Of course, Miss Jenny Ann and the girls still thought that they had +floated out from Wayside Point only a short time before. The storm was +so heavy--that must explain why they could see no land. + +"Put on your heaviest clothes, girls, and your raincoats," Miss Jenny +Ann ordered bravely, trying to keep her own consternation out of her +voice. "We must light the lamps that should hang at the bow and stern +of our boat, and any others that will not be blown out by the wind. To +think that last night was the first time that we forgot to put out our +signal lanterns! We forgot everything in the excitement of the play." + +The four girls slipped quietly into their clothes. They followed their +chaperon out on the deck. There they found her seated, flat on the deck +so as not to be thrown off her feet by the wind. Beaten and buffeted by +the storm, Madge and Phyllis finally managed to hang their lanterns in +the prow and stern of the houseboat. Then the five of them sat down +together. + +"What do you think we had better do?" Phil asked, as cheerily as +possible. + +"There is nothing to do but to stay aboard until we are taken off by +some other boat," answered Miss Jones. "We shall have to call out for +help." + +How black and deep the water looked, how unlike the quiet channels in +which the houseboat had previously rested. "What time is it, Madge?" +inquired their chaperon unexpectedly. + +Madge fought her way into the cabin. "It is nearly five o'clock," she +called. "The dawn will come within the hour." + +It was difficult to keep a light burning, the wind blew so fiercely, +the rain poured down in such heavy sheets. The houseboat party dared +not go inside their cabin. They must stay on deck to watch for an +approaching boat to tow them safely back to land. + +They sat in a huddled group, their arms about each other. The gay +Japanese parasols, the pretty decorations of the houseboat, had long +since blown away. Half a dozen chairs romped and rioted about the deck, +turning somersaults, now and then hurling themselves against the +railing or the sides of the cabin. The girls could only faintly see one +another's faces. + +Phil had a small fog horn, through which she blew as long as her breath +held out. Then she passed it to Lillian and so down the line. The five +women sat with their backs to the cabin wall for the sake of the scanty +shelter. Eleanor rang a large dinner bell, which she had used on other +occasions to summon the houseboat party to their meals. + +For an hour they waited, in silence save for sounds made by the bell +and the horn. Now and then one of the girls cried out for help. But +most of the time they stared out on the water, hoping, expecting every +instant to see some other craft. The dawn was long in breaking because +of the fury of the storm. + +Miss Jenny Ann began to think that the houseboat had drifted a much +longer time than she had at first supposed. They were certainly in +dangerous waters. Never in her life had she seen the breakers roll so +high. It was a marvel that the "Merry Maid" did not capsize. She and +the girls fully realized their danger. Yet no one of them made any +outcry. + +The girls were growing very tired. Now and then one of them fell asleep +for a brief instant. + +Over and over again in Madge's head, as she sat among her friends, so +pale and silent, came the sound of the congregation singing in the +little stone church near "Forest House": + + "Oh, hear us, when we call to Thee, + For those in peril on the sea!" + +The words brought comfort to her now. + +When dawn came the storm abated. But with the passing of the storm came +another and a greater danger to the "Merry Maid." A heavy fog settled +down on the water. It was hardly possible to see more than a few feet +ahead. No ship's crew could discover the poorly lighted craft in such a +thick, impenetrable fog. + +Phyllis owned a small compass. She could tell that their boat was +moving southeast. The wind was at their back. It was strange that they +had been able to signal no other ships. It could not be possible that +they had been blown out to sea! + +It must have been nearly eight o'clock when Miss Jenny Ann went into +the cabin, leaving the four girls to keep the watch. They were sick and +faint. Presently the delicious aroma of boiling coffee floated out on +the fog-laden atmosphere. + +Miss Jenny Ann summoned the girls indoors, two at a time. The coffee, +toast and bacon brought fresh courage. She made them change their wet +clothing for that which was warm and dry. They kept the fire burning in +the kitchen stove. After a while their fate did not seem so hopeless. +The girls were frightened, of course. They wished a ship would hurry +along to pick them up. But there was something deliciously thrilling in +the idea that the "Merry Maid" was voyaging alone on a--to +them--unknown sea, and that they were the first mariners who had ever +drifted on such a boat. + +All day long the lights were kept burning on the houseboat. There was +nothing else to do, although there was the possibility that their oil +might give out; they had not a large supply on board. But there was no +other way to attract attention. The fog never lifted. If a large boat +should bear down upon them, without seeing their lights, the "Merry +Maid" would go to the bottom of the sea. + +The houseboat no longer rocked violently. The water had become +smoother, as is always the case in a fog. + +Now and then, during the long day, one of the girls would attempt to go +about some accustomed duty. Lillian and Eleanor made up the berths in +the cabin. Madge and Phyllis rescued the chairs that were being blown +about the deck and lashed them down securely. But after a time the +little company would unconsciously creep together to continue their +silent staring. + +In the afternoon Miss Jenny stationed two girls at the forward watch. +She stood in the stern. Madge and Lillian went on the upper deck of +their little cabin for a further range of vision. + +Far out on the water Madge saw two great, curling columns of smoke. + +"Look, Lillian!" she cried hopelessly, "there goes an ocean liner. We +must be far from shore. How can we signal her?" + +Five tired voices took up a shrill call. Two white sheets fluttered +dismally. But the great steamer, on her way to Baltimore, neither heard +the sound nor saw the white signals of distress. It was ten times more +dismal when the friendly smoke had dissolved in the heavy atmosphere! + +Another two hours went by. Madge wondered if it could have been only +last night when Flora Harris had so cruelly insulted her. Yet how +little Madge had thought of her trouble to-day! How far away it seemed, +like a sorrow that had come to her years before. + +Just before sunset the fog lifted as though by magic. Madge and Phyllis +were together on the cabin deck when a deep rose flush appeared in the +western sky. Instead of a line of sea and sky, some distance ahead of +the houseboat, just under the horizon, a faint, dark streak showed +itself. + +"Madge, what is that over there?" Phil asked sharply, pointing ahead. + +Madge shook her head. "I am not sure," she answered. + +Another fifteen minutes passed. The "Merry Maid" kept a straight +course. + +Phil clutched Madge by the sleeve. "If I am not mistaken, there is land +over there. Our houseboat is being carried straight toward it." + +The girls called down their discovery to Miss Jenny Ann, but the +watchers below had also been conscious of a change in the horizon. + +Miss Jenny Ann feared that she had seen a mirage, she had gazed so long +at the water. + +"I know it is land, Miss Jenny Ann," Phyllis insisted, with the +assurance that made her such a comfort to her friends in times of +difficulty. + +But would the houseboat ever drift near enough to shore to allow them +to be seen from the land? Very slowly the "Merry Maid" now glided on. +She was in quieter water. There was little wind, but a surer force drew +her toward the land. The tide was running in. After a time the +houseboat party realized this. There was nothing to do but to wait and +see how far in their boat would drift. After a time they could see the +outline of a sandy shore, with thick woods behind it. But there was no +house, no human being in sight. + +At twilight the "Merry Maid" was not more than a mile from land, and +still creeping toward it. + +Madge's fighting blood returned to her. The troubles of the past had +vanished. What, after all, was the idle insult of a cruel girl? She +must now do what she could to save her friends and herself. Madge felt +she had not been as courageous as the others during the day's trial. +She had thought too much of her own grievances. + +"Miss Jenny Ann," she announced determinedly, "I can't bear this +slowness and uncertainty any longer. It looks as though the 'Merry +Maid' were going near enough to the shore for us to be able to attract +some one's attention in a little while; but if night comes before we +reach the shore, it will be much more difficult. The beach does not +look as though there were many people about." + +"What would you have us do?" asked the chaperon. + +"There is our very long clothes line on board," suggested Madge. The +girls gazed at her in astonishment. What had their clothes line to do +with the situation? "I want you to knot it around my waist," she +continued, "and let me swim in to the shore." + +Miss Jones shook her head. The other girls protested. "You are tired, +Madge, and the water is too cold. It wouldn't be safe." + +"But, Miss Jenny Ann--girls," pleaded Madge, "has it ever struck you +that we do not know the time of the tide? At any moment it may turn and +we shall be carried out on the ocean beyond to spend another dreadful +night." + +At first the little party were silent. Madge was right, yet they could +not bear to think of her risking her life for them. + +Her persuasions finally won the day. The houseboat was now only a +little more than a quarter of a mile from the beach. But they had not +been observed. There were no boats in sight. + +Phil insisted on swimming in with Madge. She was not quite as much at +home in the water, but she was a strong, steady swimmer, and it seemed +safer for the two girls to make the effort together. + +The clothes line was knotted about Madge's waist. It was then tied to +the cleat, from which a short end of rope dangled that had been cut the +night before. + +After the first plunge into the cold water the swim ashore was +delicious. When the two girls finally got into the shallow water they +tugged at the rope, Madge keeping it around her waist, so as to pull +with greater force. They worked very carefully. Their rope was slender, +but fairly strong. This helped them to draw their boat in closer, and +they managed to get the "Merry Maid" half aground on a shelf of sand. +It was now possible to wade from the boat to the land, with the water +coming up no higher than the waist. + +Miss Jenny Ann climbed off the boat and made her way to the shore, +followed by Lillian and Eleanor. + +At last the five women, wet but thankful, stood safe on land. + +Blankly they surveyed each other and the empty beach. Then they gazed +at their pretty toy boat, that had borne so staunchly the vicissitudes +of its dangerous voyage. It was almost night. The shipwrecked mariners +were very tired and the beach was curiously lonely. But the strain was +over. + +Madge began to laugh first. Her laugh was always infectious. The others +followed suit. + +"Here we are, the latest thing in 'Swiss Family Robinson'," she +announced cheerfully. "Now, let us proceed to stir up some people and +ask them to give us some dry clothes and a night's lodging. Come on. +Let us explore our island." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A DESERTED ISLAND + + +The houseboat party did not penetrate very far up the shore. All were +too utterly worn out. They walked for a mile or more, and, when they +found no sign of life, came back to their landing place. + +"There is nothing for us, children, but to sleep here on the beach +to-night, or go back to our houseboat," declared Miss Jenny Ann. "We +are perfectly safe, as there are no other human beings anywhere about." + +"No more houseboat for me," rejoined Eleanor firmly. "Think of the size +of the rope that held our anchor and now the boat is secured by a +clothes line! I'll walk up and down on the beach all night, but I'll +not set foot on the 'Merry Maid'." + +"But, Eleanor," protested Lillian, "we are so wet and cold. And it's so +dark and lonely." + +"I know," agreed Miss Jenny Ann, "yet I feel a good deal as Nellie +does." + +"We'll freeze to death, or have pneumonia, then," put in Lillian +plaintively. + +Phil and Madge were talking together in low tones. Madge nodded her +head wisely. + +"It's worth trying," declared Phil stoutly. + +Turning to the chaperon, she said: "Miss Jenny Ann, Madge and I are +going back to the boat. We will get our steamer blankets and some +matches. If you and the girls will find some wood we will make a fire +on the beach. We can dry ourselves, and our fire may be observed in +this forsaken place." + +"You'll get the blankets wet bringing them here, Madge," remonstrated +Lillian. "If only we had not left the 'Water Witch' up at Tom's camp, +what a help it would be now!" + +"Don't worry," laughed Madge, "just wait and see what Phil and I are +going to do." + +A light soon shone on the houseboat. Strange sounds of hammering were +heard. Miss Jenny Ann, Lillian and Eleanor would have grown impatient +if it had not been such slow work to find wood in the forest at night. +But they came back to the beach with their arms full several times +before a halloo from the houseboat indicated the return of the +excursionists. + +A heavy something fell plunk! over the side of the houseboat. Two +figures scrambled after it. In a minute or two it was possible to see +Madge and Phyllis pushing a large barrel in to shore. The barrel had +originally been filled with potatoes, which the girls had dumped on the +kitchen floor of the houseboat. + +The barrel held several steamer blankets, dry shoes and stockings all +around, matches, and a few pieces of kindling wood. Madge and Phil made +several trips before they concluded their work for the night. Besides +covering, they brought to the shore their cherished coffee pot and +provisions for breakfast in the morning. + +In the meantime their chaperon and the other two girls had made a +glorious fire. By ten o'clock the entire party was sound asleep. + +Miss Jenny Ann had not meant to sleep. She had intended to watch the +fire all night. But such an overpowering drowsiness crept over her that +she rose and piled all the wood they had left with them on the fire at +once. Then she, too, gave herself up to slumber. + +Madge awoke first in the morning. She leaned over to see if her cousin, +Nellie, were all right. Nellie's brown eyes smiled back at her. The two +girls rose softly and ran lightly back into the forest for more wood +for their fire, of which a few faint embers were still burning. + +The forest was very dense. There were no paths through it from the side +at which the girls penetrated. There were oak, walnut and beech trees +growing in primeval beauty. Great clusters of wild grape vines, loaded +with ripe fruit, climbed the trunks of the trees and swung from their +branches. The bittersweet black haws were ripe. They were easy to +gather from the low limbs of the small trees. + +Madge and Eleanor found quantities of twigs and small logs. When they +had piled up the wood near their sleeping friends they went back to the +forest and returned with plenty of grape leaves for plates, and as much +of the wild fruit as they could carry. + +It added greatly to their breakfast, and immediately after the +houseboat party started on an exploring expedition. They must surely +find some one to help them. At first the little clan of girls kept near +to the beach, expecting to find a fisherman's cottage or a boat. They +were afraid to go too far back in the woods on account of the danger of +losing their way. They had had no fresh water since the day before, +except the small amount that Madge and Phil brought from the houseboat +for use in their coffee. All were growing very thirsty, and apparently +there was no one to aid them on the beach. + +Miss Jenny Ann began to think that they had landed on an island. It was +altogether uninhabited and so could not be any part of a main shore. + +Madge led the way when they entered the woods. She traveled slowly +ahead, forcing her path through the tangled underbrush. They must +surely find a house on the other side of the woodland. Now they +listened eagerly for the sound of a stream of running water. + +They had walked until afternoon before they came to a clearing in the +forest. They had dropped down to rest, when Phil heard a longed-for +murmur. It tinkled and splashed and gurgled. Phil was on her feet again +in an instant, running toward the noise, her companions close after +her. + +There, in an open space, lay a pool of clear water, fed by a little +stream that ran down a small embankment. At least it was a place of +hope and refreshment, and they drank their fill of the clear, cold +water. Somewhere near they must come across a house. Surely the island +was not uninhabited. + +Here the party divided, continuing the search in four directions. It +was Lillian's call that brought them together again. + +She stood in front of a small house. It was built of shingles, and the +roof was made of cedar boughs. About a hundred feet off was another +house of exactly the same kind. There was no sign of life anywhere +about them. The paths in front of the doors were overgrown with weeds. + +The five women knocked timidly on the first door. No sound came from +behind it. They knocked again, then crossed over to the second house. +It, too, was deserted. There was nothing to do but push open the doors. + +The first rusty latch yielded easily. The house contained a single +dirty room. There was no furniture, except one or two old chairs. The +four corners of the room were filled with hemlock branches, which must +once have served as beds. A rusty rifle leaned against the wall. Beside +it lay a box half filled with cartridges. An old iron pot rested on +some burned-out ashes. The place did not appear to have been occupied +for some time. The other lodge was furnished in much the same way. + +"What does it mean?" inquired Miss Jenny Ann faintly, feeling her +courage about to give out. "It can't be possible that we have come +ashore on an untenanted island?" + +Phyllis clapped her hands. "Never you mind, Miss Jenny Ann; here is our +home in these little houses until some one comes to find us," she +declared undaunted. + +"Hurrah for Phil!" cried Madge, catching her chum's spirit. Then, +seeing the chaperon's expression, she went up to her and put her arms +about her. "See here, Miss Jenny Ann, you are not to worry over us. We +are going to have a good time. As long as we have got into this scrape, +let's make the best of it. Don't you see it is rather a lark. Of +course, I am sorry that our families and friends will be so dreadfully +worried about us. But some one is sure to rescue us in a few days. We +can keep our signals of distress fastened on to the houseboat and move +up here to live. I am beginning to believe that this is a small island +that is used for duck shooting. We have run across two hunting lodges. +The duck shooting begins the first week in November." + +"November!" cried Miss Jenny Ann in horror. "Why, children, we will +starve to death unless we are rescued before that time." + +Madge and Eleanor laughed. + +"Miss Jenny Ann does not know the woods at this time of the year, does +she?" protested Eleanor. "We can play at being squirrels and live on +nuts as soon as a frost comes." + +"'There are as many fish in the sea as ever were caught'," quoted +Lillian gayly. + +"And crabs," added Phil. "And rabbits and birds and goodness knows +what-all in the woods. Why, it is a perfectly wonderful adventure! +Suppose we are alone on this island? I'll wager you no American girls +ever had an experience like this before." + +It was a weary trip back to the houseboat, but there were so many plans +to be made for this pioneer existence. The girls decided that they +intended to play at being their own great-great grandmothers. They were +settlers who had just landed on the shores of a new country. They must +prove that they had the old fighting blood of their ancestors. + +At the edge of the wood Madge gallantly seized hold of a good-sized +log, dragging it toward the shore in the direction of the houseboat. + +"What ho, my hearty?" questioned Phil, coming to her assistance. "What +do you intend to do with this tree?" + +"Kindly refer to your 'Robinson Crusoe' and your 'Swiss Family +Robinson' and you will know. We must make a kind of raft, so that we +can go back and forth to the houseboat without getting wet every time +we go aboard." + +Miss Jones, Lillian and Eleanor managed to haul another log of nearly +equal size. On the shore the girls lashed the two logs together with +short ends of their precious clothes line. + +Madge took off her shoes and stockings, pinned up her skirts, and, +getting down on her knees, with a stick for a paddle, started forth on +her raft. She claimed the honor of the first trip, since the idea had +first been hers. + +The raft reached the "Merry Maid" in safety. She rose to wave her hands +in triumph, but she rested too much of her weight at one end of the +logs. The raft tipped gently and she plunged head first into the sea. + +"Splendid way to keep from getting wet, Madge!" sang out Phil. + +However, after a time, the raft did help. There were a hatchet, a +hammer and some nails on the houseboat; a few odd lengths of rope and +heavy twine, as well as the straps from the trunks. By nightfall the +girls had made a raft of some pretensions. It served to bring more of +their grocery supplies to the land. By wading on either side of it to +keep it from tipping, Madge and Phil managed to steer one of their +trunks to the shore. + +At Eleanor's suggestion a few extra sheets were carried off the +houseboat. Then Miss Jenny Ann and Nellie set themselves seriously to +work to make a cable for the "Merry Maid." They divided their sheets +into good, broad strips; using six, instead of three strands, they +plaited them into a fairly strong rope. They must run no risk of losing +the houseboat. It must not be allowed to drift away for the second +time. + +The girls were tired and hungry at bedtime, though not one whit +discouraged. It would take some time to move what they needed from the +houseboat to the lodge in the wood. But they were equal to the task, +and found it good sport. + +Miss Jenny Ann continued to worry over the prospect ahead of them. +Would they be forced to spend the winter on this deserted island? How +could they? They would perish from hunger and cold. Would their +families give them up for lost? How would Miss Tolliver ever open her +school at Harborpoint without her four favorite pupils and one of her +teachers? + +For a few days these dreadful ideas continued to haunt Miss Jones. The +girls may have thought of them, but they did not talk of them. Indeed, +they were far too busy. Pioneer life was strenuous. They found little +time for fretting. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +LIFE IN THE WOODS + + +It was wonderful how quickly they adapted themselves to their new mode +of life. A few days later Phyllis, with a rifle slung over one shoulder +and a dead rabbit over the other, was striding along through a dense +thicket of trees. Her face was tanned, her cheeks were crimson. She was +whistling cheerily. + +"Won't Madge be proud of me?" she murmured half aloud. "Ten days ago I +had never fired a gun in my life. Now I have killed this poor little +bunny. Beg your pardon, bunny, I never would have shot you, but we +really had to have something to eat for dinner to-night. It was your +life or ours." + +The woods were brown and gold. A heavy frost had fallen early in the +autumn. The little spot of earth through which Phyllis Alden wandered +was empty of other human beings; it looked as though it might have been +created for her alone. + +A sudden sound in the underbrush startled Phyllis. She clutched her +rifle and brought it to position. There was no further movement. + +"I ought not to have come so deep into the woods alone," she thought. +"I believe I am beginning to suppose that we are living in the Garden +of Eden, and that there is no one alive in the world except Miss Jenny +Ann and we four girls." + +Phil moved on. Something stirred again. Phil felt her gaze drawn by a +pair of big, soft, brown eyes that surveyed her with a fixed stare of +horror. It was a wistful, penetrating gaze. Phil had never seen +anything like it before. + +"Who's there?" called Phil. There was no answer, and no movement in the +underbrush. Phil moved cautiously toward the pair of eyes, that never +ceased to stare at her. Still the figure back of them made no movement. + +The underbrush was so thick that Phyllis could not possibly see what +she was approaching. When she was within a short distance of it the +little creature collapsed and dropped with a soft flop on the ground at +her feet. It was a tiny baby fawn. + +"You poor, pretty thing!" exclaimed Phil impulsively, stooping to look +more closely at the fawn, which was shivering with terror and hunger. +Then Phil, in spite of her lately acquired skill with the rifle, looked +fearfully about her. + +The girls in their long rambles through the woods had observed several +times, from afar, the antlers of a red deer, with her hind grazing +quietly beside her. They had never gone near enough to be in any +danger. And they had seen no other animals in the woods in the daytime +except the wild hare and the squirrels. Only at night the screech of +the wildcats in the forests had penetrated behind the closed doors of +their sleeping lodge. + +Phyllis knew that a deer will seldom risk an attack, but that it will +make a tremendous fight in defence of its young. Phil had no idea of +being sacrificed, so she edged carefully away, gazing in every +direction through the trees. There was no sign of any other deer. + +By some chance the mother deer must have wandered off in the forest +after food and died. Nothing else could have made her leave her fawn +long enough to cause it so nearly to perish from cold and hunger. + +What could Phil do? She was afraid to pick the fawn up for fear she had +been mistaken in her surmise. Yet it seemed too cruel to leave the +beautiful little creature to perish. If Phil wished to save it, how +could she manage it? She already carried their beloved rifle, which, +with a supply of ammunition, had been their lucky discovery in the +hunting lodge. Bunny was not to be thrown away. He meant dinner for the +houseboat party. The deer was small and thin, yet it was a good armful. +Phil might have shot the tiny fawn and so spared it the misery of +slowly starving to death. Hunters, who care little for the lives of the +creatures in the woods, declare that it is difficult to shoot a deer, +once it has gazed with its wistful, trusting look into one's eyes. What +chance had tender-hearted Phil, with her dread of having anything in +the world suffer, against the appeal of the forsaken creature? + +"Oh, me, oh, my! I suppose I must take you home to our lodge to take +care of," relented Phil, "though I am sure that Miss Jenny Ann will not +rejoice at another mouth to feed." + +Phil carefully emptied the barrels of her rifle so as not to endanger +her own life. She took some stout twine out of her pocket and swung her +rabbit around her neck. She fastened her gun to her side in awkward +fashion with another piece of cord, so as to leave both arms almost +free. + +Then Phil stooped and picked up the poor little fawn. It struggled at +first and kicked its feeble legs. But after a little it was too weak +and feeble for further resistance. It lay quite still. + +In spite of this, Phil's return home began to grow difficult. She had +never carried such an uncomfortable baby before. Yet she had often +shouldered the twins at home, and had borne them both, kicking and +wriggling with delight, about the garden. But this burden was such an +odd and unaccustomed shape! + +Phyllis sat down on a log under a chestnut tree and regaled herself +with chestnuts while she rested. She was beginning to be afraid she +would be late for luncheon at their lodge and she was ravenously +hungry. Perhaps one of the girls would come out to look for her. + +Miss Jenny Ann and her girls had been living an enchanted life for the +past fortnight. Not a single human being had they seen since their +strange arrival on the unknown island. They had been deep into the +woods on both sides of their lodges. They had wandered up and down the +shore that sheltered their deserted "Merry Maid." But they had not yet +crossed to the opposite side of the island. The way was jungle-like and +untrodden. Miss Jenny Ann feared that, once lost, they would never find +their way back to their shelter again. So far she hoped for rescue from +a ship that must some day pass within range of the island. She believed +the other shore to be as deserted as the one on which the "Merry Maid" +had landed. + +"Madge and Lillian must have finished with their fishing hours ago," +reflected Phil. "I must not be so lazy; I must hurry along home." + +Phyllis had placed her burden on the ground. She leaned over to pick it +up. A sound of human voices smote her ear. The voices were not those of +any member of the houseboat party. They were the voices of men. + +Phil was startled--the sound was so unexpected and surprising. Without +an instant's hesitation she slipped behind the giant chestnut tree and +crouched low on the ground. The men were coming nearer. She had not +been dreaming. It occurred to Phyllis at once that these men must be +game-keepers, who had been sent to explore the island to see if any one +had been shooting the game before the hunting season opened. And here +was Phyllis Alden with a dead rabbit swung over one shoulder and a live +fawn in her arms! + +Had Phil stopped to consider she might have known that she could easily +explain her presence to the men. But she did not stop to think, for she +was much too frightened. + +One of the men had a dark, uncompromising face. The other Phil did not +see distinctly. + +The men evidently believed the island as deserted as Phyllis had +thought it before their appearance. + +"It's a forsaken hole," one of the men said to the other. "For my part, +I'll be glad when we are through with this business. I've no taste for +it. I wish it were finished." + +"Oh, the job's easy, if it is slow," the other man answered. "You ain't +used to the things I am." + +The men tramped on without dreaming of Phil or of her hiding place. + +Once they were out of sight, Phyllis realized how foolish she had been. +She called after them, but they were now out of hearing. Phil felt +ashamed of herself. Why had she been afraid of these two men? Could she +go to the lodge and say to Miss Jenny Ann that she had let a possible +chance of rescue pass by them? + +Phil decided to linger in the woods no longer. No matter if her arms +and her back did ache she must hurry back to tell Madge of the +apparition she had seen. + +"Phil Alden! Phil Alden!" Phyllis heard a clear voice calling to her. +Then she heard the violent ringing of their cherished dinner-bell. + +"Here I am to the left," she shouted back. "Come here and help me carry +these things." + +Madge pushed her way through the bushes, radiant and glowing with +health. + +"For mercy's sake, Phil Alden, what have you there?" she demanded, +taking Phil's rifle and the dead rabbit, but looking askance at her +live offering. + +"I am ashamed of myself," apologized Phil, "but I found this beautiful +little thing starving to death, in the woods. Do you think Miss Jenny +Ann will mind if I take care of it and feed it until it is old enough +to look after itself?" + +"Of course not, Phil. But what do you expect to feed your adopted deer +on? It seems to me that a little fawn like that must prefer milk as an +article of diet, and we have found no cows on the island--up to the +present." Madge patted the top of the fawn's soft head while she teased +her chum. + +Phil was thrown into consternation. "Gracious, Madge, you are right!" +she agreed. "I never thought of it. But you know we are still having +oatmeal for our breakfast. I'll ask Miss Jenny Ann to let me give my +share to the fawn. Before the porridge gives out I expect we shall be +rescued, or my baby will be grown-up enough to take care of itself." + +Phil pronounced the word "rescued" in such fashion that Madge stopped +in her forward march to question her. + +"Out with it, Phil! You have something on your mind," she declared. +"You might as well tell me." + +After Phil had finished her story of seeing the men the two girls +agreed not to mention Phil's encounter in the woods to Miss Jenny Ann +or to the other two girls until they had had more time to think things +over. + +"I love our woods and sometimes I think I would like to live here +always, Phil," returned Madge, "but it is our duty to get away when we +can. It may be best for you and me to search over this whole island +until we find those two men again." + +The door of one of the hunting lodges stood wide open. Phil put down +her fawn on a mound of soft grass and flashed cheerfully in. "Here I am +at last, hungry as a bear!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad to be at home +again." + +Eleanor and Miss Jenny Ann were bending over the fireplace, stirring +something savory in a big iron pot. + +Lillian was putting the finishing touches to the small kitchen table, +which had been transferred from the houseboat to the center of one of +the cabin rooms. In the middle she had placed a great bunch of scarlet +berries and wild sumach leaves. At one end was a dish of roasted +chestnuts, cracked hickory nuts and walnuts. On the other, piled on a +plate of leaves, were a few wild fruits that Eleanor had been able to +find that morning. + +The single dirty room which the houseboat party discovered had now been +transformed. This lodge was now used for the living quarters of the +houseboat derelicts, the other little house for their sleeping +apartment. The hemlock beds had been swept away, and the whole place +scrubbed as clean as possible. + +The room was bright with the October sunlight. The walls were hung with +trophies of the woods, branches of scarlet leaves and vines of wild +clematis. In one corner of the room the big wood basket was filled with +nuts of every kind, gathered after the first frost, the girls' sole +provision against the winter. A string of fresh fish, Madge's and +Lillian's morning catch, was floating about in a bucket of fresh water. + +The girls gathered around the table. Miss Jenny Ann lifted up the great +iron pot and poured a savory stew into a great bowl. + +"Guess what it is, Phil?" cried Madge. The dish was filled with +potatoes, brought over from the houseboat larder, and big pieces of a +dark, rich looking meat. + +Phil shook her head. "I can't guess. I'd rather eat," she replied. + +"It's old 'Marse Terrapin.' Don't you remember him in the story of +Uncle Remus? Lillian and I found him strolling along the shore. Who +says we are not full-fledged Crusoes?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +CAUGHT IN A STAMPEDE + + +"Good-bye, Madge, dear!" sighed Eleanor mournfully. + +"Say 'au revoir,' but not 'good-bye,' sweet Coz," sang Madge lightly. + +She was strapping her school satchel across her back like a knapsack. +The girls were attired in their shortest, darkest gowns, and ready for +the road. + +Miss Jenny Ann hovered near, her face very white and her eyes swollen. +"I feel I am very wrong in letting you girls attempt it alone," she +protested. "To think that I should have been overtaken with an attack +of influenza just as we were about to cross the island is too awful! +Don't you think you had better wait until I am well enough to go with +you?" + +Madge shook her bronze head firmly; Phil's black head followed suit. + +"My dear Miss Jenny Ann," protested Madge, "the men Phil saw may have +come onto this island simply to stay only a day or so. Unless we go in +search of them at once, they may escape us altogether." + +"Don't let anybody worry about us," Phil urged. "Madge and I will be as +right as right can be. Suppose we find the island so large that we can +not get to the other side and back in one day, what's the difference? +We will hang our hammock in a tree and sleep like the birds of the +air." + +With a solemn face, that she tried to make smiling, Eleanor extracted a +pale blue ribbon from her pocket and tied it around Madge's arm. + +Lillian, with set lips, performed the same service for Phil, except +that her ribbon was red. + +When the two girls had finished their tasks Madge and Phil dropped to +their knees and kissed the hands of their ladies. + +"Behold, Miss Jenny Ann, two true knights!" laughed Madge. "Phil and I +are going out in search of assistance for our ladies, who are held +prisoners by the waves on the shores of a desert island. Don't you +mind; we are going to have a perfectly lovely time." + +Madge and Phil were enchanted over the prospect of their adventure. +They had had a long talk with Miss Jenny Ann about the two men whom +Phil had seen in the woods. The houseboat party had reached a united +decision. The men must be found. They must be asked to help the girls +and their chaperon to find their way home again; or, at least, to tell +them how they could manage to communicate with their friends. + +Madge, Phil and Miss Jenny Ann decided to make the trip together. + +Miss Jenny Ann felt as though she would have liked to be twins. One of +her could then have stayed at home with Lillian and Eleanor, to help +them guard their little home; the other could have gone forth on the +expedition through the woods with the two more venturesome girls. + +The five young women presumed that the men whom Phil had seen must have +come ashore within a short time, or else that they lived on the other +side of the island. It was possible that there might be a small +settlement of people somewhere near the farther shore. In any case the +houseboat crew must find out. They must try to get away from their +island before winter came. + +Madge and Phyllis had a glorious morning in the woods, one that neither +of them would ever forget. + +[Illustration: Madge and Phil Set Forth on Their Expedition.] + +The girls set out to travel directly south, guided by Phil's small +compass. They turned aside only when the underbrush was too thick to +allow them to pass through it. Madge had stuck her soft felt hat in her +pocket. She had crowned herself with a wreath of red-brown leaves and +sprays of goldenrod. She looked like a figure from the canvas of a +great artist. + +Phil, who was darker than Madge, might easily have passed for a gypsy. +She was deeply tanned by her outdoor life, and her lips were stained +with the nuts and berries that she had eaten in their journey through +the woods. + +Madge had not spoken of the scene with Flora Harris in Mrs. Curtis's +dining room since she had landed on the island. Phyllis sometimes +wondered if the cruel impression had faded from her friend's mind, but +she never mentioned the subject to Madge. + +That morning, after the two friends had chatted of many things, all at +once Madge grew strangely silent. + +"Phil!" she queried abruptly, "do you remember what Flora Harris said +to me the night before our shipwreck?" + +"Why, of course," answered Phil in surprise, "I could not forget. But I +hope you have not been letting your mind dwell on such foolishness." + +"I have never stopped thinking of it a minute, day or night," returned +Madge quietly. "I don't mean that I have just thought about the insult +to my father. Flora Harris told me that after my father was dismissed +from the Navy in disgrace he went somewhere. She did not speak as +though he had died. Do you know, Phil"--Madge spoke in low, hushed +tones, though there was no one in the woods to hear her--"I have always +thought of my father as dead. I know that Aunt Sue has always led me, +perhaps unconsciously, to think so. But now I can not recall that she +has ever really told me that he was dead. Phil, dear, do you think it +possible that my father is alive?" + +Phil was silent. What could she say? If she should agree, saying that +Madge's father might be alive, it was to confess that Captain Morton +had really suffered disgrace. Else why would he have disappeared and +deserted his baby daughter? + +"I don't know," was all she managed to falter. + +Madge walked on quietly, with her proud little head held high. "If my +father is alive, Phil, I don't care where he is, I shall find him, even +if I have to look the wide world over. I know that he is innocent, but +I can't tell you how I came by the knowledge. It is my secret." + +Phil reached for her friend's hand, giving it a warm, firm pressure, +then they walked on in silence. + +All morning they had been tramping through woodlands. At noon they came +to the edge of one wood. A clearing stretched ahead of them. + +On the edge of this clearing they sat down to their luncheon. While the +two chums were eating they heard the strangest and most peculiar noise +either of them had ever listened to in their lives. It was the tramping +and rushing of many feet, like a charge of cavalry. Once or twice +before, since they had taken up their abode on the island, the girls +had caught a faint, far-off echo of just such a sound. To-day it +sounded much nearer. + +"What was that?" demanded Phil quickly, raising her hand. + +"It sounds like a cavalry charge," returned Madge, trying to smile, +though feeling vaguely alarmed. + +The noise swept nearer, like the rush of the wind. Then it stopped as +abruptly as it had begun. + +Neither girl offered to stir from under the tree where they had halted +in order to go on with their pilgrimage. The mystery of the noise that +they had just heard made their adventure seem far more perilous. What +on earth was it? What did it mean? + +The atmosphere was clear. The travelers guessed they must have come to +about the center of the island. It was a broad, open plateau, covered +with grasses and wild flowers. Neither of the girls thought of how +curious it was to find the grass cropped as close to its roots as +though it had been cut down by a mowing machine. + +Phil was walking slowly ahead. There was an opening through a double +avenue of trees, and Phil wanted to find out whether they could get +through the woods by this cut. For the moment Madge's back was turned +to Phil. She was reaching up for a particularly splendid bunch of +Virginia creeper that clung to a branch over her head. + +Like a roll of thunder from a clear sky, or the rumble of heavy +artillery, came the noise that they had heard before. It was indeed the +rushing of many feet and it was coming nearer. + +Phil ran toward a low-branched tree. "Climb the tree, Madge!" she +cried. + +But Madge only stared intently ahead of her. + +Some distance ahead a single dark object made its appearance. It walked +on four feet, had a thick, shaggy mane, and its long black tail swept +the ground in a proud arch. Its coat was rough---- + +Madge clapped her hands. To Phil's horror her chum started to run +forward, instead of taking refuge in a tree. + +"It's only a strange-looking horse!" she cried in relief. Madge had +never in her life seen a horse of which she felt afraid. + +At almost the same instant, back of the single horse, which was plainly +the leader of a drove, appeared another, then a dozen, twenty or thirty +more horses. The entire drove was galloping recklessly ahead. It was +the noise of their charge that had indeed sounded like a rush of +cavalry. + +The leader of the horses caught sight of Madge. What must it have +thought? A human being had appeared out of nowhere in the midst of its +haunts. The wild horse stopped short for an instant, then gave a long +neigh to its companions. The other horses ceased their charge; they, +too, sniffed the air with the same attitude of surprise and hesitation. +Some of them pawed the ground in front of them. + +Phil, from her position in the tree, could see everything that +happened. She thought she was experiencing a nightmare, or else that +she had beheld an apparition which had come out of the pages of her +ancient mythology. + +To Phil's amazement, Madge stood still during the brief instant when +the horses hesitated. It was then she might have saved herself, but she +lingered for an instant, then turned to run. + +The leader of the drove of horses had made up his mind that he had +nothing to fear from the wood-nymph that had tried to block his path. +He tossed his shaggy head, giving the signal to his company. The entire +troop started on a wild gallop through the avenue of trees. Madge was +directly in front of their charge. + +Blind fear overtook her. She ran without seeing where she was going. +She knew she was about to be run down by a stampede of wild horses, and +in her terror she stumbled, then fell headlong. She could hear the +horses galloping straight on. There was no time for her to struggle to +her feet. She lay face downward, expecting each moment to be trampled +to death. + +Phyllis took in the whole situation. From her safe vantage in the tree, +even more certainly than Madge, she realized the fate that must soon +overtake her chum. + +Phil's tree was only a few yards from the place where Madge had fallen. +Without an instant's hesitation Phyllis Alden dropped to the ground. +She must have made one flying leap, for she landed in front of the +little captain's prostrate body. If Madge were to be trampled to death, +that fate should not come to her alone. + +Phil had marvelous presence of mind. What she did she must have done by +instinct. There was no time to think. She saw the flecks of white foam +between the teeth of the horse that was leading the charge. As it bore +down upon her Phyllis lifted up both arms. She gave a wild and +unexpected shout, waving both arms frantically before the horse's face. + +The horse paused for the fraction of a moment. Phil waved more +violently than ever, shouting hoarsely and in more commanding tones. +The horse was startled. He looked at Phil with his ears erect and his +eyes restless. Then he deliberately swerved from the path that would +have led straight over the bodies of the two girls, made a sweep to the +right, and thundered on, followed by his drove of wild horses. + +From her position, face downward on the ground, Madge had been acutely +conscious of everything that had occurred. She seemed to have seen with +her ears rather than her eyes. She knew that Phil had risked her own +life to save hers, and that Phil's presence of mind had saved them +both. + +"It's all right, dear," remarked Phil coolly, when the horses had +passed out of sight. But the hand she reached out to Madge to help lift +her from the ground was trembling. + +Once she was on her feet the little captain caught tight hold of Phil's +arm. + +"It was real, wasn't it, Phil? We _did_ see a drove of wild horses dash +by us?" + +Phil nodded calmly. "It was much too real for a few seconds," she +rejoined. "Now I understand the far-off noise of the tramping of many +feet that we have heard before. These horses must always stay herded +together. When they are weary of grazing they make these wild rushes. +How do you suppose they ever came on this island?" + +Madge shook her head. She had no possible guess that she dared to make. + +There is a story, which the girls heard long afterward, about this +drove of wild horses, that even at the present time lives on an island +not far from the Chesapeake Bay. Many years ago a Spanish family had +their estate on this now deserted island. When they moved away they +left their horses alone on the island. Forsaken by man, these horses +returned to the wild, free state in which they lived before they were +haltered, harnessed and trained by human beings to become their beasts +of burden. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +BEHIND CLOSED DOORS + + +It was late afternoon of the same day. The two girls had made their way +across the greater part of the island without finding a human +habitation or seeing another human being. What had become of the men +that Phil had seen in the woods? + +How far the girls had traveled they did not know. The way may have +seemed long, because there were no paths and they were entirely +unfamiliar with the country. But Madge and Phil had made up their minds +that there was nothing else for them to do. They must spend the night +in the woods. It was out of the question for them to attempt to recross +the island before daylight. Perhaps on their way home the next day they +might have better luck in discovering the aid they sought. + +Though neither of them would have cared to confess it to the other, +they were tired. They had been walking steadily since early morning, +and they had carried what were, to them, heavy packs. + +Phil had a light woven-grass hammock in her bundle that had once been +swung across the deck of the "Merry Maid." Madge carried a light, +rubber-proof blanket, which was their sole protection against rain. Of +course, the girls divided the burden of the food supply for their two +days' march. + +At last, out of sheer weariness, they dropped their packs under a tree +and sat down to rest. They had hoped to have the satisfaction of +reaching the opposite side of the island before nightfall. They longed +to know if land could be seen from that side, or if passing ships could +be hailed from the beach. + +Madge's head was resting in Phil's lap when she heard a peculiar +buzzing in her ears, which she thought must come from weariness. She +sat up with a jerk. + +"Don't stir," begged Phil. "You and I are too tired to move on now. I +am sure I hear the noise of the ocean. We can't be very far from a +beach. Surely, surely, we will find something, or somebody, on this +shore." + +Madge lay down again and for a few minutes neither girl spoke. + +Phyllis was thinking of home. She was also wondering what young +Lieutenant Lawton must have thought of her disappearance with his box. + +The mysterious box was in the bottom of her trunk in their lodge in the +woods. What a time she had had, dragging the trunk ashore, and then, +piece by piece, carrying its contents to the lodge! Phil laughed. If +Jimmy Lawton wanted his box kept safe, he had certainly given it to the +right person. But if he happened to need the contents on land, at the +present time, he would have to cry for it. + +Phil gave Madge a little shake. "Come on," she commanded. "I have an +idea that we had better go to the beach. I can't wait another second. I +somehow feel as though we would find friends there. I can't believe +that we are the only persons on this island." + +Phil's hopefulness was inspiring. Madge sprang to her feet and the two +girls hurried ahead, leaving their bundles under the tree. + +The booming of the surf soon smote their ears, then the welcome splash +and murmur of the waves. Like two little girls, Madge and Phil joined +hands and ran down to the open shore. + +Far and wide was a waste of water and a pebbly beach. It was lonely, +far lonelier than their own shore. The "Merry Maid," riding out on the +waves near the spot where they had first found refuge, had given their +shore almost a homelikeness. + +This beach was dreadful! Besides, it was getting so late. Phil's black +eyes suddenly brimmed with tears of disappointment. Madge slipped her +arm in Phil's and the two forlorn girls walked up and down the shore, +looking in every possible direction for some sign of life. + +A fish-hawk rose suddenly from the waves and wheeled over their heads. +It uttered a hoarse cry of fright and dropped a good sized fish at the +girls' feet. The fish had been too large for the bird to carry. + +Madge picked up the fish, which had just been freshly caught out of the +sea. "Phil," she said, smiling bravely, "if we are deserted by human +beings, we are being fed from Heaven. Let us cook this for our supper. +Come, let us go back to the woods, swing our hammock and prepare to +make a night of it." + +"Let's look just a little farther along," Phyllis begged. + +The girls went a quarter of a mile farther up the silent shore, then +turned into the woods. + +Madge, who was a few rods in advance, gave a sharp cry of surprise. + +There, ahead of her, appeared most unexpectedly a small house, not a +great deal larger than their own lodge. But it was very differently +built. The door of this house had great bars across it; the windows +were securely fastened. The walls were fortified with heavy beams of +wood. The house looked deserted. Yet in front of the barred door stood +a bucket of fresh water and an ax lay on the ground, with some chips of +freshly hewn wood near it. Also the girls noticed that the way up to +the door had lately been trodden by heavy feet. + +Without asking anybody's permission the girls drank long and deeply of +the fresh water. Then they knocked on the fast-locked door. There was +no answer. They banged again. Madge tried to shake the door. A heavy +chain rattled on the inside. + +"The house must be empty, Phil," she suggested. "The men you saw must +have been here and gone away again. Perhaps they will be back soon. We +had better return in the morning to see." + +Phil gave a farewell shake to the door. + +A voice called out unexpectedly: "Stop shaking that door and come in. +What is the use of your trifling with me? Have you lost the key, so +that you can't get in? It would be good of you to leave me here to +starve." + +Madge and Phil felt their knees shaking in sudden terror. + +"We are strangers; we haven't the key to your house," answered Phil. +"We wished to ask you for help." + +A dreary laugh answered the girls. "You must be joking," the voice +said. "But if you are human, you will help me get out of this hole. I +have been imprisoned for I don't know how long. Oh, it is a long story. +Once I am out, I can explain everything to you. I promise not to harm +you." + +"Why do you wish to get out?" demanded Madge, trying to gain time until +she could master her amazement. + +The voice inside laughed less hoarsely. "Oh, I want to get out to +breathe, to get away from this beastly hole and to attend to my own +affairs. I could go on giving you reasons all night. But please hurry. +Batter down the door! I don't see how the house has ever happened to be +left unguarded so long. You are young boys, I suppose. Your voices +sound like it. If you'll let me out, I'll do anything in the world for +you," continued the prisoner, "only, make haste!" + +"What shall we do?" whispered Phil. + +"I don't know," returned Madge. "I am afraid there is a crazy person +shut up in this house. Perhaps the men you saw were his keepers." + +"But he talks as though he were sane," argued Phil. + +"Crazy people often do," retorted Madge. "I've read _that_!" + +"Madge, let's open the door," entreated Phil. "The voice doesn't sound +as if the man were crazy. Think how dreadful if some one is really shut +up here on this deserted island against his will!" + +Madge hesitated. "It will be dreadfully foolish of us, Phil, to open +the door. There is no telling what trouble we may bring on ourselves." + +"For the love of Heaven, please open the door. I swear to you that +there is no reason in the world why I should be kept imprisoned here. +If you will only help me to get away, I can prove it to you." This time +the voice pleaded desperately. + +Phil seized the ax. "We can run for our lives once the door is open. I +believe we have been sent to save this person." + +"All right, Phil. I won't turn coward unless you do." Madge picked up a +sharp stick to pry under the door. + +Phil had struck her first blow when Madge, whose ears were open to +every sound, cried sharply: "Stop! There is some one coming. Do let's +run!" + +Phil dropped her axe as softly as possible. Then she and Madge took to +their heels. They ran through the thicket of trees, back behind a dense +growth of underbrush. They had never run so fleetly or so silently +before. A single glance had revealed the figures of two men approaching +the prison-house from the beach. Not for worlds would the girls have +been discovered hammering at their door. They had crossed the island to +ask for succor. They needed friends. Suppose these men had seen them +trying to break into their house? They might have been taken for common +thieves. Madge and Phil were quick to repent of their foolishness. They +had not come forth on their long pilgrimage to save a man locked up in +a hut; they had come to find aid for Miss Jenny Ann and the other +girls. + +It was almost dark when they made their way back to their packs, which +they had left under a tree. They made a fire, fried their fish, and ate +their supper. + +Then they swung their hammock in the branches of a great, low-armed +sycamore tree. Neither was afraid, though the night was dark and they +were far from their lodge, which to-night seemed like home. They were +too weary to lie awake. By the time the stars were out they had crawled +into their hammock together and covered themselves with their blanket. +All night long they slept serenely, the good fairies keeping watch over +them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE DISAPPOINTED KNIGHTS + + +Not long after daylight the two girls were out of their hammock bed. +But they waited until a reasonable hour before they approached the +house in the woods to ask for assistance. Then they walked back to the +place cautiously and quietly. To their relief they saw an old gypsy +woman stirring something in a pot by an open fire. A young boy was +busily cleaning some fish. + +The explorers walked directly up to the boy, who did not turn or take +the slightest interest in their approach. But when Phyllis touched him +on the arm he whirled about, dropped his fishing knife, and gave a +queer, guttural call. + +The old gypsy woman came toward Madge and Phil, looking alarmed, but +brandishing a long stick. + +"I don't wonder you are surprised," apologized Phil. "But, really, we +are not ghosts; we are human beings. We have been shipwrecked on this +island for two weeks and you are the first human beings we have seen. +Can you tell us how we can get away?" + +Still the boy stared and the gypsy woman made menacing gestures. The +boy was about sixteen. He had handsome features and wavy black hair, +but a strange, half-stupid expression. + +"Why don't one of you speak?" demanded Madge in her impatient fashion. +"We wish to know who lives in that house over there? Go and tell them +we wish to speak to them." + +The boy put his fingers on his lips, moving his hand curiously in the +air. Then the girls understood. The gypsy boy was deaf and dumb. + +It was vexatious to have struggled across the whole island, to have +been nearly trampled to death by a drove of wild horses, only to +discover a crazy person shut up in an old house, a deaf and dumb boy +and a stupid old woman keeping guard. + +Madge's sense of humor came to their rescue. She threw back her head +and laughed. As her merry laugh rang out the back door of the house was +burst suddenly open. A savage-looking man dashed out. "Who's there?" he +demanded angrily. "I thought I heard strange voices." + +The man ran down the few steps that led to the yard, staring at the +newcomers as though he had seen an apparition. + +Phyllis bowed to the man politely. Madge smiled at him with engaging +frankness. But he paid no attention to their friendly overtures. He +raged, stormed and talked to himself. Neither would he listen to +Madge's explanation of their appearance. + +"Won't you please be good enough to tell us how we can get away from +this island?" Madge finally demanded in desperation. "We are very +anxious to get back to the mainland, so that we can let our friends +know where we are." + +"I'll tell you how you can get away from this house in double-quick +time. Be off with you!" roared the man. "What do you mean by turning up +here and scaring a man out of his wits? We thought this island didn't +have a soul on it but us." + +"What are you doing here?" asked Phil quietly. + +The man turned red and stammered. He was too stupid to think of a +prompt answer. + +At this moment a man who had all the appearance of a gentleman appeared +at one side of the house. He bowed pleasantly to Madge and Phil, but +did not try to conceal his amazement at seeing them. + +The girls were equally nonplussed. They certainly had not been prepared +to meet a gentleman in this oddly assorted company. + +"I overheard your story," he remarked pleasantly. "You will forgive the +surprise of my servants at your unexpected presence. We presumed we +were alone on the island. It is supposed to be entirely uninhabited, +except in the hunting season. The place is so desolate that I brought +this gypsy lad and his mother over to look after my man and me. I am +sorry that I can not offer you any assistance in returning to your +homes at present. My boat brought me to this island and left me, as I +wish to be entirely alone." + +"How funny!" exclaimed matter-of-fact Phil. "I should think you would +be awfully lonely." + +"I am--I am recovering from an attack of the nerves, due to overwork," +replied the stranger suavely. + +"And are you all alone in the house, except for your servants?" +questioned Madge, with her most innocent, far-away expression. + +"Yes," replied the man in the same moment, fixing his cold, blue eyes +on Madge and Phil. "I am entirely alone in the house except for my man. +The gypsy woman and her boy Jeff live in a tent a little distance off. +I am sorry you have had your long journey across the island for +nothing. The boy will show you a shorter way back. Rest assured that as +soon as my boat comes for me, I will communicate with you. Until then +it is wisest for you not to return to this side of the island." + +The stranger spoke to them with perfect courtesy, but they knew that he +would admit of no trifling. If they had heard a sound in the house that +was not meant for their ears, they must pretend to be deaf. + +The man summoned the deaf and dumb lad by a gesture. He talked to him +on his fingers for a few minutes. The boy grinned and nodded, as though +he thoroughly understood. + +"I have told this fellow to show you a short cut across the island," +the stranger said politely, turning to the girls. "He is ready to +start--at once." + +The man's eyes narrowed. There was no mistaking his meaning. + +It was in vain that Madge and Phil insisted that they could find their +way home without assistance. The obstinate man declared that they would +be safer with an escort. What could the girls do? Nothing but make a +foolish scene, and they were too wise for that. + +Before Phyllis turned to leave the place she took one long, intense +stare at the house ahead of her, which, she was now convinced, +imprisoned some innocent person. She said nothing to the man in charge +of it. But, in Phil-fashion, she set her lips firmly together. If the +man had known Phyllis Alden better, he would not have smiled in such a +relieved fashion when his unwelcome visitors disappeared. + +With their backs to the ill-omened house, and their faces set toward +the lodge, Madge and Phil felt their hearts lighten. So far they had +failed miserably in their quest for help, but now these pretended +knights were to return to their ladies and make their report. What +bliss to be in their own little snug harbor again! "Snug harbor" was +Phil's name for their lodge in the woods. + +The girls walked on happily. They could talk as they chose, with a deaf +and dumb boy for a guide. + +"Who do you suppose is hidden in that house?" asked Phil nervously. She +could not get the subject off her mind. + +Madge was far less interested, so she smiled. "You have always thought +that I had an excellent imagination," she teased, "but, really, this is +asking too much of me! Perhaps the man in the house is crazy; perhaps +he is heir to a large fortune, and the other wretch is trying to keep +him out of it. There may be a thousand reasons for his being there. Oh, +dear me, I am tired! If only this boy weren't deaf and dumb we might +get some information out of him. I am glad that we are going home by a +shorter route." + +"I hope it is shorter," interrupted Phil. "Certainly it is entirely +different from the direction we took yesterday. We have not passed a +single familiar object since we started." + +So far the girls had meekly and unquestioningly followed their guide. +Now a doubt assailed both of them at the same time. Could it be +possible that the lad had been sent to lead them out of their way? It +dawned on Phil that the boy had probably been told to take them home by +some route that would confuse them in case they ever desired to return +to the secluded house. + +But it was perfectly hopeless to try to argue with a deaf and dumb boy. +The lad traveled at such a pace through the woods that the two girls +had difficulty in keeping up with him. Madge now ran ahead, catching +the boy by the sleeve. She tried to spell the word, "Home," on her +fingers. Then she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Are you taking us +home the right way?" + +The boy grinned and bowed his head. He shot his fingers in the air and +began a rapid-fire conversation. Madge and Phil watched him, feeling +utterly helpless. The sign language had not been included in their +education. There was nothing for them to do but continue to follow +their leader. + +Two hours more of travel and the wayfarers did not seem to be any +nearer home. Not a solitary familiar tree or bush appeared to welcome +them. + +The knights were weary and disappointed. With what high hopes they had +set out on their travels! With what low spirits they returned home! +They were too tired to see where they were going, and they stumbled +blindly on, over tangled roots, around clumps of trees, through open +bits of woodland, too fatigued to protest or to ask questions. + +Phil stole a look at her compass. It pointed southeast. Phil recalled +that she and Madge had traveled almost due south the day before in +order to reach the opposite side of the island. They should now be +going north. There was now no possible doubt. They had been led astray. +Phil would have liked to burst out crying. Instead, she declared +miserably, without the least attempt at cheerfulness: "We are lost +Madge! We have been fooled and tricked. The boy is not taking us across +the island. He has been leading us on a wild-goose chase all day. I am +not going to follow him another step." + +"I am afraid we are too tired, now, Phil, to find our way home by +ourselves. Yet think how terrified Miss Jenny Ann and the girls will be +if another night passes and we do not return!" + +Madge happened to glance up. The deaf and dumb boy was grinning at them +with an expression of utter derision. He stuck out his tongue. + +The little captain's cheeks flamed. As usual, anger inspired her to +action. She sprang to her feet. "Don't you worry, Phil Alden," blazed +Madge. "This wretch of a boy is going to lead us home by the very +quickest route--and don't you forget it." + +"What are you going to do?" queried Phil languidly. + +Madge marched directly over to the boy; seizing him by both shoulders, +she shook him with all her might. The boy submitted. But when Madge had +finished he refused to stir. He picked up a stick from the ground and +began to whittle it calmly, emitting a guttural, choking laugh. + +Madge struck the lad sharply with a little stick she had picked up. At +least he would understand what she meant by that kind of conversation. +Still the youth whittled serenely. Then she put her hand in her back +coat pocket, taking out a small, dark object. It was a small pistol. +Very quietly she opened and loaded it. Then, with her pistol primed, +she pointed it at the obstinate boy. "Forward, march!" she commanded. + +The lad's glance shifted. He started to run. Madge shot into the air. +The boy hesitated. Then he raised both hands. He had given up. A minute +later he set off, beckoning to Madge and Phyllis to follow him. He had +decided to take them home by the right path. + +"I did not know you had your pistol, Madge," gasped Phil, as the two +friends journeyed on together again. + +Madge nodded. "Oh, yes," she explained. "We could not very well have +come on such a journey without it. Miss Jenny Ann knew that I carried +it." + +For twenty-four hours, at odd intervals of time, Miss Jenny Ann, +Lillian and Eleanor had walked up and down in front of their lodge, +hoping and praying for the return of the wanderers. What did it matter +if they stayed all the rest of their lives on the deserted island, if +only Madge and Phyllis were with them! + +About eight o'clock in the evening Miss Jenny Ann, who was patroling +the woods near by, heard a faint halloo. A few minutes later two +homesick and footsore girls stumbled into her arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +CAN WE GO TO THE RESCUE? + + +Several days had passed since Madge and Phil had returned. A big fire +roared up the chimney. Madge lay on a blanket spread over some hemlock +boughs in one corner of the room. Phil sat near her, feeding the fawn +from a cup with a spoon. + +Miss Jenny Ann had an open book in her lap, while Eleanor peered over +her shoulder. A single candle burned near them. Lillian sat by the +fire. Every now and then she threw an armful of pine cones on the fire +to make more light in the room. + +Miss Jenny Ann was trying to instruct four of her pupils from "Miss +Tolliver's Select School for Girls" in the intricacies of algebraical +problems. + +Since the disappointing trip to the opposite shore of the island Madge +had not been well. The sunshine had faded. The cold autumn rains had +begun. The food in the larder, supplied from the houseboat, had grown +perilously low. It was hard work to spend many hours in hunting or in +fishing in such weather. Nuts had commenced to pall as an article of +daily diet. Fight as they might, the spirit of the houseboat party had +begun to sink toward zero. + +Suppose, after all, thought they, that they should not be rescued, even +by the first Monday in November, when Madge assured them the duck +shooting began? Perhaps there would not be any ducks this year, or else +no one would come to shoot them? There was nothing too dreadful to +imagine! + +Instead of being comforted by Madge's and Phil's report that they were +not alone on the island, Miss Jenny Ann was the more uneasy. She did +not believe that such a man as the girls had seen would help them to +leave this island. + +Miss Jenny Ann had been trying to beguile the tedium of the stormy days +by interesting the girls in the lessons they would even now have been +studying at Miss Tolliver's school if their houseboat had not sailed +away from her anchorage. All the old school books had been brought up +from the "Merry Maid." At first the girls were much pleased with Miss +Jenny Ann's idea. Eleanor declared that it would be splendid not to be +behind their classes when they returned to school that fall. + +To-night, however, it was quite impossible to take a proper interest in +algebraical problems, when each member of the little group had such a +serious individual problem staring her in the face. It did not look as +though they were likely to return to Miss Tolliver's in the immediate +future. + +"A penny for your thoughts, girls," remarked Miss Jenny Ann suddenly. +"Eleanor, dear, I am going to begin with you. We are all in the dumps +to-night. Perhaps it will cheer us up to tell one another our +thoughts." + +Eleanor shook her head. She had been pretending to look over Miss +Jones's shoulder, but her eyes were really full of tears. + +"Don't begin with me," she pleaded. "My thoughts wouldn't cheer anybody +up." + +But the girls were firm. Eleanor must tell them. + +"Oh, very well," she agreed. "I was thinking of 'Forest House' and +Mother and Father. I could smell Aunt Dinah's light rolls browning in +the kitchen oven, and the ham broiling, and----" + +"Oh, please stop, Nellie!" begged Madge huskily. + +But Eleanor would not stop. "I was wondering if Mother and Father +believed now that Madge and I were drowned!" + +Eleanor dropped her head. There was a dreadful silence in the room that +made Miss Jenny Ann realize that the girls were near to breaking down. +"What were you thinking of, Madge?" she demanded in desperation. Madge +could usually be depended on to cheer the other girls. + +The little captain shook her head despondently. "I was thinking of my +father," she answered, almost under her breath. "I was wishing that I +could find him, and that he would take me home." + +"Lillian, what are you dreaming about to-night?" Miss Jones questioned +next. + +Lillian glanced plaintively into the fire. She popped a particularly +fat kernel of a walnut in her mouth and chewed it thoughtfully before +she replied. Then, still picking at her nuts with a hairpin, she +confessed: "I was thinking, Miss Jenny Ann, that, if once I got back +home, I would never, never eat another nut, not even at Christmas." + +The girls forgot their woes and shouted with laughter. + +Phil stroked her little fawn gently. She glanced up and surveyed her +four friends squarely. Her face wore its most serious and determined +expression. + +"I have been thinking, Miss Jenny Ann, that it is about time for us to +leave the island," she announced. + +"My dear Phil, how original you are!" broke in Eleanor, with a pettish +gesture. + +But Miss Jenny Ann looked straight at Phyllis. She knew that Phil meant +something more than mere idle talk by her speech. Evidently she had +been considering the situation. + +"You see, we have had a wonderful time. Except for our worry about our +families we have had the very jolliest lark of our lives. But now we +must go back home." + +Phil clasped her hands together and closed her lips. "I mean that we +must spend every single minute of our time and thought in arranging to +get away from here." + +"What are we to do, Phil?" asked Madge. "We have already tried every +method." + +"For one thing, we must find some better way to signal passing ships at +sea. They must be going by this island constantly, only they do not +come near enough to see us. Sometimes I believe we will just have to go +aboard the 'Merry Maid' again and drift out from shore," concluded +Phil. + +Eleanor shivered. "We would be taking too great a chance." + +"I wasn't advising it, Nellie. I was just thinking that we might have +to do it, if we can't get away by any other means. We would be almost +sure to meet a ship. Of course, we could never be on the water as long +a time as we were before without being seen. The other time it was just +a strange accident, due to the storm and the fog, I suppose." + +The girls and Miss Jenny Ann frowned thoughtfully. Somehow Phil's idea +did not seem to be very pleasing. + +It was just such a night as the one on which the pretty houseboat had +been cut adrift. The room was still, except for the crackling of the +fire. The noises were all on the outside. The owls hooted dismally in +the near-by trees. Farther off in the forest sounded the screech of a +wildcat. The rain poured down. + +A sudden, violent knocking began on the front door of the lodge. It was +uncanny--terrifying. Not a single time since the houseboat party came +to the lodge in the woods had a hand knocked at their door. To-night, +in the heart of a storm, the sound of the blows upon the door filled +them with dread. + +Miss Jenny Ann rose with shaking knees. Instead of opening the door she +quietly pushed her chair against it. It was a feeble barrier. The door +was closed only by a wooden latch, which Phil had made. + +The banging continued. "Who's there?" Miss Jenny Ann demanded. + +There was no reply. Phil came over and stood by her chaperon's side. + +"Tell us who it is at the door and we will open to you. We can not open +to a stranger," she declared. + +Still the stupid beating on the door with no response to the +questioning. + +Phyllis stood close to the door. "Come here, Madge," she whispered. +"Now listen." The two girls were quiet as mice. One nodded to the +other. They had each heard a curious guttural sound outside their lodge +door. + +"It's the deaf and dumb boy, Miss Jenny Ann. Shall we let him come in?" +asked Madge. + +Miss Jones nodded, and Phil unlatched the door. In the same instant +Madge slipped her revolver into her hand, but she kept it hidden behind +her skirts. + +The boy came slowly into the room, blinking at the light after the +darkness of the woods outside. He was wet to the skin and shaking with +cold. He gave a grunt of delight at the sight of the fire, then crossed +and stood before it, warming his outstretched hands. As though +frightened, the lad looked furtively from one young woman to the other. + +Five minutes passed. The deaf and dumb lad made no explanation of his +surprising visit. It was impossible to ask him why he had come. The +houseboat party stared at him in perplexity. The boy stared back again. +He was completely fascinated by the beauty of the room and the circle +of pretty girls. He had apparently forgotten his errand. + +Finally Madge grew tired of waiting for him to make a sign. Surely this +wild gypsy boy had not come to their lodge on such a night just to make +them a social call. How could she get any information out of him? + +With a sudden inspiration she handed the lad a pencil and a piece of +paper. Perhaps the boy had some education. Madge printed in large +letters the simple words, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" She handed the slip to +the youth. + +He puzzled over it for a moment. Then his face lit up happily. He +pulled out of his pocket a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to +Madge. + +Madge surveyed it gingerly, turning the paper first on one side, then +on the other. "The boy is an idiot," she announced positively. "Else +why should he have come over here on such a night with this dirty scrap +of paper? It hasn't a word written on it." Madge tossed the paper to +the ground contemptuously. + +The lad made a rush for it. This time he passed it to Phil. He ran his +finger along some smudges on the paper. + +"Wait, Phil," Miss Jenny Ann suggested, coming toward her with the +candle. Phil held up the paper and Miss Jenny Ann put the candle close +to it. Five pairs of eyes surveyed it at different ranges. + +Written apparently with the finger, in coffee, was the solitary word, +"HELP." Below were some indefinite initials, a J, and an N, and a T. + +This call out of the darkness was uncanny. From whom could it have +come? Madge and Phyllis knew that it must have been sent by the man who +was shut up in the house on the farther side of the island. + +The girls looked at one another questioningly. "What can we do, Miss +Jenny Ann?" asked Phil anxiously. + +"Nothing," Miss Jenny Ann responded in a tone that was final. + +"Please allow us to write a note, then, and send it back by this boy?" +pleaded Madge. "Think how dreadful to be shut up somewhere without a +sign from the outside world. I'll just say that we are sorry we can not +come to rescue this person, as we have no way of helping him, and that +we don't know who he is. It wouldn't be any harm to say that we hope +some one else will come to save him, would it, Phil?" + +Miss Jenny Ann smiled over Madge's letter, but offered no objection to +it. + +The boy seemed quite satisfied. Just as he turned to leave, Phyllis +called him back. + +It occurred to her that she might ask the lad some questions about the +mysterious prisoner whom he was trying to befriend, probably at the +risk of his own life. + +Phil wrote the word, "MAN?" The boy nodded. Then she put down, "OLD?" +The youth shook his head violently. + +"Ask the boy if the man is crazy, Phil." + +Phil printed the word, "crazy," but the boy did not understand. The +word was too large to be included in his vocabulary. She tried, "mad," +and he bowed his head repeatedly. He frowned, walked up and down the +room and stamped his foot. + +Even Miss Jenny Ann smiled. "I am afraid we do not know whether the +prisoner is insane or just very angry," she said. "But, whoever he is, +we certainly have no concern with him. I don't wish to be unkind, but, +children, it seems to me that at present we have troubles enough of our +own." + +And so the strange messenger was sent back to the unknown prisoner with +nothing save the regrets of the houseboat party. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A NEW USE FOR A KITE + + +A few days afterward Miss Jenny Ann concluded that she must pay a visit +to the men who had been so disagreeable to Phyllis and Madge. She was +an older woman, and one not to be trifled with. The man whom the two +girls imagined to be in authority over the group of people whom they +had seen had promised to come to them as soon as he could help them. He +had not come. Miss Jones wished to know why. + +Miss Jenny Ann Jones was growing into a very determined character. You +would never have known her for the once pale, awkward, embarrassed +teacher at Miss Tolliver's school. Her shoulders had broadened, her +cheeks were ruddy, her sandy hair was burned to gold. Miss Jenny's +muscles were hard and her step vigorous. She had become a hewer of wood +and a drawer of water. Pioneer life had certainly agreed with her. She +could walk as far and endure as much as Phyllis Alden herself, who was +the hardiest of the four girls. + +Phyllis and Madge were enraptured with their chaperon's suggestion that +they make a second trip across the island. They had never ceased to +think and to talk of the poor fellow who had sent out his cry for help +to them. + +Lillian and Eleanor stayed at home to take care of the lodge. Madge, +Phil and their chaperon crossed the island without any special +difficulty, and found the secluded house as before; the deaf and dumb +boy sat outside on guard. A few rods off the gypsy woman worked near +her tent. + +Miss Jenny Ann went directly up to her and inquired for her master. + +The gypsy woman made no answer, except to shake her fist and utter +unintelligible threats. She commanded her son to drive the intruders +away, but Jeff, the gypsy lad, never stirred. + +"I insist on knowing if your master is in his house, or, if he has gone +away, when he will return," demanded Miss Jones. + +The gypsy's answer was to pick up a huge stone and hurl it at Madge's +head. + +At this Miss Jenny Ann, a few weeks before the most timid of women, +seized the gypsy by the shoulders and pushed her inside her tent. + +"Don't come out again," ordered Miss Jenny. "We intend to wait here +until your master comes to speak to us. I don't suppose he will be +absent any length of time." + +"He ain't going to be back until just before night," the gypsy +muttered. But she made no effort, at first, to come out of her tent. + +Miss Jenny Ann took up her position on a log half-way between the house +and the tent. She insisted that her companions rest near her. It was +early afternoon. Now that they knew their way, the trip across the +island had occupied only half the length of time that it had taken when +Madge and Phil crossed. + +Madge and Phil craned their necks and stared at the house. + +The deaf and dumb boy grinned cheerfully at them. Except for his +presence the house looked silent and deserted. Perhaps the prisoner had +been taken away. + +"Miss Jenny Ann, do you remember the story of Richard, the +Lion-Hearted, and Blondel?" asked Phil plaintively. + +Miss Jones was thinking of something else. "What was it, Phyllis?" she +asked abstractedly. + +"Once when Richard Coeur de Leon was on his way home to England from +one of his crusades in the Holy Land, he was cast into prison. There he +stayed a long, long time," narrated Phil mournfully, as though the +story of the unfortunate king weighed on her mind. "Blondel, Richard's +faithful servant and friend, wandered all over the world looking for +his master. One day he came outside the very prison that held his king. +He began to sing an old song that he and King Richard had sung together +many times. Richard Coeur de Leon recognized the song and knew that +Blondel waited outside the fortress to save him. He managed to let +Blondel know where he was, and the loyal servant helped his friend and +king to make his escape." + +Madge guessed what Phil's story meant, but Miss Jenny Ann refused to +see it. + +"Do you think, Miss Jenny Ann," Phil inquired after a pause, "that it +would do any harm if Madge and I were to sing outside this prison house +to-day? Surely it would be a comfort to the poor man inside to hear the +sound of friendly voices!" + +Miss Jones frowned. "Perhaps it would not do any harm, Phil, but it +certainly would not do the prisoner any good. You have promised me not +to try to interfere with this stranger's troubles." Then Miss Jenny +Ann's soft heart relented. "Sing, if you like, Phil. I shall be glad to +hear you. It will help make the time pass more quickly." + +"What shall we sing, Phil?" demanded Madge. + +Phil thought for a while. "'America'," she suggested. "If I were put in +prison unfairly, I would like to think that I was an American and +should some day have my liberty again." + +"All right," agreed Madge. "Let's begin." + +Sitting on the ground at Miss Jenny Ann's feet the girls sang the +splendid song. They forgot the story that had suggested their music. +Their voices rang true and sweet. Madge sang the soprano part and Phil +the alto. The tune inspired the two girls and gave Miss Jenny Ann fresh +courage for the unpleasant interview which she thought lay ahead of +her. + +It was good for the lost travelers to believe that they were still +under the protection of the American Flag. The "Merry Maid" had +certainly not drifted away from the Stars and Stripes. + +Phil wanted a drink of water at the close of the song. She went up near +the house to get it. The bucket stood under a tree a little to one side +of the house, out of the vision of Madge and Miss Jenny Ann. Phil was a +long time in drinking the water. Distinctly she heard some one inside +the house. He was pacing up and down like a frenzied creature. + +Phyllis was disobedient. As she passed by the deaf and dumb boy, whose +name was Jeff, who still sat at his post of duty, she whisked out a +paper and pencil and handed them to him. She pointed to the barred +door, and indicated that she wished the paper and pencil carried to the +man imprisoned in the house. + +Jeff took the things, but he shook his head and made many gestures. He +wished Phyllis to understand that he had no way of breaking into the +prison house when his master was away. He was left to guard the outside +of the dwelling. His master carried the key. + +Phyllis went back to her seat near Madge and Miss Jenny Ann. Her face +was flushed. She looked miserable and uncomfortable. + +A few minutes later Phil saw Jeff leave his position in front of the +place he was set to guard. He jumped up and ran to the tent, where he +and his mother slept. A short time after he danced out of the tent, +carrying a kite with a long tail made of strips of cloth. The boy +closed the opening to the tent securely. He hoped to keep his gypsy +parent inside. As Jeff ran by the girls, letting his kite fly high in +the air, he gave the two girls a significant wink. + +"What is the boy going to do?" asked Miss Jenny Ann. "He is just like a +child! I wish he could tell us when those two tiresome men intend to +return to this spot." + +Jeff disappeared around the back of the wooden house. In a few moments +the lad reappeared on top of the sloping roof. He had his kite tied to +one of the buttons of his coat. He climbed cautiously up the roof until +he came to the ledge. Then he sat astride it, with his feet nearly +touching the chimney that rose out of the roof. He looked furtively +about. + +The girls watched the lad in fascination. What was he about to do? The +boy deliberately waved to them. Next he took out the paper and pencil +Phil had presented to him. He unwound the kite string from his button, +got a small stone out of his pocket and placed it inside the paper. +Then he tied the pencil and the paper, with the weight in it, to the +end of his kite string. + +What the boy was going to do Phil was beginning to guess. She was +gratified at the success of her ruse, but she felt very guilty and +ashamed of herself. Madge and Miss Jenny Ann were wholly unaware that +Phil had had anything to do with the deaf and dumb boy's peculiar +actions. + +But Phil could stand it no longer. Suddenly she broke out: "Miss Jenny +Ann, Madge! I have a confession to make to you!" + +Phil's face was red with embarrassment. "I gave Jeff a paper and pencil +to take to the man inside that house," she went on bravely. "I suppose +I ought not to have done it." + +Miss Jenny Ann looked worried. "I am sorry, Phil," she answered +quietly. + +Of course, Phil was more unhappy at her chaperon's quiet speech than +she would have been if Miss Jones had scolded her. Not once before, in +their two houseboat holidays, had Phil given their teacher and friend +any kind of trouble. It had been a point of honor with Phil to help +Miss Jenny Ann all she could. Now she had truly fallen from grace. + +But Madge and Miss Jenny Ann were so interested in watching the boy on +the roof that they said nothing more. Jeff had slid down the roof, and +had twined his legs around the small brick chimney. He looked like a +monkey as he sat there staring out across the landscape, to see if by +any chance the men he feared could be returning. At last he rose to his +feet, leaned against the brick chimney and dropped the tail of his kite +straight down it. It had occurred to the boy that this chimney +connected with the prisoner's room, and that the kite string would +carry the paper and pencil down to him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE IMPOSSIBLE HAPPENS + + +The girls and their chaperon continued their staring. Jeff calmly +waited on the roof, with his kite held in his hand. + +"I don't suppose there is any danger if the man inside the house simply +writes to tell us why he is imprisoned there," protested Madge, trying +to help the situation for her chum. + +"I hope not," faltered Miss Jenny Ann, "but you know it is very +unfortunate for us to make enemies of the men whom we intend to ask to +help us by interfering with their prisoner. What possible business +have we with the misfortunes of this total stranger?" + +"I know, Miss Jenny Ann," agreed Phil, "but if the man tells us who he +is, and why he is imprisoned in this place, we can tell his friends of +his sad fate after we get away from the island." + +Jeff was seen drawing up the tail of his kite with excited jerks. He +slid off the roof and came hurrying toward the three women. He motioned +to Phil to come away with him to receive the message he had for her. +But Phil pointed to their chaperon and signified that she had been +taken into the secret. Then Phil untied the piece of paper from the +tail of the deaf and dumb boy's kite. + +The most impossible things in this world are the things that actually +happen. Nothing in fiction is so strange as the facts that take place +every day before our eyes. Miracles occur every hour and moment. + +Phil opened the note slowly. She passed it to Miss Jenny Ann, but her +chaperon insisted that Phil read it first. + +The note was written in a firm, bold hand. + +"Boys, can't you help a fellow in distress?" the note began. "You must +mean to try to aid me, or you would not have sung outside my prison +house, or sent me this paper and pencil. I am afraid you are very +young. Your voices sounded so. I don't wish to get you into trouble, +but if you can think of any way to get me out of this hole, I will +defend you with my life against the men who are keeping me a prisoner. +I have done no wrong. I am perfectly sane. The people who have +imprisoned me wish to keep me out of the world until they have a chance +to steal my work. I have been kept here so long that I have been +growing desperate. But to know that there is some one interested in my +fate has cheered me. I will stick it out now. Can you let me know your +names, and where on the face of the earth I am kept a prisoner? If you +are not strong enough to get me out of this place, will you, in +Heaven's name, telegraph to the Navy Department in Washington for me? +Say that Lieutenant James Lawton is being held as a prisoner. Say that +he is not a traitor and that he has not run away from his country to +sell his invention to a foreign government. Tell the authorities to +send troops, or a battleship, if it is necessary, to get me away from +this place. Yours truly, Lieutenant James M. Lawton, U.S.N." + +Phil turned white. She was sick and faint with surprise. One look at +her friend was enough. Madge ran for a dipper of cold water. Phil had +just handed her note to Miss Jenny Ann when Madge flung the water in +her face. Phil gasped and sputtered indignantly. But she could not +speak on the instant. + +When Miss Jenny Ann read the note Madge wished she had saved half her +dipper of water for her chaperon. Miss Jenny Ann turned as red as Phil +did white. "It's quite impossible!" she ejaculated. "I can not believe +it is true." + +"Have you both gone crazy?" demanded Madge excitedly. "Please let me +see the letter that has affected you both so dreadfully." Madge took +the note from her chaperon's limp hand. Then she dropped down on the +ground. + +"Jimmy Lawton!" she muttered in confusion. "Is it the same young man we +met at Fortress Monroe? He simply can't be imprisoned on this +ridiculous out-of-the-world island with us!" + +The three dazed women said nothing more for a few seconds. They gazed +stupidly ahead of them. + +"What ought we to do?" asked Phil finally. + +"Get Lieutenant Lawton out," answered Madge promptly. + +"But, children, we shall be murdered if we make the attempt," faltered +Miss Jones. + +"Not if we can manage to get Lieutenant Lawton out of that place before +his jailers return," declared Madge calmly. + +Miss Jenny Ann Jones felt the situation slipping out of her fingers. +She was ardently anxious to help Jimmy Lawton, if it were possible to +aid him without bringing trouble on her girls. She felt suddenly drawn +toward Jimmy. Here was a friend on the deserted island. She felt a +curious intimacy and sympathy for him. She knew the young officer would +help them to make their escape if only he were free. + +"How can we ever get into that house?" questioned Phil. "The front and +back doors are strengthened with heavy beams. We can't beat them down." + +Madge shook her head. "Even if we make our way through one of those +doors, we would still not have found the prisoner. He must be locked in +an inside room." + +The three young women sat in gloomy silence. + +The gypsy woman peered out of her tent. The intruders seemed to be in +no mischief. She could safely leave her master to attend to them. Jeff, +the deaf and dumb boy, had taken up his position as guard outside the +front door of the house. He gave the impression of a sentry who had +never left his post. + +Could any situation be more hopelessly difficult? Phyllis, Madge and +Miss Jenny Ann were within a few yards of their friend, whom they had +every disposition in the world to help out of his prison house. But how +were three girls, without a single tool of any kind, to break open a +house that had been strongly fortified with heavy beams to resist any +attack from the inside or outside. + +"Phil," breathed Madge at last, "I believe I have thought of a scheme +to rescue Jimmy Lawton. You and Miss Jenny Ann may think it a perfectly +mad one. It is pretty daring, and Lieutenant Lawton will run the risk +of losing his life. But if he has the courage----" + +"Lieutenant Lawton is a sailor. I don't believe he will be afraid of +anything," declared Phil. "But what do you mean? I can't think of any +plan by which we can get him out of that place before those wicked men +return to stop us." + +Madge slipped her hand inside the pocket of her sweater. She brought +out a box of safety matches. "I thought we could set fire to the house +and burn down the outside door," she proposed. "I suppose I am silly to +speak of it." + +She read blank disapproval in the face of Miss Jenny Ann. Phil did not +wait to discuss the idea with either of them, but leaped to her feet. +She rushed around the far side of the house. The biggest stone she +could lift, she hurled into the side of the house. + +"Lieutenant Lawton!" she shouted. "We are your friends. Your jailers +are away. We are going to try to help you out now if we can. We shall +set fire to the house and batter in the front door. You may run the +risk of being burned up inside the house, but are you willing to take +the chance?" + +Phil's voice sounded as though it came from a great distance off. +Still, the young man inside the house heard her words. The house that +kept him prisoner was built of wood, but iron bars had been put up +across the windows, and heavy logs were jammed against the doors. It +had been utterly impossible for Lieutenant Lawton to make his escape +without help from the outside. He had made a friend of the deaf and +dumb boy, but the latter had neither the courage nor the skill to get +the young man out alone. + +At Phil's words Lieutenant Lawton cried out in rapture: "Willing to +take a chance? I should say I am! Make your fire in a hurry. But I say, +boys, if you see my jailers coming while you are at work, take to the +woods. Hide there. Once you get this beastly place afire, I will manage +to make my way out. All I ask is a fighting chance." + +Madge came up with her precious matches. Miss Jenny Ann stationed +herself to watch for the return of the two men they feared. + +Phil, Madge and Jeff gathered a pile of light, dry wood and placed it +just in front of the heavy log door. Jeff brought the ax which he used +for his wood-chopping and laid it at Phil's feet. + +It was difficult work to get the wood ablaze without paper. Finally a +few tiny sticks caught and blazed up. A moment later they died down +into a little heap of embers, without even faintly scorching the wooden +door that they were expecting to set on fire. A few moments of hope, +then nothing but burnt-out ashes. + +The situation looked desperate. The girls had plenty of matches, yet +they could not start a blaze without paper. It would take so long to +coax the great logs to kindle from the bits of trash. And Jeff dared +not go inside the tent for paper and kindling, for fear his mother +would discover what they were doing. + +Miss Jenny Ann was growing more nervous every minute. "Hurry!" she +cried every few seconds. "I am sure those men will return before you +ever get the wretched place afire. What is taking you so long?" + +"We have no paper to make the fire burn, Miss Jenny Ann," cried Phyllis +in desperation. + +"Paper!" returned their chaperon in disgust. "Have you children lived +for two weeks on a desert island without learning to make what you have +serve for what you desire?" + +Miss Jenny Ann slipped out of her white cotton petticoat and ran to the +house to present it to Phil. "Here, use this for paper," she insisted. +"I have on a heavy serge skirt and shall not miss it." + +Cotton is almost as inflammable as paper. Carefully, Madge, Phil and +the deaf and dumb boy made another pile of little and big sticks just +outside the door they desired to burn down. Miss Jenny Ann's petticoat +lay, as a sacrifice, underneath the pyre. The skirt started a splendid +blaze. Madge and Phil fanned the flames gently toward the front door. +The chips caught, then the larger sticks, at last one of the logs of +the door smouldered and flamed. + +It took only a short time to get a fair fire started. But it seemed a +long time to the workers--and a century to the man who waited inside. + +He said nothing, gave no directions. He only walked up and down the +small room that held him fast like a caged lion. + +Half of the lower log of the door burned away. Phyllis seized the ax. +It was easy to cut through the half burnt log. She made a hole large +enough to crawl through. The flame was only flickering about its +outside edges when she crept inside the house with her lap full of +sticks, and Madge's box of matches in her hand. + +Madge saw her chum disappear into the house with horror. There was no +danger at the time. The front of the wooden house was burning slowly. +But if the entire front should blaze up, Phil, as well as Lieutenant +Lawton, might be imprisoned inside. + +Phil was not in the least alarmed. Once inside the dark house she found +herself in a square room. A hall led out of it with a room on each +side. There was no question about which room was Jimmy Lawton's prison. +Heavy logs were braced against this door and a big, iron chain fastened +it on the outside. It was indeed a prison cell. + +Phyllis dropped down in front of this door and made her second pyre. +This time her own petticoat was used as a burnt offering. + +"The front of the house has begun to burn," she explained quietly to +Lieutenant Lawton. She did not mention that a friend had come to his +aid. This was no time for unnecessary explanations. + +"All right," the young man answered briefly. "Don't you think you had +better get out pretty soon? The fire will be creeping toward you." + +Phil made no reply. She now saw that her second fire was beginning to +catch. She must burn away this inside door, or else Jimmy Lawton would +be caught in a trap. The door was chained and would not be easy to +break down. + +Phyllis Alden had acquired one habit of a boy during her brief life in +the woods. She always carried her pocket knife with her. To-day she was +grateful for the habit. There was a small crack between two of the +thick boards of the door. While she waited for her fire to burn Phil +whittled at this slit, until the opening was large enough to slip the +knife through. + +"Make the opening as large as you can," she suggested to the prisoner. + +For the first time during his weeks of imprisonment Jimmy Lawton had +something with which to work for his freedom. He cut furiously at the +door, while Phil continued to fan the fire toward it with her skirt. +Both of them forgot, for the moment, what might be taking place on the +outside of the house. They were intent only on demolishing the hateful +door behind which Lieutenant Lawton had been forced to remain so long. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE RECOGNITION + + +Madge had kept guard before the flaming door, with Jeff dancing about +her, making frenzied gestures of excitement. Miss Jenny Ann had been +torn between the necessity for watching for the approach of their foes, +and at the same time seeing what Phyllis was doing inside the burning +building. She darted from one place to the other, fairly beside herself +with anxiety. + +But there was little work for Madge to do now, except to watch and wait +for Phyllis. The little captain was growing worried. The flames, that +had been so long in catching, were now spreading across the entire +front of the house. + +"Come out, Phil!" she called. "You must not stay in the house any +longer, you have done all you possibly can." She crept as near to the +house as she could. The heat was scorching. She could just catch a +glimpse of her chum at work on the inside. + +The wind was blowing so that the smoke poured into the house. The +danger was not so much from the fire as that Phil and Lieutenant Lawton +would be stifled by the thick smoke. + +Jimmy Lawton could feel the waves of heat entering the house. + +"Please clear out, young fellow," he urged Phyllis. The idea that she +was a girl had never dawned on him. In their few words of conversation +he had been too excited to think of the girlish tones of her voice. "I +am afraid you will be burnt in this place. You have done all you can +for me. Once this room is in flames I will fight my way out." + +Phil's answer was to pick up the ax, which she had dragged into the +house with her. Lieutenant Lawton had made a hole in the door large +enough to thrust his hand through. Phil handed him the ax. The young +man pulled it through the door and gave a shout of triumph. "Now run +for your life, boy!" he commanded. "I'll be after you in a minute. We +haven't a minute to lose." + +Jimmy Lawton's inside prison door was smoking; one end of it was in +flames. Phyllis recognized that there was no reason for her to wait any +longer. She realized that she was nearly choked with the smoke. Phyllis +turned to fight her way to the hole through which she had come into the +house. + +A solid wall of smoke met her gaze. The small room at the front of the +house might have been any size or shape. It was impossible to see +anything in it except the leaping tongues of flame in front. + +Outside, Madge called in terror, "Phil! Phil!" + +Guided by the sound of her friend's voice, Phil groped her way. She +struck a chair in the way and fell on her knees. + +There was a noise behind her, and Phyllis felt a man's hand grope for +hers. He pulled her quickly to her feet. "Close your eyes and keep your +mouth shut," he ordered. "We will both be out of this in a moment." + +In one place the smoke was less dense and a faint breath of air +penetrated the room. Phil felt herself lifted off her feet and thrust +through this opening almost into Madge's arms. Her skirt was on fire, +but Madge had beaten out the flames before Jimmy Lawton joined them. + +Even now the young man did not recognize his rescuers. He was dazed, +weak from his long confinement, and only anxious to be off. + +"Let's get away from this place!" he cried. Blindly he reached out for +Phil's hand the second time. Madge seized hold of Miss Jenny Ann. They +started toward the thick woods on a run, forgetting their friend, Jeff. +So far they had not been interrupted by the men they feared. + +"Look ahead!" called out Madge sharply under her breath. Her quick ears +had caught the sound of footsteps approaching. + +"Hide in the thicket," Jimmy commanded. He pulled Phil down behind a +fallen log. Madge and Miss Jenny Ann crouched behind some thick bushes. +They waited in absolute silence. + +Now, for the first time, Lieutenant James Mandeville Lawton opened his +eyes and surveyed his deliverer! + +He stared and blinked, and stared and blinked again, until Phil wanted +to laugh aloud in spite of their danger, the young man's expression was +so ludicrous. + +"Great Scott!" he muttered. "I never dreamed my rescuers were girls." + +Phil put a warning finger on her lips. + +They waited until the noise they had heard had completely died away. +Then Lieutenant Lawton sprang to his feet, ran to Miss Jenny Ann and +took both her hands. "Your appearing on this island is like a miracle!" +he exclaimed. "Tell me how you happen to be here? I would never, never +have let you run the risk of trying to save me if I had known you were +girls instead of boys." + +Madge laughed. "Mr. Lawton, girls are equal, nowadays, to any situation +that a boy can master." + +The little party had not gone on much farther before they heard the +noise of swift feet in pursuit. Instead of walking, as our party of +friends had lately done, in order to rest, they broke into a run. Still +their pursuer gained on them. + +Lieutenant Lawton thrust the three women behind him. He stood at bay +with a stick in his hand as his only weapon. + +A wild figure burst upon them. It was Jeff, whom they had forgotten! +The poor lad's clothes were torn, as though he had received a severe +beating. + +Jimmy Lawton dropped his stick. He turned red with shame. "Poor old +Jeff!" he cried. "We ought never to have run off without you. Of +course, you would get the blame of my escape." + +In the days of his imprisonment Jimmy Lawton had learned to understand +a few words that the boy could spell on his fingers. + +Jeff now managed to explain to them that Lieutenant Lawton's jailers +had returned to the house a little while after they made their escape. + +They found the prison house in flames and their prisoner gone! The +gypsy woman told the story of the appearance of the two girls and their +chaperon, and the aid they had given to the prisoner. She made no +accusation against her son. But the boy's master demanded to know in +what direction his prisoner and the women had run. Jeff would not +tell. He had managed to escape from the angry men and, guided by some +instinct, he had found his friends in the woods. + +"Jeff declares he will show us a way through the island that no one +will be able to follow," announced Lieutenant Lawton to Miss Jenny Ann. +"Will you allow him to go on with us? The boy has been so good to me +that I am going to look after him for the rest of my days." + +"Have the men started after us?" inquired Madge. + +It took Lieutenant Lawton some time to find out. At last Jeff made him +understand. The men had absolutely no idea of any difficulty in +overtaking their prisoner and bringing him back to his late jail. They +believed that he had no way of escaping from the island, no weapons and +no friends except a company of young girls, who would be more of a +hindrance to him than a help if he meant to resist recapture. + +Jeff announced that he had left the men fighting the flames in the +prison house. They meant to put out the fire before they followed the +fugitives. + +It was now almost dark. The woods were thick with shadows. The party +stumbled on. Had it not been for Jeff, they must have spent the night +in the forest. But the deaf and dumb boy had the gift of remarkable +sight. He could see almost as well by night as by day. No other mortal +man could have traced the route by which he led his friends home. Jeff +was a creature of the out-doors. He knew his deserted island +thoroughly. + +It was only a little after ten o'clock when the party of three women +and two men arrived at the lodge. + +Before they got inside the door they caught a whiff of a grateful odor. +Lillian and Eleanor had put a great part of their last rations into a +big kettle of soup. The last can of tomatoes had been sacrificed, the +last half dozen potatoes. Nothing remained but some musty corn meal, a +few teaspoons of tea and a little sugar. Unless relief came soon the +houseboat party would truly have to be fed from Heaven. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +BACK TO THE "MERRY MAID" + + +"Rather than put you in this position I would have stayed ten years in +that hole," groaned Jimmy Lawton. + +The group of young people were huddled close about their wood fire. It +was a little past midnight. Each moment they expected to hear a sound +at the door that would mean a fight or else the surrender of their +captive. The two men would come to the lodge when they found no sign of +them in the woods. + +"I don't see how you can say you have got us into a scrape, Lieutenant +Lawton," argued Phyllis. "What did you have to do with cutting our +houseboat adrift? It was Fate that brought us to these shores. And +jolly glad we were to get here! If the men come after you, there are +only two of them and seven of us." + +"But you have no weapons," protested the young officer. "Those fellows +will be desperate. None of you must get hurt. If Jeff and I find we +can't settle the two men without bringing you into our trouble, you +must let me pretend to go back with them. I'll finish my fight after we +get away from the lodge." + +"Here is something to help you out, Lieutenant Lawton," offered Madge, +bringing the young officer the small revolver that belonged to her and +to her cousin Eleanor. + +Phil produced their cherished rifle. Jeff seized hold of it with one of +his queer grunts. The boy lay with his body across the door, like a +faithful dog. + +The waiting grew very dull. No one came to disturb them. + +"Ask Lieutenant Jimmy what happened to him after he left Old Point, +Phil?" whispered Eleanor. "I am just dying to know." + +In the flickering light of the fire the young officer told his curious +story. He had left for Washington, carrying with him the finished model +of his famous torpedo-boat destroyer, the little boat that was to bring +him fame and glory. On the train, while he was eating his luncheon, two +men took seats opposite him at the same table and, ordering their +luncheon, fell into conversation with him. Lieutenant Jimmy remembered +that when he rose to leave the dining car his head was swimming +strangely. His food had in some mysterious way been drugged. He knew +nothing more until he woke up some time later. He was on a small boat, +bound hand and foot, the model of his invention had disappeared, his +pockets were stripped and he was being carried he knew not where. +Twelve hours may have passed, or twenty-four. Then Lieutenant Lawton +was brought on land and placed in the small fortified house where the +girls discovered him. This was all the young officer knew. But he had +guessed a number of other things. + +There was a moment of sympathetic silence when the young man finished +his story. Then Madge turned on him, with her eyes flashing +indignantly. "Have you any idea who stole your invention, and why they +should wish to keep you locked up?" she demanded. + +Lieutenant Lawton nodded. "I have my suspicions. I can be sure of +nothing until I get back home. I am afraid I may be too late then. But +the firm of ship-builders, of whom Alfred Thornton's father is a +member, offered me two hundred thousand dollars to sell the secret of +my torpedo-boat destroyer to them, instead of giving it to my +government. A short time before I left Old Point I refused their offer, +made through Alfred Thornton. I am sure that the men on the train +drugged me, assured the conductor that they were my friends and that I +had been taken ill. They were allowed to take me off the train. Of +course, the rest of their work was easy." + +"But I don't see what good the little model of your boat could do any +one," said Madge. + +Jimmy smiled rather grimly. "It is hard to understand, I know," he +agreed. "You are awfully good to let me tell you my troubles. But don't +you see that the ship-building firm might, by fraud, get out a patent +on my little boat and build dozens of them before I am heard from. Once +they have patented my invention it would be difficult, indeed, to get +it away from them. Even with the government to back me it would take +years of fighting. And I don't know how long it may take me to build +another model." + +Eleanor felt dreadfully sorry. She did not understand the Lieutenant's +explanation. But patents and inventions and any other kind of business +discussion were a mystery to her. + +Madge and Miss Jenny Ann tried to look very wise. Phil slipped quietly +over to a far corner of the room. Lillian was half asleep. + +"If you could get to Washington in time, with another model of your +boat, before that wicked business firm gets out its patent on the +stolen model, you might be able to prevent their securing the patent +after all, Lieutenant Jimmy?" questioned Madge earnestly, bringing her +brows together in a serious frown. + +"Yes, if I were on the spot with the model, and the description of my +beautiful little boat, I think I could make things hum for the other +fellows," Jimmy agreed mournfully. + +Phil came out of the dark corner that held her cherished trunk. She had +a box in her arms about a foot and a half long. It looked like a huge +box of candy, although it must have been very heavy from the way Phil +held it. + +She put the box down before Lieutenant Jimmy. "Here is the box you gave +me to keep for you," she announced gravely. "I am still willing to take +care of it for you, but I wished you to know I still have it." + +"Great Scott!" cried Jimmy Lawton for the second time that evening. "Do +you mean you have kept this box for me through shipwreck and every +other kind of disaster? What a girl you are, Miss Alden! I never meant +to speak of it to you." + +With shaking hands the young man opened the box. Inside the pasteboard +box was a wooden one. Lieutenant Jimmy lifted out as perfect a little +toy boat as ever was seen. It was complete in every detail. Lieutenant +Jimmy was not ashamed of the fact that his eyes were full of tears as +he looked gratefully at Phil. + +"It is the exact copy of the model of the torpedo-boat destroyer that +was stolen from me," he explained to the girls. "I gave it to Miss +Alden to keep for me, because I feared foul play." + +Jimmy hugged his tiny boat as though it were his baby. Then he replaced +it carefully in its accustomed box. For a time the little party had +forgotten that they were waiting to be attacked by two angry men. When +Jimmy put his boat away the thought rushed over them again: if only the +men would hurry on! Anything was better than this waiting. + +Lillian must have been half asleep. She started from her chair with a +little cry. Miss Jenny Ann touched her gently. "I thought some one +knocked on the door, Miss Jenny Ann," faltered Lillian. "It frightened +me. I wish we were at home. Doesn't every one of us in this little +lodge to-night wish we were safely away from here?" + +"Yes, Lillian," answered Miss Jones gently. + +"Don't we wish that we never had seen those wicked men who held +Lieutenant Lawton a prisoner?" she went on. The other girls were now +gazing at Lillian as though they suspected that she had suddenly lost +her mind. + +"Lieutenant Lawton, wouldn't you give most anything, run nearly any +chance, if you could get back to Washington in a few days?" she +persisted. + +Jimmy nodded, feeling sure that Lillian was less clever than her +friends. + +"Very well," continued Lillian, "then I, for one, vote that we follow +Phil's idea, and leave this place the first thing in the morning." + +"But how, child," demanded Madge impatiently. She had completely +forgotten Phil's suggestion of a few evenings before. + +"Why, embark on the 'Merry Maid' again, drift out to sea and trust to a +ship's picking us up. The tide goes out at five. We had better go out +with it. We shall starve to death if we stay here much longer. We have +not even enough to eat for breakfast." + +Lieutenant Lawton gazed at Phil, without making any effort to conceal +his admiration for her idea. + +Put to vote, every one of the little islanders voted to trust their +fates once more to the "Merry Maid." They would sink or swim with her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER + + +Through the darkness until early dawn a strange procession wended its +way from the lodge in the woods to the decks of the long-deserted +houseboat. + +Jeff stood at the door of their house, like a faithful sentry, to warn +them if danger approached. But the men who had been Jimmy's jailers +must have concluded to wait until dawn before coming for their +prisoner. They were so sure that he could not escape them. + +All the most cherished possessions of the houseboat that had been +transferred to the little lodge were now transported to the "Merry +Maid" again. A few of their larger articles of furniture were left +behind as a thank-offering to the little lodge for the shelter it had +afforded them. + +Not long before daylight seven wanderers crept down the path that had +been worn by the passing of the feet of the stranded girls. They +marched out into the shallow water and climbed up the side of the +houseboat. Phyllis Alden brought up the rear. She was half-leading, +half-pulling along the little fawn she had rescued in the woods. At the +last moment Phil had not been able to make up her mind to leave her pet +behind. The little creature had grown so used to her care that she was +afraid it would die without her. + +Madge watched Phil's struggle, her eyes dancing with amusement. At the +edge of the water the deer stood stock still. Phyllis and Jimmy had to +drag the animal on to the boat. + +"Phyllis had a little lamb, little lamb," sang Madge derisively. + +When the first rosy streak of dawn shone in the sky the "Merry Maid" +was well away from land again. Again the tide bore her on its breast. +But how different the time and conditions! + +Soon the sun rose gloriously, the blue waters danced and sparkled. The +atmosphere was clear as crystal. + +The little band of voyagers watched the slowly receding shores of their +isle. They threw kisses across the water. As the land faded from sight +all their difficulties faded with it. The weeks on the deserted island +became the jolliest lark of their lives. It took its place at the top +of their list of happy memories. + +No one on board the "Merry Maid" seemed to feel any fear for their +adventurous voyage. The morning spelled hope and good-luck. A returning +ship would bear them shoreward soon. + +"Isn't the world lovely, Nellie?" asked Madge almost wistfully, as the +two cousins watched the sun change from a golden ball to an +all-enveloping light. "I feel that we will soon be home again and our +experiences will fade from us like a dream. I wonder if Mrs. Curtis and +Tom are still at Old Point Comfort? How they must have searched for us! +As for Uncle and Aunt, I can't bear to think of them." + +Lieutenant Jimmy, Phil, Miss Jenny Ann, Lillian and Jeff were eagerly +scanning the water. If a ship should appear, it could be seen many +miles off on such a gloriously bright morning. + +Lieutenant Jimmy had the precious rifle in his hand. In his pocket were +their last few rounds of ammunition. Lieutenant Lawton's face was as +radiant as though he were aboard one of Uncle Sam's own battleships. He +was free! The blue waters rolled beneath his feet. What did it matter +to a sailor the kind of a ship he sailed? + +Phyllis Alden stood next to him. Her black eyes were bright with +courage and enthusiasm. + +Together they saw first a great, gray cloud of smoke. It was too dark +and too low to be a part of the sky on such a morning. Then, moving +slowly toward them, still many miles away, appeared the dim outline of +a magnificent gray bulk of a ship. + +Jimmy Lawton's face, which was white and thin from its long imprisonment, +flushed deeply. His voice shook when he turned to Phil. + +"Miss Alden," he whispered quietly, "I am afraid to say so, but I +believe I see a man-of-war coming this way. It must be going in to +Hampton Roads. If it only comes near enough to hear us, I mean to fire +a signal of distress with this rifle." + +The next quarter of an hour was a strenuous one for every passenger on +board the "Merry Maid." + +[Illustration: The Battleship Drew Nearer.] + +Slowly the majestic, gray craft drew nearer to the little houseboat. + +The party crowded forward. No one spoke. + +Nailed to their flagstaff, two torn and ragged sheets that had so long +appealed in vain for rescue flapped and rustled in the wind. + +The women and Jeff saw Lieutenant Lawton raise the rifle to position. +Still he waited five, ten minutes. All this time the beautiful +battleship steamed nearer. Now her prow was just across the line of the +stern of the houseboat. The houseboat party could see the Stars and +Stripes floating gloriously in the breeze. + +While it was easy for the passengers of the "Merry Maid" to behold an +immense battleship it was another matter for the crew on the man-of-war +to discover the small pleasure craft adrift on the waters. + +Jimmy Lawton fired his rifle. The signal of distress rang sharp and +true. The clear air carried the sound magnificently. + +At first there was no response from the battleship. + +"She has not heard us!" exclaimed impatient Madge in despair. + +"Wait!" commanded the young lieutenant. + +A splendid boom broke on the air. It was the answering salute from the +war vessel. She had heeded the call of the "Merry Maid." + +Jimmy repeated his signal of distress. A few moments after the great +battleship slowed down. A small boat was dropped over her side. A +boat's crew in their blue uniforms rowed swiftly out to the houseboat. + +A voice called up: "Who's there, and what can we do for you?" + +"Lieutenant James M. Lawton, U.S.N., with six friends, five of them +women," returned Jimmy Lawton. "We have drifted from land in a +houseboat and ask you to take us aboard." + +Soon after Miss Jenny Ann and the girls were safe on board a battleship +belonging to the American Navy. The officer in command gave them his +hand of welcome. A group of sailors, their faces beaming with curiosity +and kindness, crowded as near them as discipline would permit. + +The man-of-war took on headway again. Her engines thumped. The superb +ship began to move. The houseboat party knew that their peril was over. +Home and friends lay safe ahead of them. + +Yet neither Miss Jenny Ann nor one of her four girls looked perfectly +happy. + +"Won't you let me show you to your cabins?" one of the officers +suggested. + +Reluctantly the five women turned away. But they could not help letting +their glances linger with mournful affection on the departing ghost of +the poor "Merry Maid." The little boat rocked forlornly on the waves, +once more deserted by her friends and owners. + +Lieutenant Lawton whispered to Madge and Phyllis: "As soon as we get +into Hampton Roads I promise you to send out a schooner to search these +waters until she finds your houseboat. The 'Merry Maid' will be lonely +without her passengers, I've no doubt. But I do not believe that any +harm will come to her." + +The man-of-war was expected to enter the harbor of Hampton Roads some +time during the afternoon. The girls sat on deck with the captain, who +showed them the distant lightship on Cape Charles, and finally the +point of land along the Virginia coast where the first English settlers +landed in America, on April 26, 1607. + +Captain Moore was tremendously interested in the girls and their +adventures and experiences. When the ramparts of Fortress Monroe lay +off the quarter he reluctantly said good-bye. But he beckoned Madge +away from the other chums and walked with her slowly to the prow of his +great ship. + +"Miss Morton," he said kindly, "I want to talk to you alone. Your +chaperon has told me something of your history. Your father was a +classmate of mine at Annapolis, and one of the best friends I ever +had." + +Madge choked and was silent. She did not know what to say, what +questions to ask. + +"I know that in after years your father got into serious trouble. He +was court-martialed because of cruelty to a subordinate," Captain Moore +went on. He shook his head gravely. "I never understood it. Robert +Morton was one of the kindest and tenderest of men. He was rash and +quick-tempered, but he never did a cruel trick as a boy, and a lad +shows the stuff the man is made of." + +"Captain Moore!" Madge's voice shook, she was obliged to keep a tight +hold on the railing of the ship to steady herself, but she looked her +new friend squarely in the face, her own white with pain, "do you know +if my father is alive?" + +Captain Moore was startled. "It can't be that you don't know that, +child?" he protested. + +"But I don't," she said bravely. "I have always just taken it for +granted that he died when I was a baby, because I never saw him nor +heard from him. Lately I have had reason to think that he may just have +disappeared after his trouble. It has been so long that perhaps he may +have died since." + +Captain Moore took her hand in his. He looked at her earnestly. She was +like the boy he remembered in the olden days, the same deep-toned +auburn hair, the same clear blue eyes and skin that flushed and paled +so readily, the same proud spirit. + +"I do not know whether your father is dead or alive, child. I, too, +took it for granted that he was out of the world, as we saw him no +more. But I want to promise you one thing. From now on I will look for +him whether I am on land or on sea. Some day, somewhere, I shall hear +news of him. I wish you to remember that if ever you need a friend, you +have only to let me know. I am ashamed to think that I have let this +strange freak of circumstance find Robert Morton's daughter for me. I +should have looked you up years ago. Do you know what a fellow's chum +means to him when he is a boy at school?" Captain Moore queried, less +seriously. "Don't you think a man ought to wish to do something for that +fellow's little girl?" + +Madge smiled. She knew that men hated tears. "Perhaps I shall ask you +to help me some day," she said. "I thank you for your interest and for +the splendid things you have said of my father. It is good to know that +some of his brother officers believe in him, and because you have had +faith in him I will tell you this much: my father was not guilty of the +charges laid at his door. In being true to his own code of honor he +lost his good name. There is only one person in the world who can give +it back to him, and because I respect my father's wishes my lips are +also sealed. But, alive or dead, Captain Robert Morton was or is +innocent." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE SURPRISE + + +Up and down, up and down the old wharf, with his eyes turned ever +toward the sea, a young man walked. His face was tanned, but it had a +haggard look under the sun-burn. Tom Curtis, alone among all the +friends and relatives, believed that news might yet be heard of the +lost girls. That day he had crossed over to Portsmouth to receive the +report from a boat that had been specially sent out with a dredging +machine to drag the bottom of the bay near the spot where the houseboat +had been anchored. The report received was--no news! No news was good +news--from such a source. + +The houseboat party had hardly realized the tremendous anxiety and +excitement that their mysterious disappearance off the face of the +waters had caused. Mr. and Mrs. Butler had come from their home to +devote every hour of the day and night to searching for the lost girls. +Mr. and Mrs. Seldon had only gone back to Philadelphia the day before, +as Tom had promised to telegraph them the moment that any news was +received. Dr. Alden had left his patients to take care of themselves +while he endeavored to trace the whereabouts of his beloved Phil. Even +Miss Matilda Tolliver, principal and proprietor of the Select Seminary +for Girls at Harborpoint, Maryland, had departed from her school for +the space of forty-eight hours to make the proper personal +investigations for her four lost pupils and her teacher. Until she +appeared on the scene herself, she felt sure no really intelligent +effort had been made to find them. + +Mrs. Curtis was still at Old Point Comfort with Tom. Madeleine had gone +back to New York. Mrs. Curtis felt herself to be responsible for the +whole disaster of the lost houseboat. If she had not invited the girls +to anchor in such dangerous waters, their boat would never have torn +loose from its moorings. + +Tom was idling on the dock, simply because there was nothing else to +do, no place to go, except to return to his mother with the report from +the dredging crew. He took no special interest in the slow approach of +another great battleship from the waters of Hampton Roads. Although it +was usually good fun to watch the sailors come ashore after they had +been away on a long cruise, to-day nothing was worth while. His +thoughts were on the lost girls. + +Just before the boat got in he concluded that he was bored with fooling +around the wharf; he would take a walk through the town. He turned his +back on his friends and deliberately strolled away from the water. + +Once Tom Curtis did turn his head. He had heard an unusual stir behind +him. The sailors, who were lined up preparatory to going ashore, had +given the houseboat party a rousing cheer as they left the ship. But +even with this chance for discovering his friends, Tom was blind. The +crowd hid the little party of women from view, and Tom strode on faster +than ever up the river bank toward one of the narrow streets of the +town. + +"O Miss Jenny Ann!" pleaded Madge as soon as her feet touched land, "I +saw Tom Curtis leave the pier just a second ago. He can't be very far +away. Won't you let me run after him? I will find him and bring him +back in a minute." + +Without waiting to hear her chaperon's reply Madge darted up the street +at full speed. + +Run as hard as she would, Madge could not catch up with Tom. Every time +she arrived at one end of a street Tom was about in the act of crossing +over to the next one. She could keep him in sight, but she could not +reach him. She forgot that Miss Jenny Ann and the rest of her party +were waiting for her, and that she really ought to have given up her +chase, remembered nothing but the fact that she must see Tom. As she +plunged recklessly across a side street, an automobile whirled into it. + +At the opposite end of the square Tom Curtis's attention was arrested +sharply. He heard the shrill, harsh protest from an automobile horn, +then a cry of terror from a girl's throat. Her cry was taken up by half +a dozen voices. There was no need to ask questions. He knew what had +happened. An automobile had run down a young girl. + +It took but a minute for Tom to run back the entire length of the +block. But before he got to the spot where the accident had occurred a +crowd had risen up as though by magic. It was impossible to see at once +who had been hurt. Tom pushed his way through the outer fringe of the +crowd. There was a woman in tears, offering her bottle of smelling +salts to a girl. A flushed man was bending over the same girl, +entreating her forgiveness. A fat policeman was demanding everybody's +name. + +Tom heard the girl say: "I am not hurt a bit, thank you. I was +frightened; that was why I screamed. The front of your car just grazed +me, but you stopped it in time. No, policeman, I don't wish to have +anybody arrested. Please let me go. I was trying to catch up with a +friend. He will be out of sight if I don't hurry." + +And it was thus that Tom beheld Madge, whom, a minute before, in his +gloomy reverie, he had given up for lost! + +"O Tom!" she cried joyously as he hurried toward her, "I did make you +look around, after all. We were not drowned. Aren't you glad to see +me?" + +Tom held Madge's small brown hands in his. "Madge!" was all he found +words for. + +Tom Curtis was not ashamed of the tears in his eyes as he looked at +Madge. The first moment he had feared that she was an apparition that +might vanish while he gazed upon it. + +"I'm real, Tom; please don't look at me like that," faltered Madge, +feeling her own eyes fill with tears. "We have been lost on a desert +island, and a battleship brought us home to-day. Why did you run away +from me when I tried so hard to catch up with you? I am sure it does +not become a young woman to go dashing through the streets after a man +who won't even glance back her way." + +Madge spoke in this flippant fashion to hide the real emotion she felt +in seeing her friend again. + +"But, Tom, we must hurry back to the wharf. Miss Jenny Ann and the +girls promised to wait on the dock for me until I brought you back. I +am afraid they will think I have been gone an awfully long time. Let's +go at once." + +Madge was amazed to discover how far she had followed Tom when they +turned back. She tried to make Tom understand the story as they hurried +along. But Tom simply couldn't take in all the facts. He knew that +Madge and the houseboat party were alive and well, and, for the time +being, this was news enough. + +It took them nearly twenty minutes to get back to the spot where Madge +had told Miss Jenny Ann to wait for her. When they reached the end of +the pier there was no chaperon, no Lieutenant Lawton, no Jeff! The +place was almost entirely deserted. Madge's chase through the street, +her automobile accident, her conversation with Tom, and their return +had occupied nearly three-quarters of an hour. + +When first they came ashore, Phil, Lillian and Eleanor had waited +patiently for the return of their companion. Five minutes passed, then +ten, soon fifteen. The girls were thinking of their fathers and mothers +and the telegrams that should be sent. + +At last Phil turned to Lieutenant Lawton. "Lieutenant Jimmy, won't you +take me to the nearest telegraph station?" she demanded. "I am sorry +not to wait for Madge and Tom, but I must telegraph to my father." + +Lillian and Eleanor were in the same state of mind. They also went +along with Lieutenant Lawton. It was arranged that Miss Jenny Ann and +Jeff should wait for the truant. They would then bring Madge and Tom to +the hotel at Portsmouth where they arranged to have dinner. + +Miss Jones and Jeff lingered in the same place for half an hour. Miss +Jenny Ann then concluded to walk up the river bank to the square to +inquire if an accident had happened to the run-away. She must have been +in the square when Madge and Tom passed without seeing her. A few +minutes later Miss Jenny Ann concluded to go on up to the hotel, where +the other girls were expecting her. She thought that Tom and Madge must +have met the rest of the party and gone on to the hotel with them. She +would find them there. + +Tom and Madge searched everywhere along the wharf. They stopped half a +dozen people to inquire for a party of four women and two men. No one +had seen any such group. + +"Does everyone in the houseboat crowd look as well as you do?" asked +Tom, as they hurried along the street. "If they do, you ought to be +ashamed of yourselves. Here we have been grieving ourselves to death, +believing you were lost, and you have been having the jolliest kind of +a lark on a little Robinson Crusoe island. You watch me go duck +shooting there some day." + +But after half an hour of vain inquiry for her friends Madge grew +impatient. + +"I don't see why the girls didn't wait for me. They went away without +letting me know where they were going," she scolded. "Won't you please +take me to your mother, Tom? I suppose Miss Jenny Ann will come to Old +Point some time to-night." + +There had been no plan made, before Madge went away, for spending the +night in Portsmouth. + +Tom was only too happy to be the little captain's escort. He liked to +think of his mother's joy at seeing her. They had a jolly supper on the +big, comfortable steamer that travels between Portsmouth and Fortress +Monroe, arriving at Old Point a little after dusk. + +The streets were almost deserted. It was cool enough for fires, and +there was little lingering outdoors. Madge sat down on a bench in a +small park, while Tom went to the nearest drug-store to telephone to +his mother. He thought it wise to break the news of the discovery of +the houseboat party by degrees. Also he wished to know if his mother +had yet heard from Miss Jenny Ann and knew where she was. + +Madge felt a grateful sense of happiness steal over her as she waited +for Tom's return. It was, indeed, pleasant to be with her old friends +who cared so much for her. To-day Fortress Monroe did not frown down +upon the little home-comer from its stern battlements. The old fort +seemed to offer her protection against her enemies. + +A few soldiers on leave of absence from their barracks passed her in +groups of twos and threes. But no one else appeared for several +minutes. Tom was taking some time with his telephoning. + +Finally an old man and a young girl came down the street in Madge's +direction. The old man leaned heavily on the girl's arm. In the half +light she could see that they were talking very earnestly and not +looking about them. When they were close to her Madge Morton discovered +them to be Flora Harris and her grandfather, Admiral Gifford. + +Madge turned away her head. She hoped that she would not be observed. A +few minutes before she had been so happy and so content. Why should the +first person she saw at Old Point Comfort be the only person in the +world who would take some of the pleasure away from her home-coming? + +If only they would pass without seeing her! It was almost dark, and she +was not even supposed to be in the land of the living, so she sat +absolutely still, hardly daring to breathe. + +Neither the old admiral, whose eyes were dimmed with age, nor his +grand-daughter, saw the little figure on the bench as they walked +toward it. They passed close by her. Some unseen force must have made +Flora Harris turn her head as she came directly opposite Madge. + +Flora gave one terrified scream, then began shaking as though with a +chill. + +"What is it, Flora?" her grandfather demanded. "Are you ill?" + +Flora pointed a trembling finger at the other girl. + +The old gentleman turned in confusion to glance at Madge. He saw only a +young girl sitting quietly on a bench. He could not connect her with +Flora's unexpected outcry. The admiral was not familiar with Madge's +appearance. He had seen her only a few times, and he had not remembered +her face. + +Flora was now crying bitterly. She did not cease to stare at Madge, yet +she did not speak. + +The little captain sprang to her feet. "Don't be frightened, Miss +Harris," she said quietly. "I am sorry I startled you. I hope you don't +take me for a ghost. We have been shipwrecked for several weeks and +only got in this afternoon----" + +"Then I haven't murdered you!" Flora sobbed, running forward and +flinging her arms about the other girl's neck. "I know that I am +hateful and snobbish, and that I like to make other people +uncomfortable, but I didn't mean any real harm to come to the houseboat +when I asked Alfred Thornton to cut her loose from her moorings. I just +wanted you not to come back here again. And I have not let Alfred +Thornton confess that he cut your boat away from the anchor, because I +was afraid we would both be put in jail." + +Tom Curtis had come upon the little scene and stood listening in +silence to Flora's surprising confession. He put his arm through +Madge's and drew her quietly away from Flora's embrace. "It is too late +to confess this dreadful story to-night, Miss Harris," he declared +coolly. "Miss Morton has just arrived, and I am taking her to my +mother. Her friends are spending the night at Portsmouth. My mother has +just told me they have telegraphed her that they will be here +to-morrow. If you will come to see us in the morning we can talk +matters over more quietly; the street is not the place for this +discussion." + +Flora bowed humbly to Tom's verdict. "I'll come at eleven," she +answered. The girl seemed so happy to know that the girls had not been +drowned that she did not seem to care what punishment or disgrace might +be in store for her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE TELLING OF THE SECRET + + +"Must we see Flora Harris and her grandfather, Tom?" asked Madge the +next morning. "We are having such a jolly time together. They will +spoil everything." + +The little captain was standing with her arm about Mrs. Curtis, her +curly head close to her friend's beautiful white one. The room was +filled with the re-united houseboat party, Miss Jenny Ann, Lillian, +Phil and Eleanor, also Lieutenant Jimmy Lawton and his shadow, Jeff, +the deaf and dumb boy. A little table in the center of the sitting room +was piled with happy telegrams from fathers, mothers, sisters, cousins +and aunts. The news that the houseboat party was really safe had spread +everywhere. + +"I think we had better let them come in and have it over with," Tom +replied to Madge's questioning. "An act such as Flora Harris confessed +ought not to go unpunished." Tom spoke like a man. Even his mother +accepted his judgment without hesitation. + +When Flora entered the room, her hand in her grandfather's, she was +pale but self-possessed. She told almost exactly the same story that +she had revealed to Tom and Madge the evening before. Flora brought +with her a telegram from Alfred Thornton, confessing his part in the +houseboat crime. He made no reference to Lieutenant Lawton. Indeed, +Alfred Thornton did not know that the young officer was at Fortress +Monroe. + +When Flora finished there was an absolute silence in the room. What was +there to be said? The five girls looked at Miss Jenny Ann, who appealed +to Mrs. Curtis. + +"I am willing to make any reparation I can," added Flora. "You can do +anything you like to me, I'm so glad you are safe." + +Still no one spoke. + +"Grandfather?" Flora turned appealingly to the old admiral, who seemed +white and shaken. He was plainly suffering more than was his +granddaughter. The young people were quiet for his sake. "Won't you let +me tell Miss Morton what you told father and me. I think you and I both +owe it to her." + +The old man bowed his head. "You tell them, child; I can't," he said. + +Flora grew very white, but her voice never faltered. + +"Madge Morton," she began, "you remember that one night before a group +of Mrs. Curtis's friends I insulted the memory of your father. I told +you that he had been disgraced and turned out of the Navy, and you +asked me my grandfather's name, and said you could not speak against +him. I did not in the least understand what you meant, but I knew that +you were deeply in earnest and I felt afraid of you. + +"Afterward, when I went home, my grandfather learned of what I had said +to you. At first he was very angry. He said that I had no right to +revive an old trouble. Later on he confessed to my father and to me +that your father was dismissed from the Navy for doing an act that my +grandfather, as his superior officer, had commanded him to do." Flora +looked at the old admiral. + +"Go on," he remarked quietly. + +"You see," Flora explained, "by the code of the Navy, Captain Morton +felt that he could not accuse his superior officer. He bore the +disgrace and went away, disappearing soon afterward. If your father had +not disappeared, my grandfather would not have continued to let Captain +Morton suffer for his superior's fault. But later he heard that your +father was dead, so he lost the courage to bring up the old story and +clear your father's name. + +"Then"--for the first time Flora faltered--"I tried to disgrace you by +bringing up the past, and I am punished for it instead of you. +Grandfather now says he is willing to take the blame of your father's +disgrace upon himself and confess everything to the naval authorities. +Whether your father is alive or dead, he will clear his name and +yours." + +The tears of age were streaming down the old man's face. He was +seventy-five years old and had already been retired from the Navy. + +There was a brief instant of hesitation on Madge's part, then she +marched straight to Admiral Gifford and took his hand. + +"Thank you," she simply said to him and to Flora. "It is wonderful for +you to tell this, after all these years, for my father's and my sake. I +can see why you never told of your command to my father when he +disappeared and you believed that no one would be hurt by your silence. +Admiral Gifford, in these last few weeks since I have been here near +Fortress Monroe I have come to know what an officer's reputation means +to him. If my father is dead, I shall ask you never to tell what you +have just told us, but, if he is alive and we find him, Admiral +Gifford, you will have to do as your conscience dictates. On the night +when Miss Harris denounced my father I declared that I could retaliate. +I knew at that time what you have just told me. A few days before we +came to Old Point I was going through my mother's trunk. In a secret +compartment of her jewel box I found a letter in my father's +handwriting addressed to her, and a little black log book. The book +told the story of my father's dark hour, the letter to my mother was +the out-pouring of his tortured heart. Through it I learned the name of +the man whose reputation he saved at the cost of his own honor. I made +a vow, then, that I would find this man and force him to clear my +father's name, but when I learned on that bitter night that it was an +old man, who had been considered worthy of an admiralship, I weakened. +I felt that my father would not wish such retaliation even to bring +back his good name. That was my secret. I am glad I did not tell. Now +everything has worked out beautifully. Oh, yes, there is just one thing +more. We will never tell just how the houseboat happened to break away +from her moorings." + +"Right you are, Little Captain," said Phyllis, saluting. + +The others echoed Phyllis's sentiments. Flora Harris was deeply +touched; as for her grandfather, he placed his hands on Madge's +shoulders and, looking down into her eyes of true blue, kissed the +loyal little captain almost reverently on her white forehead. + +"God bless you, my dear," he said solemnly. "You are Robert Morton's +own daughter." + +After Flora and her grandfather had gone the girls spent the time until +luncheon relating their further island adventures to Mrs. Curtis and +Tom. It had been decided that they take the train for Miss Tolliver's +the following afternoon, and after remaining to luncheon with the +Curtises they were to go down to the wharf to find out whether their +houseboat had been picked up and towed to a landing near them. + +When they reached the dock at a little after two o'clock it was to find +the "Merry Maid" bobbing listlessly at the end of a strong rope cable. +Tom Curtis had sent out a swift sea-going launch which had sighted her +and picked her up within a few hours after it had started out. + +"Hurrah for the 'Merry Maid'!" sang out Madge. "You can't lose her." + +"Hurrah for the little captain!" cried Phyllis. "We can't get along +without her." + +"Hurrah for a hard afternoon's work," reminded Lillian. "Fall to, my +hearties." + +"Aye, aye, sir," sounded the chorus, and the crew of the "Merry Maid" +"fell to." + + * * * * * + +"Miss Phyllis Alden, Miss Madge Morton, Miss Lillian Seldon and Miss +Eleanor Butler, there is an express package downstairs for you as big +as I don't know what!" announced the little maid at Miss Tolliver's +Select Seminary for Girls in breathless excitement. "I saw it marked +quite plain underneath your name. 'For the Captain and Mates of the +"Merry Maid."'" + +The little maid ran down the steps as quickly as she had traveled up. + +"It is study hour and we are not supposed to leave our rooms. Do you +think we dare go down to the library?" inquired the obedient Eleanor. + +But the other three girls were already disappearing from the room and +were making for the library. + +Just outside the library door Phil paused. "I'll go and find Miss +Tolliver," she said. + +"Do come and see us open a big box that has just come for us, Miss +Tolliver," she begged a moment later, happening to meet the principal +in the hall. Nellie had already run off to find Miss Jenny Ann. + +The express package was long and quite narrow, and Miss Tolliver +insisted that a sheet be spread out to protect the library floor. +Joseph, the houseman, was sent for to open the box. He hammered and +pried out a dozen or more nails. Inside the wooden box was a pasteboard +one of exactly the same shape. Phyllis lifted the lid and gave a sharp +cry. She and Miss Matilda Tolliver were standing nearest to the box. +Miss Tolliver repeated Phil's cry in shriller and more terrified tones. +"Be calm, girls, be calm," she commanded the next moment as she dropped +into a chair. "Joseph, go for the police. Some one has sent us a bomb +to blow up the school." + +Madge could not help peeping over into the box. Phyllis was shaking +with laughter. She had seen a white card sticking out of the funnel of +an odd boat-shaped box. The card bore the name of Lieutenant James +Mandeville Lawton. + +"It isn't a bomb, Miss Matilda, it is only a pasteboard model of our +friend Lieutenant Jimmy Lawton's torpedo-boat destroyer. Lieutenant +Lawton promised to let us hear if he were successful in preventing some +people from stealing the patent on his boat. He has just taken this way +to let us know he has won. It's awfully jolly!" explained Phil. "I am +so glad he remembered us." + +She picked up the miniature torpedo-boat destroyer and a shower of +bonbons fell to the floor. + +Every one laughed, including Miss Matilda Tolliver. + +In the top of the box were two flags. One was a little silk flag of the +United States Navy. The other one was in blue and white. On it was +inscribed: "Long Life to the 'Merry Maid' and Her Merry Maidens." + +Madge waved the blue flag triumphantly over her head. "Them's my +sentiments!" she announced. "Aren't we glad that our little houseboat +was found unharmed? Sure and she is only waiting for us to take her +into new waters." + +"It won't be very long till next summer," comforted Phil. + +"And then we'll pull up anchor for new scenes." + +Where they went and what happened to them the following summer is fully +set forth in "MADGE MORTON'S TRUST." Those who have been interested in +the little captain and her friends will find the history of their third +houseboat voyage even more absorbing than either of their earlier trips +on board the famous "Merry Maid." + + +THE END. + + + + * * * * * * + + + +HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S + +CATALOGUE OF + +The Best and Least Expensive Books for Real Boys and Girls + +Really good and new stories for boys and girls are not plentiful. Many +stories, too, are so highly improbable as to bring a grin of derision +to the young reader's face before he has gone far. The name of ALTEMUS +is a distinctive brand on the cover of a book, always ensuring the +buyer of having a book that is up-to-date and fine throughout. No buyer +of an ALTEMUS book is ever disappointed. + +Many are the claims made as to the inexpensiveness of books. Go into +any bookstore and ask for an Altemus book. Compare the price charged +you for Altemus books with the price demanded for other juvenile books. +You will at once discover that a given outlay of money will buy more of +the ALTEMUS books than of those published by other houses. + +Every dealer in books carries the ALTEMUS books. + +Sold by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price + +Henry Altemus Company +1326-1336 Vine Street, Philadelphia + + + + +The Motor Boat Club Series + +By H. IRVING HANCOCK + + +The keynote of these books is manliness. The stories are wonderfully +entertaining, and they are at the same time sound and wholesome. No boy +will willingly lay down an unfinished book in this series. + +1 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OF THE KENNEBEC; Or, The Secret of Smugglers' + Island. + +2 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT NANTUCKET; Or, The Mystery of the Dunstan + Heir. + +3 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND; Or, A Daring Marine Game at + Racing Speed. + +4 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AND THE WIRELESS; Or, The Dot, Dash and Dare + Cruise. + +5 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB IN FLORIDA; Or, Laying the Ghost of Alligator + Swamp. + +6 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT THE GOLDEN GATE; Or, A Thrilling Capture in + the Great Fog. + +7 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB ON THE GREAT LAKES; Or, The Flying Dutchman of + the Big Fresh Water. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +The Range and Grange Hustlers + +By FRANK GEE PATCHIN + + +Have you any idea of the excitements, the glories of life on great +ranches in the West? Any bright boy will "devour" the books of this +series, once he has made a start with the first volume. + +1 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE RANCH; Or, The Boy Shepherds of + the Great Divide. + +2 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS' GREATEST ROUND-UP; Or, Pitting Their + Wits Against a Packers' Combine. + +3 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE PLAINS; Or, Following the Steam + Plows Across the Prairie. + +4 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS AT CHICAGO; Or, The Conspiracy of the + Wheat Pit. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + +Submarine Boys Series + +By VICTOR G. DURHAM + + +These splendid books for boys and girls deal with life aboard submarine +torpedo boats, and with the adventures of the young crew, and possess, +in addition to the author's surpassing knack of storytelling, a great +educational value for all young readers. + +1 THE SUBMARINE BOYS ON DUTY; Or, Life on a Diving Torpedo Boat. + +2 THE SUBMARINE BOYS' TRIAL TRIP; Or, "Making Good" as Young Experts. + +3 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES; Or, The Prize Detail at + Annapolis. + +4 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SPIES; Or, Dodging the Sharks of the Deep. + +5 THE SUBMARINE BOYS' LIGHTNING CRUISE; Or, The Young Kings of the + Deep. + +6 THE SUBMARINE BOYS FOR THE FLAG; Or, Deeding Their Lives to Uncle + Sam. + +7 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SMUGGLERS; Or, Breaking Up the New Jersey + Customs Frauds. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +The Square Dollar Boys Series + +By H. IRVING HANCOCK + + +The reading boy will be a voter within a few years; these books are +bound to make him think, and when he casts his vote he will do it more +intelligently for having read these volumes. + +1 THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS WAKE UP; Or, Fighting the Trolley Franchise + Steal. + +2 THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS SMASH THE RING; Or, In the Lists Against the + Crooked Land Deal. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +The College Girls Series + +By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M. + + +1 GRACE HARLOWE'S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. + +2 GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. + +3 GRACE HARLOWE'S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. + +4 GRACE HARLOWE'S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. + +5 GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + +Pony Rider Boys Series + +By FRANK GEE PATCHIN + + +These tales may be aptly described the best books for boys and girls. + +1 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; Or, The Secret of the Lost + Claim.--2 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS; Or, The Veiled Riddle of + the Plains.--3 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; Or, The Mystery of + the Old Custer Trail.--4 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS; Or, The + Secret of Ruby Mountain.--5 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ALKALI; Or, + Finding a Key to the Desert Maze.--6 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW + MEXICO; Or, The End of the Silver Trail.--7 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN + THE GRAND CANYON; Or, The Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +The Boys of Steel Series + +By JAMES R. MEARS + + +Each book presents vivid picture of this great industry. Each story is +full of adventure and fascination. + +1 THE IRON BOYS IN THE MINES; Or, Starting at the Bottom of the + Shaft.--2 THE IRON BOYS AS FOREMEN; Or, Heading the Diamond Drill + Shift.--3 THE IRON BOYS ON THE ORE BOATS; Or, Roughing It on the + Great Lakes.--4 THE IRON BOYS IN THE STEEL MILLS; Or, Beginning + Anew in the Cinder Pits. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +The Madge Morton Books + +By AMY D. V. CHALMERS + + +1 MADGE MORTON--CAPTAIN OF THE MERRY MAID. + +2 MADGE MORTON'S SECRET. + +3 MADGE MORTON'S TRUST. + +4 MADGE MORTON'S VICTORY. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + +West Point Series + +By H. IRVING HANCOCK + + +The principal characters in these narratives are manly, young Americans +whose doings will inspire all boy readers. + +1 DICK PRESCOTT'S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Two Chums in the Cadet + Gray. + +2 DICK PRESCOTT'S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Finding the Glory of + the Soldier's Life. + +3 DICK PRESCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Standing Firm for Flag + and Honor. + +4 DICK PRESCOTT'S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Ready to Drop the Gray + for Shoulder Straps. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +Annapolis Series + +By H. IRVING HANCOCK + + +The Spirit of the new Navy is delightfully and truthfully depicted in +these volumes. + +1 DAVE DARRIN'S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Plebe Midshipmen at + the U. S. Naval Academy. + +2 DAVE DARRIN'S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Midshipmen as Naval + Academy "Youngsters." + +3 DAVE DARRIN'S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Leaders of the Second + Class Midshipmen. + +4 DAVE DARRIN'S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Headed for Graduation and + the Big Cruise. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +The Young Engineers Series + +By H. IRVING HANCOCK + + +The heroes of these stories are known to readers of the High School +Boys Series. In this new series Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton prove +worthy of all the traditions of Dick & Co. + +1 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN COLORADO; Or, At Railroad Building in Earnest. + +2 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN ARIZONA; Or, Laying Tracks on the "Man-Killer" + Quicksand. + +3 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN NEVADA; Or, Seeking Fortune on the Turn of a + Pick. + +4 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN MEXICO; Or, Fighting the Mine Swindlers. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + +Boys of the Army Series + +By H. IRVING HANCOCK + + +These books breathe the life and spirit of the United States Army of +to-day, and the life, just as it is, is described by a master pen. + +1 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS IN THE RANKS; Or, Two Recruits in the United States + Army. + +2 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS ON FIELD DUTY; Or, Winning Corporal's Chevrons. + +3 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS AS SERGEANTS; Or, Handling Their First Real + Commands. + +4 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS IN THE PHILIPPINES; Or, Following the Flag Against + the Moros. + +(_Other volumes to follow rapidly._) + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +Battleship Boys Series + +By FRANK GEE PATCHIN + + +These stories throb with the life of young Americans on to-day's huge +drab Dreadnaughts. + +1 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS AT SEA; Or, Two Apprentices in Uncle Sam's Navy. + +2 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS FIRST STEP UPWARD; Or, Winning Their Grades as + Petty Officers. + +3 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN FOREIGN SERVICE; Or, Earning New Ratings in + European Seas. + +4 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN THE TROPICS; Or, Upholding the American Flag + in a Honduras Revolution. + +(_Other volumes to follow rapidly._) + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +The Meadow-Brook Girls Series + +By JANET ALDRIDGE + + +Real live stories pulsing with the vibrant atmosphere of outdoor life. + +1 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER CANVAS. + +2 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS COUNTRY. + +3 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS AFLOAT. + +4 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS IN THE HILLS. + +5 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS BY THE SEA. + +6 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ON THE TENNIS COURTS. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + +High School Boys Series + +By H. IRVING HANCOCK + + +In this series of bright, crisp books a new note has been struck. + +Boys of every age under sixty will be interested in these fascinating +volumes. + +1 THE HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN; Or, Dick & Co.'s First Year Pranks and + Sports. + +2 THE HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER; Or, Dick & Co. on the Gridley Diamond. + +3 THE HIGH SCHOOL LEFT END; Or, Dick & Co. Grilling on the Football + Gridiron. + +4 THE HIGH SCHOOL CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM; Or, Dick & Co. Leading the + Athletic Vanguard. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +Grammar School Boys Series + +By H. IRVING HANCOCK + + +This series of stories, based on the actual doings of grammar school +boys, comes near to the heart of the average American boy. + +1 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS OF GRIDLEY; Or, Dick & Co. Start Things + Moving. + +2 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SNOWBOUND; Or, Dick & Co. at Winter Sports. + +3 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN THE WOODS; Or, Dick & Co. Trail Fun and + Knowledge. + +4 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER ATHLETICS; Or, Dick & Co. Make + Their Fame Secure. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +High School Boys' Vacation Series + +By H. IRVING HANCOCK + + +"Give us more Dick Prescott books!" + +This has been the burden of the cry from young readers of the country +over. Almost numberless letters have been received by the publishers, +making this eager demand; for Dick Prescott, Dave Darrin, Tom Reade, +and the other members of Dick & Co. are the most popular high school +boys in the land. Boys will alternately thrill and chuckle when reading +these splendid narratives. + +1 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' CANOE CLUB; Or, Dick & Co.'s Rivals on Lake + Pleasant. + +2 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER CAMP; Or, The Dick Prescott Six + Training for the Gridley Eleven. + +3 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' FISHING TRIP; Or, Dick & Co. in the Wilderness. + +4 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' TRAINING HIKE; Or, Dick & Co. Making Themselves + "Hard as Nails." + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + + +The Circus Boys Series + +By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON + + +Mr. Darlington's books breathe forth every phase of an intensely +interesting and exciting life. + +1 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; Or, Making the Start in the + Sawdust Life. + +2 THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; Or, Winning New Laurels on the + Tanbark. + +3 THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; Or, Winning the Plaudits of the Sunny + South. + +4 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; Or, Afloat with the Big Show on + the Big River. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +The High School Girls Series + +By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M. + + +These breezy stories of the American High School Girl take the reader +fairly by storm. + +1 GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Merry Doings of + the Oakdale Freshman Girls. + +2 GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Record of the + Girl Chums in Work and Athletics. + +3 GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, Fast Friends in the + Sororities. + +4 GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Parting of the + Ways. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + * * * * * * + + +The Automobile Girls Series + +By LAURA DENT CRANE + + +No girl's library--no family book-case can be considered at all +complete unless it contains these sparkling twentieth-century books. + +1 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; Or, Watching the Summer Parade.--2 + THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; Or, The Ghost of Lost Man's + Trail.--3 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; Or, Fighting Fire + in Sleepy Hollow.--4 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO; Or, Winning + Out Against Heavy Odds.--5 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT PALM BEACH; Or, + Proving Their Mettle Under Southern Skies.--6 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS + AT WASHINGTON; Or, Checkmating the Plots of Foreign Spies. + +Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADGE MORTON'S SECRET*** + + +******* This file should be named 20737.txt or 20737.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/7/3/20737 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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