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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16253-8.txt b/16253-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..25fecdc --- /dev/null +++ b/16253-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6310 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid +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, Captain of the Merry Maid + +Author: Amy D. V. Chalmers + +Release Date: July 9, 2005 [EBook #16253] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADGE MORTON *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Their houseboat vacation had begun.] + + + + + + +Madge Morton, + +Captain of the Merry Maid + + + +By + +AMY D. V. CHALMERS + + + +Author of Madge Morton's Secret, Madge Morton's Trust, Madge Morton's +Victory. + + + + + + +PHILADELPHIA + +HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY HOWARD E. ALTEMUS + + + + + + +PRINTED IN THE + +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER. + + I. MADGE MORTON'S PLAN + II. CHOOSING A CHAPERON + III. THE SEARCH FOR A HOUSEBOAT + IV. THE FAIRY'S WAND + V. ALL ABOARD + VI. PLEASURE BAY + VII. THE UNKNOWN JAILER + VIII. AN ANXIOUS NIGHT + IX. THE GIRL ON THE ISLAND + X. AN EXCITING RACE + XI. AT THE MERCY OF THE WAVES + XII. A BRAVE FIGHT + XIII. LIFE OR DEATH? + XIV. MADGE COMES INTO HER OWN AGAIN + XV. A CALL FOR HELP + XVI. THE ATTEMPTED RESCUE + XVII. THE CAPTURE + XVIII. ON A STRANGE SHORE + XIX. FINDING A WAY TO HELP MOLLIE + XX. MADGE'S OPPORTUNITY + XXI. MOLLIE'S BRAVE FIGHT + XXII. THE EVIL GENIUS + XXIII. "MOTHER" + XXIV. FAREWELL TO THE "MERRY MAID" + + + + +List of Illustrations + +Their houseboat vacation had begun . . . Frontispiece. + +Madge and Tom went gayly down to the boat. + +The girls ran down to the water's edge. + +"I wish you to come and live with me, Madge." + + + + +Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid + + +CHAPTER I + +MADGE MORTON'S PLAN + +"I never can bear it!" cried Madge Morton excitedly, throwing herself +down on her bed in one of the dormitories of Miss Tolliver's Select +School for Girls. "It is not half so bad for Eleanor. She, at least, +is going to spend her holiday with people she likes. But for Uncle +William and Aunt Sue to leave for California just as school closes, and +to send me off to a horrid old maid cousin for half my vacation, is +just too awful! If I weren't nearly seventeen years old, I'd cry my +eyes out." + +Madge was alone in her bedroom, which she shared with her cousin, +Eleanor Butler. The two girls lived on an old estate in Virginia, but +for the two preceding terms they had been attending a college +preparatory school at Harborpoint, not far from the city of Baltimore. + +Madge had never known her own parents. She had been reared by her +Uncle William and Aunt Sue Butler and she dearly loved her old southern +home. But just when she and Eleanor were planning a thousand pleasures +for their three months' vacation a letter had arrived from Mr. and Mrs. +Butler announcing that they were leaving their estate for six weeks, as +they were compelled to go west on important business. Eleanor was to +be sent to visit a family of cousins near Charlottesville, Virginia, +and Madge was to stay with a rich old maiden cousin of her father. +Cousin Louisa did not like Madge. She felt a sense of duty toward her, +and a sense of duty seldom inspires any real affection in return. So +Madge looked back on the visits she had made to this cousin with a +feeling of horror. Inspired by her Aunt Sue, Madge had always tried to +be on her best behavior while she was the guest of Cousin Louisa. But +since propriety was not Madge Morton's strong point she had succeeded +only in being perfectly miserable and in offending her wealthy cousin +by her unconventional ways. + +Madge had a letter from this cousin in her hand while she gave herself +up to the luxury of despair. She had not yet read the letter, but she +knew exactly what it would say. It would contain a formal invitation +from Cousin Louisa, asking Madge to pay her the necessary visit. It +would suggest at the same time that Madge mend her ways; and it would +doubtless recall the unfortunate occasion when Mistress Madge had set +fire to the bedclothes by her wicked habit of reading in bed. + +It was the study hour at Miss Tolliver's school, and all of the girls +except Madge were hard at work. Eleanor had slipped across the hall to +the room of their two chums to consult them about a problem in algebra. +Madge at that moment was far too miserable to be approached in regard +to a lesson, though at other times she would have done anything for +Eleanor. + +Finally Madge raised herself to a sitting posture. It struck her as +rather absurd to have collapsed so entirely, simply because she was not +to spend the first part of her summer as she chose. She knew, too, +that it was high time she fell to preparing her lessons. + +With a little shiver she opened Cousin Louisa's letter. Suddenly her +eyes flashed, the color glowed in her cheeks, and Madge dropped the +note to the floor with a glad cry and ran out of the room. + +On the door of her chums' room was a sign, printed in large letters, +which was usually observed by the school girls. The sign read: +"Studying; No Admittance." But to-day Madge paid no attention to it. +She flung open the door and rushed in upon her three friends. + +"Eleanor, Phyllis, Lillian," she protested, "stop studying this very +minute!" She seized Eleanor's paper and pencil and closed Lillian +Seldon's ancient history with a bang. Phyllis Alden had just time to +grasp her own notebook firmly with both hands before she exclaimed: +"Madge Morton, whatever has happened to you? Have you gone entirely +crazy?" + +Madge laughed. "Almost!" she replied. "But just listen to me, and you +will be nearly as crazy as I am." + +Madge had dark, auburn hair, which was curly and short, like a boy's. +To her deep regret her long braids had been cut off several years +before, when she was recovering from an attack of typhoid fever, and +now her hair was just long enough to tuck into a small knot on top of +her head. But when Madge was excited, which was a frequent occurrence, +this knot would break loose, and her curls would fly about, like the +hair of one of Raphael's cherubs. Madge had large, blue eyes, with +long, dark lashes, and a short, straight nose, with just the tiniest +tilt at the end of it. Although she was not vain, she was secretly +proud of her row of even, white teeth. + +Phyllis Alden was the daughter of a physician with a large family, who +lived in Hartford, Connecticut. Phil was not as pretty as her three +friends, and no one knew it better than Phyllis. She was small and +dark, with irregular features. But she had large, black eyes, and a +smile that illuminated her clever face. Put to the vote, Phyllis Alden +had been declared to be the most popular girl in Miss Tolliver's +school, and Phyllis and Madge were friendly rivals in athletics. + +Lillian Seldon was perhaps the prettiest of the four boarding school +chums, if one preferred regular features to vivacity and charm. +Lillian was of Madge's age, a tall, slender, blonde girl, with two long +plaits of sunny, light hair, a fair, delicate skin and blue eyes. She +was the daughter of a Philadelphia lawyer and an only child. A number +of her school companions thought her cold and proud, but her chums knew +that when Lillian really cared for any one she was the most loyal +friend in the world. Eleanor, who was the youngest of the four school +friends, looked like the little, southern girl that she was. She had +light brown hair and hazel eyes, and charming manners which made +friends for her wherever she went. + +The three girls now waited with their eyes fixed inquiringly on the +fourth. They were not very much excited; they knew Madge only too +well. She was either in the seventh heaven of bliss, or else in the +depths of despair. Yet this time it did look as though Madge had more +reason than usual for her excitement. Eleanor wondered how she could +have changed so quickly from her recent disconsolate mood. + +"What has happened to you, Madge?" Lillian inquired. "Eleanor said you +were upset because you are obliged to spend the first of your vacation +with your hateful Cousin Louisa." + +"Hateful? Did I ever dare to say that my Cousin Louisa was hateful? +She is one of the loveliest women in this world! Just think! Cousin +Louisa has written to say that she can't have me, or rather won't have +me, visit her. She is going to shut up her house, and is going to sail +for Europe. I know it is just to escape my odious presence." + +"Why, Madge, what will you do?" Eleanor asked. "You've nowhere else to +go." You know how you hate those awful children at Charlottesville." + +"Wait, Eleanor Butler--wait!" Madge cried dramatically. "You do not +know what has happened, nor why I now truly love and adore the same +Cousin Louisa whom I once thought I disliked. Just look here." Madge +waved a small strip of paper in the air. "Cousin Louisa has sent me a +check for two hundred dollars! She says I am to spend the money on my +summer vacation in any way I like, provided Aunt Sue and Uncle William +approve." + +"But you can't go off traveling by yourself," objected Eleanor. "I +should think you would hate to spend your summer alone." + +"Alone!" Madge answered indignantly. "Who said I meant to spend my +vacation alone? I want you three girls to spend the six weeks with me. +Only last night Eleanor and I said that we four girls could never be +really happy anywhere without one another." + +"Generous Madge," smiled Lillian affectionately. "Two hundred dollars +seems quite a fortune. Perhaps you ought not to spend it all. Where +can we go, and what can we do?" + +"Young ladies," a stern voice spoke just outside the door, "kindly +remember this is the study hour. You are expected to keep silence." + +An unusual stillness fell on the four offenders. Only Madge's blue +eyes flashed rebelliously. "It's that tiresome Miss Jones. You might +know she would be somewhere about. She is the crossest teacher in this +school." + +"Sh-sh, Madge," Eleanor lowered her voice, "Miss Jones might hear you. +She is ill, I am sure. That is what makes her so cross. Phil and I +are both sorry for her." + +"Oh, you and Phil are sorry for everybody. That's nothing! Thank +goodness, there is the bell! It is the recreation hour. Come, my +beloved chums, I simply must think of some way to spend our vacation +and I never can think indoors. 'It is the merry month of May,'" +caroled Madge. "Come, Phil, let us go down to the water and take Nell +and Lillian rowing. It is a dream of an afternoon, all soft and +sunshiny, and the river folk are calling us, the frogs, and the water +rats----" + +"Dear me, Madge," teased Phil, "do hush. We are glad enough to go +rowing without an invitation from the frogs. We have two hours before +supper time. Shall we ask poor Miss Jones to go with us? She does not +have much fun, and you know it is her duty to make us keep the rules. +Miss Jones admires you very much, Madge. She said you were clever +enough to do anything you liked, if you would only try. But she knows +you don't like her." + +"Then she knows the truth," returned naughty Madge. "No, Phil, please +don't ask Miss Jones to come out with us this afternoon, there's a +dear. I told you I wanted to think. And I can think brilliantly only +when in the company of my beloved chums." + +Phyllis Alden and Madge Morton were good oarsmen. Indeed, they were +almost as much at home on the water as they were on land. Each girl +wore a tiny silver oar pinned to her dress. Only the week before Madge +had won the annual spring rowing contest; for Miss Tolliver made a +special point of athletics in her school, and fortunately the school +grounds ran down to the bank of a small river. + +Phil and Madge rowed out into the middle of the river with long, +regular strokes. They were in their own little, green boat, called the +"Water Witch." Lillian sat in the stern, trailing her white hands idly +in the water. Eleanor sat quietly looking out over the fields. + +Suddenly Madge, who always did the most unexpected things in the world, +locked her oars across the boat and sat up in her seat with a jerk that +rocked the little craft. + +"Girls, I have thought it all out!" she exclaimed. "I have the most +glorious, the most splendid plan you ever heard of in the world! Just +wait until you hear it!" + +"Madge," Phil called in horror, "do sit down!" The boat was careening +perilously. Before Phil could finish her speech Madge had tumbled over +the side of the skiff and disappeared in the water below. + +The girls waited for their friend to rise to the surface. They were +not frightened, for Madge was an expert swimmer. + +"I am surprised at Madge," declared Phil severely. "The idea of +plunging into the water in that fashion, not to mention almost +capsizing our boat! Why doesn't she come up?" + +The second lengthened to a minute. Still Madge's curly head did not +appear on the surface of the water. Eleanor's face turned white. +Madge had on her rowing costume, a short skirt and a sailor blouse. +She could easily swim in such a suit. But perhaps she had been seized +with a cramp, or her head might have struck against a rock at the +bottom of the river! + +Lillian and Phil shared Eleanor's anxiety. "Sit still, girls," said +Phyllis. "I must dive and see what has happened to Madge. If you are +quiet, I can dive out of the boat without upsetting it." + +Phil slipped out of her sweater. But Eleanor caught at her skirts from +behind. "Sit down, Phil. Here comes that wretched Madge, swimming +toward us from over there. She purposely stayed under water." + +The three friends looked in the direction, indicated by Phyllis. They +saw Madge moving toward the boat as calmly as though she had been in +her bathing suit and had dived off the skiff for pure pleasure. She +had been swimming under the water for a little distance and had risen +at a spot at which her friends were not looking. As she lifted her +head clear of the water a ray of the afternoon sunlight slanted across +her face, touching its mischievous curves, until she looked like a +naughty water-sprite. + +In an instant Madge's hands were alongside the boat, and Phil pulled +her into it. "I am so sorry, girls," she explained, shaking the water. +out of her hair; "but I had such a wonderful idea that it really +knocked me overboard. I was afraid I would throw you all into the +river, so I jumped. But don't you want to know my plan? We are going +to spend the summer on the water!" + +"In the water, you mean, don't you?" laughed Phyllis, as she wrapped +her sweater about her friend. "Madge, will any one ever be able to +guess what you are going to do next?" + +"Just listen, girls," Madge went on with shining eyes. "I have been +determined, ever since I got my letter from Cousin Louisa, that we +girls should do something original for our summer vacation. And while +I was rowing peacefully along, without meaning to create a disturbance, +it suddenly came to me that the most perfect way to spend a holiday +would be to live out on the water. First I thought we might just take +the 'Water Witch' and row along the river all summer, sleeping in +hotels and boarding-places at night. But I know we must have a +chaperon; and meals and things would make it cost too much. Then it +occurred to me that we could get a boat big enough to live in by day +and sleep in by night--a canal boat, or something----" + +"Madge Morton!" cried Phil, clapping both hands, "you are a goose, but +sometimes I think you are a genius as well. You mean you can rent a +houseboat with your money and we can truly spend our vacation together +out on the water. I never heard of such a splendid plan in my life." + +Madge gave a little shiver, half from the cold and half from happiness. +She was beginning to feel the chill of her wet clothing. + +"Eleanor, Phyllis, Lillian," she said impressively. "I hereby invite +you to spend six weeks of your vacation aboard a houseboat. Now, the +next thing to be done is to find one." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +CHOOSING A CHAPERON + +Madge Morton walked into the school library with a grave expression on +her usually laughing face. She had two letters in her hand, which she +intended putting into the school post-bag, that was always kept in the +library. One of the letters she had written to her uncle and aunt, +explaining her houseboat scheme in the most sensible and matter-of-fact +fashion; for Madge knew that the fate of the four chums depended, +first, on what Mr. and Mrs. Butler thought of their niece's idea. If +they disapproved, Madge was certain that she could never be happy +again, for there was no other possible way of spending Cousin Louisa's +gift that would give her any pleasure. Madge's second letter was +directed to a boy cousin, who was at college in Baltimore. She +explained that she expected to rent a houseboat for the summer, and she +asked her cousin to give her the address of places in Baltimore where +such a boat could be hired. She wished it to cost the smallest sum of +money possible, for Eleanor had suggested that even houseboat girls +must eat. Indeed, the water was likely to make them especially hungry. +If all the two hundred dollars went for the houseboat, what were they +to do for food? + +Madge's sole fortune was just ten dollars a month, which she used for +her dress allowance. Her uncle and aunt were not rich, but they were +paying for her education, and Madge knew she was expected to make her +own living as soon as she was old enough. Mr. and Mrs. Butler had +hoped she would become a teacher, for they held the old-fashioned +southern belief that teaching school was the only avenue open to the +woman who was forced by necessity to make her own living. + +Madge, however, had decided, a long time before, that she would much +rather die than teach. She would do anything but that. Just at +present her poverty was very inconvenient. Madge was generous to a +fault, and she would have liked nothing better than to finance royally +their proposed trip. She vowed mentally to rise to the occasion, even +though the way to do it was not yet clear. + +Prudent Eleanor had also asked her whom she meant to invite to act as +their chaperon. So it was of this chaperon that Madge was thinking +while she was in the act of mailing her letters. + +Down in Virginia, on a big place next to her uncle's, was a girl whom +she had decided would make an ideal chaperon. She was as fond of larks +as was Madge herself. She could fish, ride, swim and shoot a rifle +when necessary. Moreover, she was so beautiful and aristocratic that +Madge always called her the "Lady of Quality." It was true she could +not cook nor wash dishes, nor do anything practical, and she was only +twenty-two. Still, Madge thought she would be a perfectly delightful +chaperon and was sure the girls would love her. Madge's red lips +unconsciously formed the letter O, and before she knew what she was +doing she was whistling from sheer pleasure. + +"Miss Morton," the cold voice that was unpleasantly familiar to the +girl's ears came from behind a chair, "do you not know that whistling +is against the rules of the school? You are one of the older girls. +Miss Tolliver depends on you to set the younger pupils a good example. +I fear she is sadly disappointed." + +"You mean you are sadly disappointed, Miss Jones," replied Madge +angrily. "Miss Tolliver has not said she was disappointed in me. When +she is she will probably tell me herself." + +Madge knew she should not speak in this rude fashion to her teacher, +but she was an impetuous, high-spirited girl who could not bear +censure. Besides, she had a special prejudice against Miss Jones. She +was particularly homely and there was something awkward and repellant +in her manner. Worshipping beauty and graciousness, Madge could not +forgive her teacher her lack of both. Besides, Madge did not entirely +trust Miss Jones. Still, the girl was sorry she had made her impolite +speech, so she stood quietly waiting for her teacher's reproof, with +her curly head bent low, her eyes mutinous. + +She waited an instant. When she looked up, to her dismay she saw that +the eyes of her despised teacher were full of tears. + +"I wonder why you dislike me so, Miss Morton?" Miss Jones inquired +sadly. + +Madge could have given her a dozen reasons for her dislike, but she did +not wish to be disagreeable. "I am dreadfully sorry I was so rude to +you," she murmured. + +"Oh, it does not matter. Nothing matters, I am so unhappy," Miss Jones +replied unexpectedly. Just why Miss Jones should have chosen Madge +Morton for her confidante at this moment neither ever knew. Miss Jones +had a number of friends among the other girls in the school; but she +and this clever southern girl had been enemies since Miss Jones had +first taken charge of the English History class and had reproved Madge +for helping one of the younger girls with her lesson. Miss Jones's +confession had slipped out involuntarily. Now she put her head down on +the library table and sobbed. + +With any other teacher, or with any of the girls, Madge might have +cried in sympathy. Somehow, she could not cry with Miss Jones. She +felt nothing save embarrassment. + +"What is the matter?" she asked slowly. + +Miss Jones shook her head. "It's nothing. I am sorry to have given +way to my feelings. I have had bad news. My doctor has just written +me that if I don't spend the summer out-of-doors, I am in danger of +consumption." Miss Jones uttered the dreadful word quite calmly. + +Madge gave a low cry of distress. She thought of the number of times +she had made fun of her teacher's flat chest and stooping shoulders and +of her bad temper. After all, Eleanor had been right. Illness had +been the cause of Miss Jones's peculiarities. + +"Miss Jones," Madge returned, her sympathies fully enlisted, "you must +not feel so troubled. I am sure you will soon be all right. Just +think how strong you will grow with your long summer holiday +out-of-doors. You must dig in the garden, and ride horseback, and play +tennis," advised Madge enthusiastically, remembering her own happy +summers at "Forest House," the old Butler home in Virginia. + +Miss Jones shook her head wistfully as she rose to leave the room. "I +am afraid I can't have the summer in the country. I have only a sister +with whom to spend the summer, and she lives in a little flat in the +city. She has a large family, and I expect to help her. My parents +are dead." + +"Then why don't you go into the country to board somewhere?" flashed +from Madge's lips unexpectedly. A moment after she was sorry she had +asked the question, for a curious, frightened expression crossed her +teacher's face. + +Miss Jones hesitated. "I have had to use the money I have made by my +teaching for--for other purposes," she explained, in the stiff, cold +manner that seemed so unattractive to gracious, sunshiny Madge. "I am +sorry to have worried you with my troubles," Miss Jones said again. +"Please forgive me and forget what I have told you. I shall probably +do very well." + +Madge went slowly back to her room in a most unhappy frame of mind. +She knew a way in which Miss Jones would be able to spend her summer +out-of-doors, and perhaps grow well and strong again. She could be +invited to chaperon the houseboat party. She knew her friends would +immediately agree to the idea. They liked Miss Jones far better than +she did. Even if they had not liked her, sympathy would have inspired +them to extend the invitation. It was she alone who would hesitate. +Of course, she never expected to be as good as her friends. So Madge +argued with herself. It was too dreadful to give up the idea of asking +her adored "Lady of Quality" to act as their guardian angel. Madge +decided she simply could not make the sacrifice. Then, too, she did +not even know whether her uncle and aunt would consent to the houseboat +party. It would be time enough afterward to deliver her last +invitation. + +For two days, which seemed intolerably long to impatient Madge Morton, +the four friends waited to hear their fate from Mr. and Mrs. Butler. + +On the third morning a letter addressed to Madge in Mrs. Butler's +handwriting was handed to her while she and her chums were at +breakfast. In her great excitement her hands trembled so that she +could hardly finish her breakfast. "Here, Eleanor," Madge finally +faltered, as the four girls left the dining room to go upstairs, "you +take the letter and read it to us, please do. Positively I haven't the +courage to look at it. I feel almost sure that Aunt Sue will say we +can't go on our houseboat trip." + +Lillian put her hand affectionately on Madge's arm, while Phil stood +next to Eleanor. + +"My dear Madge," the letter began, "I think your houseboat plan for the +summer a most extraordinary one. I never heard of young girls +attempting such a holiday before. I can not imagine how you happened +to unearth such a peculiar idea." + +Madge gave a gasp of despair. She felt that the tone of her Aunt Sue's +letter spelled refusal. But Eleanor read on: "Like a good many of your +unusual ideas, this houseboat scheme seems, after all, to be rather an +interesting one. Your uncle and I have talked over your letter and +Eleanor's. We do not wish you and Eleanor to be separated, and we do +wish you both to have the happiest holiday possible, as we are quite +sure you have earned it. So, if you can find a suitable chaperon, we +are willing to give our consent to your undertaking. We had intended +to pay twenty-five dollars a month board for Eleanor with her cousins +at Charlottesville, so we shall be glad to contribute that sum toward +the provisioning of the house-boat." + +There was a dead silence in the room when Eleanor at last finished +reading the letter. For half a minute the four chums were too happy to +speak. Then there was a united sigh of relief. + +"Oh, I shall never be able to survive it! It is too much joy for one +day!" cried the irrepressible Madge, dancing around in a circle and +dragging Lillian Seldon, whose arm was linked in hers, with her. + +Lillian and Phyllis had received their parents' consent, by letter, the +day before and had already agreed that their respective monthly +allowances should be placed in the general fund. + +"Be still, Madge," begged Eleanor. "You are so noisy that you drive +all thought from our heads. The first thing for us to consider is +where we shall find a chaperon." + +"No; the first thing to do is to find the house-boat. O Ship of our +Dreams! tell us, dear Ship, where we can find you?" cried Phyllis Alden +longingly. She was looking past her friends with half-closed eyes. +Already she was, in the land of her imagination, in a beautiful white +boat, floating beside an evergreen shore. The little craft was +furnished all in white, with dainty muslin curtains hung at the tiny +cabin windows. Flowers encircled the decks and trailed over the sides +into the clear water. And on the deck of the little boat, lying or +sitting at their ease, she could see herself and her friends. + +"Wake up, Phil! Come back to earth, please," teased Madge, giving her +usually sensible friend a sudden pinch. "I am going downstairs now to +ask Miss Tolliver if we can go into Baltimore day after to-morrow. We +must find our houseboat at once. School is so nearly over Miss +Tolliver will be sure to let us go." + +"But the chaperon, Madge," reminded Eleanor. "We haven't decided on +one, you know." + +"I have thought of a chaperon, if you girls are willing to have her," +said Madge almost hesitatingly. + +"Well," cried the other three voices in chorus, "who is it? Tell us +sometime to-day!" + +"Miss Jones!" declared Madge, a note of defiance in her voice. "I'm +going to invite her now before I have time to change my mind. I'll +explain later." Springing from her chair, she ran from the room, +leaving her three friends to stare at each other in silent amazement. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE SEARCH FOR A HOUSEBOAT + +"Eleanor Butler, do hurry!" urged Madge two days later. "If we miss +the train, I feel I shall never forgive you." The two girls were +preparing for their trip to Baltimore. + +"Let me alone, Madge," Eleanor returned. "If you will stay out of the +room for ten minutes, I promise to be ready. You've talked so much in +the last half hour that I haven't known what I was doing and I don't +know now. You had better make another call upon Miss Jones. She is +even more enthusiastic about your old houseboat scheme than you are." +Eleanor laughed as Madge disappeared in the direction of Miss Jones's +room. + +"You must wish with all your heart that we shall find the houseboat +to-day, Miss Jones," declared Madge in her impulsive fashion. "You +see, everything depends on our not having to waste any time. The +sooner we find our boat, the sooner we can begin our delightful +vacation." + +Miss Jones smiled. She was beginning to understand the impetuous Madge +better than she had ever dreamed of knowing her, and she was very +grateful for her invitation. Miss Jones was fairly well aware of how +much it had cost her pupil to ask her. "Yes, I shall be thinking of +you girls every minute," she declared. "Let me see. This is the +twenty-fifth of May. School will close in another week. You girls +wish to spend a week at home with your parents and relatives; but just +as early in June as possible we are to go aboard our houseboat. That +is our plan, isn't it, Madge?" + +Madge nodded. Then, as she heard Phil and Lillian calling her, she +waved a hasty farewell and darted from the room. + +Madge had received a letter from the boy cousin who was at school in +Baltimore. He had given her several addresses in Baltimore where there +was just a bare chance that she might find a ready-to-use houseboat. +He assured her, however, that houseboats were usually made to order, +and that she might find some difficulty in securing what she wished, +and must, therefore, not become easily discouraged. + +Just before noon the four young women arrived in Baltimore on their +quest for a house-boat. Lillian and Eleanor demanded their luncheon at +once, but Phil and Madge protested against eating luncheon so early. +"You can't be hungry already," argued Madge. "As for me, I shall never +be able to eat until we find our boat." + +For two hours the girls tramped about the boat yards in search of their +treasure. They saw canoes and motor boats of every size and kind, and +models of private yachts, but not a trace of a houseboat could they +find. The representatives of the various boat companies whom they +interviewed suggested the building of a houseboat at a cost of anywhere +from six hundred to a thousand dollars. + +Lillian and Eleanor were the first to complain of being tired. Then +Phil, who was usually the sweetest-tempered of the four girls, began to +show signs of irritability. Madge, however, undaunted and determined, +would not think of giving up the search. + +"Just one more place, girls," she begged; "then we can rest and have +our luncheon somewhere. This is a very large ship-building yard we are +going to. I am sure we can find our boat there." + +Half an hour later the four chums turned wearily away from another +fruitless quest. They were now in a part of Baltimore which none of +them had ever seen before. A few blocks farther down the street they +could see the line of the water and the masts of several sailing +vessels that were lying near the shore. + +"I tell you, Madge Morton," declared Phyllis Alden firmly, "whether or +not we ever find a houseboat, there is one thing certain: I positively +must have something to eat. I am half starved. What good would +finding the boat do me if I were to die of hunger before I have even +seen it?" + +"Please don't be cross, Phil," soothed Madge. "I am sure we are all as +hungry as you are. I am awfully sorry. We ought to have eaten +luncheon before we came here. There isn't a restaurant in sight." + +"I am sure I saw the sign of a funny little restaurant as we came by +the corner," broke in Lillian. "It did look queer, but I suppose it +would not be any harm for us to go in there." + +"We don't care if it does look queer," declared Phyllis stoutly. + +Turning, the girls retraced their steps to the corner. + +Outside the swinging door of the small restaurant they hesitated. "I +don't think we ought to go in there," argued Eleanor, "it is such a +dreadfully rough-looking place." + +It was indeed a very common eating house, where the men who worked on +the wharves, the fishermen and sailors, were in the habit of getting +their meals. The one dirty window showed half a dozen live crabs +crawling about inside among the pieces of sea-weed. A row of old pies +formed the background. + +A moment later they had marched bravely up to the door. Dainty Eleanor +shuddered as they crossed the threshold, and even Phil and Madge +hesitated as a man's coarse laugh greeted them once they were fairly +inside the restaurant room. + +"Come on, children," said Madge, with a pretence of bravery she was far +from feeling. "We are going into this restaurant to get something to +eat. Don't look as if you thought you were going to be eaten. It is +rather horrid, but perhaps they will let us have some bread and milk." + +The quartette seated themselves at the first table they saw vacant. +Just across from it were a number of men with rough, hard faces. They +were evidently sailors from the nearby boats. The girls kept their +eyes on the table, and Madge gave their order for tea and sandwiches in +a low tone to the German boy who came forward to wait on them. + +When the boy had departed with their order a silence settled upon the +little group of girls. In each girl's mind was the thought that it had +been unwise to enter the restaurant. By this time they had come to a +realization of the fact that they were the only women in the room. + +"We ought never to have come here," whispered Lillian, clutching +Madge's arm. + +"Nonsense," returned Madge bravely, "we have as much right here as any +of these men." + +"But I'd rather not stay," persisted Lillian. + +"Didn't you say you were hungry?" asked Madge pointedly. + +"Ye-es," hesitated Lillian, "but I just can't stay here." + +"Nor I," chimed in Eleanor. + +Madge looked appealingly at Phyllis, who shook her brown head +deprecatingly. "I don't believe we ought to stay here, Madge." + +"You, too, Phil!" exclaimed Madge impatiently. "All right, Misses +'Fraid Cats,' we'll go. Here comes our luncheon, too." + +The girls glanced quickly at the rosy-faced lad who came up at that +moment with their order on a tray. + +"I'm so hungry," sighed Phil. "Perhaps we'd better----" + +"So glad you've changed your mind," commented Madge rather satirically. +"But what about you, Lillian and Eleanor?" + +"Let's stay this once, but next time we'll be more careful where we +lunch," smiled Eleanor. + +"I take back all I said about 'Fraid Cats,'" laughed Madge. "We'll +hurry through our luncheon and leave here the moment we finish. After +all, as long as we are to become seasoned mariners we shall have to +learn to accustom ourselves to the vicissitudes of a sailor's life." + +"But we can't be 'seasoned mariners' until we find our houseboat," +reminded Lillian. "It doesn't look as though we'd find it to-day, +either." + +"We must," was Madge's emphatic response. "Here we have been worrying +like mad about this restaurant not being a proper place in which to eat +our luncheon, while the really important question of where we are to +find our boat hasn't troubled us. We must go out of here saying, 'We +shall find it, we shall find it,' and then I believe we can't help but +run across it." Madge's blue eyes were alight with purpose and +enthusiasm. + +"Good for you, Madge," laughed Phil. "Come on, girls. Let us finish +our tea and renew our search." + +It was half-past three in the afternoon when they left the little +restaurant. The four girls were to spend the night in Baltimore with a +friend of Miss Tolliver's, who kept a boarding-place. As they were in +the habit of staying with Miss Rice when they came into Baltimore to do +their shopping, Miss Tolliver had, for once, after many instructions, +permitted the girls to go into town without a chaperon. + +"Miss Rice said we did not have to be at her house until half-past five +o'clock," Phil volunteered, "so what shall we do?" + +"There is a little park down there near the water," Lillian pointed +ahead. "Suppose we sit down there for a few minutes until we decide +where to go next?" + +It was a balmy, sunshiny May day. While the girls rested on the park +benches they could see, far off, a line of ships sailing up the bay and +also the larger freight steamers. They were near one of the quiet +canals that formed an inlet from the great Chesapeake Bay. Lining the +banks of the canal were numbers of coal barges and canal boats. + +On the deck of a canal boat a girl came out with a bundle of clothes in +her arms. She was singing in a high, sweet voice as she hung them on a +line strung across the deck of the boat. + +The girls watched her silently as she flitted back and forth, and she +sang on, unconscious of her audience. She was singing a boat song +which the men chant as they row home at the close of day. The pathos +in the woman's voice was so exquisite, its notes so true, that Madge's +blue eyes filled with tears. None of the four friends stirred until +the song was over, and the girl in her faded calico dress and bare feet +had disappeared into the cabin of the boat. + +"We call those boats shanty boats down in Virginia," Eleanor said; "I +suppose because the little cabin on the deck of the canal boat looks so +like a shanty." + +"People live on those shanty boats," announced Madge. + +"Yes, we have noticed it, my dear girl," Phil responded dryly. But +there was a question in her eyes as she looked at Madge. + +"Shanty boats do not look exactly like house-boats," went on Madge +speculatively. + +"I should say not," returned Phil. "There is considerable difference." + +"But they might be made to look more like them. Don't you believe so?" + +Phil nodded. + +"They are awfully dirty," was dainty Lillian's sole comment. + +"Soap and water, child, is a sure cure for dirt," replied Madge, still +in a brown study. Then she sprang to tier feet and almost ran out of +the little park, nearly to the edge of the canal. Her friends followed +her. There was no doubt that Madge had an idea. + +"Girls!" exclaimed Madge fervently, pointing toward one of the shanty +boats, "first look there; then shut your eyes. With your eyes open you +see only an ugly canal boat; with them closed, can't you see our +houseboat?" + +"Not very well," replied Lillian without enthusiasm. + +"Well, I can," asserted Madge with emphasis. + +Then her quick eyes wandered toward a man who was coming slowly up the +path along the canal. + +"Please," she asked breathlessly, stepping directly in front of him, +"do you know whether any of the people along here would be willing to +rent me a canal boat?" + +The man stared in amazement at this strange request. "Can't say as I +knows of any one," he answered, "but I kin find out fer ye. It may be +some of the water folks goes inland for the summer. If they does, +they'd like as not rent you their boat." + +"Then I will come down here to-morrow at nine o'clock to find out," +arranged Madge. "Please be sure to be here." + +"What did I tell you!" exulted Madge as they left the little park a few +minutes later and made their way to the street car. "I am going to +draw a plan to-night to show how easy it will be to turn one of these +old canal boats into our beautiful 'Ship of Dreams.' By this time next +week we'll know something about the 'vicissitudes' of a sailor's life +or my name is not Madge Morton." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE FAIRY'S WAND + +"You are a direct gift of Providence, Jack Bolling," declared Madge the +next morning, shaking hands with her cousin, in the parlor of Miss +Rice's boarding house. "How did you happen to turn up here?" + +"Well, I unexpectedly had a day off from college," explained Jack. "So +I just telephoned to Miss Tolliver to ask whether I might come to see +you, like the well-behaved cousin I am. She replied that you were in +town and that I might come to see you. So here I am! What luck have +you had?" + +"None at all at the old places you recommended," Madge returned +scornfully and in a most ungrateful fashion. + +"Oh, I knew a girl couldn't find the right sort of boat without a +fellow to help her," Jack teased, knowing Madge's aversion to the idea +that a girl couldn't do anything she liked, unless with the help of a +boy. + +"Just you come along with us, Jack, and we will show you what we have +found," invited Madge. "I think the girls are ready. We are. Here +come Eleanor and Lillian. Miss Lillian Seldon, I wish to present my +cousin, Mr. Jack Bolling. Where is Phil?" + +While Lillian, looking unusually lovely in her gown of pale lavender +organdie, with a cream-colored hat covered with violets, was shaking +hands with Jack, Phyllis Alden came down the hall with a slight frown +on her face. + +Hadn't she and Madge vowed within themselves and to each other never to +ask a man's help in anything they planned to do? And here was Madge +introducing her cousin into their plan the very first chance she had. +But in this Phil was mistaken. + +Madge had made no explanations to Jack, and her cousin asked her no +questions as the party started on their walk. When they came to the +line of canal boats that the girls had seen the afternoon before a halt +was made. + +"There is our houseboat!" cried Madge, waving her hand toward the half +dozen disreputable looking canal boats huddled close together. + +"Where?" asked Jack in amazement. + +"Oh, I don't know just exactly where," returned Madge with twinkling +eyes. "Everyone look here, please." She took two large squares of +white paper out of her bag. "You see, it is this way, Jack: We found +that to rent a houseboat takes such a lot of money that we decided +yesterday, to try to turn one of these old canal boats into a +houseboat, and I have drawn the plans of what I think ought to be done." + +Madge, who had a decided talent for drawing, had sat up late into the +night to make her two sketches. One pictured the shanty boat as it +was, dingy and dirty, with a broken-down cabin of two rooms at the +stern. In the second drawing Madge's fairy wand, which was her gift of +imagination, had quite transformed the ugly boat. The deck of the +canal boat was about forty feet long, with a twelve-foot beam. To the +two rooms, which the ordinary shanty boat contains, she had added +another two, forming an oblong cabin, with four windows on each side +and a flat roof. The flat roof formed the second deck of the +prospective houseboat. It had a small railing around it, and a pair of +steps that led up from the outside to the upper deck. Madge had +decorated her fairy ship with garlands of flowers that hung far over +the sides of the deck. + +Jack Bolling looked at the drawing a long time without saying a word. + +"Don't you think it can be done, Jack?" inquired Madge eagerly. "You +see, this old boat could be cleaned and painted, and any good carpenter +could put up the extra rooms." + +"Right you are, Madge," Jack answered at last, making a low bow. "Hats +off to the ladies, as usual. Who is that queer-looking customer coming +this way?" + +"He is the man who is to see about our canal boat," answered Phil, as +though they were already in possession. + +Madge had gone forward. "Have you found the boat for us?" she +inquired. "I simply can't wait to find out." + +The man grinned. "There is one towed alongside of mine that you might +be able to git. I had a hard time finding it." + +"That is all right," declared Jack, stepping forward, "you will be paid +for your work. Will you please take us out to look at the boat?" + +"Got to cross my shanty to git to it," the man replied, leading the way +across a rickety gang-plank. + +There were three or four dirty children playing on the deck of his boat +and a thin, yellow dog. At the open door of the shanty kitchen stood +the figure of a girl. She had on the faded calico dress of the day +before; she was barefooted and her hair was ragged and unkempt. But as +Jack Bolling and the four girls glanced idly at her a start of surprise +ran through each one of these. Jack stopped for an instant, and +instinctively took off his hat. Phil Alden whispered in Madge's ear, +"I never saw any one so beautiful in my life," and Madge mutely agreed. + +The girl was smiling a wistful, far-away smile that was very touching. +Her hair was the color of copper that has been burnished by the sun, +and her eyes were the deep blue of the midsummer sky. The wind and sun +had tanned the girl's cheeks, but her skin was still fine and delicate. +There was a strange, vacant expression in her eyes and a pathetic droop +to her whole figure. + +"Git you back in there, Moll," the owner of the shanty boat called out +roughly. The girl started and quivered, as though she expected a blow. +Jack's face turned hot with anger. But what could he do? The man was +talking to his own daughter. + +"Why did you speak to the poor girl like that?" asked Madge sharply. + +"She ain't all right in the top story," the man answered. "She is kind +of foolish. I have to keep a close watch on her." + +Madge turned pitying eyes on the demented girl, then as they stepped +aboard the other canal boat, for the time she forgot the lovely +apparition she had just seen. + +"How much will the owner rent this boat for?" Madge asked at last, +trying hard to conceal her enthusiasm. The boat was dirty and needed +renovating, but it was well built of good, strong timbers. + +"My friend is willing to sell this here boat for a hundred dollars," +said the fisherman, Mike Muldoon, hesitating as he mentioned the sum. + +It was all Madge could do to keep from clapping her hands for joy. One +hundred dollars for the boat--that left another hundred for painting +and remodeling and for other necessary expenses. + +Just as Madge was about to close with the man's offer a look from Jack +Bolling interrupted her. + +"The boat is not worth a hundred dollars," he declared decisively. +"The young lady will give you fifty dollars for it, and not a cent +more." + +The man laughed contemptuously. "I can't do it," he said. "That boat +is cheap at a hundred dollars." + +"At fifty, you mean," retorted Jack stubbornly. + +The girls stood back quietly and allowed Jack to drive the bargain, +which he did with so much spirit that the coveted boat was at last made +over to him at his price, fifty dollars. + +For the rest of the day the four girls spent their time interviewing +carpenters and painters. At last they found a man who promised to +deliver the boat, rebuilt according to Madge's idea, at a little town +several miles farther down the bay. The man owned a motor boat. He +was to take the houseboat to a landing, where the girls could load it +with the necessary supplies, and then to tow them farther down the bay, +until they found the ideal place for their summer holiday. + +"I declare, Madge, dear, I was never so tired, nor so happy in my +life," declared Eleanor Butler late that afternoon, as the quartette +were on their way back to their school at Harborpoint. "I can see our +houseboat, now, as plainly as anything. At first, Lillian and I +couldn't quite believe in your idea." + +Madge had heard Eleanor's comments but vaguely. She was doing a sum in +mental arithmetic. "Fifty dollars for the old shanty boat, +seventy-five for remodeling it, fifteen to the man for towing." Here +she became confused. But she still knew there was quite a large sum of +money left for buying the little furniture they needed and their store +of provisions. + +Phyllis Alden, too, had been busy calculating. "I think we can do it, +Madge," she said, leaning over from the back seat to speak to her +friend. + +"Of course we can. We shall have whole lots of money," announced Madge +triumphantly. + +Phil shook her head. "I am afraid we won't. There is one thing we +must buy that will be expensive." + +Lillian straightened up. She had been leaning against the back of the +seat, utterly worn out. The three girls gazed at Phil in +consternation. What was this new item of expense that threatened to +eat up their little capital? + +"Don't keep us in suspense, Phil," laughed Eleanor. "What have we +forgotten to buy?" + +"A kitchen stove!" cried Phil dramatically. "And I know they must be +awfully expensive." + +"What a goose you are, Phil," said Lillian in a practical tone. "We +don't want a kitchen stove. It would take up too much room. We need +an oil stove or something like that." + +"Then I appoint you as a special committee to look into the stove +question, Lillian," laughed Madge. + +"I accept the appointment," bowed Lillian, "and I won't waste our +capital on kitchen ranges of elephantine proportions, either." + +During the next five days the four friends found plenty to occupy their +time. Then Miss Tolliver's school closed, and Phil Alden hurried home +to her family in Hartford, Connecticut; Lillian returned to her home in +Philadelphia, while Madge and Eleanor departed to spend a week with Mr. +and Mrs. Butler in their old home in Virginia. Miss Jones, however, +remained at the school. She made one hurried trip into Baltimore, and +on another occasion had a visitor, but the rest of the time she sewed +industriously; for on June the eighth a new experience was to be +hers--she was to begin her duties as chaperon to four adventurous girls +aboard their longed-for "Ship of Dreams." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ALL ABOARD + +Blue waves lapped idly against the sides of a little, white palace that +had risen out of the waves of the bay overnight. One side lay close +along a quiet shore. Overhead the leaves of a willow tree stirred in +the wind, and the birds twittered in its branches. The rosy flush was +just fading out of the sky. Dawn had come only a short time before, +and the wind, the waves and the birds were the only things stirring so +early in the morning. There was not a sound or a movement aboard the +odd vessel that was moored to the shore. + +Along the shore sped the slender figure of a girl. It was a part of +the morning. Her blue frock was the color of the sky and her auburn +hair had been touched by the sun, and on her radiant face lay the glory +of youth. + +Of course, it was Madge! She did not stop when she first spied her +houseboat between the branches of the willow tree. She gave a little +gasp, and ran on faster than ever. A moment later she came alongside +her boat, which was only about three feet from the shore. Madge had +not practised running and jumping in the gymnasium at school and on the +old farm in Virginia for nothing. She gave one flying leap and landed +on the deck of her houseboat. Then she stood perfectly still, a little +song of gratitude welling from the depth of her happy heart. + +"Perhaps it was not fair in me to have run away from Eleanor," she +mused. "But then Nellie is such a sleepy-head, she never would have +wished to get up so early. And I did want to see the boat alone, just +for a moment. I am not going to look into the cabin, though. I am +going to wait for the other girls----" + +A stone went whizzing by Madge's ear at this moment, causing her +soliloquy to come to an abrupt end. + +She glanced toward the shore. A small boy stood grinning at her, with +his hands tucked into a pair of trousers so much too long for him they +had to be turned up from the ankles to the knees. + +"Hello," he remarked cheerfully, eyeing Madge owlishly. + +"Hello yourself," returned Madge. "Do you usually begin the day by +throwing stones at peaceful strangers?" + +"Yes'm," the small boy responded calmly. "Where'd you and that come +from?" + +"I came from my home in Virginia, and if by 'that' you mean my boat, it +is a 'Ship of Dreams' and was towed up here from Baltimore yesterday +afternoon. What do you think of it?" + +"She isn't a dream, she's a peach," was the prompt retort. + +"I'm glad you like her," smiled Madge in a winning fashion that caused +the lad to smile in return. "Why are you up so early in the morning?" + +"Driving home the cows," was the laconic answer. + +"I don't see any cows," teased Madge. "Wait a minute. I have +something for you to do. Would you like to earn a quarter? If you +would, then come back here about nine o'clock. We are going to load +our boat with some furniture and provisions, and we would like to have +you help us." + +"All right, I'll be here," promised the boy, and ran off into the +bushes with a derisive grin which Madge did not see. + +A few moments later Madge went back to Eleanor to have breakfast at the +little boarding house where she and her cousin had spent the night. +Miss Jones, Lillian and Phil had not yet arrived, but they were +expected by the early train that came from Baltimore. The little +village from which they intended to go aboard their houseboat was only +about half an hour's ride from the city, and was situated on one of the +quiet inlets of the bay. + +Fifteen minutes before the train was due Eleanor and Madge were +impatiently waiting at the station. The newcomers were so surrounded +by bags, suit cases and mysterious packages that it took all the men +about the depot to land them safely on the platform. Madge gave the +order to the expressman to bring all their luggage to the houseboat +landing near the willow tree. Then the party started out to find the +boat, without losing a minute by the way. + +Madge slipped her arm through that of Miss Jones and walked beside her +dutifully, though she secretly longed to be with her chums. Lillian, +Phil and Eleanor joined hands and ran ahead, without being in the least +degree affected by the idea that they were no longer children. Madge, +however, was the only one who knew the way. She hurried Miss Jones +along until that young woman was almost out of breath. When they were +within a short distance of the place where she had found her boat +waiting for her in the early morning, she could bear it no longer. +With a murmured excuse she broke away from Miss Jones and started on a +run toward the willow tree. Her three chums were close behind her. +The branches of the willow tree seemed more impenetrable in the bright +sunlight. It was not so easy to see through them. Madge ran straight +past the tree, then uttered a shrill cry. She stopped short, her +cheeks turning first red, then white. + +"What is it?" cried Phil, springing to her friend's side. + +Madge pointed dumbly toward the water. + +"Tell us!" said Eleanor, running up to Madge and lightly grasping her +arm. + +"Our houseboat is gone!" gasped Madge. "It was right there, tied to +that very post along the shore early this morning! The man who brought +it down from Baltimore left a note for me describing the landing place. +He said he had to go back to Baltimore, but that he would come here +this afternoon to tow us. Now the boat has gone! O, girls, what shall +we do?" + +The girls stared at the water in silence. Disappointment rendered them +speechless for the moment. "Let us look up and down the shore," +suggested Phil comfortingly. "I suppose it is just barely possible +that the rope broke away from the stake, and the boat has floated off +somewhere." + +The four girls ran up and down the bank, straining their eyes in +anxious glances out over the wide stretch of water. There was no +houseboat in sight. It had vanished as completely as though it had +really been a "Ship of Dreams." + +"Perhaps you have made a mistake in the place, Madge," was the +chaperon's first remark as she joined the excited party. + +Madge compressed her red lips. Miss Jones was so provoking. She was +utterly without tact. But now that she was to be one of the party it +would be wrong to say a single impolite thing to their chaperon the +whole six weeks of their holiday, no matter how provoking or tactless +she might he. Madge sighed impatiently, then turned to the teacher. + +"No, I am not mistaken, Miss Jones. I can't be. You see, I came to +this very spot this morning and went aboard our boat. Then I have the +man's description of the landing place. I think we had better go back +to the village and see if we can get some men who know the shore along +here to come to help us look out for our boat. There is no use in +having our furniture brought here if we haven't any houseboat," +finished Madge, her voice trembling. + +"Come along, then; I will go back with you," volunteered Phil. "Miss +Jones, you sit under the tree. Lillian, you and Nellie keep a sharp +look-out. If any one comes along in a boat, ask him about ours." + +"Do you think our boat has gone forever, Phil?" asked Madge dejectedly +as the two companions walked wearily back over the road they had +traveled so gayly a short time before. + +"I don't know," replied Phil. "I should say it depended entirely upon +who had taken the trouble to spirit it away." + +While the two girls stood gazing moodily out over the bay a hard, green +apple landed with a thump on top of Madge's uncovered head. Madge and +Phil looked up simultaneously. There in a gnarled old apple tree +directly above them appeared the grinning face of the small boy whose +acquaintance Madge had made earlier in the morning. + +"Lost your boat, ain't you?" he asked cheerfully. + +Madge nodded and walked on. She was not anxious to renew conversation +with the mischievous youngster. + +Phil, however, was seized with an inspiration. "Have you been about +this place very long?" she inquired casually. + +"Yep," the boy returned. + +"Then, perhaps, you know what has become of our boat," suggested Phil. + +"Yep," answered the voice from the tree, "I know all about it." + +"Then tell us this minute what has become of it!" ordered Madge. "I +knew the moment I saw you that you were the very imp of mischief. Tell +us where our boat is at once." + +"I won't tell," the urchin spoke firmly. + +"You shall," declared Madge, her eyes flashing. + +"I'd like to see you make me tell," dared the boy. "A girl can't climb +a tree." The grin on his impish face widened. + +"I'll show you that a girl _can_ climb a tree, young man," exclaimed +Madge hotly, making her way toward the tree. "I have climbed a good +many more trees than you have ever climbed in your life." + +"Listen to me, Madge," admonished Phil, laughing at her friend, "you +can't have a fight with a small boy in the top of a tree or shake him +out of it. Don't allow him to tease you. Let's go on into the village +and get a policeman. Then, if the boy really knows anything about the +disappearance of our houseboat, the policeman will make him tell us." +Phil tried to make her voice sound as threatening as possible when she +mentioned the word "policeman." + +"I won't be here when you git back," was the imp's cheerful response. + +Madge and Phil paid no further heed to him. They went on toward the +town. A few yards farther on they heard the patter of bare feet. +"Can't you wait a minute?" a voice pleaded. "I was only teasing you. +If you promise you won't give me away, I'll tell you what became of +your old boat. My pa took it." + +"Your pa?" cried Madge in surprise. "What do you mean?" + +"When I told Pa I'd seen a new-fangled kind of a boat hitched to our +post, where we most generally ties up our own boat, he said you hadn't +no right to be there. So he just hitched up our mule and he come down +here and untied your boat and dragged it up shore. I run after him +until I got too tired. Then I come back here to tell you," ended the +boy. + +"Where is your father?" Phil asked quietly. Madge's eyes were flashing +dangerously, her temper was rising. + +"He's cutting hay," the boy returned. "I'll show you the field and +then I'll run." + +Lillian and Eleanor had now joined the two girls to find out what was +delaying them. Miss Jones still waited, disconsolate, under the willow +tree. The four girls started out behind the one small boy, who +answered to the name of Bill Jenkins, Jr. It was evident that Bill +Jenkins, Sr., was the name of the boat-thief. + +"What shall we say and do when we find the man?" asked Eleanor +anxiously. "I suppose we had no right to tie our boat up at his +landing place without asking permission." + +Madge shook her head angrily. "Right or no right, I shall certainly +tell him my opinion of him," she said tensely. + +"You must not make the man angry, Madge," argued gentle Eleanor, who +knew Madge's fiery, temper and stood in awe of it. "Perhaps, when he +sees we are girls, he will be sorry he took our boat away and will +bring it back for us." + +"Let us go and see him at once," was Madge's sole response. + +After all, it was Eleanor's gentleness that won the day! She told the +farmer, whom they found in the hay field, the whole story of the +houseboat, and how they hoped to spend their holiday aboard it. + +"I declare, I'm real sorry I moved your houseboat," he apologized. "If +I'd 'a' known the pretty toy boat belonged to a parcel of young girls +like you, I'd never have laid hands on it. You kin stay along my shore +all summer if you like. But no one asked my permission to tie the boat +to my post. And soon as I seen it, I just thought the boat belonged to +some rich society folks who thought they owned the airth. I hid the +boat up the bay a piece. But don't you fret. I'll go git it and tote +it back in no time." + +"I am so sorry," explained Madge prettily, ashamed of her bad temper +and how near she had come to displaying it. "I thought, of course, the +engineer who towed our boat out here from Baltimore had asked your +permission before he made a landing. I suppose he was in such a hurry +to get back to the city that he neglected it." + +While the girls and their chaperon waited for the return of their +houseboat they ate an early luncheon out of the hampers that Phil and +Lillian had brought from their homes to provision the travelers for the +day. + +The houseboat finally did appear, much as the girls had pictured her. +She was painted white, with a line of green showing just above the +water. The four rooms in the cabin, which was set well toward the +stern, opened into each other, and each room had a small door and +window facing on the deck. The two bedrooms had six berths set along +the walls. One room was intended for the kitchen and the fourth, which +was the largest, was to serve as the dining room, sitting room, work +and play room for the houseboat party on rainy days, when it was +impossible for them to be out on deck. + +While the men were unloading the barrels and boxes on the boat the +girls ran in and out the doors of their cabin rooms like the figures in +a pantomime, bumping into each other and stumbling over things. Miss +Jones at last sent Eleanor and Lillian to the kitchen to drive nails +along the wall and to hang up their limited display of kitchen +utensils, while Phil and Madge helped with the unpacking. There was +one steamer chair, bought in honor of the chaperon, and a great many +sofa cushions, borrowed from their rooms at school, to be used as deck +furniture. A barrel of apples, a barrel of potatoes and two Virginia +hams were donations from the farm in Virginia. Mrs. Seldon, Lillian's +mother, had also sent a store of pickles and preserves. + +Phil, too, had brought a big box from home, while Madge's own purchases +for the houseboat included a small table, five chairs, besides the +necessary china and some of the bedding. The rest of the outfit the +girls managed to secure from their own homes. + +Miss Jones, Phil and Madge were industriously turning the berths into +beds when a sharp scream from Lillian, who was working in the kitchen, +filled them with terror. Miss Jones arrived first at the kitchen door, +with her heart in her mouth. Had some horrible disaster overtaken +them, just as they were about to start on their adventures? There +stood the two girls, Lillian and Eleanor, their faces, instead of +showing fright, apparently shining with delight. The men who had been +setting up the little stove, which they had bought for a trifling sum +after all, had disappeared. The girls were now in full possession of +their domain. + +"What is it, children? What has happened?" implored Miss Jones, with a +white, scared face. Lillian pointed ahead of her, but only the kitchen +stove was to be seen. Madge and Phil, who had followed close behind +their chaperon, were equally mystified. + +But hark! What was the noise they heard all at once? A gentle +crackling, a roar, a burst of flame, and a puff of smoke up through the +long stove pipe! The pipe went through a hole cut in the side of the +wall. "A fire, a fire!" exclaimed Lillian joyously, wondering why the +others looked so startled. + +There was really a fire burning in the stove of the houseboat kitchen! +And as a fire is a first sign to the pioneer that he is at last at +home, so the little company felt themselves to be the original girl +pioneers in houseboat adventures, and felt the same thrill of peace and +pleasure. + +Madge seized the shining new tea-kettle and filled it with water from +the big bucket that rested on a shelf just outside the kitchen door. + + "Madge, put the kettle on, + Madge, put the kettle on, + We'll all take tea," + +She sang in a sweet, high, rapturous voice. + +Toot, toot, toot! a motor boat whistle sounded out on the water. The +four girls rushed on deck to call a greeting to the engineer who was to +tow their houseboat down the bay, until it found an anchorage in a cove +in the bay near a stream of clear water. + +Four weary but happy girls sat out on deck on cushions as the engineer +made fast to their boat preparatory to starting. The chaperon was +installed in the solitary grandeur of their one steamer chair. + +There was a heavy tug at the great rope that bound the houseboat to the +little motor tug. The motor boat moved out into the bay, and with +almost no perceptible motion and no noise, except the gentle ripple of +the water purling against the sides of the craft, the houseboat +followed it. The longed-for vacation on the water had begun. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +PLEASURE BAY + +Just before twilight the boat reached a spot that seemed especially +created for the travelers. For two hours they had been silently +drinking in the beauty of the sun-lit bay and the green earth. They +were not in the main body of the great Chesapeake Bay, but in one of +the long arms of the bay that reaches into the Maryland coast. + +"Look ahead of you, girls, to the left," called Phyllis Alden, as they +glided slowly along. + +Miss Jones and the three girls looked. There, in a curve of the land, +was a low bank, with great clusters of purple iris growing along it, +among the slender, long, green stems of the "cat-tails." An elm tree +stood close to the edge of the water, spreading its branches out over +the miniature sea. It was so strong, so big and enduring that it gave +the home-seeking girls a sense of protection. The elm's branches could +shelter them from the sun by day, and at night their boat could be tied +to its trunk. Farther up the bank the girls could see a comfortable +old, gray, shingled farmhouse. The farm meant water, fresh eggs, milk +and butter. + +Madge looked inquiringly at their chaperon, who nodded with an +expression of entire satisfaction. Next, Madge glanced about the +semi-circle of eager faces. "Shall we cast our anchor in Pleasure +Bay?" she asked, and thus the pleasant little inland sea was named. + +Madge signaled to the motor boat ahead, and the engineer stopped. He +had several passengers on board his motor boat, but the men had been +inside the saloon most of the time, and no one on board the houseboat +had noticed them. + +Before the houseboat anchored Madge and Phil ran up the hill to ask at +the farmhouse for the privilege of making a landing. They had learned +a lesson they were not likely to forget. + +Too tired to begin work, the girls ate their supper out of the luncheon +baskets, then sat about on deck, singing and talking until the stars +came out and twinkled down on their little houseboat with a million +friendly eyes; then, urged by their chaperon and their own heavy eyes, +they crept into their berths. + +It was still night when Madge awakened with a start. She thought she +heard some one talking. "To whit! to whoo!" It was only the call of a +friendly owl. Yet the night seemed curiously lonely. It was strange +to be asleep on the water instead of on the land! There was another +weird sound, then something stirred outside on the deck of the boat. +From her cabin window Madge could see the line of the shore. It was +quiet and empty. + +This time she heard the sound of a voice. Another voice answered it. +Could it be possible that the second voice sounded like that of Miss +Jones! What could have happened? Without pausing to put on her shoes +Madge slipped into the next room. Eleanor lay breathing quietly in the +upper berth and Miss Jones seemed to be asleep in the lower one. But +the cover was drawn up almost to where her ears should be and Madge +could not see her face. + +She crept over to the chaperon's berth. It was necessary to waken Miss +Jones and tell her of the mysterious sounds. She slipped her hand +along the pillow in the dark. There was no response. She groped +deeper under the covers. Still no movement or sound. Miss Jones was +not in her berth. She was out on deck, talking to some one. Madge +returned to her room. She did not intend to call the other girls until +she knew what was the trouble. Phyllis was always brave and so were +Lillian and Eleanor, but in this instance they could do nothing. + +The girl stole softly to the cabin window and peeped out. She could +just catch the outline of two figures that were standing well up toward +the bow of the boat. One was a woman's figure, with a shawl thrown +over her head, but Madge was sure that she recognized the chaperon. +Hurrying back to her berth she slipped on her steamer coat and +slippers. She was trying every moment to fight down the distrust and +dislike she had felt toward Miss Jones ever since their first +acquaintance. She was trying to tell herself that she had invited +their teacher to act as their chaperon from other motives, as well as +from sympathy. But the finger of suspicion seemed to point plainly +toward the teacher. + +Madge walked quietly, and without any fear or hesitation, out on the +deck of the houseboat, straight toward the two shrouded figures in the +bow. Neither of them heard her coming, but she heard Miss Jones's +distressed plea: "Won't you go away, and never come here again. I tell +you, I can not do it. I simply can't----" + +"Miss Jones," Madge's voice, clear and cold, sounded almost in her +chaperon's ear. + +The young woman turned so white that Madge could see her pallor in the +moonlight. + +The figure with her was shrouded in a long, black coat which was pulled +up about its face. At the first sound of Madge's voice it made for the +extreme end of the boat. With a quick turn, Madge ran after the +escaping form. As it poised itself for a leap toward the shore, Madge +caught at the cloak and dragged it away from the face, and for a brief +instant she saw the face of a boy a little older perhaps than she was. +It was a wild and elfish face, while a pair of ears, ending almost in +points, stuck up through the masses of thick, curly hair that covered +his head. But before she could get a distinct impression of his face +the young man was gone, racing up the low embankment with great leaps, +like a hunted deer. + +Madge turned to their chaperon, waiting for the latter to offer some +explanation. Miss Jones said nothing, but regarded Madge with +distressed eyes. + +"Who was your visitor? I did not know that any one knew we were +anchored here. We did not know, ourselves, that we were to land here +until we spied the place. Was that boy a stranger to you? Why didn't +you call one of us if he frightened you?" Madge's tone was distinctly +unfriendly. + +Miss Jones only shook her head. Big tears were rolling down her +cheeks. She was trembling so that Madge, much against her will, took +her by the arm and assisted her across the deck. + +"I can tell you nothing, Madge," was the teacher's husky reply. "I am +perfectly aware that you have a right to know. Still, I simply can't +tell you. But I can go away, if you like, and I will, as soon as you +can get some one else to chaperon you. Only I must ask you not to tell +the other girls what has happened to-night, or why I must leave you. +You see, dear," Miss Jones ended wistfully, "the other girls are fond +of me. You never have been. I can not bear to lose their faith and +trust." + +There was a significant silence after this remark. + +"Did you really see who it was with me?" Miss Jones questioned +anxiously. "Would you know the face if you saw it again?" + +"I don't know," was Madge's stiff reply, "but I believe I should." + +"Won't you promise me that you will not tell the other girls?" Miss +Jones whispered, as they crossed the deck and came to the door of their +little cabin. "I am not asking you to do anything wrong, only asking +you to trust me and believe that I do not think I am doing a wrong by +not taking you into my confidence." + +"Very well, I will keep your secret," returned Madge slowly. "I do not +wish you to leave us, Miss Jones. I wish you to stay and take care of +us, just as you planned to do." + +"You are only saying that, dear, because you know I have no other place +to go for my holiday, and you are afraid my health will suffer. You +must not think of my health. I can not stay with you just for my own +sake." + +"Then stay for ours," said Madge shortly, and without further words she +went into the cabin and climbed into her berth. + +Sleep was far from weighing down her eyelids. She lay awake for some +time, wondering why clouds and distrust should so often spring up among +human beings when everything seemed arranged for their perfect +happiness. + +She generously made up her mind, however, never to trouble their +chaperon with questions about her mysterious visitor, but she +determined to discover for herself who that boy was, and whether he had +come aboard the boat to rob them. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THEIR UNKNOWN JAILER + +"Madge Morton, what do you mean sleeping until seven o'clock, the first +morning we are on our houseboat?" cried Phil, poking her head in the +cabin door. "I would have awakened you before now, only Miss Jones +would not let me. Lillian and Eleanor have been waiting for you in +their bathing suits for a long while. Do let's have a salt water +plunge before breakfast." + +Springing from her berth, Madge made a dash for her bathing suit, which +she had laid out the night before. + +The girls were over the side of the boat in a hurry, swimming about in +the water with gleeful shouts. The odor of frying bacon, which was +presently wafted to their nostrils from the door of the houseboat +kitchen, was something the bathers were too hungry to resist, and with +one accord, they swam toward their boat. + +It had been arranged that Miss Jones was to get the breakfast, Lillian +and Eleanor the luncheon, and Phil and Madge, who were the most +ambitious of the cooks, though not the most proficient, were to cook +the dinner. + +Madge noticed that Miss Jones looked whiter than usual, but the other +girls saw no difference in their chaperon as they clambered up over the +side of the boat to get ready for breakfast. + +"Girls," Miss Jones remarked, as she put down a big plate of corn +muffins before her hungry charges, "Phil accused me once of being +mysterious and never talking about myself. Well, I am going to make a +confession about myself at once." + +Madge raised her eyes in surprise. After all, was Miss Jones going to +tell of last night's adventure? But the chaperon was not looking at +her. She was smiling at Phil, Lillian and Eleanor. + +"Well, out with it, Miss Jones," laughed Phil. "What is the +confession?" + +"It is a foolish one, perhaps. I hate the name of 'Jones.' I have +despised it all my life. There, that is my confession. Won't you +girls please call me something else while we are having our holiday +together? I know Madge can find a name for me." She looked rather +timidly at Madge. + +The girl blushed, though she felt vastly relieved at Miss Jones's +confession. "What do you wish us to call you? I saw your initials in +some of your books, 'J. A. Jones,' so we might call you Jenny Ann +Jones, because, when Nellie and I were children, we used to play an old +nursery game: 'We're going to see Miss Jenny Ann Jones, Miss Jenny Ann +Jones, and how is she to-day?'" Madge's explanation ended with a song. + +Miss Jones laughed. "My name is worse than Jenny Ann, it is Jemima +Ann." + +"It isn't pretty," agreed Phyllis, with a shake of the head. "Girls, +what shall we call our chaperon? And we have never named our +houseboat, either. We have a day's work ahead of us. We must think of +names for both of them." + +"Wouldn't 'Miss Ann' do?" Eleanor asked. + +"I think Ann is such a pretty name." + +"I would rather you had a more individual name for me. I have often +been called Ann." + +"You might be the 'Queen of our Ship of Dreams,'" laughed Lillian. + +"That sounds altogether too high and mighty," objected Phyllis. "We +ought to have something nice and chummy." + +"We might call you 'Gem,' because it is short for Jemima, and in honor +of these corn muffins, which we call 'gems' in our part of the world," +added Phil. "We'll think of a name yet. Come on, girls, we must get +to work; there is so much to be done. Lillian, you and I must go up to +the farmhouse to get some supplies this morning. Suppose we take a +long walk this afternoon and explore the woods back of us?" + +"We will think of the prettiest name we can for you and another for our +houseboat," declared Lillian as the four girls rose from the table to +go about their various tasks; "then we shall make our report to-night." + +It was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon when the four churns +started on their walk. Miss Jones did not go with them. She was tired +and wished to sit out on the deck of the boat in the sunshine. + +"Be back before dark, children," she called out gayly as the girls +climbed up the little embankment. "Remember, you don't know your way +in this country, as you do at old Harborpoint. I shall be uneasy about +you if you aren't back on time." + +There were several scattered farmhouses at the top of the hill that +sloped down to the cove of the bay, but back of the farmlands lay a +long stretch of forest. The ground was covered with a carpet of wild +flowers and a few late violets. + +Once the chums were fairly in the heart of the woods they did not meet +another traveler. They seemed to have the forest to themselves. They +had no thought of danger in the quiet woods, and Madge and Eleanor, who +had been brought up in the country, were careful to watch the paths +they followed. + +They had been in the woods for an hour or more when Lillian, who was +stooping over a clump of big, purple violets, thought she heard a +peculiar sound resembling light footsteps, Whether there was a human +being or an animal near them she could not tell. The footsteps would +run rapidly and then stop abruptly. + +"Phil," called Lillian, "I thought I heard something. Did you? Listen +once more. There, did you hear that?" + +Phil listened. "Not a sound, Airy Fairy Lillian. It must have been +your fancy." + +But Lillian was not convinced. Several times she believed she heard +the noise again. However, she did not mention it. + +As the girls came out of the woods to a little clearing Phil, who was +in the lead, ran forward. "Madge, Eleanor," she called, "come here, +quick! I am sure this must be a regular, old-time log cabin." + +Before them the girls saw an old cabin that looked as though it had +been empty for a quarter of a century. It was strongly built of logs, +and the chinks between the logs were filled with mud that had hardened +like plaster. There were no windows in the cabin, except in the eaves. +The heavy door was half open, but it had an old-fashioned wooden latch +on the outside. + +"The old cabin looks rather creepy, doesn't it, Madge?" asked Eleanor. +"It is built more securely than our cabins farther down south, too. +This place seems more like a prison." + +"It looks interesting. Let's go in to see it." Phil suggested. + +The cabin stood in front of a stream of clear water. Close around it +grew a number of dark old cedar trees. + +Phil and Madge shoved open the heavy door. Inside, the one large room +looked gray and dark, as the only light came from the two small windows +so far overhead. + +"I would rather not go in, Madge," protested Eleanor, hesitating on the +threshold after Lillian had followed the other two girls inside. + +"Don't be a baby, Eleanor," scolded Madge. "There is nothing to hurt +you." + +Once inside the old house, Eleanor was as much interested as her chums. +There was no furniture in the place, but a few faded pictures were +tacked up on the walls, and the corners of the room were thick with +mysterious and inviting shadows. + +As they clustered in a group under an old magazine picture of a darkey +with a fiddle in his hand there was an unexpected sound just outside +the door, and the big room grew suddenly darker. + +The four girls turned simultaneously. + +The heavy door through which they had entered the cabin, and which was +the only entrance, had been shut fast. At the same instant there was +the sound of a heavy, sliding bolt, then the rush of flying feet. + +For the moment no one of the girls realized the seriousness of what had +happened. + +"Some one must have locked us in for a joke," declared Phil stoutly. + +Madge ran to the door and shook it with all her strength. It was built +of heavy logs, and, though the girls could see the daylight through the +cracks between the timbers, the door showed no sign of opening. + +"Don't work so hard, Madge," remonstrated Phil. "Whoever shut us in +will come back in a moment to unfasten the bolt." + +The girls waited a long time. No one returned. + +"Perhaps the person who closed the door did not know there was any one +in the cabin," suggested Eleanor faintly. + +"But we were all talking, Nellie. No one but a deaf person could have +failed to hear us," Lillian insisted. + +Eleanor realized the truth of the words. + +"Don't be frightened, Nellie," begged Madge remorsefully. "Let's all +push against the door at the same time. I am sure we shall be able to +break the bolt. One, two, three! Now--all together!" + +The four girls shoved with all their might, until their arms ached and +their faces perspired from the exertion. Still the old door resisted +them. Perhaps Eleanor was right and the log house had been built as a +prison. + +"I think we had better call for help," was Phil's practical suggestion. +"If we all scream together, we ought to make considerable noise. I am +afraid Miss Jones may become worried about us before any one comes to +let us out." + +The girls called and called, until their voices were hoarse, but no one +answered them. Each girl remembered that she had not met a single +person in her journey through the woods. + +Then the prisoners made a trip around the big room, poking and peering +about to see if there were any other possible method of escape. + +"If I could only get up to one of those windows, I could easily break +the bars and try to jump out of it," speculated Madge aloud. "But, +alas, I am not a monkey! I can't climb straight up the side of a wall." + +"You shall not try it, either," retorted Eleanor determinedly. "You +would break your neck if you tried to jump from one of those high +windows. Thank goodness, you can't climb up to them!" + +"You were the wise one, Nell, and we wouldn't listen to you." Madge +eyed Eleanor mournfully. She had an overwhelming desire to burst into +tears. + +"Don't take it so to heart, Madge," comforted her cousin. "Some one is +sure to come this way finally, if we only call long enough." + +But the afternoon shadows lengthened and no one came. Gradually the +twilight fell, enveloping the big, bare room in hazy darkness. The +prisoners huddled together with white and weary faces. They thought of +their cosy houseboat with the little lamps lit in the dining room, and +the big lantern hanging in the bow, and of Miss Jones, who by this time +was no doubt anxiously waiting and watching for their return. + +It was perhaps eight o'clock, although to the girls it seemed midnight, +when Lillian whispered: + +"Girls, I hear some one coming this way. Phil was right; it was a +joke, after all. Whoever locked the door has come back to unlock it." + +The girls smiled hopefully. After all, their experience did not amount +to anything. They would be back inside the houseboat in another hour. + +The footsteps now sounded plainly just outside the cabin door. + +"Won't you please unbar the door for us?" called Phil and Madge in +chorus. "Some one has locked us inside." + +An elfish laugh answered them. Or was it the wind? Perhaps they had +heard no one after all. They strained their ears but heard no further +sound. Then the last bit of twilight vanished and night came down in +reality. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AN ANXIOUS NIGHT + +Huddled together in the darkness, Phil and Madge endeavored to relieve +the strain of the situation by talking, but the very sound of their +voices dismayed them and they became silent. Finally Eleanor, who had +been leaning against Madge's shoulder, laid her head in her cousin's +lap and went to sleep. A little later Lillian, after receiving Madge's +assurance that she and Phil intended to keep watch, went to sleep also. + +"Madge," Phil's voice trembled a little, "what do you suppose poor Miss +Jones will think? She won't have the least idea in which direction to +look for us. Goodness knows how long we may have to stay here. We may +never get out." Her voice sank to a whisper. + +"Why, Phil," Madge feigned a hopefulness which she did not feel, "I am +surprised at you. You haven't given up hope. It is just the darkness +and being hungry that makes things appear so dreadful. I have been +thinking about our plight, and when daylight comes I am going to try to +climb up the wall to the window. The mud has broken away between some +of the logs, so that I can get my foot in the opening. We shall have +to dig it away in other places too." + +"But what can we dig with, Madge? We haven't a knife." + +"With our fingers and hairpins, if we must, Phil. Sh-sh, Nellie is +waking. I want her to sleep on till daylight." + +Toward morning, however, the two girls' eyes closed wearily. In spite +of their resolve to keep awake, the gray dawn creeping in at the +windows found them fast asleep. It was Phil who first opened her eyes. +She touched Madge, who sat up with a start, then springing to her feet +exclaimed, "I'm so glad it's morning. Now for my great circus stunt." + +"You can't possibly climb up there without hurting yourself, Madge. +You will surely fall," expostulated Eleanor. "Please, please don't try +it." + +"Please don't discourage me, Nellie. It is the only way I know to get +out of this dreadful place. Phil, if you will try to brace me, I can +climb up and dig in the mud farther up." + +Eleanor was feeling down in her pocket. Suddenly she gave a little cry +of surprise. "O, girls! I have something that may help. Here is a +little pair of scissors. You can dig with them, Madge." + +The girls hailed the scissors with exclamations of joy. They were very +small embroidery scissors, but they were better than nothing. + +Lillian, who was bent on a foraging expedition around the room, came +back a moment later with a few big, rusty nails and an old brick she +had picked up out of the tumbled down fireplace. "If you can hammer +these nails in the wall, Madge, you will have something to hold on to +as you climb." + +For two hours Madge alternately dug and climbed. In each hole that she +made between the big logs she would set her foot, then hammer a nail +above her head and dig a new opening. At last she actually did climb +up the side of the wall, but her hands were scratched and bleeding, and +her hair and face were covered with mud. She had taken off her dress +skirt, too, as she could climb better in her petticoat. + +The three girls below held their breath when she came to the final +stretch, and let go the last rickety nail to fling herself on to the +window sill. + +"Eureka, girls!" she called down cheerfully, when she got her breath. +She was holding tightly to the window frame with both hands and +endeavoring to make her voice sound gay, though she was nearly worn out +with the fatigue of her dangerous climb. "Now I shall surely find a +way out for us. Please don't be frightened, Nellie, darling, if I have +to jump. It is not so bad." She gave a little inward shudder as she +looked through the tiny window frame. She could easily wrench the +broken bars away. That was not the trouble. But the window was so +small and the sill so narrow that Madge realized she could not get into +the proper position for a forward spring. However, she had made up her +mind; she might break her leg, or her arm, but she would open that +barred door if she died in doing it. + +With determined hands she wrenched at one of the window bars. It gave +way. She seized hold of another, clinging to the sill with her other +hand, her feet in their insecure resting places. + +"It's all right, chilluns," she smiled, as she swung herself up to the +window, "I'm going to jump." + +Eleanor had closed her eyes. Phil and Lillian watched their friend, +sick with apprehension. + +Madge gave one look down at the ground, at least fourteen feet below +her. Then she uttered a quick, sharp cry, and dropped back to her +resting place, her feet, almost by instinct, finding the open spaces in +the wall. + +"Come down, Madge," called Phil sharply. "I was afraid you'd find the +distance too great. Don't try it again." + +"No, no, it is not that," replied Madge, gazing through the window. "I +don't believe I shall have to jump. I am sure some one is near." + +Sniffing the ground, near the side of the cabin, she had spied a dog +with a soft brown nose, a shaggy, red brown body and a tail standing +out tense and straight. It was a brown setter, and Madge knew he was +probably hunting for woodchucks. Surely the presence of the dog meant +a master somewhere near. + +Her tired, eager eyes strained through the thick foliage of the woods +they had traversed so happily only the afternoon before. + +Yes, there was a man's figure! He was coming nearer. A young man in a +hunting jacket, with a gun swung over his shoulder, was tramping along, +with his eyes on the ground. + +A pleading voice apparently came from the sky: "Please unbar the door +of this old cabin. We are locked inside." + +The young man stopped short. He took off his cap and ran his hand +through his thick, light hair. He was too old to believe in fairies or +elves. But he heard the voice again even more distinctly. "Oh, don't +go away! Do open the log cabin door." + +The young man looked up. There was a little, white face as wan and +pale as the early daylight, with an aureole of dark red curls around +it, staring at him through the broken window frame of the old log cabin +that he had seen deserted a dozen times in his hunting trips through +these woods. + +"If there is some one really calling to me, please wave your hand three +times from that window, so I will know you are not a spook," called the +young man, "otherwise I may be afraid to open the door." + +"I can't wave. I shall fall if I let go the window sill," answered +Madge, trying to keep from bursting into tears. "Please don't wait any +longer. We have been locked in all night." + +The stranger drew back the heavy wooden bolt. He started when he saw +three white-faced girls staring at him. But the face he had seen at +the window was not among them. Clinging to the old window frame, her +slender feet stuck in the cracks between the logs, was the witch who +had summoned him to their rescue. + +"Won't you please come help me down, Phil?" asked a plaintive voice. + +"Just let go the window frame and drop," ordered the stranger quietly. +"Don't be afraid. It is the only possible way." + +Without hesitating Madge did as directed. "Thank you," she said +coolly, when she got her breath. Then she staggered a little, and +Phyllis and the young man who had come to their rescue caught her. + +"We have been locked in so long," explained Phil. "No, we have not the +least idea who could have played such a trick on us. We arrived in +this neighborhood only yesterday afternoon." + +Phil gave a short history of the houseboat, introducing her three +friends and herself to him. "We must return to our chaperon at once," +she added. "The poor woman will be dreadfully worried. Do you girls +feel strong enough to walk? You see"--this time Phil turned to their +rescuer--"it is not only that we have been shut up here for nearly +fourteen hours, we are so hungry! We have had nothing to eat since +yesterday at luncheon." + +"Your poor, starving girls!" exclaimed their liberator, reproachfully. +"At last I am convinced you are not fairies. And for once I am glad +that my mother is always certain that I am on the point of starving." + +He reached back into his pocket and brought out a package and a flask. +"Here is some good, strong coffee. I am sorry it is cold, but it is +better than nothing." He turned to Madge, who looked exhausted. + +She shook her head, though she gazed at the flask wistfully. "I won't +drink first. I don't need it as much as the other girls." + +Eleanor took the bottle from his hands and held it to Madge's lips. +The exhausted girl took a long drink. Then the others followed suit, +while the young man watched them, smiling with satisfaction. He was +tall and strong, and not particularly handsome, but he had fine brown +eyes, a firm chin and thick, curly, light hair. After the girls had +finished the coffee he broke open his package of sandwiches and found +exactly four inside. + +"Please take them," he urged, handing the open package to Lillian. + +"We mustn't take them from you," protested Lillian. "We thank you for +the coffee. That will do nicely until we get back to our boat." + +The stranger laughed. "See here," he protested, "not an hour ago, when +I left the hotel, where my mother and I are spending the summer, I ate +three eggs, much bacon, four Maryland biscuit and drank two cups of +coffee. Fragile creature that I am, I believe I can exist on that +amount of refreshment for another hour or so. But whenever I go out on +a few hours' hunting trip, my mother insists that the steward at the +hotel put me up a luncheon. She is forever imagining that I am likely +to get lost and starve, a modern 'Babe in the Woods,' you know. By the +way, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Curtis, Thomas Stevenson +Curtis, if you please, but I am more used to plain, everyday Tom." + +The girls acknowledged the introduction, then by common consent they +began walking away from the cabin. + +A short distance was traversed in silence, then Madge said abruptly, +"Who do you suppose locked us in, Mr. Curtis?" + +"I don't know," answered Tom Curtis darkly, clenching his fist. "But +wouldn't I like to find out! Have you an enemy about here?" + +Madge shook her head. "No; as I said, we came to the neighborhood only +yesterday. We have met only the farmer and his wife, who allowed us to +land." + +"I'll make it my business to find out who served you such a dastardly +trick, Miss Morton," Tom returned. "I expect to be in this +neighborhood all summer. My mother isn't very well, and we like this +quiet place. Our home is in New York. I was a freshman last year at +Columbia." + +Only the day before Tom Curtis had informed his mother that he found +the neighborhood too slow, and that if she didn't object he would be +glad to move on. But a great deal can happen in a short time to make a +young man of twenty change his mind. + +"Thank you," replied Madge sedately. "I'll be on the lookout for the +wretch, too. Now we must hurry back to our chaperon, Miss Jones. I +won't ask you to come with us this morning, but we shall be very glad +to have you come aboard our boat to-morrow. We haven't named her yet, +but she is so white and clean and new looking that you can't possibly +mistake her. She is lying on an arm of the bay just south of these +woods." + +"I'll surely avail myself of the invitation," smiled Tom Curtis as they +paused for a moment at the edge of the woods. Below them the blue +waters of the bay gleamed in the sunshine. And yes, there was their +beloved "Ship of Dreams." + +"Oh, you can see her from here!" exclaimed Madge, her eyes dancing with +the pride of possession. "See, Mr. Curtis, it is our very own 'Ship of +Dreams' until we give her a real name." + +"She's a beauty," said Tom Curtis warmly, "and I really must have a +closer look at her." + +"Then come to see us soon," invited Phil audaciously. + +"I will, you may be certain of it. Good-bye. I hope you won't suffer +any bad effects from your strenuous night." The young man raised his +cap and, whistling to his dog, strode off down the hill. + +"What a nice boy," commented Lillian. + +Madge, however, was not thinking of Tom Curtis; her mind dwelt upon +their chaperon, and the long, anxious night she had spent alone on the +houseboat. + +Poor Miss Jones! Her vigil had indeed been a patient one. From the +time the hands of the little cabin clock had pointed to the hour of six +she had anxiously awaited the girls. She had cooked the dinner, then +set it in the oven to warm. At seven o'clock she trudged up the hill +to the farmhouse to make inquiries. No one had seen the young women +since they passed through the fields early that afternoon. At nine +o'clock a party of farmers scoured the country side, but the extreme +darkness of the night had caused the young men to discontinue their +search until daylight. + +At dawn Miss Jones flung herself down on her berth, utterly exhausted. +She would rest until the search party started out again, then she would +hurry to the nearest town and inform the authorities of the strange +disappearance of the girls. As she lay with half-closed eyes trying to +imagine just what could possibly have happened to her charges, a +familiar call broke upon her ears that caused her to spring up from her +berth in wonder. + +"We've come to see Miss Jennie Ann Jones," caroled a voice, and in the +next instant the bewildered teacher was surrounded by four tired but +smiling girls. + +"We were locked up all night in a log cabin in the woods," began Madge. +"Do say you are glad to see us and give us some breakfast, Miss Jennie +Ann Jones, for we were never so hungry in all our lives before, and as +soon as we have something to eat, we'll tell you the strangest story +you ever heard." + +With her arm thrown across the teacher's shoulders Madge made her way +to the houseboat, followed by her friends. At that moment, to the +little, impulsive girl, Miss Jennie Ann Jones seemed particularly dear, +in spite of her mysterious ways, and Madge made mental resolve to try +to believe in their chaperon, no matter what happened. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE GIRL ON THE ISLAND + +"Phil, it looks like only a little more than half a mile over to the +island. Do you think we can make it?" asked Madge, casting speculative +eyes toward the distant island. + +"Of course we can," declared Phyllis. "I'm sorry that Eleanor and Miss +Jones did not come with us. But they have become so domestic that they +can't be persuaded to leave the houseboat. Nelly told me she +positively loved to polish kettles and things," Phil replied. + +Lillian, Phyllis and Madge were in their own rowboat, the "Water +Witch," which had been expressed to them from Harborpoint. They were +no longer in the quiet inlet of the bay, where their houseboat was +anchored, but rowing out toward the more open water. On one side of +them they could see the beach in front of a large summer hotel. Across +from it lay a small island, to which they were rowing. + +"Miss Jones doesn't like to have us start off alone this way. She has +grown dreadfully nervous about us since our experience in the cabin," +remarked Lillian. "That is why she didn't approve of Madge's plan this +morning." + +"I thought Madge was going to fly into little bits when Miss Jones +suggested it was not safe for us to row about here in our own little +'Water Witch,'" teased Phil. + +"Phil, please don't discuss my temper," answered Madge crossly. "If +there is one thing I hate worse than another, it is to hear people talk +about my faults. Of course, I know I have a perfectly detestable +temper, but I hardly said a word to Miss Jenny Ann. Please tell me +what fun we could have on our holiday if we never dared to go ten feet +away from the houseboat?" + +"None whatever," answered Lillian, "only you needn't be so cross with +Phil and me. We were not discussing your faults. You are altogether +too ready to become angry over a trifle." There was indignation and +reproof in Lillian's tone. + +Madge plied her oars in silence. She knew that she had behaved badly. +"Isn't it exactly like me?" she thought to herself. "If I am sweet and +agreeable one minute, and feel pleased with myself, I can surely count +on doing something disagreeable the next. Now I have made Lillian and +Phil cross with me and probably have hurt Miss Jenny Ann's feelings and +spoiled this beautiful day for us all." + +Eleanor's soft voice broke in upon her self-arraignment. "Don't +squabble, girls. The day is altogether too perfect. None of you are +really cross. Now, are you?" + +Three pairs of eyes met hers, then the little dispute ended in a +general laugh. + +Madge and Phil rowed faster than ever after this little falling out. +They could see the shores of Fisherman's Island not far ahead, with +several dories and small fishing craft anchored along the banks. They +were heading toward an open beach, where there was no sign of life. + +"Girls, look out!" warned Lillian. She was sitting in the bow of their +skiff, and could see another rowboat moving toward them, the two pairs +of oars rising and falling in perfect accord. The boat was so close to +them that Lillian was afraid Phil and Madge might cross oars with it. +But as the other boat glided smoothly up alongside of their skiff, the +oars were drawn swiftly inboard, almost before the girls knew what had +happened. + +"I suppose you don't speak to people on the water whom you might be +persuaded to notice on land," called Tom Curtis reproachfully. + +"O Mr. Curtis! how do you do?" laughed Madge. "You see, we are not +possessed with eyes in the backs of our heads, or we should have +recognized you. Goodness gracious! If there isn't my cousin, Jack +Bolling! I never dreamed you knew him. Why didn't you tell me? Jack, +where did you come from?" + +Tom looked at Jack, and Jack looked at Tom. "Age before beauty, Mr. +Curtis," bowed Jack. "You answer first." + +"To tell you the solemn truth, I did not know your cousin until this +morning," Tom explained. "But when I saw a not specially bad-looking +fellow mooning about our hotel as though lost I went over and spoke to +him. It wasn't long before I found out he knew you young ladies. I +told him about meeting you in the woods the other day, and we shook +hands on it. Now, Bolling, it is your turn. How did you happen to +turn up in this particular place?" + +Jack was apparently looking at Lillian and Madge, but he had really +glanced first at Phyllis Alden, to see how she had borne the shock of +his presence. Jack had guessed correctly that Phyllis did not like +him. To tell the truth, she looked anything but pleased. She did not +like boys. She could do most of the things they could, and they were, +to her mind, a nuisance. They were always on hand, trying to help and +to pretend that girls were weaker than they were in order to domineer +over them. The worst of it was, Madge, Lillian and Eleanor might think +the newcomers would add to the fun. So, though Phyllis did not mean to +be rude either to Tom or to Jack, she was far from enthusiastic, and +could not help showing it. + +"Of course, I had to come down to see what your houseboat looked like +after I got your note telling me where you were," explained Jack. "I +knew there was a hotel near here, so, as soon as school closed, I ran +down for a few days to see how you were getting on. You see, I was +really very much interested in the houseboat." Jack made this last +remark directly to Phyllis. She merely glanced carelessly away in the +opposite direction. + +"We rowed up from the hotel to the houseboat, but we couldn't see a +soul aboard. 'The ship was still as still could be,'" declared Tom. +"Then we started for a row and found you." There was no doubt that Tom +was looking straight at Madge. + +"We are rowing over to the island," remarked Lillian graciously. + +"How strange! We were going over there, too, weren't we, Mr. Bolling?" +quizzed Tom. + +"Then catch us if you can!" challenged Phyllis. With a sign to Madge +the two girls began rowing their boat through the water with the speed +of an arrow. The first spurt told, for the island was not far away, +and the girls' boat grated on the beach before the boys had time to +land. But Tom and Jack did jump out and run through the water to pull +the "Water Witch" ashore, much to Phil's disgust. + +"I really have an errand to do on this island, Miss Morton," continued +Tom, as the party started up the beach. "I wanted first to ask you if +I could bring my mother to call on you and your chaperon this +afternoon? I am awfully anxious to have an all-day sailing party +to-morrow. And I thought perhaps you and your friends and chaperon +would go with us? There is an old fellow over here who takes people +out sailing, and I am anxious to have a talk with him. Don't think I +am such a duffer that I can't sail a boat myself, but my mother is so +nervous about the water that I take a professional sailor along to keep +her from worrying. She has had a great deal to make her nervous," Tom +ended. "I wonder if you and your friends would mind walking over to +the other side of the island with me to see this man? It is not a long +walk." + +The party started off, Phyllis keeping strictly in the background. +Madge walked with Tom and Lillian with Jack, so she felt a little out +of it. + +"If you don't mind," she proposed, after the party had walked a few +yards, "I will sit down here on the beach and wait until you come back +from your talk with the sailor man. I will stay right here, so you can +find me when you return." + +Phil found herself a comfortable, flat rock, and sat looking idly out +over the bay. Gradually she fell into a little reverie. + +A sudden cry of pain roused Phil from her daydream. Springing to her +feet, she rushed down the beach, seeing nothing, but following the +direction of the cry. Rounding a curve of the beach she came upon a +dirty, half-tumbled down tent. In front of it stood a burly man with +both hands on the shoulders of a young girl, whom he was shaking +violently. So intent was he upon what he was doing, he did not notice +Phil approaching. She saw him shove the girl inside the tent and close +the outside flap. "Now, stay in there till you git tired of it," he +growled as he turned and walked away. + +A sound of low sobbing greeted Phil's ears as she came up in front of +the tent and stood waiting, hardly knowing what to do. The sobs +continued, with a note of pain in them that went straight to Phil's +tender heart. The sight or sound of physical suffering made a special +appeal to her. It was Phyllis's secret ambition some day to study +medicine, an ambition which she had confided to no one save Madge. +Although the figure she had seen was almost that of a woman, the +sobbing sounded like that of a child. There was no other noise in the +tent, so Phil knew the girl was alone. + +"Won't you please come out?" she called softly, not knowing what else +to do or say. "Tell me what is grieving you so. I am only a girl like +yourself, and I would like to help you." + +"I dare not come out," the other girl answered. "My father said I must +stay in here." + +Phil opened the flap of the old tent and walked inside. "What is the +matter?" she inquired gently, bending over the figure lying on the +ground and trying to lift her. + +The girl sat up and pushed back her unkempt hair. She had a deep, +glowing scar just over her temple. But her hair was a wonderful color, +and only once before Phil remembered having seen eyes so deeply blue. + +"Why," Phil exclaimed with a start of surprise, "I have seen you +somewhere before. Don't you remember me?" + +The girl shook her head. "I do not remember anything," she answered +quietly. + +"But I saw you on the canal boat. Your father was the man who helped +us secure our houseboat. What are you doing here?" + +"We have come here for many years, I think," the girl answered +confusedly. "In the early spring my father catches shad along the bay. +Then all summer he takes people out sailing from the big place over +there." She pointed across the water in the direction of the hotel. +"Our boat is on the other side of the island." The girl clasped her +head in her long, sun-burned hands. "It is there that it hurts," she +declared, touching the ugly, jagged scar. + +Phil gave a little, sympathetic cry and put her hand on the girl's +shoulder. + +"When I work a long time in the sun my head hurts," the girl went on +listlessly. "I have been washing all day on the beach. I came up here +to hide, and my father found me. He was angry because I had stopped +work." + +"Did he strike you?" Phil cried in horror, gazing at the slender, +delicate creature and thinking of the rough, coarse man. + +"Not this time," the girl replied. "Sometimes they strike me and then +I am afraid. Only there is one thing I shall never, never do, no +matter how much they beat me. I can not remember everything, but I +know that I will not do this one thing." + +"What is it?" asked Phil. "Whom do you mean by 'they,' and what do +'they' wish you to do?" + +The girl shook her head. "I can not tell you." She shuddered, and +Phil felt she had no right to insist on knowing. + +"I like to hide in this tent," the girl went on sorrowfully. "I come +here whenever I can get away from the others. I would like to stay +here always. But, now he has found me, there is no place where I can +rest." + +"Have you a mother, or brothers and sisters?" Phil asked. + +"There is the man's second wife, but she is not my mother. She has +many little children. I think I must be very old. I seem to have +lived such a long time." + +"Can't you remember your own mother?" Phil inquired. + +The girl shook her head mournfully. "I can remember nothing," she said +again. "Don't go," she begged, as Phil rose to leave her. "I have +never known a girl like you before." + +"I must go," answered Phil regretfully. "My friends will be waiting +for me up the beach, and they will not know where to find me. Won't +you come to see me and my friends? We are spending our holiday on a +houseboat not very far from here. We would love to have you come." + +"I am not allowed to leave the island or to go among people," the girl +replied. "My father says I have no sense. So, if I wander away, or +talk to strangers, people will think that I am crazy and shut me up in +some dreadful, dark place." + +Tears of sympathy rose to Phyllis's eyes. She wished Madge and the +other girls were with her. It was too dreadful to think of this lovely +creature frightened into submission by her cruel father. "We will come +to see you, then," she said gently. "And I will bring you something to +keep your head from aching. My father is a physician, and he will tell +me what I must give you. I will bring my friends to the island with +me. Whenever you can get away, come to this tent and we will try to +find you. We shall have good times together, and some day we may be +able to help you. You know how to write, don't you? Then, if you are +ever in trouble or danger, leave a note under this old piece of carpet. +Now good-bye." + +The girl stood in the door of her tent to watch Phyllis on her way. +She stared intently after her until her visitor turned the curve of the +beach and was lost to view, then, leaning her head against the side of +the tent, she burst forth into low, despairing sobs. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN EXCITING RACE + +Eleanor and Miss "Jenny Ann," as the girls seemed inclined to call +their chaperon, had not remained on the houseboat merely to polish the +pots and pans. They had a special surprise and plan of their own on +hand. + +It was all very well for Phyllis to dream of a houseboat, with its +decks lined with flowers, and for Madge to draw a beautiful plan of it +on paper. Flowers do not grow except where they are planted. + +So it was in order to turn gardeners that Eleanor and Miss Jones stayed +at home. Flowers enough to encircle the deck of a houseboat would cost +almost as much money as the four girls had in their treasury to keep +them supplied with food and coal. But the gently sloping Maryland +fields were abloom with daisies. A farmer's lad could be hired for a +dollar to dig up the daisies and to bring a wagon load of dirt to the +boat. The day before Eleanor had engaged the services of a carpenter +to make four boxes, which exactly fitted the sides of the little upper +deck of the houseboat above the cabin. An hour or so after the girls +departed on their rowing excursion the daisies were brought aboard, +planted, and held up their heads bravely. They were such sturdy, hardy +little flowers that they did not wither with homesickness at the change +in their environment. + +But still Eleanor was not entirely satisfied. In Phil's dream and +Madge's picture of the boat vines had drooped gracefully over the sides +of the deck, and Eleanor had no vines to plant. Eleanor had a natural +gift for making things about her lovely and homelike. So she thought +and thought. Wild honeysuckle vines were growing in the fields with +the daisies. They were just the things to clamber over the white +railing of the deck and to hang gracefully over the sides. Their +perfume would fill the little floating dwelling with their fragrance. + +By noon the transformation was complete. Eleanor persuaded Miss Jones +to go for a walk while she got the luncheon. Madge, Phil and Lillian +had solemnly promised to be at home by one o'clock. Another surprise +was in store for them. In the bow of their boat Eleanor had hung up a +flag. On a background of white broadcloth, stitched in bands of blue, +was the legend "Merry Maid." This was Eleanor Butler's chosen name for +the houseboat, and had been voted the best possible selection, while +Madge had been unanimously voted captain of their little ship. Eleanor +had sent to the town for the flag, and even their chaperon was not to +know of its arrival. + +One would hardly have known Miss Jenny Ann Jones--a week in the fresh +air had done her so much good. Then, too, Phil and Lillian had +persuaded her to cease to wear her heavy, light hair in an English bun +at the back of her neck. Lillian had plaited it in two great braids +and had coiled it around her head like a dull golden coronet. She had +a faint color in her cheeks, and, instead of looking cross and tired, +she was as merry and almost as light-hearted as the girls. The lines +of her head were really beautiful, and her sallow skin was fast +becoming clear and healthy. For once in her life Miss Jones looked no +older than her twenty-six years. Eleanor watched her as she started +off on her walk dressed in white, carrying a red parasol, and decided +that Miss Jones was really pretty. Since her advent among the girls +she had begun to look at life from a different standpoint. She had +almost ceased worrying and she meant to grow well and strong if she +could. Since her mysterious visitor the first night she spent aboard +the boat nothing had happened to disturb her. She walked slowly on, so +occupied with her own thoughts she did not notice that she was in a +lane between two fields enclosed by fences. Some one called to her. +She could not distinguish the voice. It called and called again. She +thought it must be one of the girls who had come out in the field to +meet her. As there was no one looking, Miss Jones managed to climb +over the rail fence, and now she walked in the direction from which the +sound of the voice came. After a time the voice ceased. It was a +shorter stroll to the boat across this field, so the teacher went +leisurely on. In a far corner of the meadow she saw an odd object +unlike anything she had ever seen. It consisted of two sticks that +looked like the legs of a scarecrow which had a square board fastened +in front of them. From between the sticks were two other brown +objects, long and thin, and behind it sat a young man busily engaged in +transferring the peaceful scene to canvas. Miss Jones was gazing +curiously at this object, with her red parasol hung over her shoulder, +so that it was impossible for her to see anything behind her. But she +did hear an unusual noise--a snort, then a bellow--the sound was +unmistakable. With a sense of sickening terror she gave one horrified +glance behind her. She had been mysteriously lured into a field where +a bull was loose. It never occurred to Miss Jones to throw away her +red parasol. She ran on, waving it wildly over her shoulders, +maddening the enraged animal behind her. Miss Jones did not believe +she could run fast. Usually her breath was short, and even a rapid +walk fatigued her. Now she ran on and on. Once again she half heard a +mocking voice cry after her, but she paid no attention to it. In her +fright she was also oblivious to the fact that the strange object in +the corner of the field fell to the ground with a bang, while a man +sitting on a stool behind it rose to right his overturned canvas. +"Drop it, drop it!" he shouted, running after Miss Jones and repeatedly +urging her to throw away her bright red parasol. + +Madge, Phil and Lillian had come back to the boat. After dancing in a +circle around Eleanor to express the rapture they felt in the +transformation she had wrought in their beloved houseboat, they stood +together on the deck, looking for the return of their chaperon along +the shore. + +Miss Jones thought there was a gate at the end of the field in which +she was running. She made for this gate, as she knew she would not +have time to get over the fence before the animal would be upon her. +In her terror she had but one idea, one hope, that was to reach the +safety of the gang-plank and to climb aboard the houseboat. + +While Miss Jones was running for her life the four chums were lingering +about the deck of the "Merry Maid" watching for her return. They +decided to take a short walk with the idea of meeting her and, leaving +their boat to take care of itself, strolled through the lane that led +to the very field Miss Jones had entered. All at once Lillian called +out in terror: + +"O girls! look! It's Miss Jones, and a bull is chasing her!" + +The four chums stood rooted to the spot. What could they do? They +felt powerless to help, yet not one of the girls believed Miss Jones +could save herself. + +Madge was the first to act. In her hand was a large white and green +striped umbrella. The girls had lately bought two of them to use out +on deck as a protection from the sun, and Madge had caught up one of +them as they started out. In the next instant she had climbed the +fence that separated her from the field in which the teacher was +running and was making for the frightened woman at the top of her speed. + +But by this time Miss Jones was completely exhausted. Summoning all +her will power, she staggered a few steps, then dropped to the ground, +with the bull not more than four yards behind her. + +On it came, its head lowered almost to the ground. Then a huge green +and white monster loomed up before the animal, and with a snort of +mingled rage and horror the bull stopped short in its tracks. The +strange green and white object now lunging at full tilt was far more +terrible than the small, red, flame-like object that fled its approach. +Rage conquering fear, the bull gave a dreadful roar and made a quick +lunge at Madge. She sprang to one side but managed to thrust her +umbrella full in the animal's face. With a rumble of defiance the bull +dodged the umbrella and made another lunge at Madge. Its lowered horns +never reached her. A rope swung skilfully forward caught the animal by +the leg just in time. One swift pull and the bull went down. The +owner of the animal had witnessed its charge upon Miss Jones and, +rushing across the field, had roped it. The artist who had attracted +Miss Jenny Ann's attention had also come to the rescue, but it was +really Madge with her green and white umbrella who had saved their +chaperon from the bull's horns. + +Miss Jones, who had raised herself to a sitting position, stared wildly +about her, still firmly clutching the red parasol. + +The artist sprang to her side and raised her to her feet. "It was this +that made the mischief," he said, touching her parasol. "I shouted to +you to drop it." + +"But I didn't hear you," defended the teacher faintly. Her two long +braids of fair hair had become unfastened and were now hanging down her +back, giving her the appearance of a girl. "I heard some one calling +to me, or I would never have entered that dreadful field." Miss Jones +eyed the artist reproachfully. "Was it you who shouted my name?" + +"Was it I?" repeated the young man in astonishment. "Certainly not. I +do not know your name." + +"My name is 'Jones,'" Miss Jenny Ann faltered weakly. She was still +feeling dazed and weak. + +"And my name is 'Brown,'" the artist answered, with an expression of +solemn gravity. But the corners of his lips twitched in amusement. + +There was a faint chuckle from Madge that went the round of the group +and, despite the fact that the chaperon's narrow escape had been far +from ludicrous, the whole party burst into laughter. + +"I am sorry," apologized the artist. "Please forgive me for laughing." + +The farmer had in the meantime led the bull away, and now Eleanor and +Lillian came running toward the group to see if Miss Jenny Ann were +truly hurt. When they saw the whole party shaking with laughter, the +two girls exchanged curious glances. "Luncheon has been waiting half +an hour," Eleanor declared rather crossly. "Do come and eat it. We +would not have come after you if we had known that you were having such +a good time." + +Madge glanced at their chaperon, then at the artist. He was evidently +a gentleman, and she recognized that he was possessed of a keen sense +of humor. It would seem rude and ungrateful to run away and leave him +just as their luncheon was announced, when he had raced all the way +across the meadow to assist in the rescue of their Miss Jenny Ann. + +"Won't you come and eat luncheon with us?" asked Madge boldly, fearing +their chaperon would be dreadfully shocked. + +The artist shook his head. "I'd like to accept your invitation if Miss +Jones will second it," he replied, looking at Miss Jenny Ann. + +"You would he delighted to have Mr. Brown take luncheon with us, Miss +Jenny Ann, wouldn't you?" Madge turned coaxing eyes upon their teacher. + +"I should be very ungracious if I were not," laughed their chaperon, +the color rising to her brown cheeks. "Mr. Brown will be a welcome +guest." + +And five minutes later Mr. Brown was triumphantly escorted aboard their +beloved "Merry Maid." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +AT THE MERCY OF THE WAVES + +"Don't you think it would be perfectly lovely to have a mother as rich +and beautiful as Mrs. Curtis?" asked Madge, as she tied a black velvet +ribbon about her auburn curls and turned her head to see the effect. +She and Phil were dressing for Tom Curtis's sailing party, to which he +had invited them the day before and which was to start within the next +hour. + +"Almost any mother is pretty nice, even if she isn't rich or +beautiful," answered Phil loyally. She was wearing a yachting suit of +navy blue while Madge was dressed in white serge. Eleanor, Lillian and +Miss Jones, clad in white linen gowns, were ready and waiting on the +houseboat deck for the arrival of the sailing party. True to his word, +Tom Curtis had brought his mother to call on the four girls the +afternoon of the day before. + +"I know," answered Madge slowly. "But sometimes, when I was a very +little girl, I liked to think that perhaps I was a princess in +disguise, and that Uncle and Aunt had never told me of it. I used to +look out of the window and wonder if some day a carriage would drive up +to hear me away to my royal home. That doesn't sound very practical, +does it? But, when one has no memory of father or mother, one can't +help dreaming things. Don't you think Mrs. Curtis is simply +beautiful?" Madge abruptly changed the subject. "Her hair is so soft +and white, and she has such a young face, but she looks as though she +were tired of everything. Persons who have that wonderful, world-weary +look are so interesting," finished Madge, with a sigh. "I am afraid I +shall never have that expression, because I never find time to get +tired of things." + +"Come on, Madge," laughed Phil. "You can mourn some other day over not +having an interesting expression." + +"Girls," called Lillian, "the Curtis's boat is coming." + +"In a minute," answered Madge, giving a final pat to her curls. + +"Do hurry along, children. The sailboat is nearly here." This time it +was Miss Jenny Ann's voice. "They signaled us several minutes ago. +They have several other persons on board." + +Mrs. Curtis and Tom signaled as they approached the "Merry Maid." +Their guests were the artist, whom the girls had met the day before, +Jack Bolling, and one or two strangers from the big summer hotel. Mike +Muldoon, the owner of the boats, had another sailor on board to help +him. Tom soon transferred the girls and their chaperon from their +craft to his. The party intended to sail down the coast to a point of +land known as Love Point and to eat their luncheon somewhere along the +shore. + +Mrs. Curtis sat across from Madge during their sailing trip, but every +now and then she would look over to laugh at one of the young girl's +amusing sallies. It was evident that the little captain of the "Merry +Maid" had found favor in her eyes. Mrs. Curtis had planned a dainty +luncheon, to which the steward at the hotel had given special +attention, even to the sending of a man to serve it. There were +delicious sandwiches of various kinds, chicken and Waldorf salads, +olives, salted nuts, individual ices sent down from Baltimore and +bonbons. It was quite the most elaborate luncheon the girls had ever +eaten and they were rather impressed with both it and the service. + +After luncheon the party sat for a long time on the clean, white sand, +laughing and talking gayly. It was a perfect day and everyone was in +the best possible spirits. Later on they divided into little groups. +Lillian and Phil wandered off with Jack Bolling. Eleanor found a +congenial companion in one of the young women guests from the hotel, +while Tom, Miss Jones and Mrs. Curtis sat under a tree with the artist, +watching him sketch. Madge, alone, flitted from one group to another, +a little, restless spirit. + +"Why don't you take Miss Morton for a sail, Tom?" suggested his mother. +"You will have time to go a short distance out. We shall not start for +the hotel until four o'clock." + +"A good suggestion. Thank you, Mother," cried Tom. "Come on, Miss +Morton." + +Madge and Tom went gayly down to the boat. Tom's big setter dog, +Brownie, dashed after them, pleading so hard to be taken aboard that +Tom at last consented to have him, though he gravely assured the animal +that three was a crowd, to which statement Brownie merely gave a joyful +yelp and darted on board without further ceremony. + +[Illustration: Madge and Tom went gayly down to the boat.] + +It was a glorious day with a stiff breeze blowing. The water was +fairly choppy, but the boat sped along, occasionally dashing the spray +into the two young faces. Madge wore a white cloth cap, with a visor, +such as ship's officers wear, and looked as nautical as she felt. Both +Tom and Madge were possessed with an unusual fondness for the water, +and their common love of the sea was a strong bond between them. + +"Have you ever heard of any one who could have locked you up in the old +hut that night?" Tom asked as they sailed along. + +Madge shook her head. "No; I have not the faintest idea. To tell you +the honest truth, I had almost forgotten that unpleasant experience. +We have been having such a beautiful time since that we haven't had +time to think of disagreeable things." + +"Do you think it is safe for five women to be aboard that houseboat by +themselves?" asked Tom anxiously. "If your boat were farther out on +the water you would be safer." + +Madge laughed merrily. "Look here, Mr. Curtis, I don't think it is +fair for you to question our safety when there are five of us, Wouldn't +Phil be angry if she heard you say that! It makes her furious to hear +a man or boy even intimate that girls can't take care of themselves. +Why, we can swim and run and jump, and we could put up a really brave +fight if it were necessary. Besides, Nell and I know how to shoot. +Uncle taught us when we were very little girls. I have been duck +shooting with him along this very bay. Look at that rowboat back +there. I have been watching it for some time. It has been trying to +follow us." + +Tom turned about. The boat was only a skiff, and, though it was nearly +in their course, there was no chance of its coming any closer, as their +boat was sailing before the wind. + +"I believe it is the same skiff I saw this morning," commented Tom. "I +suppose it is some fellow who has been fishing out here. Just think of +the fish in this wonderful bay--perch and pike and bass and a hundred +other kinds! You must help me catch some of them some day." + +"All right, I will," promised Madge merrily. As they went farther out +into the bay they grew strangely silent. The spell of the sea was upon +them and they were content to sail along, exchanging but little +conversation. Chesapeake Bay was apparently in one of its most amiable +moods and, lured on by its apparent good nature, Tom grew a trifle more +reckless than was his wont and did not turn about to begin the homeward +sail as soon as he had originally intended. + +It was Madge who broke the spell. "I think we had better start back. +Perhaps I merely imagine it, but it seems to me that the sun isn't +shining as brightly as it shone a little while ago. I know the bay so +well. It is so wonderful, but so treacherous. I was once out on it in +a sailboat during a sudden squall and I am not likely to forget it." +Madge gave a slight shudder at the recollection. + +"All right," agreed Tom, "I'll turn about, but there isn't the +slightest danger of a squall to-day." He brought his little craft +about and headed toward the beach. + +In spite of his assurance that there would he no squall, a black, +threatening cloud had appeared in the sky, and now the wind shifted, +blowing strongly toward land. Tom, who was nothing if not a sailor, +managed the boat so skilfully that Madge's apprehensions were soon +quieted and she gave herself up to the complete enjoyment of rushing +along in the freshened breeze. + +They were within a mile of their landing place when, off to their right +and a little ahead of them, Madge spied the rowboat they had seen at +the beginning of their sail. + +The boat was now tossing idly on the waves, and its sole occupant, a +young man, was trying vainly to guide it with a single oar. + +"There is that boat again," called Madge to Tom, who was busy with his +sails. "I believe the young man in it is in trouble and is signaling +to us for help." + +As Tom drew nearer to the rowboat the other man in it called out: "Say, +can't you take me aboard? I've lost an oar, and it's a pretty tough +job trying to get ashore with one oar in a sea like this." + +Tom glanced quickly at Madge. He was quite ready to help the young +man, but wished to be sure that his young woman guest had no objection +to the stranger coming aboard their boat. + +It took five minutes to bring the sailboat close enough to pick up the +man. Tom threw him a rope and the stranger climbed aboard, making fast +his rowboat to the stern of the sailing vessel. He was a peculiar, +wild-looking fellow, with dark, shifting eyes and thick, curly hair +that partly covered his ears. As be stepped into the sailboat his lips +parted in a smile that showed his teeth, which Madge noted were long, +very white and pointed at the ends. He was deeply tanned, yet, in +spite of his rough appearance, seemed to be a gentleman. + +"You are very kind," he said in a low, purring voice which caused Madge +to eye him sharply. "I would not have troubled you, but there is a +heavy squall coming up. I shall be greatly obliged to you if you will +put me ashore." + +"All right," assented Tom. "We are in a hurry to get to shore +ourselves, as my mother will be anxious if the storm catches us." + +Madge had continued to gaze at the new-comer. "Where have I seen him +before? He is like a wolf. His teeth look almost like fangs, and I +don't like his strange, shifting eyes," she mentally criticised. + +Aloud she said to Tom: "Miss Jenny Ann will be worried. She has been +very nervous about us since we were locked in that old cabin in the +woods overnight." + +The stranger regarded Madge quizzically. She could have sworn that a +mocking light lay in his dark eyes. "Did you say you were locked in an +old cabin in the woods overnight? How unfortunate." + +"It will be more unfortunate for the fellow who locked the girls in, +provided we find him," threatened Tom shortly. The stranger's suave +tones aroused in him a peculiar feeling of antagonism. + +The young man regarded Tom through half-shut eyes. "I must ask you to +land me on the beach above here," he drawled. + +"Sorry," answered Tom firmly. "I don't know any other pier along here +except ours. I told you I was in a hurry to go ashore. I don't like +to be disobliging, but you will have to go to our landing with us." + +The black clouds were now chasing one another across the sky, and the +wind made a curious whistling noise. Nevertheless the boat was sailing +gloriously, and in spite of the oncoming squall Tom and Madge were +enjoying themselves immensely, though neither of them was much pleased +with their fellow traveler. + +The stranger turned to Madge. "You must tell your friend that he'll +have to land me somewhere else than in that picnic party," he muttered +hoarsely. "I tell you I have a reason. I do not want to meet any +society folks." + +"I am sorry," answered Madge distantly, her eyes growing stormy at the +young man's peremptory tone. "Mr. Curtis explained to you why we are +in a hurry to land. As long as he took you aboard our boat with us as +a favor, you have no right to ask us to change our course." + +The stranger clenched his fists and glanced angrily at Tom. + +"Ain't you going to land me somewhere else first?" he demanded in a +snarling voice. + +Tom quietly shook his head. The sailboat was now only a little more +than half a mile from the pier. The wind was fair, blowing them almost +straight to the pier. + +Tom Curtis was not looking. Suddenly the fellow sprang up and threw +the tiller over. The boat jibed sharply. Madge cried out in quick +alarm. Her cry saved Tom Curtis from being knocked overboard by the +boom as it swung over to the other side of the boat. + +"Keep away from this tiller," Tom called out angrily, seeing that their +boat had now entirely changed its course. "I am sailing this boat." + +"You are not sailing her, if you don't take her in where I say," the +intruder declared fiercely. His eyes were bloodshot and his teeth +closed together with a snap. He stood by as if he were going to spring +at Tom Curtis. + +Madge's cheeks were burning. She was so angry that her throat felt dry +and parched. "Don't pay any attention to him," she called indignantly. +Tom Curtis hesitated. + +"I don't fight when I have a woman guest on board the boat," he +declared doggedly. "Once I run my boat in to the pier, you will answer +for this." + +"Never mind threatening me: I'm not afraid of you. You know you have +got to land me where I say. What do you care about where you land? It +is where _I_ land that is important." Again the stranger made a rush +for the tiller. + +Tom sprang upon him. The two were evenly matched, and Madge held her +breath as she watched them struggle. Brownie, Tom's setter dog, sprang +for the stranger's leg, then retreated to one end of the boat howling +with pain. The intruder had swung back his foot and dealt the dog a +savage kick. + +The rain had now begun to fall heavily, and the deck soon became +slippery as glass. The two young men continued to struggle. Tom +realized that he was endangering Madge's life, as well as his own, in +this reckless battle on the deck of a small boat. He thought he now +had the advantage. If he could only settle his hateful passenger with +one swift blow all would he well. With this thought in mind he tore +himself from the grasp of his antagonist, but he had forgotten the +slippery deck. His foot shot out from under him, and he went down in a +heap, falling heavily on one shoulder. The stranger sprang upon him, +and now it was the ungrateful passenger who had the advantage and was +mercilessly pushing him with both arms toward the edge of the boat. +Slowly Tom gave way, inch by inch. He was conscious of a racking pain +in his shoulder. He tried to raise his right arm; then a feeling of +faintness swept over him, he reeled, and, before Madge could move to +his help, Tom Curtis fell backward into the water. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A BRAVE FIGHT + +"Bring her to!" cried Madge imperiously, starting toward the stranger, +who now stood by the tiller. + +"I can't bring her to, I'm no sailor," answered the young ruffian +coolly. "I didn't push your friend overboard; he fell. You had better +sail the boat yourself instead of standing there giving me orders." + +Madge regarded the stranger with horrified eyes. "You did push him +overboard," she accused. "I saw you do it. If he drowns, you will be +held responsible." + +"I didn't, I tell you. Better be careful what you say. It wouldn't +take much to send you after him," was the stranger's menacing retort. + +With a look of withering scorn Madge coolly turned her back on the +intruder. She would not take the trouble to bandy words with him. She +was too angry to experience the slightest fear of this scowling, +ill-favored youth. Her superb indifference to his threat made a +visible impression upon him. With a muttered word he slouched to the +bow of the boat, where he crouched, glaring at her with the eyes of an +angry animal brought to bay. + +Although not more than a minute had passed since Tom disappeared over +the side of the boat it seemed hours to the frightened girl. She must +act quickly or Tom would be lost. + +During their sail she had watched Tom Curtis manoeuvre the boat and had +paid particular attention to his manner of "bringing it to." It had +appeared to be a comparatively simple process and she laughingly +remarked that she believed she could do it herself. Now the +opportunity had come to prove her words. Grasping the tiller, she +brought the boat directly into the eye of the wind. A moment later the +sails flapped in the breeze, and the boat floated idly in the heavy +rolling sea. + +The stranger had not in reality given Tom the final shove that sent him +overboard. At the edge of the boat he had suddenly relaxed his hold, +and Tom, faint from the pain of his injured shoulder had toppled +backward. The shock of striking the water revived him somewhat, and as +he felt himself slipping down he made a brave effort to swim, then, +finding it useless, managed to turn on his back and float. + +Still keeping her hand on the tiller, Madge strained her eyes to watch +his every movement. "Try to make it, Tom," she shouted encouragingly. +"You've only a little farther to swim. Come on; I'll help you into the +boat." + +"I'm afraid I can't, Madge," he called faintly. "I've hurt my +shoulder. I can't swim." + +The girl at the tiller bent forward to catch the sound of her friend's +voice. Then she answered with the bravery of despair: "You must keep +on floating. You are not going to drown. I am coming after you." + +At the same instant Madge divested herself of her coat, shoes and the +skirt of her suit and poised herself for a dive into the angry water. +"Keep the head of the boat to the wind," was her curt command to the +stranger, "I am going after Mr. Curtis." + +"You're crazy!" shouted the stranger, leaping to his feet. "You can +never save the man in such a sea as this. You'll both be drowned!" + +His tardy expostulation fell upon unheeding ears. Madge was in the +water and swimming toward Tom. Expert swimmer that she was, she knew +that she was risking her own life. The tide was against her, and even +though she did reach Tom before he sank again, it would be hard work to +support him and swim back to the boat in such a heavy sea. + +The sky was now dark, the waves had grown larger, and a pelting rain +had begun to beat down in Madge's face. Tom had risen to the surface +of the water again, and was feebly trying to swim toward her. He had +shuddered with despair when he first caught sight of her in the water. +But his faint, "Go back! Go back!" had not reached her ears. Nor +would she have heeded him had she heard. + +His intrepid little rescuer was swimming easily along, with firm, even +strokes. Little water-sprite that she was, she would have enjoyed the +breakers dashing over her head and the tingle of the fine salt spray in +her face if she had not realized the danger that lay ahead. + +"Keep floating until I can get to you!" she called out to Tom. She did +not speak again, for she did not mean to waste her breath. + +Tom was making an heroic effort to keep himself afloat. But he was +growing weaker and weaker, and the last vestige of his strength was +giving way. As Madge reached him, he managed to reach out and clutch +her arm, hanging to it with a force that threatened to pull them both +under. He was making that instinctive struggle for life usually put +forth by the drowning. Madge experienced a brief flash of terror. +"Don't struggle, Tom," she implored. + +Even in his semi-conscious state Tom must have heard his companion's +words. He ceased to fight, his body grew limp, and, clasping one of +his hands in her own strong, brown fingers, Madge swam toward the spot +where she had left the sailboat. Never once did she relax her hold on +the burden at her side. Now and then she glanced up at their boat. +Each time she caught a glimpse of it it seemed to be farther away. +Could it be possible that the wind and the tide were carrying the +sailboat ashore faster than she could swim? Surely the youth on board +would come forward to help them. Now the waves that dashed over +Madge's head and lashed across her face sent echoing waves of despair +over her plucky soul. Tom was too far gone to know or to care what was +happening. The responsibility, the fight, was hers. + +"I must save him," she thought over and over again. "It does not so +much matter about me; I haven't any mother. But Tom----" + +Her bodily strength was fast giving out, but her spirit remained +indomitable. It was that spirit that was keeping them afloat in the +midst of an angry sea. + +But as for gaining on the sailboat, she was right. No matter how great +her effort, she was not coming any nearer to it. The last time she +looked up from the waves she could catch only a glimpse of the boat far +ahead. + +It seemed incredible. It was too awful to believe. The stranger she +had left on board the sailboat was not coming to their aid. He was +deliberately taking their boat to shore, leaving them to the mercy of +the sea. + +Even with this realization Madge did not give up the battle. The arm +that held Tom Curtis felt like a log, it was so stiff and cold. She +could swim no longer, but she could still float. There were other +craft that were putting in toward the shore. If she could only keep up +for a few moments, surely some one would save them! + +But at last her splendid courage waned. She was sinking. The rescuer +would come too late! She thought of the circle of cheerful faces she +had left two hours before. Then--a cold, wet muzzle touched her face, +a pair of strong teeth seized hold of her blouse. Tom's setter dog, +Brownie, had managed to swim to his master. The animal's gallant +effort to save Tom inspired Madge to fresh effort, and once more she +took up the battle for her life and that of her friend. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +LIFE OR DEATH? + +"Is there no hope?" a voice asked despairingly. + +"There is hope for a long time," answered Phyllis Alden quietly. "I +have heard my father say that people may sometimes be revived after +being in the water for many hours." + +"She must live, or I can not bear it," declared Tom Curtis brokenly. +"Oh, won't some one go for a doctor? Can't you do something else for +her?" + +"The man has gone for a doctor, Tom," soothed Mrs. Curtis. "Does your +arm pain you much?" + +"Never mind my arm," groaned Tom. "She saved my life, mother, and now +she's dead." His voice broke. + +"You mustn't say that," cried Phyllis sharply. "She _can't_ be dead." + +"Phil," entreated Miss Jones, "let me take your place. I am sure I can +do what you are doing." + +Phyllis shook her head. "I can't leave her." + +Phyllis Alden knelt on the ground on one side of the unconscious girl. +Jack Bolling and an old fisherman knelt opposite her. The artist, Mr. +Brown, was trying to assist in restoring Madge to consciousness. +Phyllis Alden had been drilled in "first aid to the drowning" by her +father. Long experience with the sea had taught the sailor what to do. +But Madge had resisted all their efforts to bring her to consciousness. +She had battled too long with the merciless waves and her strength was +gone before the fisherman, coming home in his rowboat, had spied the +three figures at the moment when Madge was about to give up the fight. +He had hauled her and Tom inside his boat, and poor Brownie had somehow +managed to swim ashore. + +On the beach the fisherman found an anxious group of picnickers +watching the storm with fearful eyes. Their fear was changed to +horror, however, when the fisherman deposited his ghastly freight on +the beach. + +Fifteen minutes after being brought to shore Tom Curtis had returned to +consciousness. His first words were for Madge. Although Tom had been +a longer time in the water than his rescuer, his injured arm, which was +sprained, but not broken, had prevented him from making so fierce a +struggle; therefore he was far less exhausted than was his companion. +To those who watched anxiously for the first faint sign of returning +life it seemed hours since the fisherman had laid that still form on +the sand. It was none other than the old fisherman who discovered the +faint spot of color which appeared in Madge's cheeks, then disappeared. +After that the work of resuscitation went on more steadily than ever, +and slowly and painfully Madge came back to life. Strange noises +sounded in her ears. A gigantic weight was pressing upon her chest. +She tried to speak, but it was choking her, crushing her. She made an +heroic effort to throw it off, and then her eyes opened and dimly she +beheld her friends. + +"She has come back to us." Phil's voice was ineffably tender. She +glanced up and her eyes met those of Jack Bolling. Forgetting her +dislike for him, she smiled. She remembered only that he was Madge's +cousin. Jack had always thought Phil ugly, but as he gazed into her +big, black eyes and white, serious face, he decided that she had more +character than any other girl he had ever met, and he would never +forget the splendid effort she had made to save his cousin. + +As soon as the work of resuscitation was completed and Madge declared +out of danger, Mrs. Curtis insisted that on their return to the +mainland her son's brave little rescuer should be taken to the +Belleview Hotel, where she would be able to rest far more comfortably +than if carried on board the houseboat. + +A yacht was chartered to take the picnic party home. The sailboat had +completely disappeared, and Tom was able to tell only a part of their +strange adventure. From whence the youth whom they had taken on board +their boat had come and why he had made off with their boat and left +them to drown were questions which no one seemed able to answer. + +It was not until two days later that the fisherman, searching along the +very shore from which they had started, found the sailboat resting +quietly at anchor about two miles from the pier where the picnic party +had landed. The boat was uninjured, and Madge's hat, coat and skirt +lay on the deck, where she had thrown them when she dived into the bay. +But the wild lad who had caused the mischief had vanished completely. +No one near had seen or heard of him. His identity was a mystery. If +any one of the fisher folk knew his name, or where he had gone, they +did not betray that knowledge. Mrs. Curtis wished to offer a reward +for the fellow's capture. Tom would not consent. He intended to find +his enemy himself, and to settle his own score. At night Tom used to +lie awake for hours to plan how he would track the stranger and at last +run him down. But in the day time he was much too fully occupied with +entertaining his mother's young guest to plan revenge. + +Madge had been the guest of Mrs. Curtis at the Belleview Hotel for five +days. It had taken but a day for her to recover from the effect of her +narrow escape from drowning. She possessed far too happy a disposition +to dwell long on an uncomfortable memory, and her recent mishap soon +became like a dream to her. But her feeling of affection for Mrs. +Curtis was not in the least like a dream, and grew stronger with every +hour she spent in her new friend's company. It was a red letter time +for Madge. + +Mrs. Curtis tried in every possible way to manifest her gratitude. Had +not Madge saved her son's life? She felt that she could make no +adequate return for the heroic service the young girl had rendered her. + +She insisted that the most attractive apartment in the hotel should be +Madge's and surrounded her with all sorts of luxuries. The young +girl's suite consisted of a cosy little sitting room and a wonderful +bedroom with white, rose-bordered walls and Circassian walnut +furnishings. There was a little, white bath leading out from the +bedroom and Madge reveled in her new-found treasures. + +All day long her apartment was lovely with flowers. Tom Curtis ordered +a box of roses to be delivered to her each day from Baltimore. The +roses were presented to Madge every morning when the maid brought up +her breakfast-tray, and for the first time in her life Miss Madge +enjoyed the luxury of eating her breakfast in bed. Boxes of candy +became so ordinary that she fairly pleaded with her friends when they +came to visit her to take them back to the houseboat. + +"Madge will never be happy again on the 'Merry Maid,' will she, girls?" +The four girls were rowing back to their floating home after a visit to +their friend. + +"Yes, she will," returned Phil stoutly, though she felt a slight pang +when she remembered how cheerfully Madge had kissed them goodbye. + +"I am sure she is well enough to come home now," burst forth Lillian, +"only Mrs. Curtis and Tom won't hear of it. Dear me! I suppose our +little captain is happy at last. She has always dreamed of what it +would feel like to be rich and a heroine, and now she is both. But +nothing seems quite the same on the boat," she added wistfully. "I +think we are all homesick for her." + +Miss Jennie Ann laughed at their doleful faces. "She will soon be with +us again," she declared. "I'll tell you a secret. She is coming home +to the houseboat day after to-morrow. She whispered to me to-day that +there was really no reason why she should stay any longer with Mrs. +Curtis, and that she did not wish to presume on her hospitality. Mrs. +Curtis is very fond of her. She does not wish Madge to leave her." +Miss Jones looked so mysterious that the girls regarded her curiously. +"I think it is a good thing for Madge and for Mrs. Curtis to spend a +few days together. Mrs. Curtis is lonely and needs good company," +added Miss Jones. + +"So do we," murmured Phil, with a rueful laugh. "We need Madge as much +as Mrs. Curtis does." + +After the girls had left her, Madge lay back luxuriously among her +linen pillows. She was looking very lovely in a pale pink silk tea +gown Mrs. Curtis had insisted on her wearing, for Madge had arrived at +the hotel with no clothes other than the wet garments she had on when +rescued from the waves. Her fine clothes occupied very little of her +thoughts, however. She had something of far greater import on her mind. + +The time had come to tell Mrs. Curtis that she must go back to the +houseboat. She was not sorry to go; she was only sorry to leave her +new friends. During her stay at the hotel Mrs. Curtis had treated +Madge as though she were her own daughter. The imaginative young girl +was completely fascinated with the beautiful, white-haired woman, whose +sad face seemed to indicate that she had suffered some tragedy in her +life. While Madge lay thinking of the most courteous way in which to +announce that she must return to the "Merry Maid" a light knock sounded +on her door. Tom's mother came softly into the room, gowned in an +exquisite afternoon costume of violet organdie and fine lace, which was +very becoming to her white hair and youthful face. + +"Are you awake, Madge?" were her first words. "How do you feel?" + +Her guest smilingly raised herself from her pillows. "I am awake as +can be, and as well as can be! To tell you the truth, Mrs. Curtis, I +have never been in the least ill from my adventure. I was tired the +day after it happened, but since that time I am afraid I have allowed +you and Tom to believe that I was sick because I liked to be petted and +made much of." Madge laughed frankly at her own confession. "You have +been so good to me, and I do appreciate it, but now I must go home to +my comrades. Eleanor was awfully disappointed to-day when I told her I +was not going back with them this afternoon." + +"I wish you would stay with me longer," pleaded Mrs. Curtis, taking the +girl's firm brown hand in hers and looking down at it gravely, as it +lay in her soft white one. She gazed earnestly at Madge's clear-cut, +expressive face. "Tom and I will be lonely without you," she said. "I +want a daughter dreadfully, and Tom needs a sister. If only you were +my own daughter." + +Madge sighed happily. "It has been beautiful to pretend that I was +your real daughter. It has been like the games I used to play when I +was a little girl. I have been lying here in the afternoons, when you +thought I was asleep, making up the nicest 'supposes.' I supposed that +I was your real daughter, that I had been lost and you had found me +after many years. Just at first you did not know me, because time had +made such a change in me. But---- Why, Mrs. Curtis, what is the +matter?" There was wonder and concern in Madge's question. "You don't +mind what I have said, do you? I have been making up things to amuse +myself ever since I was a little girl." She looked anxiously into the +face of the older woman. It was very white, and seemed suddenly to +have become drawn and old. + +"My dear child, I love to have you tell me of your little dreams and +fancies," said Mrs. Curtis affectionately, laying her hand on Madge's +head. "What made you think I didn't?" + +"You looked as though what I said hurt your feelings," returned Madge, +coloring at her own frankness. + +"It was only that something you said brought back a painful memory," +explained the older woman. "I would prefer not to talk of it. Tell +me, is there nothing I can do to induce you to remain with me a little +longer?" + +Her guest shook her head. "Thank you," she replied gratefully, "but I +must go back to my chums. It won't be going away, really, for I will +come to see you as often as you like, and you and Tom and Jack must +visit us on the houseboat. I want you to like the other girls _almost_ +as well as you do me," smiled Madge. "Please don't like them quite as +well, though. That doesn't sound very generous, but I should like to +feel that I was first in your heart." + +"You shall be, my dear." Mrs. Curtis bent and kissed the young girl's +soft cheek. "And to prove just how much I do care for you I wish to +give you something which I hope you will like and keep as a remembrance +of me. I know your uncle and aunt will be willing to let you have this +little gift when they learn of the spirit which prompted the giving of +it." Mrs. Curtis drew from a little lavender and gold bag which she +carried a square, white silk box and laid it in the astonished little +captain's hand. + +"What--why--is it for me?" stammered Madge, sitting up suddenly, her +eyes fastened on the box. + +"It is for no one else," was the smiling answer. "Shall I open it for +you?" + +Mrs. Curtis touched a tiny spring in the white box. It flew open! + +There before Madge's wondering gaze, coiled on its dainty silk bed, lay +a string of creamy pearls. They were not large, but each pearl was +perfect, an exquisite bit of jewelry. Mrs. Curtis took the necklace +from its case. She leaned over and clasped it about Madge's slender +throat, saying: "Tom and I talked a long time about what we wished to +give you as a slight remembrance of our appreciation of what you did +for us. At last we decided upon this as being particularly suitable to +you. Then, too, we wished to give you something that came up out of +the sea." + +"It is the loveliest necklace in the world," declared Madge happily, +touching the pearls. "It is far too beautiful for me. I shall love it +all my life and never, never part with it. You have been too good to +me, Mrs. Curtis," she added earnestly. + +"But think what you did for me," reminded the stately, white-haired +woman. + +"That isn't worth remembering. I did only what any one else would have +done if placed in the same circumstances." + +"But you saved my son's life, and that is the greatest service you +could possibly render me." + +Yet before her vacation was over Madge Morton was to perform for her +friend a further service equally great. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +MADGE COMES INTO HER OWN AGAIN + +Lillian and Eleanor were in the houseboat kitchen, making chocolate +fudge and a caramel cake. + +"I think it will be too funny for anything," laughed Eleanor. "Let's +keep your surprise a secret from the others. It will be a delightful +way to celebrate Madge's return. Do you know that we have a hundred +and one things to do today?" she added, stirring her cake batter as +fast as she could. "This boat must be cleaned from stem to stern. I +told the boy from the farm to be here at nine o'clock this morning to +scrub the deck. He hasn't put in his appearance yet. I wonder which +one of us can be spared to go and hurry him along?" + +"Let's ask Miss Jenny Ann," suggested Lillian slyly. "She has done her +share of the work already, and Mr. Brown is sketching the old garden +near the farmhouse. Haven't you noticed that our chaperon has been +very much interested in art lately? Mr. Brown wishes to paint a +picture of our houseboat. He has a fancy for this neighborhood. He +thinks it is so picturesque. 'Straws show which way the wind blows,' +you know. Watch the candy for me. I'll go ask Miss Jenny Ann if she +will go out and round up our faithless boy." + +Miss Jones was quite willing to go, and started out, leaving the girls +to their cleaning. Every now and then they were seized with a desire +to work, which caused them to fall upon the houseboat and clean it from +end to end. This morning the fever had been upon them from the time +they had risen, and by the time Miss Jenny Ann started upon her errand +it was in full swing. + +Jack Bolling and Tom Curtis were to bring Madge home late in the +afternoon, and, as a surprise for Madge, the boys had been invited to +remain to tea. It was therefore quite necessary that their floating +home should be well swept and garnished. + +"Where's Phil?" asked Lillian, stepping from the kitchen out onto the +deck, where Eleanor had gone after having seen her cake safely in the +oven. + +There came a series of raps on the cabin roof. Phil leaned over among +the honeysuckle vines on the upper deck. "I am up here, maiden, +digging in our window boxes. Want me for anything?" + +"No," returned Eleanor, as she vanished inside the kitchen again. "But +sing out if you see Miss Jenny Ann and the boy coming." + +A little while later Phil saw the figure of a young man coming slowly +down the path toward the houseboat. She thought, of course, that it +was the boy from the farm. She did not turn around. She was too +deeply engrossed in pulling up the weeds that had mysteriously appeared +in their window boxes. When his footsteps sounded on the floor of the +lower deck she called out carelessly, "Miss Seldon and Miss Butler are +in the cabin waiting for you. Miss Jones is not here. I suppose she +gave you the message." + +The youth, who had been moving cautiously toward the houseboat, was not +the boy for whom the girls were waiting. This one had black, curly +hair and wild dark eyes. He looked up and down the shore. There was +no one in sight. + +Although there were several farmhouses beyond the embankment that +sloped down to the inlet of the bay, there was no house within calling +distance of the "Merry Maid." Their boat was anchored to the pier only +a few yards from the shore, tied firmly to one of the upstanding posts. +The youth grinned maliciously. He decided that he had met with an +unexpected stroke of good luck. He was hungry and penniless. Nothing +could be easier than to terrify the girls on board into submission, +take what money and food they had, and be off with it before any one +appeared to help them. If it was a desperate venture, well, he must +take a desperate chance. He could not wander around in the woods +forever with no food or money. + +Meanwhile Phil had not once glanced behind her. "You'd better begin +scrubbing at once," she directed. "We have been waiting for you a long +time. We wish to get our houseboat in order. We are going to give a +party for our friends. Do hurry, there is such a lot to do." + +The young man below was not troubling himself about the amount of work +to be done; he had other matters to consider. This girl on top the +cabin deck was evidently expecting some one. She would not come down +her little ladder unless she heard a noise or disturbance from below. +The next question was, how many girls were on board and where were they? + +Eleanor and Lillian had finished the cake and the fudge. They had +brought them into the living room and set them on the table to wait for +the evening tea party. Eleanor was tired. + +She had thrown herself down on a lounge and her eyes were closed. +Lillian, with her back to the door, stood talking to her friend. They +did not hear the intruder's light footfalls. + +Suddenly Lillian felt her two hands caught roughly behind her in such a +powerful grasp that she staggered back. Eleanor sprang from the couch, +opening her eyes in amazement! She saw Lillian struggling with a man +whose face wore the expression of a hungry animal. + +"Don't scream," he ordered harshly. "Give me what food and money you +have and I will let you go. If you scream, you will be sorry." He +glared savagely at the two girls. + +Lillian tried to wrench her hands from his grasp. They were pinioned +so tightly behind her that she could not move. Eleanor slipped off her +divan. She and Lillian had no weapons with which to defend themselves. +Eleanor thought if she could get out of the room, while the man held +Lillian, she could cry for help. Her first scream would bring Phyllis +to their aid, and Phil would come to their assistance prepared to fight. + +Eleanor looked so young and girlish that no one would have expected her +to show resistance. She tried to look even more frightened than she +really felt. "We haven't any money on board," she said quietly. "We +don't keep our money here, but if you are hungry, we will give you +something to eat without your being so fierce." Eleanor was edging +slowly away from her couch. + +"I don't want a slice of pie and your stale bread," the man replied +angrily. "I want everything you have got, and I want it quick." + +Now was Eleanor's chance. Lillian gave another frantic tug, attempting +to free her hands. She had not cried out since the man seized her, but +her face was contracted with pain. The robber was so fully occupied +with holding her he was not looking at Eleanor, although his eyes +slanted go curiously that he could apparently see on all sides of him. + +Eleanor made a quick rush forward. With a thud she fell to the floor, +and lay stunned by the force of her fall. The tramp, still holding +Lillian by her wrists, had jerked her backward, thrown out his foot and +tripped Eleanor. Now, before Lillian could scream, he whipped out a +dirty handkerchief and tied it so tightly about her mouth that she +could scarcely breathe. He next took a piece of twine and twisted it +about Lillian's wrists, so that the cord cut into them. + +While this scene of violence was being enacted Phil was perfectly happy +and strangely unconscious of any trouble. She was still at work, +sweeping the upper deck and clearing it of the trash she had made with +her gardening. She was humming gayly to herself or she would have +heard the sounds below more plainly. "There was a man in our town, and +he was wondrous wise." She stopped short. She had heard a noise, as +though something had fallen. But then, the girls were always dropping +things and stumbling over their few pieces of furniture. There was no +further noise. Phil went on with her singing. But why did Lillian and +Eleanor not start the farmer boy to scrubbing? It was getting late, +and they wished to decorate the boat. Phil was too busy at her own +task to go down to discover the reason. + +The tramp gazed sarcastically at Lillian, whose eyes watched him +defiantly, then at Eleanor, who was still lying on the floor. "Now, +girls," he began with mock politeness, "I imagine you will be kind +enough to be quiet for a time at least. So I think I will look around +to see if there is anything here that I would like." He seized poor +Lillian's plate of chocolate fudge and stuffed the candy into his +pockets. Then he left the sitting room and crept into the bedroom +which was used by Miss Jones and Eleanor. He found Eleanor's purse +under her pillow and pocketed it. On the small dressing-table was Miss +Jenny Ann's purse. He chuckled softly. This was the best of the sport. + +Phil's humming upstairs stopped. Why did that lazy farmer boy not get +to his work? And where were Lillian and Nellie? Phil listened. She +thought she heard such an odd noise. It was as though some one were +trying to talk while choking. She ran lightly down the outside cabin +steps, her broom still in her hand. She peered into the kitchen. It +was empty. Phil did not go into the sitting room next. Some instinct +must have guided her. Had she seen the plight poor Lillian and Eleanor +were in, she must have screamed and betrayed herself. Instead she +stepped into Miss Jones's bedroom. + +The youth, with his back to the door, had ears like the creatures of +the woods. Under other circumstances he would have heard Phyllis's +approach. But something in the discovery of Miss Jenny Ann's poor +little purse seemed to give him special joy. He was opening it and +emptying it of its last penny. + +Phil saw him from the open cabin door. She did not think--she acted. +She saw, as she supposed, the farmer lad, intent on robbing them. Phil +brought her broom down on the boy's head with a resounding whack. + +The tramp started forward with a growl. For the moment he was nearly +blinded from the pain of the blow. + +Phil recognized that discretion was now the better part of valor. She +dashed out of one door, then into another, the youth stumbling after +her, raging with anger. She knew every turn and twist of the tiny +cabin. Instead of running around the deck, where she would surely have +been captured, she darted in and out of the cabin doors, those on the +inside, swinging backward and forward, sometimes closing a door in the +face of her pursuer. + +She was almost overcome with horror when she saw Lillian and Eleanor in +the sitting-room. Lillian could not speak, but her eyes pleaded with +Phil. Phyllis had no reason not to cry out. As she ran she screamed +with all her might: + +"Help, help, help!" Some one would soon be passing along the shore who +would come to their aid. + +The thief did not like the noise Phyllis made. He also thought her +cries would be heard on the shore. He had found what he wanted. He +had no idea of being caught on the houseboat. But he had spied +Eleanor's caramel cake on the table. He would take that and be off in +a hurry. + +As he grabbed Eleanor's cake, the product of her morning's work and the +chief ornament of their tea party, Eleanor opened her eyes. The sight +was more than she could bear. She gave a heart-rending scream. It +added to the tramp's alarm. He made for the shore as fast as he could +run. + +Phil saw him start. She ran back of the kitchen and caught up +something that lay coiled in a heap on the deck. As the thief ran down +the gang plank and leaped on the land, it flew through the air with a +hissing, swinging noise. The youth fell face downward, his arms close +to his sides, letting the beloved cake drop to the ground. + +Not for nothing had Miss Phyllis Alden seen Miss Jenny Ann rescued from +a wild bull by means of a lasso. Not for nothing had she spent hours +of her time, and one of her few dollars, in acquiring the skill +necessary to the swinging of a lariat. She now had her enemy held +fast. At the same instant that Phil caught her prey, before he had +time to jerk away, she knotted her rope about the cleat that held the +anchor. + +On the shore, the youth tugged and strained. He ran back into the +water. It struck him that he might climb aboard the boat again. But +his arms were caught down at his sides. It was impossible for him to +get at a knife to cut the ropes. He could ease off the noose with his +teeth, but it would be a slow process of escape. + +As soon as Phil had her victim fast, she rushed back into the sitting +room. She found Eleanor on her feet, engaged in untying the +handkerchief from Lillian's face and cutting the twine that was bound +about her swollen wrists. + +"I've caught the enemy and he is ours," declared Phil cheerfully. "I +have him tied to the side of the boat. I can't say how long it may +take him to get away, and he may climb back on the boat and try to eat +us up. But, at least, we can get ready for him." + +The robber was doggedly working at the rope that bound him. "I am +going to get back at you," he yelled savagely. + +"Oh, why doesn't some one come?" cried Eleanor. "I am so afraid he'll +get away." + +There was a cheerful whistle at the top of the embankment. It turned +to one of horrified amazement as the artist, Theodore Brown, took in +the situation. + +"What has happened?" he called out as he ran down the hill, swinging a +small stick in his hand. "I heard your screams away over in the +fields. What have you got there?" + +Phil told the story, "What shall we do with our prisoner, Mr. Brown? +We can't be bothered with him. We must get ready for our tea party," +she concluded. + +"I don't know what you wish to do with the young rascal," rejoined Mr. +Brown, "but I know very well what I intend to do." The artist's face +was set and stern. His eyes gleamed with righteous anger. Then he +began calmly rolling up his sleeves. He went forward to the prisoner. +"I am going to give you a taste of this," he declared, swinging his +stick through the air. It hit Phil's captive with a swish, once, +twice, three times. Mr. Brown was just warming up to his work. + +"Leave me alone," the fellow howled. "Aren't you a coward to hit me +when I can't get at you!" + +"You were not troubled about being a coward when you tried to terrorize +three girls and got pretty badly left," Mr. Brown answered coolly, +giving the youth another cut. + +The bully groaned. The girls could not endure it. If the lad had +taken his medicine like a man they might have borne the sight of his +punishment. But there is nothing more sickening than the fear of a +coward. + +"Please stop now, Mr. Brown," entreated Lillian. "I am sure you have +punished the boy enough. Make him give up the money he has stolen, but +don't beat him any more." + +"No, please, don't beat him any more," echoed Eleanor. + +Phil could have endured to see the thrashing continue a little longer. +But she did not wish to appear hard-hearted. + +"Just as you like," answered Mr. Brown. "I am enjoying myself, but I +will quit if you say so. Don't you think I had better turn him over to +the police?" + +"No," Phil protested. "He won't trouble us again, now he knows we can +look after ourselves. Next time he wouldn't get off so easily." + +The youth vowed never to come within the range of the houseboat if he +were permitted to go free this time. As he got out of sight he stopped +to shake his fist at the distant houseboat, and he vowed to be revenged +for the punishment he had received if it cost him his life. + +The girls begged Mr. Brown to say nothing to their chaperon of their +encounter. Miss Jenny Ann was already dreadfully nervous about them +and, besides, it would spoil Madge's home coming. + +By the middle of the afternoon Eleanor had made another caramel cake +and Lillian another plate of fudge. The farmer boy had come down after +luncheon, and had scrubbed the decks of the houseboat to the last +degree of cleanliness. The girls had hung flags everywhere, and on the +outside of the cabin, facing the water, Phyllis had hung a piece of +white bunting with the word "Welcome" stamped on it in large letters. +This was the first thing Madge would see as she came within sight of +the houseboat. + +Inside the cabin the table was set for tea. It held the best pickles, +preserves, cold meats and jellies that the houseboat larder could +furnish. Lillian had made a pitcher of lemonade and another of iced +tea. Miss Jones had roasted potatoes, and her corn muffins were ready +to slip into the oven as soon as she heard their friends approaching. + +The three girls and their chaperon wore simple white frocks, with blue +sashes knotted about their waists, for blue and white were the +houseboat colors. + +They were watching a golden sunset from the deck of their ship when, +together, they espied a figure standing up in a small skiff that was +moving in their direction. The boat was rowed by one man. The other +man sat with his arm in a sling. The upright figure was waving a great +bunch of flowers. + +"Madge is coming!" cried Phil. The four women got out their +handkerchiefs and shouted across the water. + +As Madge climbed aboard the boat a strange, squeaky sound greeted her. +First it played fast, then slow. It was undoubtedly music. + + "My bonnie lies over the ocean, + My bonnie lies over the sea, + My bonnie lies over the ocean, + Oh, bring back my bonnie to me." + +The tune was old as the hills. + +"What on earth is that?" demanded Madge, as she kissed her chaperon and +started around the semi-circle of her chums. + +"It's Lillian's surprise!" Eleanor explained. "It's a hurdy-gurdy. We +found it in the village. I know it is pretty old. But Lillian +persuaded the man to bring it on board, as we thought it would be jolly +to have a dance on the deck to-night in honor of Miss Madge Morton, +captain of the 'Merry Maid.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A CALL FOR HELP + +"Madge, you must go over to Fisherman's Island with me," urged Phil a +few days later. "I feel dreadfully about Mollie. I promised the poor +girl that we would come to see her soon. Now, a long time has passed; +we have never been there. Eleanor and Lillian are anxious to go along +with me. Mollie is perfectly lovely, and I am heartily sorry for her. +Do come with us, there's a dear. Don't pretend you are tired, or make +Miss Jones think you are sick. You are just as well now as any of the +rest of us. If you don't come, it is just because you want to stay +here to read that silly novel. Real people are much more interesting +than stories." + +Madge yawned and stretched herself lazily in the steamer chair. "Phil, +it is awfully hot on the water. Couldn't we go to see your girl some +other time? If she has waited this long, she may as well wait a little +longer. You see, I promised Mrs. Curtis I wouldn't go out in the sun." + +"Madge Morton, you are putting on airs. Going out in the sun, indeed!" +Phil sniffed disdainfully. "When did the sun ever hurt you? You just +love to have people spoil you. You know there is nothing in the world +the matter with you now. But please don't come, if you do not wish to. +Nellie and Lillian and I are going now." + +Phyllis walked quietly away, with her head in the air. Madge was +really too provoking. + +Madge closed her book with a bang and rushed after her friend. "Of +course I wish to go with you, Phil. I am interested in your pretty +girl. I had reached the most exciting part of my story when you asked +me, and---- Now, you will hurt my feelings dreadfully if you don't let +me go along with you! Just think, Phyllis Alden. You said I was +spoiled, and that I liked to pretend I was sick, and I didn't get one +bit angry. Don't you truly think my temper is improving?" + +Phyllis laughed. "Oh, come on, if you like. Do you think Miss Jenny +Ann would mind my taking the poor girl a basket of nice things? I mean +things that any girl would like. My friend isn't in the least like a +beggar." + +"Of course, Miss Jones will let you do anything you like, Phil," +replied Madge. "I am the only person she does not approve of." Madge +felt angry because her chaperon had intimated that Madge was hurting +Eleanor's feelings by talking so much of her Mrs. Curtis and the +beautiful time she had spent with her. And Madge, though she needed +criticism even more than most other girls, was just as little pleased +at receiving it. + +The girls rowed over to the island in a short time. It was a lovely +day, and not too warm on the water. + +"I wonder, Phil, if there is a chance of our coming across the thief +who attacked you on the houseboat? He may he in hiding on this +island," said Madge as the four girls pulled their skiff up on the +beach. "From your description I feel almost certain that he is the +same boy who went off with our sailboat. I'd like to come across him +again." + +"Well, I wouldn't," declared Lillian. "I am not so bloodthirsty as you +girls are." + +The girls met no one along the beach, except a few children. Phil led +them straight to the tent, where she had talked with the afflicted +girl. "Of course, there isn't much of a chance that we shall find +Mollie in the tent," explained Phil, "but I thought I would look here +first." + +"Do you know the girl's name, Phil?" queried Eleanor. + +Phyllis shook her head. "Not her real name. I only call her Mollie +because her dreadful old father called her 'Moll,' and 'Moll' is an +ugly name." + +The tent was more forlorn and dilapidated than ever. It was empty. +There was not a sign of life anywhere about, except for a few faded +wild flowers cast carelessly in the corner of the tent. + +Madge picked them up. "These flowers make me think of poor 'Ophelia' +in the play of 'Hamlet.' Ophelia went mad, you know, and wandered +about with wild flowers in her hair." + +"Mollie isn't the least bit crazy, Madge. You will understand that as +soon as you see her," protested Phil. "It is only that she is like a +child, and does not remember things. Would you girls mind going around +to the other side of the island? Mollie said their shanty boat was +over there. I do so want to find her." + +Lillian hesitated. "I don't think we ought to go among those rough +fishermen again," she protested. "We are sure to see some rude sailors +over there who might speak to us." + +"Oh, don't worry, Lillian," reassured Madge. "I am sure no one would +dare say anything to us." + +Madge was now deeply interested in the discovery of Phil's friend and +longing for any kind of adventure. She had fully made up her mind to +see Mollie if it were possible. + +It was more than a mile walk around the island. But the girls came, at +last, to a spot where they again beheld a dirty canal boat made fast to +a tree on the sandy shore. A huge woman, with a coarse, dreadful face, +sat out on deck holding a baby in her lap. Several small children +played near her. But there was no sign of Mollie. Captain Mike was +gone, and with him his sailboat. + +Phil went as near the edge of the shore as she could. The woman gazed +at the four chums with sullen curiosity. She presumed that they had +come to ask her husband to take them out sailing. But Phil spoke up +boldly: "May we see your daughter?" she inquired politely. "I met her +the other day on the island and told her we would come to see her." + +The woman's expression changed at once to an ugly scowl. Phil and +Madge wondered why their request should make her so angry. What harm +could come from their calling on the poor, half-crazed girl? Surely it +was plain that they meant her no wrong. + +"We want to be friends with your daughter," Madge declared haughtily; +"we do not wish to injure her." + +"Moll ain't here no more," the woman replied sulkily. "Her father has +took her away. She ain't never coming back." The woman grinned as the +four girls went away. + +"O Madge!" Phil exclaimed, with her eyes full of tears, "I do feel so +sorry. I am afraid we have come too late. Poor Mollie will think I +have broken my promise. What could have happened to her? Do you think +her horrible old father has put her in an asylum? She told me that he +often threatened her, unless she did whatever he said." + +"Don't worry, Phil dear," Madge replied sympathetically. "Perhaps the +woman was telling us a story and simply did not wish us to see her +daughter. I will come to the island with you again. Maybe we can find +her next time." + +The girls hurried on until they were almost at the place where they had +left their rowboat. Phil was unusually sorrowful and silent. She +still carried her little basket with the gifts for her new friend. The +memory of a pair of wonderful blue eyes haunted her. Mollie's face had +looked so longingly into hers; it was filled with a wistful sorrow and +was haunted by fear and loneliness. It was not that of one who is mad. + +"Girls," spoke Phil quickly, "will you go on down to the boat and wait +for me? I am going to run over to the tent and take another look in +there. At any rate, I am going to leave this basket of food. I won't +be gone but a minute." + +Phyllis walked rapidly toward the tent. She half hoped she would find +the vanished girl inside it. But the tent was still empty. Phil set +down her basket. She was strangely disappointed and grieved. She +could do nothing more. There was nothing to do save go back to her +friends. As she stepped toward the tent opening her foot caught in a +piece of ragged carpet. Like a flash Phyllis remembered. Had she not +told Mollie to slip a note under this carpet if she was ever in trouble +or in danger and desired their help? Phil slid her hand under the rug +and found a torn scrap of yellow wrapping paper. On it was penciled in +the handwriting of a child: + +"I am in much trouble. Please, please come to help me. You promised." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE ATTEMPTED RESCUE + +"I will go back to the shanty boat with you now, Phil," volunteered +Madge when Phyllis returned to her chums, carrying the pathetic scrap +of paper. "We have the food you brought in the basket, which we can +eat for luncheon. Lillian and Nellie can row over to the houseboat to +tell Miss Jenny Ann that we mean to spend the day here. Then, perhaps, +they will row back for us this afternoon." + +"I don't think we ought to leave you and Phil alone on this island," +remonstrated Eleanor, "especially when you won't have a boat. If +anything should happen, there would be no chance of your getting away." + +"I'll tell you what to do, Nellie," suggested Phil. "Suppose you and +Lillian go home and then send our boat over to us immediately. The +farmer boy will bring it for us. He can tow it and then row back in +his own skiff. Ask him to anchor our boat in this same place. Madge +and I will come home as soon as we find out whether there is anything +we can do for poor Mollie." + +Lillian and Eleanor were reluctant to leave their two friends. But +there seemed nothing else to be done. The thought of their chaperon's +anxiety at last persuaded them to go, and they departed after promising +to send the boat over immediately they reached the "Merry Maid." + +"What do you think we had better do, Phil?" asked Madge as the other +two girls rowed out of sight. + +Phil frowned and shook her head. "I haven't the faintest idea, Madge; +I am afraid we are too late to do anything. That dreadful Mike has +already taken his daughter away. I believe she wrote us several days +ago, when she first heard what they meant to do with her. But I can't +understand why her father wishes to put her in an asylum. She is much +too useful to them. She does nearly all the washing and cooking on +that miserable old shanty boat." + +"I do wish we had some money," declared Madge thoughtfully. "I believe +Mike would do anything for money. If we could only take care of +Mollie, perhaps her father would let us have her. But you and I are as +poor as church mice, Phil. Isn't it horrid?" + +"I don't believe the man would give his daughter to us if we merely +offered to take care of her. She is too useful to him. But he might +let her come with us if we could pay him a great deal of money besides. +At least, if we offered him a bribe he might be influenced to tell us +where poor Mollie is. However, there is no use in talking about money. +We'll have to do the best we can without it," finished Phil. + +The two friends were walking disconsolately along the shore of the +island. Neither one of them was anxious to return to the shanty boat +for another interview with the slatternly woman who presided over it. + +"Phil," Madge's eyes brightened, "if we need any money to help this +girl, I feel sure Mrs. Curtis will be glad to give it to us. She is +rich and generous, and Tom says she dearly loves to do things for those +who are in need. I should not mind in the least asking her help. She +is very fond of young girls." + +"She is very fond of you, at any rate," returned Phyllis, with a +smothered sigh. "Sometimes I feel as though she wanted to take you +away from us for keeps." + +Madge laughed. "What nonsense, Phil. Why should she wish to take me +away for 'keeps'?" + +But Phyllis did not reply to the little captain's laughing question. + +"Let's not go around to the shanty boat the way we did this morning. +Let us go back the opposite way, and then we shall have encircled the +whole island," planned Madge. "If Mollie is hidden anywhere, we might +happen to discover her." + +The loneliness of their walk affected both Madge and Phyllis. There +were no houses on the island. It was visited in the autumn for duck +shooting, and in the summer was used as a camping ground for a few +fisher folk. The girls passed only one man in their entire journey. +He was lying under a tree, fast asleep. A hat covered his face. As +the two friends hurried by they did not seek to discover who the man +was. He was a rough-looking fellow, and they preferred not to awaken +him. + +This time the deck of the shanty boat was deserted. It was noon. The +other members of the small shanty colony must have been out on the +water, for there was no one in sight. + +The girls stood staring irresolutely at the boat. "I suppose the woman +is indoors fixing the luncheon. I can see the smoke coming through the +smokestack," declared Phil. "Shall we call to her, or just march +boldly aboard her old boat?" + +"I don't know," hesitated Madge. "I don't believe we ought to mention +Mollie's note. We might get the child into more trouble." + +Phyllis shook her head. "Well, then, you decide upon something. You +always plan things better than I do. I think we had better say that we +have come back to inquire of Captain Mike how long he expects Mollie to +be away. Then we can insist on waiting until his sailboat returns." + +The two girls strode bravely up the single, rickety board that served +as the gangplank of the shanty boat. At their first step on the dock a +yellow dog rushed to the door of the dirty kitchen and set up a furious +barking. Behind him stood the menacing figure of the woman whom Madge +and Phil had seen a short time before. About her torn skirts were +clustered three or four stupid-looking, tow-headed children. It was +impossible for Phil to conceive how beautiful Mollie could be a member +of such a family. Yet the unfortunate girl had told Phyllis that she +had known no other than the hard, joyless life she had always led. + +It was Madge who opened the conversation this time. To her +disappointment she received no different answer to her inquiries than +had Phil. "Moll was gone." The woman did not know where she had gone +and she didn't care. But she wasn't coming back. Further, Mollie's +step-mother did not see what business Phil and Madge had in coming to +ask about her. + +"We are going to wait to talk to your husband," announced Phil with +quiet decision. + +"You git off my boat in a hurry," the woman snarled angrily. "You can +stay on the island all day if you like, but you can't hang around here. +Mike won't be home before night, and he ain't goin' to tell you nothin' +then. You'll find the beach pretty comfortable; it's so nice and +shady." The woman grinned maliciously. + +The two girls sat down on the stretch of hot sand near the water. They +were doggedly determined to wait as long as possible for Mike Muldoon's +return. Mollie's pathetic appeal had touched Madge as deeply as it had +Phil, and they were both resolved to help the child if they could. + +The hours dragged by on leaden wings. Madge's head ached violently. +Phil was beginning to think longingly of the basket of food which she +had left in the tent and wondering if it would do for her to go after +it while Madge stayed on guard. As she sat deliberating as to what +course of action would be the wisest, a sudden commotion arose among +the children playing on the deck of the shanty boat. The dog began to +bark furiously. "Mammy, here comes Pap," the oldest child cried. + +The tired girls could see that a sailboat was being anchored near the +shore. A few moments later Mike, who insisted on being called +"Captain," got into a skiff and rowed toward the land. + +Madge sprang to her feet and ran down to the edge of the water. She +wished to attract Mike's attention before he went aboard his own shanty +boat. To think with her was to act. She realized that she must speak +to the man before his wife could tell him the nature of their errand. +If Mike Muldoon learned their real design, he might shut himself inside +his shanty and refuse to talk to them. + +[Illustration: The girls ran down to the water's edge.] + +Mike rowed toward his callers, who were anxiously waiting for him. As +his boat scraped the shore his wife shrieked at him, "Come here fust, +Mike! Don't you be goin' talkin' to the likes of them before I tells +you somethin'." + +She was too late. Captain Mike had already turned to Madge. He +supposed the girls had come to engage his sailboat. + +Captain Madge decided to try diplomacy. She did not wish to make the +sailor angry. She hoped she might persuade him to do what they wished. + +"We have not come to rent your sailboat today, Captain Mike," she +announced cheerfully, "we are coming for that another time. What we +wish now is to ask you what has become of your pretty daughter? We +have crossed all the way over to the island to make her a call. And +now we can't find her. We wish to make friends with her, if you don't +mind." + +"Moll can't make friends with nobody," Mike answered suspiciously, his +skin turning a mottled red under its coat of tan. "I told you Moll was +foolish." + +"Yes, I know," answered Phil unwisely. "That is why we are so sorry +for her." + +Mike scowled darkly. "You ain't got no cause to be sorry for the gal. +Who told you she was treated mean? Nobody don't hurt her. But you +can't see her. She is sick." + +"Why, your wife told us she had gone away!" exclaimed Phil impetuously. + +She could have cried with regret the next moment, for she realized how +foolish she had been. + +"So she has gone away," Mike muttered, "and she is sick. I ain't no +liar and my wife ain't neither." + +"When will she come back, Captain Mike?" asked Madge in a friendly +tone, hoping the title of "captain" would soften the surly sailor. + +"She's not comin' back," the man replied impatiently. "I've got to go +to my dinner, and I ain't goin' to answer no more questions. Don't you +come foolin' around this way any more; my old woman don't like it. I +warn you for your good." + +Phil was tired of deceit. She knew Mike had not told them the truth. +"Captain Mike," she demanded coolly, "have you put your daughter in an +asylum? If you have, I think you have been both inhuman and cruel. +Mollie is not crazy. If you will tell us where she is we will look +after her, and she need not bother you any more." She raised her dark +eyes and gazed defiantly at the angry sailor, who shook his great red +fist full in her face. + +"You'll take a man's own daughter away from him, will you?" he raged. +"What makes you so interested in my gal? And who told you Moll was +shut up with a lot of crazies? My Moll is going to be married; she has +gone away to git her weddin' clothes." + +He laughed tantalizingly into the girls' faces as though well pleased +with his own joke. + +"Mollie married?" Phil exclaimed in horror. "Why, she----" Then Phil +stopped herself and inquired, with an innocent expression of interest, +"Whom did you say Mollie was going to marry?" + +"She is going to marry Bill Barnes, a friend of mine," retorted the +sailor sarcastically, his heavy shoulders shaking with savage +amusement. "He ain't much to look at. It's kind of a case of Beauty +and the Beast with him and my Moll. But she's powerful fond of him." + +"Mike!" a shrill voice screamed from the shanty boat kitchen, "come +along in here." + +Mike glared at his questioners, his face set in savage lines. "Don't +never come here agin," he growled. "If you do, I ain't sayin' what +will happen to you." Turning abruptly he strode toward his boat, +leaving the girls standing where he had first met them. + +There was nothing for Madge and Phil to do but to return once more to +their own boat. "O Madge! it is too dreadful!" exclaimed Phil in a +husky voice. "I understand now what poor Mollie meant. She said there +was one thing she would never do, no matter how cruel her father might +he with her. Of course, she knew they were going to try to force her +to marry some frightful looking fisherman. We simply must try to find +her and save her. It is a wicked shame!" + +"Don't be so wretched, Phil," comforted Madge, though she felt equally +miserable. "You are right; we must find out how to save poor, pretty +Mollie. I can't think what we ought to do, just this minute, but we +must do our best. Now I think we shall have to go home and talk things +over with Miss Jenny Ann and the girls. We will come back to-morrow, +prepared to make a fight to save Mollie. Surely she can't be married +by that time." + +The two friends stopped by the tent for their basket of food and sat +down just outside it under a tree to eat their luncheon. Neither of +them noticed that they had seated themselves with their backs to the +water, and they were so interested in talking of Mollie that they gave +no thought to the outgoing tide. By rising they could see their boat +drawn up on the shore, where, as arranged with Lillian and Eleanor, it +had been left by the farm boy. What they failed to notice, however, +was the distance it lay from the water line, and they also had +forgotten that it was time for the going out of the tide. + +As they sat quietly eating their luncheon the sound of running feet was +borne to their ears. Nearer and nearer they came. Then round the +curve of the beach darted the object of their morning's search. With a +wild cry she flung herself upon Phil. "You said you would help me," +she moaned. "Oh, help me now." Little rivulets of water ran from her +ragged clothing. The pupils of her dark blue eyes were distended with +fear. Her dress was torn across her shoulder and an ugly bruise showed +through it. There was a long, red welt on her cheek that looked as +though it had been made with a whip, and another across one forearm. + +Madge and Phyllis rushed toward the frightened girl. Phil put her arm +protectingly about Mollie while Madge stood on guard. Resolution and +defiance looked out from their young faces. They were not afraid of +poor Mollie's captors. They would fight for her. + +"How did you come to us? Where have you been?" questioned Phil. + +Five minutes had passed and no one had appeared. "Sit down here, +Mollie. We won't let any one hurt you." + +"I was hidden in the shanty boat, locked in a dark closet," faltered +Mollie, casting a terrified glance about her. "I heard you ask for me, +but I could not come out. The woman is more cruel to me than the man. +She would have killed me. But when my father came home he was so angry +because you had been to see me that he beat me and said I must marry +Bill to-morrow, before you could come back to help me. Oh, he is +horrible! I won't marry him! I'll die first! I crawled through a +porthole in the boat when I heard what they said. I dropped into the +water and swam and swam until I could land on the beach out of sight of +my father's boat. Then I ran until I found you. But they will try to +find me. They may be looking for me now. Tell me, tell me what I must +do?" + +"Don't be frightened," soothed Madge. "They can't force you to marry +Bill or any one else against your will. Phil and I will take care of +you. Come with us. We are going over to our houseboat now. Your +father need not know what has become of you. Hurry!" Madge was +listening intently for sounds announcing the coming of Mollie's +pursuers. So far the girls were safe. A moment more and they would be +in their rowboat. + +Linking their arms within Mollie's her rescuers hurried her along. +Straight to the water's edge they ran, then a cry of consternation went +up from the two girls. + +"O Madge! what shall we do? We forgot all about the tide," mourned +Phil. "It has gone out, and now we'll have to drag our heavy boat half +a mile through the sand to the water or else wait until the tide runs +in again before we can get away from the island." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE CAPTURE + +Madge hurried down to where their rowboat lay. She dragged the anchor +out of the sand and pulled at the skiff with all her might. Phil also +took hold and together the two girls worked like beavers, but without +success. The boat was firmly wedged in the sand. + +"Is there any place on the island where we can hide, Mollie?" +questioned Phil as the two girls rested for a moment from their +fruitless effort. "We can not leave here until the tide turns." + +"I know a cave," said Mollie hesitatingly. "It is in the woods not +very far from the beach. But I am afraid they will find us there." + +"We had better go to it," urged Madge, wiping the perspiration from her +tired face. "At least we can hide in the cave for a while, until we +make up our minds what is best for us to do, We may not be discovered +until the tide turns. Later on I shall slip down here again to see if +things are safe, and then we can make a run for our boat. If we wait +here along the shore, we shall not have the least chance of escaping. +The first person who comes to look for Mollie will surely see us. Come +on. We have no time to lose." + +This time Mollie led the way through a tangle of trees and underbrush +to the center of the little island. Here they found the cave which was +only an opening behind an immense old tree that had been uprooted by a +storm. A flat rock protruded over the hollow, and the sand had +gradually drifted away until the cavity was hardly large enough to hold +the three girls. These were cramped quarters, and they were only +partially protected from view by the immense roots of the fallen tree, +but they knew of no other refuge and resolved to make the best of it. + +The girls had barely crept into their hiding place when they heard a +noise of some one tramping through the underbrush. A few moments later +a man slouched along a narrow path between the trees. His hat was +pulled down over his face, but Madge and Phil recognized him by his +dress as the man they had seen asleep on the ground earlier in the day. + +Mollie made no sound. She was hidden between the two friends, and +never in her life before, so far as she could recall, had she been so +protected by affection. But her increased trembling told her rescuers +that she had recognized the man who passed so near to them, and that +she feared him. + +"It's Bill," she faltered when the figure disappeared without having +the slightest suspicion that he was being watched. "He is on his way +to our boat. He will ask for me, and my father will be sure to find +out that I have gone. Then they will come out here to hunt for me." + +For a long time after Mollie's disquieting prediction none of the three +prisoners spoke. They hardly dared to breathe. Their bodies ached +from their cramped, uncomfortable positions; they were hungry, and, +worse than anything else, Madge and Phyllis were tormented with thirst. +Since leaving the houseboat early in the morning they had drunk no +water. Phil was thinking remorsefully that all this trouble had come +from her asking Madge to go with her to the island in search of Mollie. + +Madge was wondering just what she would do and say if Mollie's father +should find them, while Mollie's delicate face had lost its expression +of apathy and now wore one of lively terror. Even the faint rustle of +leaves as a passing breeze swept through the trees caused her to start. +An hour passed and no one came to look for them. Either Mike had not +learned of his daughter's escape, or else he had not taken the trouble +to come to search for her. He must have believed that she would return +to the boat later on of her own accord, driven by hunger and loneliness. + +It was now growing late in the afternoon. Neither Madge nor Phyllis +wore a watch, so it was impossible to tell how much time they had spent +in the cave. Miss Jenny Ann would wonder what had happened. Of +course, Lillian and Eleanor would explain matters. Miss Jones might +remember the tide and understand what was keeping them away. Yet there +was a lively possibility that she might fail to take the tide into +consideration. + +At last Madge decided to end the suspense. + +She knew their skiff would float from the shore of Fisherman's Island +several hours before full tide. They had tried to make their escape at +the moment when the tide was almost at its lowest ebb. The tide had +been high that morning. It was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon +when they had attempted to leave the island. She now believed it to be +almost five o'clock. At least, it was time to reconnoitre. She put +her ear close to the ground. She could hear no sound of any one +approaching. + +"Phil," she whispered, "will you and Mollie please wait here for me. I +am going down to the water to see if it is possible to get the boat +off. It must be very late. Remember, high tide is at eight o'clock +to-night. We ought to be able to pull away from here between five and +six o'clock. When I come back to tell you how things are we can make a +run for it to the beach, and perhaps get a fair start before we are +seen." + +"Let me go with you," insisted Phil, as anxious as her chum to get out +of their close quarters. + +"I don't think we ought to leave Mollie alone," demurred Madge. "But, +if you think best, you may go and I will stay here." + +Mollie's terror at Phyllis's suggestion of deserting her was too much +for tender-hearted Phil. "No, I won't leave you," she said gently, +taking Mollie's hand in hers. "You had better run along, Madge. I'll +stay here. But, for goodness' sake, do be careful. If anything +happens to you, Mollie and I will starve in this cave like Babes in the +Woods, if you don't come back to find us." + +Madge crawled cautiously out of the hole. Her muscles were so stiff +that she rose to her feet with difficulty. But she soon started off +through the narrow path between the trees, making as little noise as +she possibly could. Her way through the grove of trees covered the +greater part of the distance to the shore. But there was still a +stretch of open beach, where she feared she would be discovered. When +she came to the shelter of the last tree she stopped and peered +cautiously up and down the line of the shore. As far as she could see +the beach was empty. And, surely enough, the tide was coming in. Tiny +waves touched the prow of the "Water Witch." It was true the water was +not yet deep enough to float their boat, but in less than an hour they +might be able to row away from danger with their new friend. + +There was but one thing to do. She must return to Phyllis and Mollie, +and they must make up their minds to remain in their hiding place for a +little while longer. Madge hated to go back to the cave. She would +have liked to linger in the woods, hiding behind the trees until they +were able to leave the island. But she knew it would not be fair to +Phyllis and Mollie to leave them any longer in suspense. They would +think something had happened to her unless she returned to them at +once. The knowledge that she had not been seen made her feel more +cheerful. She was sure that she would yet outwit the brutal sailor, +Mike Muldoon, and carry Mollie safe to the shelter of their houseboat, +where Miss Jenny Ann, or perhaps Mrs. Curtis, would tell them how they +could continue to take care of the poor girl. + +Unfortunately, Madge's gown was of some soft, white material and +altogether too conspicuous. She could be easily seen for some distance +as she ran along the shore, and in her anxiety to return to her friends +as soon as possible she did not look about her as carefully as she +should have done. Therefore she missed seeing the cruel face that +stared malignantly forth from the opening in the tent where Phil had +her first talk with Mollie. The man's whole body was carefully +concealed, and as Madge flitted by the tent his head disappeared from +sight. + +The man in the tent had caught sight of Madge's white gown the moment +she stepped forth from the shelter of the woods. He had at once +understood the situation, but he did not stir until she started to +return to the cave. He knew that Madge had come down to see if she +could get the boat off the beach and into the water. It was evident +that the other girls must be hidden somewhere in the forest. There was +nothing to be gained by capturing Madge alone; he must wait until she +went back to her friends, then he could find out where Mollie was +concealed. + +The boat on the shore and the disappearance of the two girls who had +visited him that morning told the whole story. Why had the two young +women concealed themselves unless they meant to guard the fugitive +Mollie? + +When Madge started back through the woods the man followed her at a +safe distance. He did not wish her to know that he was following her, +for fear she would lead him off the trail, but he kept near enough to +know exactly where she was going. + +She arrived, as she believed undiscovered, at their hiding place in the +woods. + +Phyllis and Mollie heard her light footfalls and gave a united sigh of +relief. Their friend had escaped discovery. So far all was well! + +Madge leaned over the opening of the cave, to reassure her friends +before she crawled into it again. + +"It's all right!" she cried softly. "I saw no one, heard nothing. We +can get away, without any trouble, in another hour." + +She crouched down to slip into the place of concealment. At the same +instant the three girls heard a noise. It was unmistakably the hurried +tramp of heavy feet! Mike Muldoon burst through the thicket of trees, +his face blazing with heat and anger. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ON A STRANGE SHORE + +Madge had just time enough to leap to her feet. She would not allow +their determined enemy to catch her while in the act of hiding. + +"Keep still," she whispered quickly to Phyllis and Mollie. Then she +turned, with flashing eyes, to the approaching figure of Captain Mike +Muldoon. + +"What do you want?" she demanded imperiously, stamping her foot. "Why +have you followed me through the woods?" + +For a moment the man was speechless. It had not dawned on him that +Madge would turn upon him. He had expected her to burst into tears and +exhibit signs of fear. + +"I want my daughter, and I want her quick, young woman," he answered +gruffly. "When I find her I will settle with you." He pushed past +Madge and dragged the unfortunate Mollie from her place of shelter. +Phil sprang out after her. Her black eyes were flashing with anger and +disappointment. She fastened a firm grip on Mollie's arm. If Mike +Muldoon jerked or shook his daughter, he would jerk and shake Phyllis +Alden, too, for nothing would induce her to let go her hold on Mollie. + +"Let me go," whispered Mollie gently, looking affectionately into the +faces of her new friends. "I don't want you to be in trouble for my +sake. I ran away. It was no fault of yours." Mollie appeared to be +quite rational. She seemed to appreciate the girls' loyalty to her. + +"Give up my daughter and get back to where you came from, and I will +let you off this time," roared Mike savagely. He did not think it wise +to deal roughly with the girls. Their friends would surely come to +look for them and hold him responsible for their disappearance. + +"We won't go a step unless you will let Mollie go with us," returned +Phil wrathfully. "You shan't make her marry that horrible Bill. It is +unlawful for you to force her to marry against her will." + +Mike moved stolidly ahead, gripping his daughter and pulling her along +with him. Phyllis, who was still clutching Mollie's arm, followed +after, while Madge walked valiantly by Phil's side. + +"Leave go!" Mike shouted, raising his fist threateningly at Phyllis. +Mollie cried out at the thought of possible hurt to her friend, but +Phyllis did not falter. She gazed up at the burly sailor with a look +of such intense scorn, mingled with defiance, that he dropped his hand +to his side and said sneeringly: "Come back to my shanty boat, then. I +will settle with you when we get there." + +Tightening his hold on his daughter's arm he strode off toward the +shanty boat, dragging poor Mollie along at a cruel rate of speed. +Phil, still clasping Mollie's other arm, kept pace with her, while +Madge marched a little to the rear with the air of a grenadier. + +Mollie's beautiful white face was set in lines of despair, but her +companions felt nothing save righteous indignation against the brutal +man they were forced either to follow or else leave Mollie to her fate. + +On the deck of the wretched shanty boat, this time, a man and a woman +were waiting with burning impatience. The man was Bill and the woman +was Mike Muldoon's wife. A group of fisher folk stood near, evidently +anxious to know what was going to happen. It was late in the +afternoon, and they had returned from the day's work on the water. + +Madge broke away from her own party to run toward these men and women. +There were about half a dozen in number. "Won't you help us?" she +cried excitedly. "Captain Mike is trying to force his daughter to +marry that dreadful Bill. He has beaten her cruelly because she +refuses to do it. My friend and I tried to get Mollie away from him, +but he found us and forced her to come back here." + +"Don't hurt the young ladies, Mike," remonstrated one of the fishermen, +with a satirical grin in their direction, "it wouldn't be good +business." Then he turned to Madge and said gruffly: "It ain't any of +our lookout what Mike does with his daughter. She's foolish, anyhow. +Can't see why Bill wants to marry her." + +Muldoon had jerked Mollie from Phil's restraining grasp and flung her +aboard the shanty boat. The woman pushed the girl inside the cabin and +closed the door. Then she stood waiting to see what her husband +intended to do with the two girls. + +Captain Mike was puzzled. He stood frowning angrily at Mollie's +defiant champions. They had refused to go back home. He had given +them their opportunity. It was just as well they had not taken it, for +suddenly the man was seized with an idea. + +"Git into my rowboat," he ordered Phil and Madge. "I am going to put +you aboard my sailboat and carry you home to your friends. You had +better take my offer. You'll only get into worse trouble if you stay +around here. How do you think you are going to take care of +Moll--knock me and Bill and my old woman down and run off with Moll?" + +"Won't any one here help us?" asked Phil, turning to the grinning crowd. + +"You had better go home with Mike. It's the only thing for you to do," +advised a grizzled old fisherman. "Your hanging around here ain't +going to help Moll." + +Madge and Phil exchanged inquiring glances. For the time being they +were beaten. It was better to go home. Later on they would see what +could be done for their friend. + +"We would rather go back in our own boat," Phil announced, making a +last resistance. Madge, who was already in Mike's skiff, beckoned to +Phil to join her. It was too undignified and hopeless for them to +argue longer with these coarse, rough men. Phyllis followed her chum +reluctantly. She hung back as long as she could, staring hard at the +shanty boat. But there was no sight nor sound of Mollie. + +Even after they were aboard Captain Mike's sailing craft Phil's eyes +strained toward the receding shore. When it was no longer to be seen +she sat with her hands folded, gazing into her lap. She was still +thinking and planning what she could do to rescue Mollie. Madge sat +with closed eyes; she was too weary to speak. + +The sailor's boat had left the island far behind and was moving +swiftly. It was after sunset, and the sun had just thrown itself, like +the golden ball in the fairy tale, into the depth of the clear water. +The girls were looking anxiously toward the direction of their boat, +and wondering if their friends were worrying over their late return. + +The houseboat lay a little to the southwest of Fisherman's Island, and +so far they had not been able to catch sight of it. It was growing so +dark that it was impossible to see the shore very clearly on either +side of the bay. It was Madge's sharp eyes that first made the +discovery that what she could see of the shore was unfamiliar. Captain +Mike was not taking them to their houseboat. He was sailing in exactly +the opposite direction. Madge glanced quickly at Phyllis, who was yet +happily unconscious of their plight, then, turning to Muldoon, she said +sharply: "You are sailing the wrong way to bring us to our houseboat. +The boat lies southwest of the island and you are taking us due north. +Turn about and take us to our boat instantly." + +"I am taking you to where I am going to land you, all right," the +sailor replied gruffly. "You have got to learn that you can't come +foolin' in my business without getting yourselves into trouble. I'm +goin' to learn you." + +"You had better do as we ask you to do or you may regret it," put in +Phyllis. + +The sailor appeared not to have heard her threat. + +"Don't speak to him, Phil. He isn't worth wasting words over." + +The sailboat was evidently making for the land. The long line of a +pier was faintly visible. A few lights shone along a strange shore. + +It was plain that Captain Mike meant to land at this pier. The girls +did not know why he meant to take them there, but they were too proud +to ask him his reason. + +Mike drew his boat close along the flight of steps that led to the top +of the pier. + +"Jump off, quick!" he called sharply. + +It was night. Neither Madge nor Phyllis had the faintest idea of the +hour. Neither one of them knew in what place they were being cast +ashore, nor had they a cent of money between them. But anything was +better than to remain longer on the sailboat. + +With a defiant glance at the scowling man Madge climbed out on the +steps of the pier. She gave her hand to Phyllis, who leaped after her. + +Captain Mike watched them walk up the steps to the top of the pier. +Then, turning his boat about, he sailed away, leaving the two girls to +the darkness of an unknown shore. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FINDING A WAY TO HELP MOLLIE + +Girls do not keep silent long, no matter how grave the situation. The +two castaways were no exception. + +Madge shook her clenched fist after the retreating mast of the sail +boat. "You horrid, horrid old man!" she cried. "We won't give up +trying to save poor Mollie, no matter what you do to us. Come on, +Phil," she said, taking Phyllis by the hand, "let us go up to the shore +and ask some one where we are. I suppose nobody will believe our +story, because it seems so improbable, but perhaps some kind soul will +give us a drink of water, even if we do look perfectly disreputable." + +Phyllis giggled softly in spite of their plight. Madge had lost her +hat. Her curls had long since come loose from the knot in which she +wore them, and her gown was sadly wrinkled. + +Madge was in no mood for laughter. "You needn't make fun of me, +Phyllis Alden," she said reproachfully. "You are just as tattered and +torn as I. We do look like a couple of beggars. Your hair is not +down, but your collar is crumpled and your dress is almost as soiled as +mine." + +"I look much worse than you do, Madge, I am sure of it," conceded Phil +cheerfully. "You see, I am not pretty to begin with." To this speech +Madge would not deign to reply. Phyllis laughed good-humoredly. +"Loyal little Madge, you won't acknowledge my lack of fatal beauty." +Then in a graver tone she added, "What do you think we had better do, +Madge?" + +"Find out where we are and how far away the 'Merry Maid' is," returned +Madge decisively. "We must reach there to-night, Phil. Miss Jenny Ann +and the girls will believe something dreadful has happened to us." + +The chums had walked to the end of the pier. Between them and the +nearest house lay a stretch of treacherous marsh. They paused +irresolutely, staring at the marsh with anxious eyes. "I am afraid we +shall get lost in the marsh if we try to find our way through it on a +dark night like this," faltered Phyllis. + +Madge shook her head determinedly. "We must try to pass through it. I +don't like the looks of it any better than you do, but we can't stay +here all night, that is certain. Come on. Here goes." + +Phyllis obediently followed her companion into the marsh, and then +began a never-to-be-forgotten walk. With each step they took the salt +water oozed up from the ground and covered their shoes. Madge felt her +way carefully. She was obliged to put one foot cautiously forth to see +if the earth ahead were firm enough to bear the weight of her body. On +she went, with Phyllis close behind her. In spite of the difficulty +the girls were plainly making headway. "Hurrah!" called Madge, "we are +almost out of this quagmire. There is dry land ahead!" With one long +leap she made the solid ground which stretched just ahead of her. +Phyllis was not so fortunate. She lunged blindly after Madge, struck +an unusually bad part of the marsh and sank knee deep in the soft mud. +With a terrified cry she began struggling to free herself, but the +harder she struggled the deeper she became imbedded in the marsh. + +The moon was just coming up. Madge could faintly see what had happened +to her friend. She ran toward Phyllis, but the latter cried out +warningly: "Go back. If you try to help me, you'll only sink into this +marsh with me." + +Madge hesitated only a minute. "Don't move, Phil, if you can possibly +help it," she cried. "But in a few minutes from now call out, so that +I can tell where you are. Good-bye for a little while; I am going for +help." Madge never knew how she covered the space that lay between her +and the nearest house. This house had a low stone wall around it, and +stood on top of a steep hill that sloped down to this wall. Madge +scrambled over the wall and climbed the hill, sometimes on her feet, +but as often on her hands and knees. There was a light in a window. +She staggered to it and rapped on the window pane. A moment later a +man appeared in a doorway at the right of the window. + +"Who's there?" he called out sharply. "What do you mean by knocking on +my window? Answer me at once!" + +Madge stumbled over to him. "Oh, won't you please come with me?" she +said. "My friend Phyllis is stuck fast in the marsh. I must have help +to get her out." + +Without a word the man disappeared into the house. For one dreadful +instant, Madge thought he did not intend to help her; she thought he +must believe that she was an impostor and was making up her story. The +next minute the man returned, wearing a pair of high rubber hoots and +carrying a dark lantern and a heavy rope. + +"Don't be frightened," he said kindly to her as she walked wearily +after him. "People often lose their way in this marsh after dark. +We'll soon find your friend." + +But to himself Judge Arthur Hilliard asked the question: "What in the +world are two young girls doing alone on this dangerous shore at such +an hour of the night?" + +It was well that Phyllis remembered Madge's order, else they might have +had some trouble in locating her. As soon as Phyllis saw the friendly +light from the oncoming lantern she called at the top of her lungs: +"Here I am! Here I am!" + +"Keep perfectly still!" Judge Hilliard commanded. "I'll have you out +in a short time." He waded into the marsh, his high boots protecting +him from the black ooze. When he was about five yards from Phil he +flung her the rope. "Now work your way along toward us," he directed. +Phyllis obeyed his command and in an incredibly short time was safe on +dry land, her shoes heavy with mud. + +"It is bad enough to be lost," declared Phil as she thanked the +stranger, "but it is worse to be not only lost, but stuck in the mud as +well." + +"You were in a most unpleasant, though I can hardly say a dangerous +plight," returned the stranger. "Can I be of further service to you?" + +"Would you--could you tell us where we can get a drink of water?" asked +Madge. "We are so tired and thirsty." + +"My name is Arthur Hilliard," returned the man. "If you will come to +my house, my mother will be glad to offer you refreshment." + +"Thank you," bowed Madge sedately. "We will go with you." + +Mrs. Hilliard, a stout, comfortable looking old lady, received the +wanderers with true Southern hospitality. Without waiting to hear +their story, she insisted that they change their bedraggled clothing +for two comfortable looking dressing gowns which she laid out for them, +and by the time they had washed their faces and hands and dressed their +hair they found a hot supper ready for them in the dining room. + +"We are so sorry to have troubled you," declared Madge apologetically, +as Mr. Hilliard entered the dining room when they were finishing their +meal. "Now we must tell you who we are and how we came to be +floundering in the marsh so late in the evening." + +Beginning with their visit to the island that morning Madge related all +that had transpired during that long day of adventures. Judge Hilliard +shook his head disapprovingly as the tale continued, but listened with +grave interest to the part of the story relating to Mollie, the +sailor's daughter. + +"This girl of whom you speak is like the girl in the fairy story, who +has a cruel step-mother and an ogre of a father," he commented when the +story had ended. + +"Of course she is," answered Madge; "only our girl is not in a fairy +story, she is real. I can't believe that that dreadful Mike Muldoon is +her father, and I know there must be some way to take her from him and +make her happy." + +"We are going to save her yet," declared Phyllis stoutly. "I don't see +just how we are to manage it, but to-morrow we are going to try again. +How far are we from Fisherman's Island?" + +"About thirty miles," Judge Hilliard replied. "I have telephoned to +the nearest town to let your chaperon know you are safe. The message +will be taken over to your houseboat tonight, and I will take you home +in the morning. My mother insists that you remain here tonight. She +will join us in the library in a few minutes." + +"Thank you again," said Madge gratefully. "It was very thoughtful in +you to send a message to our friends. In the morning we wish to go +first to the Belleview Hotel. We wish to see a friend of ours who is +staying there. Her name is Mrs. Curtis." + +"Mrs. Curtis is an old friend of mine," said Judge Hilliard in pleased +surprise. "I have known her ever since I was a little boy. Now I have +something to say to you that may interest you. I told you I was a +judge. It is my business to look into people's legal difficulties. +This trouble which concerns your friend looks to me as though it might +have a legal side to it. We are in the State of Maryland. Fisherman's +Island is in my jurisdiction. Suppose I issue an injunction forbidding +the marriage between Mollie and the sailor, and take you up to the +island in the morning to see it served. I have a steam yacht, and I +think I shall take along two court officers or policemen, who will +terrify your dreadful Captain Mike. At any rate, I'll see justice done +his afflicted daughter, if I have to take the law in my own hands." + +Madge clapped her hands joyously. Tears stood in Phil's dark eyes. +"Oh, how splendid!" she breathed. + +At this juncture Mrs. Hilliard entered the library, and after a little +further talk the two girls announced themselves as being quite ready to +retire. + +"Be ready at seven o'clock," Judge Hilliard reminded them, as he bade +his guests good night. "We shall reach Captain Mike's shanty boat +before he has time to proceed with the marriage. They won't expect you +at your houseboat until after breakfast, and I hope to have three girls +to deliver aboard, instead of two." + +Phyllis and Madge dropped asleep that night the instant their heads +touched their pillows. They had asked to share the same room, and as +they had sleepily undressed, they congratulated each other on the fact +that Mike Muldoon's cowardly act had resulted in nothing but good to +them. It looked as though it might even prove a boomerang to him. + +By seven o'clock the next morning the girls had breakfasted and said +good-bye to Mrs. Hilliard, after promising to visit her at some future +time. + +"Judge Hilliard," announced Madge, as the yacht "Greyhound" steamed out +from the pier, "we forgot to tell you last night that we think Mollie +is old enough to come away from her father if she wishes. She doesn't +know how old she is. That is one of the queer things about Mollie. +She seems quite sensible until you ask her to recall something, and +then she becomes confused. Still, I am sure she is several years older +than either Phil or I." + +The shanty boat colony on the east side of Fisherman's Island had also +risen early on this warm morning in July. Bill crossed over to the +mainland in his sailboat to bring a Justice of the Peace back with him +to marry him to Mollie. Captain Mike was determined to have his way +with his daughter. Once she was married to Bill, her new friends would +find it difficult to get her away from him. + +Since Mollie's return to the shanty boat she had made no further +outcry. She did not seem to know what was going on. The vacant, +hopeless look had come over her face. The fright and ill treatment of +the day before had completely subdued her. She seemed to have +forgotten everything. + +All night long she had lain awake in her miserable berth in the dirty +shanty boat. She lay still, with her eyes closed, until the breathing +of her family told her they were fast asleep. Then she crept out on +the deck of the boat. She sat for hours without moving, her wonderful +blue eyes, with the empty look in them, staring out over the silent +waters. She was waiting, wistful and patient, for something to come to +save her. When the dawn broke, and a rosy light bathed the bay and the +sky, she rose, went quietly into the cabin and lay down in her berth +again. She stayed there while the family ate their breakfast. She +made no resistance when her step-mother came toward her, grinning +maliciously, and bearing a coarse white cotton dress, which she called +"Moll's wedding gown." + +Mollie let the woman put the dress on her. She even combed her own +sun-colored hair; and, for the first time in her life, she knotted it +on her head, instead of letting it stream in ragged, unkempt ends over +her shoulders. A loose lock of hair over Mollie's low forehead covered +the ugly scar that was her one disfigurement. She was so startlingly +lovely that her stupid step-mother stared at her in a kind of +bewildered amazement. Mollie was pale and worn, and painfully thin, +yet nothing could spoil the wonderful color of her hair and eyes, nor +take away the peculiar grace of her figure. Her expression was dull +and listless. Even so Mollie looked like a lily transplanted to some +field of dank weeds, but growing tall and sweet amid their ugliness. + +Mike looked at his daughter curiously when her step-mother dragged her +out before him. Brutal as he was, a change passed over his face. He +glanced over the water to see if Bill's boat were approaching. "I +ain't never understood how things has turned out," he muttered to +himself. "If Mollie wasn't foolish, I wouldn't let Bill have her. She +is a pretty thing, and she looks like a lady. That's what makes it so +all-fired queer." + +Mollie sank down on the bench that ran around the deck of the shanty +boat. She dropped her head in her hands. What she was thinking, or +whether she was thinking at all, no one could know or tell. She heard +a boat coming through the water, then a cry from her father. If she +believed the hour had arrived for her marriage, she gave no sign. She +did not raise her head when Mike Muldoon cried out savagely. + +Captain Mike went ashore. He stood with his heavy arms folded, smoking +and scowling. + +Judge Hilliard stepped up to Captain Mike. Two police officers +accompanied him. Madge and Phil were directly behind their new friend. +They did not like to call to Mollie, but they wished she would look up +at them. + +"I have an injunction forbidding the marriage of your daughter, Mollie +Muldoon, to a fisherman named Bill," Judge Hilliard's peremptory voice +rang out. "You are forcing your daughter into this marriage against +her will." + +"I ain't forcing Moll," denied Captain Mike, glaring at Phil and Madge. +He was driven into a corner, and he knew nothing else to say. + +"I would like to ask the girl what she desires," the judge announced. + +"Moll," called Mike. + +For the first time Mollie lifted her head. She left the boat and came +slowly toward the little party. + +Judge Hilliard stared, and for a moment he forgot to speak to her. +Madge and Phil had assured him that their protégé was beautiful, but he +had expected to behold the simple beauty of a country girl; this young +woman was exquisitely lovely. + +Madge and Phil trembled with excitement. Suppose Mollie should not +understand the Judge's question and make the wrong answer? Suppose the +poor girl had been bullied into submission? Suppose she should not +even recall the struggle of yesterday? She forgot so much--would she +forget this? + +"Do you desire to marry this 'Bill'?" Judge Hilliard queried, looking +with puzzled wonder into Mollie's lovely, expressionless face. + +Mollie shook her head gently. Madge and Phil held their breath. + +"I will not marry him," Mollie answered simply. "Nothing could make me +do so." + +"Then you will come home to the houseboat with us, Mollie," Madge and +Phil pleaded together, taking hold of the girl's hands to lead her away. + +"I am sorry," interposed Judge Hilliard, speaking to the girls, "but we +can't take her away at once. We must observe the law. Muldoon," +continued the Judge as he took a document out of his pocket and handed +it to the sailor, "of course you know that you can not force this girl +to marry against her will whether she is of age or not, but, aside from +that, here is an order of court directing you to show cause why the +girl should not be taken from you upon the ground of cruelty and +neglect. The case will be heard in the court at the county seat of +Anne Arundel County five days hence, the 30th of the month. You will, +of course, be expected to prove that the girl is your daughter. This +order also contains an injunction forbidding you to take the girl out +of this jurisdiction within that time. These officers will remain here +to see that the order of the court is carried out. If you make any +attempt to remove the girl from this vicinity, you will be arrested at +once." + +"And now, ladies," said Judge Hilliard, turning to the girls, "we will +go aboard the 'Greyhound'." + +"I say, Judge," broke in Muldoon, starting hurriedly after Judge +Hilliard, "I don't want to get mixed up in the law. I'll tell you +something if you won't be too hard on me. Moll isn't my daughter! I +picked her up almost drowned on a beach on the coast of Florida. My +first old woman took a liking for the kid, so we just kept her. We +didn't intend her any harm. That was ten or twelve years ago." + +Judge Hilliard did not appear to be surprised; in fact, he had expected +some such statement. + +"Your confession," said he, speaking to Muldoon, "is all we need to +enable us to take this girl away. Under the circumstances, it will not +be necessary to serve this paper," he continued, taking the order of +court away from Muldoon. "We shall take the girl with us now. +Muldoon, see to it that you don't get into any other trouble. You are +getting off easily. Your carrying off these two young ladies under +false pretence and depositing them against their will in an unknown +place, as you did last night, is very much like abduction, and +abduction is a penitentiary offence." + +There being nothing left to do, Judge Hilliard and his party, now +including the rescued Mollie, went aboard the "Greyhound" and steamed +away toward the houseboat. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MADGE'S OPPORTUNITY + +Mollie slipped into her place as a member of the little houseboat +family as quietly as though she had always been a part of it. She was +shy and gentle, and rarely talked. She was more like a timid child +than a woman. She liked to cook, to wash the dishes, to do the things +to which she was accustomed, and to be left alone. At first the +houseboat girls tried to interest her in their amusements, but Miss +Jenny Ann persuaded them that it was wiser to let Mollie become +accustomed to the change in her life in any way she could. Mollie +never spoke of the past, and she seemed worried if any one of the girls +questioned her about it. They did not even know whether she feared the +return of Captain Mike or Bill. The girls hoped that Mollie's lack of +memory had made her quickly forget her unhappy life. + +One thing haunted Mollie: it was her fear of strangers. If a visitor +came aboard the houseboat the young girl would disappear and hide in +the cabin until there was no danger of her being noticed. Jack Bolling +and Tom Curtis came calling nearly every day, but neither one of them +had seen anything of Mollie, except her flying skirts as she ran away +to hide from them. They were vaguely aware of her unusual beauty, but +neither of them knew what she actually looked like. + +Madge was particularly sorry that Mollie would not see Mrs. Curtis. +The houseboat holiday could only last a short time longer. Mr. and +Mrs. Butler had written that they expected to return from California in +about ten days, and must have Madge and Eleanor back at "Forest House." +Lillian's and Phil's parents were also clamoring for their girls to +spend a part of their summer vacation at home. So the question must +soon arise: What could be done with Mollie when the crew of the "Merry +Maid" disbanded? Madge felt they needed their friend's advice. But +neither Mrs. Curtis nor Miss Jenny Ann thought it best to force Mollie +to see people until she became more used to the atmosphere of affection +about her, and had learned that no one meant to harm or ill treat her. +Once Mrs. Curtis caught a brief glimpse of Mollie, standing framed in +the cabin doorway. The girl had given a frightened stare at her, and +then had fled inside her room. She could not be coaxed out again. +Mrs. Curtis was curious. The one quick look at Mollie seemed oddly to +recall some friend of her youth. It was nothing to think of seriously. +She would know better when she saw the girl another time. + +Daily Mrs. Curtis seemed to grow more and more fond of Madge. If Madge +failed to come to see her every day or so, she would send Tom over as a +messenger to bring her little friend back with him to luncheon or to +dinner. She and the little captain used to have long, confidential +talks together, and Mrs. Curtis seemed never to weary of the young +girl's romantic fancies. She used to make Madge tell her of her family +and what she knew of her dead father and mother. At times Madge +wondered idly why Mrs. Curtis was interested in them, and every now and +then she thought Tom's mother wished to ask her an important question. +But Mrs. Curtis always put off the inquiry until another time. + +Toward the close of their stay on the "Merry Maid" the girls were +invited to a six o'clock dinner at the Belleview, given in their honor +by Mrs. Curtis and Tom. On the day of the dinner Tom was sent to the +"Merry Maid" to ask Madge to come to his mother an hour earlier than +the others were expected. Miss Jenny Ann had elected to stay at home +with Mollie. Nothing would induce Mollie to attend the party, and Miss +Jenny Ann would not allow any one of the girls to remain on the +houseboat with her. + +Tom and Madge went up to the hotel on the street car, since it was +impossible for Tom to row with his lame arm. They found Mrs. Curtis on +a little balcony that opened off her private sitting-room. The piazza +overlooked the waters of the small bay. It was a wonderful summer +afternoon; white clouds were rioting everywhere in the clear, blue sky; +the water was astir with white-masted boats, dipping their sails toward +the waves like the flapping wings of sea gulls. + +Madge was looking her prettiest. She had on her best white frock, and +as a mark of her appreciation of Mrs. Curtis wore the string of pearls +about her throat. Without making any noise, she crept out on the +balcony and kissed Mrs. Curtis lightly on the forehead. Then she +dropped into a low, cushioned chair near her friend's side. + +"Here I am, dressed for the dinner," she announced happily. "How do +you like me? Tom said you wanted me to come before the other girls, +and that this was perhaps our farewell dinner with you, for you might +be going away in a few days. Dear me, I am sorry. Are you going to +Old Point Comfort for the rest of the summer, or to your own summer +place?" + +Mrs. Curtis shook her head. "I don't know, Madge, just where I shall +go," she answered, pushing Madge's curls to one side of her white +forehead. It was the way that Mrs. Curtis liked best to have Madge +wear her hair. "But, wherever we go, can't you go with us?" she +concluded. + +Madge sighed. "I'd love to go with you," she sighed, "but I can't. +You see, Nellie and I have to go back to 'Forest House,' to spend the +rest of our holiday with Uncle and Aunt. They would be dreadfully hurt +if I suggested making a visit to you, instead of coming home to them." + +"Then I wonder if your uncle and aunt would allow me to make them a +short visit?" questioned Mrs. Curtis gravely. + +Madge opened her blue eyes. Why in the world should Mrs. Curtis wish +to go to "Forest House"? But she answered her friend promptly. "Of +course Uncle and Aunt would be most happy to have you, and Nellie and I +would be perfectly delighted." + +"Why do you think I am anxious to come, Madge?" + +Madge smiled in her sauciest fashion. "To see me, of course," she +replied. "Doesn't that sound conceited?" + +But Mrs. Curtis was not smiling. She was looking at Madge so seriously +that the young girl's merry face sobered. + +"I am not coming merely to see you, dear. I am coming to ask if I may +take you away with me for always. Haven't you guessed, that I want you +to come to live with me, to be my daughter? Tom and I are lonely. My +husband is dead, and I have no other child now, except Tom. I can't +tell you how much I want a daughter. I have plenty of money, +dear--more than I know what to do with. So we could have wonderful +times together, and do anything we chose to do. Only I would wish you +with me all the time. I couldn't let you wander off with the girls or +go to boarding school. Tom has to be away so much. You haven't any +own father and mother, and you told me that you were poor and would +have to earn your living some day. So I thought perhaps your uncle and +aunt would give you up to me. But, first, I wish to know whether my +plan pleases you." + +[Illustration: "I wish you to come and live with me, Madge."] + +Mrs. Curtis stopped talking to gaze earnestly at Madge. The girl had +turned so white that her friend was startled. She did not realize what +a surprise her suggestion had been to the little captain. She believed +that Madge must have partly guessed her intention. Miss Jenny Ann and +Phil had understood that some day Mrs. Curtis might make just this +proposal to Madge Morton. But to Madge it was a complete surprise. +She had never for an instant dreamed of such a thing. + +In a moment all the young girl's familiar world fell broken at her +feet--the old childhood home in the country, her happy friendships at +school. She saw a new world, like a vision in a fairy tale. It was a +wonderful world, that contained all the marvels of which she had +dreamed--wealth, position, admiration. Yet it was a homesick world, +for it was peopled with few of the friends whom Madge loved, with none +of the familiar places. In spite of the girl's fancies, the actual +every-day life of poverty and hope was too dear to be laid lightly +aside. + +Mrs. Curtis still waited for Madge to speak. + +"Uncle and Aunt----" she faltered. "They--would miss me----" + +"Yes, I know," returned Mrs. Curtis sympathetically. "Of course, your +own people will find it hard to give you up just at first, and Eleanor +will miss you. But I do not believe your uncle and aunt will stand in +your way if you really wish to come to me." + +Mrs. Curtis concluded in the tone of a woman accustomed to having her +own way. She was puzzled at Madge's indecision. + +"Are you sure you care for me enough to wish me to live with you, Mrs. +Curtis?" asked Madge quietly. "You see, you know only the nicest part +of me, but I have a miserable temper. Nellie and my friends are used +to me. Suppose you should take me away to live with you, and then grow +tired of me?" The girl's clear eyes questioned her new friend gravely. + +Mrs. Curtis smiled and shook her head. "No; I shouldn't grow tired of +you. People may sometimes grow vexed with you, but they are not going +to become tired of you. Now sit quite still. I want you not to speak, +but to think very hard for three minutes and then to tell me whether +you wish to be my adopted daughter. I do not wish to trouble your +uncle and aunt unless you feel sure of yourself." + +Mrs. Curtis took out her watch and laid it in her lap. + +She did not look at the watch; she kept her gaze on Madge's face. + +The little captain did not speak. She knew her eyes were filled with +tears. She was so young, and it was hard to decide her whole future +life in the space of three minutes. She realized that if Mrs. Curtis +adopted her, she would have to give up her gay, independent existence +among her old friends, the joy of doing for herself and of learning to +overcome obstacles. Then, on the other hand, Mrs. Curtis loved her and +she would give her everything in the world that a young girl could +desire. + +"Mrs. Curtis," declared Madge, when the three minutes had gone by, "I +can't--I can't decide what you ask me now. Please don't think I do not +love you. It is too wonderful for you and Tom to wish me to come to +live with you. But may I have a few days to think things over before I +give you my answer? The thought of leaving Aunt Sue and Uncle William +and Nellie does--does----" Madge could not go on. + +"Never mind, dear," soothed Mrs. Curtis. "It was not fair in me to +take you unawares, and then expect you to make up your mind so soon. +Suppose I give you three days, instead of three minutes, to think +things over. Even then, Madge, we can't be sure that your uncle and +aunt will be willing to let you be my girl instead of theirs." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +MOLLIE'S BRAVE FIGHT + +Mollie was sitting alone on the deck of the houseboat. She and Miss +Jenny had just finished an early tea. The girls were still away at +their dinner, and Miss Jenny Ann had gone up to the nearest farmhouse +to get some eggs for breakfast. It was the first time Mollie had ever +been left by herself on the houseboat. But Miss Jenny Ann did not +think there was any possible danger. Neither Captain Mike nor Bill had +made the slightest attempt to get possession of Mollie. Nor did Miss +Jones intend to be out of call for more than fifteen minutes. + +Mollie had begun to lose the vague dread that had haunted her all her +life. The peaceful hours of the past ten days seemed more real to her +than the dreary, ugly years of her childhood. She began faintly to +realize what life could mean when one was not afraid. + +Mollie's hands, a little roughened from hard work, were folded +peacefully in her lap. Her beautiful head, with its crown of +sun-colored hair, was resting against the cushion of the big steamer +chair. She was on the small upper deck, facing the bow of the boat. A +strolling breeze had blown the hair back from her forehead, and the +ugly scar was visible. But, now that Mollie's head no longer ached +from the hard work she had been forced to endure, the throbbing and the +old pain in this scar had almost gone. The girl was slowly finding +herself. So far she had accepted her new life without a question, +taking what was done for her like a contented child. Now she sat +looking up the bay for the return of her friends. They would not be at +home for several hours, but time meant very little to Mollie, and she +had been lonely since they had gone away. + +A skiff came down the bay with a single figure seated in it. + +Mollie heard the faint splashing of the oars, but since water sounds +had been familiar to her all her life she did not even turn her head to +see if any one were coming near to the houseboat. + +She knew the girls were due from the other direction. + +The boat moved slowly in toward the shore. It made almost no sound, +now that it drew nearer the land. With a final dip of the oars and a +strong forward movement the small boat glided well within the shadow of +the stern of the houseboat. There it stopped. + +Mollie did not see nor hear it. For some moments the boat rested +quietly in the shallow water, moving only with the faint movement of +the evening tide. The solitary boatman sat without stirring. He +leaned forward, listening intently for any sounds of life aboard the +houseboat. He had espied the deserted figure on the upper deck. + +In almost complete silence the man fastened his boat to the houseboat +and in his stocking feet clambered up the side of "The Merry Maid" and +came aboard. He slipped around the deck, crouching on his hands and +knees. He listened at the doors of each room in the cabin. No one was +about except the girl in the steamer chair. The man moved like a cat, +with almost complete noiselessness. He made no effort to onto the +deserted cabin. Nor did he, at first, make any movement that showed +the least interest in Mollie. + +At the farther end of the deck, outside the kitchen, the prowler made a +discovery which caused him great satisfaction. He smiled. He picked +it up and shook it furtively. The treasure was a big tin can, nearly +full of kerosene. + +Still on his hands and knees, the man tilted the can until the oil ran +in a little stream down the deck and soaked well into the wood. He +then put his hand in his pocket to look for something. + +Mollie did not hear him. At least, her ears were not conscious that +they caught a distinct sound. Finally she became conscious of the +presence of some one near her. She got quickly up out of her chair and +leaned over the railing of the top deck. + +At this moment the man, with his back toward her, struck a match. +Mollie beheld the crouching figure. She could not tell who the man +was. Was it Bill or her father come to steal her away? The old, +dreadful fear swept over her, with enough of memory to make her realize +what her capture would mean. The girl's first instinct was to hide. +She did not realize how poor a refuge the houseboat offered her. It +seemed to her that, if she could only get into one of the cabin +bedrooms and conceal herself in her berth, she might escape. Poor +Mollie had no better idea to aid her. She came running down the +outside steps and ran toward the cabin door. + +The man rose quickly. He did not move toward Mollie. Outside the +cabin kitchen was a big box filled with chips and bits of kindling, +used to light the kitchen stove. The man gathered up a handful of +these pieces of wood and ran back to his old position. He glanced at +Mollie. But it was easy to see that she was trying to get away, not to +hinder him in what he was doing. He picked up the oil can again. This +time he poured the few remaining drops on a little pile of chips and +lit another match. The tinder blazed up. The man fanned the tiny +flames with the brim of a torn hat. The flare of light grew brighter; +a great flame leapt up and then a snake-like curve of fire followed the +oil-soaked wood. + +When the man did not move toward Mollie she stopped in the cabin door. +She was afraid of him. She was not like other girls. Ever since she +had been able to know anything she had felt a curious, confused feeling +in her head. She did not know who the man was on the deck of the boat. +But she did know that he was trying to set their houseboat afire. + +Mollie paid no further attention to the man. She did not scream at +him, nor try to stop what he was doing. She rushed forward and began +stamping on the pile of blazing sticks. + +The man did not attempt to prevent her. He was watching the increasing +length of flame spread over the deck. A second later he sprang up, ran +across the deck, slipped over the side of "The Merry Maid," dropped +into his rowboat, and rowed swiftly out of sight. + +Mollie flew for the big bucket of water, which they always kept in a +certain spot. She flung the water on the flames, but water will not +quench the flames made from oil. The rail began to crackle, the sparks +to fly. The "Merry Maid" was afire, with only one, feeble girl to save +it! + +Mollie knew that there were steamer blankets in the bedrooms of the +cabin. She often had one to cover her when she took her afternoon +rest. Remember, Mollie had had little education, but she had been +brought up to work and to do practical tasks. It was but the work of a +moment to drag out two blankets and spread them over the flames. The +fire died down for a moment; then it crept through the fringe of the +rugs, and a choking smell of burning wool showed that the blankets also +were beginning to burn. But the brave girl had no intention of giving +up the fight. + +There were two other blankets left. Mollie started back to the cabin +for these, when to her terror she discovered that the skirt of her +cotton dress was in names. She tried to beat it out with her hands, +but it crept steadily up toward her head. She cried aloud, but she +could see no one coming to save her. The pain was more intense every +moment. She could not keep still. She ran toward the edge of the +deck. Before her the placid water lay cool and sweet. With a cry of +pain, Mollie threw herself over the side of the houseboat. She did not +realize how shallow the water was. She flung herself with all her +force. Her head struck against the bottom with a heavy thud. At least +the water was cool; the fire no longer burned her. + +Miss Jones and Mr. Brown, who had joined Miss Jenny Ann on her way back +from the farmhouse, heard Mollie's first cry of alarm. The artist had +been coming down to the houseboat to make an evening call. Two +strangers, a man and his wife, were strolling along the top of the +small embankment. They also heard the call. The four of them started +down the hill almost at the same time. Before they reached the +houseboat, the odor of burning wood was borne to their nostrils. Miss +Jenny Ann cried out for Mollie, but Mollie did not answer. Mr. Brown +and the two strangers began beating out the fire on the boat. It had +not spread far; the blankets had covered the flames and kept them from +increasing. The overturned oil can gave the clue to the mystery. Mr. +Brown dashed into the kitchen for a bag of salt, because salt more +quickly puts out the flames from burning oil. + +Miss Jenny Ann had, so far, been unable to find Mollie. Now she looked +over the side of the boat, and Mollie's body could be plainly seen +lying in the shallow water. Mr. Brown and the stranger together +brought the girl back to the houseboat. She was insensible. In her +plunge into the water she had struck her head with great force against +the bottom of the bay. She was stunned by the shock, and when she +returned to consciousness the pain from the burn and the blow made her +delirious. As she alone could tell what had transpired in that brief +hour, the cause of the fire remained a mystery. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE EVIL GENIUS + +"I think I had better go up to the hotel to prepare the girls for what +has happened," suggested Mr. Brown a short time afterward. + +Miss Jenny Ann seemed surprised at the thought of his leaving her alone +with Mollie, and said so. + +"Yes; I think I had better go at once," he announced decisively. "The +doctor will be here in a few minutes. I can do nothing for you or for +Mollie, but I can save the girls from the shock of returning to find +their houseboat damaged and their friend so ill." + +Miss Jenny Ann agreed quietly. If Mr. Brown thought it best to go, it +did not really matter. "Ask the girls to come home as soon as they +can," she added. "Phil is so clever in cases of illness." + +"I'll borrow the 'Water Witch.' I think I can get up to the Belleview +quicker if I go by water than if I wait for the street car to take me +there. The girls will bring the boat home with them." + +Mr. Brown disappeared from the deck of the boat a few moments later. +He climbed into the "Water Witch" and rowed very swiftly up the bay. + +Miss Jones had taken it for granted that their houseboat had caught +fire by accident. She had not had time to give much thought to the +matter. But Mr. Brown had other views. He remembered the boy who had +attempted the robbery, and he had other reasons for his suspicions. A +can of oil might very easily have turned over on the deck, but was +there any reason to suppose that a pile of matches would be left lying +at one side of the can? The young artist meant to make a thorough +search for the possible offender. He wished to get out on the water as +soon as he could, because he believed the incendiary had escaped that +way. Mr. Brown and Miss Jenny Ann had been walking down the embankment +at the very time the trespasser must have made his escape. If he had +gone by land, one of them must have caught sight of him. + +Theodore Brown was an ex-member of a Yale boat crew. He made the +"Water Witch" skim through the waters, and at the same time he kept a +sharp lookout for a small boat. There were a number of skiffs filled +with young girls and men. But Mr. Brown was looking for a boat with +the single figure of a boy in it. + +He went toward the hotel, believing that the boatman would feel more +secure if he were swallowed up in a crowd, than if he were seen in a +more deserted part of the bay. Mr. Brown had almost reached the hotel +pier before he came up to the character of skiff he desired to find. +Then he was embarrassed how to accost the young man in it, as it was +possible for him to see only the oarsman's back. Mr. Brown. came as +close up alongside the stranger's boat as he could. Still he could not +see the man's face. He leaned out of his own boat and called: "I want +to drift along here and smoke. Would you be kind enough to lend me a +match?" + +The other oarsman apparently did not hear him. He rowed on faster. +Again Mr. Brown caught up with him. He called, in an even more +friendly fashion, "Haven't you that match?" + +The stranger fumbled a minute in his pocket. "Sorry to disoblige you," +he answered. "I haven't a match about me." + +Theodore Brown laughed. The two small boats were almost touching each +other. "Sorry to have troubled you," continued Mr. Brown, leaning as +far over the side of his boat as he could. "After all, I find I have +some matches in my own pocket. You had better take a cigar to show you +forgive me for annoying you." + +The artist struck a light and held it for a moment full in the other +oarsman's face. It was only a second; the light flickered and went +out. The man in the boat winced as the light shone on his face. "No, +thank you; I don't smoke," he answered politely. With that he shot his +skiff on ahead. + +Mr. Brown followed behind him. He saw the other man was about to land +at a deserted beach a short distance to the left of the Belleview Hotel +pier. Mr. Brown did not make for the same shore immediately. He +waited until the man was on land and striding out of sight; then the +artist jumped from his own boat and went after the other man. Not many +yards away was the side lawn of the hotel. It was a warm summer night, +and a number of guests were strolling about under the trees. Mr. Brown +put his hand on the arm of the fellow whom he had been following. + +The boy leaped forward in an effort to wrench himself away. At this +moment he recognized the artist and knew he had been overtaken. Mr. +Brown kept a firm hold on his arm. + +"What do you want with me?" demanded the lad, trying to appear at his +ease. "Aren't you the fellow who came alongside of me in the boat?" + +"I am," was the curt reply, "and I don't wish to ask a great favor of +you. I simply wish you to come over to the hotel with me to see some +friends of mine. We would like to ask you a few questions. Of course, +if you can answer them satisfactorily, I shall let you go with my best +apologies. I would advise you not to make any resistance here. You +will attract the attention of the people on the lawn." + +Mrs. Curtis and her guests were rather surprised when a hotel boy came +up to her sitting room to say that Mr. Theodore Brown and some one else +would like to speak to Mr. Tom Curtis for a few minutes, if that were +possible. + +Tom came back to his mother a little later, his eyes flashing. He +related a part of Mr. Brown's story. + +"If you don't mind, Mother, I think we had better have the fellow up +here for the girls to see. I know he is the man who took the sailboat +from Madge and me, and Mr. Brown says he is the fellow who attempted to +rob the houseboat; but whether he has set it afire and nearly been the +death of Mollie, we have no way of finding out. He vows he has not +been near the houseboat since the day he promised never to return. If +we cross-examine him up here, perhaps we can get at the truth." + +Eleanor had slipped out of the room to find her coat and hat as soon as +she learned of the accident to Mollie. The other young women were +trembling with sympathy and alarm, but they waited to see the boy +brought upstairs. + +The girls were not long in agreeing to the identity of the prisoner as +the evil genius of their past experiences. But there was no way of +proving that he had actually set fire to the houseboat, for he still +absolutely denied all knowledge of it. + +Eleanor came back to the sitting-room. "Aren't you ready to leave, +girls?" she demanded. "Miss Jenny Ann and Mollie need us." + +Eleanor sniffed the air daintily. "What is that curious odor of +kerosene, Mrs. Curtis?" she inquired curiously. "Do you think any of +the lamps could be leaking?" + +"Good!" Mr. Brown ejaculated. "What a chump I am! I have been +conscious of that smell all this time and had not associated it with +the houseboat." + +Mr. Brown put his nose down to his prisoner's hands. Then he inhaled +the scent of his coat. Tom Curtis followed suit. The odor was +unmistakable. The lad was well smeared with oil. The circumstantial +evidence was strong against the captured boy when Mr. Brown related the +discovery of the overturned can and the spread of the kerosene on the +houseboat deck. + +"I am awfully sorry to have made this scene, Mrs. Curtis," apologized +the young artist, "but I knew no other way for us to settle the matter +at once. This young man has done too much mischief to our friends to +be allowed to go free again. But you need not think further of the +experience, I'll take the lad and give him up to the police to-night. +Your son and I will be able to identify him. It will not be necessary +to draw you girls into the business. We can manage without you." + +Mrs. Curtis looked exceedingly uncomfortable. She had been bitterly +angry at the way the lad had served Tom and Madge, and at that time she +would have given a great deal to have had him properly punished. Since +then he had added one evil deed to the other. But the boy, who was +being led away to prison, seemed so young, not much older than Tom. He +was wild and reckless in his appearance, yet he had the aspect of +having been born of gentle people. + +The youth had not spoken since the discovery of the oil on his hands +and clothes. Now, as he was being led from the sitting room, he turned +on his cross-questioners and shook with swift laughter. He threw back +his head, so that his long, dark hair uncovered his ears. His eyes +gleamed. + +Madge, who was staring hard at the boy from her position on the far +side of the room, gave an unexpected movement of surprise. She waited +for the young prisoner to speak. + +"You needn't trouble your girls to appear against me," he said +savagely, "but you will have to introduce their chaperon in court, and +a pretty thing it will be for a sister to appear as a witness against +her own brother!" + +A frozen silence fell on the group of listeners. Phil shook her head +emphatically. "You are not our Miss Jenny Ann's brother," she retorted +decidedly. "It would be perfectly impossible for her to have a wicked +brother like you." + +Theodore Brown's face flushed and paled. He would have liked to drag +the lad out of the room without waiting another instant. Yet he feared +to make the scene even worse. He did not have the slightest faith in +the lad's statement; he was only fiercely angry at the boy's impudence +and wondered if the fellow even knew the name of the chaperon of the +"Merry Maid." + +Lillian and Eleanor were flushed with indignation. Tom Curtis was +equally so. But Mrs. Curtis happened to catch a glimpse of Madge's +face. Her expression was a puzzle. She ran forward and touched Mr. +Brown on the sleeve. "Wait a minute, Mr. Brown," she pleaded. "Don't +take the boy to jail yet. What he says may be true. Don't you think +we ought to ask him some questions first?" + +The entire company stared at Madge in amazement. But in the single +moment when Mr. Brown's captive started to leave the room, the little +captain had seen the tips of his pointed ears. She had caught the +wild, almost animal gleam in his eyes. She recalled the midnight +visitor to their chaperon on the first night their houseboat had rested +at anchor. She remembered Miss Jenny Ann's curious behavior, and how +she had absolutely refused to give the name of her caller. All this +swept through Madge's mind and now she understood Miss Jenny Ann's +poverty, her reticence about her own affairs, her unhappiness when the +girls first knew her at school. Of course, this wicked brother was the +cause of their chaperon's difficulties. If they punished the boy, Miss +Jenny Ann must suffer more than he would. She had lately grown to be +as merry as any of the girls on board the "Merry Maid." + +"O Mrs. Curtis!" exclaimed Madge, "please don't let Tom and Mr. Brown +take him off to jail. I think he _is_ our Miss Jenny Ann's brother. I +wouldn't have her find out the wicked things he has done for all the +money in the world." Madge was almost in tears as she made her plea to +Mrs. Curtis. + +"Never mind, dear," replied Mrs. Curtis soothingly. "If the lad really +turns out to be your chaperon's brother, you are right; his behavior +must be kept a secret from her." + +Mrs. Curtis, Mr. Brown and Tom afterward found the statement of the +wild boy to be true. He was really Miss Jones's brother. His parents +had died when he was a little boy, and his sister had sacrificed her +life's hopes to him. Yet her efforts had been in vain. He had always +been hard to control. In the last few years he had broken away from +all restraint. He had been concealed in the motor boat that first +towed the girls and their chaperon to their anchorage and had seen his +sister on the houseboat. His plan had been to get money from her. +When she told him that she had none to give him he had devoted his time +to tormenting the crew of the "Merry Maid" in order to be revenged on +his sister. + +After long consultation it was decided not to send him to prison. Mrs. +Curtis gave him the money to sail for South Africa, after making him +promise to try to turn over a new leaf, and not to write to his sister +until he was safely out of the country. And so Miss Jenny Ann's ghost +was laid without her knowing it until some time afterward. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +"MOTHER" + +Not one of the four girls closed her eyes during the long night +following the dinner given by Mrs. Curtis. Miss Jenny Ann sat by +Mollie until toward morning, when Eleanor and Lillian relieved her. +Madge and Phil walked up and down the deck in order to be ready if they +were called. But as the long night wore on, Mollie exhibited no sign +of returning consciousness. + +After an early breakfast the next morning Miss Jones went back to her +charge, and the girls lingered in the cabin sitting room talking +together in low tones. + +Madge kept her arms about Eleanor. Every now and then she would lean +over to kiss her cousin. + +Nellie laughed softly. "What's the matter, Madge? Why are you so +affectionate with me all of a sudden? Does it make you care more for +me because poor, lovely Mollie is so ill, and because it might just as +easily have been me, or Phil, or Lillian?" + +Madge nodded. "Perhaps that is the reason." + +Neither Lillian nor Eleanor even faintly dreamed that their friend had +anything on her mind to worry her, except the critical condition poor +Mollie was in; but Phil knew differently. She had long suspected what +Mrs. Curtis's preference for Madge meant. Phyllis and Miss Jenny Ann +had even discussed the possibility of their captain leaving them. +However, Phil had never broached the subject to Madge. She Phil +couldn't, she wouldn't think of it. + +Mrs. Curtis and Tom arrived at the houseboat just as Madge and Phil +were about to relieve Miss Jenny Ann's second watch. The physician had +said that he expected Mollie to regain consciousness some time during +the morning, and that she must not be left alone for a moment. + +"Mrs. Curtis, slip into the room to see Mollie," whispered Madge. +"Phil and I must go to her now. She is unconscious, so your presence +could not frighten her. I want you to see how beautiful she is. She +is really the prettiest person I ever saw, except you," Madge declared, +as she threw a kiss to her friend and hurried after Phil into the cabin. + +Miss Jenny Ann went into the sitting-room to lie down. Eleanor and +Lillian went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. + +Madge and Phil sat side by side at Mollie's berth. Madge's eyes were +fixed on Mollie's unconscious face, but Phil looked often at her chum. +Phyllis cared very little for wealth and position, for fine clothes and +servants, but she knew these things were very dear to her friend. Yet, +in a vague way, she realized that Madge would be likely to grow into a +finer, sweeter woman without them. Phyllis understood their little +captain. She knew that Madge was full of fine impulses, was brave and +loyal in the midst of difficulties; but she also knew that she was +easily spoiled and that too much money and admiration would not be good +for her. + +"Phil," asked Madge, "isn't Mollie stirring? Is there anything we +ought to do for her?" + +Phil bent over to gaze more attentively at their patient. She studied +every curve and line in the girl's exquisite face. Now that Mollie's +eyes were closed, and the vacant, pathetic stare was no more visible in +them, her beauty was the more remarkable. Something in Mollie's quiet +features seemed to surprise Phyllis, but she said nothing. + +"We can't do anything but wait," answered Phil. "The doctor said that +quiet is all Mollie needs. She is sure to come to herself some time +to-day." + +Phil slid her chair up close beside her chum's and kissed her friend on +the cheek. It was an unusual demonstration for the reserved Phyllis. +Madge stared at her. Then she turned a little pale. "You know what +has happened to me, don't you?" she whispered. "I am sure you must +know." + +Phil bowed her head. + +"Can't you help me decide?" begged Madge. + +"No." Phil shook her head sadly. "You'll have to make up your mind +for yourself." + +The two girls sat in silence after this. They heard Mrs. Curtis come +softly into the room and take a low chair in the far corner of the +cabin, so as not to disturb Mollie if the girl should awake. She could +just see the bed, but not the face of the girl on the pillow. + +By and by Mollie stirred. "I am thirsty," she said distinctly. "Will +some one please get me a glass of water?" + +Phil rose quickly. "Here it is, Mollie," she answered, handing the +girl the water, and trying to lift her with the other arm. Madge +stooped over to aid her. + +"Thank you," responded Mollie gently. "But why do you call me Mollie? +My name isn't Mollie." + +"We never liked to call you 'Moll'," replied Madge soothingly. "Mollie +seemed to us to be a prettier name." + +The girl laughed lightly. "No, I shouldn't think you would. My name +is Madeleine, not Mollie. And you are Phyllis and Madge. I wonder why +I never told you before that my name is Madeleine." Mollie's eyes had +lost their pathetic stare. They were quiet and reasonable. + +"Don't try to talk, Mollie--Madeleine, I mean," murmured Phil. "You +must try to go to sleep again." + +She and Madge never changed their positions until the ill girl's head +grew heavy on their arms and she slept peacefully. + +"O Phil!" Madge faltered, "you don't think Mollie is going to----" + +"Sh-sh!" returned Phyllis warningly. "Don't show her you are surprised +at anything she says." + +Madge clenched her hands to keep them from trembling, but she could +feel her knees shaking under her. + +The patient opened her eyes again. "I fell off the yacht, didn't I?" +she inquired. "It's funny, but I couldn't think what had happened to +me for a long time. I was trying to remember all night. It was such a +long night. I kept seeing dreadful, rude men, who were cruel to me. I +must have been dreaming. Where is my mother? Why doesn't she come to +me?" + +"Your mother!" exclaimed Madge. A glance from Phil silenced her. + +"Your mother can't come to you now, she is----" Phyllis faltered. + +"Never mind," the gentle girl spoke faintly. "Mother may be resting. +She must have been dreadfully frightened when she learned I had tumbled +overboard. I think something fell and struck me on the head." + +"Don't talk any more, please, dear," entreated Phyllis. "You can tell +us all about what happened when you have rested a little longer. You +are very tired." + +The sick girl dozed again. Phyllis and Madge slipped their aching arms +out from under their patient's pillow. + +"Mollie's memory has come back to her, hasn't it?" Madge breathed in +her chum's ear. "I wonder if it will go away again, or if she will +remember more about herself when she is stronger?" + +"I believe her memory has returned," Phil answered softly. "It is a +miracle. We must be very careful. Any excitement or surprise might +kill her. I wish the doctor were here." + +Some one stole across the room without a sound. The girls knew it must +be Mrs. Curtis. Neither one of them stirred nor for the instant +glanced at their friend; they were too intent on their patient. But +they were grateful for her presence. She had heard Mollie's peculiar +remarks. She would know what they ought to do when Mollie began to +talk again. + +Mrs. Curtis came so close to the sick girl's bed that Madge and Phil +stepped back to let her have the nearest place. She leaned over and +looked at Mollie as though she would never grow tired of gazing at her. +Once her lips moved, but it was impossible to tell what she said. Then +Mrs. Curtis's strength seemed to give way. She dropped on her knees, +with her arms resting on the edge of Mollie's bed. + +Ten minutes passed. No one moved or spoke in the tiny cabin chamber. +Mollie slept peacefully. Mrs. Curtis did not stir. She was like a +figure carved in stone. She was waiting for something to happen. Was +it for the girl on the bed to speak again? + +Madge and Phil scarcely dared to breathe. They did not understand the +situation, but they felt themselves to be in the presence of a mystery. +A drama was being enacted in the tiny room, and they were the only +audience to it. + +"Mother, where are you?" Mollie's voice sounded clear and strong. + +"I am here," Mrs. Curtis replied softly, not stirring from her position +by the bed. + +"Why hasn't Tom been here to see me? And why are Phyllis and Madge so +good to me? I don't understand." + +Mollie turned restlessly on her pillow. Her hair fell away from her +forehead and revealed the jagged, ugly scar. Mrs. Curtis saw it. For +the first time she gave an involuntary shudder of emotion. Mollie put +up her hand to her head with the old, familiar gesture of pain. + +"My head hurts," she announced, as though she had not known of her +injury before. "Have I been sick a long time? Somehow, you look so +different." + +Mrs. Curtis nodded. "Yes, daughter, you have been ill a long, long +time. But you will be well and happy when you wake up again. You are +with Mother now." + +Mrs. Curtis gathered Mollie into her arms and the two girls stole out +of the tiny cabin, closing the door behind them. The mother and +daughter were alone. + +"What has happened to you, Madge Morton? Why do you girls look so +strangely at me?" demanded Tom Curtis as he caught sight of Madge's +face. He was leaning against the deck rail staring curiously at his +friends. "Is Mollie worse?" + +"Oh, no; she is not worse. She is well. That is, she can remember. +She is---- Oh, I don't know what I am saying," cried Madge in +confusion. + +Miss Jenny Ann came out of the sitting room. Lillian and Eleanor also +joined the little group on deck. Still Madge was silent. + +"Ought I to tell?" she faltered, looking at Phyllis. "Don't you think +Mrs. Curtis ought to tell Tom?" + +"If you have bad news for me speak quickly!" returned Tom. "I would +rather hear it from you than anybody in the world. You are almost like +a sister to me, Madge." + +The little captain went forward and put her hand gently on Tom's arm. +"You won't need me for a sister now, Tom," she said gently. "Phil and +I do not understand what has happened. Your mother will have to +explain to you. But our Mollie is not Mollie at all. Her name is +Madeleine. Her memory has come back to her. She thinks your mother is +her mother. And Mrs. Curtis called her daughter!" + +The cabin door opened. Mrs. Curtis walked out, moving like a woman in +a dream. "Don't speak loudly," she said. "Madeleine has gone to +sleep." She crossed over to Tom. "Tom," she explained quietly, "the +girls have found your sister after twelve years; my baby is a young +woman." + +Tom put his arm about his mother. Mrs. Curtis spoke rapidly now, as +though she feared her voice would fail her. "Miss Jones, years ago my +little daughter, who was ten years old, fell from our steam yacht. She +had been left alone by her nurse for a few minutes. When the woman +came back the child was not to be found. No one saw or heard her fall +overboard. The boat was searched, but Madeleine had disappeared. We +were off the coast of Florida. For months and months we searched for +my daughter's body. We offered everything we had in the world for news +of her. No word came. I used to think she would come back to me. +Long ago I gave up hope. Now, when I saw this poor Mollie, I thought I +recognized my child, and when she opened her eyes her memory returned +to her. She knew I was her mother, in spite of my white hair. I think +it is because she now remembers nothing of her unhappy past. She +thinks she was hurt only a short time ago. She must not learn the +truth until she is stronger. Will you keep me here with you until I +can take my daughter home?" + +Mrs. Curtis staggered slightly and grew very white. It was Madge who +sprang to her side and led her to a chair. "You have found what you +want most in the world," she whispered, "I am so glad for your sake." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +FAREWELL TO THE MERRY MAID + +"Miss Jenny Ann, I can't get all these things packed in this barrel," +protested Madge despairingly. "I don't see how they ever got in here +before." + +Miss Jenny Ann laughed from the depths of a large box, where she was +folding sheets and placing them in neat piles. "Remember, we have +added a number of tin pans to our store since we came aboard the +houseboat. But don't worry, dear. We will get all the belongings +packed in time." + +"Isn't it too awful that the houseboat has to be left to its poor dear +self for the rest of the summer? Just think, we have had over six +weeks' holiday, and, if it weren't for Madeleine, it would seem like +six days." + +"I have something to tell you, Madge," announced Miss Jenny Ann, +raising a flushed face from her task. "Do you remember when you came +into the library, at school, and found me crying over a letter? I told +you that I was frightened at what my doctor had written me. I have a +different story to tell now. I am well as well can be. I have gained +ten pounds in six weeks; that is a record, isn't it?" + +"I am so glad," bubbled Madge. "You've been the jolliest kind of a +chaperon, dear Miss Jenny Ann, and we love you. You know I am sorry I +used to be so disagreeable to you at school, and you do like me now, +don't you?" + +Miss Jenny Ann and Madge desisted from their labors long enough to +embrace each other. + +"Here, here, what is all this love-feast about?" demanded Tom Curtis +cheerfully. He had come quietly aboard the houseboat, and was standing +at the cabin door, smiling cheerfully at the little captain. + +"Go away, Tom," returned Madge reproachfully. "I told you we couldn't +have any company to-day. I said good-bye to you last night. We are +getting things in shape to leave the houseboat. A man who has a +boat-house is going to take care of the 'Merry Maid' for us until we +come into another fortune and have another holiday." + +"What time does your train leave?" inquired Tom coolly, picking up a +hammer and preparing to fasten the top on Madge's barrel. + +"At four o'clock," sighed Madge. "We are going to Baltimore together, +and start home from there." + +"It is all right, then," answered Tom Curtis placidly. "I have plenty +time to stay to luncheon." + +"Tell him he can't, Miss Jenny Ann Jones," declared Madge inhospitably, +"we haven't a thing to eat except some crackers and stale bread, and a +few odd pieces of cold meat. And I am so dreadfully hungry that I can +eat them all myself." + +"I am going to stay just the same," asserted Tom. "I am going to be +the busiest little worker on the 'Merry Maid'." + +The houseboat party would never have finished its packing except for +their uninvited visitor. He sat on trunks, fastened locks and doors. +At one o'clock "The Merry Maid" was in order to be deserted. + +"Let's go up to the farmhouse to get some food," suggested Tom. "I am +hungry as a bear, and I know they will give us some milk and bread." + +Madge demurred, but the other three girls and Miss Jenny Ann were much +too hungry to stand on ceremony. + +Tom led the way to the farmhouse as though he felt sure of his welcome. + +At the old gate, however, they found Mrs. Curtis and Madeleine +apparently waiting for them. "We couldn't bear that yesterday should +be good-bye," explained Mrs. Curtis, putting her arm about Madge and +drawing her away from the others. + +Madeleine held out her hands to Phyllis. She still looked white and +fragile from her illness, but she was so exquisitely lovely that people +turned about to gaze at her as she passed by them. Her face wore the +expression of a serious child. She could not immediately make up for +the lost years of her life, and she never left her mother or her +brother but for a short time. Still she was at ease with the girls and +talked a little with them. Her memory had come back to her, whether +from the second blow on her head, or from the quiet life--which, the +medical men could not say. After a while Madeleine would be able to +take the place in the gay world which her beauty and wealth made for +her. For the present she needed rest, quiet, and absolute peace of +mind. + +"You haven't changed your mind, have you, Madge?" asked Mrs. Curtis, as +she and the little captain walked side by side to the farmhouse +together. + +Madge shook her bead. "It isn't a case of changing my mind. I had not +decided. Now that you have found your real daughter you surely do not +wish to be burdened with an imitation one." + +"But I still want you, my dear. A woman is richer with two daughters +than with one," replied Mrs. Curtis. + +"No; you and Madeleine ought to be together," concluded Madge wisely. +"You are awfully good, and I shall always feel that you are the best +friend I have. But I had not been able to make up my mind to leave my +own people and the girls, so, of course, everything has turned out for +the best, and I am so happy for you and Tom and Madeleine. It is as +good as playing a part in a fairy story to see one come true before +your very eyes. Have you seen Captain Mike?" Madge lowered her voice, +so that Madeleine could not overhear her. + +Mrs. Curtis flushed. "Once, and for always. I hope never to look upon +the dreadful man again. Tom felt that he and I must go to this Mike to +ask him something of my little girl's history. He claims to have +picked her up and, thinking her dead, left her for a few hours +unnoticed in his sailboat. The man had done something reprehensible +while in Florida, and was sailing for the Atlantic Ocean to flee from +justice, so he did not stop to inquire about my child, or to give her +more than a passing thought. His first wife was evidently a better +woman than this second one. She worked with my Madeleine, brought her +back to life and must have been good to her. But my baby could never +remember her name, nor tell anything about herself. Captain Mike was +on the ocean for two weeks, and too ignorant to study the papers +afterward. The first wife wished to keep the child. After a short +time she died, and then----" Mrs. Curtis stopped abruptly. + +"We won't ever mention it again," said Madge tactfully. "I can only +say I am so glad you found her." + +Mrs. Watson, the farmer's wife, met the houseboat party with a smiling +face. She conducted them into the dining room. Miss Jenny Ann and the +four girls sighed with satisfaction for they were very hungry. The +great mahogany table was weighted down with food--roast chicken, ham, +salad, doughnuts. + +"This is Tom's party," smiled Mrs. Curtis, in answer to a look of +delighted astonishment from Madge. "It was his idea to say a last +good-bye to our houseboat friends, and to see them safely started on +their journey toward home. But, Miss Jenny Ann, I have something to +say. I wish to tell you a story and I wish you to tell me what you +think without any reference to anybody or anything at this table." + +"Of course I will," answered Miss Jenny Ann lightly, not dreaming what +Mrs. Curtis intended to say. + +"Suppose, once upon a time you had lost something very precious," +continued Mrs. Curtis. "Say it was a mine of precious stones. Suppose +you had hunted for years but could never find it. After a while some +friends discover the treasure for you, and give it back to you? Don't +you believe you would like to do something to show your gratitude?" + +"Certainly I should," replied Miss Jenny Ann promptly, falling into the +trap. + +"Then why not let me have a houseboat party this fall?" proposed Mrs. +Curtis. "Madeleine and I will be staying near Old Point Comfort. Tom +will be camping with some boy friends near Cape Charles. I am going to +count on your bringing the houseboat down the shore to pay us a visit +and you are to be my guests from the moment you set foot on the boat." + +The four chums looked at Mrs. Curtis, their eyes shining with delight. +Another holiday on their beloved houseboat! But ought they accept so +great a gift from Mrs. Curtis. They understood that it was her +intention to finance the trip. + +Tom looked at his watch. "It's a pity to break up the party. But as +we are to drive to the village we must soon be off. The expressman has +already taken the trunks. You'd better accept mother's invitation." + +"We thank you," said Madge slowly, "but will you give us a few days in +which to decide? Then we will write you at Old Point Comfort." + +"Very well," replied Mrs. Curtis, "but let us hope that your answer +will be 'yes.' I wish you would look upon the trip as a love offering +from Madeleine." + +Mrs. Curtis looked wistfully at the circle of girlish faces. Her eyes, +mute with pleading, met Madge's. They seemed to say, "Why not decide +now, and make us happy?" + +Their appeal was too strong for Madge. "Girls, I think we ought to +accept Mrs. Curtis's gift to us. It is right and she wishes us to do +so. Of what use is it to wait three days. Let us say 'yes' now and +then we shall all he happy. All together! Is it 'yes'?" + +"'Yes,'" chorused four voices. + +Madge turned to Mrs. Curtis. "We must say good-bye this minute, but +we'll write you, and one of these days you'll find our 'Ship of Dreams' +anchored on your beach." + +How Madge kept her promise and what happened during their visit to Old +Point Comfort is fully set forth in "MADGE MORTON'S SECRET," a story no +wide-awake girl can afford to miss. + + + + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid +by Amy D. V. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/16253-8.zip b/16253-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8f8d41a --- /dev/null +++ b/16253-8.zip diff --git a/16253-h.zip b/16253-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c75562 --- /dev/null +++ b/16253-h.zip diff --git a/16253-h/16253-h.htm b/16253-h/16253-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..44c6510 --- /dev/null +++ b/16253-h/16253-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8777 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; background: White; margin-right: 10%; margin-left: 10%; font-size: medium; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; margin-left: 10%; font-size: small } + +P.letter {font-size: small } + + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid +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, Captain of the Merry Maid + +Author: Amy D. V. Chalmers + +Release Date: July 9, 2005 [EBook #16253] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADGE MORTON *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="Frontispiece" BORDER="2" WIDTH="343" HEIGHT="570"> +<H5> +[Frontispiece: Their houseboat vacation had begun.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +Madge Morton, +<BR> +Captain of the Merry Maid +</H1> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By +</H4> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AMY D. V. CHALMERS +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Author of Madge Morton's Secret, Madge Morton's Trust, Madge Morton's Victory. +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +PHILADELPHIA +<BR><BR> +HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY HOWARD E. ALTEMUS +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +PRINTED IN THE +<BR><BR> +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H3> + +<CENTER> + +<TABLE WIDTH="80%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"><B>CHAPTER</B></TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">MADGE MORTON'S PLAN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">CHOOSING A CHAPERON</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE SEARCH FOR A HOUSEBOAT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE FAIRY'S WAND</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">ALL ABOARD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">PLEASURE BAY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">THE UNKNOWN JAILER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">AN ANXIOUS NIGHT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">THE GIRL ON THE ISLAND</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">AN EXCITING RACE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">AT THE MERCY OF THE WAVES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">A BRAVE FIGHT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">LIFE OR DEATH?</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">MADGE COMES INTO HER OWN AGAIN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">A CALL FOR HELP</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">THE ATTEMPTED RESCUE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE CAPTURE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">ON A STRANGE SHORE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">FINDING A WAY TO HELP MOLLIE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">MADGE'S OPPORTUNITY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">MOLLIE'S BRAVE FIGHT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">THE EVIL GENIUS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">"MOTHER"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">FAREWELL TO THE "MERRY MAID"</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +List of Illustrations +</H3> + +<H4> +<a href="#img-front"> +Their houseboat vacation had begun … Frontispiece. +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<a href="#img-114"> +Madge and Tom went gayly down to the boat. +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<a href="#img-170"> +The girls ran down to the water's edge. +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<a href="#img-214"> +"I wish you to come and live with me, Madge." +</A> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +Madge Morton, +<BR> +Captain of the Merry Maid +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MADGE MORTON'S PLAN +</H3> + +<P> +"I never can bear it!" cried Madge Morton excitedly, throwing herself +down on her bed in one of the dormitories of Miss Tolliver's Select +School for Girls. "It is not half so bad for Eleanor. She, at least, +is going to spend her holiday with people she likes. But for Uncle +William and Aunt Sue to leave for California just as school closes, and +to send me off to a horrid old maid cousin for half my vacation, is +just too awful! If I weren't nearly seventeen years old, I'd cry my +eyes out." +</P> + +<P> +Madge was alone in her bedroom, which she shared with her cousin, +Eleanor Butler. The two girls lived on an old estate in Virginia, but +for the two preceding terms they had been attending a college +preparatory school at Harborpoint, not far from the city of Baltimore. +</P> + +<P> +Madge had never known her own parents. She had been reared by her +Uncle William and Aunt Sue Butler and she dearly loved her old southern +home. But just when she and Eleanor were planning a thousand pleasures +for their three months' vacation a letter had arrived from Mr. and Mrs. +Butler announcing that they were leaving their estate for six weeks, as +they were compelled to go west on important business. Eleanor was to +be sent to visit a family of cousins near Charlottesville, Virginia, +and Madge was to stay with a rich old maiden cousin of her father. +Cousin Louisa did not like Madge. She felt a sense of duty toward her, +and a sense of duty seldom inspires any real affection in return. So +Madge looked back on the visits she had made to this cousin with a +feeling of horror. Inspired by her Aunt Sue, Madge had always tried to +be on her best behavior while she was the guest of Cousin Louisa. But +since propriety was not Madge Morton's strong point she had succeeded +only in being perfectly miserable and in offending her wealthy cousin +by her unconventional ways. +</P> + +<P> +Madge had a letter from this cousin in her hand while she gave herself +up to the luxury of despair. She had not yet read the letter, but she +knew exactly what it would say. It would contain a formal invitation +from Cousin Louisa, asking Madge to pay her the necessary visit. It +would suggest at the same time that Madge mend her ways; and it would +doubtless recall the unfortunate occasion when Mistress Madge had set +fire to the bedclothes by her wicked habit of reading in bed. +</P> + +<P> +It was the study hour at Miss Tolliver's school, and all of the girls +except Madge were hard at work. Eleanor had slipped across the hall to +the room of their two chums to consult them about a problem in algebra. +Madge at that moment was far too miserable to be approached in regard +to a lesson, though at other times she would have done anything for +Eleanor. +</P> + +<P> +Finally Madge raised herself to a sitting posture. It struck her as +rather absurd to have collapsed so entirely, simply because she was not +to spend the first part of her summer as she chose. She knew, too, +that it was high time she fell to preparing her lessons. +</P> + +<P> +With a little shiver she opened Cousin Louisa's letter. Suddenly her +eyes flashed, the color glowed in her cheeks, and Madge dropped the +note to the floor with a glad cry and ran out of the room. +</P> + +<P> +On the door of her chums' room was a sign, printed in large letters, +which was usually observed by the school girls. The sign read: +"Studying; No Admittance." But to-day Madge paid no attention to it. +She flung open the door and rushed in upon her three friends. +</P> + +<P> +"Eleanor, Phyllis, Lillian," she protested, "stop studying this very +minute!" She seized Eleanor's paper and pencil and closed Lillian +Seldon's ancient history with a bang. Phyllis Alden had just time to +grasp her own notebook firmly with both hands before she exclaimed: +"Madge Morton, whatever has happened to you? Have you gone entirely +crazy?" +</P> + +<P> +Madge laughed. "Almost!" she replied. "But just listen to me, and you +will be nearly as crazy as I am." +</P> + +<P> +Madge had dark, auburn hair, which was curly and short, like a boy's. +To her deep regret her long braids had been cut off several years +before, when she was recovering from an attack of typhoid fever, and +now her hair was just long enough to tuck into a small knot on top of +her head. But when Madge was excited, which was a frequent occurrence, +this knot would break loose, and her curls would fly about, like the +hair of one of Raphael's cherubs. Madge had large, blue eyes, with +long, dark lashes, and a short, straight nose, with just the tiniest +tilt at the end of it. Although she was not vain, she was secretly +proud of her row of even, white teeth. +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis Alden was the daughter of a physician with a large family, who +lived in Hartford, Connecticut. Phil was not as pretty as her three +friends, and no one knew it better than Phyllis. She was small and +dark, with irregular features. But she had large, black eyes, and a +smile that illuminated her clever face. Put to the vote, Phyllis Alden +had been declared to be the most popular girl in Miss Tolliver's +school, and Phyllis and Madge were friendly rivals in athletics. +</P> + +<P> +Lillian Seldon was perhaps the prettiest of the four boarding school +chums, if one preferred regular features to vivacity and charm. +Lillian was of Madge's age, a tall, slender, blonde girl, with two long +plaits of sunny, light hair, a fair, delicate skin and blue eyes. She +was the daughter of a Philadelphia lawyer and an only child. A number +of her school companions thought her cold and proud, but her chums knew +that when Lillian really cared for any one she was the most loyal +friend in the world. Eleanor, who was the youngest of the four school +friends, looked like the little, southern girl that she was. She had +light brown hair and hazel eyes, and charming manners which made +friends for her wherever she went. +</P> + +<P> +The three girls now waited with their eyes fixed inquiringly on the +fourth. They were not very much excited; they knew Madge only too +well. She was either in the seventh heaven of bliss, or else in the +depths of despair. Yet this time it did look as though Madge had more +reason than usual for her excitement. Eleanor wondered how she could +have changed so quickly from her recent disconsolate mood. +</P> + +<P> +"What has happened to you, Madge?" Lillian inquired. "Eleanor said you +were upset because you are obliged to spend the first of your vacation +with your hateful Cousin Louisa." +</P> + +<P> +"Hateful? Did I ever dare to say that my Cousin Louisa was hateful? +She is one of the loveliest women in this world! Just think! Cousin +Louisa has written to say that she can't have me, or rather won't have +me, visit her. She is going to shut up her house, and is going to sail +for Europe. I know it is just to escape my odious presence." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Madge, what will you do?" Eleanor asked. "You've nowhere else to +go." You know how you hate those awful children at Charlottesville." +</P> + +<P> +"Wait, Eleanor Butler—wait!" Madge cried dramatically. "You do not +know what has happened, nor why I now truly love and adore the same +Cousin Louisa whom I once thought I disliked. Just look here." Madge +waved a small strip of paper in the air. "Cousin Louisa has sent me a +check for two hundred dollars! She says I am to spend the money on my +summer vacation in any way I like, provided Aunt Sue and Uncle William +approve." +</P> + +<P> +"But you can't go off traveling by yourself," objected Eleanor. "I +should think you would hate to spend your summer alone." +</P> + +<P> +"Alone!" Madge answered indignantly. "Who said I meant to spend my +vacation alone? I want you three girls to spend the six weeks with me. +Only last night Eleanor and I said that we four girls could never be +really happy anywhere without one another." +</P> + +<P> +"Generous Madge," smiled Lillian affectionately. "Two hundred dollars +seems quite a fortune. Perhaps you ought not to spend it all. Where +can we go, and what can we do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Young ladies," a stern voice spoke just outside the door, "kindly +remember this is the study hour. You are expected to keep silence." +</P> + +<P> +An unusual stillness fell on the four offenders. Only Madge's blue +eyes flashed rebelliously. "It's that tiresome Miss Jones. You might +know she would be somewhere about. She is the crossest teacher in this +school." +</P> + +<P> +"Sh-sh, Madge," Eleanor lowered her voice, "Miss Jones might hear you. +She is ill, I am sure. That is what makes her so cross. Phil and I +are both sorry for her." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you and Phil are sorry for everybody. That's nothing! Thank +goodness, there is the bell! It is the recreation hour. Come, my +beloved chums, I simply must think of some way to spend our vacation +and I never can think indoors. 'It is the merry month of May,'" +caroled Madge. "Come, Phil, let us go down to the water and take Nell +and Lillian rowing. It is a dream of an afternoon, all soft and +sunshiny, and the river folk are calling us, the frogs, and the water +rats——" +</P> + +<P> +"Dear me, Madge," teased Phil, "do hush. We are glad enough to go +rowing without an invitation from the frogs. We have two hours before +supper time. Shall we ask poor Miss Jones to go with us? She does not +have much fun, and you know it is her duty to make us keep the rules. +Miss Jones admires you very much, Madge. She said you were clever +enough to do anything you liked, if you would only try. But she knows +you don't like her." +</P> + +<P> +"Then she knows the truth," returned naughty Madge. "No, Phil, please +don't ask Miss Jones to come out with us this afternoon, there's a +dear. I told you I wanted to think. And I can think brilliantly only +when in the company of my beloved chums." +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis Alden and Madge Morton were good oarsmen. Indeed, they were +almost as much at home on the water as they were on land. Each girl +wore a tiny silver oar pinned to her dress. Only the week before Madge +had won the annual spring rowing contest; for Miss Tolliver made a +special point of athletics in her school, and fortunately the school +grounds ran down to the bank of a small river. +</P> + +<P> +Phil and Madge rowed out into the middle of the river with long, +regular strokes. They were in their own little, green boat, called the +"Water Witch." Lillian sat in the stern, trailing her white hands idly +in the water. Eleanor sat quietly looking out over the fields. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Madge, who always did the most unexpected things in the world, +locked her oars across the boat and sat up in her seat with a jerk that +rocked the little craft. +</P> + +<P> +"Girls, I have thought it all out!" she exclaimed. "I have the most +glorious, the most splendid plan you ever heard of in the world! Just +wait until you hear it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Madge," Phil called in horror, "do sit down!" The boat was careening +perilously. Before Phil could finish her speech Madge had tumbled over +the side of the skiff and disappeared in the water below. +</P> + +<P> +The girls waited for their friend to rise to the surface. They were +not frightened, for Madge was an expert swimmer. +</P> + +<P> +"I am surprised at Madge," declared Phil severely. "The idea of +plunging into the water in that fashion, not to mention almost +capsizing our boat! Why doesn't she come up?" +</P> + +<P> +The second lengthened to a minute. Still Madge's curly head did not +appear on the surface of the water. Eleanor's face turned white. +Madge had on her rowing costume, a short skirt and a sailor blouse. +She could easily swim in such a suit. But perhaps she had been seized +with a cramp, or her head might have struck against a rock at the +bottom of the river! +</P> + +<P> +Lillian and Phil shared Eleanor's anxiety. "Sit still, girls," said +Phyllis. "I must dive and see what has happened to Madge. If you are +quiet, I can dive out of the boat without upsetting it." +</P> + +<P> +Phil slipped out of her sweater. But Eleanor caught at her skirts from +behind. "Sit down, Phil. Here comes that wretched Madge, swimming +toward us from over there. She purposely stayed under water." +</P> + +<P> +The three friends looked in the direction, indicated by Phyllis. They +saw Madge moving toward the boat as calmly as though she had been in +her bathing suit and had dived off the skiff for pure pleasure. She +had been swimming under the water for a little distance and had risen +at a spot at which her friends were not looking. As she lifted her +head clear of the water a ray of the afternoon sunlight slanted across +her face, touching its mischievous curves, until she looked like a +naughty water-sprite. +</P> + +<P> +In an instant Madge's hands were alongside the boat, and Phil pulled +her into it. "I am so sorry, girls," she explained, shaking the water. +out of her hair; "but I had such a wonderful idea that it really +knocked me overboard. I was afraid I would throw you all into the +river, so I jumped. But don't you want to know my plan? We are going +to spend the summer on the water!" +</P> + +<P> +"In the water, you mean, don't you?" laughed Phyllis, as she wrapped +her sweater about her friend. "Madge, will any one ever be able to +guess what you are going to do next?" +</P> + +<P> +"Just listen, girls," Madge went on with shining eyes. "I have been +determined, ever since I got my letter from Cousin Louisa, that we +girls should do something original for our summer vacation. And while +I was rowing peacefully along, without meaning to create a disturbance, +it suddenly came to me that the most perfect way to spend a holiday +would be to live out on the water. First I thought we might just take +the 'Water Witch' and row along the river all summer, sleeping in +hotels and boarding-places at night. But I know we must have a +chaperon; and meals and things would make it cost too much. Then it +occurred to me that we could get a boat big enough to live in by day +and sleep in by night—a canal boat, or something——" +</P> + +<P> +"Madge Morton!" cried Phil, clapping both hands, "you are a goose, but +sometimes I think you are a genius as well. You mean you can rent a +houseboat with your money and we can truly spend our vacation together +out on the water. I never heard of such a splendid plan in my life." +</P> + +<P> +Madge gave a little shiver, half from the cold and half from happiness. +She was beginning to feel the chill of her wet clothing. +</P> + +<P> +"Eleanor, Phyllis, Lillian," she said impressively. "I hereby invite +you to spend six weeks of your vacation aboard a houseboat. Now, the +next thing to be done is to find one." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHOOSING A CHAPERON +</H3> + +<P> +Madge Morton walked into the school library with a grave expression on +her usually laughing face. She had two letters in her hand, which she +intended putting into the school post-bag, that was always kept in the +library. One of the letters she had written to her uncle and aunt, +explaining her houseboat scheme in the most sensible and matter-of-fact +fashion; for Madge knew that the fate of the four chums depended, +first, on what Mr. and Mrs. Butler thought of their niece's idea. If +they disapproved, Madge was certain that she could never be happy +again, for there was no other possible way of spending Cousin Louisa's +gift that would give her any pleasure. Madge's second letter was +directed to a boy cousin, who was at college in Baltimore. She +explained that she expected to rent a houseboat for the summer, and she +asked her cousin to give her the address of places in Baltimore where +such a boat could be hired. She wished it to cost the smallest sum of +money possible, for Eleanor had suggested that even houseboat girls +must eat. Indeed, the water was likely to make them especially hungry. +If all the two hundred dollars went for the houseboat, what were they +to do for food? +</P> + +<P> +Madge's sole fortune was just ten dollars a month, which she used for +her dress allowance. Her uncle and aunt were not rich, but they were +paying for her education, and Madge knew she was expected to make her +own living as soon as she was old enough. Mr. and Mrs. Butler had +hoped she would become a teacher, for they held the old-fashioned +southern belief that teaching school was the only avenue open to the +woman who was forced by necessity to make her own living. +</P> + +<P> +Madge, however, had decided, a long time before, that she would much +rather die than teach. She would do anything but that. Just at +present her poverty was very inconvenient. Madge was generous to a +fault, and she would have liked nothing better than to finance royally +their proposed trip. She vowed mentally to rise to the occasion, even +though the way to do it was not yet clear. +</P> + +<P> +Prudent Eleanor had also asked her whom she meant to invite to act as +their chaperon. So it was of this chaperon that Madge was thinking +while she was in the act of mailing her letters. +</P> + +<P> +Down in Virginia, on a big place next to her uncle's, was a girl whom +she had decided would make an ideal chaperon. She was as fond of larks +as was Madge herself. She could fish, ride, swim and shoot a rifle +when necessary. Moreover, she was so beautiful and aristocratic that +Madge always called her the "Lady of Quality." It was true she could +not cook nor wash dishes, nor do anything practical, and she was only +twenty-two. Still, Madge thought she would be a perfectly delightful +chaperon and was sure the girls would love her. Madge's red lips +unconsciously formed the letter O, and before she knew what she was +doing she was whistling from sheer pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Morton," the cold voice that was unpleasantly familiar to the +girl's ears came from behind a chair, "do you not know that whistling +is against the rules of the school? You are one of the older girls. +Miss Tolliver depends on you to set the younger pupils a good example. +I fear she is sadly disappointed." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean you are sadly disappointed, Miss Jones," replied Madge +angrily. "Miss Tolliver has not said she was disappointed in me. When +she is she will probably tell me herself." +</P> + +<P> +Madge knew she should not speak in this rude fashion to her teacher, +but she was an impetuous, high-spirited girl who could not bear +censure. Besides, she had a special prejudice against Miss Jones. She +was particularly homely and there was something awkward and repellant +in her manner. Worshipping beauty and graciousness, Madge could not +forgive her teacher her lack of both. Besides, Madge did not entirely +trust Miss Jones. Still, the girl was sorry she had made her impolite +speech, so she stood quietly waiting for her teacher's reproof, with +her curly head bent low, her eyes mutinous. +</P> + +<P> +She waited an instant. When she looked up, to her dismay she saw that +the eyes of her despised teacher were full of tears. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder why you dislike me so, Miss Morton?" Miss Jones inquired +sadly. +</P> + +<P> +Madge could have given her a dozen reasons for her dislike, but she did +not wish to be disagreeable. "I am dreadfully sorry I was so rude to +you," she murmured. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it does not matter. Nothing matters, I am so unhappy," Miss Jones +replied unexpectedly. Just why Miss Jones should have chosen Madge +Morton for her confidante at this moment neither ever knew. Miss Jones +had a number of friends among the other girls in the school; but she +and this clever southern girl had been enemies since Miss Jones had +first taken charge of the English History class and had reproved Madge +for helping one of the younger girls with her lesson. Miss Jones's +confession had slipped out involuntarily. Now she put her head down on +the library table and sobbed. +</P> + +<P> +With any other teacher, or with any of the girls, Madge might have +cried in sympathy. Somehow, she could not cry with Miss Jones. She +felt nothing save embarrassment. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the matter?" she asked slowly. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones shook her head. "It's nothing. I am sorry to have given +way to my feelings. I have had bad news. My doctor has just written +me that if I don't spend the summer out-of-doors, I am in danger of +consumption." Miss Jones uttered the dreadful word quite calmly. +</P> + +<P> +Madge gave a low cry of distress. She thought of the number of times +she had made fun of her teacher's flat chest and stooping shoulders and +of her bad temper. After all, Eleanor had been right. Illness had +been the cause of Miss Jones's peculiarities. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Jones," Madge returned, her sympathies fully enlisted, "you must +not feel so troubled. I am sure you will soon be all right. Just +think how strong you will grow with your long summer holiday +out-of-doors. You must dig in the garden, and ride horseback, and play +tennis," advised Madge enthusiastically, remembering her own happy +summers at "Forest House," the old Butler home in Virginia. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones shook her head wistfully as she rose to leave the room. "I +am afraid I can't have the summer in the country. I have only a sister +with whom to spend the summer, and she lives in a little flat in the +city. She has a large family, and I expect to help her. My parents +are dead." +</P> + +<P> +"Then why don't you go into the country to board somewhere?" flashed +from Madge's lips unexpectedly. A moment after she was sorry she had +asked the question, for a curious, frightened expression crossed her +teacher's face. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones hesitated. "I have had to use the money I have made by my +teaching for—for other purposes," she explained, in the stiff, cold +manner that seemed so unattractive to gracious, sunshiny Madge. "I am +sorry to have worried you with my troubles," Miss Jones said again. +"Please forgive me and forget what I have told you. I shall probably +do very well." +</P> + +<P> +Madge went slowly back to her room in a most unhappy frame of mind. +She knew a way in which Miss Jones would be able to spend her summer +out-of-doors, and perhaps grow well and strong again. She could be +invited to chaperon the houseboat party. She knew her friends would +immediately agree to the idea. They liked Miss Jones far better than +she did. Even if they had not liked her, sympathy would have inspired +them to extend the invitation. It was she alone who would hesitate. +Of course, she never expected to be as good as her friends. So Madge +argued with herself. It was too dreadful to give up the idea of asking +her adored "Lady of Quality" to act as their guardian angel. Madge +decided she simply could not make the sacrifice. Then, too, she did +not even know whether her uncle and aunt would consent to the houseboat +party. It would be time enough afterward to deliver her last +invitation. +</P> + +<P> +For two days, which seemed intolerably long to impatient Madge Morton, +the four friends waited to hear their fate from Mr. and Mrs. Butler. +</P> + +<P> +On the third morning a letter addressed to Madge in Mrs. Butler's +handwriting was handed to her while she and her chums were at +breakfast. In her great excitement her hands trembled so that she +could hardly finish her breakfast. "Here, Eleanor," Madge finally +faltered, as the four girls left the dining room to go upstairs, "you +take the letter and read it to us, please do. Positively I haven't the +courage to look at it. I feel almost sure that Aunt Sue will say we +can't go on our houseboat trip." +</P> + +<P> +Lillian put her hand affectionately on Madge's arm, while Phil stood +next to Eleanor. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear Madge," the letter began, "I think your houseboat plan for the +summer a most extraordinary one. I never heard of young girls +attempting such a holiday before. I can not imagine how you happened +to unearth such a peculiar idea." +</P> + +<P> +Madge gave a gasp of despair. She felt that the tone of her Aunt Sue's +letter spelled refusal. But Eleanor read on: "Like a good many of your +unusual ideas, this houseboat scheme seems, after all, to be rather an +interesting one. Your uncle and I have talked over your letter and +Eleanor's. We do not wish you and Eleanor to be separated, and we do +wish you both to have the happiest holiday possible, as we are quite +sure you have earned it. So, if you can find a suitable chaperon, we +are willing to give our consent to your undertaking. We had intended +to pay twenty-five dollars a month board for Eleanor with her cousins +at Charlottesville, so we shall be glad to contribute that sum toward +the provisioning of the house-boat." +</P> + +<P> +There was a dead silence in the room when Eleanor at last finished +reading the letter. For half a minute the four chums were too happy to +speak. Then there was a united sigh of relief. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I shall never be able to survive it! It is too much joy for one +day!" cried the irrepressible Madge, dancing around in a circle and +dragging Lillian Seldon, whose arm was linked in hers, with her. +</P> + +<P> +Lillian and Phyllis had received their parents' consent, by letter, the +day before and had already agreed that their respective monthly +allowances should be placed in the general fund. +</P> + +<P> +"Be still, Madge," begged Eleanor. "You are so noisy that you drive +all thought from our heads. The first thing for us to consider is +where we shall find a chaperon." +</P> + +<P> +"No; the first thing to do is to find the house-boat. O Ship of our +Dreams! tell us, dear Ship, where we can find you?" cried Phyllis Alden +longingly. She was looking past her friends with half-closed eyes. +Already she was, in the land of her imagination, in a beautiful white +boat, floating beside an evergreen shore. The little craft was +furnished all in white, with dainty muslin curtains hung at the tiny +cabin windows. Flowers encircled the decks and trailed over the sides +into the clear water. And on the deck of the little boat, lying or +sitting at their ease, she could see herself and her friends. +</P> + +<P> +"Wake up, Phil! Come back to earth, please," teased Madge, giving her +usually sensible friend a sudden pinch. "I am going downstairs now to +ask Miss Tolliver if we can go into Baltimore day after to-morrow. We +must find our houseboat at once. School is so nearly over Miss +Tolliver will be sure to let us go." +</P> + +<P> +"But the chaperon, Madge," reminded Eleanor. "We haven't decided on +one, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"I have thought of a chaperon, if you girls are willing to have her," +said Madge almost hesitatingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," cried the other three voices in chorus, "who is it? Tell us +sometime to-day!" +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Jones!" declared Madge, a note of defiance in her voice. "I'm +going to invite her now before I have time to change my mind. I'll +explain later." Springing from her chair, she ran from the room, +leaving her three friends to stare at each other in silent amazement. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SEARCH FOR A HOUSEBOAT +</H3> + +<P> +"Eleanor Butler, do hurry!" urged Madge two days later. "If we miss +the train, I feel I shall never forgive you." The two girls were +preparing for their trip to Baltimore. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me alone, Madge," Eleanor returned. "If you will stay out of the +room for ten minutes, I promise to be ready. You've talked so much in +the last half hour that I haven't known what I was doing and I don't +know now. You had better make another call upon Miss Jones. She is +even more enthusiastic about your old houseboat scheme than you are." +Eleanor laughed as Madge disappeared in the direction of Miss Jones's +room. +</P> + +<P> +"You must wish with all your heart that we shall find the houseboat +to-day, Miss Jones," declared Madge in her impulsive fashion. "You +see, everything depends on our not having to waste any time. The +sooner we find our boat, the sooner we can begin our delightful +vacation." +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones smiled. She was beginning to understand the impetuous Madge +better than she had ever dreamed of knowing her, and she was very +grateful for her invitation. Miss Jones was fairly well aware of how +much it had cost her pupil to ask her. "Yes, I shall be thinking of +you girls every minute," she declared. "Let me see. This is the +twenty-fifth of May. School will close in another week. You girls +wish to spend a week at home with your parents and relatives; but just +as early in June as possible we are to go aboard our houseboat. That +is our plan, isn't it, Madge?" +</P> + +<P> +Madge nodded. Then, as she heard Phil and Lillian calling her, she +waved a hasty farewell and darted from the room. +</P> + +<P> +Madge had received a letter from the boy cousin who was at school in +Baltimore. He had given her several addresses in Baltimore where there +was just a bare chance that she might find a ready-to-use houseboat. +He assured her, however, that houseboats were usually made to order, +and that she might find some difficulty in securing what she wished, +and must, therefore, not become easily discouraged. +</P> + +<P> +Just before noon the four young women arrived in Baltimore on their +quest for a house-boat. Lillian and Eleanor demanded their luncheon at +once, but Phil and Madge protested against eating luncheon so early. +"You can't be hungry already," argued Madge. "As for me, I shall never +be able to eat until we find our boat." +</P> + +<P> +For two hours the girls tramped about the boat yards in search of their +treasure. They saw canoes and motor boats of every size and kind, and +models of private yachts, but not a trace of a houseboat could they +find. The representatives of the various boat companies whom they +interviewed suggested the building of a houseboat at a cost of anywhere +from six hundred to a thousand dollars. +</P> + +<P> +Lillian and Eleanor were the first to complain of being tired. Then +Phil, who was usually the sweetest-tempered of the four girls, began to +show signs of irritability. Madge, however, undaunted and determined, +would not think of giving up the search. +</P> + +<P> +"Just one more place, girls," she begged; "then we can rest and have +our luncheon somewhere. This is a very large ship-building yard we are +going to. I am sure we can find our boat there." +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later the four chums turned wearily away from another +fruitless quest. They were now in a part of Baltimore which none of +them had ever seen before. A few blocks farther down the street they +could see the line of the water and the masts of several sailing +vessels that were lying near the shore. +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you, Madge Morton," declared Phyllis Alden firmly, "whether or +not we ever find a houseboat, there is one thing certain: I positively +must have something to eat. I am half starved. What good would +finding the boat do me if I were to die of hunger before I have even +seen it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Please don't be cross, Phil," soothed Madge. "I am sure we are all as +hungry as you are. I am awfully sorry. We ought to have eaten +luncheon before we came here. There isn't a restaurant in sight." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure I saw the sign of a funny little restaurant as we came by +the corner," broke in Lillian. "It did look queer, but I suppose it +would not be any harm for us to go in there." +</P> + +<P> +"We don't care if it does look queer," declared Phyllis stoutly. +</P> + +<P> +Turning, the girls retraced their steps to the corner. +</P> + +<P> +Outside the swinging door of the small restaurant they hesitated. "I +don't think we ought to go in there," argued Eleanor, "it is such a +dreadfully rough-looking place." +</P> + +<P> +It was indeed a very common eating house, where the men who worked on +the wharves, the fishermen and sailors, were in the habit of getting +their meals. The one dirty window showed half a dozen live crabs +crawling about inside among the pieces of sea-weed. A row of old pies +formed the background. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later they had marched bravely up to the door. Dainty Eleanor +shuddered as they crossed the threshold, and even Phil and Madge +hesitated as a man's coarse laugh greeted them once they were fairly +inside the restaurant room. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on, children," said Madge, with a pretence of bravery she was far +from feeling. "We are going into this restaurant to get something to +eat. Don't look as if you thought you were going to be eaten. It is +rather horrid, but perhaps they will let us have some bread and milk." +</P> + +<P> +The quartette seated themselves at the first table they saw vacant. +Just across from it were a number of men with rough, hard faces. They +were evidently sailors from the nearby boats. The girls kept their +eyes on the table, and Madge gave their order for tea and sandwiches in +a low tone to the German boy who came forward to wait on them. +</P> + +<P> +When the boy had departed with their order a silence settled upon the +little group of girls. In each girl's mind was the thought that it had +been unwise to enter the restaurant. By this time they had come to a +realization of the fact that they were the only women in the room. +</P> + +<P> +"We ought never to have come here," whispered Lillian, clutching +Madge's arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense," returned Madge bravely, "we have as much right here as any +of these men." +</P> + +<P> +"But I'd rather not stay," persisted Lillian. +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't you say you were hungry?" asked Madge pointedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Ye-es," hesitated Lillian, "but I just can't stay here." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor I," chimed in Eleanor. +</P> + +<P> +Madge looked appealingly at Phyllis, who shook her brown head +deprecatingly. "I don't believe we ought to stay here, Madge." +</P> + +<P> +"You, too, Phil!" exclaimed Madge impatiently. "All right, Misses +'Fraid Cats,' we'll go. Here comes our luncheon, too." +</P> + +<P> +The girls glanced quickly at the rosy-faced lad who came up at that +moment with their order on a tray. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm so hungry," sighed Phil. "Perhaps we'd better——" +</P> + +<P> +"So glad you've changed your mind," commented Madge rather satirically. +"But what about you, Lillian and Eleanor?" +</P> + +<P> +"Let's stay this once, but next time we'll be more careful where we +lunch," smiled Eleanor. +</P> + +<P> +"I take back all I said about 'Fraid Cats,'" laughed Madge. "We'll +hurry through our luncheon and leave here the moment we finish. After +all, as long as we are to become seasoned mariners we shall have to +learn to accustom ourselves to the vicissitudes of a sailor's life." +</P> + +<P> +"But we can't be 'seasoned mariners' until we find our houseboat," +reminded Lillian. "It doesn't look as though we'd find it to-day, +either." +</P> + +<P> +"We must," was Madge's emphatic response. "Here we have been worrying +like mad about this restaurant not being a proper place in which to eat +our luncheon, while the really important question of where we are to +find our boat hasn't troubled us. We must go out of here saying, 'We +shall find it, we shall find it,' and then I believe we can't help but +run across it." Madge's blue eyes were alight with purpose and +enthusiasm. +</P> + +<P> +"Good for you, Madge," laughed Phil. "Come on, girls. Let us finish +our tea and renew our search." +</P> + +<P> +It was half-past three in the afternoon when they left the little +restaurant. The four girls were to spend the night in Baltimore with a +friend of Miss Tolliver's, who kept a boarding-place. As they were in +the habit of staying with Miss Rice when they came into Baltimore to do +their shopping, Miss Tolliver had, for once, after many instructions, +permitted the girls to go into town without a chaperon. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Rice said we did not have to be at her house until half-past five +o'clock," Phil volunteered, "so what shall we do?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is a little park down there near the water," Lillian pointed +ahead. "Suppose we sit down there for a few minutes until we decide +where to go next?" +</P> + +<P> +It was a balmy, sunshiny May day. While the girls rested on the park +benches they could see, far off, a line of ships sailing up the bay and +also the larger freight steamers. They were near one of the quiet +canals that formed an inlet from the great Chesapeake Bay. Lining the +banks of the canal were numbers of coal barges and canal boats. +</P> + +<P> +On the deck of a canal boat a girl came out with a bundle of clothes in +her arms. She was singing in a high, sweet voice as she hung them on a +line strung across the deck of the boat. +</P> + +<P> +The girls watched her silently as she flitted back and forth, and she +sang on, unconscious of her audience. She was singing a boat song +which the men chant as they row home at the close of day. The pathos +in the woman's voice was so exquisite, its notes so true, that Madge's +blue eyes filled with tears. None of the four friends stirred until +the song was over, and the girl in her faded calico dress and bare feet +had disappeared into the cabin of the boat. +</P> + +<P> +"We call those boats shanty boats down in Virginia," Eleanor said; "I +suppose because the little cabin on the deck of the canal boat looks so +like a shanty." +</P> + +<P> +"People live on those shanty boats," announced Madge. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we have noticed it, my dear girl," Phil responded dryly. But +there was a question in her eyes as she looked at Madge. +</P> + +<P> +"Shanty boats do not look exactly like house-boats," went on Madge +speculatively. +</P> + +<P> +"I should say not," returned Phil. "There is considerable difference." +</P> + +<P> +"But they might be made to look more like them. Don't you believe so?" +</P> + +<P> +Phil nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"They are awfully dirty," was dainty Lillian's sole comment. +</P> + +<P> +"Soap and water, child, is a sure cure for dirt," replied Madge, still +in a brown study. Then she sprang to tier feet and almost ran out of +the little park, nearly to the edge of the canal. Her friends followed +her. There was no doubt that Madge had an idea. +</P> + +<P> +"Girls!" exclaimed Madge fervently, pointing toward one of the shanty +boats, "first look there; then shut your eyes. With your eyes open you +see only an ugly canal boat; with them closed, can't you see our +houseboat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not very well," replied Lillian without enthusiasm. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I can," asserted Madge with emphasis. +</P> + +<P> +Then her quick eyes wandered toward a man who was coming slowly up the +path along the canal. +</P> + +<P> +"Please," she asked breathlessly, stepping directly in front of him, +"do you know whether any of the people along here would be willing to +rent me a canal boat?" +</P> + +<P> +The man stared in amazement at this strange request. "Can't say as I +knows of any one," he answered, "but I kin find out fer ye. It may be +some of the water folks goes inland for the summer. If they does, +they'd like as not rent you their boat." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I will come down here to-morrow at nine o'clock to find out," +arranged Madge. "Please be sure to be here." +</P> + +<P> +"What did I tell you!" exulted Madge as they left the little park a few +minutes later and made their way to the street car. "I am going to +draw a plan to-night to show how easy it will be to turn one of these +old canal boats into our beautiful 'Ship of Dreams.' By this time next +week we'll know something about the 'vicissitudes' of a sailor's life +or my name is not Madge Morton." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FAIRY'S WAND +</H3> + +<P> +"You are a direct gift of Providence, Jack Bolling," declared Madge the +next morning, shaking hands with her cousin, in the parlor of Miss +Rice's boarding house. "How did you happen to turn up here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I unexpectedly had a day off from college," explained Jack. "So +I just telephoned to Miss Tolliver to ask whether I might come to see +you, like the well-behaved cousin I am. She replied that you were in +town and that I might come to see you. So here I am! What luck have +you had?" +</P> + +<P> +"None at all at the old places you recommended," Madge returned +scornfully and in a most ungrateful fashion. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I knew a girl couldn't find the right sort of boat without a +fellow to help her," Jack teased, knowing Madge's aversion to the idea +that a girl couldn't do anything she liked, unless with the help of a +boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Just you come along with us, Jack, and we will show you what we have +found," invited Madge. "I think the girls are ready. We are. Here +come Eleanor and Lillian. Miss Lillian Seldon, I wish to present my +cousin, Mr. Jack Bolling. Where is Phil?" +</P> + +<P> +While Lillian, looking unusually lovely in her gown of pale lavender +organdie, with a cream-colored hat covered with violets, was shaking +hands with Jack, Phyllis Alden came down the hall with a slight frown +on her face. +</P> + +<P> +Hadn't she and Madge vowed within themselves and to each other never to +ask a man's help in anything they planned to do? And here was Madge +introducing her cousin into their plan the very first chance she had. +But in this Phil was mistaken. +</P> + +<P> +Madge had made no explanations to Jack, and her cousin asked her no +questions as the party started on their walk. When they came to the +line of canal boats that the girls had seen the afternoon before a halt +was made. +</P> + +<P> +"There is our houseboat!" cried Madge, waving her hand toward the half +dozen disreputable looking canal boats huddled close together. +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" asked Jack in amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I don't know just exactly where," returned Madge with twinkling +eyes. "Everyone look here, please." She took two large squares of +white paper out of her bag. "You see, it is this way, Jack: We found +that to rent a houseboat takes such a lot of money that we decided +yesterday, to try to turn one of these old canal boats into a +houseboat, and I have drawn the plans of what I think ought to be done." +</P> + +<P> +Madge, who had a decided talent for drawing, had sat up late into the +night to make her two sketches. One pictured the shanty boat as it +was, dingy and dirty, with a broken-down cabin of two rooms at the +stern. In the second drawing Madge's fairy wand, which was her gift of +imagination, had quite transformed the ugly boat. The deck of the +canal boat was about forty feet long, with a twelve-foot beam. To the +two rooms, which the ordinary shanty boat contains, she had added +another two, forming an oblong cabin, with four windows on each side +and a flat roof. The flat roof formed the second deck of the +prospective houseboat. It had a small railing around it, and a pair of +steps that led up from the outside to the upper deck. Madge had +decorated her fairy ship with garlands of flowers that hung far over +the sides of the deck. +</P> + +<P> +Jack Bolling looked at the drawing a long time without saying a word. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you think it can be done, Jack?" inquired Madge eagerly. "You +see, this old boat could be cleaned and painted, and any good carpenter +could put up the extra rooms." +</P> + +<P> +"Right you are, Madge," Jack answered at last, making a low bow. "Hats +off to the ladies, as usual. Who is that queer-looking customer coming +this way?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is the man who is to see about our canal boat," answered Phil, as +though they were already in possession. +</P> + +<P> +Madge had gone forward. "Have you found the boat for us?" she +inquired. "I simply can't wait to find out." +</P> + +<P> +The man grinned. "There is one towed alongside of mine that you might +be able to git. I had a hard time finding it." +</P> + +<P> +"That is all right," declared Jack, stepping forward, "you will be paid +for your work. Will you please take us out to look at the boat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Got to cross my shanty to git to it," the man replied, leading the way +across a rickety gang-plank. +</P> + +<P> +There were three or four dirty children playing on the deck of his boat +and a thin, yellow dog. At the open door of the shanty kitchen stood +the figure of a girl. She had on the faded calico dress of the day +before; she was barefooted and her hair was ragged and unkempt. But as +Jack Bolling and the four girls glanced idly at her a start of surprise +ran through each one of these. Jack stopped for an instant, and +instinctively took off his hat. Phil Alden whispered in Madge's ear, +"I never saw any one so beautiful in my life," and Madge mutely agreed. +</P> + +<P> +The girl was smiling a wistful, far-away smile that was very touching. +Her hair was the color of copper that has been burnished by the sun, +and her eyes were the deep blue of the midsummer sky. The wind and sun +had tanned the girl's cheeks, but her skin was still fine and delicate. +There was a strange, vacant expression in her eyes and a pathetic droop +to her whole figure. +</P> + +<P> +"Git you back in there, Moll," the owner of the shanty boat called out +roughly. The girl started and quivered, as though she expected a blow. +Jack's face turned hot with anger. But what could he do? The man was +talking to his own daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"Why did you speak to the poor girl like that?" asked Madge sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"She ain't all right in the top story," the man answered. "She is kind +of foolish. I have to keep a close watch on her." +</P> + +<P> +Madge turned pitying eyes on the demented girl, then as they stepped +aboard the other canal boat, for the time she forgot the lovely +apparition she had just seen. +</P> + +<P> +"How much will the owner rent this boat for?" Madge asked at last, +trying hard to conceal her enthusiasm. The boat was dirty and needed +renovating, but it was well built of good, strong timbers. +</P> + +<P> +"My friend is willing to sell this here boat for a hundred dollars," +said the fisherman, Mike Muldoon, hesitating as he mentioned the sum. +</P> + +<P> +It was all Madge could do to keep from clapping her hands for joy. One +hundred dollars for the boat—that left another hundred for painting +and remodeling and for other necessary expenses. +</P> + +<P> +Just as Madge was about to close with the man's offer a look from Jack +Bolling interrupted her. +</P> + +<P> +"The boat is not worth a hundred dollars," he declared decisively. +"The young lady will give you fifty dollars for it, and not a cent +more." +</P> + +<P> +The man laughed contemptuously. "I can't do it," he said. "That boat +is cheap at a hundred dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"At fifty, you mean," retorted Jack stubbornly. +</P> + +<P> +The girls stood back quietly and allowed Jack to drive the bargain, +which he did with so much spirit that the coveted boat was at last made +over to him at his price, fifty dollars. +</P> + +<P> +For the rest of the day the four girls spent their time interviewing +carpenters and painters. At last they found a man who promised to +deliver the boat, rebuilt according to Madge's idea, at a little town +several miles farther down the bay. The man owned a motor boat. He +was to take the houseboat to a landing, where the girls could load it +with the necessary supplies, and then to tow them farther down the bay, +until they found the ideal place for their summer holiday. +</P> + +<P> +"I declare, Madge, dear, I was never so tired, nor so happy in my +life," declared Eleanor Butler late that afternoon, as the quartette +were on their way back to their school at Harborpoint. "I can see our +houseboat, now, as plainly as anything. At first, Lillian and I +couldn't quite believe in your idea." +</P> + +<P> +Madge had heard Eleanor's comments but vaguely. She was doing a sum in +mental arithmetic. "Fifty dollars for the old shanty boat, +seventy-five for remodeling it, fifteen to the man for towing." Here +she became confused. But she still knew there was quite a large sum of +money left for buying the little furniture they needed and their store +of provisions. +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis Alden, too, had been busy calculating. "I think we can do it, +Madge," she said, leaning over from the back seat to speak to her +friend. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course we can. We shall have whole lots of money," announced Madge +triumphantly. +</P> + +<P> +Phil shook her head. "I am afraid we won't. There is one thing we +must buy that will be expensive." +</P> + +<P> +Lillian straightened up. She had been leaning against the back of the +seat, utterly worn out. The three girls gazed at Phil in +consternation. What was this new item of expense that threatened to +eat up their little capital? +</P> + +<P> +"Don't keep us in suspense, Phil," laughed Eleanor. "What have we +forgotten to buy?" +</P> + +<P> +"A kitchen stove!" cried Phil dramatically. "And I know they must be +awfully expensive." +</P> + +<P> +"What a goose you are, Phil," said Lillian in a practical tone. "We +don't want a kitchen stove. It would take up too much room. We need +an oil stove or something like that." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I appoint you as a special committee to look into the stove +question, Lillian," laughed Madge. +</P> + +<P> +"I accept the appointment," bowed Lillian, "and I won't waste our +capital on kitchen ranges of elephantine proportions, either." +</P> + +<P> +During the next five days the four friends found plenty to occupy their +time. Then Miss Tolliver's school closed, and Phil Alden hurried home +to her family in Hartford, Connecticut; Lillian returned to her home in +Philadelphia, while Madge and Eleanor departed to spend a week with Mr. +and Mrs. Butler in their old home in Virginia. Miss Jones, however, +remained at the school. She made one hurried trip into Baltimore, and +on another occasion had a visitor, but the rest of the time she sewed +industriously; for on June the eighth a new experience was to be +hers—she was to begin her duties as chaperon to four adventurous girls +aboard their longed-for "Ship of Dreams." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ALL ABOARD +</H3> + +<P> +Blue waves lapped idly against the sides of a little, white palace that +had risen out of the waves of the bay overnight. One side lay close +along a quiet shore. Overhead the leaves of a willow tree stirred in +the wind, and the birds twittered in its branches. The rosy flush was +just fading out of the sky. Dawn had come only a short time before, +and the wind, the waves and the birds were the only things stirring so +early in the morning. There was not a sound or a movement aboard the +odd vessel that was moored to the shore. +</P> + +<P> +Along the shore sped the slender figure of a girl. It was a part of +the morning. Her blue frock was the color of the sky and her auburn +hair had been touched by the sun, and on her radiant face lay the glory +of youth. +</P> + +<P> +Of course, it was Madge! She did not stop when she first spied her +houseboat between the branches of the willow tree. She gave a little +gasp, and ran on faster than ever. A moment later she came alongside +her boat, which was only about three feet from the shore. Madge had +not practised running and jumping in the gymnasium at school and on the +old farm in Virginia for nothing. She gave one flying leap and landed +on the deck of her houseboat. Then she stood perfectly still, a little +song of gratitude welling from the depth of her happy heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps it was not fair in me to have run away from Eleanor," she +mused. "But then Nellie is such a sleepy-head, she never would have +wished to get up so early. And I did want to see the boat alone, just +for a moment. I am not going to look into the cabin, though. I am +going to wait for the other girls——" +</P> + +<P> +A stone went whizzing by Madge's ear at this moment, causing her +soliloquy to come to an abrupt end. +</P> + +<P> +She glanced toward the shore. A small boy stood grinning at her, with +his hands tucked into a pair of trousers so much too long for him they +had to be turned up from the ankles to the knees. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello," he remarked cheerfully, eyeing Madge owlishly. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello yourself," returned Madge. "Do you usually begin the day by +throwing stones at peaceful strangers?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes'm," the small boy responded calmly. "Where'd you and that come +from?" +</P> + +<P> +"I came from my home in Virginia, and if by 'that' you mean my boat, it +is a 'Ship of Dreams' and was towed up here from Baltimore yesterday +afternoon. What do you think of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"She isn't a dream, she's a peach," was the prompt retort. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad you like her," smiled Madge in a winning fashion that caused +the lad to smile in return. "Why are you up so early in the morning?" +</P> + +<P> +"Driving home the cows," was the laconic answer. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see any cows," teased Madge. "Wait a minute. I have +something for you to do. Would you like to earn a quarter? If you +would, then come back here about nine o'clock. We are going to load +our boat with some furniture and provisions, and we would like to have +you help us." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, I'll be here," promised the boy, and ran off into the +bushes with a derisive grin which Madge did not see. +</P> + +<P> +A few moments later Madge went back to Eleanor to have breakfast at the +little boarding house where she and her cousin had spent the night. +Miss Jones, Lillian and Phil had not yet arrived, but they were +expected by the early train that came from Baltimore. The little +village from which they intended to go aboard their houseboat was only +about half an hour's ride from the city, and was situated on one of the +quiet inlets of the bay. +</P> + +<P> +Fifteen minutes before the train was due Eleanor and Madge were +impatiently waiting at the station. The newcomers were so surrounded +by bags, suit cases and mysterious packages that it took all the men +about the depot to land them safely on the platform. Madge gave the +order to the expressman to bring all their luggage to the houseboat +landing near the willow tree. Then the party started out to find the +boat, without losing a minute by the way. +</P> + +<P> +Madge slipped her arm through that of Miss Jones and walked beside her +dutifully, though she secretly longed to be with her chums. Lillian, +Phil and Eleanor joined hands and ran ahead, without being in the least +degree affected by the idea that they were no longer children. Madge, +however, was the only one who knew the way. She hurried Miss Jones +along until that young woman was almost out of breath. When they were +within a short distance of the place where she had found her boat +waiting for her in the early morning, she could bear it no longer. +With a murmured excuse she broke away from Miss Jones and started on a +run toward the willow tree. Her three chums were close behind her. +The branches of the willow tree seemed more impenetrable in the bright +sunlight. It was not so easy to see through them. Madge ran straight +past the tree, then uttered a shrill cry. She stopped short, her +cheeks turning first red, then white. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" cried Phil, springing to her friend's side. +</P> + +<P> +Madge pointed dumbly toward the water. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell us!" said Eleanor, running up to Madge and lightly grasping her +arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Our houseboat is gone!" gasped Madge. "It was right there, tied to +that very post along the shore early this morning! The man who brought +it down from Baltimore left a note for me describing the landing place. +He said he had to go back to Baltimore, but that he would come here +this afternoon to tow us. Now the boat has gone! O, girls, what shall +we do?" +</P> + +<P> +The girls stared at the water in silence. Disappointment rendered them +speechless for the moment. "Let us look up and down the shore," +suggested Phil comfortingly. "I suppose it is just barely possible +that the rope broke away from the stake, and the boat has floated off +somewhere." +</P> + +<P> +The four girls ran up and down the bank, straining their eyes in +anxious glances out over the wide stretch of water. There was no +houseboat in sight. It had vanished as completely as though it had +really been a "Ship of Dreams." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps you have made a mistake in the place, Madge," was the +chaperon's first remark as she joined the excited party. +</P> + +<P> +Madge compressed her red lips. Miss Jones was so provoking. She was +utterly without tact. But now that she was to be one of the party it +would be wrong to say a single impolite thing to their chaperon the +whole six weeks of their holiday, no matter how provoking or tactless +she might he. Madge sighed impatiently, then turned to the teacher. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I am not mistaken, Miss Jones. I can't be. You see, I came to +this very spot this morning and went aboard our boat. Then I have the +man's description of the landing place. I think we had better go back +to the village and see if we can get some men who know the shore along +here to come to help us look out for our boat. There is no use in +having our furniture brought here if we haven't any houseboat," +finished Madge, her voice trembling. +</P> + +<P> +"Come along, then; I will go back with you," volunteered Phil. "Miss +Jones, you sit under the tree. Lillian, you and Nellie keep a sharp +look-out. If any one comes along in a boat, ask him about ours." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think our boat has gone forever, Phil?" asked Madge dejectedly +as the two companions walked wearily back over the road they had +traveled so gayly a short time before. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," replied Phil. "I should say it depended entirely upon +who had taken the trouble to spirit it away." +</P> + +<P> +While the two girls stood gazing moodily out over the bay a hard, green +apple landed with a thump on top of Madge's uncovered head. Madge and +Phil looked up simultaneously. There in a gnarled old apple tree +directly above them appeared the grinning face of the small boy whose +acquaintance Madge had made earlier in the morning. +</P> + +<P> +"Lost your boat, ain't you?" he asked cheerfully. +</P> + +<P> +Madge nodded and walked on. She was not anxious to renew conversation +with the mischievous youngster. +</P> + +<P> +Phil, however, was seized with an inspiration. "Have you been about +this place very long?" she inquired casually. +</P> + +<P> +"Yep," the boy returned. +</P> + +<P> +"Then, perhaps, you know what has become of our boat," suggested Phil. +</P> + +<P> +"Yep," answered the voice from the tree, "I know all about it." +</P> + +<P> +"Then tell us this minute what has become of it!" ordered Madge. "I +knew the moment I saw you that you were the very imp of mischief. Tell +us where our boat is at once." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't tell," the urchin spoke firmly. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall," declared Madge, her eyes flashing. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to see you make me tell," dared the boy. "A girl can't climb +a tree." The grin on his impish face widened. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll show you that a girl <I>can</I> climb a tree, young man," exclaimed +Madge hotly, making her way toward the tree. "I have climbed a good +many more trees than you have ever climbed in your life." +</P> + +<P> +"Listen to me, Madge," admonished Phil, laughing at her friend, "you +can't have a fight with a small boy in the top of a tree or shake him +out of it. Don't allow him to tease you. Let's go on into the village +and get a policeman. Then, if the boy really knows anything about the +disappearance of our houseboat, the policeman will make him tell us." +Phil tried to make her voice sound as threatening as possible when she +mentioned the word "policeman." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't be here when you git back," was the imp's cheerful response. +</P> + +<P> +Madge and Phil paid no further heed to him. They went on toward the +town. A few yards farther on they heard the patter of bare feet. +"Can't you wait a minute?" a voice pleaded. "I was only teasing you. +If you promise you won't give me away, I'll tell you what became of +your old boat. My pa took it." +</P> + +<P> +"Your pa?" cried Madge in surprise. "What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"When I told Pa I'd seen a new-fangled kind of a boat hitched to our +post, where we most generally ties up our own boat, he said you hadn't +no right to be there. So he just hitched up our mule and he come down +here and untied your boat and dragged it up shore. I run after him +until I got too tired. Then I come back here to tell you," ended the +boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is your father?" Phil asked quietly. Madge's eyes were flashing +dangerously, her temper was rising. +</P> + +<P> +"He's cutting hay," the boy returned. "I'll show you the field and +then I'll run." +</P> + +<P> +Lillian and Eleanor had now joined the two girls to find out what was +delaying them. Miss Jones still waited, disconsolate, under the willow +tree. The four girls started out behind the one small boy, who +answered to the name of Bill Jenkins, Jr. It was evident that Bill +Jenkins, Sr., was the name of the boat-thief. +</P> + +<P> +"What shall we say and do when we find the man?" asked Eleanor +anxiously. "I suppose we had no right to tie our boat up at his +landing place without asking permission." +</P> + +<P> +Madge shook her head angrily. "Right or no right, I shall certainly +tell him my opinion of him," she said tensely. +</P> + +<P> +"You must not make the man angry, Madge," argued gentle Eleanor, who +knew Madge's fiery, temper and stood in awe of it. "Perhaps, when he +sees we are girls, he will be sorry he took our boat away and will +bring it back for us." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us go and see him at once," was Madge's sole response. +</P> + +<P> +After all, it was Eleanor's gentleness that won the day! She told the +farmer, whom they found in the hay field, the whole story of the +houseboat, and how they hoped to spend their holiday aboard it. +</P> + +<P> +"I declare, I'm real sorry I moved your houseboat," he apologized. "If +I'd 'a' known the pretty toy boat belonged to a parcel of young girls +like you, I'd never have laid hands on it. You kin stay along my shore +all summer if you like. But no one asked my permission to tie the boat +to my post. And soon as I seen it, I just thought the boat belonged to +some rich society folks who thought they owned the airth. I hid the +boat up the bay a piece. But don't you fret. I'll go git it and tote +it back in no time." +</P> + +<P> +"I am so sorry," explained Madge prettily, ashamed of her bad temper +and how near she had come to displaying it. "I thought, of course, the +engineer who towed our boat out here from Baltimore had asked your +permission before he made a landing. I suppose he was in such a hurry +to get back to the city that he neglected it." +</P> + +<P> +While the girls and their chaperon waited for the return of their +houseboat they ate an early luncheon out of the hampers that Phil and +Lillian had brought from their homes to provision the travelers for the +day. +</P> + +<P> +The houseboat finally did appear, much as the girls had pictured her. +She was painted white, with a line of green showing just above the +water. The four rooms in the cabin, which was set well toward the +stern, opened into each other, and each room had a small door and +window facing on the deck. The two bedrooms had six berths set along +the walls. One room was intended for the kitchen and the fourth, which +was the largest, was to serve as the dining room, sitting room, work +and play room for the houseboat party on rainy days, when it was +impossible for them to be out on deck. +</P> + +<P> +While the men were unloading the barrels and boxes on the boat the +girls ran in and out the doors of their cabin rooms like the figures in +a pantomime, bumping into each other and stumbling over things. Miss +Jones at last sent Eleanor and Lillian to the kitchen to drive nails +along the wall and to hang up their limited display of kitchen +utensils, while Phil and Madge helped with the unpacking. There was +one steamer chair, bought in honor of the chaperon, and a great many +sofa cushions, borrowed from their rooms at school, to be used as deck +furniture. A barrel of apples, a barrel of potatoes and two Virginia +hams were donations from the farm in Virginia. Mrs. Seldon, Lillian's +mother, had also sent a store of pickles and preserves. +</P> + +<P> +Phil, too, had brought a big box from home, while Madge's own purchases +for the houseboat included a small table, five chairs, besides the +necessary china and some of the bedding. The rest of the outfit the +girls managed to secure from their own homes. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones, Phil and Madge were industriously turning the berths into +beds when a sharp scream from Lillian, who was working in the kitchen, +filled them with terror. Miss Jones arrived first at the kitchen door, +with her heart in her mouth. Had some horrible disaster overtaken +them, just as they were about to start on their adventures? There +stood the two girls, Lillian and Eleanor, their faces, instead of +showing fright, apparently shining with delight. The men who had been +setting up the little stove, which they had bought for a trifling sum +after all, had disappeared. The girls were now in full possession of +their domain. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, children? What has happened?" implored Miss Jones, with a +white, scared face. Lillian pointed ahead of her, but only the kitchen +stove was to be seen. Madge and Phil, who had followed close behind +their chaperon, were equally mystified. +</P> + +<P> +But hark! What was the noise they heard all at once? A gentle +crackling, a roar, a burst of flame, and a puff of smoke up through the +long stove pipe! The pipe went through a hole cut in the side of the +wall. "A fire, a fire!" exclaimed Lillian joyously, wondering why the +others looked so startled. +</P> + +<P> +There was really a fire burning in the stove of the houseboat kitchen! +And as a fire is a first sign to the pioneer that he is at last at +home, so the little company felt themselves to be the original girl +pioneers in houseboat adventures, and felt the same thrill of peace and +pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +Madge seized the shining new tea-kettle and filled it with water from +the big bucket that rested on a shelf just outside the kitchen door. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Madge, put the kettle on,<BR> + Madge, put the kettle on,<BR> + We'll all take tea," +</P> + +<P> +She sang in a sweet, high, rapturous voice. +</P> + +<P> +Toot, toot, toot! a motor boat whistle sounded out on the water. The +four girls rushed on deck to call a greeting to the engineer who was to +tow their houseboat down the bay, until it found an anchorage in a cove +in the bay near a stream of clear water. +</P> + +<P> +Four weary but happy girls sat out on deck on cushions as the engineer +made fast to their boat preparatory to starting. The chaperon was +installed in the solitary grandeur of their one steamer chair. +</P> + +<P> +There was a heavy tug at the great rope that bound the houseboat to the +little motor tug. The motor boat moved out into the bay, and with +almost no perceptible motion and no noise, except the gentle ripple of +the water purling against the sides of the craft, the houseboat +followed it. The longed-for vacation on the water had begun. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PLEASURE BAY +</H3> + +<P> +Just before twilight the boat reached a spot that seemed especially +created for the travelers. For two hours they had been silently +drinking in the beauty of the sun-lit bay and the green earth. They +were not in the main body of the great Chesapeake Bay, but in one of +the long arms of the bay that reaches into the Maryland coast. +</P> + +<P> +"Look ahead of you, girls, to the left," called Phyllis Alden, as they +glided slowly along. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones and the three girls looked. There, in a curve of the land, +was a low bank, with great clusters of purple iris growing along it, +among the slender, long, green stems of the "cat-tails." An elm tree +stood close to the edge of the water, spreading its branches out over +the miniature sea. It was so strong, so big and enduring that it gave +the home-seeking girls a sense of protection. The elm's branches could +shelter them from the sun by day, and at night their boat could be tied +to its trunk. Farther up the bank the girls could see a comfortable +old, gray, shingled farmhouse. The farm meant water, fresh eggs, milk +and butter. +</P> + +<P> +Madge looked inquiringly at their chaperon, who nodded with an +expression of entire satisfaction. Next, Madge glanced about the +semi-circle of eager faces. "Shall we cast our anchor in Pleasure +Bay?" she asked, and thus the pleasant little inland sea was named. +</P> + +<P> +Madge signaled to the motor boat ahead, and the engineer stopped. He +had several passengers on board his motor boat, but the men had been +inside the saloon most of the time, and no one on board the houseboat +had noticed them. +</P> + +<P> +Before the houseboat anchored Madge and Phil ran up the hill to ask at +the farmhouse for the privilege of making a landing. They had learned +a lesson they were not likely to forget. +</P> + +<P> +Too tired to begin work, the girls ate their supper out of the luncheon +baskets, then sat about on deck, singing and talking until the stars +came out and twinkled down on their little houseboat with a million +friendly eyes; then, urged by their chaperon and their own heavy eyes, +they crept into their berths. +</P> + +<P> +It was still night when Madge awakened with a start. She thought she +heard some one talking. "To whit! to whoo!" It was only the call of a +friendly owl. Yet the night seemed curiously lonely. It was strange +to be asleep on the water instead of on the land! There was another +weird sound, then something stirred outside on the deck of the boat. +From her cabin window Madge could see the line of the shore. It was +quiet and empty. +</P> + +<P> +This time she heard the sound of a voice. Another voice answered it. +Could it be possible that the second voice sounded like that of Miss +Jones! What could have happened? Without pausing to put on her shoes +Madge slipped into the next room. Eleanor lay breathing quietly in the +upper berth and Miss Jones seemed to be asleep in the lower one. But +the cover was drawn up almost to where her ears should be and Madge +could not see her face. +</P> + +<P> +She crept over to the chaperon's berth. It was necessary to waken Miss +Jones and tell her of the mysterious sounds. She slipped her hand +along the pillow in the dark. There was no response. She groped +deeper under the covers. Still no movement or sound. Miss Jones was +not in her berth. She was out on deck, talking to some one. Madge +returned to her room. She did not intend to call the other girls until +she knew what was the trouble. Phyllis was always brave and so were +Lillian and Eleanor, but in this instance they could do nothing. +</P> + +<P> +The girl stole softly to the cabin window and peeped out. She could +just catch the outline of two figures that were standing well up toward +the bow of the boat. One was a woman's figure, with a shawl thrown +over her head, but Madge was sure that she recognized the chaperon. +Hurrying back to her berth she slipped on her steamer coat and +slippers. She was trying every moment to fight down the distrust and +dislike she had felt toward Miss Jones ever since their first +acquaintance. She was trying to tell herself that she had invited +their teacher to act as their chaperon from other motives, as well as +from sympathy. But the finger of suspicion seemed to point plainly +toward the teacher. +</P> + +<P> +Madge walked quietly, and without any fear or hesitation, out on the +deck of the houseboat, straight toward the two shrouded figures in the +bow. Neither of them heard her coming, but she heard Miss Jones's +distressed plea: "Won't you go away, and never come here again. I tell +you, I can not do it. I simply can't——" +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Jones," Madge's voice, clear and cold, sounded almost in her +chaperon's ear. +</P> + +<P> +The young woman turned so white that Madge could see her pallor in the +moonlight. +</P> + +<P> +The figure with her was shrouded in a long, black coat which was pulled +up about its face. At the first sound of Madge's voice it made for the +extreme end of the boat. With a quick turn, Madge ran after the +escaping form. As it poised itself for a leap toward the shore, Madge +caught at the cloak and dragged it away from the face, and for a brief +instant she saw the face of a boy a little older perhaps than she was. +It was a wild and elfish face, while a pair of ears, ending almost in +points, stuck up through the masses of thick, curly hair that covered +his head. But before she could get a distinct impression of his face +the young man was gone, racing up the low embankment with great leaps, +like a hunted deer. +</P> + +<P> +Madge turned to their chaperon, waiting for the latter to offer some +explanation. Miss Jones said nothing, but regarded Madge with +distressed eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Who was your visitor? I did not know that any one knew we were +anchored here. We did not know, ourselves, that we were to land here +until we spied the place. Was that boy a stranger to you? Why didn't +you call one of us if he frightened you?" Madge's tone was distinctly +unfriendly. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones only shook her head. Big tears were rolling down her +cheeks. She was trembling so that Madge, much against her will, took +her by the arm and assisted her across the deck. +</P> + +<P> +"I can tell you nothing, Madge," was the teacher's husky reply. "I am +perfectly aware that you have a right to know. Still, I simply can't +tell you. But I can go away, if you like, and I will, as soon as you +can get some one else to chaperon you. Only I must ask you not to tell +the other girls what has happened to-night, or why I must leave you. +You see, dear," Miss Jones ended wistfully, "the other girls are fond +of me. You never have been. I can not bear to lose their faith and +trust." +</P> + +<P> +There was a significant silence after this remark. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you really see who it was with me?" Miss Jones questioned +anxiously. "Would you know the face if you saw it again?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," was Madge's stiff reply, "but I believe I should." +</P> + +<P> +"Won't you promise me that you will not tell the other girls?" Miss +Jones whispered, as they crossed the deck and came to the door of their +little cabin. "I am not asking you to do anything wrong, only asking +you to trust me and believe that I do not think I am doing a wrong by +not taking you into my confidence." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, I will keep your secret," returned Madge slowly. "I do not +wish you to leave us, Miss Jones. I wish you to stay and take care of +us, just as you planned to do." +</P> + +<P> +"You are only saying that, dear, because you know I have no other place +to go for my holiday, and you are afraid my health will suffer. You +must not think of my health. I can not stay with you just for my own +sake." +</P> + +<P> +"Then stay for ours," said Madge shortly, and without further words she +went into the cabin and climbed into her berth. +</P> + +<P> +Sleep was far from weighing down her eyelids. She lay awake for some +time, wondering why clouds and distrust should so often spring up among +human beings when everything seemed arranged for their perfect +happiness. +</P> + +<P> +She generously made up her mind, however, never to trouble their +chaperon with questions about her mysterious visitor, but she +determined to discover for herself who that boy was, and whether he had +come aboard the boat to rob them. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THEIR UNKNOWN JAILER +</H3> + +<P> +"Madge Morton, what do you mean sleeping until seven o'clock, the first +morning we are on our houseboat?" cried Phil, poking her head in the +cabin door. "I would have awakened you before now, only Miss Jones +would not let me. Lillian and Eleanor have been waiting for you in +their bathing suits for a long while. Do let's have a salt water +plunge before breakfast." +</P> + +<P> +Springing from her berth, Madge made a dash for her bathing suit, which +she had laid out the night before. +</P> + +<P> +The girls were over the side of the boat in a hurry, swimming about in +the water with gleeful shouts. The odor of frying bacon, which was +presently wafted to their nostrils from the door of the houseboat +kitchen, was something the bathers were too hungry to resist, and with +one accord, they swam toward their boat. +</P> + +<P> +It had been arranged that Miss Jones was to get the breakfast, Lillian +and Eleanor the luncheon, and Phil and Madge, who were the most +ambitious of the cooks, though not the most proficient, were to cook +the dinner. +</P> + +<P> +Madge noticed that Miss Jones looked whiter than usual, but the other +girls saw no difference in their chaperon as they clambered up over the +side of the boat to get ready for breakfast. +</P> + +<P> +"Girls," Miss Jones remarked, as she put down a big plate of corn +muffins before her hungry charges, "Phil accused me once of being +mysterious and never talking about myself. Well, I am going to make a +confession about myself at once." +</P> + +<P> +Madge raised her eyes in surprise. After all, was Miss Jones going to +tell of last night's adventure? But the chaperon was not looking at +her. She was smiling at Phil, Lillian and Eleanor. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, out with it, Miss Jones," laughed Phil. "What is the +confession?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is a foolish one, perhaps. I hate the name of 'Jones.' I have +despised it all my life. There, that is my confession. Won't you +girls please call me something else while we are having our holiday +together? I know Madge can find a name for me." She looked rather +timidly at Madge. +</P> + +<P> +The girl blushed, though she felt vastly relieved at Miss Jones's +confession. "What do you wish us to call you? I saw your initials in +some of your books, 'J. A. Jones,' so we might call you Jenny Ann +Jones, because, when Nellie and I were children, we used to play an old +nursery game: 'We're going to see Miss Jenny Ann Jones, Miss Jenny Ann +Jones, and how is she to-day?'" Madge's explanation ended with a song. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones laughed. "My name is worse than Jenny Ann, it is Jemima +Ann." +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't pretty," agreed Phyllis, with a shake of the head. "Girls, +what shall we call our chaperon? And we have never named our +houseboat, either. We have a day's work ahead of us. We must think of +names for both of them." +</P> + +<P> +"Wouldn't 'Miss Ann' do?" Eleanor asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I think Ann is such a pretty name." +</P> + +<P> +"I would rather you had a more individual name for me. I have often +been called Ann." +</P> + +<P> +"You might be the 'Queen of our Ship of Dreams,'" laughed Lillian. +</P> + +<P> +"That sounds altogether too high and mighty," objected Phyllis. "We +ought to have something nice and chummy." +</P> + +<P> +"We might call you 'Gem,' because it is short for Jemima, and in honor +of these corn muffins, which we call 'gems' in our part of the world," +added Phil. "We'll think of a name yet. Come on, girls, we must get +to work; there is so much to be done. Lillian, you and I must go up to +the farmhouse to get some supplies this morning. Suppose we take a +long walk this afternoon and explore the woods back of us?" +</P> + +<P> +"We will think of the prettiest name we can for you and another for our +houseboat," declared Lillian as the four girls rose from the table to +go about their various tasks; "then we shall make our report to-night." +</P> + +<P> +It was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon when the four churns +started on their walk. Miss Jones did not go with them. She was tired +and wished to sit out on the deck of the boat in the sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +"Be back before dark, children," she called out gayly as the girls +climbed up the little embankment. "Remember, you don't know your way +in this country, as you do at old Harborpoint. I shall be uneasy about +you if you aren't back on time." +</P> + +<P> +There were several scattered farmhouses at the top of the hill that +sloped down to the cove of the bay, but back of the farmlands lay a +long stretch of forest. The ground was covered with a carpet of wild +flowers and a few late violets. +</P> + +<P> +Once the chums were fairly in the heart of the woods they did not meet +another traveler. They seemed to have the forest to themselves. They +had no thought of danger in the quiet woods, and Madge and Eleanor, who +had been brought up in the country, were careful to watch the paths +they followed. +</P> + +<P> +They had been in the woods for an hour or more when Lillian, who was +stooping over a clump of big, purple violets, thought she heard a +peculiar sound resembling light footsteps, Whether there was a human +being or an animal near them she could not tell. The footsteps would +run rapidly and then stop abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"Phil," called Lillian, "I thought I heard something. Did you? Listen +once more. There, did you hear that?" +</P> + +<P> +Phil listened. "Not a sound, Airy Fairy Lillian. It must have been +your fancy." +</P> + +<P> +But Lillian was not convinced. Several times she believed she heard +the noise again. However, she did not mention it. +</P> + +<P> +As the girls came out of the woods to a little clearing Phil, who was +in the lead, ran forward. "Madge, Eleanor," she called, "come here, +quick! I am sure this must be a regular, old-time log cabin." +</P> + +<P> +Before them the girls saw an old cabin that looked as though it had +been empty for a quarter of a century. It was strongly built of logs, +and the chinks between the logs were filled with mud that had hardened +like plaster. There were no windows in the cabin, except in the eaves. +The heavy door was half open, but it had an old-fashioned wooden latch +on the outside. +</P> + +<P> +"The old cabin looks rather creepy, doesn't it, Madge?" asked Eleanor. +"It is built more securely than our cabins farther down south, too. +This place seems more like a prison." +</P> + +<P> +"It looks interesting. Let's go in to see it." Phil suggested. +</P> + +<P> +The cabin stood in front of a stream of clear water. Close around it +grew a number of dark old cedar trees. +</P> + +<P> +Phil and Madge shoved open the heavy door. Inside, the one large room +looked gray and dark, as the only light came from the two small windows +so far overhead. +</P> + +<P> +"I would rather not go in, Madge," protested Eleanor, hesitating on the +threshold after Lillian had followed the other two girls inside. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be a baby, Eleanor," scolded Madge. "There is nothing to hurt +you." +</P> + +<P> +Once inside the old house, Eleanor was as much interested as her chums. +There was no furniture in the place, but a few faded pictures were +tacked up on the walls, and the corners of the room were thick with +mysterious and inviting shadows. +</P> + +<P> +As they clustered in a group under an old magazine picture of a darkey +with a fiddle in his hand there was an unexpected sound just outside +the door, and the big room grew suddenly darker. +</P> + +<P> +The four girls turned simultaneously. +</P> + +<P> +The heavy door through which they had entered the cabin, and which was +the only entrance, had been shut fast. At the same instant there was +the sound of a heavy, sliding bolt, then the rush of flying feet. +</P> + +<P> +For the moment no one of the girls realized the seriousness of what had +happened. +</P> + +<P> +"Some one must have locked us in for a joke," declared Phil stoutly. +</P> + +<P> +Madge ran to the door and shook it with all her strength. It was built +of heavy logs, and, though the girls could see the daylight through the +cracks between the timbers, the door showed no sign of opening. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't work so hard, Madge," remonstrated Phil. "Whoever shut us in +will come back in a moment to unfasten the bolt." +</P> + +<P> +The girls waited a long time. No one returned. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps the person who closed the door did not know there was any one +in the cabin," suggested Eleanor faintly. +</P> + +<P> +"But we were all talking, Nellie. No one but a deaf person could have +failed to hear us," Lillian insisted. +</P> + +<P> +Eleanor realized the truth of the words. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be frightened, Nellie," begged Madge remorsefully. "Let's all +push against the door at the same time. I am sure we shall be able to +break the bolt. One, two, three! Now—all together!" +</P> + +<P> +The four girls shoved with all their might, until their arms ached and +their faces perspired from the exertion. Still the old door resisted +them. Perhaps Eleanor was right and the log house had been built as a +prison. +</P> + +<P> +"I think we had better call for help," was Phil's practical suggestion. +"If we all scream together, we ought to make considerable noise. I am +afraid Miss Jones may become worried about us before any one comes to +let us out." +</P> + +<P> +The girls called and called, until their voices were hoarse, but no one +answered them. Each girl remembered that she had not met a single +person in her journey through the woods. +</P> + +<P> +Then the prisoners made a trip around the big room, poking and peering +about to see if there were any other possible method of escape. +</P> + +<P> +"If I could only get up to one of those windows, I could easily break +the bars and try to jump out of it," speculated Madge aloud. "But, +alas, I am not a monkey! I can't climb straight up the side of a wall." +</P> + +<P> +"You shall not try it, either," retorted Eleanor determinedly. "You +would break your neck if you tried to jump from one of those high +windows. Thank goodness, you can't climb up to them!" +</P> + +<P> +"You were the wise one, Nell, and we wouldn't listen to you." Madge +eyed Eleanor mournfully. She had an overwhelming desire to burst into +tears. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't take it so to heart, Madge," comforted her cousin. "Some one is +sure to come this way finally, if we only call long enough." +</P> + +<P> +But the afternoon shadows lengthened and no one came. Gradually the +twilight fell, enveloping the big, bare room in hazy darkness. The +prisoners huddled together with white and weary faces. They thought of +their cosy houseboat with the little lamps lit in the dining room, and +the big lantern hanging in the bow, and of Miss Jones, who by this time +was no doubt anxiously waiting and watching for their return. +</P> + +<P> +It was perhaps eight o'clock, although to the girls it seemed midnight, +when Lillian whispered: +</P> + +<P> +"Girls, I hear some one coming this way. Phil was right; it was a +joke, after all. Whoever locked the door has come back to unlock it." +</P> + +<P> +The girls smiled hopefully. After all, their experience did not amount +to anything. They would be back inside the houseboat in another hour. +</P> + +<P> +The footsteps now sounded plainly just outside the cabin door. +</P> + +<P> +"Won't you please unbar the door for us?" called Phil and Madge in +chorus. "Some one has locked us inside." +</P> + +<P> +An elfish laugh answered them. Or was it the wind? Perhaps they had +heard no one after all. They strained their ears but heard no further +sound. Then the last bit of twilight vanished and night came down in +reality. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AN ANXIOUS NIGHT +</H3> + +<P> +Huddled together in the darkness, Phil and Madge endeavored to relieve +the strain of the situation by talking, but the very sound of their +voices dismayed them and they became silent. Finally Eleanor, who had +been leaning against Madge's shoulder, laid her head in her cousin's +lap and went to sleep. A little later Lillian, after receiving Madge's +assurance that she and Phil intended to keep watch, went to sleep also. +</P> + +<P> +"Madge," Phil's voice trembled a little, "what do you suppose poor Miss +Jones will think? She won't have the least idea in which direction to +look for us. Goodness knows how long we may have to stay here. We may +never get out." Her voice sank to a whisper. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Phil," Madge feigned a hopefulness which she did not feel, "I am +surprised at you. You haven't given up hope. It is just the darkness +and being hungry that makes things appear so dreadful. I have been +thinking about our plight, and when daylight comes I am going to try to +climb up the wall to the window. The mud has broken away between some +of the logs, so that I can get my foot in the opening. We shall have +to dig it away in other places too." +</P> + +<P> +"But what can we dig with, Madge? We haven't a knife." +</P> + +<P> +"With our fingers and hairpins, if we must, Phil. Sh-sh, Nellie is +waking. I want her to sleep on till daylight." +</P> + +<P> +Toward morning, however, the two girls' eyes closed wearily. In spite +of their resolve to keep awake, the gray dawn creeping in at the +windows found them fast asleep. It was Phil who first opened her eyes. +She touched Madge, who sat up with a start, then springing to her feet +exclaimed, "I'm so glad it's morning. Now for my great circus stunt." +</P> + +<P> +"You can't possibly climb up there without hurting yourself, Madge. +You will surely fall," expostulated Eleanor. "Please, please don't try +it." +</P> + +<P> +"Please don't discourage me, Nellie. It is the only way I know to get +out of this dreadful place. Phil, if you will try to brace me, I can +climb up and dig in the mud farther up." +</P> + +<P> +Eleanor was feeling down in her pocket. Suddenly she gave a little cry +of surprise. "O, girls! I have something that may help. Here is a +little pair of scissors. You can dig with them, Madge." +</P> + +<P> +The girls hailed the scissors with exclamations of joy. They were very +small embroidery scissors, but they were better than nothing. +</P> + +<P> +Lillian, who was bent on a foraging expedition around the room, came +back a moment later with a few big, rusty nails and an old brick she +had picked up out of the tumbled down fireplace. "If you can hammer +these nails in the wall, Madge, you will have something to hold on to +as you climb." +</P> + +<P> +For two hours Madge alternately dug and climbed. In each hole that she +made between the big logs she would set her foot, then hammer a nail +above her head and dig a new opening. At last she actually did climb +up the side of the wall, but her hands were scratched and bleeding, and +her hair and face were covered with mud. She had taken off her dress +skirt, too, as she could climb better in her petticoat. +</P> + +<P> +The three girls below held their breath when she came to the final +stretch, and let go the last rickety nail to fling herself on to the +window sill. +</P> + +<P> +"Eureka, girls!" she called down cheerfully, when she got her breath. +She was holding tightly to the window frame with both hands and +endeavoring to make her voice sound gay, though she was nearly worn out +with the fatigue of her dangerous climb. "Now I shall surely find a +way out for us. Please don't be frightened, Nellie, darling, if I have +to jump. It is not so bad." She gave a little inward shudder as she +looked through the tiny window frame. She could easily wrench the +broken bars away. That was not the trouble. But the window was so +small and the sill so narrow that Madge realized she could not get into +the proper position for a forward spring. However, she had made up her +mind; she might break her leg, or her arm, but she would open that +barred door if she died in doing it. +</P> + +<P> +With determined hands she wrenched at one of the window bars. It gave +way. She seized hold of another, clinging to the sill with her other +hand, her feet in their insecure resting places. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all right, chilluns," she smiled, as she swung herself up to the +window, "I'm going to jump." +</P> + +<P> +Eleanor had closed her eyes. Phil and Lillian watched their friend, +sick with apprehension. +</P> + +<P> +Madge gave one look down at the ground, at least fourteen feet below +her. Then she uttered a quick, sharp cry, and dropped back to her +resting place, her feet, almost by instinct, finding the open spaces in +the wall. +</P> + +<P> +"Come down, Madge," called Phil sharply. "I was afraid you'd find the +distance too great. Don't try it again." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, it is not that," replied Madge, gazing through the window. "I +don't believe I shall have to jump. I am sure some one is near." +</P> + +<P> +Sniffing the ground, near the side of the cabin, she had spied a dog +with a soft brown nose, a shaggy, red brown body and a tail standing +out tense and straight. It was a brown setter, and Madge knew he was +probably hunting for woodchucks. Surely the presence of the dog meant +a master somewhere near. +</P> + +<P> +Her tired, eager eyes strained through the thick foliage of the woods +they had traversed so happily only the afternoon before. +</P> + +<P> +Yes, there was a man's figure! He was coming nearer. A young man in a +hunting jacket, with a gun swung over his shoulder, was tramping along, +with his eyes on the ground. +</P> + +<P> +A pleading voice apparently came from the sky: "Please unbar the door +of this old cabin. We are locked inside." +</P> + +<P> +The young man stopped short. He took off his cap and ran his hand +through his thick, light hair. He was too old to believe in fairies or +elves. But he heard the voice again even more distinctly. "Oh, don't +go away! Do open the log cabin door." +</P> + +<P> +The young man looked up. There was a little, white face as wan and +pale as the early daylight, with an aureole of dark red curls around +it, staring at him through the broken window frame of the old log cabin +that he had seen deserted a dozen times in his hunting trips through +these woods. +</P> + +<P> +"If there is some one really calling to me, please wave your hand three +times from that window, so I will know you are not a spook," called the +young man, "otherwise I may be afraid to open the door." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't wave. I shall fall if I let go the window sill," answered +Madge, trying to keep from bursting into tears. "Please don't wait any +longer. We have been locked in all night." +</P> + +<P> +The stranger drew back the heavy wooden bolt. He started when he saw +three white-faced girls staring at him. But the face he had seen at +the window was not among them. Clinging to the old window frame, her +slender feet stuck in the cracks between the logs, was the witch who +had summoned him to their rescue. +</P> + +<P> +"Won't you please come help me down, Phil?" asked a plaintive voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Just let go the window frame and drop," ordered the stranger quietly. +"Don't be afraid. It is the only possible way." +</P> + +<P> +Without hesitating Madge did as directed. "Thank you," she said +coolly, when she got her breath. Then she staggered a little, and +Phyllis and the young man who had come to their rescue caught her. +</P> + +<P> +"We have been locked in so long," explained Phil. "No, we have not the +least idea who could have played such a trick on us. We arrived in +this neighborhood only yesterday afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +Phil gave a short history of the houseboat, introducing her three +friends and herself to him. "We must return to our chaperon at once," +she added. "The poor woman will be dreadfully worried. Do you girls +feel strong enough to walk? You see"—this time Phil turned to their +rescuer—"it is not only that we have been shut up here for nearly +fourteen hours, we are so hungry! We have had nothing to eat since +yesterday at luncheon." +</P> + +<P> +"Your poor, starving girls!" exclaimed their liberator, reproachfully. +"At last I am convinced you are not fairies. And for once I am glad +that my mother is always certain that I am on the point of starving." +</P> + +<P> +He reached back into his pocket and brought out a package and a flask. +"Here is some good, strong coffee. I am sorry it is cold, but it is +better than nothing." He turned to Madge, who looked exhausted. +</P> + +<P> +She shook her head, though she gazed at the flask wistfully. "I won't +drink first. I don't need it as much as the other girls." +</P> + +<P> +Eleanor took the bottle from his hands and held it to Madge's lips. +The exhausted girl took a long drink. Then the others followed suit, +while the young man watched them, smiling with satisfaction. He was +tall and strong, and not particularly handsome, but he had fine brown +eyes, a firm chin and thick, curly, light hair. After the girls had +finished the coffee he broke open his package of sandwiches and found +exactly four inside. +</P> + +<P> +"Please take them," he urged, handing the open package to Lillian. +</P> + +<P> +"We mustn't take them from you," protested Lillian. "We thank you for +the coffee. That will do nicely until we get back to our boat." +</P> + +<P> +The stranger laughed. "See here," he protested, "not an hour ago, when +I left the hotel, where my mother and I are spending the summer, I ate +three eggs, much bacon, four Maryland biscuit and drank two cups of +coffee. Fragile creature that I am, I believe I can exist on that +amount of refreshment for another hour or so. But whenever I go out on +a few hours' hunting trip, my mother insists that the steward at the +hotel put me up a luncheon. She is forever imagining that I am likely +to get lost and starve, a modern 'Babe in the Woods,' you know. By the +way, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Curtis, Thomas Stevenson +Curtis, if you please, but I am more used to plain, everyday Tom." +</P> + +<P> +The girls acknowledged the introduction, then by common consent they +began walking away from the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +A short distance was traversed in silence, then Madge said abruptly, +"Who do you suppose locked us in, Mr. Curtis?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," answered Tom Curtis darkly, clenching his fist. "But +wouldn't I like to find out! Have you an enemy about here?" +</P> + +<P> +Madge shook her head. "No; as I said, we came to the neighborhood only +yesterday. We have met only the farmer and his wife, who allowed us to +land." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll make it my business to find out who served you such a dastardly +trick, Miss Morton," Tom returned. "I expect to be in this +neighborhood all summer. My mother isn't very well, and we like this +quiet place. Our home is in New York. I was a freshman last year at +Columbia." +</P> + +<P> +Only the day before Tom Curtis had informed his mother that he found +the neighborhood too slow, and that if she didn't object he would be +glad to move on. But a great deal can happen in a short time to make a +young man of twenty change his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," replied Madge sedately. "I'll be on the lookout for the +wretch, too. Now we must hurry back to our chaperon, Miss Jones. I +won't ask you to come with us this morning, but we shall be very glad +to have you come aboard our boat to-morrow. We haven't named her yet, +but she is so white and clean and new looking that you can't possibly +mistake her. She is lying on an arm of the bay just south of these +woods." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll surely avail myself of the invitation," smiled Tom Curtis as they +paused for a moment at the edge of the woods. Below them the blue +waters of the bay gleamed in the sunshine. And yes, there was their +beloved "Ship of Dreams." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you can see her from here!" exclaimed Madge, her eyes dancing with +the pride of possession. "See, Mr. Curtis, it is our very own 'Ship of +Dreams' until we give her a real name." +</P> + +<P> +"She's a beauty," said Tom Curtis warmly, "and I really must have a +closer look at her." +</P> + +<P> +"Then come to see us soon," invited Phil audaciously. +</P> + +<P> +"I will, you may be certain of it. Good-bye. I hope you won't suffer +any bad effects from your strenuous night." The young man raised his +cap and, whistling to his dog, strode off down the hill. +</P> + +<P> +"What a nice boy," commented Lillian. +</P> + +<P> +Madge, however, was not thinking of Tom Curtis; her mind dwelt upon +their chaperon, and the long, anxious night she had spent alone on the +houseboat. +</P> + +<P> +Poor Miss Jones! Her vigil had indeed been a patient one. From the +time the hands of the little cabin clock had pointed to the hour of six +she had anxiously awaited the girls. She had cooked the dinner, then +set it in the oven to warm. At seven o'clock she trudged up the hill +to the farmhouse to make inquiries. No one had seen the young women +since they passed through the fields early that afternoon. At nine +o'clock a party of farmers scoured the country side, but the extreme +darkness of the night had caused the young men to discontinue their +search until daylight. +</P> + +<P> +At dawn Miss Jones flung herself down on her berth, utterly exhausted. +She would rest until the search party started out again, then she would +hurry to the nearest town and inform the authorities of the strange +disappearance of the girls. As she lay with half-closed eyes trying to +imagine just what could possibly have happened to her charges, a +familiar call broke upon her ears that caused her to spring up from her +berth in wonder. +</P> + +<P> +"We've come to see Miss Jennie Ann Jones," caroled a voice, and in the +next instant the bewildered teacher was surrounded by four tired but +smiling girls. +</P> + +<P> +"We were locked up all night in a log cabin in the woods," began Madge. +"Do say you are glad to see us and give us some breakfast, Miss Jennie +Ann Jones, for we were never so hungry in all our lives before, and as +soon as we have something to eat, we'll tell you the strangest story +you ever heard." +</P> + +<P> +With her arm thrown across the teacher's shoulders Madge made her way +to the houseboat, followed by her friends. At that moment, to the +little, impulsive girl, Miss Jennie Ann Jones seemed particularly dear, +in spite of her mysterious ways, and Madge made mental resolve to try +to believe in their chaperon, no matter what happened. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GIRL ON THE ISLAND +</H3> + +<P> +"Phil, it looks like only a little more than half a mile over to the +island. Do you think we can make it?" asked Madge, casting speculative +eyes toward the distant island. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course we can," declared Phyllis. "I'm sorry that Eleanor and Miss +Jones did not come with us. But they have become so domestic that they +can't be persuaded to leave the houseboat. Nelly told me she +positively loved to polish kettles and things," Phil replied. +</P> + +<P> +Lillian, Phyllis and Madge were in their own rowboat, the "Water +Witch," which had been expressed to them from Harborpoint. They were +no longer in the quiet inlet of the bay, where their houseboat was +anchored, but rowing out toward the more open water. On one side of +them they could see the beach in front of a large summer hotel. Across +from it lay a small island, to which they were rowing. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Jones doesn't like to have us start off alone this way. She has +grown dreadfully nervous about us since our experience in the cabin," +remarked Lillian. "That is why she didn't approve of Madge's plan this +morning." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought Madge was going to fly into little bits when Miss Jones +suggested it was not safe for us to row about here in our own little +'Water Witch,'" teased Phil. +</P> + +<P> +"Phil, please don't discuss my temper," answered Madge crossly. "If +there is one thing I hate worse than another, it is to hear people talk +about my faults. Of course, I know I have a perfectly detestable +temper, but I hardly said a word to Miss Jenny Ann. Please tell me +what fun we could have on our holiday if we never dared to go ten feet +away from the houseboat?" +</P> + +<P> +"None whatever," answered Lillian, "only you needn't be so cross with +Phil and me. We were not discussing your faults. You are altogether +too ready to become angry over a trifle." There was indignation and +reproof in Lillian's tone. +</P> + +<P> +Madge plied her oars in silence. She knew that she had behaved badly. +"Isn't it exactly like me?" she thought to herself. "If I am sweet and +agreeable one minute, and feel pleased with myself, I can surely count +on doing something disagreeable the next. Now I have made Lillian and +Phil cross with me and probably have hurt Miss Jenny Ann's feelings and +spoiled this beautiful day for us all." +</P> + +<P> +Eleanor's soft voice broke in upon her self-arraignment. "Don't +squabble, girls. The day is altogether too perfect. None of you are +really cross. Now, are you?" +</P> + +<P> +Three pairs of eyes met hers, then the little dispute ended in a +general laugh. +</P> + +<P> +Madge and Phil rowed faster than ever after this little falling out. +They could see the shores of Fisherman's Island not far ahead, with +several dories and small fishing craft anchored along the banks. They +were heading toward an open beach, where there was no sign of life. +</P> + +<P> +"Girls, look out!" warned Lillian. She was sitting in the bow of their +skiff, and could see another rowboat moving toward them, the two pairs +of oars rising and falling in perfect accord. The boat was so close to +them that Lillian was afraid Phil and Madge might cross oars with it. +But as the other boat glided smoothly up alongside of their skiff, the +oars were drawn swiftly inboard, almost before the girls knew what had +happened. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose you don't speak to people on the water whom you might be +persuaded to notice on land," called Tom Curtis reproachfully. +</P> + +<P> +"O Mr. Curtis! how do you do?" laughed Madge. "You see, we are not +possessed with eyes in the backs of our heads, or we should have +recognized you. Goodness gracious! If there isn't my cousin, Jack +Bolling! I never dreamed you knew him. Why didn't you tell me? Jack, +where did you come from?" +</P> + +<P> +Tom looked at Jack, and Jack looked at Tom. "Age before beauty, Mr. +Curtis," bowed Jack. "You answer first." +</P> + +<P> +"To tell you the solemn truth, I did not know your cousin until this +morning," Tom explained. "But when I saw a not specially bad-looking +fellow mooning about our hotel as though lost I went over and spoke to +him. It wasn't long before I found out he knew you young ladies. I +told him about meeting you in the woods the other day, and we shook +hands on it. Now, Bolling, it is your turn. How did you happen to +turn up in this particular place?" +</P> + +<P> +Jack was apparently looking at Lillian and Madge, but he had really +glanced first at Phyllis Alden, to see how she had borne the shock of +his presence. Jack had guessed correctly that Phyllis did not like +him. To tell the truth, she looked anything but pleased. She did not +like boys. She could do most of the things they could, and they were, +to her mind, a nuisance. They were always on hand, trying to help and +to pretend that girls were weaker than they were in order to domineer +over them. The worst of it was, Madge, Lillian and Eleanor might think +the newcomers would add to the fun. So, though Phyllis did not mean to +be rude either to Tom or to Jack, she was far from enthusiastic, and +could not help showing it. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, I had to come down to see what your houseboat looked like +after I got your note telling me where you were," explained Jack. "I +knew there was a hotel near here, so, as soon as school closed, I ran +down for a few days to see how you were getting on. You see, I was +really very much interested in the houseboat." Jack made this last +remark directly to Phyllis. She merely glanced carelessly away in the +opposite direction. +</P> + +<P> +"We rowed up from the hotel to the houseboat, but we couldn't see a +soul aboard. 'The ship was still as still could be,'" declared Tom. +"Then we started for a row and found you." There was no doubt that Tom +was looking straight at Madge. +</P> + +<P> +"We are rowing over to the island," remarked Lillian graciously. +</P> + +<P> +"How strange! We were going over there, too, weren't we, Mr. Bolling?" +quizzed Tom. +</P> + +<P> +"Then catch us if you can!" challenged Phyllis. With a sign to Madge +the two girls began rowing their boat through the water with the speed +of an arrow. The first spurt told, for the island was not far away, +and the girls' boat grated on the beach before the boys had time to +land. But Tom and Jack did jump out and run through the water to pull +the "Water Witch" ashore, much to Phil's disgust. +</P> + +<P> +"I really have an errand to do on this island, Miss Morton," continued +Tom, as the party started up the beach. "I wanted first to ask you if +I could bring my mother to call on you and your chaperon this +afternoon? I am awfully anxious to have an all-day sailing party +to-morrow. And I thought perhaps you and your friends and chaperon +would go with us? There is an old fellow over here who takes people +out sailing, and I am anxious to have a talk with him. Don't think I +am such a duffer that I can't sail a boat myself, but my mother is so +nervous about the water that I take a professional sailor along to keep +her from worrying. She has had a great deal to make her nervous," Tom +ended. "I wonder if you and your friends would mind walking over to +the other side of the island with me to see this man? It is not a long +walk." +</P> + +<P> +The party started off, Phyllis keeping strictly in the background. +Madge walked with Tom and Lillian with Jack, so she felt a little out +of it. +</P> + +<P> +"If you don't mind," she proposed, after the party had walked a few +yards, "I will sit down here on the beach and wait until you come back +from your talk with the sailor man. I will stay right here, so you can +find me when you return." +</P> + +<P> +Phil found herself a comfortable, flat rock, and sat looking idly out +over the bay. Gradually she fell into a little reverie. +</P> + +<P> +A sudden cry of pain roused Phil from her daydream. Springing to her +feet, she rushed down the beach, seeing nothing, but following the +direction of the cry. Rounding a curve of the beach she came upon a +dirty, half-tumbled down tent. In front of it stood a burly man with +both hands on the shoulders of a young girl, whom he was shaking +violently. So intent was he upon what he was doing, he did not notice +Phil approaching. She saw him shove the girl inside the tent and close +the outside flap. "Now, stay in there till you git tired of it," he +growled as he turned and walked away. +</P> + +<P> +A sound of low sobbing greeted Phil's ears as she came up in front of +the tent and stood waiting, hardly knowing what to do. The sobs +continued, with a note of pain in them that went straight to Phil's +tender heart. The sight or sound of physical suffering made a special +appeal to her. It was Phyllis's secret ambition some day to study +medicine, an ambition which she had confided to no one save Madge. +Although the figure she had seen was almost that of a woman, the +sobbing sounded like that of a child. There was no other noise in the +tent, so Phil knew the girl was alone. +</P> + +<P> +"Won't you please come out?" she called softly, not knowing what else +to do or say. "Tell me what is grieving you so. I am only a girl like +yourself, and I would like to help you." +</P> + +<P> +"I dare not come out," the other girl answered. "My father said I must +stay in here." +</P> + +<P> +Phil opened the flap of the old tent and walked inside. "What is the +matter?" she inquired gently, bending over the figure lying on the +ground and trying to lift her. +</P> + +<P> +The girl sat up and pushed back her unkempt hair. She had a deep, +glowing scar just over her temple. But her hair was a wonderful color, +and only once before Phil remembered having seen eyes so deeply blue. +</P> + +<P> +"Why," Phil exclaimed with a start of surprise, "I have seen you +somewhere before. Don't you remember me?" +</P> + +<P> +The girl shook her head. "I do not remember anything," she answered +quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"But I saw you on the canal boat. Your father was the man who helped +us secure our houseboat. What are you doing here?" +</P> + +<P> +"We have come here for many years, I think," the girl answered +confusedly. "In the early spring my father catches shad along the bay. +Then all summer he takes people out sailing from the big place over +there." She pointed across the water in the direction of the hotel. +"Our boat is on the other side of the island." The girl clasped her +head in her long, sun-burned hands. "It is there that it hurts," she +declared, touching the ugly, jagged scar. +</P> + +<P> +Phil gave a little, sympathetic cry and put her hand on the girl's +shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"When I work a long time in the sun my head hurts," the girl went on +listlessly. "I have been washing all day on the beach. I came up here +to hide, and my father found me. He was angry because I had stopped +work." +</P> + +<P> +"Did he strike you?" Phil cried in horror, gazing at the slender, +delicate creature and thinking of the rough, coarse man. +</P> + +<P> +"Not this time," the girl replied. "Sometimes they strike me and then +I am afraid. Only there is one thing I shall never, never do, no +matter how much they beat me. I can not remember everything, but I +know that I will not do this one thing." +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" asked Phil. "Whom do you mean by 'they,' and what do +'they' wish you to do?" +</P> + +<P> +The girl shook her head. "I can not tell you." She shuddered, and +Phil felt she had no right to insist on knowing. +</P> + +<P> +"I like to hide in this tent," the girl went on sorrowfully. "I come +here whenever I can get away from the others. I would like to stay +here always. But, now he has found me, there is no place where I can +rest." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you a mother, or brothers and sisters?" Phil asked. +</P> + +<P> +"There is the man's second wife, but she is not my mother. She has +many little children. I think I must be very old. I seem to have +lived such a long time." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't you remember your own mother?" Phil inquired. +</P> + +<P> +The girl shook her head mournfully. "I can remember nothing," she said +again. "Don't go," she begged, as Phil rose to leave her. "I have +never known a girl like you before." +</P> + +<P> +"I must go," answered Phil regretfully. "My friends will be waiting +for me up the beach, and they will not know where to find me. Won't +you come to see me and my friends? We are spending our holiday on a +houseboat not very far from here. We would love to have you come." +</P> + +<P> +"I am not allowed to leave the island or to go among people," the girl +replied. "My father says I have no sense. So, if I wander away, or +talk to strangers, people will think that I am crazy and shut me up in +some dreadful, dark place." +</P> + +<P> +Tears of sympathy rose to Phyllis's eyes. She wished Madge and the +other girls were with her. It was too dreadful to think of this lovely +creature frightened into submission by her cruel father. "We will come +to see you, then," she said gently. "And I will bring you something to +keep your head from aching. My father is a physician, and he will tell +me what I must give you. I will bring my friends to the island with +me. Whenever you can get away, come to this tent and we will try to +find you. We shall have good times together, and some day we may be +able to help you. You know how to write, don't you? Then, if you are +ever in trouble or danger, leave a note under this old piece of carpet. +Now good-bye." +</P> + +<P> +The girl stood in the door of her tent to watch Phyllis on her way. +She stared intently after her until her visitor turned the curve of the +beach and was lost to view, then, leaning her head against the side of +the tent, she burst forth into low, despairing sobs. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AN EXCITING RACE +</H3> + +<P> +Eleanor and Miss "Jenny Ann," as the girls seemed inclined to call +their chaperon, had not remained on the houseboat merely to polish the +pots and pans. They had a special surprise and plan of their own on +hand. +</P> + +<P> +It was all very well for Phyllis to dream of a houseboat, with its +decks lined with flowers, and for Madge to draw a beautiful plan of it +on paper. Flowers do not grow except where they are planted. +</P> + +<P> +So it was in order to turn gardeners that Eleanor and Miss Jones stayed +at home. Flowers enough to encircle the deck of a houseboat would cost +almost as much money as the four girls had in their treasury to keep +them supplied with food and coal. But the gently sloping Maryland +fields were abloom with daisies. A farmer's lad could be hired for a +dollar to dig up the daisies and to bring a wagon load of dirt to the +boat. The day before Eleanor had engaged the services of a carpenter +to make four boxes, which exactly fitted the sides of the little upper +deck of the houseboat above the cabin. An hour or so after the girls +departed on their rowing excursion the daisies were brought aboard, +planted, and held up their heads bravely. They were such sturdy, hardy +little flowers that they did not wither with homesickness at the change +in their environment. +</P> + +<P> +But still Eleanor was not entirely satisfied. In Phil's dream and +Madge's picture of the boat vines had drooped gracefully over the sides +of the deck, and Eleanor had no vines to plant. Eleanor had a natural +gift for making things about her lovely and homelike. So she thought +and thought. Wild honeysuckle vines were growing in the fields with +the daisies. They were just the things to clamber over the white +railing of the deck and to hang gracefully over the sides. Their +perfume would fill the little floating dwelling with their fragrance. +</P> + +<P> +By noon the transformation was complete. Eleanor persuaded Miss Jones +to go for a walk while she got the luncheon. Madge, Phil and Lillian +had solemnly promised to be at home by one o'clock. Another surprise +was in store for them. In the bow of their boat Eleanor had hung up a +flag. On a background of white broadcloth, stitched in bands of blue, +was the legend "Merry Maid." This was Eleanor Butler's chosen name for +the houseboat, and had been voted the best possible selection, while +Madge had been unanimously voted captain of their little ship. Eleanor +had sent to the town for the flag, and even their chaperon was not to +know of its arrival. +</P> + +<P> +One would hardly have known Miss Jenny Ann Jones—a week in the fresh +air had done her so much good. Then, too, Phil and Lillian had +persuaded her to cease to wear her heavy, light hair in an English bun +at the back of her neck. Lillian had plaited it in two great braids +and had coiled it around her head like a dull golden coronet. She had +a faint color in her cheeks, and, instead of looking cross and tired, +she was as merry and almost as light-hearted as the girls. The lines +of her head were really beautiful, and her sallow skin was fast +becoming clear and healthy. For once in her life Miss Jones looked no +older than her twenty-six years. Eleanor watched her as she started +off on her walk dressed in white, carrying a red parasol, and decided +that Miss Jones was really pretty. Since her advent among the girls +she had begun to look at life from a different standpoint. She had +almost ceased worrying and she meant to grow well and strong if she +could. Since her mysterious visitor the first night she spent aboard +the boat nothing had happened to disturb her. She walked slowly on, so +occupied with her own thoughts she did not notice that she was in a +lane between two fields enclosed by fences. Some one called to her. +She could not distinguish the voice. It called and called again. She +thought it must be one of the girls who had come out in the field to +meet her. As there was no one looking, Miss Jones managed to climb +over the rail fence, and now she walked in the direction from which the +sound of the voice came. After a time the voice ceased. It was a +shorter stroll to the boat across this field, so the teacher went +leisurely on. In a far corner of the meadow she saw an odd object +unlike anything she had ever seen. It consisted of two sticks that +looked like the legs of a scarecrow which had a square board fastened +in front of them. From between the sticks were two other brown +objects, long and thin, and behind it sat a young man busily engaged in +transferring the peaceful scene to canvas. Miss Jones was gazing +curiously at this object, with her red parasol hung over her shoulder, +so that it was impossible for her to see anything behind her. But she +did hear an unusual noise—a snort, then a bellow—the sound was +unmistakable. With a sense of sickening terror she gave one horrified +glance behind her. She had been mysteriously lured into a field where +a bull was loose. It never occurred to Miss Jones to throw away her +red parasol. She ran on, waving it wildly over her shoulders, +maddening the enraged animal behind her. Miss Jones did not believe +she could run fast. Usually her breath was short, and even a rapid +walk fatigued her. Now she ran on and on. Once again she half heard a +mocking voice cry after her, but she paid no attention to it. In her +fright she was also oblivious to the fact that the strange object in +the corner of the field fell to the ground with a bang, while a man +sitting on a stool behind it rose to right his overturned canvas. +"Drop it, drop it!" he shouted, running after Miss Jones and repeatedly +urging her to throw away her bright red parasol. +</P> + +<P> +Madge, Phil and Lillian had come back to the boat. After dancing in a +circle around Eleanor to express the rapture they felt in the +transformation she had wrought in their beloved houseboat, they stood +together on the deck, looking for the return of their chaperon along +the shore. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones thought there was a gate at the end of the field in which +she was running. She made for this gate, as she knew she would not +have time to get over the fence before the animal would be upon her. +In her terror she had but one idea, one hope, that was to reach the +safety of the gang-plank and to climb aboard the houseboat. +</P> + +<P> +While Miss Jones was running for her life the four chums were lingering +about the deck of the "Merry Maid" watching for her return. They +decided to take a short walk with the idea of meeting her and, leaving +their boat to take care of itself, strolled through the lane that led +to the very field Miss Jones had entered. All at once Lillian called +out in terror: +</P> + +<P> +"O girls! look! It's Miss Jones, and a bull is chasing her!" +</P> + +<P> +The four chums stood rooted to the spot. What could they do? They +felt powerless to help, yet not one of the girls believed Miss Jones +could save herself. +</P> + +<P> +Madge was the first to act. In her hand was a large white and green +striped umbrella. The girls had lately bought two of them to use out +on deck as a protection from the sun, and Madge had caught up one of +them as they started out. In the next instant she had climbed the +fence that separated her from the field in which the teacher was +running and was making for the frightened woman at the top of her speed. +</P> + +<P> +But by this time Miss Jones was completely exhausted. Summoning all +her will power, she staggered a few steps, then dropped to the ground, +with the bull not more than four yards behind her. +</P> + +<P> +On it came, its head lowered almost to the ground. Then a huge green +and white monster loomed up before the animal, and with a snort of +mingled rage and horror the bull stopped short in its tracks. The +strange green and white object now lunging at full tilt was far more +terrible than the small, red, flame-like object that fled its approach. +Rage conquering fear, the bull gave a dreadful roar and made a quick +lunge at Madge. She sprang to one side but managed to thrust her +umbrella full in the animal's face. With a rumble of defiance the bull +dodged the umbrella and made another lunge at Madge. Its lowered horns +never reached her. A rope swung skilfully forward caught the animal by +the leg just in time. One swift pull and the bull went down. The +owner of the animal had witnessed its charge upon Miss Jones and, +rushing across the field, had roped it. The artist who had attracted +Miss Jenny Ann's attention had also come to the rescue, but it was +really Madge with her green and white umbrella who had saved their +chaperon from the bull's horns. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones, who had raised herself to a sitting position, stared wildly +about her, still firmly clutching the red parasol. +</P> + +<P> +The artist sprang to her side and raised her to her feet. "It was this +that made the mischief," he said, touching her parasol. "I shouted to +you to drop it." +</P> + +<P> +"But I didn't hear you," defended the teacher faintly. Her two long +braids of fair hair had become unfastened and were now hanging down her +back, giving her the appearance of a girl. "I heard some one calling +to me, or I would never have entered that dreadful field." Miss Jones +eyed the artist reproachfully. "Was it you who shouted my name?" +</P> + +<P> +"Was it I?" repeated the young man in astonishment. "Certainly not. I +do not know your name." +</P> + +<P> +"My name is 'Jones,'" Miss Jenny Ann faltered weakly. She was still +feeling dazed and weak. +</P> + +<P> +"And my name is 'Brown,'" the artist answered, with an expression of +solemn gravity. But the corners of his lips twitched in amusement. +</P> + +<P> +There was a faint chuckle from Madge that went the round of the group +and, despite the fact that the chaperon's narrow escape had been far +from ludicrous, the whole party burst into laughter. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry," apologized the artist. "Please forgive me for laughing." +</P> + +<P> +The farmer had in the meantime led the bull away, and now Eleanor and +Lillian came running toward the group to see if Miss Jenny Ann were +truly hurt. When they saw the whole party shaking with laughter, the +two girls exchanged curious glances. "Luncheon has been waiting half +an hour," Eleanor declared rather crossly. "Do come and eat it. We +would not have come after you if we had known that you were having such +a good time." +</P> + +<P> +Madge glanced at their chaperon, then at the artist. He was evidently +a gentleman, and she recognized that he was possessed of a keen sense +of humor. It would seem rude and ungrateful to run away and leave him +just as their luncheon was announced, when he had raced all the way +across the meadow to assist in the rescue of their Miss Jenny Ann. +</P> + +<P> +"Won't you come and eat luncheon with us?" asked Madge boldly, fearing +their chaperon would be dreadfully shocked. +</P> + +<P> +The artist shook his head. "I'd like to accept your invitation if Miss +Jones will second it," he replied, looking at Miss Jenny Ann. +</P> + +<P> +"You would he delighted to have Mr. Brown take luncheon with us, Miss +Jenny Ann, wouldn't you?" Madge turned coaxing eyes upon their teacher. +</P> + +<P> +"I should be very ungracious if I were not," laughed their chaperon, +the color rising to her brown cheeks. "Mr. Brown will be a welcome +guest." +</P> + +<P> +And five minutes later Mr. Brown was triumphantly escorted aboard their +beloved "Merry Maid." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT THE MERCY OF THE WAVES +</H3> + +<P> +"Don't you think it would be perfectly lovely to have a mother as rich +and beautiful as Mrs. Curtis?" asked Madge, as she tied a black velvet +ribbon about her auburn curls and turned her head to see the effect. +She and Phil were dressing for Tom Curtis's sailing party, to which he +had invited them the day before and which was to start within the next +hour. +</P> + +<P> +"Almost any mother is pretty nice, even if she isn't rich or +beautiful," answered Phil loyally. She was wearing a yachting suit of +navy blue while Madge was dressed in white serge. Eleanor, Lillian and +Miss Jones, clad in white linen gowns, were ready and waiting on the +houseboat deck for the arrival of the sailing party. True to his word, +Tom Curtis had brought his mother to call on the four girls the +afternoon of the day before. +</P> + +<P> +"I know," answered Madge slowly. "But sometimes, when I was a very +little girl, I liked to think that perhaps I was a princess in +disguise, and that Uncle and Aunt had never told me of it. I used to +look out of the window and wonder if some day a carriage would drive up +to hear me away to my royal home. That doesn't sound very practical, +does it? But, when one has no memory of father or mother, one can't +help dreaming things. Don't you think Mrs. Curtis is simply +beautiful?" Madge abruptly changed the subject. "Her hair is so soft +and white, and she has such a young face, but she looks as though she +were tired of everything. Persons who have that wonderful, world-weary +look are so interesting," finished Madge, with a sigh. "I am afraid I +shall never have that expression, because I never find time to get +tired of things." +</P> + +<P> +"Come on, Madge," laughed Phil. "You can mourn some other day over not +having an interesting expression." +</P> + +<P> +"Girls," called Lillian, "the Curtis's boat is coming." +</P> + +<P> +"In a minute," answered Madge, giving a final pat to her curls. +</P> + +<P> +"Do hurry along, children. The sailboat is nearly here." This time it +was Miss Jenny Ann's voice. "They signaled us several minutes ago. +They have several other persons on board." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis and Tom signaled as they approached the "Merry Maid." +Their guests were the artist, whom the girls had met the day before, +Jack Bolling, and one or two strangers from the big summer hotel. Mike +Muldoon, the owner of the boats, had another sailor on board to help +him. Tom soon transferred the girls and their chaperon from their +craft to his. The party intended to sail down the coast to a point of +land known as Love Point and to eat their luncheon somewhere along the +shore. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis sat across from Madge during their sailing trip, but every +now and then she would look over to laugh at one of the young girl's +amusing sallies. It was evident that the little captain of the "Merry +Maid" had found favor in her eyes. Mrs. Curtis had planned a dainty +luncheon, to which the steward at the hotel had given special +attention, even to the sending of a man to serve it. There were +delicious sandwiches of various kinds, chicken and Waldorf salads, +olives, salted nuts, individual ices sent down from Baltimore and +bonbons. It was quite the most elaborate luncheon the girls had ever +eaten and they were rather impressed with both it and the service. +</P> + +<P> +After luncheon the party sat for a long time on the clean, white sand, +laughing and talking gayly. It was a perfect day and everyone was in +the best possible spirits. Later on they divided into little groups. +Lillian and Phil wandered off with Jack Bolling. Eleanor found a +congenial companion in one of the young women guests from the hotel, +while Tom, Miss Jones and Mrs. Curtis sat under a tree with the artist, +watching him sketch. Madge, alone, flitted from one group to another, +a little, restless spirit. +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you take Miss Morton for a sail, Tom?" suggested his mother. +"You will have time to go a short distance out. We shall not start for +the hotel until four o'clock." +</P> + +<P> +"A good suggestion. Thank you, Mother," cried Tom. "Come on, Miss +Morton." +</P> + +<P> +Madge and Tom went gayly down to the boat. Tom's big setter dog, +Brownie, dashed after them, pleading so hard to be taken aboard that +Tom at last consented to have him, though he gravely assured the animal +that three was a crowd, to which statement Brownie merely gave a joyful +yelp and darted on board without further ceremony. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-114"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-114.jpg" ALT="Madge and Tom went gayly down to the boat." BORDER="2" WIDTH="340" HEIGHT="543"> +<H5> +[Illustration: Madge and Tom went gayly down to the boat.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +It was a glorious day with a stiff breeze blowing. The water was +fairly choppy, but the boat sped along, occasionally dashing the spray +into the two young faces. Madge wore a white cloth cap, with a visor, +such as ship's officers wear, and looked as nautical as she felt. Both +Tom and Madge were possessed with an unusual fondness for the water, +and their common love of the sea was a strong bond between them. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you ever heard of any one who could have locked you up in the old +hut that night?" Tom asked as they sailed along. +</P> + +<P> +Madge shook her head. "No; I have not the faintest idea. To tell you +the honest truth, I had almost forgotten that unpleasant experience. +We have been having such a beautiful time since that we haven't had +time to think of disagreeable things." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think it is safe for five women to be aboard that houseboat by +themselves?" asked Tom anxiously. "If your boat were farther out on +the water you would be safer." +</P> + +<P> +Madge laughed merrily. "Look here, Mr. Curtis, I don't think it is +fair for you to question our safety when there are five of us, Wouldn't +Phil be angry if she heard you say that! It makes her furious to hear +a man or boy even intimate that girls can't take care of themselves. +Why, we can swim and run and jump, and we could put up a really brave +fight if it were necessary. Besides, Nell and I know how to shoot. +Uncle taught us when we were very little girls. I have been duck +shooting with him along this very bay. Look at that rowboat back +there. I have been watching it for some time. It has been trying to +follow us." +</P> + +<P> +Tom turned about. The boat was only a skiff, and, though it was nearly +in their course, there was no chance of its coming any closer, as their +boat was sailing before the wind. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe it is the same skiff I saw this morning," commented Tom. "I +suppose it is some fellow who has been fishing out here. Just think of +the fish in this wonderful bay—perch and pike and bass and a hundred +other kinds! You must help me catch some of them some day." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, I will," promised Madge merrily. As they went farther out +into the bay they grew strangely silent. The spell of the sea was upon +them and they were content to sail along, exchanging but little +conversation. Chesapeake Bay was apparently in one of its most amiable +moods and, lured on by its apparent good nature, Tom grew a trifle more +reckless than was his wont and did not turn about to begin the homeward +sail as soon as he had originally intended. +</P> + +<P> +It was Madge who broke the spell. "I think we had better start back. +Perhaps I merely imagine it, but it seems to me that the sun isn't +shining as brightly as it shone a little while ago. I know the bay so +well. It is so wonderful, but so treacherous. I was once out on it in +a sailboat during a sudden squall and I am not likely to forget it." +Madge gave a slight shudder at the recollection. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," agreed Tom, "I'll turn about, but there isn't the +slightest danger of a squall to-day." He brought his little craft +about and headed toward the beach. +</P> + +<P> +In spite of his assurance that there would he no squall, a black, +threatening cloud had appeared in the sky, and now the wind shifted, +blowing strongly toward land. Tom, who was nothing if not a sailor, +managed the boat so skilfully that Madge's apprehensions were soon +quieted and she gave herself up to the complete enjoyment of rushing +along in the freshened breeze. +</P> + +<P> +They were within a mile of their landing place when, off to their right +and a little ahead of them, Madge spied the rowboat they had seen at +the beginning of their sail. +</P> + +<P> +The boat was now tossing idly on the waves, and its sole occupant, a +young man, was trying vainly to guide it with a single oar. +</P> + +<P> +"There is that boat again," called Madge to Tom, who was busy with his +sails. "I believe the young man in it is in trouble and is signaling +to us for help." +</P> + +<P> +As Tom drew nearer to the rowboat the other man in it called out: "Say, +can't you take me aboard? I've lost an oar, and it's a pretty tough +job trying to get ashore with one oar in a sea like this." +</P> + +<P> +Tom glanced quickly at Madge. He was quite ready to help the young +man, but wished to be sure that his young woman guest had no objection +to the stranger coming aboard their boat. +</P> + +<P> +It took five minutes to bring the sailboat close enough to pick up the +man. Tom threw him a rope and the stranger climbed aboard, making fast +his rowboat to the stern of the sailing vessel. He was a peculiar, +wild-looking fellow, with dark, shifting eyes and thick, curly hair +that partly covered his ears. As be stepped into the sailboat his lips +parted in a smile that showed his teeth, which Madge noted were long, +very white and pointed at the ends. He was deeply tanned, yet, in +spite of his rough appearance, seemed to be a gentleman. +</P> + +<P> +"You are very kind," he said in a low, purring voice which caused Madge +to eye him sharply. "I would not have troubled you, but there is a +heavy squall coming up. I shall be greatly obliged to you if you will +put me ashore." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," assented Tom. "We are in a hurry to get to shore +ourselves, as my mother will be anxious if the storm catches us." +</P> + +<P> +Madge had continued to gaze at the new-comer. "Where have I seen him +before? He is like a wolf. His teeth look almost like fangs, and I +don't like his strange, shifting eyes," she mentally criticised. +</P> + +<P> +Aloud she said to Tom: "Miss Jenny Ann will be worried. She has been +very nervous about us since we were locked in that old cabin in the +woods overnight." +</P> + +<P> +The stranger regarded Madge quizzically. She could have sworn that a +mocking light lay in his dark eyes. "Did you say you were locked in an +old cabin in the woods overnight? How unfortunate." +</P> + +<P> +"It will be more unfortunate for the fellow who locked the girls in, +provided we find him," threatened Tom shortly. The stranger's suave +tones aroused in him a peculiar feeling of antagonism. +</P> + +<P> +The young man regarded Tom through half-shut eyes. "I must ask you to +land me on the beach above here," he drawled. +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry," answered Tom firmly. "I don't know any other pier along here +except ours. I told you I was in a hurry to go ashore. I don't like +to be disobliging, but you will have to go to our landing with us." +</P> + +<P> +The black clouds were now chasing one another across the sky, and the +wind made a curious whistling noise. Nevertheless the boat was sailing +gloriously, and in spite of the oncoming squall Tom and Madge were +enjoying themselves immensely, though neither of them was much pleased +with their fellow traveler. +</P> + +<P> +The stranger turned to Madge. "You must tell your friend that he'll +have to land me somewhere else than in that picnic party," he muttered +hoarsely. "I tell you I have a reason. I do not want to meet any +society folks." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry," answered Madge distantly, her eyes growing stormy at the +young man's peremptory tone. "Mr. Curtis explained to you why we are +in a hurry to land. As long as he took you aboard our boat with us as +a favor, you have no right to ask us to change our course." +</P> + +<P> +The stranger clenched his fists and glanced angrily at Tom. +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't you going to land me somewhere else first?" he demanded in a +snarling voice. +</P> + +<P> +Tom quietly shook his head. The sailboat was now only a little more +than half a mile from the pier. The wind was fair, blowing them almost +straight to the pier. +</P> + +<P> +Tom Curtis was not looking. Suddenly the fellow sprang up and threw +the tiller over. The boat jibed sharply. Madge cried out in quick +alarm. Her cry saved Tom Curtis from being knocked overboard by the +boom as it swung over to the other side of the boat. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep away from this tiller," Tom called out angrily, seeing that their +boat had now entirely changed its course. "I am sailing this boat." +</P> + +<P> +"You are not sailing her, if you don't take her in where I say," the +intruder declared fiercely. His eyes were bloodshot and his teeth +closed together with a snap. He stood by as if he were going to spring +at Tom Curtis. +</P> + +<P> +Madge's cheeks were burning. She was so angry that her throat felt dry +and parched. "Don't pay any attention to him," she called indignantly. +Tom Curtis hesitated. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't fight when I have a woman guest on board the boat," he +declared doggedly. "Once I run my boat in to the pier, you will answer +for this." +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind threatening me: I'm not afraid of you. You know you have +got to land me where I say. What do you care about where you land? It +is where <I>I</I> land that is important." Again the stranger made a rush +for the tiller. +</P> + +<P> +Tom sprang upon him. The two were evenly matched, and Madge held her +breath as she watched them struggle. Brownie, Tom's setter dog, sprang +for the stranger's leg, then retreated to one end of the boat howling +with pain. The intruder had swung back his foot and dealt the dog a +savage kick. +</P> + +<P> +The rain had now begun to fall heavily, and the deck soon became +slippery as glass. The two young men continued to struggle. Tom +realized that he was endangering Madge's life, as well as his own, in +this reckless battle on the deck of a small boat. He thought he now +had the advantage. If he could only settle his hateful passenger with +one swift blow all would he well. With this thought in mind he tore +himself from the grasp of his antagonist, but he had forgotten the +slippery deck. His foot shot out from under him, and he went down in a +heap, falling heavily on one shoulder. The stranger sprang upon him, +and now it was the ungrateful passenger who had the advantage and was +mercilessly pushing him with both arms toward the edge of the boat. +Slowly Tom gave way, inch by inch. He was conscious of a racking pain +in his shoulder. He tried to raise his right arm; then a feeling of +faintness swept over him, he reeled, and, before Madge could move to +his help, Tom Curtis fell backward into the water. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BRAVE FIGHT +</H3> + +<P> +"Bring her to!" cried Madge imperiously, starting toward the stranger, +who now stood by the tiller. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't bring her to, I'm no sailor," answered the young ruffian +coolly. "I didn't push your friend overboard; he fell. You had better +sail the boat yourself instead of standing there giving me orders." +</P> + +<P> +Madge regarded the stranger with horrified eyes. "You did push him +overboard," she accused. "I saw you do it. If he drowns, you will be +held responsible." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't, I tell you. Better be careful what you say. It wouldn't +take much to send you after him," was the stranger's menacing retort. +</P> + +<P> +With a look of withering scorn Madge coolly turned her back on the +intruder. She would not take the trouble to bandy words with him. She +was too angry to experience the slightest fear of this scowling, +ill-favored youth. Her superb indifference to his threat made a +visible impression upon him. With a muttered word he slouched to the +bow of the boat, where he crouched, glaring at her with the eyes of an +angry animal brought to bay. +</P> + +<P> +Although not more than a minute had passed since Tom disappeared over +the side of the boat it seemed hours to the frightened girl. She must +act quickly or Tom would be lost. +</P> + +<P> +During their sail she had watched Tom Curtis manoeuvre the boat and had +paid particular attention to his manner of "bringing it to." It had +appeared to be a comparatively simple process and she laughingly +remarked that she believed she could do it herself. Now the +opportunity had come to prove her words. Grasping the tiller, she +brought the boat directly into the eye of the wind. A moment later the +sails flapped in the breeze, and the boat floated idly in the heavy +rolling sea. +</P> + +<P> +The stranger had not in reality given Tom the final shove that sent him +overboard. At the edge of the boat he had suddenly relaxed his hold, +and Tom, faint from the pain of his injured shoulder had toppled +backward. The shock of striking the water revived him somewhat, and as +he felt himself slipping down he made a brave effort to swim, then, +finding it useless, managed to turn on his back and float. +</P> + +<P> +Still keeping her hand on the tiller, Madge strained her eyes to watch +his every movement. "Try to make it, Tom," she shouted encouragingly. +"You've only a little farther to swim. Come on; I'll help you into the +boat." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid I can't, Madge," he called faintly. "I've hurt my +shoulder. I can't swim." +</P> + +<P> +The girl at the tiller bent forward to catch the sound of her friend's +voice. Then she answered with the bravery of despair: "You must keep +on floating. You are not going to drown. I am coming after you." +</P> + +<P> +At the same instant Madge divested herself of her coat, shoes and the +skirt of her suit and poised herself for a dive into the angry water. +"Keep the head of the boat to the wind," was her curt command to the +stranger, "I am going after Mr. Curtis." +</P> + +<P> +"You're crazy!" shouted the stranger, leaping to his feet. "You can +never save the man in such a sea as this. You'll both be drowned!" +</P> + +<P> +His tardy expostulation fell upon unheeding ears. Madge was in the +water and swimming toward Tom. Expert swimmer that she was, she knew +that she was risking her own life. The tide was against her, and even +though she did reach Tom before he sank again, it would be hard work to +support him and swim back to the boat in such a heavy sea. +</P> + +<P> +The sky was now dark, the waves had grown larger, and a pelting rain +had begun to beat down in Madge's face. Tom had risen to the surface +of the water again, and was feebly trying to swim toward her. He had +shuddered with despair when he first caught sight of her in the water. +But his faint, "Go back! Go back!" had not reached her ears. Nor +would she have heeded him had she heard. +</P> + +<P> +His intrepid little rescuer was swimming easily along, with firm, even +strokes. Little water-sprite that she was, she would have enjoyed the +breakers dashing over her head and the tingle of the fine salt spray in +her face if she had not realized the danger that lay ahead. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep floating until I can get to you!" she called out to Tom. She did +not speak again, for she did not mean to waste her breath. +</P> + +<P> +Tom was making an heroic effort to keep himself afloat. But he was +growing weaker and weaker, and the last vestige of his strength was +giving way. As Madge reached him, he managed to reach out and clutch +her arm, hanging to it with a force that threatened to pull them both +under. He was making that instinctive struggle for life usually put +forth by the drowning. Madge experienced a brief flash of terror. +"Don't struggle, Tom," she implored. +</P> + +<P> +Even in his semi-conscious state Tom must have heard his companion's +words. He ceased to fight, his body grew limp, and, clasping one of +his hands in her own strong, brown fingers, Madge swam toward the spot +where she had left the sailboat. Never once did she relax her hold on +the burden at her side. Now and then she glanced up at their boat. +Each time she caught a glimpse of it it seemed to be farther away. +Could it be possible that the wind and the tide were carrying the +sailboat ashore faster than she could swim? Surely the youth on board +would come forward to help them. Now the waves that dashed over +Madge's head and lashed across her face sent echoing waves of despair +over her plucky soul. Tom was too far gone to know or to care what was +happening. The responsibility, the fight, was hers. +</P> + +<P> +"I must save him," she thought over and over again. "It does not so +much matter about me; I haven't any mother. But Tom——" +</P> + +<P> +Her bodily strength was fast giving out, but her spirit remained +indomitable. It was that spirit that was keeping them afloat in the +midst of an angry sea. +</P> + +<P> +But as for gaining on the sailboat, she was right. No matter how great +her effort, she was not coming any nearer to it. The last time she +looked up from the waves she could catch only a glimpse of the boat far +ahead. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed incredible. It was too awful to believe. The stranger she +had left on board the sailboat was not coming to their aid. He was +deliberately taking their boat to shore, leaving them to the mercy of +the sea. +</P> + +<P> +Even with this realization Madge did not give up the battle. The arm +that held Tom Curtis felt like a log, it was so stiff and cold. She +could swim no longer, but she could still float. There were other +craft that were putting in toward the shore. If she could only keep up +for a few moments, surely some one would save them! +</P> + +<P> +But at last her splendid courage waned. She was sinking. The rescuer +would come too late! She thought of the circle of cheerful faces she +had left two hours before. Then—a cold, wet muzzle touched her face, +a pair of strong teeth seized hold of her blouse. Tom's setter dog, +Brownie, had managed to swim to his master. The animal's gallant +effort to save Tom inspired Madge to fresh effort, and once more she +took up the battle for her life and that of her friend. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LIFE OR DEATH? +</H3> + +<P> +"Is there no hope?" a voice asked despairingly. +</P> + +<P> +"There is hope for a long time," answered Phyllis Alden quietly. "I +have heard my father say that people may sometimes be revived after +being in the water for many hours." +</P> + +<P> +"She must live, or I can not bear it," declared Tom Curtis brokenly. +"Oh, won't some one go for a doctor? Can't you do something else for +her?" +</P> + +<P> +"The man has gone for a doctor, Tom," soothed Mrs. Curtis. "Does your +arm pain you much?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind my arm," groaned Tom. "She saved my life, mother, and now +she's dead." His voice broke. +</P> + +<P> +"You mustn't say that," cried Phyllis sharply. "She <I>can't</I> be dead." +</P> + +<P> +"Phil," entreated Miss Jones, "let me take your place. I am sure I can +do what you are doing." +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis shook her head. "I can't leave her." +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis Alden knelt on the ground on one side of the unconscious girl. +Jack Bolling and an old fisherman knelt opposite her. The artist, Mr. +Brown, was trying to assist in restoring Madge to consciousness. +Phyllis Alden had been drilled in "first aid to the drowning" by her +father. Long experience with the sea had taught the sailor what to do. +But Madge had resisted all their efforts to bring her to consciousness. +She had battled too long with the merciless waves and her strength was +gone before the fisherman, coming home in his rowboat, had spied the +three figures at the moment when Madge was about to give up the fight. +He had hauled her and Tom inside his boat, and poor Brownie had somehow +managed to swim ashore. +</P> + +<P> +On the beach the fisherman found an anxious group of picnickers +watching the storm with fearful eyes. Their fear was changed to +horror, however, when the fisherman deposited his ghastly freight on +the beach. +</P> + +<P> +Fifteen minutes after being brought to shore Tom Curtis had returned to +consciousness. His first words were for Madge. Although Tom had been +a longer time in the water than his rescuer, his injured arm, which was +sprained, but not broken, had prevented him from making so fierce a +struggle; therefore he was far less exhausted than was his companion. +To those who watched anxiously for the first faint sign of returning +life it seemed hours since the fisherman had laid that still form on +the sand. It was none other than the old fisherman who discovered the +faint spot of color which appeared in Madge's cheeks, then disappeared. +After that the work of resuscitation went on more steadily than ever, +and slowly and painfully Madge came back to life. Strange noises +sounded in her ears. A gigantic weight was pressing upon her chest. +She tried to speak, but it was choking her, crushing her. She made an +heroic effort to throw it off, and then her eyes opened and dimly she +beheld her friends. +</P> + +<P> +"She has come back to us." Phil's voice was ineffably tender. She +glanced up and her eyes met those of Jack Bolling. Forgetting her +dislike for him, she smiled. She remembered only that he was Madge's +cousin. Jack had always thought Phil ugly, but as he gazed into her +big, black eyes and white, serious face, he decided that she had more +character than any other girl he had ever met, and he would never +forget the splendid effort she had made to save his cousin. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as the work of resuscitation was completed and Madge declared +out of danger, Mrs. Curtis insisted that on their return to the +mainland her son's brave little rescuer should be taken to the +Belleview Hotel, where she would be able to rest far more comfortably +than if carried on board the houseboat. +</P> + +<P> +A yacht was chartered to take the picnic party home. The sailboat had +completely disappeared, and Tom was able to tell only a part of their +strange adventure. From whence the youth whom they had taken on board +their boat had come and why he had made off with their boat and left +them to drown were questions which no one seemed able to answer. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until two days later that the fisherman, searching along the +very shore from which they had started, found the sailboat resting +quietly at anchor about two miles from the pier where the picnic party +had landed. The boat was uninjured, and Madge's hat, coat and skirt +lay on the deck, where she had thrown them when she dived into the bay. +But the wild lad who had caused the mischief had vanished completely. +No one near had seen or heard of him. His identity was a mystery. If +any one of the fisher folk knew his name, or where he had gone, they +did not betray that knowledge. Mrs. Curtis wished to offer a reward +for the fellow's capture. Tom would not consent. He intended to find +his enemy himself, and to settle his own score. At night Tom used to +lie awake for hours to plan how he would track the stranger and at last +run him down. But in the day time he was much too fully occupied with +entertaining his mother's young guest to plan revenge. +</P> + +<P> +Madge had been the guest of Mrs. Curtis at the Belleview Hotel for five +days. It had taken but a day for her to recover from the effect of her +narrow escape from drowning. She possessed far too happy a disposition +to dwell long on an uncomfortable memory, and her recent mishap soon +became like a dream to her. But her feeling of affection for Mrs. +Curtis was not in the least like a dream, and grew stronger with every +hour she spent in her new friend's company. It was a red letter time +for Madge. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis tried in every possible way to manifest her gratitude. Had +not Madge saved her son's life? She felt that she could make no +adequate return for the heroic service the young girl had rendered her. +</P> + +<P> +She insisted that the most attractive apartment in the hotel should be +Madge's and surrounded her with all sorts of luxuries. The young +girl's suite consisted of a cosy little sitting room and a wonderful +bedroom with white, rose-bordered walls and Circassian walnut +furnishings. There was a little, white bath leading out from the +bedroom and Madge reveled in her new-found treasures. +</P> + +<P> +All day long her apartment was lovely with flowers. Tom Curtis ordered +a box of roses to be delivered to her each day from Baltimore. The +roses were presented to Madge every morning when the maid brought up +her breakfast-tray, and for the first time in her life Miss Madge +enjoyed the luxury of eating her breakfast in bed. Boxes of candy +became so ordinary that she fairly pleaded with her friends when they +came to visit her to take them back to the houseboat. +</P> + +<P> +"Madge will never be happy again on the 'Merry Maid,' will she, girls?" +The four girls were rowing back to their floating home after a visit to +their friend. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, she will," returned Phil stoutly, though she felt a slight pang +when she remembered how cheerfully Madge had kissed them goodbye. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure she is well enough to come home now," burst forth Lillian, +"only Mrs. Curtis and Tom won't hear of it. Dear me! I suppose our +little captain is happy at last. She has always dreamed of what it +would feel like to be rich and a heroine, and now she is both. But +nothing seems quite the same on the boat," she added wistfully. "I +think we are all homesick for her." +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jennie Ann laughed at their doleful faces. "She will soon be with +us again," she declared. "I'll tell you a secret. She is coming home +to the houseboat day after to-morrow. She whispered to me to-day that +there was really no reason why she should stay any longer with Mrs. +Curtis, and that she did not wish to presume on her hospitality. Mrs. +Curtis is very fond of her. She does not wish Madge to leave her." +Miss Jones looked so mysterious that the girls regarded her curiously. +"I think it is a good thing for Madge and for Mrs. Curtis to spend a +few days together. Mrs. Curtis is lonely and needs good company," +added Miss Jones. +</P> + +<P> +"So do we," murmured Phil, with a rueful laugh. "We need Madge as much +as Mrs. Curtis does." +</P> + +<P> +After the girls had left her, Madge lay back luxuriously among her +linen pillows. She was looking very lovely in a pale pink silk tea +gown Mrs. Curtis had insisted on her wearing, for Madge had arrived at +the hotel with no clothes other than the wet garments she had on when +rescued from the waves. Her fine clothes occupied very little of her +thoughts, however. She had something of far greater import on her mind. +</P> + +<P> +The time had come to tell Mrs. Curtis that she must go back to the +houseboat. She was not sorry to go; she was only sorry to leave her +new friends. During her stay at the hotel Mrs. Curtis had treated +Madge as though she were her own daughter. The imaginative young girl +was completely fascinated with the beautiful, white-haired woman, whose +sad face seemed to indicate that she had suffered some tragedy in her +life. While Madge lay thinking of the most courteous way in which to +announce that she must return to the "Merry Maid" a light knock sounded +on her door. Tom's mother came softly into the room, gowned in an +exquisite afternoon costume of violet organdie and fine lace, which was +very becoming to her white hair and youthful face. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you awake, Madge?" were her first words. "How do you feel?" +</P> + +<P> +Her guest smilingly raised herself from her pillows. "I am awake as +can be, and as well as can be! To tell you the truth, Mrs. Curtis, I +have never been in the least ill from my adventure. I was tired the +day after it happened, but since that time I am afraid I have allowed +you and Tom to believe that I was sick because I liked to be petted and +made much of." Madge laughed frankly at her own confession. "You have +been so good to me, and I do appreciate it, but now I must go home to +my comrades. Eleanor was awfully disappointed to-day when I told her I +was not going back with them this afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you would stay with me longer," pleaded Mrs. Curtis, taking the +girl's firm brown hand in hers and looking down at it gravely, as it +lay in her soft white one. She gazed earnestly at Madge's clear-cut, +expressive face. "Tom and I will be lonely without you," she said. "I +want a daughter dreadfully, and Tom needs a sister. If only you were +my own daughter." +</P> + +<P> +Madge sighed happily. "It has been beautiful to pretend that I was +your real daughter. It has been like the games I used to play when I +was a little girl. I have been lying here in the afternoons, when you +thought I was asleep, making up the nicest 'supposes.' I supposed that +I was your real daughter, that I had been lost and you had found me +after many years. Just at first you did not know me, because time had +made such a change in me. But—— Why, Mrs. Curtis, what is the +matter?" There was wonder and concern in Madge's question. "You don't +mind what I have said, do you? I have been making up things to amuse +myself ever since I was a little girl." She looked anxiously into the +face of the older woman. It was very white, and seemed suddenly to +have become drawn and old. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear child, I love to have you tell me of your little dreams and +fancies," said Mrs. Curtis affectionately, laying her hand on Madge's +head. "What made you think I didn't?" +</P> + +<P> +"You looked as though what I said hurt your feelings," returned Madge, +coloring at her own frankness. +</P> + +<P> +"It was only that something you said brought back a painful memory," +explained the older woman. "I would prefer not to talk of it. Tell +me, is there nothing I can do to induce you to remain with me a little +longer?" +</P> + +<P> +Her guest shook her head. "Thank you," she replied gratefully, "but I +must go back to my chums. It won't be going away, really, for I will +come to see you as often as you like, and you and Tom and Jack must +visit us on the houseboat. I want you to like the other girls <I>almost</I> +as well as you do me," smiled Madge. "Please don't like them quite as +well, though. That doesn't sound very generous, but I should like to +feel that I was first in your heart." +</P> + +<P> +"You shall be, my dear." Mrs. Curtis bent and kissed the young girl's +soft cheek. "And to prove just how much I do care for you I wish to +give you something which I hope you will like and keep as a remembrance +of me. I know your uncle and aunt will be willing to let you have this +little gift when they learn of the spirit which prompted the giving of +it." Mrs. Curtis drew from a little lavender and gold bag which she +carried a square, white silk box and laid it in the astonished little +captain's hand. +</P> + +<P> +"What—why—is it for me?" stammered Madge, sitting up suddenly, her +eyes fastened on the box. +</P> + +<P> +"It is for no one else," was the smiling answer. "Shall I open it for +you?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis touched a tiny spring in the white box. It flew open! +</P> + +<P> +There before Madge's wondering gaze, coiled on its dainty silk bed, lay +a string of creamy pearls. They were not large, but each pearl was +perfect, an exquisite bit of jewelry. Mrs. Curtis took the necklace +from its case. She leaned over and clasped it about Madge's slender +throat, saying: "Tom and I talked a long time about what we wished to +give you as a slight remembrance of our appreciation of what you did +for us. At last we decided upon this as being particularly suitable to +you. Then, too, we wished to give you something that came up out of +the sea." +</P> + +<P> +"It is the loveliest necklace in the world," declared Madge happily, +touching the pearls. "It is far too beautiful for me. I shall love it +all my life and never, never part with it. You have been too good to +me, Mrs. Curtis," she added earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"But think what you did for me," reminded the stately, white-haired +woman. +</P> + +<P> +"That isn't worth remembering. I did only what any one else would have +done if placed in the same circumstances." +</P> + +<P> +"But you saved my son's life, and that is the greatest service you +could possibly render me." +</P> + +<P> +Yet before her vacation was over Madge Morton was to perform for her +friend a further service equally great. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MADGE COMES INTO HER OWN AGAIN +</H3> + +<P> +Lillian and Eleanor were in the houseboat kitchen, making chocolate +fudge and a caramel cake. +</P> + +<P> +"I think it will be too funny for anything," laughed Eleanor. "Let's +keep your surprise a secret from the others. It will be a delightful +way to celebrate Madge's return. Do you know that we have a hundred +and one things to do today?" she added, stirring her cake batter as +fast as she could. "This boat must be cleaned from stem to stern. I +told the boy from the farm to be here at nine o'clock this morning to +scrub the deck. He hasn't put in his appearance yet. I wonder which +one of us can be spared to go and hurry him along?" +</P> + +<P> +"Let's ask Miss Jenny Ann," suggested Lillian slyly. "She has done her +share of the work already, and Mr. Brown is sketching the old garden +near the farmhouse. Haven't you noticed that our chaperon has been +very much interested in art lately? Mr. Brown wishes to paint a +picture of our houseboat. He has a fancy for this neighborhood. He +thinks it is so picturesque. 'Straws show which way the wind blows,' +you know. Watch the candy for me. I'll go ask Miss Jenny Ann if she +will go out and round up our faithless boy." +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones was quite willing to go, and started out, leaving the girls +to their cleaning. Every now and then they were seized with a desire +to work, which caused them to fall upon the houseboat and clean it from +end to end. This morning the fever had been upon them from the time +they had risen, and by the time Miss Jenny Ann started upon her errand +it was in full swing. +</P> + +<P> +Jack Bolling and Tom Curtis were to bring Madge home late in the +afternoon, and, as a surprise for Madge, the boys had been invited to +remain to tea. It was therefore quite necessary that their floating +home should be well swept and garnished. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's Phil?" asked Lillian, stepping from the kitchen out onto the +deck, where Eleanor had gone after having seen her cake safely in the +oven. +</P> + +<P> +There came a series of raps on the cabin roof. Phil leaned over among +the honeysuckle vines on the upper deck. "I am up here, maiden, +digging in our window boxes. Want me for anything?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," returned Eleanor, as she vanished inside the kitchen again. "But +sing out if you see Miss Jenny Ann and the boy coming." +</P> + +<P> +A little while later Phil saw the figure of a young man coming slowly +down the path toward the houseboat. She thought, of course, that it +was the boy from the farm. She did not turn around. She was too +deeply engrossed in pulling up the weeds that had mysteriously appeared +in their window boxes. When his footsteps sounded on the floor of the +lower deck she called out carelessly, "Miss Seldon and Miss Butler are +in the cabin waiting for you. Miss Jones is not here. I suppose she +gave you the message." +</P> + +<P> +The youth, who had been moving cautiously toward the houseboat, was not +the boy for whom the girls were waiting. This one had black, curly +hair and wild dark eyes. He looked up and down the shore. There was +no one in sight. +</P> + +<P> +Although there were several farmhouses beyond the embankment that +sloped down to the inlet of the bay, there was no house within calling +distance of the "Merry Maid." Their boat was anchored to the pier only +a few yards from the shore, tied firmly to one of the upstanding posts. +The youth grinned maliciously. He decided that he had met with an +unexpected stroke of good luck. He was hungry and penniless. Nothing +could be easier than to terrify the girls on board into submission, +take what money and food they had, and be off with it before any one +appeared to help them. If it was a desperate venture, well, he must +take a desperate chance. He could not wander around in the woods +forever with no food or money. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Phil had not once glanced behind her. "You'd better begin +scrubbing at once," she directed. "We have been waiting for you a long +time. We wish to get our houseboat in order. We are going to give a +party for our friends. Do hurry, there is such a lot to do." +</P> + +<P> +The young man below was not troubling himself about the amount of work +to be done; he had other matters to consider. This girl on top the +cabin deck was evidently expecting some one. She would not come down +her little ladder unless she heard a noise or disturbance from below. +The next question was, how many girls were on board and where were they? +</P> + +<P> +Eleanor and Lillian had finished the cake and the fudge. They had +brought them into the living room and set them on the table to wait for +the evening tea party. Eleanor was tired. +</P> + +<P> +She had thrown herself down on a lounge and her eyes were closed. +Lillian, with her back to the door, stood talking to her friend. They +did not hear the intruder's light footfalls. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Lillian felt her two hands caught roughly behind her in such a +powerful grasp that she staggered back. Eleanor sprang from the couch, +opening her eyes in amazement! She saw Lillian struggling with a man +whose face wore the expression of a hungry animal. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't scream," he ordered harshly. "Give me what food and money you +have and I will let you go. If you scream, you will be sorry." He +glared savagely at the two girls. +</P> + +<P> +Lillian tried to wrench her hands from his grasp. They were pinioned +so tightly behind her that she could not move. Eleanor slipped off her +divan. She and Lillian had no weapons with which to defend themselves. +Eleanor thought if she could get out of the room, while the man held +Lillian, she could cry for help. Her first scream would bring Phyllis +to their aid, and Phil would come to their assistance prepared to fight. +</P> + +<P> +Eleanor looked so young and girlish that no one would have expected her +to show resistance. She tried to look even more frightened than she +really felt. "We haven't any money on board," she said quietly. "We +don't keep our money here, but if you are hungry, we will give you +something to eat without your being so fierce." Eleanor was edging +slowly away from her couch. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want a slice of pie and your stale bread," the man replied +angrily. "I want everything you have got, and I want it quick." +</P> + +<P> +Now was Eleanor's chance. Lillian gave another frantic tug, attempting +to free her hands. She had not cried out since the man seized her, but +her face was contracted with pain. The robber was so fully occupied +with holding her he was not looking at Eleanor, although his eyes +slanted go curiously that he could apparently see on all sides of him. +</P> + +<P> +Eleanor made a quick rush forward. With a thud she fell to the floor, +and lay stunned by the force of her fall. The tramp, still holding +Lillian by her wrists, had jerked her backward, thrown out his foot and +tripped Eleanor. Now, before Lillian could scream, he whipped out a +dirty handkerchief and tied it so tightly about her mouth that she +could scarcely breathe. He next took a piece of twine and twisted it +about Lillian's wrists, so that the cord cut into them. +</P> + +<P> +While this scene of violence was being enacted Phil was perfectly happy +and strangely unconscious of any trouble. She was still at work, +sweeping the upper deck and clearing it of the trash she had made with +her gardening. She was humming gayly to herself or she would have +heard the sounds below more plainly. "There was a man in our town, and +he was wondrous wise." She stopped short. She had heard a noise, as +though something had fallen. But then, the girls were always dropping +things and stumbling over their few pieces of furniture. There was no +further noise. Phil went on with her singing. But why did Lillian and +Eleanor not start the farmer boy to scrubbing? It was getting late, +and they wished to decorate the boat. Phil was too busy at her own +task to go down to discover the reason. +</P> + +<P> +The tramp gazed sarcastically at Lillian, whose eyes watched him +defiantly, then at Eleanor, who was still lying on the floor. "Now, +girls," he began with mock politeness, "I imagine you will be kind +enough to be quiet for a time at least. So I think I will look around +to see if there is anything here that I would like." He seized poor +Lillian's plate of chocolate fudge and stuffed the candy into his +pockets. Then he left the sitting room and crept into the bedroom +which was used by Miss Jones and Eleanor. He found Eleanor's purse +under her pillow and pocketed it. On the small dressing-table was Miss +Jenny Ann's purse. He chuckled softly. This was the best of the sport. +</P> + +<P> +Phil's humming upstairs stopped. Why did that lazy farmer boy not get +to his work? And where were Lillian and Nellie? Phil listened. She +thought she heard such an odd noise. It was as though some one were +trying to talk while choking. She ran lightly down the outside cabin +steps, her broom still in her hand. She peered into the kitchen. It +was empty. Phil did not go into the sitting room next. Some instinct +must have guided her. Had she seen the plight poor Lillian and Eleanor +were in, she must have screamed and betrayed herself. Instead she +stepped into Miss Jones's bedroom. +</P> + +<P> +The youth, with his back to the door, had ears like the creatures of +the woods. Under other circumstances he would have heard Phyllis's +approach. But something in the discovery of Miss Jenny Ann's poor +little purse seemed to give him special joy. He was opening it and +emptying it of its last penny. +</P> + +<P> +Phil saw him from the open cabin door. She did not think—she acted. +She saw, as she supposed, the farmer lad, intent on robbing them. Phil +brought her broom down on the boy's head with a resounding whack. +</P> + +<P> +The tramp started forward with a growl. For the moment he was nearly +blinded from the pain of the blow. +</P> + +<P> +Phil recognized that discretion was now the better part of valor. She +dashed out of one door, then into another, the youth stumbling after +her, raging with anger. She knew every turn and twist of the tiny +cabin. Instead of running around the deck, where she would surely have +been captured, she darted in and out of the cabin doors, those on the +inside, swinging backward and forward, sometimes closing a door in the +face of her pursuer. +</P> + +<P> +She was almost overcome with horror when she saw Lillian and Eleanor in +the sitting-room. Lillian could not speak, but her eyes pleaded with +Phil. Phyllis had no reason not to cry out. As she ran she screamed +with all her might: +</P> + +<P> +"Help, help, help!" Some one would soon be passing along the shore who +would come to their aid. +</P> + +<P> +The thief did not like the noise Phyllis made. He also thought her +cries would be heard on the shore. He had found what he wanted. He +had no idea of being caught on the houseboat. But he had spied +Eleanor's caramel cake on the table. He would take that and be off in +a hurry. +</P> + +<P> +As he grabbed Eleanor's cake, the product of her morning's work and the +chief ornament of their tea party, Eleanor opened her eyes. The sight +was more than she could bear. She gave a heart-rending scream. It +added to the tramp's alarm. He made for the shore as fast as he could +run. +</P> + +<P> +Phil saw him start. She ran back of the kitchen and caught up +something that lay coiled in a heap on the deck. As the thief ran down +the gang plank and leaped on the land, it flew through the air with a +hissing, swinging noise. The youth fell face downward, his arms close +to his sides, letting the beloved cake drop to the ground. +</P> + +<P> +Not for nothing had Miss Phyllis Alden seen Miss Jenny Ann rescued from +a wild bull by means of a lasso. Not for nothing had she spent hours +of her time, and one of her few dollars, in acquiring the skill +necessary to the swinging of a lariat. She now had her enemy held +fast. At the same instant that Phil caught her prey, before he had +time to jerk away, she knotted her rope about the cleat that held the +anchor. +</P> + +<P> +On the shore, the youth tugged and strained. He ran back into the +water. It struck him that he might climb aboard the boat again. But +his arms were caught down at his sides. It was impossible for him to +get at a knife to cut the ropes. He could ease off the noose with his +teeth, but it would be a slow process of escape. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as Phil had her victim fast, she rushed back into the sitting +room. She found Eleanor on her feet, engaged in untying the +handkerchief from Lillian's face and cutting the twine that was bound +about her swollen wrists. +</P> + +<P> +"I've caught the enemy and he is ours," declared Phil cheerfully. "I +have him tied to the side of the boat. I can't say how long it may +take him to get away, and he may climb back on the boat and try to eat +us up. But, at least, we can get ready for him." +</P> + +<P> +The robber was doggedly working at the rope that bound him. "I am +going to get back at you," he yelled savagely. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, why doesn't some one come?" cried Eleanor. "I am so afraid he'll +get away." +</P> + +<P> +There was a cheerful whistle at the top of the embankment. It turned +to one of horrified amazement as the artist, Theodore Brown, took in +the situation. +</P> + +<P> +"What has happened?" he called out as he ran down the hill, swinging a +small stick in his hand. "I heard your screams away over in the +fields. What have you got there?" +</P> + +<P> +Phil told the story, "What shall we do with our prisoner, Mr. Brown? +We can't be bothered with him. We must get ready for our tea party," +she concluded. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know what you wish to do with the young rascal," rejoined Mr. +Brown, "but I know very well what I intend to do." The artist's face +was set and stern. His eyes gleamed with righteous anger. Then he +began calmly rolling up his sleeves. He went forward to the prisoner. +"I am going to give you a taste of this," he declared, swinging his +stick through the air. It hit Phil's captive with a swish, once, +twice, three times. Mr. Brown was just warming up to his work. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave me alone," the fellow howled. "Aren't you a coward to hit me +when I can't get at you!" +</P> + +<P> +"You were not troubled about being a coward when you tried to terrorize +three girls and got pretty badly left," Mr. Brown answered coolly, +giving the youth another cut. +</P> + +<P> +The bully groaned. The girls could not endure it. If the lad had +taken his medicine like a man they might have borne the sight of his +punishment. But there is nothing more sickening than the fear of a +coward. +</P> + +<P> +"Please stop now, Mr. Brown," entreated Lillian. "I am sure you have +punished the boy enough. Make him give up the money he has stolen, but +don't beat him any more." +</P> + +<P> +"No, please, don't beat him any more," echoed Eleanor. +</P> + +<P> +Phil could have endured to see the thrashing continue a little longer. +But she did not wish to appear hard-hearted. +</P> + +<P> +"Just as you like," answered Mr. Brown. "I am enjoying myself, but I +will quit if you say so. Don't you think I had better turn him over to +the police?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," Phil protested. "He won't trouble us again, now he knows we can +look after ourselves. Next time he wouldn't get off so easily." +</P> + +<P> +The youth vowed never to come within the range of the houseboat if he +were permitted to go free this time. As he got out of sight he stopped +to shake his fist at the distant houseboat, and he vowed to be revenged +for the punishment he had received if it cost him his life. +</P> + +<P> +The girls begged Mr. Brown to say nothing to their chaperon of their +encounter. Miss Jenny Ann was already dreadfully nervous about them +and, besides, it would spoil Madge's home coming. +</P> + +<P> +By the middle of the afternoon Eleanor had made another caramel cake +and Lillian another plate of fudge. The farmer boy had come down after +luncheon, and had scrubbed the decks of the houseboat to the last +degree of cleanliness. The girls had hung flags everywhere, and on the +outside of the cabin, facing the water, Phyllis had hung a piece of +white bunting with the word "Welcome" stamped on it in large letters. +This was the first thing Madge would see as she came within sight of +the houseboat. +</P> + +<P> +Inside the cabin the table was set for tea. It held the best pickles, +preserves, cold meats and jellies that the houseboat larder could +furnish. Lillian had made a pitcher of lemonade and another of iced +tea. Miss Jones had roasted potatoes, and her corn muffins were ready +to slip into the oven as soon as she heard their friends approaching. +</P> + +<P> +The three girls and their chaperon wore simple white frocks, with blue +sashes knotted about their waists, for blue and white were the +houseboat colors. +</P> + +<P> +They were watching a golden sunset from the deck of their ship when, +together, they espied a figure standing up in a small skiff that was +moving in their direction. The boat was rowed by one man. The other +man sat with his arm in a sling. The upright figure was waving a great +bunch of flowers. +</P> + +<P> +"Madge is coming!" cried Phil. The four women got out their +handkerchiefs and shouted across the water. +</P> + +<P> +As Madge climbed aboard the boat a strange, squeaky sound greeted her. +First it played fast, then slow. It was undoubtedly music. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"My bonnie lies over the ocean,<BR> + My bonnie lies over the sea,<BR> +My bonnie lies over the ocean,<BR> + Oh, bring back my bonnie to me." +</P> + +<P> +The tune was old as the hills. +</P> + +<P> +"What on earth is that?" demanded Madge, as she kissed her chaperon and +started around the semi-circle of her chums. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Lillian's surprise!" Eleanor explained. "It's a hurdy-gurdy. We +found it in the village. I know it is pretty old. But Lillian +persuaded the man to bring it on board, as we thought it would be jolly +to have a dance on the deck to-night in honor of Miss Madge Morton, +captain of the 'Merry Maid.'" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A CALL FOR HELP +</H3> + +<P> +"Madge, you must go over to Fisherman's Island with me," urged Phil a +few days later. "I feel dreadfully about Mollie. I promised the poor +girl that we would come to see her soon. Now, a long time has passed; +we have never been there. Eleanor and Lillian are anxious to go along +with me. Mollie is perfectly lovely, and I am heartily sorry for her. +Do come with us, there's a dear. Don't pretend you are tired, or make +Miss Jones think you are sick. You are just as well now as any of the +rest of us. If you don't come, it is just because you want to stay +here to read that silly novel. Real people are much more interesting +than stories." +</P> + +<P> +Madge yawned and stretched herself lazily in the steamer chair. "Phil, +it is awfully hot on the water. Couldn't we go to see your girl some +other time? If she has waited this long, she may as well wait a little +longer. You see, I promised Mrs. Curtis I wouldn't go out in the sun." +</P> + +<P> +"Madge Morton, you are putting on airs. Going out in the sun, indeed!" +Phil sniffed disdainfully. "When did the sun ever hurt you? You just +love to have people spoil you. You know there is nothing in the world +the matter with you now. But please don't come, if you do not wish to. +Nellie and Lillian and I are going now." +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis walked quietly away, with her head in the air. Madge was +really too provoking. +</P> + +<P> +Madge closed her book with a bang and rushed after her friend. "Of +course I wish to go with you, Phil. I am interested in your pretty +girl. I had reached the most exciting part of my story when you asked +me, and—— Now, you will hurt my feelings dreadfully if you don't let +me go along with you! Just think, Phyllis Alden. You said I was +spoiled, and that I liked to pretend I was sick, and I didn't get one +bit angry. Don't you truly think my temper is improving?" +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis laughed. "Oh, come on, if you like. Do you think Miss Jenny +Ann would mind my taking the poor girl a basket of nice things? I mean +things that any girl would like. My friend isn't in the least like a +beggar." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, Miss Jones will let you do anything you like, Phil," +replied Madge. "I am the only person she does not approve of." Madge +felt angry because her chaperon had intimated that Madge was hurting +Eleanor's feelings by talking so much of her Mrs. Curtis and the +beautiful time she had spent with her. And Madge, though she needed +criticism even more than most other girls, was just as little pleased +at receiving it. +</P> + +<P> +The girls rowed over to the island in a short time. It was a lovely +day, and not too warm on the water. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder, Phil, if there is a chance of our coming across the thief +who attacked you on the houseboat? He may he in hiding on this +island," said Madge as the four girls pulled their skiff up on the +beach. "From your description I feel almost certain that he is the +same boy who went off with our sailboat. I'd like to come across him +again." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I wouldn't," declared Lillian. "I am not so bloodthirsty as you +girls are." +</P> + +<P> +The girls met no one along the beach, except a few children. Phil led +them straight to the tent, where she had talked with the afflicted +girl. "Of course, there isn't much of a chance that we shall find +Mollie in the tent," explained Phil, "but I thought I would look here +first." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know the girl's name, Phil?" queried Eleanor. +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis shook her head. "Not her real name. I only call her Mollie +because her dreadful old father called her 'Moll,' and 'Moll' is an +ugly name." +</P> + +<P> +The tent was more forlorn and dilapidated than ever. It was empty. +There was not a sign of life anywhere about, except for a few faded +wild flowers cast carelessly in the corner of the tent. +</P> + +<P> +Madge picked them up. "These flowers make me think of poor 'Ophelia' +in the play of 'Hamlet.' Ophelia went mad, you know, and wandered +about with wild flowers in her hair." +</P> + +<P> +"Mollie isn't the least bit crazy, Madge. You will understand that as +soon as you see her," protested Phil. "It is only that she is like a +child, and does not remember things. Would you girls mind going around +to the other side of the island? Mollie said their shanty boat was +over there. I do so want to find her." +</P> + +<P> +Lillian hesitated. "I don't think we ought to go among those rough +fishermen again," she protested. "We are sure to see some rude sailors +over there who might speak to us." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, don't worry, Lillian," reassured Madge. "I am sure no one would +dare say anything to us." +</P> + +<P> +Madge was now deeply interested in the discovery of Phil's friend and +longing for any kind of adventure. She had fully made up her mind to +see Mollie if it were possible. +</P> + +<P> +It was more than a mile walk around the island. But the girls came, at +last, to a spot where they again beheld a dirty canal boat made fast to +a tree on the sandy shore. A huge woman, with a coarse, dreadful face, +sat out on deck holding a baby in her lap. Several small children +played near her. But there was no sign of Mollie. Captain Mike was +gone, and with him his sailboat. +</P> + +<P> +Phil went as near the edge of the shore as she could. The woman gazed +at the four chums with sullen curiosity. She presumed that they had +come to ask her husband to take them out sailing. But Phil spoke up +boldly: "May we see your daughter?" she inquired politely. "I met her +the other day on the island and told her we would come to see her." +</P> + +<P> +The woman's expression changed at once to an ugly scowl. Phil and +Madge wondered why their request should make her so angry. What harm +could come from their calling on the poor, half-crazed girl? Surely it +was plain that they meant her no wrong. +</P> + +<P> +"We want to be friends with your daughter," Madge declared haughtily; +"we do not wish to injure her." +</P> + +<P> +"Moll ain't here no more," the woman replied sulkily. "Her father has +took her away. She ain't never coming back." The woman grinned as the +four girls went away. +</P> + +<P> +"O Madge!" Phil exclaimed, with her eyes full of tears, "I do feel so +sorry. I am afraid we have come too late. Poor Mollie will think I +have broken my promise. What could have happened to her? Do you think +her horrible old father has put her in an asylum? She told me that he +often threatened her, unless she did whatever he said." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't worry, Phil dear," Madge replied sympathetically. "Perhaps the +woman was telling us a story and simply did not wish us to see her +daughter. I will come to the island with you again. Maybe we can find +her next time." +</P> + +<P> +The girls hurried on until they were almost at the place where they had +left their rowboat. Phil was unusually sorrowful and silent. She +still carried her little basket with the gifts for her new friend. The +memory of a pair of wonderful blue eyes haunted her. Mollie's face had +looked so longingly into hers; it was filled with a wistful sorrow and +was haunted by fear and loneliness. It was not that of one who is mad. +</P> + +<P> +"Girls," spoke Phil quickly, "will you go on down to the boat and wait +for me? I am going to run over to the tent and take another look in +there. At any rate, I am going to leave this basket of food. I won't +be gone but a minute." +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis walked rapidly toward the tent. She half hoped she would find +the vanished girl inside it. But the tent was still empty. Phil set +down her basket. She was strangely disappointed and grieved. She +could do nothing more. There was nothing to do save go back to her +friends. As she stepped toward the tent opening her foot caught in a +piece of ragged carpet. Like a flash Phyllis remembered. Had she not +told Mollie to slip a note under this carpet if she was ever in trouble +or in danger and desired their help? Phil slid her hand under the rug +and found a torn scrap of yellow wrapping paper. On it was penciled in +the handwriting of a child: +</P> + +<P> +"I am in much trouble. Please, please come to help me. You promised." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ATTEMPTED RESCUE +</H3> + +<P> +"I will go back to the shanty boat with you now, Phil," volunteered +Madge when Phyllis returned to her chums, carrying the pathetic scrap +of paper. "We have the food you brought in the basket, which we can +eat for luncheon. Lillian and Nellie can row over to the houseboat to +tell Miss Jenny Ann that we mean to spend the day here. Then, perhaps, +they will row back for us this afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think we ought to leave you and Phil alone on this island," +remonstrated Eleanor, "especially when you won't have a boat. If +anything should happen, there would be no chance of your getting away." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you what to do, Nellie," suggested Phil. "Suppose you and +Lillian go home and then send our boat over to us immediately. The +farmer boy will bring it for us. He can tow it and then row back in +his own skiff. Ask him to anchor our boat in this same place. Madge +and I will come home as soon as we find out whether there is anything +we can do for poor Mollie." +</P> + +<P> +Lillian and Eleanor were reluctant to leave their two friends. But +there seemed nothing else to be done. The thought of their chaperon's +anxiety at last persuaded them to go, and they departed after promising +to send the boat over immediately they reached the "Merry Maid." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think we had better do, Phil?" asked Madge as the other +two girls rowed out of sight. +</P> + +<P> +Phil frowned and shook her head. "I haven't the faintest idea, Madge; +I am afraid we are too late to do anything. That dreadful Mike has +already taken his daughter away. I believe she wrote us several days +ago, when she first heard what they meant to do with her. But I can't +understand why her father wishes to put her in an asylum. She is much +too useful to them. She does nearly all the washing and cooking on +that miserable old shanty boat." +</P> + +<P> +"I do wish we had some money," declared Madge thoughtfully. "I believe +Mike would do anything for money. If we could only take care of +Mollie, perhaps her father would let us have her. But you and I are as +poor as church mice, Phil. Isn't it horrid?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe the man would give his daughter to us if we merely +offered to take care of her. She is too useful to him. But he might +let her come with us if we could pay him a great deal of money besides. +At least, if we offered him a bribe he might be influenced to tell us +where poor Mollie is. However, there is no use in talking about money. +We'll have to do the best we can without it," finished Phil. +</P> + +<P> +The two friends were walking disconsolately along the shore of the +island. Neither one of them was anxious to return to the shanty boat +for another interview with the slatternly woman who presided over it. +</P> + +<P> +"Phil," Madge's eyes brightened, "if we need any money to help this +girl, I feel sure Mrs. Curtis will be glad to give it to us. She is +rich and generous, and Tom says she dearly loves to do things for those +who are in need. I should not mind in the least asking her help. She +is very fond of young girls." +</P> + +<P> +"She is very fond of you, at any rate," returned Phyllis, with a +smothered sigh. "Sometimes I feel as though she wanted to take you +away from us for keeps." +</P> + +<P> +Madge laughed. "What nonsense, Phil. Why should she wish to take me +away for 'keeps'?" +</P> + +<P> +But Phyllis did not reply to the little captain's laughing question. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's not go around to the shanty boat the way we did this morning. +Let us go back the opposite way, and then we shall have encircled the +whole island," planned Madge. "If Mollie is hidden anywhere, we might +happen to discover her." +</P> + +<P> +The loneliness of their walk affected both Madge and Phyllis. There +were no houses on the island. It was visited in the autumn for duck +shooting, and in the summer was used as a camping ground for a few +fisher folk. The girls passed only one man in their entire journey. +He was lying under a tree, fast asleep. A hat covered his face. As +the two friends hurried by they did not seek to discover who the man +was. He was a rough-looking fellow, and they preferred not to awaken +him. +</P> + +<P> +This time the deck of the shanty boat was deserted. It was noon. The +other members of the small shanty colony must have been out on the +water, for there was no one in sight. +</P> + +<P> +The girls stood staring irresolutely at the boat. "I suppose the woman +is indoors fixing the luncheon. I can see the smoke coming through the +smokestack," declared Phil. "Shall we call to her, or just march +boldly aboard her old boat?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," hesitated Madge. "I don't believe we ought to mention +Mollie's note. We might get the child into more trouble." +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis shook her head. "Well, then, you decide upon something. You +always plan things better than I do. I think we had better say that we +have come back to inquire of Captain Mike how long he expects Mollie to +be away. Then we can insist on waiting until his sailboat returns." +</P> + +<P> +The two girls strode bravely up the single, rickety board that served +as the gangplank of the shanty boat. At their first step on the dock a +yellow dog rushed to the door of the dirty kitchen and set up a furious +barking. Behind him stood the menacing figure of the woman whom Madge +and Phil had seen a short time before. About her torn skirts were +clustered three or four stupid-looking, tow-headed children. It was +impossible for Phil to conceive how beautiful Mollie could be a member +of such a family. Yet the unfortunate girl had told Phyllis that she +had known no other than the hard, joyless life she had always led. +</P> + +<P> +It was Madge who opened the conversation this time. To her +disappointment she received no different answer to her inquiries than +had Phil. "Moll was gone." The woman did not know where she had gone +and she didn't care. But she wasn't coming back. Further, Mollie's +step-mother did not see what business Phil and Madge had in coming to +ask about her. +</P> + +<P> +"We are going to wait to talk to your husband," announced Phil with +quiet decision. +</P> + +<P> +"You git off my boat in a hurry," the woman snarled angrily. "You can +stay on the island all day if you like, but you can't hang around here. +Mike won't be home before night, and he ain't goin' to tell you nothin' +then. You'll find the beach pretty comfortable; it's so nice and +shady." The woman grinned maliciously. +</P> + +<P> +The two girls sat down on the stretch of hot sand near the water. They +were doggedly determined to wait as long as possible for Mike Muldoon's +return. Mollie's pathetic appeal had touched Madge as deeply as it had +Phil, and they were both resolved to help the child if they could. +</P> + +<P> +The hours dragged by on leaden wings. Madge's head ached violently. +Phil was beginning to think longingly of the basket of food which she +had left in the tent and wondering if it would do for her to go after +it while Madge stayed on guard. As she sat deliberating as to what +course of action would be the wisest, a sudden commotion arose among +the children playing on the deck of the shanty boat. The dog began to +bark furiously. "Mammy, here comes Pap," the oldest child cried. +</P> + +<P> +The tired girls could see that a sailboat was being anchored near the +shore. A few moments later Mike, who insisted on being called +"Captain," got into a skiff and rowed toward the land. +</P> + +<P> +Madge sprang to her feet and ran down to the edge of the water. She +wished to attract Mike's attention before he went aboard his own shanty +boat. To think with her was to act. She realized that she must speak +to the man before his wife could tell him the nature of their errand. +If Mike Muldoon learned their real design, he might shut himself inside +his shanty and refuse to talk to them. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-170"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-170.jpg" ALT="The girls ran down to the water's edge." BORDER="2" WIDTH="333" HEIGHT="543"> +<H5> +[Illustration: The girls ran down to the water's edge.] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Mike rowed toward his callers, who were anxiously waiting for him. As +his boat scraped the shore his wife shrieked at him, "Come here fust, +Mike! Don't you be goin' talkin' to the likes of them before I tells +you somethin'." +</P> + +<P> +She was too late. Captain Mike had already turned to Madge. He +supposed the girls had come to engage his sailboat. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Madge decided to try diplomacy. She did not wish to make the +sailor angry. She hoped she might persuade him to do what they wished. +</P> + +<P> +"We have not come to rent your sailboat today, Captain Mike," she +announced cheerfully, "we are coming for that another time. What we +wish now is to ask you what has become of your pretty daughter? We +have crossed all the way over to the island to make her a call. And +now we can't find her. We wish to make friends with her, if you don't +mind." +</P> + +<P> +"Moll can't make friends with nobody," Mike answered suspiciously, his +skin turning a mottled red under its coat of tan. "I told you Moll was +foolish." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I know," answered Phil unwisely. "That is why we are so sorry +for her." +</P> + +<P> +Mike scowled darkly. "You ain't got no cause to be sorry for the gal. +Who told you she was treated mean? Nobody don't hurt her. But you +can't see her. She is sick." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, your wife told us she had gone away!" exclaimed Phil impetuously. +</P> + +<P> +She could have cried with regret the next moment, for she realized how +foolish she had been. +</P> + +<P> +"So she has gone away," Mike muttered, "and she is sick. I ain't no +liar and my wife ain't neither." +</P> + +<P> +"When will she come back, Captain Mike?" asked Madge in a friendly +tone, hoping the title of "captain" would soften the surly sailor. +</P> + +<P> +"She's not comin' back," the man replied impatiently. "I've got to go +to my dinner, and I ain't goin' to answer no more questions. Don't you +come foolin' around this way any more; my old woman don't like it. I +warn you for your good." +</P> + +<P> +Phil was tired of deceit. She knew Mike had not told them the truth. +"Captain Mike," she demanded coolly, "have you put your daughter in an +asylum? If you have, I think you have been both inhuman and cruel. +Mollie is not crazy. If you will tell us where she is we will look +after her, and she need not bother you any more." She raised her dark +eyes and gazed defiantly at the angry sailor, who shook his great red +fist full in her face. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll take a man's own daughter away from him, will you?" he raged. +"What makes you so interested in my gal? And who told you Moll was +shut up with a lot of crazies? My Moll is going to be married; she has +gone away to git her weddin' clothes." +</P> + +<P> +He laughed tantalizingly into the girls' faces as though well pleased +with his own joke. +</P> + +<P> +"Mollie married?" Phil exclaimed in horror. "Why, she——" Then Phil +stopped herself and inquired, with an innocent expression of interest, +"Whom did you say Mollie was going to marry?" +</P> + +<P> +"She is going to marry Bill Barnes, a friend of mine," retorted the +sailor sarcastically, his heavy shoulders shaking with savage +amusement. "He ain't much to look at. It's kind of a case of Beauty +and the Beast with him and my Moll. But she's powerful fond of him." +</P> + +<P> +"Mike!" a shrill voice screamed from the shanty boat kitchen, "come +along in here." +</P> + +<P> +Mike glared at his questioners, his face set in savage lines. "Don't +never come here agin," he growled. "If you do, I ain't sayin' what +will happen to you." Turning abruptly he strode toward his boat, +leaving the girls standing where he had first met them. +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing for Madge and Phil to do but to return once more to +their own boat. "O Madge! it is too dreadful!" exclaimed Phil in a +husky voice. "I understand now what poor Mollie meant. She said there +was one thing she would never do, no matter how cruel her father might +he with her. Of course, she knew they were going to try to force her +to marry some frightful looking fisherman. We simply must try to find +her and save her. It is a wicked shame!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be so wretched, Phil," comforted Madge, though she felt equally +miserable. "You are right; we must find out how to save poor, pretty +Mollie. I can't think what we ought to do, just this minute, but we +must do our best. Now I think we shall have to go home and talk things +over with Miss Jenny Ann and the girls. We will come back to-morrow, +prepared to make a fight to save Mollie. Surely she can't be married +by that time." +</P> + +<P> +The two friends stopped by the tent for their basket of food and sat +down just outside it under a tree to eat their luncheon. Neither of +them noticed that they had seated themselves with their backs to the +water, and they were so interested in talking of Mollie that they gave +no thought to the outgoing tide. By rising they could see their boat +drawn up on the shore, where, as arranged with Lillian and Eleanor, it +had been left by the farm boy. What they failed to notice, however, +was the distance it lay from the water line, and they also had +forgotten that it was time for the going out of the tide. +</P> + +<P> +As they sat quietly eating their luncheon the sound of running feet was +borne to their ears. Nearer and nearer they came. Then round the +curve of the beach darted the object of their morning's search. With a +wild cry she flung herself upon Phil. "You said you would help me," +she moaned. "Oh, help me now." Little rivulets of water ran from her +ragged clothing. The pupils of her dark blue eyes were distended with +fear. Her dress was torn across her shoulder and an ugly bruise showed +through it. There was a long, red welt on her cheek that looked as +though it had been made with a whip, and another across one forearm. +</P> + +<P> +Madge and Phyllis rushed toward the frightened girl. Phil put her arm +protectingly about Mollie while Madge stood on guard. Resolution and +defiance looked out from their young faces. They were not afraid of +poor Mollie's captors. They would fight for her. +</P> + +<P> +"How did you come to us? Where have you been?" questioned Phil. +</P> + +<P> +Five minutes had passed and no one had appeared. "Sit down here, +Mollie. We won't let any one hurt you." +</P> + +<P> +"I was hidden in the shanty boat, locked in a dark closet," faltered +Mollie, casting a terrified glance about her. "I heard you ask for me, +but I could not come out. The woman is more cruel to me than the man. +She would have killed me. But when my father came home he was so angry +because you had been to see me that he beat me and said I must marry +Bill to-morrow, before you could come back to help me. Oh, he is +horrible! I won't marry him! I'll die first! I crawled through a +porthole in the boat when I heard what they said. I dropped into the +water and swam and swam until I could land on the beach out of sight of +my father's boat. Then I ran until I found you. But they will try to +find me. They may be looking for me now. Tell me, tell me what I must +do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be frightened," soothed Madge. "They can't force you to marry +Bill or any one else against your will. Phil and I will take care of +you. Come with us. We are going over to our houseboat now. Your +father need not know what has become of you. Hurry!" Madge was +listening intently for sounds announcing the coming of Mollie's +pursuers. So far the girls were safe. A moment more and they would be +in their rowboat. +</P> + +<P> +Linking their arms within Mollie's her rescuers hurried her along. +Straight to the water's edge they ran, then a cry of consternation went +up from the two girls. +</P> + +<P> +"O Madge! what shall we do? We forgot all about the tide," mourned +Phil. "It has gone out, and now we'll have to drag our heavy boat half +a mile through the sand to the water or else wait until the tide runs +in again before we can get away from the island." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CAPTURE +</H3> + +<P> +Madge hurried down to where their rowboat lay. She dragged the anchor +out of the sand and pulled at the skiff with all her might. Phil also +took hold and together the two girls worked like beavers, but without +success. The boat was firmly wedged in the sand. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there any place on the island where we can hide, Mollie?" +questioned Phil as the two girls rested for a moment from their +fruitless effort. "We can not leave here until the tide turns." +</P> + +<P> +"I know a cave," said Mollie hesitatingly. "It is in the woods not +very far from the beach. But I am afraid they will find us there." +</P> + +<P> +"We had better go to it," urged Madge, wiping the perspiration from her +tired face. "At least we can hide in the cave for a while, until we +make up our minds what is best for us to do, We may not be discovered +until the tide turns. Later on I shall slip down here again to see if +things are safe, and then we can make a run for our boat. If we wait +here along the shore, we shall not have the least chance of escaping. +The first person who comes to look for Mollie will surely see us. Come +on. We have no time to lose." +</P> + +<P> +This time Mollie led the way through a tangle of trees and underbrush +to the center of the little island. Here they found the cave which was +only an opening behind an immense old tree that had been uprooted by a +storm. A flat rock protruded over the hollow, and the sand had +gradually drifted away until the cavity was hardly large enough to hold +the three girls. These were cramped quarters, and they were only +partially protected from view by the immense roots of the fallen tree, +but they knew of no other refuge and resolved to make the best of it. +</P> + +<P> +The girls had barely crept into their hiding place when they heard a +noise of some one tramping through the underbrush. A few moments later +a man slouched along a narrow path between the trees. His hat was +pulled down over his face, but Madge and Phil recognized him by his +dress as the man they had seen asleep on the ground earlier in the day. +</P> + +<P> +Mollie made no sound. She was hidden between the two friends, and +never in her life before, so far as she could recall, had she been so +protected by affection. But her increased trembling told her rescuers +that she had recognized the man who passed so near to them, and that +she feared him. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Bill," she faltered when the figure disappeared without having +the slightest suspicion that he was being watched. "He is on his way +to our boat. He will ask for me, and my father will be sure to find +out that I have gone. Then they will come out here to hunt for me." +</P> + +<P> +For a long time after Mollie's disquieting prediction none of the three +prisoners spoke. They hardly dared to breathe. Their bodies ached +from their cramped, uncomfortable positions; they were hungry, and, +worse than anything else, Madge and Phyllis were tormented with thirst. +Since leaving the houseboat early in the morning they had drunk no +water. Phil was thinking remorsefully that all this trouble had come +from her asking Madge to go with her to the island in search of Mollie. +</P> + +<P> +Madge was wondering just what she would do and say if Mollie's father +should find them, while Mollie's delicate face had lost its expression +of apathy and now wore one of lively terror. Even the faint rustle of +leaves as a passing breeze swept through the trees caused her to start. +An hour passed and no one came to look for them. Either Mike had not +learned of his daughter's escape, or else he had not taken the trouble +to come to search for her. He must have believed that she would return +to the boat later on of her own accord, driven by hunger and loneliness. +</P> + +<P> +It was now growing late in the afternoon. Neither Madge nor Phyllis +wore a watch, so it was impossible to tell how much time they had spent +in the cave. Miss Jenny Ann would wonder what had happened. Of +course, Lillian and Eleanor would explain matters. Miss Jones might +remember the tide and understand what was keeping them away. Yet there +was a lively possibility that she might fail to take the tide into +consideration. +</P> + +<P> +At last Madge decided to end the suspense. +</P> + +<P> +She knew their skiff would float from the shore of Fisherman's Island +several hours before full tide. They had tried to make their escape at +the moment when the tide was almost at its lowest ebb. The tide had +been high that morning. It was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon +when they had attempted to leave the island. She now believed it to be +almost five o'clock. At least, it was time to reconnoitre. She put +her ear close to the ground. She could hear no sound of any one +approaching. +</P> + +<P> +"Phil," she whispered, "will you and Mollie please wait here for me. I +am going down to the water to see if it is possible to get the boat +off. It must be very late. Remember, high tide is at eight o'clock +to-night. We ought to be able to pull away from here between five and +six o'clock. When I come back to tell you how things are we can make a +run for it to the beach, and perhaps get a fair start before we are +seen." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me go with you," insisted Phil, as anxious as her chum to get out +of their close quarters. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think we ought to leave Mollie alone," demurred Madge. "But, +if you think best, you may go and I will stay here." +</P> + +<P> +Mollie's terror at Phyllis's suggestion of deserting her was too much +for tender-hearted Phil. "No, I won't leave you," she said gently, +taking Mollie's hand in hers. "You had better run along, Madge. I'll +stay here. But, for goodness' sake, do be careful. If anything +happens to you, Mollie and I will starve in this cave like Babes in the +Woods, if you don't come back to find us." +</P> + +<P> +Madge crawled cautiously out of the hole. Her muscles were so stiff +that she rose to her feet with difficulty. But she soon started off +through the narrow path between the trees, making as little noise as +she possibly could. Her way through the grove of trees covered the +greater part of the distance to the shore. But there was still a +stretch of open beach, where she feared she would be discovered. When +she came to the shelter of the last tree she stopped and peered +cautiously up and down the line of the shore. As far as she could see +the beach was empty. And, surely enough, the tide was coming in. Tiny +waves touched the prow of the "Water Witch." It was true the water was +not yet deep enough to float their boat, but in less than an hour they +might be able to row away from danger with their new friend. +</P> + +<P> +There was but one thing to do. She must return to Phyllis and Mollie, +and they must make up their minds to remain in their hiding place for a +little while longer. Madge hated to go back to the cave. She would +have liked to linger in the woods, hiding behind the trees until they +were able to leave the island. But she knew it would not be fair to +Phyllis and Mollie to leave them any longer in suspense. They would +think something had happened to her unless she returned to them at +once. The knowledge that she had not been seen made her feel more +cheerful. She was sure that she would yet outwit the brutal sailor, +Mike Muldoon, and carry Mollie safe to the shelter of their houseboat, +where Miss Jenny Ann, or perhaps Mrs. Curtis, would tell them how they +could continue to take care of the poor girl. +</P> + +<P> +Unfortunately, Madge's gown was of some soft, white material and +altogether too conspicuous. She could be easily seen for some distance +as she ran along the shore, and in her anxiety to return to her friends +as soon as possible she did not look about her as carefully as she +should have done. Therefore she missed seeing the cruel face that +stared malignantly forth from the opening in the tent where Phil had +her first talk with Mollie. The man's whole body was carefully +concealed, and as Madge flitted by the tent his head disappeared from +sight. +</P> + +<P> +The man in the tent had caught sight of Madge's white gown the moment +she stepped forth from the shelter of the woods. He had at once +understood the situation, but he did not stir until she started to +return to the cave. He knew that Madge had come down to see if she +could get the boat off the beach and into the water. It was evident +that the other girls must be hidden somewhere in the forest. There was +nothing to be gained by capturing Madge alone; he must wait until she +went back to her friends, then he could find out where Mollie was +concealed. +</P> + +<P> +The boat on the shore and the disappearance of the two girls who had +visited him that morning told the whole story. Why had the two young +women concealed themselves unless they meant to guard the fugitive +Mollie? +</P> + +<P> +When Madge started back through the woods the man followed her at a +safe distance. He did not wish her to know that he was following her, +for fear she would lead him off the trail, but he kept near enough to +know exactly where she was going. +</P> + +<P> +She arrived, as she believed undiscovered, at their hiding place in the +woods. +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis and Mollie heard her light footfalls and gave a united sigh of +relief. Their friend had escaped discovery. So far all was well! +</P> + +<P> +Madge leaned over the opening of the cave, to reassure her friends +before she crawled into it again. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all right!" she cried softly. "I saw no one, heard nothing. We +can get away, without any trouble, in another hour." +</P> + +<P> +She crouched down to slip into the place of concealment. At the same +instant the three girls heard a noise. It was unmistakably the hurried +tramp of heavy feet! Mike Muldoon burst through the thicket of trees, +his face blazing with heat and anger. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ON A STRANGE SHORE +</H3> + +<P> +Madge had just time enough to leap to her feet. She would not allow +their determined enemy to catch her while in the act of hiding. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep still," she whispered quickly to Phyllis and Mollie. Then she +turned, with flashing eyes, to the approaching figure of Captain Mike +Muldoon. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want?" she demanded imperiously, stamping her foot. "Why +have you followed me through the woods?" +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the man was speechless. It had not dawned on him that +Madge would turn upon him. He had expected her to burst into tears and +exhibit signs of fear. +</P> + +<P> +"I want my daughter, and I want her quick, young woman," he answered +gruffly. "When I find her I will settle with you." He pushed past +Madge and dragged the unfortunate Mollie from her place of shelter. +Phil sprang out after her. Her black eyes were flashing with anger and +disappointment. She fastened a firm grip on Mollie's arm. If Mike +Muldoon jerked or shook his daughter, he would jerk and shake Phyllis +Alden, too, for nothing would induce her to let go her hold on Mollie. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me go," whispered Mollie gently, looking affectionately into the +faces of her new friends. "I don't want you to be in trouble for my +sake. I ran away. It was no fault of yours." Mollie appeared to be +quite rational. She seemed to appreciate the girls' loyalty to her. +</P> + +<P> +"Give up my daughter and get back to where you came from, and I will +let you off this time," roared Mike savagely. He did not think it wise +to deal roughly with the girls. Their friends would surely come to +look for them and hold him responsible for their disappearance. +</P> + +<P> +"We won't go a step unless you will let Mollie go with us," returned +Phil wrathfully. "You shan't make her marry that horrible Bill. It is +unlawful for you to force her to marry against her will." +</P> + +<P> +Mike moved stolidly ahead, gripping his daughter and pulling her along +with him. Phyllis, who was still clutching Mollie's arm, followed +after, while Madge walked valiantly by Phil's side. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave go!" Mike shouted, raising his fist threateningly at Phyllis. +Mollie cried out at the thought of possible hurt to her friend, but +Phyllis did not falter. She gazed up at the burly sailor with a look +of such intense scorn, mingled with defiance, that he dropped his hand +to his side and said sneeringly: "Come back to my shanty boat, then. I +will settle with you when we get there." +</P> + +<P> +Tightening his hold on his daughter's arm he strode off toward the +shanty boat, dragging poor Mollie along at a cruel rate of speed. +Phil, still clasping Mollie's other arm, kept pace with her, while +Madge marched a little to the rear with the air of a grenadier. +</P> + +<P> +Mollie's beautiful white face was set in lines of despair, but her +companions felt nothing save righteous indignation against the brutal +man they were forced either to follow or else leave Mollie to her fate. +</P> + +<P> +On the deck of the wretched shanty boat, this time, a man and a woman +were waiting with burning impatience. The man was Bill and the woman +was Mike Muldoon's wife. A group of fisher folk stood near, evidently +anxious to know what was going to happen. It was late in the +afternoon, and they had returned from the day's work on the water. +</P> + +<P> +Madge broke away from her own party to run toward these men and women. +There were about half a dozen in number. "Won't you help us?" she +cried excitedly. "Captain Mike is trying to force his daughter to +marry that dreadful Bill. He has beaten her cruelly because she +refuses to do it. My friend and I tried to get Mollie away from him, +but he found us and forced her to come back here." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't hurt the young ladies, Mike," remonstrated one of the fishermen, +with a satirical grin in their direction, "it wouldn't be good +business." Then he turned to Madge and said gruffly: "It ain't any of +our lookout what Mike does with his daughter. She's foolish, anyhow. +Can't see why Bill wants to marry her." +</P> + +<P> +Muldoon had jerked Mollie from Phil's restraining grasp and flung her +aboard the shanty boat. The woman pushed the girl inside the cabin and +closed the door. Then she stood waiting to see what her husband +intended to do with the two girls. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Mike was puzzled. He stood frowning angrily at Mollie's +defiant champions. They had refused to go back home. He had given +them their opportunity. It was just as well they had not taken it, for +suddenly the man was seized with an idea. +</P> + +<P> +"Git into my rowboat," he ordered Phil and Madge. "I am going to put +you aboard my sailboat and carry you home to your friends. You had +better take my offer. You'll only get into worse trouble if you stay +around here. How do you think you are going to take care of +Moll—knock me and Bill and my old woman down and run off with Moll?" +</P> + +<P> +"Won't any one here help us?" asked Phil, turning to the grinning crowd. +</P> + +<P> +"You had better go home with Mike. It's the only thing for you to do," +advised a grizzled old fisherman. "Your hanging around here ain't +going to help Moll." +</P> + +<P> +Madge and Phil exchanged inquiring glances. For the time being they +were beaten. It was better to go home. Later on they would see what +could be done for their friend. +</P> + +<P> +"We would rather go back in our own boat," Phil announced, making a +last resistance. Madge, who was already in Mike's skiff, beckoned to +Phil to join her. It was too undignified and hopeless for them to +argue longer with these coarse, rough men. Phyllis followed her chum +reluctantly. She hung back as long as she could, staring hard at the +shanty boat. But there was no sight nor sound of Mollie. +</P> + +<P> +Even after they were aboard Captain Mike's sailing craft Phil's eyes +strained toward the receding shore. When it was no longer to be seen +she sat with her hands folded, gazing into her lap. She was still +thinking and planning what she could do to rescue Mollie. Madge sat +with closed eyes; she was too weary to speak. +</P> + +<P> +The sailor's boat had left the island far behind and was moving +swiftly. It was after sunset, and the sun had just thrown itself, like +the golden ball in the fairy tale, into the depth of the clear water. +The girls were looking anxiously toward the direction of their boat, +and wondering if their friends were worrying over their late return. +</P> + +<P> +The houseboat lay a little to the southwest of Fisherman's Island, and +so far they had not been able to catch sight of it. It was growing so +dark that it was impossible to see the shore very clearly on either +side of the bay. It was Madge's sharp eyes that first made the +discovery that what she could see of the shore was unfamiliar. Captain +Mike was not taking them to their houseboat. He was sailing in exactly +the opposite direction. Madge glanced quickly at Phyllis, who was yet +happily unconscious of their plight, then, turning to Muldoon, she said +sharply: "You are sailing the wrong way to bring us to our houseboat. +The boat lies southwest of the island and you are taking us due north. +Turn about and take us to our boat instantly." +</P> + +<P> +"I am taking you to where I am going to land you, all right," the +sailor replied gruffly. "You have got to learn that you can't come +foolin' in my business without getting yourselves into trouble. I'm +goin' to learn you." +</P> + +<P> +"You had better do as we ask you to do or you may regret it," put in +Phyllis. +</P> + +<P> +The sailor appeared not to have heard her threat. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't speak to him, Phil. He isn't worth wasting words over." +</P> + +<P> +The sailboat was evidently making for the land. The long line of a +pier was faintly visible. A few lights shone along a strange shore. +</P> + +<P> +It was plain that Captain Mike meant to land at this pier. The girls +did not know why he meant to take them there, but they were too proud +to ask him his reason. +</P> + +<P> +Mike drew his boat close along the flight of steps that led to the top +of the pier. +</P> + +<P> +"Jump off, quick!" he called sharply. +</P> + +<P> +It was night. Neither Madge nor Phyllis had the faintest idea of the +hour. Neither one of them knew in what place they were being cast +ashore, nor had they a cent of money between them. But anything was +better than to remain longer on the sailboat. +</P> + +<P> +With a defiant glance at the scowling man Madge climbed out on the +steps of the pier. She gave her hand to Phyllis, who leaped after her. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Mike watched them walk up the steps to the top of the pier. +Then, turning his boat about, he sailed away, leaving the two girls to +the darkness of an unknown shore. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FINDING A WAY TO HELP MOLLIE +</H3> + +<P> +Girls do not keep silent long, no matter how grave the situation. The +two castaways were no exception. +</P> + +<P> +Madge shook her clenched fist after the retreating mast of the sail +boat. "You horrid, horrid old man!" she cried. "We won't give up +trying to save poor Mollie, no matter what you do to us. Come on, +Phil," she said, taking Phyllis by the hand, "let us go up to the shore +and ask some one where we are. I suppose nobody will believe our +story, because it seems so improbable, but perhaps some kind soul will +give us a drink of water, even if we do look perfectly disreputable." +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis giggled softly in spite of their plight. Madge had lost her +hat. Her curls had long since come loose from the knot in which she +wore them, and her gown was sadly wrinkled. +</P> + +<P> +Madge was in no mood for laughter. "You needn't make fun of me, +Phyllis Alden," she said reproachfully. "You are just as tattered and +torn as I. We do look like a couple of beggars. Your hair is not +down, but your collar is crumpled and your dress is almost as soiled as +mine." +</P> + +<P> +"I look much worse than you do, Madge, I am sure of it," conceded Phil +cheerfully. "You see, I am not pretty to begin with." To this speech +Madge would not deign to reply. Phyllis laughed good-humoredly. +"Loyal little Madge, you won't acknowledge my lack of fatal beauty." +Then in a graver tone she added, "What do you think we had better do, +Madge?" +</P> + +<P> +"Find out where we are and how far away the 'Merry Maid' is," returned +Madge decisively. "We must reach there to-night, Phil. Miss Jenny Ann +and the girls will believe something dreadful has happened to us." +</P> + +<P> +The chums had walked to the end of the pier. Between them and the +nearest house lay a stretch of treacherous marsh. They paused +irresolutely, staring at the marsh with anxious eyes. "I am afraid we +shall get lost in the marsh if we try to find our way through it on a +dark night like this," faltered Phyllis. +</P> + +<P> +Madge shook her head determinedly. "We must try to pass through it. I +don't like the looks of it any better than you do, but we can't stay +here all night, that is certain. Come on. Here goes." +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis obediently followed her companion into the marsh, and then +began a never-to-be-forgotten walk. With each step they took the salt +water oozed up from the ground and covered their shoes. Madge felt her +way carefully. She was obliged to put one foot cautiously forth to see +if the earth ahead were firm enough to bear the weight of her body. On +she went, with Phyllis close behind her. In spite of the difficulty +the girls were plainly making headway. "Hurrah!" called Madge, "we are +almost out of this quagmire. There is dry land ahead!" With one long +leap she made the solid ground which stretched just ahead of her. +Phyllis was not so fortunate. She lunged blindly after Madge, struck +an unusually bad part of the marsh and sank knee deep in the soft mud. +With a terrified cry she began struggling to free herself, but the +harder she struggled the deeper she became imbedded in the marsh. +</P> + +<P> +The moon was just coming up. Madge could faintly see what had happened +to her friend. She ran toward Phyllis, but the latter cried out +warningly: "Go back. If you try to help me, you'll only sink into this +marsh with me." +</P> + +<P> +Madge hesitated only a minute. "Don't move, Phil, if you can possibly +help it," she cried. "But in a few minutes from now call out, so that +I can tell where you are. Good-bye for a little while; I am going for +help." Madge never knew how she covered the space that lay between her +and the nearest house. This house had a low stone wall around it, and +stood on top of a steep hill that sloped down to this wall. Madge +scrambled over the wall and climbed the hill, sometimes on her feet, +but as often on her hands and knees. There was a light in a window. +She staggered to it and rapped on the window pane. A moment later a +man appeared in a doorway at the right of the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's there?" he called out sharply. "What do you mean by knocking on +my window? Answer me at once!" +</P> + +<P> +Madge stumbled over to him. "Oh, won't you please come with me?" she +said. "My friend Phyllis is stuck fast in the marsh. I must have help +to get her out." +</P> + +<P> +Without a word the man disappeared into the house. For one dreadful +instant, Madge thought he did not intend to help her; she thought he +must believe that she was an impostor and was making up her story. The +next minute the man returned, wearing a pair of high rubber hoots and +carrying a dark lantern and a heavy rope. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be frightened," he said kindly to her as she walked wearily +after him. "People often lose their way in this marsh after dark. +We'll soon find your friend." +</P> + +<P> +But to himself Judge Arthur Hilliard asked the question: "What in the +world are two young girls doing alone on this dangerous shore at such +an hour of the night?" +</P> + +<P> +It was well that Phyllis remembered Madge's order, else they might have +had some trouble in locating her. As soon as Phyllis saw the friendly +light from the oncoming lantern she called at the top of her lungs: +"Here I am! Here I am!" +</P> + +<P> +"Keep perfectly still!" Judge Hilliard commanded. "I'll have you out +in a short time." He waded into the marsh, his high boots protecting +him from the black ooze. When he was about five yards from Phil he +flung her the rope. "Now work your way along toward us," he directed. +Phyllis obeyed his command and in an incredibly short time was safe on +dry land, her shoes heavy with mud. +</P> + +<P> +"It is bad enough to be lost," declared Phil as she thanked the +stranger, "but it is worse to be not only lost, but stuck in the mud as +well." +</P> + +<P> +"You were in a most unpleasant, though I can hardly say a dangerous +plight," returned the stranger. "Can I be of further service to you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Would you—could you tell us where we can get a drink of water?" asked +Madge. "We are so tired and thirsty." +</P> + +<P> +"My name is Arthur Hilliard," returned the man. "If you will come to +my house, my mother will be glad to offer you refreshment." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," bowed Madge sedately. "We will go with you." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Hilliard, a stout, comfortable looking old lady, received the +wanderers with true Southern hospitality. Without waiting to hear +their story, she insisted that they change their bedraggled clothing +for two comfortable looking dressing gowns which she laid out for them, +and by the time they had washed their faces and hands and dressed their +hair they found a hot supper ready for them in the dining room. +</P> + +<P> +"We are so sorry to have troubled you," declared Madge apologetically, +as Mr. Hilliard entered the dining room when they were finishing their +meal. "Now we must tell you who we are and how we came to be +floundering in the marsh so late in the evening." +</P> + +<P> +Beginning with their visit to the island that morning Madge related all +that had transpired during that long day of adventures. Judge Hilliard +shook his head disapprovingly as the tale continued, but listened with +grave interest to the part of the story relating to Mollie, the +sailor's daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"This girl of whom you speak is like the girl in the fairy story, who +has a cruel step-mother and an ogre of a father," he commented when the +story had ended. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course she is," answered Madge; "only our girl is not in a fairy +story, she is real. I can't believe that that dreadful Mike Muldoon is +her father, and I know there must be some way to take her from him and +make her happy." +</P> + +<P> +"We are going to save her yet," declared Phyllis stoutly. "I don't see +just how we are to manage it, but to-morrow we are going to try again. +How far are we from Fisherman's Island?" +</P> + +<P> +"About thirty miles," Judge Hilliard replied. "I have telephoned to +the nearest town to let your chaperon know you are safe. The message +will be taken over to your houseboat tonight, and I will take you home +in the morning. My mother insists that you remain here tonight. She +will join us in the library in a few minutes." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you again," said Madge gratefully. "It was very thoughtful in +you to send a message to our friends. In the morning we wish to go +first to the Belleview Hotel. We wish to see a friend of ours who is +staying there. Her name is Mrs. Curtis." +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Curtis is an old friend of mine," said Judge Hilliard in pleased +surprise. "I have known her ever since I was a little boy. Now I have +something to say to you that may interest you. I told you I was a +judge. It is my business to look into people's legal difficulties. +This trouble which concerns your friend looks to me as though it might +have a legal side to it. We are in the State of Maryland. Fisherman's +Island is in my jurisdiction. Suppose I issue an injunction forbidding +the marriage between Mollie and the sailor, and take you up to the +island in the morning to see it served. I have a steam yacht, and I +think I shall take along two court officers or policemen, who will +terrify your dreadful Captain Mike. At any rate, I'll see justice done +his afflicted daughter, if I have to take the law in my own hands." +</P> + +<P> +Madge clapped her hands joyously. Tears stood in Phil's dark eyes. +"Oh, how splendid!" she breathed. +</P> + +<P> +At this juncture Mrs. Hilliard entered the library, and after a little +further talk the two girls announced themselves as being quite ready to +retire. +</P> + +<P> +"Be ready at seven o'clock," Judge Hilliard reminded them, as he bade +his guests good night. "We shall reach Captain Mike's shanty boat +before he has time to proceed with the marriage. They won't expect you +at your houseboat until after breakfast, and I hope to have three girls +to deliver aboard, instead of two." +</P> + +<P> +Phyllis and Madge dropped asleep that night the instant their heads +touched their pillows. They had asked to share the same room, and as +they had sleepily undressed, they congratulated each other on the fact +that Mike Muldoon's cowardly act had resulted in nothing but good to +them. It looked as though it might even prove a boomerang to him. +</P> + +<P> +By seven o'clock the next morning the girls had breakfasted and said +good-bye to Mrs. Hilliard, after promising to visit her at some future +time. +</P> + +<P> +"Judge Hilliard," announced Madge, as the yacht "Greyhound" steamed out +from the pier, "we forgot to tell you last night that we think Mollie +is old enough to come away from her father if she wishes. She doesn't +know how old she is. That is one of the queer things about Mollie. +She seems quite sensible until you ask her to recall something, and +then she becomes confused. Still, I am sure she is several years older +than either Phil or I." +</P> + +<P> +The shanty boat colony on the east side of Fisherman's Island had also +risen early on this warm morning in July. Bill crossed over to the +mainland in his sailboat to bring a Justice of the Peace back with him +to marry him to Mollie. Captain Mike was determined to have his way +with his daughter. Once she was married to Bill, her new friends would +find it difficult to get her away from him. +</P> + +<P> +Since Mollie's return to the shanty boat she had made no further +outcry. She did not seem to know what was going on. The vacant, +hopeless look had come over her face. The fright and ill treatment of +the day before had completely subdued her. She seemed to have +forgotten everything. +</P> + +<P> +All night long she had lain awake in her miserable berth in the dirty +shanty boat. She lay still, with her eyes closed, until the breathing +of her family told her they were fast asleep. Then she crept out on +the deck of the boat. She sat for hours without moving, her wonderful +blue eyes, with the empty look in them, staring out over the silent +waters. She was waiting, wistful and patient, for something to come to +save her. When the dawn broke, and a rosy light bathed the bay and the +sky, she rose, went quietly into the cabin and lay down in her berth +again. She stayed there while the family ate their breakfast. She +made no resistance when her step-mother came toward her, grinning +maliciously, and bearing a coarse white cotton dress, which she called +"Moll's wedding gown." +</P> + +<P> +Mollie let the woman put the dress on her. She even combed her own +sun-colored hair; and, for the first time in her life, she knotted it +on her head, instead of letting it stream in ragged, unkempt ends over +her shoulders. A loose lock of hair over Mollie's low forehead covered +the ugly scar that was her one disfigurement. She was so startlingly +lovely that her stupid step-mother stared at her in a kind of +bewildered amazement. Mollie was pale and worn, and painfully thin, +yet nothing could spoil the wonderful color of her hair and eyes, nor +take away the peculiar grace of her figure. Her expression was dull +and listless. Even so Mollie looked like a lily transplanted to some +field of dank weeds, but growing tall and sweet amid their ugliness. +</P> + +<P> +Mike looked at his daughter curiously when her step-mother dragged her +out before him. Brutal as he was, a change passed over his face. He +glanced over the water to see if Bill's boat were approaching. "I +ain't never understood how things has turned out," he muttered to +himself. "If Mollie wasn't foolish, I wouldn't let Bill have her. She +is a pretty thing, and she looks like a lady. That's what makes it so +all-fired queer." +</P> + +<P> +Mollie sank down on the bench that ran around the deck of the shanty +boat. She dropped her head in her hands. What she was thinking, or +whether she was thinking at all, no one could know or tell. She heard +a boat coming through the water, then a cry from her father. If she +believed the hour had arrived for her marriage, she gave no sign. She +did not raise her head when Mike Muldoon cried out savagely. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Mike went ashore. He stood with his heavy arms folded, smoking +and scowling. +</P> + +<P> +Judge Hilliard stepped up to Captain Mike. Two police officers +accompanied him. Madge and Phil were directly behind their new friend. +They did not like to call to Mollie, but they wished she would look up +at them. +</P> + +<P> +"I have an injunction forbidding the marriage of your daughter, Mollie +Muldoon, to a fisherman named Bill," Judge Hilliard's peremptory voice +rang out. "You are forcing your daughter into this marriage against +her will." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't forcing Moll," denied Captain Mike, glaring at Phil and Madge. +He was driven into a corner, and he knew nothing else to say. +</P> + +<P> +"I would like to ask the girl what she desires," the judge announced. +</P> + +<P> +"Moll," called Mike. +</P> + +<P> +For the first time Mollie lifted her head. She left the boat and came +slowly toward the little party. +</P> + +<P> +Judge Hilliard stared, and for a moment he forgot to speak to her. +Madge and Phil had assured him that their protégé was beautiful, but he +had expected to behold the simple beauty of a country girl; this young +woman was exquisitely lovely. +</P> + +<P> +Madge and Phil trembled with excitement. Suppose Mollie should not +understand the Judge's question and make the wrong answer? Suppose the +poor girl had been bullied into submission? Suppose she should not +even recall the struggle of yesterday? She forgot so much—would she +forget this? +</P> + +<P> +"Do you desire to marry this 'Bill'?" Judge Hilliard queried, looking +with puzzled wonder into Mollie's lovely, expressionless face. +</P> + +<P> +Mollie shook her head gently. Madge and Phil held their breath. +</P> + +<P> +"I will not marry him," Mollie answered simply. "Nothing could make me +do so." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you will come home to the houseboat with us, Mollie," Madge and +Phil pleaded together, taking hold of the girl's hands to lead her away. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry," interposed Judge Hilliard, speaking to the girls, "but we +can't take her away at once. We must observe the law. Muldoon," +continued the Judge as he took a document out of his pocket and handed +it to the sailor, "of course you know that you can not force this girl +to marry against her will whether she is of age or not, but, aside from +that, here is an order of court directing you to show cause why the +girl should not be taken from you upon the ground of cruelty and +neglect. The case will be heard in the court at the county seat of +Anne Arundel County five days hence, the 30th of the month. You will, +of course, be expected to prove that the girl is your daughter. This +order also contains an injunction forbidding you to take the girl out +of this jurisdiction within that time. These officers will remain here +to see that the order of the court is carried out. If you make any +attempt to remove the girl from this vicinity, you will be arrested at +once." +</P> + +<P> +"And now, ladies," said Judge Hilliard, turning to the girls, "we will +go aboard the 'Greyhound'." +</P> + +<P> +"I say, Judge," broke in Muldoon, starting hurriedly after Judge +Hilliard, "I don't want to get mixed up in the law. I'll tell you +something if you won't be too hard on me. Moll isn't my daughter! I +picked her up almost drowned on a beach on the coast of Florida. My +first old woman took a liking for the kid, so we just kept her. We +didn't intend her any harm. That was ten or twelve years ago." +</P> + +<P> +Judge Hilliard did not appear to be surprised; in fact, he had expected +some such statement. +</P> + +<P> +"Your confession," said he, speaking to Muldoon, "is all we need to +enable us to take this girl away. Under the circumstances, it will not +be necessary to serve this paper," he continued, taking the order of +court away from Muldoon. "We shall take the girl with us now. +Muldoon, see to it that you don't get into any other trouble. You are +getting off easily. Your carrying off these two young ladies under +false pretence and depositing them against their will in an unknown +place, as you did last night, is very much like abduction, and +abduction is a penitentiary offence." +</P> + +<P> +There being nothing left to do, Judge Hilliard and his party, now +including the rescued Mollie, went aboard the "Greyhound" and steamed +away toward the houseboat. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MADGE'S OPPORTUNITY +</H3> + +<P> +Mollie slipped into her place as a member of the little houseboat +family as quietly as though she had always been a part of it. She was +shy and gentle, and rarely talked. She was more like a timid child +than a woman. She liked to cook, to wash the dishes, to do the things +to which she was accustomed, and to be left alone. At first the +houseboat girls tried to interest her in their amusements, but Miss +Jenny Ann persuaded them that it was wiser to let Mollie become +accustomed to the change in her life in any way she could. Mollie +never spoke of the past, and she seemed worried if any one of the girls +questioned her about it. They did not even know whether she feared the +return of Captain Mike or Bill. The girls hoped that Mollie's lack of +memory had made her quickly forget her unhappy life. +</P> + +<P> +One thing haunted Mollie: it was her fear of strangers. If a visitor +came aboard the houseboat the young girl would disappear and hide in +the cabin until there was no danger of her being noticed. Jack Bolling +and Tom Curtis came calling nearly every day, but neither one of them +had seen anything of Mollie, except her flying skirts as she ran away +to hide from them. They were vaguely aware of her unusual beauty, but +neither of them knew what she actually looked like. +</P> + +<P> +Madge was particularly sorry that Mollie would not see Mrs. Curtis. +The houseboat holiday could only last a short time longer. Mr. and +Mrs. Butler had written that they expected to return from California in +about ten days, and must have Madge and Eleanor back at "Forest House." +Lillian's and Phil's parents were also clamoring for their girls to +spend a part of their summer vacation at home. So the question must +soon arise: What could be done with Mollie when the crew of the "Merry +Maid" disbanded? Madge felt they needed their friend's advice. But +neither Mrs. Curtis nor Miss Jenny Ann thought it best to force Mollie +to see people until she became more used to the atmosphere of affection +about her, and had learned that no one meant to harm or ill treat her. +Once Mrs. Curtis caught a brief glimpse of Mollie, standing framed in +the cabin doorway. The girl had given a frightened stare at her, and +then had fled inside her room. She could not be coaxed out again. +Mrs. Curtis was curious. The one quick look at Mollie seemed oddly to +recall some friend of her youth. It was nothing to think of seriously. +She would know better when she saw the girl another time. +</P> + +<P> +Daily Mrs. Curtis seemed to grow more and more fond of Madge. If Madge +failed to come to see her every day or so, she would send Tom over as a +messenger to bring her little friend back with him to luncheon or to +dinner. She and the little captain used to have long, confidential +talks together, and Mrs. Curtis seemed never to weary of the young +girl's romantic fancies. She used to make Madge tell her of her family +and what she knew of her dead father and mother. At times Madge +wondered idly why Mrs. Curtis was interested in them, and every now and +then she thought Tom's mother wished to ask her an important question. +But Mrs. Curtis always put off the inquiry until another time. +</P> + +<P> +Toward the close of their stay on the "Merry Maid" the girls were +invited to a six o'clock dinner at the Belleview, given in their honor +by Mrs. Curtis and Tom. On the day of the dinner Tom was sent to the +"Merry Maid" to ask Madge to come to his mother an hour earlier than +the others were expected. Miss Jenny Ann had elected to stay at home +with Mollie. Nothing would induce Mollie to attend the party, and Miss +Jenny Ann would not allow any one of the girls to remain on the +houseboat with her. +</P> + +<P> +Tom and Madge went up to the hotel on the street car, since it was +impossible for Tom to row with his lame arm. They found Mrs. Curtis on +a little balcony that opened off her private sitting-room. The piazza +overlooked the waters of the small bay. It was a wonderful summer +afternoon; white clouds were rioting everywhere in the clear, blue sky; +the water was astir with white-masted boats, dipping their sails toward +the waves like the flapping wings of sea gulls. +</P> + +<P> +Madge was looking her prettiest. She had on her best white frock, and +as a mark of her appreciation of Mrs. Curtis wore the string of pearls +about her throat. Without making any noise, she crept out on the +balcony and kissed Mrs. Curtis lightly on the forehead. Then she +dropped into a low, cushioned chair near her friend's side. +</P> + +<P> +"Here I am, dressed for the dinner," she announced happily. "How do +you like me? Tom said you wanted me to come before the other girls, +and that this was perhaps our farewell dinner with you, for you might +be going away in a few days. Dear me, I am sorry. Are you going to +Old Point Comfort for the rest of the summer, or to your own summer +place?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis shook her head. "I don't know, Madge, just where I shall +go," she answered, pushing Madge's curls to one side of her white +forehead. It was the way that Mrs. Curtis liked best to have Madge +wear her hair. "But, wherever we go, can't you go with us?" she +concluded. +</P> + +<P> +Madge sighed. "I'd love to go with you," she sighed, "but I can't. +You see, Nellie and I have to go back to 'Forest House,' to spend the +rest of our holiday with Uncle and Aunt. They would be dreadfully hurt +if I suggested making a visit to you, instead of coming home to them." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I wonder if your uncle and aunt would allow me to make them a +short visit?" questioned Mrs. Curtis gravely. +</P> + +<P> +Madge opened her blue eyes. Why in the world should Mrs. Curtis wish +to go to "Forest House"? But she answered her friend promptly. "Of +course Uncle and Aunt would be most happy to have you, and Nellie and I +would be perfectly delighted." +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you think I am anxious to come, Madge?" +</P> + +<P> +Madge smiled in her sauciest fashion. "To see me, of course," she +replied. "Doesn't that sound conceited?" +</P> + +<P> +But Mrs. Curtis was not smiling. She was looking at Madge so seriously +that the young girl's merry face sobered. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not coming merely to see you, dear. I am coming to ask if I may +take you away with me for always. Haven't you guessed, that I want you +to come to live with me, to be my daughter? Tom and I are lonely. My +husband is dead, and I have no other child now, except Tom. I can't +tell you how much I want a daughter. I have plenty of money, +dear—more than I know what to do with. So we could have wonderful +times together, and do anything we chose to do. Only I would wish you +with me all the time. I couldn't let you wander off with the girls or +go to boarding school. Tom has to be away so much. You haven't any +own father and mother, and you told me that you were poor and would +have to earn your living some day. So I thought perhaps your uncle and +aunt would give you up to me. But, first, I wish to know whether my +plan pleases you." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-214"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-214.jpg" ALT=""I wish you to come and live with me, Madge."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="343" HEIGHT="543"> +<H5> +[Illustration: "I wish you to come and live with me, Madge."] +</H5> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis stopped talking to gaze earnestly at Madge. The girl had +turned so white that her friend was startled. She did not realize what +a surprise her suggestion had been to the little captain. She believed +that Madge must have partly guessed her intention. Miss Jenny Ann and +Phil had understood that some day Mrs. Curtis might make just this +proposal to Madge Morton. But to Madge it was a complete surprise. +She had never for an instant dreamed of such a thing. +</P> + +<P> +In a moment all the young girl's familiar world fell broken at her +feet—the old childhood home in the country, her happy friendships at +school. She saw a new world, like a vision in a fairy tale. It was a +wonderful world, that contained all the marvels of which she had +dreamed—wealth, position, admiration. Yet it was a homesick world, +for it was peopled with few of the friends whom Madge loved, with none +of the familiar places. In spite of the girl's fancies, the actual +every-day life of poverty and hope was too dear to be laid lightly +aside. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis still waited for Madge to speak. +</P> + +<P> +"Uncle and Aunt——" she faltered. "They—would miss me——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I know," returned Mrs. Curtis sympathetically. "Of course, your +own people will find it hard to give you up just at first, and Eleanor +will miss you. But I do not believe your uncle and aunt will stand in +your way if you really wish to come to me." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis concluded in the tone of a woman accustomed to having her +own way. She was puzzled at Madge's indecision. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure you care for me enough to wish me to live with you, Mrs. +Curtis?" asked Madge quietly. "You see, you know only the nicest part +of me, but I have a miserable temper. Nellie and my friends are used +to me. Suppose you should take me away to live with you, and then grow +tired of me?" The girl's clear eyes questioned her new friend gravely. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis smiled and shook her head. "No; I shouldn't grow tired of +you. People may sometimes grow vexed with you, but they are not going +to become tired of you. Now sit quite still. I want you not to speak, +but to think very hard for three minutes and then to tell me whether +you wish to be my adopted daughter. I do not wish to trouble your +uncle and aunt unless you feel sure of yourself." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis took out her watch and laid it in her lap. +</P> + +<P> +She did not look at the watch; she kept her gaze on Madge's face. +</P> + +<P> +The little captain did not speak. She knew her eyes were filled with +tears. She was so young, and it was hard to decide her whole future +life in the space of three minutes. She realized that if Mrs. Curtis +adopted her, she would have to give up her gay, independent existence +among her old friends, the joy of doing for herself and of learning to +overcome obstacles. Then, on the other hand, Mrs. Curtis loved her and +she would give her everything in the world that a young girl could +desire. +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Curtis," declared Madge, when the three minutes had gone by, "I +can't—I can't decide what you ask me now. Please don't think I do not +love you. It is too wonderful for you and Tom to wish me to come to +live with you. But may I have a few days to think things over before I +give you my answer? The thought of leaving Aunt Sue and Uncle William +and Nellie does—does——" Madge could not go on. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, dear," soothed Mrs. Curtis. "It was not fair in me to +take you unawares, and then expect you to make up your mind so soon. +Suppose I give you three days, instead of three minutes, to think +things over. Even then, Madge, we can't be sure that your uncle and +aunt will be willing to let you be my girl instead of theirs." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MOLLIE'S BRAVE FIGHT +</H3> + +<P> +Mollie was sitting alone on the deck of the houseboat. She and Miss +Jenny had just finished an early tea. The girls were still away at +their dinner, and Miss Jenny Ann had gone up to the nearest farmhouse +to get some eggs for breakfast. It was the first time Mollie had ever +been left by herself on the houseboat. But Miss Jenny Ann did not +think there was any possible danger. Neither Captain Mike nor Bill had +made the slightest attempt to get possession of Mollie. Nor did Miss +Jones intend to be out of call for more than fifteen minutes. +</P> + +<P> +Mollie had begun to lose the vague dread that had haunted her all her +life. The peaceful hours of the past ten days seemed more real to her +than the dreary, ugly years of her childhood. She began faintly to +realize what life could mean when one was not afraid. +</P> + +<P> +Mollie's hands, a little roughened from hard work, were folded +peacefully in her lap. Her beautiful head, with its crown of +sun-colored hair, was resting against the cushion of the big steamer +chair. She was on the small upper deck, facing the bow of the boat. A +strolling breeze had blown the hair back from her forehead, and the +ugly scar was visible. But, now that Mollie's head no longer ached +from the hard work she had been forced to endure, the throbbing and the +old pain in this scar had almost gone. The girl was slowly finding +herself. So far she had accepted her new life without a question, +taking what was done for her like a contented child. Now she sat +looking up the bay for the return of her friends. They would not be at +home for several hours, but time meant very little to Mollie, and she +had been lonely since they had gone away. +</P> + +<P> +A skiff came down the bay with a single figure seated in it. +</P> + +<P> +Mollie heard the faint splashing of the oars, but since water sounds +had been familiar to her all her life she did not even turn her head to +see if any one were coming near to the houseboat. +</P> + +<P> +She knew the girls were due from the other direction. +</P> + +<P> +The boat moved slowly in toward the shore. It made almost no sound, +now that it drew nearer the land. With a final dip of the oars and a +strong forward movement the small boat glided well within the shadow of +the stern of the houseboat. There it stopped. +</P> + +<P> +Mollie did not see nor hear it. For some moments the boat rested +quietly in the shallow water, moving only with the faint movement of +the evening tide. The solitary boatman sat without stirring. He +leaned forward, listening intently for any sounds of life aboard the +houseboat. He had espied the deserted figure on the upper deck. +</P> + +<P> +In almost complete silence the man fastened his boat to the houseboat +and in his stocking feet clambered up the side of "The Merry Maid" and +came aboard. He slipped around the deck, crouching on his hands and +knees. He listened at the doors of each room in the cabin. No one was +about except the girl in the steamer chair. The man moved like a cat, +with almost complete noiselessness. He made no effort to onto the +deserted cabin. Nor did he, at first, make any movement that showed +the least interest in Mollie. +</P> + +<P> +At the farther end of the deck, outside the kitchen, the prowler made a +discovery which caused him great satisfaction. He smiled. He picked +it up and shook it furtively. The treasure was a big tin can, nearly +full of kerosene. +</P> + +<P> +Still on his hands and knees, the man tilted the can until the oil ran +in a little stream down the deck and soaked well into the wood. He +then put his hand in his pocket to look for something. +</P> + +<P> +Mollie did not hear him. At least, her ears were not conscious that +they caught a distinct sound. Finally she became conscious of the +presence of some one near her. She got quickly up out of her chair and +leaned over the railing of the top deck. +</P> + +<P> +At this moment the man, with his back toward her, struck a match. +Mollie beheld the crouching figure. She could not tell who the man +was. Was it Bill or her father come to steal her away? The old, +dreadful fear swept over her, with enough of memory to make her realize +what her capture would mean. The girl's first instinct was to hide. +She did not realize how poor a refuge the houseboat offered her. It +seemed to her that, if she could only get into one of the cabin +bedrooms and conceal herself in her berth, she might escape. Poor +Mollie had no better idea to aid her. She came running down the +outside steps and ran toward the cabin door. +</P> + +<P> +The man rose quickly. He did not move toward Mollie. Outside the +cabin kitchen was a big box filled with chips and bits of kindling, +used to light the kitchen stove. The man gathered up a handful of +these pieces of wood and ran back to his old position. He glanced at +Mollie. But it was easy to see that she was trying to get away, not to +hinder him in what he was doing. He picked up the oil can again. This +time he poured the few remaining drops on a little pile of chips and +lit another match. The tinder blazed up. The man fanned the tiny +flames with the brim of a torn hat. The flare of light grew brighter; +a great flame leapt up and then a snake-like curve of fire followed the +oil-soaked wood. +</P> + +<P> +When the man did not move toward Mollie she stopped in the cabin door. +She was afraid of him. She was not like other girls. Ever since she +had been able to know anything she had felt a curious, confused feeling +in her head. She did not know who the man was on the deck of the boat. +But she did know that he was trying to set their houseboat afire. +</P> + +<P> +Mollie paid no further attention to the man. She did not scream at +him, nor try to stop what he was doing. She rushed forward and began +stamping on the pile of blazing sticks. +</P> + +<P> +The man did not attempt to prevent her. He was watching the increasing +length of flame spread over the deck. A second later he sprang up, ran +across the deck, slipped over the side of "The Merry Maid," dropped +into his rowboat, and rowed swiftly out of sight. +</P> + +<P> +Mollie flew for the big bucket of water, which they always kept in a +certain spot. She flung the water on the flames, but water will not +quench the flames made from oil. The rail began to crackle, the sparks +to fly. The "Merry Maid" was afire, with only one, feeble girl to save +it! +</P> + +<P> +Mollie knew that there were steamer blankets in the bedrooms of the +cabin. She often had one to cover her when she took her afternoon +rest. Remember, Mollie had had little education, but she had been +brought up to work and to do practical tasks. It was but the work of a +moment to drag out two blankets and spread them over the flames. The +fire died down for a moment; then it crept through the fringe of the +rugs, and a choking smell of burning wool showed that the blankets also +were beginning to burn. But the brave girl had no intention of giving +up the fight. +</P> + +<P> +There were two other blankets left. Mollie started back to the cabin +for these, when to her terror she discovered that the skirt of her +cotton dress was in names. She tried to beat it out with her hands, +but it crept steadily up toward her head. She cried aloud, but she +could see no one coming to save her. The pain was more intense every +moment. She could not keep still. She ran toward the edge of the +deck. Before her the placid water lay cool and sweet. With a cry of +pain, Mollie threw herself over the side of the houseboat. She did not +realize how shallow the water was. She flung herself with all her +force. Her head struck against the bottom with a heavy thud. At least +the water was cool; the fire no longer burned her. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones and Mr. Brown, who had joined Miss Jenny Ann on her way back +from the farmhouse, heard Mollie's first cry of alarm. The artist had +been coming down to the houseboat to make an evening call. Two +strangers, a man and his wife, were strolling along the top of the +small embankment. They also heard the call. The four of them started +down the hill almost at the same time. Before they reached the +houseboat, the odor of burning wood was borne to their nostrils. Miss +Jenny Ann cried out for Mollie, but Mollie did not answer. Mr. Brown +and the two strangers began beating out the fire on the boat. It had +not spread far; the blankets had covered the flames and kept them from +increasing. The overturned oil can gave the clue to the mystery. Mr. +Brown dashed into the kitchen for a bag of salt, because salt more +quickly puts out the flames from burning oil. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jenny Ann had, so far, been unable to find Mollie. Now she looked +over the side of the boat, and Mollie's body could be plainly seen +lying in the shallow water. Mr. Brown and the stranger together +brought the girl back to the houseboat. She was insensible. In her +plunge into the water she had struck her head with great force against +the bottom of the bay. She was stunned by the shock, and when she +returned to consciousness the pain from the burn and the blow made her +delirious. As she alone could tell what had transpired in that brief +hour, the cause of the fire remained a mystery. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EVIL GENIUS +</H3> + +<P> +"I think I had better go up to the hotel to prepare the girls for what +has happened," suggested Mr. Brown a short time afterward. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jenny Ann seemed surprised at the thought of his leaving her alone +with Mollie, and said so. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; I think I had better go at once," he announced decisively. "The +doctor will be here in a few minutes. I can do nothing for you or for +Mollie, but I can save the girls from the shock of returning to find +their houseboat damaged and their friend so ill." +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jenny Ann agreed quietly. If Mr. Brown thought it best to go, it +did not really matter. "Ask the girls to come home as soon as they +can," she added. "Phil is so clever in cases of illness." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll borrow the 'Water Witch.' I think I can get up to the Belleview +quicker if I go by water than if I wait for the street car to take me +there. The girls will bring the boat home with them." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Brown disappeared from the deck of the boat a few moments later. +He climbed into the "Water Witch" and rowed very swiftly up the bay. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jones had taken it for granted that their houseboat had caught +fire by accident. She had not had time to give much thought to the +matter. But Mr. Brown had other views. He remembered the boy who had +attempted the robbery, and he had other reasons for his suspicions. A +can of oil might very easily have turned over on the deck, but was +there any reason to suppose that a pile of matches would be left lying +at one side of the can? The young artist meant to make a thorough +search for the possible offender. He wished to get out on the water as +soon as he could, because he believed the incendiary had escaped that +way. Mr. Brown and Miss Jenny Ann had been walking down the embankment +at the very time the trespasser must have made his escape. If he had +gone by land, one of them must have caught sight of him. +</P> + +<P> +Theodore Brown was an ex-member of a Yale boat crew. He made the +"Water Witch" skim through the waters, and at the same time he kept a +sharp lookout for a small boat. There were a number of skiffs filled +with young girls and men. But Mr. Brown was looking for a boat with +the single figure of a boy in it. +</P> + +<P> +He went toward the hotel, believing that the boatman would feel more +secure if he were swallowed up in a crowd, than if he were seen in a +more deserted part of the bay. Mr. Brown had almost reached the hotel +pier before he came up to the character of skiff he desired to find. +Then he was embarrassed how to accost the young man in it, as it was +possible for him to see only the oarsman's back. Mr. Brown. came as +close up alongside the stranger's boat as he could. Still he could not +see the man's face. He leaned out of his own boat and called: "I want +to drift along here and smoke. Would you be kind enough to lend me a +match?" +</P> + +<P> +The other oarsman apparently did not hear him. He rowed on faster. +Again Mr. Brown caught up with him. He called, in an even more +friendly fashion, "Haven't you that match?" +</P> + +<P> +The stranger fumbled a minute in his pocket. "Sorry to disoblige you," +he answered. "I haven't a match about me." +</P> + +<P> +Theodore Brown laughed. The two small boats were almost touching each +other. "Sorry to have troubled you," continued Mr. Brown, leaning as +far over the side of his boat as he could. "After all, I find I have +some matches in my own pocket. You had better take a cigar to show you +forgive me for annoying you." +</P> + +<P> +The artist struck a light and held it for a moment full in the other +oarsman's face. It was only a second; the light flickered and went +out. The man in the boat winced as the light shone on his face. "No, +thank you; I don't smoke," he answered politely. With that he shot his +skiff on ahead. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Brown followed behind him. He saw the other man was about to land +at a deserted beach a short distance to the left of the Belleview Hotel +pier. Mr. Brown did not make for the same shore immediately. He +waited until the man was on land and striding out of sight; then the +artist jumped from his own boat and went after the other man. Not many +yards away was the side lawn of the hotel. It was a warm summer night, +and a number of guests were strolling about under the trees. Mr. Brown +put his hand on the arm of the fellow whom he had been following. +</P> + +<P> +The boy leaped forward in an effort to wrench himself away. At this +moment he recognized the artist and knew he had been overtaken. Mr. +Brown kept a firm hold on his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want with me?" demanded the lad, trying to appear at his +ease. "Aren't you the fellow who came alongside of me in the boat?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am," was the curt reply, "and I don't wish to ask a great favor of +you. I simply wish you to come over to the hotel with me to see some +friends of mine. We would like to ask you a few questions. Of course, +if you can answer them satisfactorily, I shall let you go with my best +apologies. I would advise you not to make any resistance here. You +will attract the attention of the people on the lawn." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis and her guests were rather surprised when a hotel boy came +up to her sitting room to say that Mr. Theodore Brown and some one else +would like to speak to Mr. Tom Curtis for a few minutes, if that were +possible. +</P> + +<P> +Tom came back to his mother a little later, his eyes flashing. He +related a part of Mr. Brown's story. +</P> + +<P> +"If you don't mind, Mother, I think we had better have the fellow up +here for the girls to see. I know he is the man who took the sailboat +from Madge and me, and Mr. Brown says he is the fellow who attempted to +rob the houseboat; but whether he has set it afire and nearly been the +death of Mollie, we have no way of finding out. He vows he has not +been near the houseboat since the day he promised never to return. If +we cross-examine him up here, perhaps we can get at the truth." +</P> + +<P> +Eleanor had slipped out of the room to find her coat and hat as soon as +she learned of the accident to Mollie. The other young women were +trembling with sympathy and alarm, but they waited to see the boy +brought upstairs. +</P> + +<P> +The girls were not long in agreeing to the identity of the prisoner as +the evil genius of their past experiences. But there was no way of +proving that he had actually set fire to the houseboat, for he still +absolutely denied all knowledge of it. +</P> + +<P> +Eleanor came back to the sitting-room. "Aren't you ready to leave, +girls?" she demanded. "Miss Jenny Ann and Mollie need us." +</P> + +<P> +Eleanor sniffed the air daintily. "What is that curious odor of +kerosene, Mrs. Curtis?" she inquired curiously. "Do you think any of +the lamps could be leaking?" +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" Mr. Brown ejaculated. "What a chump I am! I have been +conscious of that smell all this time and had not associated it with +the houseboat." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Brown put his nose down to his prisoner's hands. Then he inhaled +the scent of his coat. Tom Curtis followed suit. The odor was +unmistakable. The lad was well smeared with oil. The circumstantial +evidence was strong against the captured boy when Mr. Brown related the +discovery of the overturned can and the spread of the kerosene on the +houseboat deck. +</P> + +<P> +"I am awfully sorry to have made this scene, Mrs. Curtis," apologized +the young artist, "but I knew no other way for us to settle the matter +at once. This young man has done too much mischief to our friends to +be allowed to go free again. But you need not think further of the +experience, I'll take the lad and give him up to the police to-night. +Your son and I will be able to identify him. It will not be necessary +to draw you girls into the business. We can manage without you." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis looked exceedingly uncomfortable. She had been bitterly +angry at the way the lad had served Tom and Madge, and at that time she +would have given a great deal to have had him properly punished. Since +then he had added one evil deed to the other. But the boy, who was +being led away to prison, seemed so young, not much older than Tom. He +was wild and reckless in his appearance, yet he had the aspect of +having been born of gentle people. +</P> + +<P> +The youth had not spoken since the discovery of the oil on his hands +and clothes. Now, as he was being led from the sitting room, he turned +on his cross-questioners and shook with swift laughter. He threw back +his head, so that his long, dark hair uncovered his ears. His eyes +gleamed. +</P> + +<P> +Madge, who was staring hard at the boy from her position on the far +side of the room, gave an unexpected movement of surprise. She waited +for the young prisoner to speak. +</P> + +<P> +"You needn't trouble your girls to appear against me," he said +savagely, "but you will have to introduce their chaperon in court, and +a pretty thing it will be for a sister to appear as a witness against +her own brother!" +</P> + +<P> +A frozen silence fell on the group of listeners. Phil shook her head +emphatically. "You are not our Miss Jenny Ann's brother," she retorted +decidedly. "It would be perfectly impossible for her to have a wicked +brother like you." +</P> + +<P> +Theodore Brown's face flushed and paled. He would have liked to drag +the lad out of the room without waiting another instant. Yet he feared +to make the scene even worse. He did not have the slightest faith in +the lad's statement; he was only fiercely angry at the boy's impudence +and wondered if the fellow even knew the name of the chaperon of the +"Merry Maid." +</P> + +<P> +Lillian and Eleanor were flushed with indignation. Tom Curtis was +equally so. But Mrs. Curtis happened to catch a glimpse of Madge's +face. Her expression was a puzzle. She ran forward and touched Mr. +Brown on the sleeve. "Wait a minute, Mr. Brown," she pleaded. "Don't +take the boy to jail yet. What he says may be true. Don't you think +we ought to ask him some questions first?" +</P> + +<P> +The entire company stared at Madge in amazement. But in the single +moment when Mr. Brown's captive started to leave the room, the little +captain had seen the tips of his pointed ears. She had caught the +wild, almost animal gleam in his eyes. She recalled the midnight +visitor to their chaperon on the first night their houseboat had rested +at anchor. She remembered Miss Jenny Ann's curious behavior, and how +she had absolutely refused to give the name of her caller. All this +swept through Madge's mind and now she understood Miss Jenny Ann's +poverty, her reticence about her own affairs, her unhappiness when the +girls first knew her at school. Of course, this wicked brother was the +cause of their chaperon's difficulties. If they punished the boy, Miss +Jenny Ann must suffer more than he would. She had lately grown to be +as merry as any of the girls on board the "Merry Maid." +</P> + +<P> +"O Mrs. Curtis!" exclaimed Madge, "please don't let Tom and Mr. Brown +take him off to jail. I think he <I>is</I> our Miss Jenny Ann's brother. I +wouldn't have her find out the wicked things he has done for all the +money in the world." Madge was almost in tears as she made her plea to +Mrs. Curtis. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, dear," replied Mrs. Curtis soothingly. "If the lad really +turns out to be your chaperon's brother, you are right; his behavior +must be kept a secret from her." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis, Mr. Brown and Tom afterward found the statement of the +wild boy to be true. He was really Miss Jones's brother. His parents +had died when he was a little boy, and his sister had sacrificed her +life's hopes to him. Yet her efforts had been in vain. He had always +been hard to control. In the last few years he had broken away from +all restraint. He had been concealed in the motor boat that first +towed the girls and their chaperon to their anchorage and had seen his +sister on the houseboat. His plan had been to get money from her. +When she told him that she had none to give him he had devoted his time +to tormenting the crew of the "Merry Maid" in order to be revenged on +his sister. +</P> + +<P> +After long consultation it was decided not to send him to prison. Mrs. +Curtis gave him the money to sail for South Africa, after making him +promise to try to turn over a new leaf, and not to write to his sister +until he was safely out of the country. And so Miss Jenny Ann's ghost +was laid without her knowing it until some time afterward. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +"MOTHER" +</H3> + +<P> +Not one of the four girls closed her eyes during the long night +following the dinner given by Mrs. Curtis. Miss Jenny Ann sat by +Mollie until toward morning, when Eleanor and Lillian relieved her. +Madge and Phil walked up and down the deck in order to be ready if they +were called. But as the long night wore on, Mollie exhibited no sign +of returning consciousness. +</P> + +<P> +After an early breakfast the next morning Miss Jones went back to her +charge, and the girls lingered in the cabin sitting room talking +together in low tones. +</P> + +<P> +Madge kept her arms about Eleanor. Every now and then she would lean +over to kiss her cousin. +</P> + +<P> +Nellie laughed softly. "What's the matter, Madge? Why are you so +affectionate with me all of a sudden? Does it make you care more for +me because poor, lovely Mollie is so ill, and because it might just as +easily have been me, or Phil, or Lillian?" +</P> + +<P> +Madge nodded. "Perhaps that is the reason." +</P> + +<P> +Neither Lillian nor Eleanor even faintly dreamed that their friend had +anything on her mind to worry her, except the critical condition poor +Mollie was in; but Phil knew differently. She had long suspected what +Mrs. Curtis's preference for Madge meant. Phyllis and Miss Jenny Ann +had even discussed the possibility of their captain leaving them. +However, Phil had never broached the subject to Madge. She Phil +couldn't, she wouldn't think of it. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis and Tom arrived at the houseboat just as Madge and Phil +were about to relieve Miss Jenny Ann's second watch. The physician had +said that he expected Mollie to regain consciousness some time during +the morning, and that she must not be left alone for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Curtis, slip into the room to see Mollie," whispered Madge. +"Phil and I must go to her now. She is unconscious, so your presence +could not frighten her. I want you to see how beautiful she is. She +is really the prettiest person I ever saw, except you," Madge declared, +as she threw a kiss to her friend and hurried after Phil into the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jenny Ann went into the sitting-room to lie down. Eleanor and +Lillian went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. +</P> + +<P> +Madge and Phil sat side by side at Mollie's berth. Madge's eyes were +fixed on Mollie's unconscious face, but Phil looked often at her chum. +Phyllis cared very little for wealth and position, for fine clothes and +servants, but she knew these things were very dear to her friend. Yet, +in a vague way, she realized that Madge would be likely to grow into a +finer, sweeter woman without them. Phyllis understood their little +captain. She knew that Madge was full of fine impulses, was brave and +loyal in the midst of difficulties; but she also knew that she was +easily spoiled and that too much money and admiration would not be good +for her. +</P> + +<P> +"Phil," asked Madge, "isn't Mollie stirring? Is there anything we +ought to do for her?" +</P> + +<P> +Phil bent over to gaze more attentively at their patient. She studied +every curve and line in the girl's exquisite face. Now that Mollie's +eyes were closed, and the vacant, pathetic stare was no more visible in +them, her beauty was the more remarkable. Something in Mollie's quiet +features seemed to surprise Phyllis, but she said nothing. +</P> + +<P> +"We can't do anything but wait," answered Phil. "The doctor said that +quiet is all Mollie needs. She is sure to come to herself some time +to-day." +</P> + +<P> +Phil slid her chair up close beside her chum's and kissed her friend on +the cheek. It was an unusual demonstration for the reserved Phyllis. +Madge stared at her. Then she turned a little pale. "You know what +has happened to me, don't you?" she whispered. "I am sure you must +know." +</P> + +<P> +Phil bowed her head. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't you help me decide?" begged Madge. +</P> + +<P> +"No." Phil shook her head sadly. "You'll have to make up your mind +for yourself." +</P> + +<P> +The two girls sat in silence after this. They heard Mrs. Curtis come +softly into the room and take a low chair in the far corner of the +cabin, so as not to disturb Mollie if the girl should awake. She could +just see the bed, but not the face of the girl on the pillow. +</P> + +<P> +By and by Mollie stirred. "I am thirsty," she said distinctly. "Will +some one please get me a glass of water?" +</P> + +<P> +Phil rose quickly. "Here it is, Mollie," she answered, handing the +girl the water, and trying to lift her with the other arm. Madge +stooped over to aid her. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," responded Mollie gently. "But why do you call me Mollie? +My name isn't Mollie." +</P> + +<P> +"We never liked to call you 'Moll'," replied Madge soothingly. "Mollie +seemed to us to be a prettier name." +</P> + +<P> +The girl laughed lightly. "No, I shouldn't think you would. My name +is Madeleine, not Mollie. And you are Phyllis and Madge. I wonder why +I never told you before that my name is Madeleine." Mollie's eyes had +lost their pathetic stare. They were quiet and reasonable. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't try to talk, Mollie—Madeleine, I mean," murmured Phil. "You +must try to go to sleep again." +</P> + +<P> +She and Madge never changed their positions until the ill girl's head +grew heavy on their arms and she slept peacefully. +</P> + +<P> +"O Phil!" Madge faltered, "you don't think Mollie is going to——" +</P> + +<P> +"Sh-sh!" returned Phyllis warningly. "Don't show her you are surprised +at anything she says." +</P> + +<P> +Madge clenched her hands to keep them from trembling, but she could +feel her knees shaking under her. +</P> + +<P> +The patient opened her eyes again. "I fell off the yacht, didn't I?" +she inquired. "It's funny, but I couldn't think what had happened to +me for a long time. I was trying to remember all night. It was such a +long night. I kept seeing dreadful, rude men, who were cruel to me. I +must have been dreaming. Where is my mother? Why doesn't she come to +me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your mother!" exclaimed Madge. A glance from Phil silenced her. +</P> + +<P> +"Your mother can't come to you now, she is——" Phyllis faltered. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind," the gentle girl spoke faintly. "Mother may be resting. +She must have been dreadfully frightened when she learned I had tumbled +overboard. I think something fell and struck me on the head." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't talk any more, please, dear," entreated Phyllis. "You can tell +us all about what happened when you have rested a little longer. You +are very tired." +</P> + +<P> +The sick girl dozed again. Phyllis and Madge slipped their aching arms +out from under their patient's pillow. +</P> + +<P> +"Mollie's memory has come back to her, hasn't it?" Madge breathed in +her chum's ear. "I wonder if it will go away again, or if she will +remember more about herself when she is stronger?" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe her memory has returned," Phil answered softly. "It is a +miracle. We must be very careful. Any excitement or surprise might +kill her. I wish the doctor were here." +</P> + +<P> +Some one stole across the room without a sound. The girls knew it must +be Mrs. Curtis. Neither one of them stirred nor for the instant +glanced at their friend; they were too intent on their patient. But +they were grateful for her presence. She had heard Mollie's peculiar +remarks. She would know what they ought to do when Mollie began to +talk again. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis came so close to the sick girl's bed that Madge and Phil +stepped back to let her have the nearest place. She leaned over and +looked at Mollie as though she would never grow tired of gazing at her. +Once her lips moved, but it was impossible to tell what she said. Then +Mrs. Curtis's strength seemed to give way. She dropped on her knees, +with her arms resting on the edge of Mollie's bed. +</P> + +<P> +Ten minutes passed. No one moved or spoke in the tiny cabin chamber. +Mollie slept peacefully. Mrs. Curtis did not stir. She was like a +figure carved in stone. She was waiting for something to happen. Was +it for the girl on the bed to speak again? +</P> + +<P> +Madge and Phil scarcely dared to breathe. They did not understand the +situation, but they felt themselves to be in the presence of a mystery. +A drama was being enacted in the tiny room, and they were the only +audience to it. +</P> + +<P> +"Mother, where are you?" Mollie's voice sounded clear and strong. +</P> + +<P> +"I am here," Mrs. Curtis replied softly, not stirring from her position +by the bed. +</P> + +<P> +"Why hasn't Tom been here to see me? And why are Phyllis and Madge so +good to me? I don't understand." +</P> + +<P> +Mollie turned restlessly on her pillow. Her hair fell away from her +forehead and revealed the jagged, ugly scar. Mrs. Curtis saw it. For +the first time she gave an involuntary shudder of emotion. Mollie put +up her hand to her head with the old, familiar gesture of pain. +</P> + +<P> +"My head hurts," she announced, as though she had not known of her +injury before. "Have I been sick a long time? Somehow, you look so +different." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis nodded. "Yes, daughter, you have been ill a long, long +time. But you will be well and happy when you wake up again. You are +with Mother now." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis gathered Mollie into her arms and the two girls stole out +of the tiny cabin, closing the door behind them. The mother and +daughter were alone. +</P> + +<P> +"What has happened to you, Madge Morton? Why do you girls look so +strangely at me?" demanded Tom Curtis as he caught sight of Madge's +face. He was leaning against the deck rail staring curiously at his +friends. "Is Mollie worse?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no; she is not worse. She is well. That is, she can remember. +She is—— Oh, I don't know what I am saying," cried Madge in +confusion. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jenny Ann came out of the sitting room. Lillian and Eleanor also +joined the little group on deck. Still Madge was silent. +</P> + +<P> +"Ought I to tell?" she faltered, looking at Phyllis. "Don't you think +Mrs. Curtis ought to tell Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you have bad news for me speak quickly!" returned Tom. "I would +rather hear it from you than anybody in the world. You are almost like +a sister to me, Madge." +</P> + +<P> +The little captain went forward and put her hand gently on Tom's arm. +"You won't need me for a sister now, Tom," she said gently. "Phil and +I do not understand what has happened. Your mother will have to +explain to you. But our Mollie is not Mollie at all. Her name is +Madeleine. Her memory has come back to her. She thinks your mother is +her mother. And Mrs. Curtis called her daughter!" +</P> + +<P> +The cabin door opened. Mrs. Curtis walked out, moving like a woman in +a dream. "Don't speak loudly," she said. "Madeleine has gone to +sleep." She crossed over to Tom. "Tom," she explained quietly, "the +girls have found your sister after twelve years; my baby is a young +woman." +</P> + +<P> +Tom put his arm about his mother. Mrs. Curtis spoke rapidly now, as +though she feared her voice would fail her. "Miss Jones, years ago my +little daughter, who was ten years old, fell from our steam yacht. She +had been left alone by her nurse for a few minutes. When the woman +came back the child was not to be found. No one saw or heard her fall +overboard. The boat was searched, but Madeleine had disappeared. We +were off the coast of Florida. For months and months we searched for +my daughter's body. We offered everything we had in the world for news +of her. No word came. I used to think she would come back to me. +Long ago I gave up hope. Now, when I saw this poor Mollie, I thought I +recognized my child, and when she opened her eyes her memory returned +to her. She knew I was her mother, in spite of my white hair. I think +it is because she now remembers nothing of her unhappy past. She +thinks she was hurt only a short time ago. She must not learn the +truth until she is stronger. Will you keep me here with you until I +can take my daughter home?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis staggered slightly and grew very white. It was Madge who +sprang to her side and led her to a chair. "You have found what you +want most in the world," she whispered, "I am so glad for your sake." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FAREWELL TO THE MERRY MAID +</H3> + +<P> +"Miss Jenny Ann, I can't get all these things packed in this barrel," +protested Madge despairingly. "I don't see how they ever got in here +before." +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jenny Ann laughed from the depths of a large box, where she was +folding sheets and placing them in neat piles. "Remember, we have +added a number of tin pans to our store since we came aboard the +houseboat. But don't worry, dear. We will get all the belongings +packed in time." +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it too awful that the houseboat has to be left to its poor dear +self for the rest of the summer? Just think, we have had over six +weeks' holiday, and, if it weren't for Madeleine, it would seem like +six days." +</P> + +<P> +"I have something to tell you, Madge," announced Miss Jenny Ann, +raising a flushed face from her task. "Do you remember when you came +into the library, at school, and found me crying over a letter? I told +you that I was frightened at what my doctor had written me. I have a +different story to tell now. I am well as well can be. I have gained +ten pounds in six weeks; that is a record, isn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am so glad," bubbled Madge. "You've been the jolliest kind of a +chaperon, dear Miss Jenny Ann, and we love you. You know I am sorry I +used to be so disagreeable to you at school, and you do like me now, +don't you?" +</P> + +<P> +Miss Jenny Ann and Madge desisted from their labors long enough to +embrace each other. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, here, what is all this love-feast about?" demanded Tom Curtis +cheerfully. He had come quietly aboard the houseboat, and was standing +at the cabin door, smiling cheerfully at the little captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Go away, Tom," returned Madge reproachfully. "I told you we couldn't +have any company to-day. I said good-bye to you last night. We are +getting things in shape to leave the houseboat. A man who has a +boat-house is going to take care of the 'Merry Maid' for us until we +come into another fortune and have another holiday." +</P> + +<P> +"What time does your train leave?" inquired Tom coolly, picking up a +hammer and preparing to fasten the top on Madge's barrel. +</P> + +<P> +"At four o'clock," sighed Madge. "We are going to Baltimore together, +and start home from there." +</P> + +<P> +"It is all right, then," answered Tom Curtis placidly. "I have plenty +time to stay to luncheon." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell him he can't, Miss Jenny Ann Jones," declared Madge inhospitably, +"we haven't a thing to eat except some crackers and stale bread, and a +few odd pieces of cold meat. And I am so dreadfully hungry that I can +eat them all myself." +</P> + +<P> +"I am going to stay just the same," asserted Tom. "I am going to be +the busiest little worker on the 'Merry Maid'." +</P> + +<P> +The houseboat party would never have finished its packing except for +their uninvited visitor. He sat on trunks, fastened locks and doors. +At one o'clock "The Merry Maid" was in order to be deserted. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go up to the farmhouse to get some food," suggested Tom. "I am +hungry as a bear, and I know they will give us some milk and bread." +</P> + +<P> +Madge demurred, but the other three girls and Miss Jenny Ann were much +too hungry to stand on ceremony. +</P> + +<P> +Tom led the way to the farmhouse as though he felt sure of his welcome. +</P> + +<P> +At the old gate, however, they found Mrs. Curtis and Madeleine +apparently waiting for them. "We couldn't bear that yesterday should +be good-bye," explained Mrs. Curtis, putting her arm about Madge and +drawing her away from the others. +</P> + +<P> +Madeleine held out her hands to Phyllis. She still looked white and +fragile from her illness, but she was so exquisitely lovely that people +turned about to gaze at her as she passed by them. Her face wore the +expression of a serious child. She could not immediately make up for +the lost years of her life, and she never left her mother or her +brother but for a short time. Still she was at ease with the girls and +talked a little with them. Her memory had come back to her, whether +from the second blow on her head, or from the quiet life—which, the +medical men could not say. After a while Madeleine would be able to +take the place in the gay world which her beauty and wealth made for +her. For the present she needed rest, quiet, and absolute peace of +mind. +</P> + +<P> +"You haven't changed your mind, have you, Madge?" asked Mrs. Curtis, as +she and the little captain walked side by side to the farmhouse +together. +</P> + +<P> +Madge shook her bead. "It isn't a case of changing my mind. I had not +decided. Now that you have found your real daughter you surely do not +wish to be burdened with an imitation one." +</P> + +<P> +"But I still want you, my dear. A woman is richer with two daughters +than with one," replied Mrs. Curtis. +</P> + +<P> +"No; you and Madeleine ought to be together," concluded Madge wisely. +"You are awfully good, and I shall always feel that you are the best +friend I have. But I had not been able to make up my mind to leave my +own people and the girls, so, of course, everything has turned out for +the best, and I am so happy for you and Tom and Madeleine. It is as +good as playing a part in a fairy story to see one come true before +your very eyes. Have you seen Captain Mike?" Madge lowered her voice, +so that Madeleine could not overhear her. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis flushed. "Once, and for always. I hope never to look upon +the dreadful man again. Tom felt that he and I must go to this Mike to +ask him something of my little girl's history. He claims to have +picked her up and, thinking her dead, left her for a few hours +unnoticed in his sailboat. The man had done something reprehensible +while in Florida, and was sailing for the Atlantic Ocean to flee from +justice, so he did not stop to inquire about my child, or to give her +more than a passing thought. His first wife was evidently a better +woman than this second one. She worked with my Madeleine, brought her +back to life and must have been good to her. But my baby could never +remember her name, nor tell anything about herself. Captain Mike was +on the ocean for two weeks, and too ignorant to study the papers +afterward. The first wife wished to keep the child. After a short +time she died, and then——" Mrs. Curtis stopped abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"We won't ever mention it again," said Madge tactfully. "I can only +say I am so glad you found her." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Watson, the farmer's wife, met the houseboat party with a smiling +face. She conducted them into the dining room. Miss Jenny Ann and the +four girls sighed with satisfaction for they were very hungry. The +great mahogany table was weighted down with food—roast chicken, ham, +salad, doughnuts. +</P> + +<P> +"This is Tom's party," smiled Mrs. Curtis, in answer to a look of +delighted astonishment from Madge. "It was his idea to say a last +good-bye to our houseboat friends, and to see them safely started on +their journey toward home. But, Miss Jenny Ann, I have something to +say. I wish to tell you a story and I wish you to tell me what you +think without any reference to anybody or anything at this table." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I will," answered Miss Jenny Ann lightly, not dreaming what +Mrs. Curtis intended to say. +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose, once upon a time you had lost something very precious," +continued Mrs. Curtis. "Say it was a mine of precious stones. Suppose +you had hunted for years but could never find it. After a while some +friends discover the treasure for you, and give it back to you? Don't +you believe you would like to do something to show your gratitude?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly I should," replied Miss Jenny Ann promptly, falling into the +trap. +</P> + +<P> +"Then why not let me have a houseboat party this fall?" proposed Mrs. +Curtis. "Madeleine and I will be staying near Old Point Comfort. Tom +will be camping with some boy friends near Cape Charles. I am going to +count on your bringing the houseboat down the shore to pay us a visit +and you are to be my guests from the moment you set foot on the boat." +</P> + +<P> +The four chums looked at Mrs. Curtis, their eyes shining with delight. +Another holiday on their beloved houseboat! But ought they accept so +great a gift from Mrs. Curtis. They understood that it was her +intention to finance the trip. +</P> + +<P> +Tom looked at his watch. "It's a pity to break up the party. But as +we are to drive to the village we must soon be off. The expressman has +already taken the trunks. You'd better accept mother's invitation." +</P> + +<P> +"We thank you," said Madge slowly, "but will you give us a few days in +which to decide? Then we will write you at Old Point Comfort." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," replied Mrs. Curtis, "but let us hope that your answer +will be 'yes.' I wish you would look upon the trip as a love offering +from Madeleine." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Curtis looked wistfully at the circle of girlish faces. Her eyes, +mute with pleading, met Madge's. They seemed to say, "Why not decide +now, and make us happy?" +</P> + +<P> +Their appeal was too strong for Madge. "Girls, I think we ought to +accept Mrs. Curtis's gift to us. It is right and she wishes us to do +so. Of what use is it to wait three days. Let us say 'yes' now and +then we shall all he happy. All together! Is it 'yes'?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Yes,'" chorused four voices. +</P> + +<P> +Madge turned to Mrs. Curtis. "We must say good-bye this minute, but +we'll write you, and one of these days you'll find our 'Ship of Dreams' +anchored on your beach." +</P> + +<P> +How Madge kept her promise and what happened during their visit to Old +Point Comfort is fully set forth in "MADGE MORTON'S SECRET," a story no +wide-awake girl can afford to miss. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE END. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid +by Amy D. V. 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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, Captain of the Merry Maid + +Author: Amy D. V. Chalmers + +Release Date: July 9, 2005 [EBook #16253] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADGE MORTON *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Their houseboat vacation had begun.] + + + + + + +Madge Morton, + +Captain of the Merry Maid + + + +By + +AMY D. V. CHALMERS + + + +Author of Madge Morton's Secret, Madge Morton's Trust, Madge Morton's +Victory. + + + + + + +PHILADELPHIA + +HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY HOWARD E. ALTEMUS + + + + + + +PRINTED IN THE + +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER. + + I. MADGE MORTON'S PLAN + II. CHOOSING A CHAPERON + III. THE SEARCH FOR A HOUSEBOAT + IV. THE FAIRY'S WAND + V. ALL ABOARD + VI. PLEASURE BAY + VII. THE UNKNOWN JAILER + VIII. AN ANXIOUS NIGHT + IX. THE GIRL ON THE ISLAND + X. AN EXCITING RACE + XI. AT THE MERCY OF THE WAVES + XII. A BRAVE FIGHT + XIII. LIFE OR DEATH? + XIV. MADGE COMES INTO HER OWN AGAIN + XV. A CALL FOR HELP + XVI. THE ATTEMPTED RESCUE + XVII. THE CAPTURE + XVIII. ON A STRANGE SHORE + XIX. FINDING A WAY TO HELP MOLLIE + XX. MADGE'S OPPORTUNITY + XXI. MOLLIE'S BRAVE FIGHT + XXII. THE EVIL GENIUS + XXIII. "MOTHER" + XXIV. FAREWELL TO THE "MERRY MAID" + + + + +List of Illustrations + +Their houseboat vacation had begun . . . Frontispiece. + +Madge and Tom went gayly down to the boat. + +The girls ran down to the water's edge. + +"I wish you to come and live with me, Madge." + + + + +Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid + + +CHAPTER I + +MADGE MORTON'S PLAN + +"I never can bear it!" cried Madge Morton excitedly, throwing herself +down on her bed in one of the dormitories of Miss Tolliver's Select +School for Girls. "It is not half so bad for Eleanor. She, at least, +is going to spend her holiday with people she likes. But for Uncle +William and Aunt Sue to leave for California just as school closes, and +to send me off to a horrid old maid cousin for half my vacation, is +just too awful! If I weren't nearly seventeen years old, I'd cry my +eyes out." + +Madge was alone in her bedroom, which she shared with her cousin, +Eleanor Butler. The two girls lived on an old estate in Virginia, but +for the two preceding terms they had been attending a college +preparatory school at Harborpoint, not far from the city of Baltimore. + +Madge had never known her own parents. She had been reared by her +Uncle William and Aunt Sue Butler and she dearly loved her old southern +home. But just when she and Eleanor were planning a thousand pleasures +for their three months' vacation a letter had arrived from Mr. and Mrs. +Butler announcing that they were leaving their estate for six weeks, as +they were compelled to go west on important business. Eleanor was to +be sent to visit a family of cousins near Charlottesville, Virginia, +and Madge was to stay with a rich old maiden cousin of her father. +Cousin Louisa did not like Madge. She felt a sense of duty toward her, +and a sense of duty seldom inspires any real affection in return. So +Madge looked back on the visits she had made to this cousin with a +feeling of horror. Inspired by her Aunt Sue, Madge had always tried to +be on her best behavior while she was the guest of Cousin Louisa. But +since propriety was not Madge Morton's strong point she had succeeded +only in being perfectly miserable and in offending her wealthy cousin +by her unconventional ways. + +Madge had a letter from this cousin in her hand while she gave herself +up to the luxury of despair. She had not yet read the letter, but she +knew exactly what it would say. It would contain a formal invitation +from Cousin Louisa, asking Madge to pay her the necessary visit. It +would suggest at the same time that Madge mend her ways; and it would +doubtless recall the unfortunate occasion when Mistress Madge had set +fire to the bedclothes by her wicked habit of reading in bed. + +It was the study hour at Miss Tolliver's school, and all of the girls +except Madge were hard at work. Eleanor had slipped across the hall to +the room of their two chums to consult them about a problem in algebra. +Madge at that moment was far too miserable to be approached in regard +to a lesson, though at other times she would have done anything for +Eleanor. + +Finally Madge raised herself to a sitting posture. It struck her as +rather absurd to have collapsed so entirely, simply because she was not +to spend the first part of her summer as she chose. She knew, too, +that it was high time she fell to preparing her lessons. + +With a little shiver she opened Cousin Louisa's letter. Suddenly her +eyes flashed, the color glowed in her cheeks, and Madge dropped the +note to the floor with a glad cry and ran out of the room. + +On the door of her chums' room was a sign, printed in large letters, +which was usually observed by the school girls. The sign read: +"Studying; No Admittance." But to-day Madge paid no attention to it. +She flung open the door and rushed in upon her three friends. + +"Eleanor, Phyllis, Lillian," she protested, "stop studying this very +minute!" She seized Eleanor's paper and pencil and closed Lillian +Seldon's ancient history with a bang. Phyllis Alden had just time to +grasp her own notebook firmly with both hands before she exclaimed: +"Madge Morton, whatever has happened to you? Have you gone entirely +crazy?" + +Madge laughed. "Almost!" she replied. "But just listen to me, and you +will be nearly as crazy as I am." + +Madge had dark, auburn hair, which was curly and short, like a boy's. +To her deep regret her long braids had been cut off several years +before, when she was recovering from an attack of typhoid fever, and +now her hair was just long enough to tuck into a small knot on top of +her head. But when Madge was excited, which was a frequent occurrence, +this knot would break loose, and her curls would fly about, like the +hair of one of Raphael's cherubs. Madge had large, blue eyes, with +long, dark lashes, and a short, straight nose, with just the tiniest +tilt at the end of it. Although she was not vain, she was secretly +proud of her row of even, white teeth. + +Phyllis Alden was the daughter of a physician with a large family, who +lived in Hartford, Connecticut. Phil was not as pretty as her three +friends, and no one knew it better than Phyllis. She was small and +dark, with irregular features. But she had large, black eyes, and a +smile that illuminated her clever face. Put to the vote, Phyllis Alden +had been declared to be the most popular girl in Miss Tolliver's +school, and Phyllis and Madge were friendly rivals in athletics. + +Lillian Seldon was perhaps the prettiest of the four boarding school +chums, if one preferred regular features to vivacity and charm. +Lillian was of Madge's age, a tall, slender, blonde girl, with two long +plaits of sunny, light hair, a fair, delicate skin and blue eyes. She +was the daughter of a Philadelphia lawyer and an only child. A number +of her school companions thought her cold and proud, but her chums knew +that when Lillian really cared for any one she was the most loyal +friend in the world. Eleanor, who was the youngest of the four school +friends, looked like the little, southern girl that she was. She had +light brown hair and hazel eyes, and charming manners which made +friends for her wherever she went. + +The three girls now waited with their eyes fixed inquiringly on the +fourth. They were not very much excited; they knew Madge only too +well. She was either in the seventh heaven of bliss, or else in the +depths of despair. Yet this time it did look as though Madge had more +reason than usual for her excitement. Eleanor wondered how she could +have changed so quickly from her recent disconsolate mood. + +"What has happened to you, Madge?" Lillian inquired. "Eleanor said you +were upset because you are obliged to spend the first of your vacation +with your hateful Cousin Louisa." + +"Hateful? Did I ever dare to say that my Cousin Louisa was hateful? +She is one of the loveliest women in this world! Just think! Cousin +Louisa has written to say that she can't have me, or rather won't have +me, visit her. She is going to shut up her house, and is going to sail +for Europe. I know it is just to escape my odious presence." + +"Why, Madge, what will you do?" Eleanor asked. "You've nowhere else to +go." You know how you hate those awful children at Charlottesville." + +"Wait, Eleanor Butler--wait!" Madge cried dramatically. "You do not +know what has happened, nor why I now truly love and adore the same +Cousin Louisa whom I once thought I disliked. Just look here." Madge +waved a small strip of paper in the air. "Cousin Louisa has sent me a +check for two hundred dollars! She says I am to spend the money on my +summer vacation in any way I like, provided Aunt Sue and Uncle William +approve." + +"But you can't go off traveling by yourself," objected Eleanor. "I +should think you would hate to spend your summer alone." + +"Alone!" Madge answered indignantly. "Who said I meant to spend my +vacation alone? I want you three girls to spend the six weeks with me. +Only last night Eleanor and I said that we four girls could never be +really happy anywhere without one another." + +"Generous Madge," smiled Lillian affectionately. "Two hundred dollars +seems quite a fortune. Perhaps you ought not to spend it all. Where +can we go, and what can we do?" + +"Young ladies," a stern voice spoke just outside the door, "kindly +remember this is the study hour. You are expected to keep silence." + +An unusual stillness fell on the four offenders. Only Madge's blue +eyes flashed rebelliously. "It's that tiresome Miss Jones. You might +know she would be somewhere about. She is the crossest teacher in this +school." + +"Sh-sh, Madge," Eleanor lowered her voice, "Miss Jones might hear you. +She is ill, I am sure. That is what makes her so cross. Phil and I +are both sorry for her." + +"Oh, you and Phil are sorry for everybody. That's nothing! Thank +goodness, there is the bell! It is the recreation hour. Come, my +beloved chums, I simply must think of some way to spend our vacation +and I never can think indoors. 'It is the merry month of May,'" +caroled Madge. "Come, Phil, let us go down to the water and take Nell +and Lillian rowing. It is a dream of an afternoon, all soft and +sunshiny, and the river folk are calling us, the frogs, and the water +rats----" + +"Dear me, Madge," teased Phil, "do hush. We are glad enough to go +rowing without an invitation from the frogs. We have two hours before +supper time. Shall we ask poor Miss Jones to go with us? She does not +have much fun, and you know it is her duty to make us keep the rules. +Miss Jones admires you very much, Madge. She said you were clever +enough to do anything you liked, if you would only try. But she knows +you don't like her." + +"Then she knows the truth," returned naughty Madge. "No, Phil, please +don't ask Miss Jones to come out with us this afternoon, there's a +dear. I told you I wanted to think. And I can think brilliantly only +when in the company of my beloved chums." + +Phyllis Alden and Madge Morton were good oarsmen. Indeed, they were +almost as much at home on the water as they were on land. Each girl +wore a tiny silver oar pinned to her dress. Only the week before Madge +had won the annual spring rowing contest; for Miss Tolliver made a +special point of athletics in her school, and fortunately the school +grounds ran down to the bank of a small river. + +Phil and Madge rowed out into the middle of the river with long, +regular strokes. They were in their own little, green boat, called the +"Water Witch." Lillian sat in the stern, trailing her white hands idly +in the water. Eleanor sat quietly looking out over the fields. + +Suddenly Madge, who always did the most unexpected things in the world, +locked her oars across the boat and sat up in her seat with a jerk that +rocked the little craft. + +"Girls, I have thought it all out!" she exclaimed. "I have the most +glorious, the most splendid plan you ever heard of in the world! Just +wait until you hear it!" + +"Madge," Phil called in horror, "do sit down!" The boat was careening +perilously. Before Phil could finish her speech Madge had tumbled over +the side of the skiff and disappeared in the water below. + +The girls waited for their friend to rise to the surface. They were +not frightened, for Madge was an expert swimmer. + +"I am surprised at Madge," declared Phil severely. "The idea of +plunging into the water in that fashion, not to mention almost +capsizing our boat! Why doesn't she come up?" + +The second lengthened to a minute. Still Madge's curly head did not +appear on the surface of the water. Eleanor's face turned white. +Madge had on her rowing costume, a short skirt and a sailor blouse. +She could easily swim in such a suit. But perhaps she had been seized +with a cramp, or her head might have struck against a rock at the +bottom of the river! + +Lillian and Phil shared Eleanor's anxiety. "Sit still, girls," said +Phyllis. "I must dive and see what has happened to Madge. If you are +quiet, I can dive out of the boat without upsetting it." + +Phil slipped out of her sweater. But Eleanor caught at her skirts from +behind. "Sit down, Phil. Here comes that wretched Madge, swimming +toward us from over there. She purposely stayed under water." + +The three friends looked in the direction, indicated by Phyllis. They +saw Madge moving toward the boat as calmly as though she had been in +her bathing suit and had dived off the skiff for pure pleasure. She +had been swimming under the water for a little distance and had risen +at a spot at which her friends were not looking. As she lifted her +head clear of the water a ray of the afternoon sunlight slanted across +her face, touching its mischievous curves, until she looked like a +naughty water-sprite. + +In an instant Madge's hands were alongside the boat, and Phil pulled +her into it. "I am so sorry, girls," she explained, shaking the water. +out of her hair; "but I had such a wonderful idea that it really +knocked me overboard. I was afraid I would throw you all into the +river, so I jumped. But don't you want to know my plan? We are going +to spend the summer on the water!" + +"In the water, you mean, don't you?" laughed Phyllis, as she wrapped +her sweater about her friend. "Madge, will any one ever be able to +guess what you are going to do next?" + +"Just listen, girls," Madge went on with shining eyes. "I have been +determined, ever since I got my letter from Cousin Louisa, that we +girls should do something original for our summer vacation. And while +I was rowing peacefully along, without meaning to create a disturbance, +it suddenly came to me that the most perfect way to spend a holiday +would be to live out on the water. First I thought we might just take +the 'Water Witch' and row along the river all summer, sleeping in +hotels and boarding-places at night. But I know we must have a +chaperon; and meals and things would make it cost too much. Then it +occurred to me that we could get a boat big enough to live in by day +and sleep in by night--a canal boat, or something----" + +"Madge Morton!" cried Phil, clapping both hands, "you are a goose, but +sometimes I think you are a genius as well. You mean you can rent a +houseboat with your money and we can truly spend our vacation together +out on the water. I never heard of such a splendid plan in my life." + +Madge gave a little shiver, half from the cold and half from happiness. +She was beginning to feel the chill of her wet clothing. + +"Eleanor, Phyllis, Lillian," she said impressively. "I hereby invite +you to spend six weeks of your vacation aboard a houseboat. Now, the +next thing to be done is to find one." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +CHOOSING A CHAPERON + +Madge Morton walked into the school library with a grave expression on +her usually laughing face. She had two letters in her hand, which she +intended putting into the school post-bag, that was always kept in the +library. One of the letters she had written to her uncle and aunt, +explaining her houseboat scheme in the most sensible and matter-of-fact +fashion; for Madge knew that the fate of the four chums depended, +first, on what Mr. and Mrs. Butler thought of their niece's idea. If +they disapproved, Madge was certain that she could never be happy +again, for there was no other possible way of spending Cousin Louisa's +gift that would give her any pleasure. Madge's second letter was +directed to a boy cousin, who was at college in Baltimore. She +explained that she expected to rent a houseboat for the summer, and she +asked her cousin to give her the address of places in Baltimore where +such a boat could be hired. She wished it to cost the smallest sum of +money possible, for Eleanor had suggested that even houseboat girls +must eat. Indeed, the water was likely to make them especially hungry. +If all the two hundred dollars went for the houseboat, what were they +to do for food? + +Madge's sole fortune was just ten dollars a month, which she used for +her dress allowance. Her uncle and aunt were not rich, but they were +paying for her education, and Madge knew she was expected to make her +own living as soon as she was old enough. Mr. and Mrs. Butler had +hoped she would become a teacher, for they held the old-fashioned +southern belief that teaching school was the only avenue open to the +woman who was forced by necessity to make her own living. + +Madge, however, had decided, a long time before, that she would much +rather die than teach. She would do anything but that. Just at +present her poverty was very inconvenient. Madge was generous to a +fault, and she would have liked nothing better than to finance royally +their proposed trip. She vowed mentally to rise to the occasion, even +though the way to do it was not yet clear. + +Prudent Eleanor had also asked her whom she meant to invite to act as +their chaperon. So it was of this chaperon that Madge was thinking +while she was in the act of mailing her letters. + +Down in Virginia, on a big place next to her uncle's, was a girl whom +she had decided would make an ideal chaperon. She was as fond of larks +as was Madge herself. She could fish, ride, swim and shoot a rifle +when necessary. Moreover, she was so beautiful and aristocratic that +Madge always called her the "Lady of Quality." It was true she could +not cook nor wash dishes, nor do anything practical, and she was only +twenty-two. Still, Madge thought she would be a perfectly delightful +chaperon and was sure the girls would love her. Madge's red lips +unconsciously formed the letter O, and before she knew what she was +doing she was whistling from sheer pleasure. + +"Miss Morton," the cold voice that was unpleasantly familiar to the +girl's ears came from behind a chair, "do you not know that whistling +is against the rules of the school? You are one of the older girls. +Miss Tolliver depends on you to set the younger pupils a good example. +I fear she is sadly disappointed." + +"You mean you are sadly disappointed, Miss Jones," replied Madge +angrily. "Miss Tolliver has not said she was disappointed in me. When +she is she will probably tell me herself." + +Madge knew she should not speak in this rude fashion to her teacher, +but she was an impetuous, high-spirited girl who could not bear +censure. Besides, she had a special prejudice against Miss Jones. She +was particularly homely and there was something awkward and repellant +in her manner. Worshipping beauty and graciousness, Madge could not +forgive her teacher her lack of both. Besides, Madge did not entirely +trust Miss Jones. Still, the girl was sorry she had made her impolite +speech, so she stood quietly waiting for her teacher's reproof, with +her curly head bent low, her eyes mutinous. + +She waited an instant. When she looked up, to her dismay she saw that +the eyes of her despised teacher were full of tears. + +"I wonder why you dislike me so, Miss Morton?" Miss Jones inquired +sadly. + +Madge could have given her a dozen reasons for her dislike, but she did +not wish to be disagreeable. "I am dreadfully sorry I was so rude to +you," she murmured. + +"Oh, it does not matter. Nothing matters, I am so unhappy," Miss Jones +replied unexpectedly. Just why Miss Jones should have chosen Madge +Morton for her confidante at this moment neither ever knew. Miss Jones +had a number of friends among the other girls in the school; but she +and this clever southern girl had been enemies since Miss Jones had +first taken charge of the English History class and had reproved Madge +for helping one of the younger girls with her lesson. Miss Jones's +confession had slipped out involuntarily. Now she put her head down on +the library table and sobbed. + +With any other teacher, or with any of the girls, Madge might have +cried in sympathy. Somehow, she could not cry with Miss Jones. She +felt nothing save embarrassment. + +"What is the matter?" she asked slowly. + +Miss Jones shook her head. "It's nothing. I am sorry to have given +way to my feelings. I have had bad news. My doctor has just written +me that if I don't spend the summer out-of-doors, I am in danger of +consumption." Miss Jones uttered the dreadful word quite calmly. + +Madge gave a low cry of distress. She thought of the number of times +she had made fun of her teacher's flat chest and stooping shoulders and +of her bad temper. After all, Eleanor had been right. Illness had +been the cause of Miss Jones's peculiarities. + +"Miss Jones," Madge returned, her sympathies fully enlisted, "you must +not feel so troubled. I am sure you will soon be all right. Just +think how strong you will grow with your long summer holiday +out-of-doors. You must dig in the garden, and ride horseback, and play +tennis," advised Madge enthusiastically, remembering her own happy +summers at "Forest House," the old Butler home in Virginia. + +Miss Jones shook her head wistfully as she rose to leave the room. "I +am afraid I can't have the summer in the country. I have only a sister +with whom to spend the summer, and she lives in a little flat in the +city. She has a large family, and I expect to help her. My parents +are dead." + +"Then why don't you go into the country to board somewhere?" flashed +from Madge's lips unexpectedly. A moment after she was sorry she had +asked the question, for a curious, frightened expression crossed her +teacher's face. + +Miss Jones hesitated. "I have had to use the money I have made by my +teaching for--for other purposes," she explained, in the stiff, cold +manner that seemed so unattractive to gracious, sunshiny Madge. "I am +sorry to have worried you with my troubles," Miss Jones said again. +"Please forgive me and forget what I have told you. I shall probably +do very well." + +Madge went slowly back to her room in a most unhappy frame of mind. +She knew a way in which Miss Jones would be able to spend her summer +out-of-doors, and perhaps grow well and strong again. She could be +invited to chaperon the houseboat party. She knew her friends would +immediately agree to the idea. They liked Miss Jones far better than +she did. Even if they had not liked her, sympathy would have inspired +them to extend the invitation. It was she alone who would hesitate. +Of course, she never expected to be as good as her friends. So Madge +argued with herself. It was too dreadful to give up the idea of asking +her adored "Lady of Quality" to act as their guardian angel. Madge +decided she simply could not make the sacrifice. Then, too, she did +not even know whether her uncle and aunt would consent to the houseboat +party. It would be time enough afterward to deliver her last +invitation. + +For two days, which seemed intolerably long to impatient Madge Morton, +the four friends waited to hear their fate from Mr. and Mrs. Butler. + +On the third morning a letter addressed to Madge in Mrs. Butler's +handwriting was handed to her while she and her chums were at +breakfast. In her great excitement her hands trembled so that she +could hardly finish her breakfast. "Here, Eleanor," Madge finally +faltered, as the four girls left the dining room to go upstairs, "you +take the letter and read it to us, please do. Positively I haven't the +courage to look at it. I feel almost sure that Aunt Sue will say we +can't go on our houseboat trip." + +Lillian put her hand affectionately on Madge's arm, while Phil stood +next to Eleanor. + +"My dear Madge," the letter began, "I think your houseboat plan for the +summer a most extraordinary one. I never heard of young girls +attempting such a holiday before. I can not imagine how you happened +to unearth such a peculiar idea." + +Madge gave a gasp of despair. She felt that the tone of her Aunt Sue's +letter spelled refusal. But Eleanor read on: "Like a good many of your +unusual ideas, this houseboat scheme seems, after all, to be rather an +interesting one. Your uncle and I have talked over your letter and +Eleanor's. We do not wish you and Eleanor to be separated, and we do +wish you both to have the happiest holiday possible, as we are quite +sure you have earned it. So, if you can find a suitable chaperon, we +are willing to give our consent to your undertaking. We had intended +to pay twenty-five dollars a month board for Eleanor with her cousins +at Charlottesville, so we shall be glad to contribute that sum toward +the provisioning of the house-boat." + +There was a dead silence in the room when Eleanor at last finished +reading the letter. For half a minute the four chums were too happy to +speak. Then there was a united sigh of relief. + +"Oh, I shall never be able to survive it! It is too much joy for one +day!" cried the irrepressible Madge, dancing around in a circle and +dragging Lillian Seldon, whose arm was linked in hers, with her. + +Lillian and Phyllis had received their parents' consent, by letter, the +day before and had already agreed that their respective monthly +allowances should be placed in the general fund. + +"Be still, Madge," begged Eleanor. "You are so noisy that you drive +all thought from our heads. The first thing for us to consider is +where we shall find a chaperon." + +"No; the first thing to do is to find the house-boat. O Ship of our +Dreams! tell us, dear Ship, where we can find you?" cried Phyllis Alden +longingly. She was looking past her friends with half-closed eyes. +Already she was, in the land of her imagination, in a beautiful white +boat, floating beside an evergreen shore. The little craft was +furnished all in white, with dainty muslin curtains hung at the tiny +cabin windows. Flowers encircled the decks and trailed over the sides +into the clear water. And on the deck of the little boat, lying or +sitting at their ease, she could see herself and her friends. + +"Wake up, Phil! Come back to earth, please," teased Madge, giving her +usually sensible friend a sudden pinch. "I am going downstairs now to +ask Miss Tolliver if we can go into Baltimore day after to-morrow. We +must find our houseboat at once. School is so nearly over Miss +Tolliver will be sure to let us go." + +"But the chaperon, Madge," reminded Eleanor. "We haven't decided on +one, you know." + +"I have thought of a chaperon, if you girls are willing to have her," +said Madge almost hesitatingly. + +"Well," cried the other three voices in chorus, "who is it? Tell us +sometime to-day!" + +"Miss Jones!" declared Madge, a note of defiance in her voice. "I'm +going to invite her now before I have time to change my mind. I'll +explain later." Springing from her chair, she ran from the room, +leaving her three friends to stare at each other in silent amazement. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE SEARCH FOR A HOUSEBOAT + +"Eleanor Butler, do hurry!" urged Madge two days later. "If we miss +the train, I feel I shall never forgive you." The two girls were +preparing for their trip to Baltimore. + +"Let me alone, Madge," Eleanor returned. "If you will stay out of the +room for ten minutes, I promise to be ready. You've talked so much in +the last half hour that I haven't known what I was doing and I don't +know now. You had better make another call upon Miss Jones. She is +even more enthusiastic about your old houseboat scheme than you are." +Eleanor laughed as Madge disappeared in the direction of Miss Jones's +room. + +"You must wish with all your heart that we shall find the houseboat +to-day, Miss Jones," declared Madge in her impulsive fashion. "You +see, everything depends on our not having to waste any time. The +sooner we find our boat, the sooner we can begin our delightful +vacation." + +Miss Jones smiled. She was beginning to understand the impetuous Madge +better than she had ever dreamed of knowing her, and she was very +grateful for her invitation. Miss Jones was fairly well aware of how +much it had cost her pupil to ask her. "Yes, I shall be thinking of +you girls every minute," she declared. "Let me see. This is the +twenty-fifth of May. School will close in another week. You girls +wish to spend a week at home with your parents and relatives; but just +as early in June as possible we are to go aboard our houseboat. That +is our plan, isn't it, Madge?" + +Madge nodded. Then, as she heard Phil and Lillian calling her, she +waved a hasty farewell and darted from the room. + +Madge had received a letter from the boy cousin who was at school in +Baltimore. He had given her several addresses in Baltimore where there +was just a bare chance that she might find a ready-to-use houseboat. +He assured her, however, that houseboats were usually made to order, +and that she might find some difficulty in securing what she wished, +and must, therefore, not become easily discouraged. + +Just before noon the four young women arrived in Baltimore on their +quest for a house-boat. Lillian and Eleanor demanded their luncheon at +once, but Phil and Madge protested against eating luncheon so early. +"You can't be hungry already," argued Madge. "As for me, I shall never +be able to eat until we find our boat." + +For two hours the girls tramped about the boat yards in search of their +treasure. They saw canoes and motor boats of every size and kind, and +models of private yachts, but not a trace of a houseboat could they +find. The representatives of the various boat companies whom they +interviewed suggested the building of a houseboat at a cost of anywhere +from six hundred to a thousand dollars. + +Lillian and Eleanor were the first to complain of being tired. Then +Phil, who was usually the sweetest-tempered of the four girls, began to +show signs of irritability. Madge, however, undaunted and determined, +would not think of giving up the search. + +"Just one more place, girls," she begged; "then we can rest and have +our luncheon somewhere. This is a very large ship-building yard we are +going to. I am sure we can find our boat there." + +Half an hour later the four chums turned wearily away from another +fruitless quest. They were now in a part of Baltimore which none of +them had ever seen before. A few blocks farther down the street they +could see the line of the water and the masts of several sailing +vessels that were lying near the shore. + +"I tell you, Madge Morton," declared Phyllis Alden firmly, "whether or +not we ever find a houseboat, there is one thing certain: I positively +must have something to eat. I am half starved. What good would +finding the boat do me if I were to die of hunger before I have even +seen it?" + +"Please don't be cross, Phil," soothed Madge. "I am sure we are all as +hungry as you are. I am awfully sorry. We ought to have eaten +luncheon before we came here. There isn't a restaurant in sight." + +"I am sure I saw the sign of a funny little restaurant as we came by +the corner," broke in Lillian. "It did look queer, but I suppose it +would not be any harm for us to go in there." + +"We don't care if it does look queer," declared Phyllis stoutly. + +Turning, the girls retraced their steps to the corner. + +Outside the swinging door of the small restaurant they hesitated. "I +don't think we ought to go in there," argued Eleanor, "it is such a +dreadfully rough-looking place." + +It was indeed a very common eating house, where the men who worked on +the wharves, the fishermen and sailors, were in the habit of getting +their meals. The one dirty window showed half a dozen live crabs +crawling about inside among the pieces of sea-weed. A row of old pies +formed the background. + +A moment later they had marched bravely up to the door. Dainty Eleanor +shuddered as they crossed the threshold, and even Phil and Madge +hesitated as a man's coarse laugh greeted them once they were fairly +inside the restaurant room. + +"Come on, children," said Madge, with a pretence of bravery she was far +from feeling. "We are going into this restaurant to get something to +eat. Don't look as if you thought you were going to be eaten. It is +rather horrid, but perhaps they will let us have some bread and milk." + +The quartette seated themselves at the first table they saw vacant. +Just across from it were a number of men with rough, hard faces. They +were evidently sailors from the nearby boats. The girls kept their +eyes on the table, and Madge gave their order for tea and sandwiches in +a low tone to the German boy who came forward to wait on them. + +When the boy had departed with their order a silence settled upon the +little group of girls. In each girl's mind was the thought that it had +been unwise to enter the restaurant. By this time they had come to a +realization of the fact that they were the only women in the room. + +"We ought never to have come here," whispered Lillian, clutching +Madge's arm. + +"Nonsense," returned Madge bravely, "we have as much right here as any +of these men." + +"But I'd rather not stay," persisted Lillian. + +"Didn't you say you were hungry?" asked Madge pointedly. + +"Ye-es," hesitated Lillian, "but I just can't stay here." + +"Nor I," chimed in Eleanor. + +Madge looked appealingly at Phyllis, who shook her brown head +deprecatingly. "I don't believe we ought to stay here, Madge." + +"You, too, Phil!" exclaimed Madge impatiently. "All right, Misses +'Fraid Cats,' we'll go. Here comes our luncheon, too." + +The girls glanced quickly at the rosy-faced lad who came up at that +moment with their order on a tray. + +"I'm so hungry," sighed Phil. "Perhaps we'd better----" + +"So glad you've changed your mind," commented Madge rather satirically. +"But what about you, Lillian and Eleanor?" + +"Let's stay this once, but next time we'll be more careful where we +lunch," smiled Eleanor. + +"I take back all I said about 'Fraid Cats,'" laughed Madge. "We'll +hurry through our luncheon and leave here the moment we finish. After +all, as long as we are to become seasoned mariners we shall have to +learn to accustom ourselves to the vicissitudes of a sailor's life." + +"But we can't be 'seasoned mariners' until we find our houseboat," +reminded Lillian. "It doesn't look as though we'd find it to-day, +either." + +"We must," was Madge's emphatic response. "Here we have been worrying +like mad about this restaurant not being a proper place in which to eat +our luncheon, while the really important question of where we are to +find our boat hasn't troubled us. We must go out of here saying, 'We +shall find it, we shall find it,' and then I believe we can't help but +run across it." Madge's blue eyes were alight with purpose and +enthusiasm. + +"Good for you, Madge," laughed Phil. "Come on, girls. Let us finish +our tea and renew our search." + +It was half-past three in the afternoon when they left the little +restaurant. The four girls were to spend the night in Baltimore with a +friend of Miss Tolliver's, who kept a boarding-place. As they were in +the habit of staying with Miss Rice when they came into Baltimore to do +their shopping, Miss Tolliver had, for once, after many instructions, +permitted the girls to go into town without a chaperon. + +"Miss Rice said we did not have to be at her house until half-past five +o'clock," Phil volunteered, "so what shall we do?" + +"There is a little park down there near the water," Lillian pointed +ahead. "Suppose we sit down there for a few minutes until we decide +where to go next?" + +It was a balmy, sunshiny May day. While the girls rested on the park +benches they could see, far off, a line of ships sailing up the bay and +also the larger freight steamers. They were near one of the quiet +canals that formed an inlet from the great Chesapeake Bay. Lining the +banks of the canal were numbers of coal barges and canal boats. + +On the deck of a canal boat a girl came out with a bundle of clothes in +her arms. She was singing in a high, sweet voice as she hung them on a +line strung across the deck of the boat. + +The girls watched her silently as she flitted back and forth, and she +sang on, unconscious of her audience. She was singing a boat song +which the men chant as they row home at the close of day. The pathos +in the woman's voice was so exquisite, its notes so true, that Madge's +blue eyes filled with tears. None of the four friends stirred until +the song was over, and the girl in her faded calico dress and bare feet +had disappeared into the cabin of the boat. + +"We call those boats shanty boats down in Virginia," Eleanor said; "I +suppose because the little cabin on the deck of the canal boat looks so +like a shanty." + +"People live on those shanty boats," announced Madge. + +"Yes, we have noticed it, my dear girl," Phil responded dryly. But +there was a question in her eyes as she looked at Madge. + +"Shanty boats do not look exactly like house-boats," went on Madge +speculatively. + +"I should say not," returned Phil. "There is considerable difference." + +"But they might be made to look more like them. Don't you believe so?" + +Phil nodded. + +"They are awfully dirty," was dainty Lillian's sole comment. + +"Soap and water, child, is a sure cure for dirt," replied Madge, still +in a brown study. Then she sprang to tier feet and almost ran out of +the little park, nearly to the edge of the canal. Her friends followed +her. There was no doubt that Madge had an idea. + +"Girls!" exclaimed Madge fervently, pointing toward one of the shanty +boats, "first look there; then shut your eyes. With your eyes open you +see only an ugly canal boat; with them closed, can't you see our +houseboat?" + +"Not very well," replied Lillian without enthusiasm. + +"Well, I can," asserted Madge with emphasis. + +Then her quick eyes wandered toward a man who was coming slowly up the +path along the canal. + +"Please," she asked breathlessly, stepping directly in front of him, +"do you know whether any of the people along here would be willing to +rent me a canal boat?" + +The man stared in amazement at this strange request. "Can't say as I +knows of any one," he answered, "but I kin find out fer ye. It may be +some of the water folks goes inland for the summer. If they does, +they'd like as not rent you their boat." + +"Then I will come down here to-morrow at nine o'clock to find out," +arranged Madge. "Please be sure to be here." + +"What did I tell you!" exulted Madge as they left the little park a few +minutes later and made their way to the street car. "I am going to +draw a plan to-night to show how easy it will be to turn one of these +old canal boats into our beautiful 'Ship of Dreams.' By this time next +week we'll know something about the 'vicissitudes' of a sailor's life +or my name is not Madge Morton." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE FAIRY'S WAND + +"You are a direct gift of Providence, Jack Bolling," declared Madge the +next morning, shaking hands with her cousin, in the parlor of Miss +Rice's boarding house. "How did you happen to turn up here?" + +"Well, I unexpectedly had a day off from college," explained Jack. "So +I just telephoned to Miss Tolliver to ask whether I might come to see +you, like the well-behaved cousin I am. She replied that you were in +town and that I might come to see you. So here I am! What luck have +you had?" + +"None at all at the old places you recommended," Madge returned +scornfully and in a most ungrateful fashion. + +"Oh, I knew a girl couldn't find the right sort of boat without a +fellow to help her," Jack teased, knowing Madge's aversion to the idea +that a girl couldn't do anything she liked, unless with the help of a +boy. + +"Just you come along with us, Jack, and we will show you what we have +found," invited Madge. "I think the girls are ready. We are. Here +come Eleanor and Lillian. Miss Lillian Seldon, I wish to present my +cousin, Mr. Jack Bolling. Where is Phil?" + +While Lillian, looking unusually lovely in her gown of pale lavender +organdie, with a cream-colored hat covered with violets, was shaking +hands with Jack, Phyllis Alden came down the hall with a slight frown +on her face. + +Hadn't she and Madge vowed within themselves and to each other never to +ask a man's help in anything they planned to do? And here was Madge +introducing her cousin into their plan the very first chance she had. +But in this Phil was mistaken. + +Madge had made no explanations to Jack, and her cousin asked her no +questions as the party started on their walk. When they came to the +line of canal boats that the girls had seen the afternoon before a halt +was made. + +"There is our houseboat!" cried Madge, waving her hand toward the half +dozen disreputable looking canal boats huddled close together. + +"Where?" asked Jack in amazement. + +"Oh, I don't know just exactly where," returned Madge with twinkling +eyes. "Everyone look here, please." She took two large squares of +white paper out of her bag. "You see, it is this way, Jack: We found +that to rent a houseboat takes such a lot of money that we decided +yesterday, to try to turn one of these old canal boats into a +houseboat, and I have drawn the plans of what I think ought to be done." + +Madge, who had a decided talent for drawing, had sat up late into the +night to make her two sketches. One pictured the shanty boat as it +was, dingy and dirty, with a broken-down cabin of two rooms at the +stern. In the second drawing Madge's fairy wand, which was her gift of +imagination, had quite transformed the ugly boat. The deck of the +canal boat was about forty feet long, with a twelve-foot beam. To the +two rooms, which the ordinary shanty boat contains, she had added +another two, forming an oblong cabin, with four windows on each side +and a flat roof. The flat roof formed the second deck of the +prospective houseboat. It had a small railing around it, and a pair of +steps that led up from the outside to the upper deck. Madge had +decorated her fairy ship with garlands of flowers that hung far over +the sides of the deck. + +Jack Bolling looked at the drawing a long time without saying a word. + +"Don't you think it can be done, Jack?" inquired Madge eagerly. "You +see, this old boat could be cleaned and painted, and any good carpenter +could put up the extra rooms." + +"Right you are, Madge," Jack answered at last, making a low bow. "Hats +off to the ladies, as usual. Who is that queer-looking customer coming +this way?" + +"He is the man who is to see about our canal boat," answered Phil, as +though they were already in possession. + +Madge had gone forward. "Have you found the boat for us?" she +inquired. "I simply can't wait to find out." + +The man grinned. "There is one towed alongside of mine that you might +be able to git. I had a hard time finding it." + +"That is all right," declared Jack, stepping forward, "you will be paid +for your work. Will you please take us out to look at the boat?" + +"Got to cross my shanty to git to it," the man replied, leading the way +across a rickety gang-plank. + +There were three or four dirty children playing on the deck of his boat +and a thin, yellow dog. At the open door of the shanty kitchen stood +the figure of a girl. She had on the faded calico dress of the day +before; she was barefooted and her hair was ragged and unkempt. But as +Jack Bolling and the four girls glanced idly at her a start of surprise +ran through each one of these. Jack stopped for an instant, and +instinctively took off his hat. Phil Alden whispered in Madge's ear, +"I never saw any one so beautiful in my life," and Madge mutely agreed. + +The girl was smiling a wistful, far-away smile that was very touching. +Her hair was the color of copper that has been burnished by the sun, +and her eyes were the deep blue of the midsummer sky. The wind and sun +had tanned the girl's cheeks, but her skin was still fine and delicate. +There was a strange, vacant expression in her eyes and a pathetic droop +to her whole figure. + +"Git you back in there, Moll," the owner of the shanty boat called out +roughly. The girl started and quivered, as though she expected a blow. +Jack's face turned hot with anger. But what could he do? The man was +talking to his own daughter. + +"Why did you speak to the poor girl like that?" asked Madge sharply. + +"She ain't all right in the top story," the man answered. "She is kind +of foolish. I have to keep a close watch on her." + +Madge turned pitying eyes on the demented girl, then as they stepped +aboard the other canal boat, for the time she forgot the lovely +apparition she had just seen. + +"How much will the owner rent this boat for?" Madge asked at last, +trying hard to conceal her enthusiasm. The boat was dirty and needed +renovating, but it was well built of good, strong timbers. + +"My friend is willing to sell this here boat for a hundred dollars," +said the fisherman, Mike Muldoon, hesitating as he mentioned the sum. + +It was all Madge could do to keep from clapping her hands for joy. One +hundred dollars for the boat--that left another hundred for painting +and remodeling and for other necessary expenses. + +Just as Madge was about to close with the man's offer a look from Jack +Bolling interrupted her. + +"The boat is not worth a hundred dollars," he declared decisively. +"The young lady will give you fifty dollars for it, and not a cent +more." + +The man laughed contemptuously. "I can't do it," he said. "That boat +is cheap at a hundred dollars." + +"At fifty, you mean," retorted Jack stubbornly. + +The girls stood back quietly and allowed Jack to drive the bargain, +which he did with so much spirit that the coveted boat was at last made +over to him at his price, fifty dollars. + +For the rest of the day the four girls spent their time interviewing +carpenters and painters. At last they found a man who promised to +deliver the boat, rebuilt according to Madge's idea, at a little town +several miles farther down the bay. The man owned a motor boat. He +was to take the houseboat to a landing, where the girls could load it +with the necessary supplies, and then to tow them farther down the bay, +until they found the ideal place for their summer holiday. + +"I declare, Madge, dear, I was never so tired, nor so happy in my +life," declared Eleanor Butler late that afternoon, as the quartette +were on their way back to their school at Harborpoint. "I can see our +houseboat, now, as plainly as anything. At first, Lillian and I +couldn't quite believe in your idea." + +Madge had heard Eleanor's comments but vaguely. She was doing a sum in +mental arithmetic. "Fifty dollars for the old shanty boat, +seventy-five for remodeling it, fifteen to the man for towing." Here +she became confused. But she still knew there was quite a large sum of +money left for buying the little furniture they needed and their store +of provisions. + +Phyllis Alden, too, had been busy calculating. "I think we can do it, +Madge," she said, leaning over from the back seat to speak to her +friend. + +"Of course we can. We shall have whole lots of money," announced Madge +triumphantly. + +Phil shook her head. "I am afraid we won't. There is one thing we +must buy that will be expensive." + +Lillian straightened up. She had been leaning against the back of the +seat, utterly worn out. The three girls gazed at Phil in +consternation. What was this new item of expense that threatened to +eat up their little capital? + +"Don't keep us in suspense, Phil," laughed Eleanor. "What have we +forgotten to buy?" + +"A kitchen stove!" cried Phil dramatically. "And I know they must be +awfully expensive." + +"What a goose you are, Phil," said Lillian in a practical tone. "We +don't want a kitchen stove. It would take up too much room. We need +an oil stove or something like that." + +"Then I appoint you as a special committee to look into the stove +question, Lillian," laughed Madge. + +"I accept the appointment," bowed Lillian, "and I won't waste our +capital on kitchen ranges of elephantine proportions, either." + +During the next five days the four friends found plenty to occupy their +time. Then Miss Tolliver's school closed, and Phil Alden hurried home +to her family in Hartford, Connecticut; Lillian returned to her home in +Philadelphia, while Madge and Eleanor departed to spend a week with Mr. +and Mrs. Butler in their old home in Virginia. Miss Jones, however, +remained at the school. She made one hurried trip into Baltimore, and +on another occasion had a visitor, but the rest of the time she sewed +industriously; for on June the eighth a new experience was to be +hers--she was to begin her duties as chaperon to four adventurous girls +aboard their longed-for "Ship of Dreams." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ALL ABOARD + +Blue waves lapped idly against the sides of a little, white palace that +had risen out of the waves of the bay overnight. One side lay close +along a quiet shore. Overhead the leaves of a willow tree stirred in +the wind, and the birds twittered in its branches. The rosy flush was +just fading out of the sky. Dawn had come only a short time before, +and the wind, the waves and the birds were the only things stirring so +early in the morning. There was not a sound or a movement aboard the +odd vessel that was moored to the shore. + +Along the shore sped the slender figure of a girl. It was a part of +the morning. Her blue frock was the color of the sky and her auburn +hair had been touched by the sun, and on her radiant face lay the glory +of youth. + +Of course, it was Madge! She did not stop when she first spied her +houseboat between the branches of the willow tree. She gave a little +gasp, and ran on faster than ever. A moment later she came alongside +her boat, which was only about three feet from the shore. Madge had +not practised running and jumping in the gymnasium at school and on the +old farm in Virginia for nothing. She gave one flying leap and landed +on the deck of her houseboat. Then she stood perfectly still, a little +song of gratitude welling from the depth of her happy heart. + +"Perhaps it was not fair in me to have run away from Eleanor," she +mused. "But then Nellie is such a sleepy-head, she never would have +wished to get up so early. And I did want to see the boat alone, just +for a moment. I am not going to look into the cabin, though. I am +going to wait for the other girls----" + +A stone went whizzing by Madge's ear at this moment, causing her +soliloquy to come to an abrupt end. + +She glanced toward the shore. A small boy stood grinning at her, with +his hands tucked into a pair of trousers so much too long for him they +had to be turned up from the ankles to the knees. + +"Hello," he remarked cheerfully, eyeing Madge owlishly. + +"Hello yourself," returned Madge. "Do you usually begin the day by +throwing stones at peaceful strangers?" + +"Yes'm," the small boy responded calmly. "Where'd you and that come +from?" + +"I came from my home in Virginia, and if by 'that' you mean my boat, it +is a 'Ship of Dreams' and was towed up here from Baltimore yesterday +afternoon. What do you think of it?" + +"She isn't a dream, she's a peach," was the prompt retort. + +"I'm glad you like her," smiled Madge in a winning fashion that caused +the lad to smile in return. "Why are you up so early in the morning?" + +"Driving home the cows," was the laconic answer. + +"I don't see any cows," teased Madge. "Wait a minute. I have +something for you to do. Would you like to earn a quarter? If you +would, then come back here about nine o'clock. We are going to load +our boat with some furniture and provisions, and we would like to have +you help us." + +"All right, I'll be here," promised the boy, and ran off into the +bushes with a derisive grin which Madge did not see. + +A few moments later Madge went back to Eleanor to have breakfast at the +little boarding house where she and her cousin had spent the night. +Miss Jones, Lillian and Phil had not yet arrived, but they were +expected by the early train that came from Baltimore. The little +village from which they intended to go aboard their houseboat was only +about half an hour's ride from the city, and was situated on one of the +quiet inlets of the bay. + +Fifteen minutes before the train was due Eleanor and Madge were +impatiently waiting at the station. The newcomers were so surrounded +by bags, suit cases and mysterious packages that it took all the men +about the depot to land them safely on the platform. Madge gave the +order to the expressman to bring all their luggage to the houseboat +landing near the willow tree. Then the party started out to find the +boat, without losing a minute by the way. + +Madge slipped her arm through that of Miss Jones and walked beside her +dutifully, though she secretly longed to be with her chums. Lillian, +Phil and Eleanor joined hands and ran ahead, without being in the least +degree affected by the idea that they were no longer children. Madge, +however, was the only one who knew the way. She hurried Miss Jones +along until that young woman was almost out of breath. When they were +within a short distance of the place where she had found her boat +waiting for her in the early morning, she could bear it no longer. +With a murmured excuse she broke away from Miss Jones and started on a +run toward the willow tree. Her three chums were close behind her. +The branches of the willow tree seemed more impenetrable in the bright +sunlight. It was not so easy to see through them. Madge ran straight +past the tree, then uttered a shrill cry. She stopped short, her +cheeks turning first red, then white. + +"What is it?" cried Phil, springing to her friend's side. + +Madge pointed dumbly toward the water. + +"Tell us!" said Eleanor, running up to Madge and lightly grasping her +arm. + +"Our houseboat is gone!" gasped Madge. "It was right there, tied to +that very post along the shore early this morning! The man who brought +it down from Baltimore left a note for me describing the landing place. +He said he had to go back to Baltimore, but that he would come here +this afternoon to tow us. Now the boat has gone! O, girls, what shall +we do?" + +The girls stared at the water in silence. Disappointment rendered them +speechless for the moment. "Let us look up and down the shore," +suggested Phil comfortingly. "I suppose it is just barely possible +that the rope broke away from the stake, and the boat has floated off +somewhere." + +The four girls ran up and down the bank, straining their eyes in +anxious glances out over the wide stretch of water. There was no +houseboat in sight. It had vanished as completely as though it had +really been a "Ship of Dreams." + +"Perhaps you have made a mistake in the place, Madge," was the +chaperon's first remark as she joined the excited party. + +Madge compressed her red lips. Miss Jones was so provoking. She was +utterly without tact. But now that she was to be one of the party it +would be wrong to say a single impolite thing to their chaperon the +whole six weeks of their holiday, no matter how provoking or tactless +she might he. Madge sighed impatiently, then turned to the teacher. + +"No, I am not mistaken, Miss Jones. I can't be. You see, I came to +this very spot this morning and went aboard our boat. Then I have the +man's description of the landing place. I think we had better go back +to the village and see if we can get some men who know the shore along +here to come to help us look out for our boat. There is no use in +having our furniture brought here if we haven't any houseboat," +finished Madge, her voice trembling. + +"Come along, then; I will go back with you," volunteered Phil. "Miss +Jones, you sit under the tree. Lillian, you and Nellie keep a sharp +look-out. If any one comes along in a boat, ask him about ours." + +"Do you think our boat has gone forever, Phil?" asked Madge dejectedly +as the two companions walked wearily back over the road they had +traveled so gayly a short time before. + +"I don't know," replied Phil. "I should say it depended entirely upon +who had taken the trouble to spirit it away." + +While the two girls stood gazing moodily out over the bay a hard, green +apple landed with a thump on top of Madge's uncovered head. Madge and +Phil looked up simultaneously. There in a gnarled old apple tree +directly above them appeared the grinning face of the small boy whose +acquaintance Madge had made earlier in the morning. + +"Lost your boat, ain't you?" he asked cheerfully. + +Madge nodded and walked on. She was not anxious to renew conversation +with the mischievous youngster. + +Phil, however, was seized with an inspiration. "Have you been about +this place very long?" she inquired casually. + +"Yep," the boy returned. + +"Then, perhaps, you know what has become of our boat," suggested Phil. + +"Yep," answered the voice from the tree, "I know all about it." + +"Then tell us this minute what has become of it!" ordered Madge. "I +knew the moment I saw you that you were the very imp of mischief. Tell +us where our boat is at once." + +"I won't tell," the urchin spoke firmly. + +"You shall," declared Madge, her eyes flashing. + +"I'd like to see you make me tell," dared the boy. "A girl can't climb +a tree." The grin on his impish face widened. + +"I'll show you that a girl _can_ climb a tree, young man," exclaimed +Madge hotly, making her way toward the tree. "I have climbed a good +many more trees than you have ever climbed in your life." + +"Listen to me, Madge," admonished Phil, laughing at her friend, "you +can't have a fight with a small boy in the top of a tree or shake him +out of it. Don't allow him to tease you. Let's go on into the village +and get a policeman. Then, if the boy really knows anything about the +disappearance of our houseboat, the policeman will make him tell us." +Phil tried to make her voice sound as threatening as possible when she +mentioned the word "policeman." + +"I won't be here when you git back," was the imp's cheerful response. + +Madge and Phil paid no further heed to him. They went on toward the +town. A few yards farther on they heard the patter of bare feet. +"Can't you wait a minute?" a voice pleaded. "I was only teasing you. +If you promise you won't give me away, I'll tell you what became of +your old boat. My pa took it." + +"Your pa?" cried Madge in surprise. "What do you mean?" + +"When I told Pa I'd seen a new-fangled kind of a boat hitched to our +post, where we most generally ties up our own boat, he said you hadn't +no right to be there. So he just hitched up our mule and he come down +here and untied your boat and dragged it up shore. I run after him +until I got too tired. Then I come back here to tell you," ended the +boy. + +"Where is your father?" Phil asked quietly. Madge's eyes were flashing +dangerously, her temper was rising. + +"He's cutting hay," the boy returned. "I'll show you the field and +then I'll run." + +Lillian and Eleanor had now joined the two girls to find out what was +delaying them. Miss Jones still waited, disconsolate, under the willow +tree. The four girls started out behind the one small boy, who +answered to the name of Bill Jenkins, Jr. It was evident that Bill +Jenkins, Sr., was the name of the boat-thief. + +"What shall we say and do when we find the man?" asked Eleanor +anxiously. "I suppose we had no right to tie our boat up at his +landing place without asking permission." + +Madge shook her head angrily. "Right or no right, I shall certainly +tell him my opinion of him," she said tensely. + +"You must not make the man angry, Madge," argued gentle Eleanor, who +knew Madge's fiery, temper and stood in awe of it. "Perhaps, when he +sees we are girls, he will be sorry he took our boat away and will +bring it back for us." + +"Let us go and see him at once," was Madge's sole response. + +After all, it was Eleanor's gentleness that won the day! She told the +farmer, whom they found in the hay field, the whole story of the +houseboat, and how they hoped to spend their holiday aboard it. + +"I declare, I'm real sorry I moved your houseboat," he apologized. "If +I'd 'a' known the pretty toy boat belonged to a parcel of young girls +like you, I'd never have laid hands on it. You kin stay along my shore +all summer if you like. But no one asked my permission to tie the boat +to my post. And soon as I seen it, I just thought the boat belonged to +some rich society folks who thought they owned the airth. I hid the +boat up the bay a piece. But don't you fret. I'll go git it and tote +it back in no time." + +"I am so sorry," explained Madge prettily, ashamed of her bad temper +and how near she had come to displaying it. "I thought, of course, the +engineer who towed our boat out here from Baltimore had asked your +permission before he made a landing. I suppose he was in such a hurry +to get back to the city that he neglected it." + +While the girls and their chaperon waited for the return of their +houseboat they ate an early luncheon out of the hampers that Phil and +Lillian had brought from their homes to provision the travelers for the +day. + +The houseboat finally did appear, much as the girls had pictured her. +She was painted white, with a line of green showing just above the +water. The four rooms in the cabin, which was set well toward the +stern, opened into each other, and each room had a small door and +window facing on the deck. The two bedrooms had six berths set along +the walls. One room was intended for the kitchen and the fourth, which +was the largest, was to serve as the dining room, sitting room, work +and play room for the houseboat party on rainy days, when it was +impossible for them to be out on deck. + +While the men were unloading the barrels and boxes on the boat the +girls ran in and out the doors of their cabin rooms like the figures in +a pantomime, bumping into each other and stumbling over things. Miss +Jones at last sent Eleanor and Lillian to the kitchen to drive nails +along the wall and to hang up their limited display of kitchen +utensils, while Phil and Madge helped with the unpacking. There was +one steamer chair, bought in honor of the chaperon, and a great many +sofa cushions, borrowed from their rooms at school, to be used as deck +furniture. A barrel of apples, a barrel of potatoes and two Virginia +hams were donations from the farm in Virginia. Mrs. Seldon, Lillian's +mother, had also sent a store of pickles and preserves. + +Phil, too, had brought a big box from home, while Madge's own purchases +for the houseboat included a small table, five chairs, besides the +necessary china and some of the bedding. The rest of the outfit the +girls managed to secure from their own homes. + +Miss Jones, Phil and Madge were industriously turning the berths into +beds when a sharp scream from Lillian, who was working in the kitchen, +filled them with terror. Miss Jones arrived first at the kitchen door, +with her heart in her mouth. Had some horrible disaster overtaken +them, just as they were about to start on their adventures? There +stood the two girls, Lillian and Eleanor, their faces, instead of +showing fright, apparently shining with delight. The men who had been +setting up the little stove, which they had bought for a trifling sum +after all, had disappeared. The girls were now in full possession of +their domain. + +"What is it, children? What has happened?" implored Miss Jones, with a +white, scared face. Lillian pointed ahead of her, but only the kitchen +stove was to be seen. Madge and Phil, who had followed close behind +their chaperon, were equally mystified. + +But hark! What was the noise they heard all at once? A gentle +crackling, a roar, a burst of flame, and a puff of smoke up through the +long stove pipe! The pipe went through a hole cut in the side of the +wall. "A fire, a fire!" exclaimed Lillian joyously, wondering why the +others looked so startled. + +There was really a fire burning in the stove of the houseboat kitchen! +And as a fire is a first sign to the pioneer that he is at last at +home, so the little company felt themselves to be the original girl +pioneers in houseboat adventures, and felt the same thrill of peace and +pleasure. + +Madge seized the shining new tea-kettle and filled it with water from +the big bucket that rested on a shelf just outside the kitchen door. + + "Madge, put the kettle on, + Madge, put the kettle on, + We'll all take tea," + +She sang in a sweet, high, rapturous voice. + +Toot, toot, toot! a motor boat whistle sounded out on the water. The +four girls rushed on deck to call a greeting to the engineer who was to +tow their houseboat down the bay, until it found an anchorage in a cove +in the bay near a stream of clear water. + +Four weary but happy girls sat out on deck on cushions as the engineer +made fast to their boat preparatory to starting. The chaperon was +installed in the solitary grandeur of their one steamer chair. + +There was a heavy tug at the great rope that bound the houseboat to the +little motor tug. The motor boat moved out into the bay, and with +almost no perceptible motion and no noise, except the gentle ripple of +the water purling against the sides of the craft, the houseboat +followed it. The longed-for vacation on the water had begun. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +PLEASURE BAY + +Just before twilight the boat reached a spot that seemed especially +created for the travelers. For two hours they had been silently +drinking in the beauty of the sun-lit bay and the green earth. They +were not in the main body of the great Chesapeake Bay, but in one of +the long arms of the bay that reaches into the Maryland coast. + +"Look ahead of you, girls, to the left," called Phyllis Alden, as they +glided slowly along. + +Miss Jones and the three girls looked. There, in a curve of the land, +was a low bank, with great clusters of purple iris growing along it, +among the slender, long, green stems of the "cat-tails." An elm tree +stood close to the edge of the water, spreading its branches out over +the miniature sea. It was so strong, so big and enduring that it gave +the home-seeking girls a sense of protection. The elm's branches could +shelter them from the sun by day, and at night their boat could be tied +to its trunk. Farther up the bank the girls could see a comfortable +old, gray, shingled farmhouse. The farm meant water, fresh eggs, milk +and butter. + +Madge looked inquiringly at their chaperon, who nodded with an +expression of entire satisfaction. Next, Madge glanced about the +semi-circle of eager faces. "Shall we cast our anchor in Pleasure +Bay?" she asked, and thus the pleasant little inland sea was named. + +Madge signaled to the motor boat ahead, and the engineer stopped. He +had several passengers on board his motor boat, but the men had been +inside the saloon most of the time, and no one on board the houseboat +had noticed them. + +Before the houseboat anchored Madge and Phil ran up the hill to ask at +the farmhouse for the privilege of making a landing. They had learned +a lesson they were not likely to forget. + +Too tired to begin work, the girls ate their supper out of the luncheon +baskets, then sat about on deck, singing and talking until the stars +came out and twinkled down on their little houseboat with a million +friendly eyes; then, urged by their chaperon and their own heavy eyes, +they crept into their berths. + +It was still night when Madge awakened with a start. She thought she +heard some one talking. "To whit! to whoo!" It was only the call of a +friendly owl. Yet the night seemed curiously lonely. It was strange +to be asleep on the water instead of on the land! There was another +weird sound, then something stirred outside on the deck of the boat. +From her cabin window Madge could see the line of the shore. It was +quiet and empty. + +This time she heard the sound of a voice. Another voice answered it. +Could it be possible that the second voice sounded like that of Miss +Jones! What could have happened? Without pausing to put on her shoes +Madge slipped into the next room. Eleanor lay breathing quietly in the +upper berth and Miss Jones seemed to be asleep in the lower one. But +the cover was drawn up almost to where her ears should be and Madge +could not see her face. + +She crept over to the chaperon's berth. It was necessary to waken Miss +Jones and tell her of the mysterious sounds. She slipped her hand +along the pillow in the dark. There was no response. She groped +deeper under the covers. Still no movement or sound. Miss Jones was +not in her berth. She was out on deck, talking to some one. Madge +returned to her room. She did not intend to call the other girls until +she knew what was the trouble. Phyllis was always brave and so were +Lillian and Eleanor, but in this instance they could do nothing. + +The girl stole softly to the cabin window and peeped out. She could +just catch the outline of two figures that were standing well up toward +the bow of the boat. One was a woman's figure, with a shawl thrown +over her head, but Madge was sure that she recognized the chaperon. +Hurrying back to her berth she slipped on her steamer coat and +slippers. She was trying every moment to fight down the distrust and +dislike she had felt toward Miss Jones ever since their first +acquaintance. She was trying to tell herself that she had invited +their teacher to act as their chaperon from other motives, as well as +from sympathy. But the finger of suspicion seemed to point plainly +toward the teacher. + +Madge walked quietly, and without any fear or hesitation, out on the +deck of the houseboat, straight toward the two shrouded figures in the +bow. Neither of them heard her coming, but she heard Miss Jones's +distressed plea: "Won't you go away, and never come here again. I tell +you, I can not do it. I simply can't----" + +"Miss Jones," Madge's voice, clear and cold, sounded almost in her +chaperon's ear. + +The young woman turned so white that Madge could see her pallor in the +moonlight. + +The figure with her was shrouded in a long, black coat which was pulled +up about its face. At the first sound of Madge's voice it made for the +extreme end of the boat. With a quick turn, Madge ran after the +escaping form. As it poised itself for a leap toward the shore, Madge +caught at the cloak and dragged it away from the face, and for a brief +instant she saw the face of a boy a little older perhaps than she was. +It was a wild and elfish face, while a pair of ears, ending almost in +points, stuck up through the masses of thick, curly hair that covered +his head. But before she could get a distinct impression of his face +the young man was gone, racing up the low embankment with great leaps, +like a hunted deer. + +Madge turned to their chaperon, waiting for the latter to offer some +explanation. Miss Jones said nothing, but regarded Madge with +distressed eyes. + +"Who was your visitor? I did not know that any one knew we were +anchored here. We did not know, ourselves, that we were to land here +until we spied the place. Was that boy a stranger to you? Why didn't +you call one of us if he frightened you?" Madge's tone was distinctly +unfriendly. + +Miss Jones only shook her head. Big tears were rolling down her +cheeks. She was trembling so that Madge, much against her will, took +her by the arm and assisted her across the deck. + +"I can tell you nothing, Madge," was the teacher's husky reply. "I am +perfectly aware that you have a right to know. Still, I simply can't +tell you. But I can go away, if you like, and I will, as soon as you +can get some one else to chaperon you. Only I must ask you not to tell +the other girls what has happened to-night, or why I must leave you. +You see, dear," Miss Jones ended wistfully, "the other girls are fond +of me. You never have been. I can not bear to lose their faith and +trust." + +There was a significant silence after this remark. + +"Did you really see who it was with me?" Miss Jones questioned +anxiously. "Would you know the face if you saw it again?" + +"I don't know," was Madge's stiff reply, "but I believe I should." + +"Won't you promise me that you will not tell the other girls?" Miss +Jones whispered, as they crossed the deck and came to the door of their +little cabin. "I am not asking you to do anything wrong, only asking +you to trust me and believe that I do not think I am doing a wrong by +not taking you into my confidence." + +"Very well, I will keep your secret," returned Madge slowly. "I do not +wish you to leave us, Miss Jones. I wish you to stay and take care of +us, just as you planned to do." + +"You are only saying that, dear, because you know I have no other place +to go for my holiday, and you are afraid my health will suffer. You +must not think of my health. I can not stay with you just for my own +sake." + +"Then stay for ours," said Madge shortly, and without further words she +went into the cabin and climbed into her berth. + +Sleep was far from weighing down her eyelids. She lay awake for some +time, wondering why clouds and distrust should so often spring up among +human beings when everything seemed arranged for their perfect +happiness. + +She generously made up her mind, however, never to trouble their +chaperon with questions about her mysterious visitor, but she +determined to discover for herself who that boy was, and whether he had +come aboard the boat to rob them. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THEIR UNKNOWN JAILER + +"Madge Morton, what do you mean sleeping until seven o'clock, the first +morning we are on our houseboat?" cried Phil, poking her head in the +cabin door. "I would have awakened you before now, only Miss Jones +would not let me. Lillian and Eleanor have been waiting for you in +their bathing suits for a long while. Do let's have a salt water +plunge before breakfast." + +Springing from her berth, Madge made a dash for her bathing suit, which +she had laid out the night before. + +The girls were over the side of the boat in a hurry, swimming about in +the water with gleeful shouts. The odor of frying bacon, which was +presently wafted to their nostrils from the door of the houseboat +kitchen, was something the bathers were too hungry to resist, and with +one accord, they swam toward their boat. + +It had been arranged that Miss Jones was to get the breakfast, Lillian +and Eleanor the luncheon, and Phil and Madge, who were the most +ambitious of the cooks, though not the most proficient, were to cook +the dinner. + +Madge noticed that Miss Jones looked whiter than usual, but the other +girls saw no difference in their chaperon as they clambered up over the +side of the boat to get ready for breakfast. + +"Girls," Miss Jones remarked, as she put down a big plate of corn +muffins before her hungry charges, "Phil accused me once of being +mysterious and never talking about myself. Well, I am going to make a +confession about myself at once." + +Madge raised her eyes in surprise. After all, was Miss Jones going to +tell of last night's adventure? But the chaperon was not looking at +her. She was smiling at Phil, Lillian and Eleanor. + +"Well, out with it, Miss Jones," laughed Phil. "What is the +confession?" + +"It is a foolish one, perhaps. I hate the name of 'Jones.' I have +despised it all my life. There, that is my confession. Won't you +girls please call me something else while we are having our holiday +together? I know Madge can find a name for me." She looked rather +timidly at Madge. + +The girl blushed, though she felt vastly relieved at Miss Jones's +confession. "What do you wish us to call you? I saw your initials in +some of your books, 'J. A. Jones,' so we might call you Jenny Ann +Jones, because, when Nellie and I were children, we used to play an old +nursery game: 'We're going to see Miss Jenny Ann Jones, Miss Jenny Ann +Jones, and how is she to-day?'" Madge's explanation ended with a song. + +Miss Jones laughed. "My name is worse than Jenny Ann, it is Jemima +Ann." + +"It isn't pretty," agreed Phyllis, with a shake of the head. "Girls, +what shall we call our chaperon? And we have never named our +houseboat, either. We have a day's work ahead of us. We must think of +names for both of them." + +"Wouldn't 'Miss Ann' do?" Eleanor asked. + +"I think Ann is such a pretty name." + +"I would rather you had a more individual name for me. I have often +been called Ann." + +"You might be the 'Queen of our Ship of Dreams,'" laughed Lillian. + +"That sounds altogether too high and mighty," objected Phyllis. "We +ought to have something nice and chummy." + +"We might call you 'Gem,' because it is short for Jemima, and in honor +of these corn muffins, which we call 'gems' in our part of the world," +added Phil. "We'll think of a name yet. Come on, girls, we must get +to work; there is so much to be done. Lillian, you and I must go up to +the farmhouse to get some supplies this morning. Suppose we take a +long walk this afternoon and explore the woods back of us?" + +"We will think of the prettiest name we can for you and another for our +houseboat," declared Lillian as the four girls rose from the table to +go about their various tasks; "then we shall make our report to-night." + +It was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon when the four churns +started on their walk. Miss Jones did not go with them. She was tired +and wished to sit out on the deck of the boat in the sunshine. + +"Be back before dark, children," she called out gayly as the girls +climbed up the little embankment. "Remember, you don't know your way +in this country, as you do at old Harborpoint. I shall be uneasy about +you if you aren't back on time." + +There were several scattered farmhouses at the top of the hill that +sloped down to the cove of the bay, but back of the farmlands lay a +long stretch of forest. The ground was covered with a carpet of wild +flowers and a few late violets. + +Once the chums were fairly in the heart of the woods they did not meet +another traveler. They seemed to have the forest to themselves. They +had no thought of danger in the quiet woods, and Madge and Eleanor, who +had been brought up in the country, were careful to watch the paths +they followed. + +They had been in the woods for an hour or more when Lillian, who was +stooping over a clump of big, purple violets, thought she heard a +peculiar sound resembling light footsteps, Whether there was a human +being or an animal near them she could not tell. The footsteps would +run rapidly and then stop abruptly. + +"Phil," called Lillian, "I thought I heard something. Did you? Listen +once more. There, did you hear that?" + +Phil listened. "Not a sound, Airy Fairy Lillian. It must have been +your fancy." + +But Lillian was not convinced. Several times she believed she heard +the noise again. However, she did not mention it. + +As the girls came out of the woods to a little clearing Phil, who was +in the lead, ran forward. "Madge, Eleanor," she called, "come here, +quick! I am sure this must be a regular, old-time log cabin." + +Before them the girls saw an old cabin that looked as though it had +been empty for a quarter of a century. It was strongly built of logs, +and the chinks between the logs were filled with mud that had hardened +like plaster. There were no windows in the cabin, except in the eaves. +The heavy door was half open, but it had an old-fashioned wooden latch +on the outside. + +"The old cabin looks rather creepy, doesn't it, Madge?" asked Eleanor. +"It is built more securely than our cabins farther down south, too. +This place seems more like a prison." + +"It looks interesting. Let's go in to see it." Phil suggested. + +The cabin stood in front of a stream of clear water. Close around it +grew a number of dark old cedar trees. + +Phil and Madge shoved open the heavy door. Inside, the one large room +looked gray and dark, as the only light came from the two small windows +so far overhead. + +"I would rather not go in, Madge," protested Eleanor, hesitating on the +threshold after Lillian had followed the other two girls inside. + +"Don't be a baby, Eleanor," scolded Madge. "There is nothing to hurt +you." + +Once inside the old house, Eleanor was as much interested as her chums. +There was no furniture in the place, but a few faded pictures were +tacked up on the walls, and the corners of the room were thick with +mysterious and inviting shadows. + +As they clustered in a group under an old magazine picture of a darkey +with a fiddle in his hand there was an unexpected sound just outside +the door, and the big room grew suddenly darker. + +The four girls turned simultaneously. + +The heavy door through which they had entered the cabin, and which was +the only entrance, had been shut fast. At the same instant there was +the sound of a heavy, sliding bolt, then the rush of flying feet. + +For the moment no one of the girls realized the seriousness of what had +happened. + +"Some one must have locked us in for a joke," declared Phil stoutly. + +Madge ran to the door and shook it with all her strength. It was built +of heavy logs, and, though the girls could see the daylight through the +cracks between the timbers, the door showed no sign of opening. + +"Don't work so hard, Madge," remonstrated Phil. "Whoever shut us in +will come back in a moment to unfasten the bolt." + +The girls waited a long time. No one returned. + +"Perhaps the person who closed the door did not know there was any one +in the cabin," suggested Eleanor faintly. + +"But we were all talking, Nellie. No one but a deaf person could have +failed to hear us," Lillian insisted. + +Eleanor realized the truth of the words. + +"Don't be frightened, Nellie," begged Madge remorsefully. "Let's all +push against the door at the same time. I am sure we shall be able to +break the bolt. One, two, three! Now--all together!" + +The four girls shoved with all their might, until their arms ached and +their faces perspired from the exertion. Still the old door resisted +them. Perhaps Eleanor was right and the log house had been built as a +prison. + +"I think we had better call for help," was Phil's practical suggestion. +"If we all scream together, we ought to make considerable noise. I am +afraid Miss Jones may become worried about us before any one comes to +let us out." + +The girls called and called, until their voices were hoarse, but no one +answered them. Each girl remembered that she had not met a single +person in her journey through the woods. + +Then the prisoners made a trip around the big room, poking and peering +about to see if there were any other possible method of escape. + +"If I could only get up to one of those windows, I could easily break +the bars and try to jump out of it," speculated Madge aloud. "But, +alas, I am not a monkey! I can't climb straight up the side of a wall." + +"You shall not try it, either," retorted Eleanor determinedly. "You +would break your neck if you tried to jump from one of those high +windows. Thank goodness, you can't climb up to them!" + +"You were the wise one, Nell, and we wouldn't listen to you." Madge +eyed Eleanor mournfully. She had an overwhelming desire to burst into +tears. + +"Don't take it so to heart, Madge," comforted her cousin. "Some one is +sure to come this way finally, if we only call long enough." + +But the afternoon shadows lengthened and no one came. Gradually the +twilight fell, enveloping the big, bare room in hazy darkness. The +prisoners huddled together with white and weary faces. They thought of +their cosy houseboat with the little lamps lit in the dining room, and +the big lantern hanging in the bow, and of Miss Jones, who by this time +was no doubt anxiously waiting and watching for their return. + +It was perhaps eight o'clock, although to the girls it seemed midnight, +when Lillian whispered: + +"Girls, I hear some one coming this way. Phil was right; it was a +joke, after all. Whoever locked the door has come back to unlock it." + +The girls smiled hopefully. After all, their experience did not amount +to anything. They would be back inside the houseboat in another hour. + +The footsteps now sounded plainly just outside the cabin door. + +"Won't you please unbar the door for us?" called Phil and Madge in +chorus. "Some one has locked us inside." + +An elfish laugh answered them. Or was it the wind? Perhaps they had +heard no one after all. They strained their ears but heard no further +sound. Then the last bit of twilight vanished and night came down in +reality. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AN ANXIOUS NIGHT + +Huddled together in the darkness, Phil and Madge endeavored to relieve +the strain of the situation by talking, but the very sound of their +voices dismayed them and they became silent. Finally Eleanor, who had +been leaning against Madge's shoulder, laid her head in her cousin's +lap and went to sleep. A little later Lillian, after receiving Madge's +assurance that she and Phil intended to keep watch, went to sleep also. + +"Madge," Phil's voice trembled a little, "what do you suppose poor Miss +Jones will think? She won't have the least idea in which direction to +look for us. Goodness knows how long we may have to stay here. We may +never get out." Her voice sank to a whisper. + +"Why, Phil," Madge feigned a hopefulness which she did not feel, "I am +surprised at you. You haven't given up hope. It is just the darkness +and being hungry that makes things appear so dreadful. I have been +thinking about our plight, and when daylight comes I am going to try to +climb up the wall to the window. The mud has broken away between some +of the logs, so that I can get my foot in the opening. We shall have +to dig it away in other places too." + +"But what can we dig with, Madge? We haven't a knife." + +"With our fingers and hairpins, if we must, Phil. Sh-sh, Nellie is +waking. I want her to sleep on till daylight." + +Toward morning, however, the two girls' eyes closed wearily. In spite +of their resolve to keep awake, the gray dawn creeping in at the +windows found them fast asleep. It was Phil who first opened her eyes. +She touched Madge, who sat up with a start, then springing to her feet +exclaimed, "I'm so glad it's morning. Now for my great circus stunt." + +"You can't possibly climb up there without hurting yourself, Madge. +You will surely fall," expostulated Eleanor. "Please, please don't try +it." + +"Please don't discourage me, Nellie. It is the only way I know to get +out of this dreadful place. Phil, if you will try to brace me, I can +climb up and dig in the mud farther up." + +Eleanor was feeling down in her pocket. Suddenly she gave a little cry +of surprise. "O, girls! I have something that may help. Here is a +little pair of scissors. You can dig with them, Madge." + +The girls hailed the scissors with exclamations of joy. They were very +small embroidery scissors, but they were better than nothing. + +Lillian, who was bent on a foraging expedition around the room, came +back a moment later with a few big, rusty nails and an old brick she +had picked up out of the tumbled down fireplace. "If you can hammer +these nails in the wall, Madge, you will have something to hold on to +as you climb." + +For two hours Madge alternately dug and climbed. In each hole that she +made between the big logs she would set her foot, then hammer a nail +above her head and dig a new opening. At last she actually did climb +up the side of the wall, but her hands were scratched and bleeding, and +her hair and face were covered with mud. She had taken off her dress +skirt, too, as she could climb better in her petticoat. + +The three girls below held their breath when she came to the final +stretch, and let go the last rickety nail to fling herself on to the +window sill. + +"Eureka, girls!" she called down cheerfully, when she got her breath. +She was holding tightly to the window frame with both hands and +endeavoring to make her voice sound gay, though she was nearly worn out +with the fatigue of her dangerous climb. "Now I shall surely find a +way out for us. Please don't be frightened, Nellie, darling, if I have +to jump. It is not so bad." She gave a little inward shudder as she +looked through the tiny window frame. She could easily wrench the +broken bars away. That was not the trouble. But the window was so +small and the sill so narrow that Madge realized she could not get into +the proper position for a forward spring. However, she had made up her +mind; she might break her leg, or her arm, but she would open that +barred door if she died in doing it. + +With determined hands she wrenched at one of the window bars. It gave +way. She seized hold of another, clinging to the sill with her other +hand, her feet in their insecure resting places. + +"It's all right, chilluns," she smiled, as she swung herself up to the +window, "I'm going to jump." + +Eleanor had closed her eyes. Phil and Lillian watched their friend, +sick with apprehension. + +Madge gave one look down at the ground, at least fourteen feet below +her. Then she uttered a quick, sharp cry, and dropped back to her +resting place, her feet, almost by instinct, finding the open spaces in +the wall. + +"Come down, Madge," called Phil sharply. "I was afraid you'd find the +distance too great. Don't try it again." + +"No, no, it is not that," replied Madge, gazing through the window. "I +don't believe I shall have to jump. I am sure some one is near." + +Sniffing the ground, near the side of the cabin, she had spied a dog +with a soft brown nose, a shaggy, red brown body and a tail standing +out tense and straight. It was a brown setter, and Madge knew he was +probably hunting for woodchucks. Surely the presence of the dog meant +a master somewhere near. + +Her tired, eager eyes strained through the thick foliage of the woods +they had traversed so happily only the afternoon before. + +Yes, there was a man's figure! He was coming nearer. A young man in a +hunting jacket, with a gun swung over his shoulder, was tramping along, +with his eyes on the ground. + +A pleading voice apparently came from the sky: "Please unbar the door +of this old cabin. We are locked inside." + +The young man stopped short. He took off his cap and ran his hand +through his thick, light hair. He was too old to believe in fairies or +elves. But he heard the voice again even more distinctly. "Oh, don't +go away! Do open the log cabin door." + +The young man looked up. There was a little, white face as wan and +pale as the early daylight, with an aureole of dark red curls around +it, staring at him through the broken window frame of the old log cabin +that he had seen deserted a dozen times in his hunting trips through +these woods. + +"If there is some one really calling to me, please wave your hand three +times from that window, so I will know you are not a spook," called the +young man, "otherwise I may be afraid to open the door." + +"I can't wave. I shall fall if I let go the window sill," answered +Madge, trying to keep from bursting into tears. "Please don't wait any +longer. We have been locked in all night." + +The stranger drew back the heavy wooden bolt. He started when he saw +three white-faced girls staring at him. But the face he had seen at +the window was not among them. Clinging to the old window frame, her +slender feet stuck in the cracks between the logs, was the witch who +had summoned him to their rescue. + +"Won't you please come help me down, Phil?" asked a plaintive voice. + +"Just let go the window frame and drop," ordered the stranger quietly. +"Don't be afraid. It is the only possible way." + +Without hesitating Madge did as directed. "Thank you," she said +coolly, when she got her breath. Then she staggered a little, and +Phyllis and the young man who had come to their rescue caught her. + +"We have been locked in so long," explained Phil. "No, we have not the +least idea who could have played such a trick on us. We arrived in +this neighborhood only yesterday afternoon." + +Phil gave a short history of the houseboat, introducing her three +friends and herself to him. "We must return to our chaperon at once," +she added. "The poor woman will be dreadfully worried. Do you girls +feel strong enough to walk? You see"--this time Phil turned to their +rescuer--"it is not only that we have been shut up here for nearly +fourteen hours, we are so hungry! We have had nothing to eat since +yesterday at luncheon." + +"Your poor, starving girls!" exclaimed their liberator, reproachfully. +"At last I am convinced you are not fairies. And for once I am glad +that my mother is always certain that I am on the point of starving." + +He reached back into his pocket and brought out a package and a flask. +"Here is some good, strong coffee. I am sorry it is cold, but it is +better than nothing." He turned to Madge, who looked exhausted. + +She shook her head, though she gazed at the flask wistfully. "I won't +drink first. I don't need it as much as the other girls." + +Eleanor took the bottle from his hands and held it to Madge's lips. +The exhausted girl took a long drink. Then the others followed suit, +while the young man watched them, smiling with satisfaction. He was +tall and strong, and not particularly handsome, but he had fine brown +eyes, a firm chin and thick, curly, light hair. After the girls had +finished the coffee he broke open his package of sandwiches and found +exactly four inside. + +"Please take them," he urged, handing the open package to Lillian. + +"We mustn't take them from you," protested Lillian. "We thank you for +the coffee. That will do nicely until we get back to our boat." + +The stranger laughed. "See here," he protested, "not an hour ago, when +I left the hotel, where my mother and I are spending the summer, I ate +three eggs, much bacon, four Maryland biscuit and drank two cups of +coffee. Fragile creature that I am, I believe I can exist on that +amount of refreshment for another hour or so. But whenever I go out on +a few hours' hunting trip, my mother insists that the steward at the +hotel put me up a luncheon. She is forever imagining that I am likely +to get lost and starve, a modern 'Babe in the Woods,' you know. By the +way, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Curtis, Thomas Stevenson +Curtis, if you please, but I am more used to plain, everyday Tom." + +The girls acknowledged the introduction, then by common consent they +began walking away from the cabin. + +A short distance was traversed in silence, then Madge said abruptly, +"Who do you suppose locked us in, Mr. Curtis?" + +"I don't know," answered Tom Curtis darkly, clenching his fist. "But +wouldn't I like to find out! Have you an enemy about here?" + +Madge shook her head. "No; as I said, we came to the neighborhood only +yesterday. We have met only the farmer and his wife, who allowed us to +land." + +"I'll make it my business to find out who served you such a dastardly +trick, Miss Morton," Tom returned. "I expect to be in this +neighborhood all summer. My mother isn't very well, and we like this +quiet place. Our home is in New York. I was a freshman last year at +Columbia." + +Only the day before Tom Curtis had informed his mother that he found +the neighborhood too slow, and that if she didn't object he would be +glad to move on. But a great deal can happen in a short time to make a +young man of twenty change his mind. + +"Thank you," replied Madge sedately. "I'll be on the lookout for the +wretch, too. Now we must hurry back to our chaperon, Miss Jones. I +won't ask you to come with us this morning, but we shall be very glad +to have you come aboard our boat to-morrow. We haven't named her yet, +but she is so white and clean and new looking that you can't possibly +mistake her. She is lying on an arm of the bay just south of these +woods." + +"I'll surely avail myself of the invitation," smiled Tom Curtis as they +paused for a moment at the edge of the woods. Below them the blue +waters of the bay gleamed in the sunshine. And yes, there was their +beloved "Ship of Dreams." + +"Oh, you can see her from here!" exclaimed Madge, her eyes dancing with +the pride of possession. "See, Mr. Curtis, it is our very own 'Ship of +Dreams' until we give her a real name." + +"She's a beauty," said Tom Curtis warmly, "and I really must have a +closer look at her." + +"Then come to see us soon," invited Phil audaciously. + +"I will, you may be certain of it. Good-bye. I hope you won't suffer +any bad effects from your strenuous night." The young man raised his +cap and, whistling to his dog, strode off down the hill. + +"What a nice boy," commented Lillian. + +Madge, however, was not thinking of Tom Curtis; her mind dwelt upon +their chaperon, and the long, anxious night she had spent alone on the +houseboat. + +Poor Miss Jones! Her vigil had indeed been a patient one. From the +time the hands of the little cabin clock had pointed to the hour of six +she had anxiously awaited the girls. She had cooked the dinner, then +set it in the oven to warm. At seven o'clock she trudged up the hill +to the farmhouse to make inquiries. No one had seen the young women +since they passed through the fields early that afternoon. At nine +o'clock a party of farmers scoured the country side, but the extreme +darkness of the night had caused the young men to discontinue their +search until daylight. + +At dawn Miss Jones flung herself down on her berth, utterly exhausted. +She would rest until the search party started out again, then she would +hurry to the nearest town and inform the authorities of the strange +disappearance of the girls. As she lay with half-closed eyes trying to +imagine just what could possibly have happened to her charges, a +familiar call broke upon her ears that caused her to spring up from her +berth in wonder. + +"We've come to see Miss Jennie Ann Jones," caroled a voice, and in the +next instant the bewildered teacher was surrounded by four tired but +smiling girls. + +"We were locked up all night in a log cabin in the woods," began Madge. +"Do say you are glad to see us and give us some breakfast, Miss Jennie +Ann Jones, for we were never so hungry in all our lives before, and as +soon as we have something to eat, we'll tell you the strangest story +you ever heard." + +With her arm thrown across the teacher's shoulders Madge made her way +to the houseboat, followed by her friends. At that moment, to the +little, impulsive girl, Miss Jennie Ann Jones seemed particularly dear, +in spite of her mysterious ways, and Madge made mental resolve to try +to believe in their chaperon, no matter what happened. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE GIRL ON THE ISLAND + +"Phil, it looks like only a little more than half a mile over to the +island. Do you think we can make it?" asked Madge, casting speculative +eyes toward the distant island. + +"Of course we can," declared Phyllis. "I'm sorry that Eleanor and Miss +Jones did not come with us. But they have become so domestic that they +can't be persuaded to leave the houseboat. Nelly told me she +positively loved to polish kettles and things," Phil replied. + +Lillian, Phyllis and Madge were in their own rowboat, the "Water +Witch," which had been expressed to them from Harborpoint. They were +no longer in the quiet inlet of the bay, where their houseboat was +anchored, but rowing out toward the more open water. On one side of +them they could see the beach in front of a large summer hotel. Across +from it lay a small island, to which they were rowing. + +"Miss Jones doesn't like to have us start off alone this way. She has +grown dreadfully nervous about us since our experience in the cabin," +remarked Lillian. "That is why she didn't approve of Madge's plan this +morning." + +"I thought Madge was going to fly into little bits when Miss Jones +suggested it was not safe for us to row about here in our own little +'Water Witch,'" teased Phil. + +"Phil, please don't discuss my temper," answered Madge crossly. "If +there is one thing I hate worse than another, it is to hear people talk +about my faults. Of course, I know I have a perfectly detestable +temper, but I hardly said a word to Miss Jenny Ann. Please tell me +what fun we could have on our holiday if we never dared to go ten feet +away from the houseboat?" + +"None whatever," answered Lillian, "only you needn't be so cross with +Phil and me. We were not discussing your faults. You are altogether +too ready to become angry over a trifle." There was indignation and +reproof in Lillian's tone. + +Madge plied her oars in silence. She knew that she had behaved badly. +"Isn't it exactly like me?" she thought to herself. "If I am sweet and +agreeable one minute, and feel pleased with myself, I can surely count +on doing something disagreeable the next. Now I have made Lillian and +Phil cross with me and probably have hurt Miss Jenny Ann's feelings and +spoiled this beautiful day for us all." + +Eleanor's soft voice broke in upon her self-arraignment. "Don't +squabble, girls. The day is altogether too perfect. None of you are +really cross. Now, are you?" + +Three pairs of eyes met hers, then the little dispute ended in a +general laugh. + +Madge and Phil rowed faster than ever after this little falling out. +They could see the shores of Fisherman's Island not far ahead, with +several dories and small fishing craft anchored along the banks. They +were heading toward an open beach, where there was no sign of life. + +"Girls, look out!" warned Lillian. She was sitting in the bow of their +skiff, and could see another rowboat moving toward them, the two pairs +of oars rising and falling in perfect accord. The boat was so close to +them that Lillian was afraid Phil and Madge might cross oars with it. +But as the other boat glided smoothly up alongside of their skiff, the +oars were drawn swiftly inboard, almost before the girls knew what had +happened. + +"I suppose you don't speak to people on the water whom you might be +persuaded to notice on land," called Tom Curtis reproachfully. + +"O Mr. Curtis! how do you do?" laughed Madge. "You see, we are not +possessed with eyes in the backs of our heads, or we should have +recognized you. Goodness gracious! If there isn't my cousin, Jack +Bolling! I never dreamed you knew him. Why didn't you tell me? Jack, +where did you come from?" + +Tom looked at Jack, and Jack looked at Tom. "Age before beauty, Mr. +Curtis," bowed Jack. "You answer first." + +"To tell you the solemn truth, I did not know your cousin until this +morning," Tom explained. "But when I saw a not specially bad-looking +fellow mooning about our hotel as though lost I went over and spoke to +him. It wasn't long before I found out he knew you young ladies. I +told him about meeting you in the woods the other day, and we shook +hands on it. Now, Bolling, it is your turn. How did you happen to +turn up in this particular place?" + +Jack was apparently looking at Lillian and Madge, but he had really +glanced first at Phyllis Alden, to see how she had borne the shock of +his presence. Jack had guessed correctly that Phyllis did not like +him. To tell the truth, she looked anything but pleased. She did not +like boys. She could do most of the things they could, and they were, +to her mind, a nuisance. They were always on hand, trying to help and +to pretend that girls were weaker than they were in order to domineer +over them. The worst of it was, Madge, Lillian and Eleanor might think +the newcomers would add to the fun. So, though Phyllis did not mean to +be rude either to Tom or to Jack, she was far from enthusiastic, and +could not help showing it. + +"Of course, I had to come down to see what your houseboat looked like +after I got your note telling me where you were," explained Jack. "I +knew there was a hotel near here, so, as soon as school closed, I ran +down for a few days to see how you were getting on. You see, I was +really very much interested in the houseboat." Jack made this last +remark directly to Phyllis. She merely glanced carelessly away in the +opposite direction. + +"We rowed up from the hotel to the houseboat, but we couldn't see a +soul aboard. 'The ship was still as still could be,'" declared Tom. +"Then we started for a row and found you." There was no doubt that Tom +was looking straight at Madge. + +"We are rowing over to the island," remarked Lillian graciously. + +"How strange! We were going over there, too, weren't we, Mr. Bolling?" +quizzed Tom. + +"Then catch us if you can!" challenged Phyllis. With a sign to Madge +the two girls began rowing their boat through the water with the speed +of an arrow. The first spurt told, for the island was not far away, +and the girls' boat grated on the beach before the boys had time to +land. But Tom and Jack did jump out and run through the water to pull +the "Water Witch" ashore, much to Phil's disgust. + +"I really have an errand to do on this island, Miss Morton," continued +Tom, as the party started up the beach. "I wanted first to ask you if +I could bring my mother to call on you and your chaperon this +afternoon? I am awfully anxious to have an all-day sailing party +to-morrow. And I thought perhaps you and your friends and chaperon +would go with us? There is an old fellow over here who takes people +out sailing, and I am anxious to have a talk with him. Don't think I +am such a duffer that I can't sail a boat myself, but my mother is so +nervous about the water that I take a professional sailor along to keep +her from worrying. She has had a great deal to make her nervous," Tom +ended. "I wonder if you and your friends would mind walking over to +the other side of the island with me to see this man? It is not a long +walk." + +The party started off, Phyllis keeping strictly in the background. +Madge walked with Tom and Lillian with Jack, so she felt a little out +of it. + +"If you don't mind," she proposed, after the party had walked a few +yards, "I will sit down here on the beach and wait until you come back +from your talk with the sailor man. I will stay right here, so you can +find me when you return." + +Phil found herself a comfortable, flat rock, and sat looking idly out +over the bay. Gradually she fell into a little reverie. + +A sudden cry of pain roused Phil from her daydream. Springing to her +feet, she rushed down the beach, seeing nothing, but following the +direction of the cry. Rounding a curve of the beach she came upon a +dirty, half-tumbled down tent. In front of it stood a burly man with +both hands on the shoulders of a young girl, whom he was shaking +violently. So intent was he upon what he was doing, he did not notice +Phil approaching. She saw him shove the girl inside the tent and close +the outside flap. "Now, stay in there till you git tired of it," he +growled as he turned and walked away. + +A sound of low sobbing greeted Phil's ears as she came up in front of +the tent and stood waiting, hardly knowing what to do. The sobs +continued, with a note of pain in them that went straight to Phil's +tender heart. The sight or sound of physical suffering made a special +appeal to her. It was Phyllis's secret ambition some day to study +medicine, an ambition which she had confided to no one save Madge. +Although the figure she had seen was almost that of a woman, the +sobbing sounded like that of a child. There was no other noise in the +tent, so Phil knew the girl was alone. + +"Won't you please come out?" she called softly, not knowing what else +to do or say. "Tell me what is grieving you so. I am only a girl like +yourself, and I would like to help you." + +"I dare not come out," the other girl answered. "My father said I must +stay in here." + +Phil opened the flap of the old tent and walked inside. "What is the +matter?" she inquired gently, bending over the figure lying on the +ground and trying to lift her. + +The girl sat up and pushed back her unkempt hair. She had a deep, +glowing scar just over her temple. But her hair was a wonderful color, +and only once before Phil remembered having seen eyes so deeply blue. + +"Why," Phil exclaimed with a start of surprise, "I have seen you +somewhere before. Don't you remember me?" + +The girl shook her head. "I do not remember anything," she answered +quietly. + +"But I saw you on the canal boat. Your father was the man who helped +us secure our houseboat. What are you doing here?" + +"We have come here for many years, I think," the girl answered +confusedly. "In the early spring my father catches shad along the bay. +Then all summer he takes people out sailing from the big place over +there." She pointed across the water in the direction of the hotel. +"Our boat is on the other side of the island." The girl clasped her +head in her long, sun-burned hands. "It is there that it hurts," she +declared, touching the ugly, jagged scar. + +Phil gave a little, sympathetic cry and put her hand on the girl's +shoulder. + +"When I work a long time in the sun my head hurts," the girl went on +listlessly. "I have been washing all day on the beach. I came up here +to hide, and my father found me. He was angry because I had stopped +work." + +"Did he strike you?" Phil cried in horror, gazing at the slender, +delicate creature and thinking of the rough, coarse man. + +"Not this time," the girl replied. "Sometimes they strike me and then +I am afraid. Only there is one thing I shall never, never do, no +matter how much they beat me. I can not remember everything, but I +know that I will not do this one thing." + +"What is it?" asked Phil. "Whom do you mean by 'they,' and what do +'they' wish you to do?" + +The girl shook her head. "I can not tell you." She shuddered, and +Phil felt she had no right to insist on knowing. + +"I like to hide in this tent," the girl went on sorrowfully. "I come +here whenever I can get away from the others. I would like to stay +here always. But, now he has found me, there is no place where I can +rest." + +"Have you a mother, or brothers and sisters?" Phil asked. + +"There is the man's second wife, but she is not my mother. She has +many little children. I think I must be very old. I seem to have +lived such a long time." + +"Can't you remember your own mother?" Phil inquired. + +The girl shook her head mournfully. "I can remember nothing," she said +again. "Don't go," she begged, as Phil rose to leave her. "I have +never known a girl like you before." + +"I must go," answered Phil regretfully. "My friends will be waiting +for me up the beach, and they will not know where to find me. Won't +you come to see me and my friends? We are spending our holiday on a +houseboat not very far from here. We would love to have you come." + +"I am not allowed to leave the island or to go among people," the girl +replied. "My father says I have no sense. So, if I wander away, or +talk to strangers, people will think that I am crazy and shut me up in +some dreadful, dark place." + +Tears of sympathy rose to Phyllis's eyes. She wished Madge and the +other girls were with her. It was too dreadful to think of this lovely +creature frightened into submission by her cruel father. "We will come +to see you, then," she said gently. "And I will bring you something to +keep your head from aching. My father is a physician, and he will tell +me what I must give you. I will bring my friends to the island with +me. Whenever you can get away, come to this tent and we will try to +find you. We shall have good times together, and some day we may be +able to help you. You know how to write, don't you? Then, if you are +ever in trouble or danger, leave a note under this old piece of carpet. +Now good-bye." + +The girl stood in the door of her tent to watch Phyllis on her way. +She stared intently after her until her visitor turned the curve of the +beach and was lost to view, then, leaning her head against the side of +the tent, she burst forth into low, despairing sobs. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN EXCITING RACE + +Eleanor and Miss "Jenny Ann," as the girls seemed inclined to call +their chaperon, had not remained on the houseboat merely to polish the +pots and pans. They had a special surprise and plan of their own on +hand. + +It was all very well for Phyllis to dream of a houseboat, with its +decks lined with flowers, and for Madge to draw a beautiful plan of it +on paper. Flowers do not grow except where they are planted. + +So it was in order to turn gardeners that Eleanor and Miss Jones stayed +at home. Flowers enough to encircle the deck of a houseboat would cost +almost as much money as the four girls had in their treasury to keep +them supplied with food and coal. But the gently sloping Maryland +fields were abloom with daisies. A farmer's lad could be hired for a +dollar to dig up the daisies and to bring a wagon load of dirt to the +boat. The day before Eleanor had engaged the services of a carpenter +to make four boxes, which exactly fitted the sides of the little upper +deck of the houseboat above the cabin. An hour or so after the girls +departed on their rowing excursion the daisies were brought aboard, +planted, and held up their heads bravely. They were such sturdy, hardy +little flowers that they did not wither with homesickness at the change +in their environment. + +But still Eleanor was not entirely satisfied. In Phil's dream and +Madge's picture of the boat vines had drooped gracefully over the sides +of the deck, and Eleanor had no vines to plant. Eleanor had a natural +gift for making things about her lovely and homelike. So she thought +and thought. Wild honeysuckle vines were growing in the fields with +the daisies. They were just the things to clamber over the white +railing of the deck and to hang gracefully over the sides. Their +perfume would fill the little floating dwelling with their fragrance. + +By noon the transformation was complete. Eleanor persuaded Miss Jones +to go for a walk while she got the luncheon. Madge, Phil and Lillian +had solemnly promised to be at home by one o'clock. Another surprise +was in store for them. In the bow of their boat Eleanor had hung up a +flag. On a background of white broadcloth, stitched in bands of blue, +was the legend "Merry Maid." This was Eleanor Butler's chosen name for +the houseboat, and had been voted the best possible selection, while +Madge had been unanimously voted captain of their little ship. Eleanor +had sent to the town for the flag, and even their chaperon was not to +know of its arrival. + +One would hardly have known Miss Jenny Ann Jones--a week in the fresh +air had done her so much good. Then, too, Phil and Lillian had +persuaded her to cease to wear her heavy, light hair in an English bun +at the back of her neck. Lillian had plaited it in two great braids +and had coiled it around her head like a dull golden coronet. She had +a faint color in her cheeks, and, instead of looking cross and tired, +she was as merry and almost as light-hearted as the girls. The lines +of her head were really beautiful, and her sallow skin was fast +becoming clear and healthy. For once in her life Miss Jones looked no +older than her twenty-six years. Eleanor watched her as she started +off on her walk dressed in white, carrying a red parasol, and decided +that Miss Jones was really pretty. Since her advent among the girls +she had begun to look at life from a different standpoint. She had +almost ceased worrying and she meant to grow well and strong if she +could. Since her mysterious visitor the first night she spent aboard +the boat nothing had happened to disturb her. She walked slowly on, so +occupied with her own thoughts she did not notice that she was in a +lane between two fields enclosed by fences. Some one called to her. +She could not distinguish the voice. It called and called again. She +thought it must be one of the girls who had come out in the field to +meet her. As there was no one looking, Miss Jones managed to climb +over the rail fence, and now she walked in the direction from which the +sound of the voice came. After a time the voice ceased. It was a +shorter stroll to the boat across this field, so the teacher went +leisurely on. In a far corner of the meadow she saw an odd object +unlike anything she had ever seen. It consisted of two sticks that +looked like the legs of a scarecrow which had a square board fastened +in front of them. From between the sticks were two other brown +objects, long and thin, and behind it sat a young man busily engaged in +transferring the peaceful scene to canvas. Miss Jones was gazing +curiously at this object, with her red parasol hung over her shoulder, +so that it was impossible for her to see anything behind her. But she +did hear an unusual noise--a snort, then a bellow--the sound was +unmistakable. With a sense of sickening terror she gave one horrified +glance behind her. She had been mysteriously lured into a field where +a bull was loose. It never occurred to Miss Jones to throw away her +red parasol. She ran on, waving it wildly over her shoulders, +maddening the enraged animal behind her. Miss Jones did not believe +she could run fast. Usually her breath was short, and even a rapid +walk fatigued her. Now she ran on and on. Once again she half heard a +mocking voice cry after her, but she paid no attention to it. In her +fright she was also oblivious to the fact that the strange object in +the corner of the field fell to the ground with a bang, while a man +sitting on a stool behind it rose to right his overturned canvas. +"Drop it, drop it!" he shouted, running after Miss Jones and repeatedly +urging her to throw away her bright red parasol. + +Madge, Phil and Lillian had come back to the boat. After dancing in a +circle around Eleanor to express the rapture they felt in the +transformation she had wrought in their beloved houseboat, they stood +together on the deck, looking for the return of their chaperon along +the shore. + +Miss Jones thought there was a gate at the end of the field in which +she was running. She made for this gate, as she knew she would not +have time to get over the fence before the animal would be upon her. +In her terror she had but one idea, one hope, that was to reach the +safety of the gang-plank and to climb aboard the houseboat. + +While Miss Jones was running for her life the four chums were lingering +about the deck of the "Merry Maid" watching for her return. They +decided to take a short walk with the idea of meeting her and, leaving +their boat to take care of itself, strolled through the lane that led +to the very field Miss Jones had entered. All at once Lillian called +out in terror: + +"O girls! look! It's Miss Jones, and a bull is chasing her!" + +The four chums stood rooted to the spot. What could they do? They +felt powerless to help, yet not one of the girls believed Miss Jones +could save herself. + +Madge was the first to act. In her hand was a large white and green +striped umbrella. The girls had lately bought two of them to use out +on deck as a protection from the sun, and Madge had caught up one of +them as they started out. In the next instant she had climbed the +fence that separated her from the field in which the teacher was +running and was making for the frightened woman at the top of her speed. + +But by this time Miss Jones was completely exhausted. Summoning all +her will power, she staggered a few steps, then dropped to the ground, +with the bull not more than four yards behind her. + +On it came, its head lowered almost to the ground. Then a huge green +and white monster loomed up before the animal, and with a snort of +mingled rage and horror the bull stopped short in its tracks. The +strange green and white object now lunging at full tilt was far more +terrible than the small, red, flame-like object that fled its approach. +Rage conquering fear, the bull gave a dreadful roar and made a quick +lunge at Madge. She sprang to one side but managed to thrust her +umbrella full in the animal's face. With a rumble of defiance the bull +dodged the umbrella and made another lunge at Madge. Its lowered horns +never reached her. A rope swung skilfully forward caught the animal by +the leg just in time. One swift pull and the bull went down. The +owner of the animal had witnessed its charge upon Miss Jones and, +rushing across the field, had roped it. The artist who had attracted +Miss Jenny Ann's attention had also come to the rescue, but it was +really Madge with her green and white umbrella who had saved their +chaperon from the bull's horns. + +Miss Jones, who had raised herself to a sitting position, stared wildly +about her, still firmly clutching the red parasol. + +The artist sprang to her side and raised her to her feet. "It was this +that made the mischief," he said, touching her parasol. "I shouted to +you to drop it." + +"But I didn't hear you," defended the teacher faintly. Her two long +braids of fair hair had become unfastened and were now hanging down her +back, giving her the appearance of a girl. "I heard some one calling +to me, or I would never have entered that dreadful field." Miss Jones +eyed the artist reproachfully. "Was it you who shouted my name?" + +"Was it I?" repeated the young man in astonishment. "Certainly not. I +do not know your name." + +"My name is 'Jones,'" Miss Jenny Ann faltered weakly. She was still +feeling dazed and weak. + +"And my name is 'Brown,'" the artist answered, with an expression of +solemn gravity. But the corners of his lips twitched in amusement. + +There was a faint chuckle from Madge that went the round of the group +and, despite the fact that the chaperon's narrow escape had been far +from ludicrous, the whole party burst into laughter. + +"I am sorry," apologized the artist. "Please forgive me for laughing." + +The farmer had in the meantime led the bull away, and now Eleanor and +Lillian came running toward the group to see if Miss Jenny Ann were +truly hurt. When they saw the whole party shaking with laughter, the +two girls exchanged curious glances. "Luncheon has been waiting half +an hour," Eleanor declared rather crossly. "Do come and eat it. We +would not have come after you if we had known that you were having such +a good time." + +Madge glanced at their chaperon, then at the artist. He was evidently +a gentleman, and she recognized that he was possessed of a keen sense +of humor. It would seem rude and ungrateful to run away and leave him +just as their luncheon was announced, when he had raced all the way +across the meadow to assist in the rescue of their Miss Jenny Ann. + +"Won't you come and eat luncheon with us?" asked Madge boldly, fearing +their chaperon would be dreadfully shocked. + +The artist shook his head. "I'd like to accept your invitation if Miss +Jones will second it," he replied, looking at Miss Jenny Ann. + +"You would he delighted to have Mr. Brown take luncheon with us, Miss +Jenny Ann, wouldn't you?" Madge turned coaxing eyes upon their teacher. + +"I should be very ungracious if I were not," laughed their chaperon, +the color rising to her brown cheeks. "Mr. Brown will be a welcome +guest." + +And five minutes later Mr. Brown was triumphantly escorted aboard their +beloved "Merry Maid." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +AT THE MERCY OF THE WAVES + +"Don't you think it would be perfectly lovely to have a mother as rich +and beautiful as Mrs. Curtis?" asked Madge, as she tied a black velvet +ribbon about her auburn curls and turned her head to see the effect. +She and Phil were dressing for Tom Curtis's sailing party, to which he +had invited them the day before and which was to start within the next +hour. + +"Almost any mother is pretty nice, even if she isn't rich or +beautiful," answered Phil loyally. She was wearing a yachting suit of +navy blue while Madge was dressed in white serge. Eleanor, Lillian and +Miss Jones, clad in white linen gowns, were ready and waiting on the +houseboat deck for the arrival of the sailing party. True to his word, +Tom Curtis had brought his mother to call on the four girls the +afternoon of the day before. + +"I know," answered Madge slowly. "But sometimes, when I was a very +little girl, I liked to think that perhaps I was a princess in +disguise, and that Uncle and Aunt had never told me of it. I used to +look out of the window and wonder if some day a carriage would drive up +to hear me away to my royal home. That doesn't sound very practical, +does it? But, when one has no memory of father or mother, one can't +help dreaming things. Don't you think Mrs. Curtis is simply +beautiful?" Madge abruptly changed the subject. "Her hair is so soft +and white, and she has such a young face, but she looks as though she +were tired of everything. Persons who have that wonderful, world-weary +look are so interesting," finished Madge, with a sigh. "I am afraid I +shall never have that expression, because I never find time to get +tired of things." + +"Come on, Madge," laughed Phil. "You can mourn some other day over not +having an interesting expression." + +"Girls," called Lillian, "the Curtis's boat is coming." + +"In a minute," answered Madge, giving a final pat to her curls. + +"Do hurry along, children. The sailboat is nearly here." This time it +was Miss Jenny Ann's voice. "They signaled us several minutes ago. +They have several other persons on board." + +Mrs. Curtis and Tom signaled as they approached the "Merry Maid." +Their guests were the artist, whom the girls had met the day before, +Jack Bolling, and one or two strangers from the big summer hotel. Mike +Muldoon, the owner of the boats, had another sailor on board to help +him. Tom soon transferred the girls and their chaperon from their +craft to his. The party intended to sail down the coast to a point of +land known as Love Point and to eat their luncheon somewhere along the +shore. + +Mrs. Curtis sat across from Madge during their sailing trip, but every +now and then she would look over to laugh at one of the young girl's +amusing sallies. It was evident that the little captain of the "Merry +Maid" had found favor in her eyes. Mrs. Curtis had planned a dainty +luncheon, to which the steward at the hotel had given special +attention, even to the sending of a man to serve it. There were +delicious sandwiches of various kinds, chicken and Waldorf salads, +olives, salted nuts, individual ices sent down from Baltimore and +bonbons. It was quite the most elaborate luncheon the girls had ever +eaten and they were rather impressed with both it and the service. + +After luncheon the party sat for a long time on the clean, white sand, +laughing and talking gayly. It was a perfect day and everyone was in +the best possible spirits. Later on they divided into little groups. +Lillian and Phil wandered off with Jack Bolling. Eleanor found a +congenial companion in one of the young women guests from the hotel, +while Tom, Miss Jones and Mrs. Curtis sat under a tree with the artist, +watching him sketch. Madge, alone, flitted from one group to another, +a little, restless spirit. + +"Why don't you take Miss Morton for a sail, Tom?" suggested his mother. +"You will have time to go a short distance out. We shall not start for +the hotel until four o'clock." + +"A good suggestion. Thank you, Mother," cried Tom. "Come on, Miss +Morton." + +Madge and Tom went gayly down to the boat. Tom's big setter dog, +Brownie, dashed after them, pleading so hard to be taken aboard that +Tom at last consented to have him, though he gravely assured the animal +that three was a crowd, to which statement Brownie merely gave a joyful +yelp and darted on board without further ceremony. + +[Illustration: Madge and Tom went gayly down to the boat.] + +It was a glorious day with a stiff breeze blowing. The water was +fairly choppy, but the boat sped along, occasionally dashing the spray +into the two young faces. Madge wore a white cloth cap, with a visor, +such as ship's officers wear, and looked as nautical as she felt. Both +Tom and Madge were possessed with an unusual fondness for the water, +and their common love of the sea was a strong bond between them. + +"Have you ever heard of any one who could have locked you up in the old +hut that night?" Tom asked as they sailed along. + +Madge shook her head. "No; I have not the faintest idea. To tell you +the honest truth, I had almost forgotten that unpleasant experience. +We have been having such a beautiful time since that we haven't had +time to think of disagreeable things." + +"Do you think it is safe for five women to be aboard that houseboat by +themselves?" asked Tom anxiously. "If your boat were farther out on +the water you would be safer." + +Madge laughed merrily. "Look here, Mr. Curtis, I don't think it is +fair for you to question our safety when there are five of us, Wouldn't +Phil be angry if she heard you say that! It makes her furious to hear +a man or boy even intimate that girls can't take care of themselves. +Why, we can swim and run and jump, and we could put up a really brave +fight if it were necessary. Besides, Nell and I know how to shoot. +Uncle taught us when we were very little girls. I have been duck +shooting with him along this very bay. Look at that rowboat back +there. I have been watching it for some time. It has been trying to +follow us." + +Tom turned about. The boat was only a skiff, and, though it was nearly +in their course, there was no chance of its coming any closer, as their +boat was sailing before the wind. + +"I believe it is the same skiff I saw this morning," commented Tom. "I +suppose it is some fellow who has been fishing out here. Just think of +the fish in this wonderful bay--perch and pike and bass and a hundred +other kinds! You must help me catch some of them some day." + +"All right, I will," promised Madge merrily. As they went farther out +into the bay they grew strangely silent. The spell of the sea was upon +them and they were content to sail along, exchanging but little +conversation. Chesapeake Bay was apparently in one of its most amiable +moods and, lured on by its apparent good nature, Tom grew a trifle more +reckless than was his wont and did not turn about to begin the homeward +sail as soon as he had originally intended. + +It was Madge who broke the spell. "I think we had better start back. +Perhaps I merely imagine it, but it seems to me that the sun isn't +shining as brightly as it shone a little while ago. I know the bay so +well. It is so wonderful, but so treacherous. I was once out on it in +a sailboat during a sudden squall and I am not likely to forget it." +Madge gave a slight shudder at the recollection. + +"All right," agreed Tom, "I'll turn about, but there isn't the +slightest danger of a squall to-day." He brought his little craft +about and headed toward the beach. + +In spite of his assurance that there would he no squall, a black, +threatening cloud had appeared in the sky, and now the wind shifted, +blowing strongly toward land. Tom, who was nothing if not a sailor, +managed the boat so skilfully that Madge's apprehensions were soon +quieted and she gave herself up to the complete enjoyment of rushing +along in the freshened breeze. + +They were within a mile of their landing place when, off to their right +and a little ahead of them, Madge spied the rowboat they had seen at +the beginning of their sail. + +The boat was now tossing idly on the waves, and its sole occupant, a +young man, was trying vainly to guide it with a single oar. + +"There is that boat again," called Madge to Tom, who was busy with his +sails. "I believe the young man in it is in trouble and is signaling +to us for help." + +As Tom drew nearer to the rowboat the other man in it called out: "Say, +can't you take me aboard? I've lost an oar, and it's a pretty tough +job trying to get ashore with one oar in a sea like this." + +Tom glanced quickly at Madge. He was quite ready to help the young +man, but wished to be sure that his young woman guest had no objection +to the stranger coming aboard their boat. + +It took five minutes to bring the sailboat close enough to pick up the +man. Tom threw him a rope and the stranger climbed aboard, making fast +his rowboat to the stern of the sailing vessel. He was a peculiar, +wild-looking fellow, with dark, shifting eyes and thick, curly hair +that partly covered his ears. As be stepped into the sailboat his lips +parted in a smile that showed his teeth, which Madge noted were long, +very white and pointed at the ends. He was deeply tanned, yet, in +spite of his rough appearance, seemed to be a gentleman. + +"You are very kind," he said in a low, purring voice which caused Madge +to eye him sharply. "I would not have troubled you, but there is a +heavy squall coming up. I shall be greatly obliged to you if you will +put me ashore." + +"All right," assented Tom. "We are in a hurry to get to shore +ourselves, as my mother will be anxious if the storm catches us." + +Madge had continued to gaze at the new-comer. "Where have I seen him +before? He is like a wolf. His teeth look almost like fangs, and I +don't like his strange, shifting eyes," she mentally criticised. + +Aloud she said to Tom: "Miss Jenny Ann will be worried. She has been +very nervous about us since we were locked in that old cabin in the +woods overnight." + +The stranger regarded Madge quizzically. She could have sworn that a +mocking light lay in his dark eyes. "Did you say you were locked in an +old cabin in the woods overnight? How unfortunate." + +"It will be more unfortunate for the fellow who locked the girls in, +provided we find him," threatened Tom shortly. The stranger's suave +tones aroused in him a peculiar feeling of antagonism. + +The young man regarded Tom through half-shut eyes. "I must ask you to +land me on the beach above here," he drawled. + +"Sorry," answered Tom firmly. "I don't know any other pier along here +except ours. I told you I was in a hurry to go ashore. I don't like +to be disobliging, but you will have to go to our landing with us." + +The black clouds were now chasing one another across the sky, and the +wind made a curious whistling noise. Nevertheless the boat was sailing +gloriously, and in spite of the oncoming squall Tom and Madge were +enjoying themselves immensely, though neither of them was much pleased +with their fellow traveler. + +The stranger turned to Madge. "You must tell your friend that he'll +have to land me somewhere else than in that picnic party," he muttered +hoarsely. "I tell you I have a reason. I do not want to meet any +society folks." + +"I am sorry," answered Madge distantly, her eyes growing stormy at the +young man's peremptory tone. "Mr. Curtis explained to you why we are +in a hurry to land. As long as he took you aboard our boat with us as +a favor, you have no right to ask us to change our course." + +The stranger clenched his fists and glanced angrily at Tom. + +"Ain't you going to land me somewhere else first?" he demanded in a +snarling voice. + +Tom quietly shook his head. The sailboat was now only a little more +than half a mile from the pier. The wind was fair, blowing them almost +straight to the pier. + +Tom Curtis was not looking. Suddenly the fellow sprang up and threw +the tiller over. The boat jibed sharply. Madge cried out in quick +alarm. Her cry saved Tom Curtis from being knocked overboard by the +boom as it swung over to the other side of the boat. + +"Keep away from this tiller," Tom called out angrily, seeing that their +boat had now entirely changed its course. "I am sailing this boat." + +"You are not sailing her, if you don't take her in where I say," the +intruder declared fiercely. His eyes were bloodshot and his teeth +closed together with a snap. He stood by as if he were going to spring +at Tom Curtis. + +Madge's cheeks were burning. She was so angry that her throat felt dry +and parched. "Don't pay any attention to him," she called indignantly. +Tom Curtis hesitated. + +"I don't fight when I have a woman guest on board the boat," he +declared doggedly. "Once I run my boat in to the pier, you will answer +for this." + +"Never mind threatening me: I'm not afraid of you. You know you have +got to land me where I say. What do you care about where you land? It +is where _I_ land that is important." Again the stranger made a rush +for the tiller. + +Tom sprang upon him. The two were evenly matched, and Madge held her +breath as she watched them struggle. Brownie, Tom's setter dog, sprang +for the stranger's leg, then retreated to one end of the boat howling +with pain. The intruder had swung back his foot and dealt the dog a +savage kick. + +The rain had now begun to fall heavily, and the deck soon became +slippery as glass. The two young men continued to struggle. Tom +realized that he was endangering Madge's life, as well as his own, in +this reckless battle on the deck of a small boat. He thought he now +had the advantage. If he could only settle his hateful passenger with +one swift blow all would he well. With this thought in mind he tore +himself from the grasp of his antagonist, but he had forgotten the +slippery deck. His foot shot out from under him, and he went down in a +heap, falling heavily on one shoulder. The stranger sprang upon him, +and now it was the ungrateful passenger who had the advantage and was +mercilessly pushing him with both arms toward the edge of the boat. +Slowly Tom gave way, inch by inch. He was conscious of a racking pain +in his shoulder. He tried to raise his right arm; then a feeling of +faintness swept over him, he reeled, and, before Madge could move to +his help, Tom Curtis fell backward into the water. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A BRAVE FIGHT + +"Bring her to!" cried Madge imperiously, starting toward the stranger, +who now stood by the tiller. + +"I can't bring her to, I'm no sailor," answered the young ruffian +coolly. "I didn't push your friend overboard; he fell. You had better +sail the boat yourself instead of standing there giving me orders." + +Madge regarded the stranger with horrified eyes. "You did push him +overboard," she accused. "I saw you do it. If he drowns, you will be +held responsible." + +"I didn't, I tell you. Better be careful what you say. It wouldn't +take much to send you after him," was the stranger's menacing retort. + +With a look of withering scorn Madge coolly turned her back on the +intruder. She would not take the trouble to bandy words with him. She +was too angry to experience the slightest fear of this scowling, +ill-favored youth. Her superb indifference to his threat made a +visible impression upon him. With a muttered word he slouched to the +bow of the boat, where he crouched, glaring at her with the eyes of an +angry animal brought to bay. + +Although not more than a minute had passed since Tom disappeared over +the side of the boat it seemed hours to the frightened girl. She must +act quickly or Tom would be lost. + +During their sail she had watched Tom Curtis manoeuvre the boat and had +paid particular attention to his manner of "bringing it to." It had +appeared to be a comparatively simple process and she laughingly +remarked that she believed she could do it herself. Now the +opportunity had come to prove her words. Grasping the tiller, she +brought the boat directly into the eye of the wind. A moment later the +sails flapped in the breeze, and the boat floated idly in the heavy +rolling sea. + +The stranger had not in reality given Tom the final shove that sent him +overboard. At the edge of the boat he had suddenly relaxed his hold, +and Tom, faint from the pain of his injured shoulder had toppled +backward. The shock of striking the water revived him somewhat, and as +he felt himself slipping down he made a brave effort to swim, then, +finding it useless, managed to turn on his back and float. + +Still keeping her hand on the tiller, Madge strained her eyes to watch +his every movement. "Try to make it, Tom," she shouted encouragingly. +"You've only a little farther to swim. Come on; I'll help you into the +boat." + +"I'm afraid I can't, Madge," he called faintly. "I've hurt my +shoulder. I can't swim." + +The girl at the tiller bent forward to catch the sound of her friend's +voice. Then she answered with the bravery of despair: "You must keep +on floating. You are not going to drown. I am coming after you." + +At the same instant Madge divested herself of her coat, shoes and the +skirt of her suit and poised herself for a dive into the angry water. +"Keep the head of the boat to the wind," was her curt command to the +stranger, "I am going after Mr. Curtis." + +"You're crazy!" shouted the stranger, leaping to his feet. "You can +never save the man in such a sea as this. You'll both be drowned!" + +His tardy expostulation fell upon unheeding ears. Madge was in the +water and swimming toward Tom. Expert swimmer that she was, she knew +that she was risking her own life. The tide was against her, and even +though she did reach Tom before he sank again, it would be hard work to +support him and swim back to the boat in such a heavy sea. + +The sky was now dark, the waves had grown larger, and a pelting rain +had begun to beat down in Madge's face. Tom had risen to the surface +of the water again, and was feebly trying to swim toward her. He had +shuddered with despair when he first caught sight of her in the water. +But his faint, "Go back! Go back!" had not reached her ears. Nor +would she have heeded him had she heard. + +His intrepid little rescuer was swimming easily along, with firm, even +strokes. Little water-sprite that she was, she would have enjoyed the +breakers dashing over her head and the tingle of the fine salt spray in +her face if she had not realized the danger that lay ahead. + +"Keep floating until I can get to you!" she called out to Tom. She did +not speak again, for she did not mean to waste her breath. + +Tom was making an heroic effort to keep himself afloat. But he was +growing weaker and weaker, and the last vestige of his strength was +giving way. As Madge reached him, he managed to reach out and clutch +her arm, hanging to it with a force that threatened to pull them both +under. He was making that instinctive struggle for life usually put +forth by the drowning. Madge experienced a brief flash of terror. +"Don't struggle, Tom," she implored. + +Even in his semi-conscious state Tom must have heard his companion's +words. He ceased to fight, his body grew limp, and, clasping one of +his hands in her own strong, brown fingers, Madge swam toward the spot +where she had left the sailboat. Never once did she relax her hold on +the burden at her side. Now and then she glanced up at their boat. +Each time she caught a glimpse of it it seemed to be farther away. +Could it be possible that the wind and the tide were carrying the +sailboat ashore faster than she could swim? Surely the youth on board +would come forward to help them. Now the waves that dashed over +Madge's head and lashed across her face sent echoing waves of despair +over her plucky soul. Tom was too far gone to know or to care what was +happening. The responsibility, the fight, was hers. + +"I must save him," she thought over and over again. "It does not so +much matter about me; I haven't any mother. But Tom----" + +Her bodily strength was fast giving out, but her spirit remained +indomitable. It was that spirit that was keeping them afloat in the +midst of an angry sea. + +But as for gaining on the sailboat, she was right. No matter how great +her effort, she was not coming any nearer to it. The last time she +looked up from the waves she could catch only a glimpse of the boat far +ahead. + +It seemed incredible. It was too awful to believe. The stranger she +had left on board the sailboat was not coming to their aid. He was +deliberately taking their boat to shore, leaving them to the mercy of +the sea. + +Even with this realization Madge did not give up the battle. The arm +that held Tom Curtis felt like a log, it was so stiff and cold. She +could swim no longer, but she could still float. There were other +craft that were putting in toward the shore. If she could only keep up +for a few moments, surely some one would save them! + +But at last her splendid courage waned. She was sinking. The rescuer +would come too late! She thought of the circle of cheerful faces she +had left two hours before. Then--a cold, wet muzzle touched her face, +a pair of strong teeth seized hold of her blouse. Tom's setter dog, +Brownie, had managed to swim to his master. The animal's gallant +effort to save Tom inspired Madge to fresh effort, and once more she +took up the battle for her life and that of her friend. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +LIFE OR DEATH? + +"Is there no hope?" a voice asked despairingly. + +"There is hope for a long time," answered Phyllis Alden quietly. "I +have heard my father say that people may sometimes be revived after +being in the water for many hours." + +"She must live, or I can not bear it," declared Tom Curtis brokenly. +"Oh, won't some one go for a doctor? Can't you do something else for +her?" + +"The man has gone for a doctor, Tom," soothed Mrs. Curtis. "Does your +arm pain you much?" + +"Never mind my arm," groaned Tom. "She saved my life, mother, and now +she's dead." His voice broke. + +"You mustn't say that," cried Phyllis sharply. "She _can't_ be dead." + +"Phil," entreated Miss Jones, "let me take your place. I am sure I can +do what you are doing." + +Phyllis shook her head. "I can't leave her." + +Phyllis Alden knelt on the ground on one side of the unconscious girl. +Jack Bolling and an old fisherman knelt opposite her. The artist, Mr. +Brown, was trying to assist in restoring Madge to consciousness. +Phyllis Alden had been drilled in "first aid to the drowning" by her +father. Long experience with the sea had taught the sailor what to do. +But Madge had resisted all their efforts to bring her to consciousness. +She had battled too long with the merciless waves and her strength was +gone before the fisherman, coming home in his rowboat, had spied the +three figures at the moment when Madge was about to give up the fight. +He had hauled her and Tom inside his boat, and poor Brownie had somehow +managed to swim ashore. + +On the beach the fisherman found an anxious group of picnickers +watching the storm with fearful eyes. Their fear was changed to +horror, however, when the fisherman deposited his ghastly freight on +the beach. + +Fifteen minutes after being brought to shore Tom Curtis had returned to +consciousness. His first words were for Madge. Although Tom had been +a longer time in the water than his rescuer, his injured arm, which was +sprained, but not broken, had prevented him from making so fierce a +struggle; therefore he was far less exhausted than was his companion. +To those who watched anxiously for the first faint sign of returning +life it seemed hours since the fisherman had laid that still form on +the sand. It was none other than the old fisherman who discovered the +faint spot of color which appeared in Madge's cheeks, then disappeared. +After that the work of resuscitation went on more steadily than ever, +and slowly and painfully Madge came back to life. Strange noises +sounded in her ears. A gigantic weight was pressing upon her chest. +She tried to speak, but it was choking her, crushing her. She made an +heroic effort to throw it off, and then her eyes opened and dimly she +beheld her friends. + +"She has come back to us." Phil's voice was ineffably tender. She +glanced up and her eyes met those of Jack Bolling. Forgetting her +dislike for him, she smiled. She remembered only that he was Madge's +cousin. Jack had always thought Phil ugly, but as he gazed into her +big, black eyes and white, serious face, he decided that she had more +character than any other girl he had ever met, and he would never +forget the splendid effort she had made to save his cousin. + +As soon as the work of resuscitation was completed and Madge declared +out of danger, Mrs. Curtis insisted that on their return to the +mainland her son's brave little rescuer should be taken to the +Belleview Hotel, where she would be able to rest far more comfortably +than if carried on board the houseboat. + +A yacht was chartered to take the picnic party home. The sailboat had +completely disappeared, and Tom was able to tell only a part of their +strange adventure. From whence the youth whom they had taken on board +their boat had come and why he had made off with their boat and left +them to drown were questions which no one seemed able to answer. + +It was not until two days later that the fisherman, searching along the +very shore from which they had started, found the sailboat resting +quietly at anchor about two miles from the pier where the picnic party +had landed. The boat was uninjured, and Madge's hat, coat and skirt +lay on the deck, where she had thrown them when she dived into the bay. +But the wild lad who had caused the mischief had vanished completely. +No one near had seen or heard of him. His identity was a mystery. If +any one of the fisher folk knew his name, or where he had gone, they +did not betray that knowledge. Mrs. Curtis wished to offer a reward +for the fellow's capture. Tom would not consent. He intended to find +his enemy himself, and to settle his own score. At night Tom used to +lie awake for hours to plan how he would track the stranger and at last +run him down. But in the day time he was much too fully occupied with +entertaining his mother's young guest to plan revenge. + +Madge had been the guest of Mrs. Curtis at the Belleview Hotel for five +days. It had taken but a day for her to recover from the effect of her +narrow escape from drowning. She possessed far too happy a disposition +to dwell long on an uncomfortable memory, and her recent mishap soon +became like a dream to her. But her feeling of affection for Mrs. +Curtis was not in the least like a dream, and grew stronger with every +hour she spent in her new friend's company. It was a red letter time +for Madge. + +Mrs. Curtis tried in every possible way to manifest her gratitude. Had +not Madge saved her son's life? She felt that she could make no +adequate return for the heroic service the young girl had rendered her. + +She insisted that the most attractive apartment in the hotel should be +Madge's and surrounded her with all sorts of luxuries. The young +girl's suite consisted of a cosy little sitting room and a wonderful +bedroom with white, rose-bordered walls and Circassian walnut +furnishings. There was a little, white bath leading out from the +bedroom and Madge reveled in her new-found treasures. + +All day long her apartment was lovely with flowers. Tom Curtis ordered +a box of roses to be delivered to her each day from Baltimore. The +roses were presented to Madge every morning when the maid brought up +her breakfast-tray, and for the first time in her life Miss Madge +enjoyed the luxury of eating her breakfast in bed. Boxes of candy +became so ordinary that she fairly pleaded with her friends when they +came to visit her to take them back to the houseboat. + +"Madge will never be happy again on the 'Merry Maid,' will she, girls?" +The four girls were rowing back to their floating home after a visit to +their friend. + +"Yes, she will," returned Phil stoutly, though she felt a slight pang +when she remembered how cheerfully Madge had kissed them goodbye. + +"I am sure she is well enough to come home now," burst forth Lillian, +"only Mrs. Curtis and Tom won't hear of it. Dear me! I suppose our +little captain is happy at last. She has always dreamed of what it +would feel like to be rich and a heroine, and now she is both. But +nothing seems quite the same on the boat," she added wistfully. "I +think we are all homesick for her." + +Miss Jennie Ann laughed at their doleful faces. "She will soon be with +us again," she declared. "I'll tell you a secret. She is coming home +to the houseboat day after to-morrow. She whispered to me to-day that +there was really no reason why she should stay any longer with Mrs. +Curtis, and that she did not wish to presume on her hospitality. Mrs. +Curtis is very fond of her. She does not wish Madge to leave her." +Miss Jones looked so mysterious that the girls regarded her curiously. +"I think it is a good thing for Madge and for Mrs. Curtis to spend a +few days together. Mrs. Curtis is lonely and needs good company," +added Miss Jones. + +"So do we," murmured Phil, with a rueful laugh. "We need Madge as much +as Mrs. Curtis does." + +After the girls had left her, Madge lay back luxuriously among her +linen pillows. She was looking very lovely in a pale pink silk tea +gown Mrs. Curtis had insisted on her wearing, for Madge had arrived at +the hotel with no clothes other than the wet garments she had on when +rescued from the waves. Her fine clothes occupied very little of her +thoughts, however. She had something of far greater import on her mind. + +The time had come to tell Mrs. Curtis that she must go back to the +houseboat. She was not sorry to go; she was only sorry to leave her +new friends. During her stay at the hotel Mrs. Curtis had treated +Madge as though she were her own daughter. The imaginative young girl +was completely fascinated with the beautiful, white-haired woman, whose +sad face seemed to indicate that she had suffered some tragedy in her +life. While Madge lay thinking of the most courteous way in which to +announce that she must return to the "Merry Maid" a light knock sounded +on her door. Tom's mother came softly into the room, gowned in an +exquisite afternoon costume of violet organdie and fine lace, which was +very becoming to her white hair and youthful face. + +"Are you awake, Madge?" were her first words. "How do you feel?" + +Her guest smilingly raised herself from her pillows. "I am awake as +can be, and as well as can be! To tell you the truth, Mrs. Curtis, I +have never been in the least ill from my adventure. I was tired the +day after it happened, but since that time I am afraid I have allowed +you and Tom to believe that I was sick because I liked to be petted and +made much of." Madge laughed frankly at her own confession. "You have +been so good to me, and I do appreciate it, but now I must go home to +my comrades. Eleanor was awfully disappointed to-day when I told her I +was not going back with them this afternoon." + +"I wish you would stay with me longer," pleaded Mrs. Curtis, taking the +girl's firm brown hand in hers and looking down at it gravely, as it +lay in her soft white one. She gazed earnestly at Madge's clear-cut, +expressive face. "Tom and I will be lonely without you," she said. "I +want a daughter dreadfully, and Tom needs a sister. If only you were +my own daughter." + +Madge sighed happily. "It has been beautiful to pretend that I was +your real daughter. It has been like the games I used to play when I +was a little girl. I have been lying here in the afternoons, when you +thought I was asleep, making up the nicest 'supposes.' I supposed that +I was your real daughter, that I had been lost and you had found me +after many years. Just at first you did not know me, because time had +made such a change in me. But---- Why, Mrs. Curtis, what is the +matter?" There was wonder and concern in Madge's question. "You don't +mind what I have said, do you? I have been making up things to amuse +myself ever since I was a little girl." She looked anxiously into the +face of the older woman. It was very white, and seemed suddenly to +have become drawn and old. + +"My dear child, I love to have you tell me of your little dreams and +fancies," said Mrs. Curtis affectionately, laying her hand on Madge's +head. "What made you think I didn't?" + +"You looked as though what I said hurt your feelings," returned Madge, +coloring at her own frankness. + +"It was only that something you said brought back a painful memory," +explained the older woman. "I would prefer not to talk of it. Tell +me, is there nothing I can do to induce you to remain with me a little +longer?" + +Her guest shook her head. "Thank you," she replied gratefully, "but I +must go back to my chums. It won't be going away, really, for I will +come to see you as often as you like, and you and Tom and Jack must +visit us on the houseboat. I want you to like the other girls _almost_ +as well as you do me," smiled Madge. "Please don't like them quite as +well, though. That doesn't sound very generous, but I should like to +feel that I was first in your heart." + +"You shall be, my dear." Mrs. Curtis bent and kissed the young girl's +soft cheek. "And to prove just how much I do care for you I wish to +give you something which I hope you will like and keep as a remembrance +of me. I know your uncle and aunt will be willing to let you have this +little gift when they learn of the spirit which prompted the giving of +it." Mrs. Curtis drew from a little lavender and gold bag which she +carried a square, white silk box and laid it in the astonished little +captain's hand. + +"What--why--is it for me?" stammered Madge, sitting up suddenly, her +eyes fastened on the box. + +"It is for no one else," was the smiling answer. "Shall I open it for +you?" + +Mrs. Curtis touched a tiny spring in the white box. It flew open! + +There before Madge's wondering gaze, coiled on its dainty silk bed, lay +a string of creamy pearls. They were not large, but each pearl was +perfect, an exquisite bit of jewelry. Mrs. Curtis took the necklace +from its case. She leaned over and clasped it about Madge's slender +throat, saying: "Tom and I talked a long time about what we wished to +give you as a slight remembrance of our appreciation of what you did +for us. At last we decided upon this as being particularly suitable to +you. Then, too, we wished to give you something that came up out of +the sea." + +"It is the loveliest necklace in the world," declared Madge happily, +touching the pearls. "It is far too beautiful for me. I shall love it +all my life and never, never part with it. You have been too good to +me, Mrs. Curtis," she added earnestly. + +"But think what you did for me," reminded the stately, white-haired +woman. + +"That isn't worth remembering. I did only what any one else would have +done if placed in the same circumstances." + +"But you saved my son's life, and that is the greatest service you +could possibly render me." + +Yet before her vacation was over Madge Morton was to perform for her +friend a further service equally great. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +MADGE COMES INTO HER OWN AGAIN + +Lillian and Eleanor were in the houseboat kitchen, making chocolate +fudge and a caramel cake. + +"I think it will be too funny for anything," laughed Eleanor. "Let's +keep your surprise a secret from the others. It will be a delightful +way to celebrate Madge's return. Do you know that we have a hundred +and one things to do today?" she added, stirring her cake batter as +fast as she could. "This boat must be cleaned from stem to stern. I +told the boy from the farm to be here at nine o'clock this morning to +scrub the deck. He hasn't put in his appearance yet. I wonder which +one of us can be spared to go and hurry him along?" + +"Let's ask Miss Jenny Ann," suggested Lillian slyly. "She has done her +share of the work already, and Mr. Brown is sketching the old garden +near the farmhouse. Haven't you noticed that our chaperon has been +very much interested in art lately? Mr. Brown wishes to paint a +picture of our houseboat. He has a fancy for this neighborhood. He +thinks it is so picturesque. 'Straws show which way the wind blows,' +you know. Watch the candy for me. I'll go ask Miss Jenny Ann if she +will go out and round up our faithless boy." + +Miss Jones was quite willing to go, and started out, leaving the girls +to their cleaning. Every now and then they were seized with a desire +to work, which caused them to fall upon the houseboat and clean it from +end to end. This morning the fever had been upon them from the time +they had risen, and by the time Miss Jenny Ann started upon her errand +it was in full swing. + +Jack Bolling and Tom Curtis were to bring Madge home late in the +afternoon, and, as a surprise for Madge, the boys had been invited to +remain to tea. It was therefore quite necessary that their floating +home should be well swept and garnished. + +"Where's Phil?" asked Lillian, stepping from the kitchen out onto the +deck, where Eleanor had gone after having seen her cake safely in the +oven. + +There came a series of raps on the cabin roof. Phil leaned over among +the honeysuckle vines on the upper deck. "I am up here, maiden, +digging in our window boxes. Want me for anything?" + +"No," returned Eleanor, as she vanished inside the kitchen again. "But +sing out if you see Miss Jenny Ann and the boy coming." + +A little while later Phil saw the figure of a young man coming slowly +down the path toward the houseboat. She thought, of course, that it +was the boy from the farm. She did not turn around. She was too +deeply engrossed in pulling up the weeds that had mysteriously appeared +in their window boxes. When his footsteps sounded on the floor of the +lower deck she called out carelessly, "Miss Seldon and Miss Butler are +in the cabin waiting for you. Miss Jones is not here. I suppose she +gave you the message." + +The youth, who had been moving cautiously toward the houseboat, was not +the boy for whom the girls were waiting. This one had black, curly +hair and wild dark eyes. He looked up and down the shore. There was +no one in sight. + +Although there were several farmhouses beyond the embankment that +sloped down to the inlet of the bay, there was no house within calling +distance of the "Merry Maid." Their boat was anchored to the pier only +a few yards from the shore, tied firmly to one of the upstanding posts. +The youth grinned maliciously. He decided that he had met with an +unexpected stroke of good luck. He was hungry and penniless. Nothing +could be easier than to terrify the girls on board into submission, +take what money and food they had, and be off with it before any one +appeared to help them. If it was a desperate venture, well, he must +take a desperate chance. He could not wander around in the woods +forever with no food or money. + +Meanwhile Phil had not once glanced behind her. "You'd better begin +scrubbing at once," she directed. "We have been waiting for you a long +time. We wish to get our houseboat in order. We are going to give a +party for our friends. Do hurry, there is such a lot to do." + +The young man below was not troubling himself about the amount of work +to be done; he had other matters to consider. This girl on top the +cabin deck was evidently expecting some one. She would not come down +her little ladder unless she heard a noise or disturbance from below. +The next question was, how many girls were on board and where were they? + +Eleanor and Lillian had finished the cake and the fudge. They had +brought them into the living room and set them on the table to wait for +the evening tea party. Eleanor was tired. + +She had thrown herself down on a lounge and her eyes were closed. +Lillian, with her back to the door, stood talking to her friend. They +did not hear the intruder's light footfalls. + +Suddenly Lillian felt her two hands caught roughly behind her in such a +powerful grasp that she staggered back. Eleanor sprang from the couch, +opening her eyes in amazement! She saw Lillian struggling with a man +whose face wore the expression of a hungry animal. + +"Don't scream," he ordered harshly. "Give me what food and money you +have and I will let you go. If you scream, you will be sorry." He +glared savagely at the two girls. + +Lillian tried to wrench her hands from his grasp. They were pinioned +so tightly behind her that she could not move. Eleanor slipped off her +divan. She and Lillian had no weapons with which to defend themselves. +Eleanor thought if she could get out of the room, while the man held +Lillian, she could cry for help. Her first scream would bring Phyllis +to their aid, and Phil would come to their assistance prepared to fight. + +Eleanor looked so young and girlish that no one would have expected her +to show resistance. She tried to look even more frightened than she +really felt. "We haven't any money on board," she said quietly. "We +don't keep our money here, but if you are hungry, we will give you +something to eat without your being so fierce." Eleanor was edging +slowly away from her couch. + +"I don't want a slice of pie and your stale bread," the man replied +angrily. "I want everything you have got, and I want it quick." + +Now was Eleanor's chance. Lillian gave another frantic tug, attempting +to free her hands. She had not cried out since the man seized her, but +her face was contracted with pain. The robber was so fully occupied +with holding her he was not looking at Eleanor, although his eyes +slanted go curiously that he could apparently see on all sides of him. + +Eleanor made a quick rush forward. With a thud she fell to the floor, +and lay stunned by the force of her fall. The tramp, still holding +Lillian by her wrists, had jerked her backward, thrown out his foot and +tripped Eleanor. Now, before Lillian could scream, he whipped out a +dirty handkerchief and tied it so tightly about her mouth that she +could scarcely breathe. He next took a piece of twine and twisted it +about Lillian's wrists, so that the cord cut into them. + +While this scene of violence was being enacted Phil was perfectly happy +and strangely unconscious of any trouble. She was still at work, +sweeping the upper deck and clearing it of the trash she had made with +her gardening. She was humming gayly to herself or she would have +heard the sounds below more plainly. "There was a man in our town, and +he was wondrous wise." She stopped short. She had heard a noise, as +though something had fallen. But then, the girls were always dropping +things and stumbling over their few pieces of furniture. There was no +further noise. Phil went on with her singing. But why did Lillian and +Eleanor not start the farmer boy to scrubbing? It was getting late, +and they wished to decorate the boat. Phil was too busy at her own +task to go down to discover the reason. + +The tramp gazed sarcastically at Lillian, whose eyes watched him +defiantly, then at Eleanor, who was still lying on the floor. "Now, +girls," he began with mock politeness, "I imagine you will be kind +enough to be quiet for a time at least. So I think I will look around +to see if there is anything here that I would like." He seized poor +Lillian's plate of chocolate fudge and stuffed the candy into his +pockets. Then he left the sitting room and crept into the bedroom +which was used by Miss Jones and Eleanor. He found Eleanor's purse +under her pillow and pocketed it. On the small dressing-table was Miss +Jenny Ann's purse. He chuckled softly. This was the best of the sport. + +Phil's humming upstairs stopped. Why did that lazy farmer boy not get +to his work? And where were Lillian and Nellie? Phil listened. She +thought she heard such an odd noise. It was as though some one were +trying to talk while choking. She ran lightly down the outside cabin +steps, her broom still in her hand. She peered into the kitchen. It +was empty. Phil did not go into the sitting room next. Some instinct +must have guided her. Had she seen the plight poor Lillian and Eleanor +were in, she must have screamed and betrayed herself. Instead she +stepped into Miss Jones's bedroom. + +The youth, with his back to the door, had ears like the creatures of +the woods. Under other circumstances he would have heard Phyllis's +approach. But something in the discovery of Miss Jenny Ann's poor +little purse seemed to give him special joy. He was opening it and +emptying it of its last penny. + +Phil saw him from the open cabin door. She did not think--she acted. +She saw, as she supposed, the farmer lad, intent on robbing them. Phil +brought her broom down on the boy's head with a resounding whack. + +The tramp started forward with a growl. For the moment he was nearly +blinded from the pain of the blow. + +Phil recognized that discretion was now the better part of valor. She +dashed out of one door, then into another, the youth stumbling after +her, raging with anger. She knew every turn and twist of the tiny +cabin. Instead of running around the deck, where she would surely have +been captured, she darted in and out of the cabin doors, those on the +inside, swinging backward and forward, sometimes closing a door in the +face of her pursuer. + +She was almost overcome with horror when she saw Lillian and Eleanor in +the sitting-room. Lillian could not speak, but her eyes pleaded with +Phil. Phyllis had no reason not to cry out. As she ran she screamed +with all her might: + +"Help, help, help!" Some one would soon be passing along the shore who +would come to their aid. + +The thief did not like the noise Phyllis made. He also thought her +cries would be heard on the shore. He had found what he wanted. He +had no idea of being caught on the houseboat. But he had spied +Eleanor's caramel cake on the table. He would take that and be off in +a hurry. + +As he grabbed Eleanor's cake, the product of her morning's work and the +chief ornament of their tea party, Eleanor opened her eyes. The sight +was more than she could bear. She gave a heart-rending scream. It +added to the tramp's alarm. He made for the shore as fast as he could +run. + +Phil saw him start. She ran back of the kitchen and caught up +something that lay coiled in a heap on the deck. As the thief ran down +the gang plank and leaped on the land, it flew through the air with a +hissing, swinging noise. The youth fell face downward, his arms close +to his sides, letting the beloved cake drop to the ground. + +Not for nothing had Miss Phyllis Alden seen Miss Jenny Ann rescued from +a wild bull by means of a lasso. Not for nothing had she spent hours +of her time, and one of her few dollars, in acquiring the skill +necessary to the swinging of a lariat. She now had her enemy held +fast. At the same instant that Phil caught her prey, before he had +time to jerk away, she knotted her rope about the cleat that held the +anchor. + +On the shore, the youth tugged and strained. He ran back into the +water. It struck him that he might climb aboard the boat again. But +his arms were caught down at his sides. It was impossible for him to +get at a knife to cut the ropes. He could ease off the noose with his +teeth, but it would be a slow process of escape. + +As soon as Phil had her victim fast, she rushed back into the sitting +room. She found Eleanor on her feet, engaged in untying the +handkerchief from Lillian's face and cutting the twine that was bound +about her swollen wrists. + +"I've caught the enemy and he is ours," declared Phil cheerfully. "I +have him tied to the side of the boat. I can't say how long it may +take him to get away, and he may climb back on the boat and try to eat +us up. But, at least, we can get ready for him." + +The robber was doggedly working at the rope that bound him. "I am +going to get back at you," he yelled savagely. + +"Oh, why doesn't some one come?" cried Eleanor. "I am so afraid he'll +get away." + +There was a cheerful whistle at the top of the embankment. It turned +to one of horrified amazement as the artist, Theodore Brown, took in +the situation. + +"What has happened?" he called out as he ran down the hill, swinging a +small stick in his hand. "I heard your screams away over in the +fields. What have you got there?" + +Phil told the story, "What shall we do with our prisoner, Mr. Brown? +We can't be bothered with him. We must get ready for our tea party," +she concluded. + +"I don't know what you wish to do with the young rascal," rejoined Mr. +Brown, "but I know very well what I intend to do." The artist's face +was set and stern. His eyes gleamed with righteous anger. Then he +began calmly rolling up his sleeves. He went forward to the prisoner. +"I am going to give you a taste of this," he declared, swinging his +stick through the air. It hit Phil's captive with a swish, once, +twice, three times. Mr. Brown was just warming up to his work. + +"Leave me alone," the fellow howled. "Aren't you a coward to hit me +when I can't get at you!" + +"You were not troubled about being a coward when you tried to terrorize +three girls and got pretty badly left," Mr. Brown answered coolly, +giving the youth another cut. + +The bully groaned. The girls could not endure it. If the lad had +taken his medicine like a man they might have borne the sight of his +punishment. But there is nothing more sickening than the fear of a +coward. + +"Please stop now, Mr. Brown," entreated Lillian. "I am sure you have +punished the boy enough. Make him give up the money he has stolen, but +don't beat him any more." + +"No, please, don't beat him any more," echoed Eleanor. + +Phil could have endured to see the thrashing continue a little longer. +But she did not wish to appear hard-hearted. + +"Just as you like," answered Mr. Brown. "I am enjoying myself, but I +will quit if you say so. Don't you think I had better turn him over to +the police?" + +"No," Phil protested. "He won't trouble us again, now he knows we can +look after ourselves. Next time he wouldn't get off so easily." + +The youth vowed never to come within the range of the houseboat if he +were permitted to go free this time. As he got out of sight he stopped +to shake his fist at the distant houseboat, and he vowed to be revenged +for the punishment he had received if it cost him his life. + +The girls begged Mr. Brown to say nothing to their chaperon of their +encounter. Miss Jenny Ann was already dreadfully nervous about them +and, besides, it would spoil Madge's home coming. + +By the middle of the afternoon Eleanor had made another caramel cake +and Lillian another plate of fudge. The farmer boy had come down after +luncheon, and had scrubbed the decks of the houseboat to the last +degree of cleanliness. The girls had hung flags everywhere, and on the +outside of the cabin, facing the water, Phyllis had hung a piece of +white bunting with the word "Welcome" stamped on it in large letters. +This was the first thing Madge would see as she came within sight of +the houseboat. + +Inside the cabin the table was set for tea. It held the best pickles, +preserves, cold meats and jellies that the houseboat larder could +furnish. Lillian had made a pitcher of lemonade and another of iced +tea. Miss Jones had roasted potatoes, and her corn muffins were ready +to slip into the oven as soon as she heard their friends approaching. + +The three girls and their chaperon wore simple white frocks, with blue +sashes knotted about their waists, for blue and white were the +houseboat colors. + +They were watching a golden sunset from the deck of their ship when, +together, they espied a figure standing up in a small skiff that was +moving in their direction. The boat was rowed by one man. The other +man sat with his arm in a sling. The upright figure was waving a great +bunch of flowers. + +"Madge is coming!" cried Phil. The four women got out their +handkerchiefs and shouted across the water. + +As Madge climbed aboard the boat a strange, squeaky sound greeted her. +First it played fast, then slow. It was undoubtedly music. + + "My bonnie lies over the ocean, + My bonnie lies over the sea, + My bonnie lies over the ocean, + Oh, bring back my bonnie to me." + +The tune was old as the hills. + +"What on earth is that?" demanded Madge, as she kissed her chaperon and +started around the semi-circle of her chums. + +"It's Lillian's surprise!" Eleanor explained. "It's a hurdy-gurdy. We +found it in the village. I know it is pretty old. But Lillian +persuaded the man to bring it on board, as we thought it would be jolly +to have a dance on the deck to-night in honor of Miss Madge Morton, +captain of the 'Merry Maid.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A CALL FOR HELP + +"Madge, you must go over to Fisherman's Island with me," urged Phil a +few days later. "I feel dreadfully about Mollie. I promised the poor +girl that we would come to see her soon. Now, a long time has passed; +we have never been there. Eleanor and Lillian are anxious to go along +with me. Mollie is perfectly lovely, and I am heartily sorry for her. +Do come with us, there's a dear. Don't pretend you are tired, or make +Miss Jones think you are sick. You are just as well now as any of the +rest of us. If you don't come, it is just because you want to stay +here to read that silly novel. Real people are much more interesting +than stories." + +Madge yawned and stretched herself lazily in the steamer chair. "Phil, +it is awfully hot on the water. Couldn't we go to see your girl some +other time? If she has waited this long, she may as well wait a little +longer. You see, I promised Mrs. Curtis I wouldn't go out in the sun." + +"Madge Morton, you are putting on airs. Going out in the sun, indeed!" +Phil sniffed disdainfully. "When did the sun ever hurt you? You just +love to have people spoil you. You know there is nothing in the world +the matter with you now. But please don't come, if you do not wish to. +Nellie and Lillian and I are going now." + +Phyllis walked quietly away, with her head in the air. Madge was +really too provoking. + +Madge closed her book with a bang and rushed after her friend. "Of +course I wish to go with you, Phil. I am interested in your pretty +girl. I had reached the most exciting part of my story when you asked +me, and---- Now, you will hurt my feelings dreadfully if you don't let +me go along with you! Just think, Phyllis Alden. You said I was +spoiled, and that I liked to pretend I was sick, and I didn't get one +bit angry. Don't you truly think my temper is improving?" + +Phyllis laughed. "Oh, come on, if you like. Do you think Miss Jenny +Ann would mind my taking the poor girl a basket of nice things? I mean +things that any girl would like. My friend isn't in the least like a +beggar." + +"Of course, Miss Jones will let you do anything you like, Phil," +replied Madge. "I am the only person she does not approve of." Madge +felt angry because her chaperon had intimated that Madge was hurting +Eleanor's feelings by talking so much of her Mrs. Curtis and the +beautiful time she had spent with her. And Madge, though she needed +criticism even more than most other girls, was just as little pleased +at receiving it. + +The girls rowed over to the island in a short time. It was a lovely +day, and not too warm on the water. + +"I wonder, Phil, if there is a chance of our coming across the thief +who attacked you on the houseboat? He may he in hiding on this +island," said Madge as the four girls pulled their skiff up on the +beach. "From your description I feel almost certain that he is the +same boy who went off with our sailboat. I'd like to come across him +again." + +"Well, I wouldn't," declared Lillian. "I am not so bloodthirsty as you +girls are." + +The girls met no one along the beach, except a few children. Phil led +them straight to the tent, where she had talked with the afflicted +girl. "Of course, there isn't much of a chance that we shall find +Mollie in the tent," explained Phil, "but I thought I would look here +first." + +"Do you know the girl's name, Phil?" queried Eleanor. + +Phyllis shook her head. "Not her real name. I only call her Mollie +because her dreadful old father called her 'Moll,' and 'Moll' is an +ugly name." + +The tent was more forlorn and dilapidated than ever. It was empty. +There was not a sign of life anywhere about, except for a few faded +wild flowers cast carelessly in the corner of the tent. + +Madge picked them up. "These flowers make me think of poor 'Ophelia' +in the play of 'Hamlet.' Ophelia went mad, you know, and wandered +about with wild flowers in her hair." + +"Mollie isn't the least bit crazy, Madge. You will understand that as +soon as you see her," protested Phil. "It is only that she is like a +child, and does not remember things. Would you girls mind going around +to the other side of the island? Mollie said their shanty boat was +over there. I do so want to find her." + +Lillian hesitated. "I don't think we ought to go among those rough +fishermen again," she protested. "We are sure to see some rude sailors +over there who might speak to us." + +"Oh, don't worry, Lillian," reassured Madge. "I am sure no one would +dare say anything to us." + +Madge was now deeply interested in the discovery of Phil's friend and +longing for any kind of adventure. She had fully made up her mind to +see Mollie if it were possible. + +It was more than a mile walk around the island. But the girls came, at +last, to a spot where they again beheld a dirty canal boat made fast to +a tree on the sandy shore. A huge woman, with a coarse, dreadful face, +sat out on deck holding a baby in her lap. Several small children +played near her. But there was no sign of Mollie. Captain Mike was +gone, and with him his sailboat. + +Phil went as near the edge of the shore as she could. The woman gazed +at the four chums with sullen curiosity. She presumed that they had +come to ask her husband to take them out sailing. But Phil spoke up +boldly: "May we see your daughter?" she inquired politely. "I met her +the other day on the island and told her we would come to see her." + +The woman's expression changed at once to an ugly scowl. Phil and +Madge wondered why their request should make her so angry. What harm +could come from their calling on the poor, half-crazed girl? Surely it +was plain that they meant her no wrong. + +"We want to be friends with your daughter," Madge declared haughtily; +"we do not wish to injure her." + +"Moll ain't here no more," the woman replied sulkily. "Her father has +took her away. She ain't never coming back." The woman grinned as the +four girls went away. + +"O Madge!" Phil exclaimed, with her eyes full of tears, "I do feel so +sorry. I am afraid we have come too late. Poor Mollie will think I +have broken my promise. What could have happened to her? Do you think +her horrible old father has put her in an asylum? She told me that he +often threatened her, unless she did whatever he said." + +"Don't worry, Phil dear," Madge replied sympathetically. "Perhaps the +woman was telling us a story and simply did not wish us to see her +daughter. I will come to the island with you again. Maybe we can find +her next time." + +The girls hurried on until they were almost at the place where they had +left their rowboat. Phil was unusually sorrowful and silent. She +still carried her little basket with the gifts for her new friend. The +memory of a pair of wonderful blue eyes haunted her. Mollie's face had +looked so longingly into hers; it was filled with a wistful sorrow and +was haunted by fear and loneliness. It was not that of one who is mad. + +"Girls," spoke Phil quickly, "will you go on down to the boat and wait +for me? I am going to run over to the tent and take another look in +there. At any rate, I am going to leave this basket of food. I won't +be gone but a minute." + +Phyllis walked rapidly toward the tent. She half hoped she would find +the vanished girl inside it. But the tent was still empty. Phil set +down her basket. She was strangely disappointed and grieved. She +could do nothing more. There was nothing to do save go back to her +friends. As she stepped toward the tent opening her foot caught in a +piece of ragged carpet. Like a flash Phyllis remembered. Had she not +told Mollie to slip a note under this carpet if she was ever in trouble +or in danger and desired their help? Phil slid her hand under the rug +and found a torn scrap of yellow wrapping paper. On it was penciled in +the handwriting of a child: + +"I am in much trouble. Please, please come to help me. You promised." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE ATTEMPTED RESCUE + +"I will go back to the shanty boat with you now, Phil," volunteered +Madge when Phyllis returned to her chums, carrying the pathetic scrap +of paper. "We have the food you brought in the basket, which we can +eat for luncheon. Lillian and Nellie can row over to the houseboat to +tell Miss Jenny Ann that we mean to spend the day here. Then, perhaps, +they will row back for us this afternoon." + +"I don't think we ought to leave you and Phil alone on this island," +remonstrated Eleanor, "especially when you won't have a boat. If +anything should happen, there would be no chance of your getting away." + +"I'll tell you what to do, Nellie," suggested Phil. "Suppose you and +Lillian go home and then send our boat over to us immediately. The +farmer boy will bring it for us. He can tow it and then row back in +his own skiff. Ask him to anchor our boat in this same place. Madge +and I will come home as soon as we find out whether there is anything +we can do for poor Mollie." + +Lillian and Eleanor were reluctant to leave their two friends. But +there seemed nothing else to be done. The thought of their chaperon's +anxiety at last persuaded them to go, and they departed after promising +to send the boat over immediately they reached the "Merry Maid." + +"What do you think we had better do, Phil?" asked Madge as the other +two girls rowed out of sight. + +Phil frowned and shook her head. "I haven't the faintest idea, Madge; +I am afraid we are too late to do anything. That dreadful Mike has +already taken his daughter away. I believe she wrote us several days +ago, when she first heard what they meant to do with her. But I can't +understand why her father wishes to put her in an asylum. She is much +too useful to them. She does nearly all the washing and cooking on +that miserable old shanty boat." + +"I do wish we had some money," declared Madge thoughtfully. "I believe +Mike would do anything for money. If we could only take care of +Mollie, perhaps her father would let us have her. But you and I are as +poor as church mice, Phil. Isn't it horrid?" + +"I don't believe the man would give his daughter to us if we merely +offered to take care of her. She is too useful to him. But he might +let her come with us if we could pay him a great deal of money besides. +At least, if we offered him a bribe he might be influenced to tell us +where poor Mollie is. However, there is no use in talking about money. +We'll have to do the best we can without it," finished Phil. + +The two friends were walking disconsolately along the shore of the +island. Neither one of them was anxious to return to the shanty boat +for another interview with the slatternly woman who presided over it. + +"Phil," Madge's eyes brightened, "if we need any money to help this +girl, I feel sure Mrs. Curtis will be glad to give it to us. She is +rich and generous, and Tom says she dearly loves to do things for those +who are in need. I should not mind in the least asking her help. She +is very fond of young girls." + +"She is very fond of you, at any rate," returned Phyllis, with a +smothered sigh. "Sometimes I feel as though she wanted to take you +away from us for keeps." + +Madge laughed. "What nonsense, Phil. Why should she wish to take me +away for 'keeps'?" + +But Phyllis did not reply to the little captain's laughing question. + +"Let's not go around to the shanty boat the way we did this morning. +Let us go back the opposite way, and then we shall have encircled the +whole island," planned Madge. "If Mollie is hidden anywhere, we might +happen to discover her." + +The loneliness of their walk affected both Madge and Phyllis. There +were no houses on the island. It was visited in the autumn for duck +shooting, and in the summer was used as a camping ground for a few +fisher folk. The girls passed only one man in their entire journey. +He was lying under a tree, fast asleep. A hat covered his face. As +the two friends hurried by they did not seek to discover who the man +was. He was a rough-looking fellow, and they preferred not to awaken +him. + +This time the deck of the shanty boat was deserted. It was noon. The +other members of the small shanty colony must have been out on the +water, for there was no one in sight. + +The girls stood staring irresolutely at the boat. "I suppose the woman +is indoors fixing the luncheon. I can see the smoke coming through the +smokestack," declared Phil. "Shall we call to her, or just march +boldly aboard her old boat?" + +"I don't know," hesitated Madge. "I don't believe we ought to mention +Mollie's note. We might get the child into more trouble." + +Phyllis shook her head. "Well, then, you decide upon something. You +always plan things better than I do. I think we had better say that we +have come back to inquire of Captain Mike how long he expects Mollie to +be away. Then we can insist on waiting until his sailboat returns." + +The two girls strode bravely up the single, rickety board that served +as the gangplank of the shanty boat. At their first step on the dock a +yellow dog rushed to the door of the dirty kitchen and set up a furious +barking. Behind him stood the menacing figure of the woman whom Madge +and Phil had seen a short time before. About her torn skirts were +clustered three or four stupid-looking, tow-headed children. It was +impossible for Phil to conceive how beautiful Mollie could be a member +of such a family. Yet the unfortunate girl had told Phyllis that she +had known no other than the hard, joyless life she had always led. + +It was Madge who opened the conversation this time. To her +disappointment she received no different answer to her inquiries than +had Phil. "Moll was gone." The woman did not know where she had gone +and she didn't care. But she wasn't coming back. Further, Mollie's +step-mother did not see what business Phil and Madge had in coming to +ask about her. + +"We are going to wait to talk to your husband," announced Phil with +quiet decision. + +"You git off my boat in a hurry," the woman snarled angrily. "You can +stay on the island all day if you like, but you can't hang around here. +Mike won't be home before night, and he ain't goin' to tell you nothin' +then. You'll find the beach pretty comfortable; it's so nice and +shady." The woman grinned maliciously. + +The two girls sat down on the stretch of hot sand near the water. They +were doggedly determined to wait as long as possible for Mike Muldoon's +return. Mollie's pathetic appeal had touched Madge as deeply as it had +Phil, and they were both resolved to help the child if they could. + +The hours dragged by on leaden wings. Madge's head ached violently. +Phil was beginning to think longingly of the basket of food which she +had left in the tent and wondering if it would do for her to go after +it while Madge stayed on guard. As she sat deliberating as to what +course of action would be the wisest, a sudden commotion arose among +the children playing on the deck of the shanty boat. The dog began to +bark furiously. "Mammy, here comes Pap," the oldest child cried. + +The tired girls could see that a sailboat was being anchored near the +shore. A few moments later Mike, who insisted on being called +"Captain," got into a skiff and rowed toward the land. + +Madge sprang to her feet and ran down to the edge of the water. She +wished to attract Mike's attention before he went aboard his own shanty +boat. To think with her was to act. She realized that she must speak +to the man before his wife could tell him the nature of their errand. +If Mike Muldoon learned their real design, he might shut himself inside +his shanty and refuse to talk to them. + +[Illustration: The girls ran down to the water's edge.] + +Mike rowed toward his callers, who were anxiously waiting for him. As +his boat scraped the shore his wife shrieked at him, "Come here fust, +Mike! Don't you be goin' talkin' to the likes of them before I tells +you somethin'." + +She was too late. Captain Mike had already turned to Madge. He +supposed the girls had come to engage his sailboat. + +Captain Madge decided to try diplomacy. She did not wish to make the +sailor angry. She hoped she might persuade him to do what they wished. + +"We have not come to rent your sailboat today, Captain Mike," she +announced cheerfully, "we are coming for that another time. What we +wish now is to ask you what has become of your pretty daughter? We +have crossed all the way over to the island to make her a call. And +now we can't find her. We wish to make friends with her, if you don't +mind." + +"Moll can't make friends with nobody," Mike answered suspiciously, his +skin turning a mottled red under its coat of tan. "I told you Moll was +foolish." + +"Yes, I know," answered Phil unwisely. "That is why we are so sorry +for her." + +Mike scowled darkly. "You ain't got no cause to be sorry for the gal. +Who told you she was treated mean? Nobody don't hurt her. But you +can't see her. She is sick." + +"Why, your wife told us she had gone away!" exclaimed Phil impetuously. + +She could have cried with regret the next moment, for she realized how +foolish she had been. + +"So she has gone away," Mike muttered, "and she is sick. I ain't no +liar and my wife ain't neither." + +"When will she come back, Captain Mike?" asked Madge in a friendly +tone, hoping the title of "captain" would soften the surly sailor. + +"She's not comin' back," the man replied impatiently. "I've got to go +to my dinner, and I ain't goin' to answer no more questions. Don't you +come foolin' around this way any more; my old woman don't like it. I +warn you for your good." + +Phil was tired of deceit. She knew Mike had not told them the truth. +"Captain Mike," she demanded coolly, "have you put your daughter in an +asylum? If you have, I think you have been both inhuman and cruel. +Mollie is not crazy. If you will tell us where she is we will look +after her, and she need not bother you any more." She raised her dark +eyes and gazed defiantly at the angry sailor, who shook his great red +fist full in her face. + +"You'll take a man's own daughter away from him, will you?" he raged. +"What makes you so interested in my gal? And who told you Moll was +shut up with a lot of crazies? My Moll is going to be married; she has +gone away to git her weddin' clothes." + +He laughed tantalizingly into the girls' faces as though well pleased +with his own joke. + +"Mollie married?" Phil exclaimed in horror. "Why, she----" Then Phil +stopped herself and inquired, with an innocent expression of interest, +"Whom did you say Mollie was going to marry?" + +"She is going to marry Bill Barnes, a friend of mine," retorted the +sailor sarcastically, his heavy shoulders shaking with savage +amusement. "He ain't much to look at. It's kind of a case of Beauty +and the Beast with him and my Moll. But she's powerful fond of him." + +"Mike!" a shrill voice screamed from the shanty boat kitchen, "come +along in here." + +Mike glared at his questioners, his face set in savage lines. "Don't +never come here agin," he growled. "If you do, I ain't sayin' what +will happen to you." Turning abruptly he strode toward his boat, +leaving the girls standing where he had first met them. + +There was nothing for Madge and Phil to do but to return once more to +their own boat. "O Madge! it is too dreadful!" exclaimed Phil in a +husky voice. "I understand now what poor Mollie meant. She said there +was one thing she would never do, no matter how cruel her father might +he with her. Of course, she knew they were going to try to force her +to marry some frightful looking fisherman. We simply must try to find +her and save her. It is a wicked shame!" + +"Don't be so wretched, Phil," comforted Madge, though she felt equally +miserable. "You are right; we must find out how to save poor, pretty +Mollie. I can't think what we ought to do, just this minute, but we +must do our best. Now I think we shall have to go home and talk things +over with Miss Jenny Ann and the girls. We will come back to-morrow, +prepared to make a fight to save Mollie. Surely she can't be married +by that time." + +The two friends stopped by the tent for their basket of food and sat +down just outside it under a tree to eat their luncheon. Neither of +them noticed that they had seated themselves with their backs to the +water, and they were so interested in talking of Mollie that they gave +no thought to the outgoing tide. By rising they could see their boat +drawn up on the shore, where, as arranged with Lillian and Eleanor, it +had been left by the farm boy. What they failed to notice, however, +was the distance it lay from the water line, and they also had +forgotten that it was time for the going out of the tide. + +As they sat quietly eating their luncheon the sound of running feet was +borne to their ears. Nearer and nearer they came. Then round the +curve of the beach darted the object of their morning's search. With a +wild cry she flung herself upon Phil. "You said you would help me," +she moaned. "Oh, help me now." Little rivulets of water ran from her +ragged clothing. The pupils of her dark blue eyes were distended with +fear. Her dress was torn across her shoulder and an ugly bruise showed +through it. There was a long, red welt on her cheek that looked as +though it had been made with a whip, and another across one forearm. + +Madge and Phyllis rushed toward the frightened girl. Phil put her arm +protectingly about Mollie while Madge stood on guard. Resolution and +defiance looked out from their young faces. They were not afraid of +poor Mollie's captors. They would fight for her. + +"How did you come to us? Where have you been?" questioned Phil. + +Five minutes had passed and no one had appeared. "Sit down here, +Mollie. We won't let any one hurt you." + +"I was hidden in the shanty boat, locked in a dark closet," faltered +Mollie, casting a terrified glance about her. "I heard you ask for me, +but I could not come out. The woman is more cruel to me than the man. +She would have killed me. But when my father came home he was so angry +because you had been to see me that he beat me and said I must marry +Bill to-morrow, before you could come back to help me. Oh, he is +horrible! I won't marry him! I'll die first! I crawled through a +porthole in the boat when I heard what they said. I dropped into the +water and swam and swam until I could land on the beach out of sight of +my father's boat. Then I ran until I found you. But they will try to +find me. They may be looking for me now. Tell me, tell me what I must +do?" + +"Don't be frightened," soothed Madge. "They can't force you to marry +Bill or any one else against your will. Phil and I will take care of +you. Come with us. We are going over to our houseboat now. Your +father need not know what has become of you. Hurry!" Madge was +listening intently for sounds announcing the coming of Mollie's +pursuers. So far the girls were safe. A moment more and they would be +in their rowboat. + +Linking their arms within Mollie's her rescuers hurried her along. +Straight to the water's edge they ran, then a cry of consternation went +up from the two girls. + +"O Madge! what shall we do? We forgot all about the tide," mourned +Phil. "It has gone out, and now we'll have to drag our heavy boat half +a mile through the sand to the water or else wait until the tide runs +in again before we can get away from the island." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE CAPTURE + +Madge hurried down to where their rowboat lay. She dragged the anchor +out of the sand and pulled at the skiff with all her might. Phil also +took hold and together the two girls worked like beavers, but without +success. The boat was firmly wedged in the sand. + +"Is there any place on the island where we can hide, Mollie?" +questioned Phil as the two girls rested for a moment from their +fruitless effort. "We can not leave here until the tide turns." + +"I know a cave," said Mollie hesitatingly. "It is in the woods not +very far from the beach. But I am afraid they will find us there." + +"We had better go to it," urged Madge, wiping the perspiration from her +tired face. "At least we can hide in the cave for a while, until we +make up our minds what is best for us to do, We may not be discovered +until the tide turns. Later on I shall slip down here again to see if +things are safe, and then we can make a run for our boat. If we wait +here along the shore, we shall not have the least chance of escaping. +The first person who comes to look for Mollie will surely see us. Come +on. We have no time to lose." + +This time Mollie led the way through a tangle of trees and underbrush +to the center of the little island. Here they found the cave which was +only an opening behind an immense old tree that had been uprooted by a +storm. A flat rock protruded over the hollow, and the sand had +gradually drifted away until the cavity was hardly large enough to hold +the three girls. These were cramped quarters, and they were only +partially protected from view by the immense roots of the fallen tree, +but they knew of no other refuge and resolved to make the best of it. + +The girls had barely crept into their hiding place when they heard a +noise of some one tramping through the underbrush. A few moments later +a man slouched along a narrow path between the trees. His hat was +pulled down over his face, but Madge and Phil recognized him by his +dress as the man they had seen asleep on the ground earlier in the day. + +Mollie made no sound. She was hidden between the two friends, and +never in her life before, so far as she could recall, had she been so +protected by affection. But her increased trembling told her rescuers +that she had recognized the man who passed so near to them, and that +she feared him. + +"It's Bill," she faltered when the figure disappeared without having +the slightest suspicion that he was being watched. "He is on his way +to our boat. He will ask for me, and my father will be sure to find +out that I have gone. Then they will come out here to hunt for me." + +For a long time after Mollie's disquieting prediction none of the three +prisoners spoke. They hardly dared to breathe. Their bodies ached +from their cramped, uncomfortable positions; they were hungry, and, +worse than anything else, Madge and Phyllis were tormented with thirst. +Since leaving the houseboat early in the morning they had drunk no +water. Phil was thinking remorsefully that all this trouble had come +from her asking Madge to go with her to the island in search of Mollie. + +Madge was wondering just what she would do and say if Mollie's father +should find them, while Mollie's delicate face had lost its expression +of apathy and now wore one of lively terror. Even the faint rustle of +leaves as a passing breeze swept through the trees caused her to start. +An hour passed and no one came to look for them. Either Mike had not +learned of his daughter's escape, or else he had not taken the trouble +to come to search for her. He must have believed that she would return +to the boat later on of her own accord, driven by hunger and loneliness. + +It was now growing late in the afternoon. Neither Madge nor Phyllis +wore a watch, so it was impossible to tell how much time they had spent +in the cave. Miss Jenny Ann would wonder what had happened. Of +course, Lillian and Eleanor would explain matters. Miss Jones might +remember the tide and understand what was keeping them away. Yet there +was a lively possibility that she might fail to take the tide into +consideration. + +At last Madge decided to end the suspense. + +She knew their skiff would float from the shore of Fisherman's Island +several hours before full tide. They had tried to make their escape at +the moment when the tide was almost at its lowest ebb. The tide had +been high that morning. It was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon +when they had attempted to leave the island. She now believed it to be +almost five o'clock. At least, it was time to reconnoitre. She put +her ear close to the ground. She could hear no sound of any one +approaching. + +"Phil," she whispered, "will you and Mollie please wait here for me. I +am going down to the water to see if it is possible to get the boat +off. It must be very late. Remember, high tide is at eight o'clock +to-night. We ought to be able to pull away from here between five and +six o'clock. When I come back to tell you how things are we can make a +run for it to the beach, and perhaps get a fair start before we are +seen." + +"Let me go with you," insisted Phil, as anxious as her chum to get out +of their close quarters. + +"I don't think we ought to leave Mollie alone," demurred Madge. "But, +if you think best, you may go and I will stay here." + +Mollie's terror at Phyllis's suggestion of deserting her was too much +for tender-hearted Phil. "No, I won't leave you," she said gently, +taking Mollie's hand in hers. "You had better run along, Madge. I'll +stay here. But, for goodness' sake, do be careful. If anything +happens to you, Mollie and I will starve in this cave like Babes in the +Woods, if you don't come back to find us." + +Madge crawled cautiously out of the hole. Her muscles were so stiff +that she rose to her feet with difficulty. But she soon started off +through the narrow path between the trees, making as little noise as +she possibly could. Her way through the grove of trees covered the +greater part of the distance to the shore. But there was still a +stretch of open beach, where she feared she would be discovered. When +she came to the shelter of the last tree she stopped and peered +cautiously up and down the line of the shore. As far as she could see +the beach was empty. And, surely enough, the tide was coming in. Tiny +waves touched the prow of the "Water Witch." It was true the water was +not yet deep enough to float their boat, but in less than an hour they +might be able to row away from danger with their new friend. + +There was but one thing to do. She must return to Phyllis and Mollie, +and they must make up their minds to remain in their hiding place for a +little while longer. Madge hated to go back to the cave. She would +have liked to linger in the woods, hiding behind the trees until they +were able to leave the island. But she knew it would not be fair to +Phyllis and Mollie to leave them any longer in suspense. They would +think something had happened to her unless she returned to them at +once. The knowledge that she had not been seen made her feel more +cheerful. She was sure that she would yet outwit the brutal sailor, +Mike Muldoon, and carry Mollie safe to the shelter of their houseboat, +where Miss Jenny Ann, or perhaps Mrs. Curtis, would tell them how they +could continue to take care of the poor girl. + +Unfortunately, Madge's gown was of some soft, white material and +altogether too conspicuous. She could be easily seen for some distance +as she ran along the shore, and in her anxiety to return to her friends +as soon as possible she did not look about her as carefully as she +should have done. Therefore she missed seeing the cruel face that +stared malignantly forth from the opening in the tent where Phil had +her first talk with Mollie. The man's whole body was carefully +concealed, and as Madge flitted by the tent his head disappeared from +sight. + +The man in the tent had caught sight of Madge's white gown the moment +she stepped forth from the shelter of the woods. He had at once +understood the situation, but he did not stir until she started to +return to the cave. He knew that Madge had come down to see if she +could get the boat off the beach and into the water. It was evident +that the other girls must be hidden somewhere in the forest. There was +nothing to be gained by capturing Madge alone; he must wait until she +went back to her friends, then he could find out where Mollie was +concealed. + +The boat on the shore and the disappearance of the two girls who had +visited him that morning told the whole story. Why had the two young +women concealed themselves unless they meant to guard the fugitive +Mollie? + +When Madge started back through the woods the man followed her at a +safe distance. He did not wish her to know that he was following her, +for fear she would lead him off the trail, but he kept near enough to +know exactly where she was going. + +She arrived, as she believed undiscovered, at their hiding place in the +woods. + +Phyllis and Mollie heard her light footfalls and gave a united sigh of +relief. Their friend had escaped discovery. So far all was well! + +Madge leaned over the opening of the cave, to reassure her friends +before she crawled into it again. + +"It's all right!" she cried softly. "I saw no one, heard nothing. We +can get away, without any trouble, in another hour." + +She crouched down to slip into the place of concealment. At the same +instant the three girls heard a noise. It was unmistakably the hurried +tramp of heavy feet! Mike Muldoon burst through the thicket of trees, +his face blazing with heat and anger. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ON A STRANGE SHORE + +Madge had just time enough to leap to her feet. She would not allow +their determined enemy to catch her while in the act of hiding. + +"Keep still," she whispered quickly to Phyllis and Mollie. Then she +turned, with flashing eyes, to the approaching figure of Captain Mike +Muldoon. + +"What do you want?" she demanded imperiously, stamping her foot. "Why +have you followed me through the woods?" + +For a moment the man was speechless. It had not dawned on him that +Madge would turn upon him. He had expected her to burst into tears and +exhibit signs of fear. + +"I want my daughter, and I want her quick, young woman," he answered +gruffly. "When I find her I will settle with you." He pushed past +Madge and dragged the unfortunate Mollie from her place of shelter. +Phil sprang out after her. Her black eyes were flashing with anger and +disappointment. She fastened a firm grip on Mollie's arm. If Mike +Muldoon jerked or shook his daughter, he would jerk and shake Phyllis +Alden, too, for nothing would induce her to let go her hold on Mollie. + +"Let me go," whispered Mollie gently, looking affectionately into the +faces of her new friends. "I don't want you to be in trouble for my +sake. I ran away. It was no fault of yours." Mollie appeared to be +quite rational. She seemed to appreciate the girls' loyalty to her. + +"Give up my daughter and get back to where you came from, and I will +let you off this time," roared Mike savagely. He did not think it wise +to deal roughly with the girls. Their friends would surely come to +look for them and hold him responsible for their disappearance. + +"We won't go a step unless you will let Mollie go with us," returned +Phil wrathfully. "You shan't make her marry that horrible Bill. It is +unlawful for you to force her to marry against her will." + +Mike moved stolidly ahead, gripping his daughter and pulling her along +with him. Phyllis, who was still clutching Mollie's arm, followed +after, while Madge walked valiantly by Phil's side. + +"Leave go!" Mike shouted, raising his fist threateningly at Phyllis. +Mollie cried out at the thought of possible hurt to her friend, but +Phyllis did not falter. She gazed up at the burly sailor with a look +of such intense scorn, mingled with defiance, that he dropped his hand +to his side and said sneeringly: "Come back to my shanty boat, then. I +will settle with you when we get there." + +Tightening his hold on his daughter's arm he strode off toward the +shanty boat, dragging poor Mollie along at a cruel rate of speed. +Phil, still clasping Mollie's other arm, kept pace with her, while +Madge marched a little to the rear with the air of a grenadier. + +Mollie's beautiful white face was set in lines of despair, but her +companions felt nothing save righteous indignation against the brutal +man they were forced either to follow or else leave Mollie to her fate. + +On the deck of the wretched shanty boat, this time, a man and a woman +were waiting with burning impatience. The man was Bill and the woman +was Mike Muldoon's wife. A group of fisher folk stood near, evidently +anxious to know what was going to happen. It was late in the +afternoon, and they had returned from the day's work on the water. + +Madge broke away from her own party to run toward these men and women. +There were about half a dozen in number. "Won't you help us?" she +cried excitedly. "Captain Mike is trying to force his daughter to +marry that dreadful Bill. He has beaten her cruelly because she +refuses to do it. My friend and I tried to get Mollie away from him, +but he found us and forced her to come back here." + +"Don't hurt the young ladies, Mike," remonstrated one of the fishermen, +with a satirical grin in their direction, "it wouldn't be good +business." Then he turned to Madge and said gruffly: "It ain't any of +our lookout what Mike does with his daughter. She's foolish, anyhow. +Can't see why Bill wants to marry her." + +Muldoon had jerked Mollie from Phil's restraining grasp and flung her +aboard the shanty boat. The woman pushed the girl inside the cabin and +closed the door. Then she stood waiting to see what her husband +intended to do with the two girls. + +Captain Mike was puzzled. He stood frowning angrily at Mollie's +defiant champions. They had refused to go back home. He had given +them their opportunity. It was just as well they had not taken it, for +suddenly the man was seized with an idea. + +"Git into my rowboat," he ordered Phil and Madge. "I am going to put +you aboard my sailboat and carry you home to your friends. You had +better take my offer. You'll only get into worse trouble if you stay +around here. How do you think you are going to take care of +Moll--knock me and Bill and my old woman down and run off with Moll?" + +"Won't any one here help us?" asked Phil, turning to the grinning crowd. + +"You had better go home with Mike. It's the only thing for you to do," +advised a grizzled old fisherman. "Your hanging around here ain't +going to help Moll." + +Madge and Phil exchanged inquiring glances. For the time being they +were beaten. It was better to go home. Later on they would see what +could be done for their friend. + +"We would rather go back in our own boat," Phil announced, making a +last resistance. Madge, who was already in Mike's skiff, beckoned to +Phil to join her. It was too undignified and hopeless for them to +argue longer with these coarse, rough men. Phyllis followed her chum +reluctantly. She hung back as long as she could, staring hard at the +shanty boat. But there was no sight nor sound of Mollie. + +Even after they were aboard Captain Mike's sailing craft Phil's eyes +strained toward the receding shore. When it was no longer to be seen +she sat with her hands folded, gazing into her lap. She was still +thinking and planning what she could do to rescue Mollie. Madge sat +with closed eyes; she was too weary to speak. + +The sailor's boat had left the island far behind and was moving +swiftly. It was after sunset, and the sun had just thrown itself, like +the golden ball in the fairy tale, into the depth of the clear water. +The girls were looking anxiously toward the direction of their boat, +and wondering if their friends were worrying over their late return. + +The houseboat lay a little to the southwest of Fisherman's Island, and +so far they had not been able to catch sight of it. It was growing so +dark that it was impossible to see the shore very clearly on either +side of the bay. It was Madge's sharp eyes that first made the +discovery that what she could see of the shore was unfamiliar. Captain +Mike was not taking them to their houseboat. He was sailing in exactly +the opposite direction. Madge glanced quickly at Phyllis, who was yet +happily unconscious of their plight, then, turning to Muldoon, she said +sharply: "You are sailing the wrong way to bring us to our houseboat. +The boat lies southwest of the island and you are taking us due north. +Turn about and take us to our boat instantly." + +"I am taking you to where I am going to land you, all right," the +sailor replied gruffly. "You have got to learn that you can't come +foolin' in my business without getting yourselves into trouble. I'm +goin' to learn you." + +"You had better do as we ask you to do or you may regret it," put in +Phyllis. + +The sailor appeared not to have heard her threat. + +"Don't speak to him, Phil. He isn't worth wasting words over." + +The sailboat was evidently making for the land. The long line of a +pier was faintly visible. A few lights shone along a strange shore. + +It was plain that Captain Mike meant to land at this pier. The girls +did not know why he meant to take them there, but they were too proud +to ask him his reason. + +Mike drew his boat close along the flight of steps that led to the top +of the pier. + +"Jump off, quick!" he called sharply. + +It was night. Neither Madge nor Phyllis had the faintest idea of the +hour. Neither one of them knew in what place they were being cast +ashore, nor had they a cent of money between them. But anything was +better than to remain longer on the sailboat. + +With a defiant glance at the scowling man Madge climbed out on the +steps of the pier. She gave her hand to Phyllis, who leaped after her. + +Captain Mike watched them walk up the steps to the top of the pier. +Then, turning his boat about, he sailed away, leaving the two girls to +the darkness of an unknown shore. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FINDING A WAY TO HELP MOLLIE + +Girls do not keep silent long, no matter how grave the situation. The +two castaways were no exception. + +Madge shook her clenched fist after the retreating mast of the sail +boat. "You horrid, horrid old man!" she cried. "We won't give up +trying to save poor Mollie, no matter what you do to us. Come on, +Phil," she said, taking Phyllis by the hand, "let us go up to the shore +and ask some one where we are. I suppose nobody will believe our +story, because it seems so improbable, but perhaps some kind soul will +give us a drink of water, even if we do look perfectly disreputable." + +Phyllis giggled softly in spite of their plight. Madge had lost her +hat. Her curls had long since come loose from the knot in which she +wore them, and her gown was sadly wrinkled. + +Madge was in no mood for laughter. "You needn't make fun of me, +Phyllis Alden," she said reproachfully. "You are just as tattered and +torn as I. We do look like a couple of beggars. Your hair is not +down, but your collar is crumpled and your dress is almost as soiled as +mine." + +"I look much worse than you do, Madge, I am sure of it," conceded Phil +cheerfully. "You see, I am not pretty to begin with." To this speech +Madge would not deign to reply. Phyllis laughed good-humoredly. +"Loyal little Madge, you won't acknowledge my lack of fatal beauty." +Then in a graver tone she added, "What do you think we had better do, +Madge?" + +"Find out where we are and how far away the 'Merry Maid' is," returned +Madge decisively. "We must reach there to-night, Phil. Miss Jenny Ann +and the girls will believe something dreadful has happened to us." + +The chums had walked to the end of the pier. Between them and the +nearest house lay a stretch of treacherous marsh. They paused +irresolutely, staring at the marsh with anxious eyes. "I am afraid we +shall get lost in the marsh if we try to find our way through it on a +dark night like this," faltered Phyllis. + +Madge shook her head determinedly. "We must try to pass through it. I +don't like the looks of it any better than you do, but we can't stay +here all night, that is certain. Come on. Here goes." + +Phyllis obediently followed her companion into the marsh, and then +began a never-to-be-forgotten walk. With each step they took the salt +water oozed up from the ground and covered their shoes. Madge felt her +way carefully. She was obliged to put one foot cautiously forth to see +if the earth ahead were firm enough to bear the weight of her body. On +she went, with Phyllis close behind her. In spite of the difficulty +the girls were plainly making headway. "Hurrah!" called Madge, "we are +almost out of this quagmire. There is dry land ahead!" With one long +leap she made the solid ground which stretched just ahead of her. +Phyllis was not so fortunate. She lunged blindly after Madge, struck +an unusually bad part of the marsh and sank knee deep in the soft mud. +With a terrified cry she began struggling to free herself, but the +harder she struggled the deeper she became imbedded in the marsh. + +The moon was just coming up. Madge could faintly see what had happened +to her friend. She ran toward Phyllis, but the latter cried out +warningly: "Go back. If you try to help me, you'll only sink into this +marsh with me." + +Madge hesitated only a minute. "Don't move, Phil, if you can possibly +help it," she cried. "But in a few minutes from now call out, so that +I can tell where you are. Good-bye for a little while; I am going for +help." Madge never knew how she covered the space that lay between her +and the nearest house. This house had a low stone wall around it, and +stood on top of a steep hill that sloped down to this wall. Madge +scrambled over the wall and climbed the hill, sometimes on her feet, +but as often on her hands and knees. There was a light in a window. +She staggered to it and rapped on the window pane. A moment later a +man appeared in a doorway at the right of the window. + +"Who's there?" he called out sharply. "What do you mean by knocking on +my window? Answer me at once!" + +Madge stumbled over to him. "Oh, won't you please come with me?" she +said. "My friend Phyllis is stuck fast in the marsh. I must have help +to get her out." + +Without a word the man disappeared into the house. For one dreadful +instant, Madge thought he did not intend to help her; she thought he +must believe that she was an impostor and was making up her story. The +next minute the man returned, wearing a pair of high rubber hoots and +carrying a dark lantern and a heavy rope. + +"Don't be frightened," he said kindly to her as she walked wearily +after him. "People often lose their way in this marsh after dark. +We'll soon find your friend." + +But to himself Judge Arthur Hilliard asked the question: "What in the +world are two young girls doing alone on this dangerous shore at such +an hour of the night?" + +It was well that Phyllis remembered Madge's order, else they might have +had some trouble in locating her. As soon as Phyllis saw the friendly +light from the oncoming lantern she called at the top of her lungs: +"Here I am! Here I am!" + +"Keep perfectly still!" Judge Hilliard commanded. "I'll have you out +in a short time." He waded into the marsh, his high boots protecting +him from the black ooze. When he was about five yards from Phil he +flung her the rope. "Now work your way along toward us," he directed. +Phyllis obeyed his command and in an incredibly short time was safe on +dry land, her shoes heavy with mud. + +"It is bad enough to be lost," declared Phil as she thanked the +stranger, "but it is worse to be not only lost, but stuck in the mud as +well." + +"You were in a most unpleasant, though I can hardly say a dangerous +plight," returned the stranger. "Can I be of further service to you?" + +"Would you--could you tell us where we can get a drink of water?" asked +Madge. "We are so tired and thirsty." + +"My name is Arthur Hilliard," returned the man. "If you will come to +my house, my mother will be glad to offer you refreshment." + +"Thank you," bowed Madge sedately. "We will go with you." + +Mrs. Hilliard, a stout, comfortable looking old lady, received the +wanderers with true Southern hospitality. Without waiting to hear +their story, she insisted that they change their bedraggled clothing +for two comfortable looking dressing gowns which she laid out for them, +and by the time they had washed their faces and hands and dressed their +hair they found a hot supper ready for them in the dining room. + +"We are so sorry to have troubled you," declared Madge apologetically, +as Mr. Hilliard entered the dining room when they were finishing their +meal. "Now we must tell you who we are and how we came to be +floundering in the marsh so late in the evening." + +Beginning with their visit to the island that morning Madge related all +that had transpired during that long day of adventures. Judge Hilliard +shook his head disapprovingly as the tale continued, but listened with +grave interest to the part of the story relating to Mollie, the +sailor's daughter. + +"This girl of whom you speak is like the girl in the fairy story, who +has a cruel step-mother and an ogre of a father," he commented when the +story had ended. + +"Of course she is," answered Madge; "only our girl is not in a fairy +story, she is real. I can't believe that that dreadful Mike Muldoon is +her father, and I know there must be some way to take her from him and +make her happy." + +"We are going to save her yet," declared Phyllis stoutly. "I don't see +just how we are to manage it, but to-morrow we are going to try again. +How far are we from Fisherman's Island?" + +"About thirty miles," Judge Hilliard replied. "I have telephoned to +the nearest town to let your chaperon know you are safe. The message +will be taken over to your houseboat tonight, and I will take you home +in the morning. My mother insists that you remain here tonight. She +will join us in the library in a few minutes." + +"Thank you again," said Madge gratefully. "It was very thoughtful in +you to send a message to our friends. In the morning we wish to go +first to the Belleview Hotel. We wish to see a friend of ours who is +staying there. Her name is Mrs. Curtis." + +"Mrs. Curtis is an old friend of mine," said Judge Hilliard in pleased +surprise. "I have known her ever since I was a little boy. Now I have +something to say to you that may interest you. I told you I was a +judge. It is my business to look into people's legal difficulties. +This trouble which concerns your friend looks to me as though it might +have a legal side to it. We are in the State of Maryland. Fisherman's +Island is in my jurisdiction. Suppose I issue an injunction forbidding +the marriage between Mollie and the sailor, and take you up to the +island in the morning to see it served. I have a steam yacht, and I +think I shall take along two court officers or policemen, who will +terrify your dreadful Captain Mike. At any rate, I'll see justice done +his afflicted daughter, if I have to take the law in my own hands." + +Madge clapped her hands joyously. Tears stood in Phil's dark eyes. +"Oh, how splendid!" she breathed. + +At this juncture Mrs. Hilliard entered the library, and after a little +further talk the two girls announced themselves as being quite ready to +retire. + +"Be ready at seven o'clock," Judge Hilliard reminded them, as he bade +his guests good night. "We shall reach Captain Mike's shanty boat +before he has time to proceed with the marriage. They won't expect you +at your houseboat until after breakfast, and I hope to have three girls +to deliver aboard, instead of two." + +Phyllis and Madge dropped asleep that night the instant their heads +touched their pillows. They had asked to share the same room, and as +they had sleepily undressed, they congratulated each other on the fact +that Mike Muldoon's cowardly act had resulted in nothing but good to +them. It looked as though it might even prove a boomerang to him. + +By seven o'clock the next morning the girls had breakfasted and said +good-bye to Mrs. Hilliard, after promising to visit her at some future +time. + +"Judge Hilliard," announced Madge, as the yacht "Greyhound" steamed out +from the pier, "we forgot to tell you last night that we think Mollie +is old enough to come away from her father if she wishes. She doesn't +know how old she is. That is one of the queer things about Mollie. +She seems quite sensible until you ask her to recall something, and +then she becomes confused. Still, I am sure she is several years older +than either Phil or I." + +The shanty boat colony on the east side of Fisherman's Island had also +risen early on this warm morning in July. Bill crossed over to the +mainland in his sailboat to bring a Justice of the Peace back with him +to marry him to Mollie. Captain Mike was determined to have his way +with his daughter. Once she was married to Bill, her new friends would +find it difficult to get her away from him. + +Since Mollie's return to the shanty boat she had made no further +outcry. She did not seem to know what was going on. The vacant, +hopeless look had come over her face. The fright and ill treatment of +the day before had completely subdued her. She seemed to have +forgotten everything. + +All night long she had lain awake in her miserable berth in the dirty +shanty boat. She lay still, with her eyes closed, until the breathing +of her family told her they were fast asleep. Then she crept out on +the deck of the boat. She sat for hours without moving, her wonderful +blue eyes, with the empty look in them, staring out over the silent +waters. She was waiting, wistful and patient, for something to come to +save her. When the dawn broke, and a rosy light bathed the bay and the +sky, she rose, went quietly into the cabin and lay down in her berth +again. She stayed there while the family ate their breakfast. She +made no resistance when her step-mother came toward her, grinning +maliciously, and bearing a coarse white cotton dress, which she called +"Moll's wedding gown." + +Mollie let the woman put the dress on her. She even combed her own +sun-colored hair; and, for the first time in her life, she knotted it +on her head, instead of letting it stream in ragged, unkempt ends over +her shoulders. A loose lock of hair over Mollie's low forehead covered +the ugly scar that was her one disfigurement. She was so startlingly +lovely that her stupid step-mother stared at her in a kind of +bewildered amazement. Mollie was pale and worn, and painfully thin, +yet nothing could spoil the wonderful color of her hair and eyes, nor +take away the peculiar grace of her figure. Her expression was dull +and listless. Even so Mollie looked like a lily transplanted to some +field of dank weeds, but growing tall and sweet amid their ugliness. + +Mike looked at his daughter curiously when her step-mother dragged her +out before him. Brutal as he was, a change passed over his face. He +glanced over the water to see if Bill's boat were approaching. "I +ain't never understood how things has turned out," he muttered to +himself. "If Mollie wasn't foolish, I wouldn't let Bill have her. She +is a pretty thing, and she looks like a lady. That's what makes it so +all-fired queer." + +Mollie sank down on the bench that ran around the deck of the shanty +boat. She dropped her head in her hands. What she was thinking, or +whether she was thinking at all, no one could know or tell. She heard +a boat coming through the water, then a cry from her father. If she +believed the hour had arrived for her marriage, she gave no sign. She +did not raise her head when Mike Muldoon cried out savagely. + +Captain Mike went ashore. He stood with his heavy arms folded, smoking +and scowling. + +Judge Hilliard stepped up to Captain Mike. Two police officers +accompanied him. Madge and Phil were directly behind their new friend. +They did not like to call to Mollie, but they wished she would look up +at them. + +"I have an injunction forbidding the marriage of your daughter, Mollie +Muldoon, to a fisherman named Bill," Judge Hilliard's peremptory voice +rang out. "You are forcing your daughter into this marriage against +her will." + +"I ain't forcing Moll," denied Captain Mike, glaring at Phil and Madge. +He was driven into a corner, and he knew nothing else to say. + +"I would like to ask the girl what she desires," the judge announced. + +"Moll," called Mike. + +For the first time Mollie lifted her head. She left the boat and came +slowly toward the little party. + +Judge Hilliard stared, and for a moment he forgot to speak to her. +Madge and Phil had assured him that their protege was beautiful, but he +had expected to behold the simple beauty of a country girl; this young +woman was exquisitely lovely. + +Madge and Phil trembled with excitement. Suppose Mollie should not +understand the Judge's question and make the wrong answer? Suppose the +poor girl had been bullied into submission? Suppose she should not +even recall the struggle of yesterday? She forgot so much--would she +forget this? + +"Do you desire to marry this 'Bill'?" Judge Hilliard queried, looking +with puzzled wonder into Mollie's lovely, expressionless face. + +Mollie shook her head gently. Madge and Phil held their breath. + +"I will not marry him," Mollie answered simply. "Nothing could make me +do so." + +"Then you will come home to the houseboat with us, Mollie," Madge and +Phil pleaded together, taking hold of the girl's hands to lead her away. + +"I am sorry," interposed Judge Hilliard, speaking to the girls, "but we +can't take her away at once. We must observe the law. Muldoon," +continued the Judge as he took a document out of his pocket and handed +it to the sailor, "of course you know that you can not force this girl +to marry against her will whether she is of age or not, but, aside from +that, here is an order of court directing you to show cause why the +girl should not be taken from you upon the ground of cruelty and +neglect. The case will be heard in the court at the county seat of +Anne Arundel County five days hence, the 30th of the month. You will, +of course, be expected to prove that the girl is your daughter. This +order also contains an injunction forbidding you to take the girl out +of this jurisdiction within that time. These officers will remain here +to see that the order of the court is carried out. If you make any +attempt to remove the girl from this vicinity, you will be arrested at +once." + +"And now, ladies," said Judge Hilliard, turning to the girls, "we will +go aboard the 'Greyhound'." + +"I say, Judge," broke in Muldoon, starting hurriedly after Judge +Hilliard, "I don't want to get mixed up in the law. I'll tell you +something if you won't be too hard on me. Moll isn't my daughter! I +picked her up almost drowned on a beach on the coast of Florida. My +first old woman took a liking for the kid, so we just kept her. We +didn't intend her any harm. That was ten or twelve years ago." + +Judge Hilliard did not appear to be surprised; in fact, he had expected +some such statement. + +"Your confession," said he, speaking to Muldoon, "is all we need to +enable us to take this girl away. Under the circumstances, it will not +be necessary to serve this paper," he continued, taking the order of +court away from Muldoon. "We shall take the girl with us now. +Muldoon, see to it that you don't get into any other trouble. You are +getting off easily. Your carrying off these two young ladies under +false pretence and depositing them against their will in an unknown +place, as you did last night, is very much like abduction, and +abduction is a penitentiary offence." + +There being nothing left to do, Judge Hilliard and his party, now +including the rescued Mollie, went aboard the "Greyhound" and steamed +away toward the houseboat. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MADGE'S OPPORTUNITY + +Mollie slipped into her place as a member of the little houseboat +family as quietly as though she had always been a part of it. She was +shy and gentle, and rarely talked. She was more like a timid child +than a woman. She liked to cook, to wash the dishes, to do the things +to which she was accustomed, and to be left alone. At first the +houseboat girls tried to interest her in their amusements, but Miss +Jenny Ann persuaded them that it was wiser to let Mollie become +accustomed to the change in her life in any way she could. Mollie +never spoke of the past, and she seemed worried if any one of the girls +questioned her about it. They did not even know whether she feared the +return of Captain Mike or Bill. The girls hoped that Mollie's lack of +memory had made her quickly forget her unhappy life. + +One thing haunted Mollie: it was her fear of strangers. If a visitor +came aboard the houseboat the young girl would disappear and hide in +the cabin until there was no danger of her being noticed. Jack Bolling +and Tom Curtis came calling nearly every day, but neither one of them +had seen anything of Mollie, except her flying skirts as she ran away +to hide from them. They were vaguely aware of her unusual beauty, but +neither of them knew what she actually looked like. + +Madge was particularly sorry that Mollie would not see Mrs. Curtis. +The houseboat holiday could only last a short time longer. Mr. and +Mrs. Butler had written that they expected to return from California in +about ten days, and must have Madge and Eleanor back at "Forest House." +Lillian's and Phil's parents were also clamoring for their girls to +spend a part of their summer vacation at home. So the question must +soon arise: What could be done with Mollie when the crew of the "Merry +Maid" disbanded? Madge felt they needed their friend's advice. But +neither Mrs. Curtis nor Miss Jenny Ann thought it best to force Mollie +to see people until she became more used to the atmosphere of affection +about her, and had learned that no one meant to harm or ill treat her. +Once Mrs. Curtis caught a brief glimpse of Mollie, standing framed in +the cabin doorway. The girl had given a frightened stare at her, and +then had fled inside her room. She could not be coaxed out again. +Mrs. Curtis was curious. The one quick look at Mollie seemed oddly to +recall some friend of her youth. It was nothing to think of seriously. +She would know better when she saw the girl another time. + +Daily Mrs. Curtis seemed to grow more and more fond of Madge. If Madge +failed to come to see her every day or so, she would send Tom over as a +messenger to bring her little friend back with him to luncheon or to +dinner. She and the little captain used to have long, confidential +talks together, and Mrs. Curtis seemed never to weary of the young +girl's romantic fancies. She used to make Madge tell her of her family +and what she knew of her dead father and mother. At times Madge +wondered idly why Mrs. Curtis was interested in them, and every now and +then she thought Tom's mother wished to ask her an important question. +But Mrs. Curtis always put off the inquiry until another time. + +Toward the close of their stay on the "Merry Maid" the girls were +invited to a six o'clock dinner at the Belleview, given in their honor +by Mrs. Curtis and Tom. On the day of the dinner Tom was sent to the +"Merry Maid" to ask Madge to come to his mother an hour earlier than +the others were expected. Miss Jenny Ann had elected to stay at home +with Mollie. Nothing would induce Mollie to attend the party, and Miss +Jenny Ann would not allow any one of the girls to remain on the +houseboat with her. + +Tom and Madge went up to the hotel on the street car, since it was +impossible for Tom to row with his lame arm. They found Mrs. Curtis on +a little balcony that opened off her private sitting-room. The piazza +overlooked the waters of the small bay. It was a wonderful summer +afternoon; white clouds were rioting everywhere in the clear, blue sky; +the water was astir with white-masted boats, dipping their sails toward +the waves like the flapping wings of sea gulls. + +Madge was looking her prettiest. She had on her best white frock, and +as a mark of her appreciation of Mrs. Curtis wore the string of pearls +about her throat. Without making any noise, she crept out on the +balcony and kissed Mrs. Curtis lightly on the forehead. Then she +dropped into a low, cushioned chair near her friend's side. + +"Here I am, dressed for the dinner," she announced happily. "How do +you like me? Tom said you wanted me to come before the other girls, +and that this was perhaps our farewell dinner with you, for you might +be going away in a few days. Dear me, I am sorry. Are you going to +Old Point Comfort for the rest of the summer, or to your own summer +place?" + +Mrs. Curtis shook her head. "I don't know, Madge, just where I shall +go," she answered, pushing Madge's curls to one side of her white +forehead. It was the way that Mrs. Curtis liked best to have Madge +wear her hair. "But, wherever we go, can't you go with us?" she +concluded. + +Madge sighed. "I'd love to go with you," she sighed, "but I can't. +You see, Nellie and I have to go back to 'Forest House,' to spend the +rest of our holiday with Uncle and Aunt. They would be dreadfully hurt +if I suggested making a visit to you, instead of coming home to them." + +"Then I wonder if your uncle and aunt would allow me to make them a +short visit?" questioned Mrs. Curtis gravely. + +Madge opened her blue eyes. Why in the world should Mrs. Curtis wish +to go to "Forest House"? But she answered her friend promptly. "Of +course Uncle and Aunt would be most happy to have you, and Nellie and I +would be perfectly delighted." + +"Why do you think I am anxious to come, Madge?" + +Madge smiled in her sauciest fashion. "To see me, of course," she +replied. "Doesn't that sound conceited?" + +But Mrs. Curtis was not smiling. She was looking at Madge so seriously +that the young girl's merry face sobered. + +"I am not coming merely to see you, dear. I am coming to ask if I may +take you away with me for always. Haven't you guessed, that I want you +to come to live with me, to be my daughter? Tom and I are lonely. My +husband is dead, and I have no other child now, except Tom. I can't +tell you how much I want a daughter. I have plenty of money, +dear--more than I know what to do with. So we could have wonderful +times together, and do anything we chose to do. Only I would wish you +with me all the time. I couldn't let you wander off with the girls or +go to boarding school. Tom has to be away so much. You haven't any +own father and mother, and you told me that you were poor and would +have to earn your living some day. So I thought perhaps your uncle and +aunt would give you up to me. But, first, I wish to know whether my +plan pleases you." + +[Illustration: "I wish you to come and live with me, Madge."] + +Mrs. Curtis stopped talking to gaze earnestly at Madge. The girl had +turned so white that her friend was startled. She did not realize what +a surprise her suggestion had been to the little captain. She believed +that Madge must have partly guessed her intention. Miss Jenny Ann and +Phil had understood that some day Mrs. Curtis might make just this +proposal to Madge Morton. But to Madge it was a complete surprise. +She had never for an instant dreamed of such a thing. + +In a moment all the young girl's familiar world fell broken at her +feet--the old childhood home in the country, her happy friendships at +school. She saw a new world, like a vision in a fairy tale. It was a +wonderful world, that contained all the marvels of which she had +dreamed--wealth, position, admiration. Yet it was a homesick world, +for it was peopled with few of the friends whom Madge loved, with none +of the familiar places. In spite of the girl's fancies, the actual +every-day life of poverty and hope was too dear to be laid lightly +aside. + +Mrs. Curtis still waited for Madge to speak. + +"Uncle and Aunt----" she faltered. "They--would miss me----" + +"Yes, I know," returned Mrs. Curtis sympathetically. "Of course, your +own people will find it hard to give you up just at first, and Eleanor +will miss you. But I do not believe your uncle and aunt will stand in +your way if you really wish to come to me." + +Mrs. Curtis concluded in the tone of a woman accustomed to having her +own way. She was puzzled at Madge's indecision. + +"Are you sure you care for me enough to wish me to live with you, Mrs. +Curtis?" asked Madge quietly. "You see, you know only the nicest part +of me, but I have a miserable temper. Nellie and my friends are used +to me. Suppose you should take me away to live with you, and then grow +tired of me?" The girl's clear eyes questioned her new friend gravely. + +Mrs. Curtis smiled and shook her head. "No; I shouldn't grow tired of +you. People may sometimes grow vexed with you, but they are not going +to become tired of you. Now sit quite still. I want you not to speak, +but to think very hard for three minutes and then to tell me whether +you wish to be my adopted daughter. I do not wish to trouble your +uncle and aunt unless you feel sure of yourself." + +Mrs. Curtis took out her watch and laid it in her lap. + +She did not look at the watch; she kept her gaze on Madge's face. + +The little captain did not speak. She knew her eyes were filled with +tears. She was so young, and it was hard to decide her whole future +life in the space of three minutes. She realized that if Mrs. Curtis +adopted her, she would have to give up her gay, independent existence +among her old friends, the joy of doing for herself and of learning to +overcome obstacles. Then, on the other hand, Mrs. Curtis loved her and +she would give her everything in the world that a young girl could +desire. + +"Mrs. Curtis," declared Madge, when the three minutes had gone by, "I +can't--I can't decide what you ask me now. Please don't think I do not +love you. It is too wonderful for you and Tom to wish me to come to +live with you. But may I have a few days to think things over before I +give you my answer? The thought of leaving Aunt Sue and Uncle William +and Nellie does--does----" Madge could not go on. + +"Never mind, dear," soothed Mrs. Curtis. "It was not fair in me to +take you unawares, and then expect you to make up your mind so soon. +Suppose I give you three days, instead of three minutes, to think +things over. Even then, Madge, we can't be sure that your uncle and +aunt will be willing to let you be my girl instead of theirs." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +MOLLIE'S BRAVE FIGHT + +Mollie was sitting alone on the deck of the houseboat. She and Miss +Jenny had just finished an early tea. The girls were still away at +their dinner, and Miss Jenny Ann had gone up to the nearest farmhouse +to get some eggs for breakfast. It was the first time Mollie had ever +been left by herself on the houseboat. But Miss Jenny Ann did not +think there was any possible danger. Neither Captain Mike nor Bill had +made the slightest attempt to get possession of Mollie. Nor did Miss +Jones intend to be out of call for more than fifteen minutes. + +Mollie had begun to lose the vague dread that had haunted her all her +life. The peaceful hours of the past ten days seemed more real to her +than the dreary, ugly years of her childhood. She began faintly to +realize what life could mean when one was not afraid. + +Mollie's hands, a little roughened from hard work, were folded +peacefully in her lap. Her beautiful head, with its crown of +sun-colored hair, was resting against the cushion of the big steamer +chair. She was on the small upper deck, facing the bow of the boat. A +strolling breeze had blown the hair back from her forehead, and the +ugly scar was visible. But, now that Mollie's head no longer ached +from the hard work she had been forced to endure, the throbbing and the +old pain in this scar had almost gone. The girl was slowly finding +herself. So far she had accepted her new life without a question, +taking what was done for her like a contented child. Now she sat +looking up the bay for the return of her friends. They would not be at +home for several hours, but time meant very little to Mollie, and she +had been lonely since they had gone away. + +A skiff came down the bay with a single figure seated in it. + +Mollie heard the faint splashing of the oars, but since water sounds +had been familiar to her all her life she did not even turn her head to +see if any one were coming near to the houseboat. + +She knew the girls were due from the other direction. + +The boat moved slowly in toward the shore. It made almost no sound, +now that it drew nearer the land. With a final dip of the oars and a +strong forward movement the small boat glided well within the shadow of +the stern of the houseboat. There it stopped. + +Mollie did not see nor hear it. For some moments the boat rested +quietly in the shallow water, moving only with the faint movement of +the evening tide. The solitary boatman sat without stirring. He +leaned forward, listening intently for any sounds of life aboard the +houseboat. He had espied the deserted figure on the upper deck. + +In almost complete silence the man fastened his boat to the houseboat +and in his stocking feet clambered up the side of "The Merry Maid" and +came aboard. He slipped around the deck, crouching on his hands and +knees. He listened at the doors of each room in the cabin. No one was +about except the girl in the steamer chair. The man moved like a cat, +with almost complete noiselessness. He made no effort to onto the +deserted cabin. Nor did he, at first, make any movement that showed +the least interest in Mollie. + +At the farther end of the deck, outside the kitchen, the prowler made a +discovery which caused him great satisfaction. He smiled. He picked +it up and shook it furtively. The treasure was a big tin can, nearly +full of kerosene. + +Still on his hands and knees, the man tilted the can until the oil ran +in a little stream down the deck and soaked well into the wood. He +then put his hand in his pocket to look for something. + +Mollie did not hear him. At least, her ears were not conscious that +they caught a distinct sound. Finally she became conscious of the +presence of some one near her. She got quickly up out of her chair and +leaned over the railing of the top deck. + +At this moment the man, with his back toward her, struck a match. +Mollie beheld the crouching figure. She could not tell who the man +was. Was it Bill or her father come to steal her away? The old, +dreadful fear swept over her, with enough of memory to make her realize +what her capture would mean. The girl's first instinct was to hide. +She did not realize how poor a refuge the houseboat offered her. It +seemed to her that, if she could only get into one of the cabin +bedrooms and conceal herself in her berth, she might escape. Poor +Mollie had no better idea to aid her. She came running down the +outside steps and ran toward the cabin door. + +The man rose quickly. He did not move toward Mollie. Outside the +cabin kitchen was a big box filled with chips and bits of kindling, +used to light the kitchen stove. The man gathered up a handful of +these pieces of wood and ran back to his old position. He glanced at +Mollie. But it was easy to see that she was trying to get away, not to +hinder him in what he was doing. He picked up the oil can again. This +time he poured the few remaining drops on a little pile of chips and +lit another match. The tinder blazed up. The man fanned the tiny +flames with the brim of a torn hat. The flare of light grew brighter; +a great flame leapt up and then a snake-like curve of fire followed the +oil-soaked wood. + +When the man did not move toward Mollie she stopped in the cabin door. +She was afraid of him. She was not like other girls. Ever since she +had been able to know anything she had felt a curious, confused feeling +in her head. She did not know who the man was on the deck of the boat. +But she did know that he was trying to set their houseboat afire. + +Mollie paid no further attention to the man. She did not scream at +him, nor try to stop what he was doing. She rushed forward and began +stamping on the pile of blazing sticks. + +The man did not attempt to prevent her. He was watching the increasing +length of flame spread over the deck. A second later he sprang up, ran +across the deck, slipped over the side of "The Merry Maid," dropped +into his rowboat, and rowed swiftly out of sight. + +Mollie flew for the big bucket of water, which they always kept in a +certain spot. She flung the water on the flames, but water will not +quench the flames made from oil. The rail began to crackle, the sparks +to fly. The "Merry Maid" was afire, with only one, feeble girl to save +it! + +Mollie knew that there were steamer blankets in the bedrooms of the +cabin. She often had one to cover her when she took her afternoon +rest. Remember, Mollie had had little education, but she had been +brought up to work and to do practical tasks. It was but the work of a +moment to drag out two blankets and spread them over the flames. The +fire died down for a moment; then it crept through the fringe of the +rugs, and a choking smell of burning wool showed that the blankets also +were beginning to burn. But the brave girl had no intention of giving +up the fight. + +There were two other blankets left. Mollie started back to the cabin +for these, when to her terror she discovered that the skirt of her +cotton dress was in names. She tried to beat it out with her hands, +but it crept steadily up toward her head. She cried aloud, but she +could see no one coming to save her. The pain was more intense every +moment. She could not keep still. She ran toward the edge of the +deck. Before her the placid water lay cool and sweet. With a cry of +pain, Mollie threw herself over the side of the houseboat. She did not +realize how shallow the water was. She flung herself with all her +force. Her head struck against the bottom with a heavy thud. At least +the water was cool; the fire no longer burned her. + +Miss Jones and Mr. Brown, who had joined Miss Jenny Ann on her way back +from the farmhouse, heard Mollie's first cry of alarm. The artist had +been coming down to the houseboat to make an evening call. Two +strangers, a man and his wife, were strolling along the top of the +small embankment. They also heard the call. The four of them started +down the hill almost at the same time. Before they reached the +houseboat, the odor of burning wood was borne to their nostrils. Miss +Jenny Ann cried out for Mollie, but Mollie did not answer. Mr. Brown +and the two strangers began beating out the fire on the boat. It had +not spread far; the blankets had covered the flames and kept them from +increasing. The overturned oil can gave the clue to the mystery. Mr. +Brown dashed into the kitchen for a bag of salt, because salt more +quickly puts out the flames from burning oil. + +Miss Jenny Ann had, so far, been unable to find Mollie. Now she looked +over the side of the boat, and Mollie's body could be plainly seen +lying in the shallow water. Mr. Brown and the stranger together +brought the girl back to the houseboat. She was insensible. In her +plunge into the water she had struck her head with great force against +the bottom of the bay. She was stunned by the shock, and when she +returned to consciousness the pain from the burn and the blow made her +delirious. As she alone could tell what had transpired in that brief +hour, the cause of the fire remained a mystery. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE EVIL GENIUS + +"I think I had better go up to the hotel to prepare the girls for what +has happened," suggested Mr. Brown a short time afterward. + +Miss Jenny Ann seemed surprised at the thought of his leaving her alone +with Mollie, and said so. + +"Yes; I think I had better go at once," he announced decisively. "The +doctor will be here in a few minutes. I can do nothing for you or for +Mollie, but I can save the girls from the shock of returning to find +their houseboat damaged and their friend so ill." + +Miss Jenny Ann agreed quietly. If Mr. Brown thought it best to go, it +did not really matter. "Ask the girls to come home as soon as they +can," she added. "Phil is so clever in cases of illness." + +"I'll borrow the 'Water Witch.' I think I can get up to the Belleview +quicker if I go by water than if I wait for the street car to take me +there. The girls will bring the boat home with them." + +Mr. Brown disappeared from the deck of the boat a few moments later. +He climbed into the "Water Witch" and rowed very swiftly up the bay. + +Miss Jones had taken it for granted that their houseboat had caught +fire by accident. She had not had time to give much thought to the +matter. But Mr. Brown had other views. He remembered the boy who had +attempted the robbery, and he had other reasons for his suspicions. A +can of oil might very easily have turned over on the deck, but was +there any reason to suppose that a pile of matches would be left lying +at one side of the can? The young artist meant to make a thorough +search for the possible offender. He wished to get out on the water as +soon as he could, because he believed the incendiary had escaped that +way. Mr. Brown and Miss Jenny Ann had been walking down the embankment +at the very time the trespasser must have made his escape. If he had +gone by land, one of them must have caught sight of him. + +Theodore Brown was an ex-member of a Yale boat crew. He made the +"Water Witch" skim through the waters, and at the same time he kept a +sharp lookout for a small boat. There were a number of skiffs filled +with young girls and men. But Mr. Brown was looking for a boat with +the single figure of a boy in it. + +He went toward the hotel, believing that the boatman would feel more +secure if he were swallowed up in a crowd, than if he were seen in a +more deserted part of the bay. Mr. Brown had almost reached the hotel +pier before he came up to the character of skiff he desired to find. +Then he was embarrassed how to accost the young man in it, as it was +possible for him to see only the oarsman's back. Mr. Brown. came as +close up alongside the stranger's boat as he could. Still he could not +see the man's face. He leaned out of his own boat and called: "I want +to drift along here and smoke. Would you be kind enough to lend me a +match?" + +The other oarsman apparently did not hear him. He rowed on faster. +Again Mr. Brown caught up with him. He called, in an even more +friendly fashion, "Haven't you that match?" + +The stranger fumbled a minute in his pocket. "Sorry to disoblige you," +he answered. "I haven't a match about me." + +Theodore Brown laughed. The two small boats were almost touching each +other. "Sorry to have troubled you," continued Mr. Brown, leaning as +far over the side of his boat as he could. "After all, I find I have +some matches in my own pocket. You had better take a cigar to show you +forgive me for annoying you." + +The artist struck a light and held it for a moment full in the other +oarsman's face. It was only a second; the light flickered and went +out. The man in the boat winced as the light shone on his face. "No, +thank you; I don't smoke," he answered politely. With that he shot his +skiff on ahead. + +Mr. Brown followed behind him. He saw the other man was about to land +at a deserted beach a short distance to the left of the Belleview Hotel +pier. Mr. Brown did not make for the same shore immediately. He +waited until the man was on land and striding out of sight; then the +artist jumped from his own boat and went after the other man. Not many +yards away was the side lawn of the hotel. It was a warm summer night, +and a number of guests were strolling about under the trees. Mr. Brown +put his hand on the arm of the fellow whom he had been following. + +The boy leaped forward in an effort to wrench himself away. At this +moment he recognized the artist and knew he had been overtaken. Mr. +Brown kept a firm hold on his arm. + +"What do you want with me?" demanded the lad, trying to appear at his +ease. "Aren't you the fellow who came alongside of me in the boat?" + +"I am," was the curt reply, "and I don't wish to ask a great favor of +you. I simply wish you to come over to the hotel with me to see some +friends of mine. We would like to ask you a few questions. Of course, +if you can answer them satisfactorily, I shall let you go with my best +apologies. I would advise you not to make any resistance here. You +will attract the attention of the people on the lawn." + +Mrs. Curtis and her guests were rather surprised when a hotel boy came +up to her sitting room to say that Mr. Theodore Brown and some one else +would like to speak to Mr. Tom Curtis for a few minutes, if that were +possible. + +Tom came back to his mother a little later, his eyes flashing. He +related a part of Mr. Brown's story. + +"If you don't mind, Mother, I think we had better have the fellow up +here for the girls to see. I know he is the man who took the sailboat +from Madge and me, and Mr. Brown says he is the fellow who attempted to +rob the houseboat; but whether he has set it afire and nearly been the +death of Mollie, we have no way of finding out. He vows he has not +been near the houseboat since the day he promised never to return. If +we cross-examine him up here, perhaps we can get at the truth." + +Eleanor had slipped out of the room to find her coat and hat as soon as +she learned of the accident to Mollie. The other young women were +trembling with sympathy and alarm, but they waited to see the boy +brought upstairs. + +The girls were not long in agreeing to the identity of the prisoner as +the evil genius of their past experiences. But there was no way of +proving that he had actually set fire to the houseboat, for he still +absolutely denied all knowledge of it. + +Eleanor came back to the sitting-room. "Aren't you ready to leave, +girls?" she demanded. "Miss Jenny Ann and Mollie need us." + +Eleanor sniffed the air daintily. "What is that curious odor of +kerosene, Mrs. Curtis?" she inquired curiously. "Do you think any of +the lamps could be leaking?" + +"Good!" Mr. Brown ejaculated. "What a chump I am! I have been +conscious of that smell all this time and had not associated it with +the houseboat." + +Mr. Brown put his nose down to his prisoner's hands. Then he inhaled +the scent of his coat. Tom Curtis followed suit. The odor was +unmistakable. The lad was well smeared with oil. The circumstantial +evidence was strong against the captured boy when Mr. Brown related the +discovery of the overturned can and the spread of the kerosene on the +houseboat deck. + +"I am awfully sorry to have made this scene, Mrs. Curtis," apologized +the young artist, "but I knew no other way for us to settle the matter +at once. This young man has done too much mischief to our friends to +be allowed to go free again. But you need not think further of the +experience, I'll take the lad and give him up to the police to-night. +Your son and I will be able to identify him. It will not be necessary +to draw you girls into the business. We can manage without you." + +Mrs. Curtis looked exceedingly uncomfortable. She had been bitterly +angry at the way the lad had served Tom and Madge, and at that time she +would have given a great deal to have had him properly punished. Since +then he had added one evil deed to the other. But the boy, who was +being led away to prison, seemed so young, not much older than Tom. He +was wild and reckless in his appearance, yet he had the aspect of +having been born of gentle people. + +The youth had not spoken since the discovery of the oil on his hands +and clothes. Now, as he was being led from the sitting room, he turned +on his cross-questioners and shook with swift laughter. He threw back +his head, so that his long, dark hair uncovered his ears. His eyes +gleamed. + +Madge, who was staring hard at the boy from her position on the far +side of the room, gave an unexpected movement of surprise. She waited +for the young prisoner to speak. + +"You needn't trouble your girls to appear against me," he said +savagely, "but you will have to introduce their chaperon in court, and +a pretty thing it will be for a sister to appear as a witness against +her own brother!" + +A frozen silence fell on the group of listeners. Phil shook her head +emphatically. "You are not our Miss Jenny Ann's brother," she retorted +decidedly. "It would be perfectly impossible for her to have a wicked +brother like you." + +Theodore Brown's face flushed and paled. He would have liked to drag +the lad out of the room without waiting another instant. Yet he feared +to make the scene even worse. He did not have the slightest faith in +the lad's statement; he was only fiercely angry at the boy's impudence +and wondered if the fellow even knew the name of the chaperon of the +"Merry Maid." + +Lillian and Eleanor were flushed with indignation. Tom Curtis was +equally so. But Mrs. Curtis happened to catch a glimpse of Madge's +face. Her expression was a puzzle. She ran forward and touched Mr. +Brown on the sleeve. "Wait a minute, Mr. Brown," she pleaded. "Don't +take the boy to jail yet. What he says may be true. Don't you think +we ought to ask him some questions first?" + +The entire company stared at Madge in amazement. But in the single +moment when Mr. Brown's captive started to leave the room, the little +captain had seen the tips of his pointed ears. She had caught the +wild, almost animal gleam in his eyes. She recalled the midnight +visitor to their chaperon on the first night their houseboat had rested +at anchor. She remembered Miss Jenny Ann's curious behavior, and how +she had absolutely refused to give the name of her caller. All this +swept through Madge's mind and now she understood Miss Jenny Ann's +poverty, her reticence about her own affairs, her unhappiness when the +girls first knew her at school. Of course, this wicked brother was the +cause of their chaperon's difficulties. If they punished the boy, Miss +Jenny Ann must suffer more than he would. She had lately grown to be +as merry as any of the girls on board the "Merry Maid." + +"O Mrs. Curtis!" exclaimed Madge, "please don't let Tom and Mr. Brown +take him off to jail. I think he _is_ our Miss Jenny Ann's brother. I +wouldn't have her find out the wicked things he has done for all the +money in the world." Madge was almost in tears as she made her plea to +Mrs. Curtis. + +"Never mind, dear," replied Mrs. Curtis soothingly. "If the lad really +turns out to be your chaperon's brother, you are right; his behavior +must be kept a secret from her." + +Mrs. Curtis, Mr. Brown and Tom afterward found the statement of the +wild boy to be true. He was really Miss Jones's brother. His parents +had died when he was a little boy, and his sister had sacrificed her +life's hopes to him. Yet her efforts had been in vain. He had always +been hard to control. In the last few years he had broken away from +all restraint. He had been concealed in the motor boat that first +towed the girls and their chaperon to their anchorage and had seen his +sister on the houseboat. His plan had been to get money from her. +When she told him that she had none to give him he had devoted his time +to tormenting the crew of the "Merry Maid" in order to be revenged on +his sister. + +After long consultation it was decided not to send him to prison. Mrs. +Curtis gave him the money to sail for South Africa, after making him +promise to try to turn over a new leaf, and not to write to his sister +until he was safely out of the country. And so Miss Jenny Ann's ghost +was laid without her knowing it until some time afterward. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +"MOTHER" + +Not one of the four girls closed her eyes during the long night +following the dinner given by Mrs. Curtis. Miss Jenny Ann sat by +Mollie until toward morning, when Eleanor and Lillian relieved her. +Madge and Phil walked up and down the deck in order to be ready if they +were called. But as the long night wore on, Mollie exhibited no sign +of returning consciousness. + +After an early breakfast the next morning Miss Jones went back to her +charge, and the girls lingered in the cabin sitting room talking +together in low tones. + +Madge kept her arms about Eleanor. Every now and then she would lean +over to kiss her cousin. + +Nellie laughed softly. "What's the matter, Madge? Why are you so +affectionate with me all of a sudden? Does it make you care more for +me because poor, lovely Mollie is so ill, and because it might just as +easily have been me, or Phil, or Lillian?" + +Madge nodded. "Perhaps that is the reason." + +Neither Lillian nor Eleanor even faintly dreamed that their friend had +anything on her mind to worry her, except the critical condition poor +Mollie was in; but Phil knew differently. She had long suspected what +Mrs. Curtis's preference for Madge meant. Phyllis and Miss Jenny Ann +had even discussed the possibility of their captain leaving them. +However, Phil had never broached the subject to Madge. She Phil +couldn't, she wouldn't think of it. + +Mrs. Curtis and Tom arrived at the houseboat just as Madge and Phil +were about to relieve Miss Jenny Ann's second watch. The physician had +said that he expected Mollie to regain consciousness some time during +the morning, and that she must not be left alone for a moment. + +"Mrs. Curtis, slip into the room to see Mollie," whispered Madge. +"Phil and I must go to her now. She is unconscious, so your presence +could not frighten her. I want you to see how beautiful she is. She +is really the prettiest person I ever saw, except you," Madge declared, +as she threw a kiss to her friend and hurried after Phil into the cabin. + +Miss Jenny Ann went into the sitting-room to lie down. Eleanor and +Lillian went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. + +Madge and Phil sat side by side at Mollie's berth. Madge's eyes were +fixed on Mollie's unconscious face, but Phil looked often at her chum. +Phyllis cared very little for wealth and position, for fine clothes and +servants, but she knew these things were very dear to her friend. Yet, +in a vague way, she realized that Madge would be likely to grow into a +finer, sweeter woman without them. Phyllis understood their little +captain. She knew that Madge was full of fine impulses, was brave and +loyal in the midst of difficulties; but she also knew that she was +easily spoiled and that too much money and admiration would not be good +for her. + +"Phil," asked Madge, "isn't Mollie stirring? Is there anything we +ought to do for her?" + +Phil bent over to gaze more attentively at their patient. She studied +every curve and line in the girl's exquisite face. Now that Mollie's +eyes were closed, and the vacant, pathetic stare was no more visible in +them, her beauty was the more remarkable. Something in Mollie's quiet +features seemed to surprise Phyllis, but she said nothing. + +"We can't do anything but wait," answered Phil. "The doctor said that +quiet is all Mollie needs. She is sure to come to herself some time +to-day." + +Phil slid her chair up close beside her chum's and kissed her friend on +the cheek. It was an unusual demonstration for the reserved Phyllis. +Madge stared at her. Then she turned a little pale. "You know what +has happened to me, don't you?" she whispered. "I am sure you must +know." + +Phil bowed her head. + +"Can't you help me decide?" begged Madge. + +"No." Phil shook her head sadly. "You'll have to make up your mind +for yourself." + +The two girls sat in silence after this. They heard Mrs. Curtis come +softly into the room and take a low chair in the far corner of the +cabin, so as not to disturb Mollie if the girl should awake. She could +just see the bed, but not the face of the girl on the pillow. + +By and by Mollie stirred. "I am thirsty," she said distinctly. "Will +some one please get me a glass of water?" + +Phil rose quickly. "Here it is, Mollie," she answered, handing the +girl the water, and trying to lift her with the other arm. Madge +stooped over to aid her. + +"Thank you," responded Mollie gently. "But why do you call me Mollie? +My name isn't Mollie." + +"We never liked to call you 'Moll'," replied Madge soothingly. "Mollie +seemed to us to be a prettier name." + +The girl laughed lightly. "No, I shouldn't think you would. My name +is Madeleine, not Mollie. And you are Phyllis and Madge. I wonder why +I never told you before that my name is Madeleine." Mollie's eyes had +lost their pathetic stare. They were quiet and reasonable. + +"Don't try to talk, Mollie--Madeleine, I mean," murmured Phil. "You +must try to go to sleep again." + +She and Madge never changed their positions until the ill girl's head +grew heavy on their arms and she slept peacefully. + +"O Phil!" Madge faltered, "you don't think Mollie is going to----" + +"Sh-sh!" returned Phyllis warningly. "Don't show her you are surprised +at anything she says." + +Madge clenched her hands to keep them from trembling, but she could +feel her knees shaking under her. + +The patient opened her eyes again. "I fell off the yacht, didn't I?" +she inquired. "It's funny, but I couldn't think what had happened to +me for a long time. I was trying to remember all night. It was such a +long night. I kept seeing dreadful, rude men, who were cruel to me. I +must have been dreaming. Where is my mother? Why doesn't she come to +me?" + +"Your mother!" exclaimed Madge. A glance from Phil silenced her. + +"Your mother can't come to you now, she is----" Phyllis faltered. + +"Never mind," the gentle girl spoke faintly. "Mother may be resting. +She must have been dreadfully frightened when she learned I had tumbled +overboard. I think something fell and struck me on the head." + +"Don't talk any more, please, dear," entreated Phyllis. "You can tell +us all about what happened when you have rested a little longer. You +are very tired." + +The sick girl dozed again. Phyllis and Madge slipped their aching arms +out from under their patient's pillow. + +"Mollie's memory has come back to her, hasn't it?" Madge breathed in +her chum's ear. "I wonder if it will go away again, or if she will +remember more about herself when she is stronger?" + +"I believe her memory has returned," Phil answered softly. "It is a +miracle. We must be very careful. Any excitement or surprise might +kill her. I wish the doctor were here." + +Some one stole across the room without a sound. The girls knew it must +be Mrs. Curtis. Neither one of them stirred nor for the instant +glanced at their friend; they were too intent on their patient. But +they were grateful for her presence. She had heard Mollie's peculiar +remarks. She would know what they ought to do when Mollie began to +talk again. + +Mrs. Curtis came so close to the sick girl's bed that Madge and Phil +stepped back to let her have the nearest place. She leaned over and +looked at Mollie as though she would never grow tired of gazing at her. +Once her lips moved, but it was impossible to tell what she said. Then +Mrs. Curtis's strength seemed to give way. She dropped on her knees, +with her arms resting on the edge of Mollie's bed. + +Ten minutes passed. No one moved or spoke in the tiny cabin chamber. +Mollie slept peacefully. Mrs. Curtis did not stir. She was like a +figure carved in stone. She was waiting for something to happen. Was +it for the girl on the bed to speak again? + +Madge and Phil scarcely dared to breathe. They did not understand the +situation, but they felt themselves to be in the presence of a mystery. +A drama was being enacted in the tiny room, and they were the only +audience to it. + +"Mother, where are you?" Mollie's voice sounded clear and strong. + +"I am here," Mrs. Curtis replied softly, not stirring from her position +by the bed. + +"Why hasn't Tom been here to see me? And why are Phyllis and Madge so +good to me? I don't understand." + +Mollie turned restlessly on her pillow. Her hair fell away from her +forehead and revealed the jagged, ugly scar. Mrs. Curtis saw it. For +the first time she gave an involuntary shudder of emotion. Mollie put +up her hand to her head with the old, familiar gesture of pain. + +"My head hurts," she announced, as though she had not known of her +injury before. "Have I been sick a long time? Somehow, you look so +different." + +Mrs. Curtis nodded. "Yes, daughter, you have been ill a long, long +time. But you will be well and happy when you wake up again. You are +with Mother now." + +Mrs. Curtis gathered Mollie into her arms and the two girls stole out +of the tiny cabin, closing the door behind them. The mother and +daughter were alone. + +"What has happened to you, Madge Morton? Why do you girls look so +strangely at me?" demanded Tom Curtis as he caught sight of Madge's +face. He was leaning against the deck rail staring curiously at his +friends. "Is Mollie worse?" + +"Oh, no; she is not worse. She is well. That is, she can remember. +She is---- Oh, I don't know what I am saying," cried Madge in +confusion. + +Miss Jenny Ann came out of the sitting room. Lillian and Eleanor also +joined the little group on deck. Still Madge was silent. + +"Ought I to tell?" she faltered, looking at Phyllis. "Don't you think +Mrs. Curtis ought to tell Tom?" + +"If you have bad news for me speak quickly!" returned Tom. "I would +rather hear it from you than anybody in the world. You are almost like +a sister to me, Madge." + +The little captain went forward and put her hand gently on Tom's arm. +"You won't need me for a sister now, Tom," she said gently. "Phil and +I do not understand what has happened. Your mother will have to +explain to you. But our Mollie is not Mollie at all. Her name is +Madeleine. Her memory has come back to her. She thinks your mother is +her mother. And Mrs. Curtis called her daughter!" + +The cabin door opened. Mrs. Curtis walked out, moving like a woman in +a dream. "Don't speak loudly," she said. "Madeleine has gone to +sleep." She crossed over to Tom. "Tom," she explained quietly, "the +girls have found your sister after twelve years; my baby is a young +woman." + +Tom put his arm about his mother. Mrs. Curtis spoke rapidly now, as +though she feared her voice would fail her. "Miss Jones, years ago my +little daughter, who was ten years old, fell from our steam yacht. She +had been left alone by her nurse for a few minutes. When the woman +came back the child was not to be found. No one saw or heard her fall +overboard. The boat was searched, but Madeleine had disappeared. We +were off the coast of Florida. For months and months we searched for +my daughter's body. We offered everything we had in the world for news +of her. No word came. I used to think she would come back to me. +Long ago I gave up hope. Now, when I saw this poor Mollie, I thought I +recognized my child, and when she opened her eyes her memory returned +to her. She knew I was her mother, in spite of my white hair. I think +it is because she now remembers nothing of her unhappy past. She +thinks she was hurt only a short time ago. She must not learn the +truth until she is stronger. Will you keep me here with you until I +can take my daughter home?" + +Mrs. Curtis staggered slightly and grew very white. It was Madge who +sprang to her side and led her to a chair. "You have found what you +want most in the world," she whispered, "I am so glad for your sake." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +FAREWELL TO THE MERRY MAID + +"Miss Jenny Ann, I can't get all these things packed in this barrel," +protested Madge despairingly. "I don't see how they ever got in here +before." + +Miss Jenny Ann laughed from the depths of a large box, where she was +folding sheets and placing them in neat piles. "Remember, we have +added a number of tin pans to our store since we came aboard the +houseboat. But don't worry, dear. We will get all the belongings +packed in time." + +"Isn't it too awful that the houseboat has to be left to its poor dear +self for the rest of the summer? Just think, we have had over six +weeks' holiday, and, if it weren't for Madeleine, it would seem like +six days." + +"I have something to tell you, Madge," announced Miss Jenny Ann, +raising a flushed face from her task. "Do you remember when you came +into the library, at school, and found me crying over a letter? I told +you that I was frightened at what my doctor had written me. I have a +different story to tell now. I am well as well can be. I have gained +ten pounds in six weeks; that is a record, isn't it?" + +"I am so glad," bubbled Madge. "You've been the jolliest kind of a +chaperon, dear Miss Jenny Ann, and we love you. You know I am sorry I +used to be so disagreeable to you at school, and you do like me now, +don't you?" + +Miss Jenny Ann and Madge desisted from their labors long enough to +embrace each other. + +"Here, here, what is all this love-feast about?" demanded Tom Curtis +cheerfully. He had come quietly aboard the houseboat, and was standing +at the cabin door, smiling cheerfully at the little captain. + +"Go away, Tom," returned Madge reproachfully. "I told you we couldn't +have any company to-day. I said good-bye to you last night. We are +getting things in shape to leave the houseboat. A man who has a +boat-house is going to take care of the 'Merry Maid' for us until we +come into another fortune and have another holiday." + +"What time does your train leave?" inquired Tom coolly, picking up a +hammer and preparing to fasten the top on Madge's barrel. + +"At four o'clock," sighed Madge. "We are going to Baltimore together, +and start home from there." + +"It is all right, then," answered Tom Curtis placidly. "I have plenty +time to stay to luncheon." + +"Tell him he can't, Miss Jenny Ann Jones," declared Madge inhospitably, +"we haven't a thing to eat except some crackers and stale bread, and a +few odd pieces of cold meat. And I am so dreadfully hungry that I can +eat them all myself." + +"I am going to stay just the same," asserted Tom. "I am going to be +the busiest little worker on the 'Merry Maid'." + +The houseboat party would never have finished its packing except for +their uninvited visitor. He sat on trunks, fastened locks and doors. +At one o'clock "The Merry Maid" was in order to be deserted. + +"Let's go up to the farmhouse to get some food," suggested Tom. "I am +hungry as a bear, and I know they will give us some milk and bread." + +Madge demurred, but the other three girls and Miss Jenny Ann were much +too hungry to stand on ceremony. + +Tom led the way to the farmhouse as though he felt sure of his welcome. + +At the old gate, however, they found Mrs. Curtis and Madeleine +apparently waiting for them. "We couldn't bear that yesterday should +be good-bye," explained Mrs. Curtis, putting her arm about Madge and +drawing her away from the others. + +Madeleine held out her hands to Phyllis. She still looked white and +fragile from her illness, but she was so exquisitely lovely that people +turned about to gaze at her as she passed by them. Her face wore the +expression of a serious child. She could not immediately make up for +the lost years of her life, and she never left her mother or her +brother but for a short time. Still she was at ease with the girls and +talked a little with them. Her memory had come back to her, whether +from the second blow on her head, or from the quiet life--which, the +medical men could not say. After a while Madeleine would be able to +take the place in the gay world which her beauty and wealth made for +her. For the present she needed rest, quiet, and absolute peace of +mind. + +"You haven't changed your mind, have you, Madge?" asked Mrs. Curtis, as +she and the little captain walked side by side to the farmhouse +together. + +Madge shook her bead. "It isn't a case of changing my mind. I had not +decided. Now that you have found your real daughter you surely do not +wish to be burdened with an imitation one." + +"But I still want you, my dear. A woman is richer with two daughters +than with one," replied Mrs. Curtis. + +"No; you and Madeleine ought to be together," concluded Madge wisely. +"You are awfully good, and I shall always feel that you are the best +friend I have. But I had not been able to make up my mind to leave my +own people and the girls, so, of course, everything has turned out for +the best, and I am so happy for you and Tom and Madeleine. It is as +good as playing a part in a fairy story to see one come true before +your very eyes. Have you seen Captain Mike?" Madge lowered her voice, +so that Madeleine could not overhear her. + +Mrs. Curtis flushed. "Once, and for always. I hope never to look upon +the dreadful man again. Tom felt that he and I must go to this Mike to +ask him something of my little girl's history. He claims to have +picked her up and, thinking her dead, left her for a few hours +unnoticed in his sailboat. The man had done something reprehensible +while in Florida, and was sailing for the Atlantic Ocean to flee from +justice, so he did not stop to inquire about my child, or to give her +more than a passing thought. His first wife was evidently a better +woman than this second one. She worked with my Madeleine, brought her +back to life and must have been good to her. But my baby could never +remember her name, nor tell anything about herself. Captain Mike was +on the ocean for two weeks, and too ignorant to study the papers +afterward. The first wife wished to keep the child. After a short +time she died, and then----" Mrs. Curtis stopped abruptly. + +"We won't ever mention it again," said Madge tactfully. "I can only +say I am so glad you found her." + +Mrs. Watson, the farmer's wife, met the houseboat party with a smiling +face. She conducted them into the dining room. Miss Jenny Ann and the +four girls sighed with satisfaction for they were very hungry. The +great mahogany table was weighted down with food--roast chicken, ham, +salad, doughnuts. + +"This is Tom's party," smiled Mrs. Curtis, in answer to a look of +delighted astonishment from Madge. "It was his idea to say a last +good-bye to our houseboat friends, and to see them safely started on +their journey toward home. But, Miss Jenny Ann, I have something to +say. I wish to tell you a story and I wish you to tell me what you +think without any reference to anybody or anything at this table." + +"Of course I will," answered Miss Jenny Ann lightly, not dreaming what +Mrs. Curtis intended to say. + +"Suppose, once upon a time you had lost something very precious," +continued Mrs. Curtis. "Say it was a mine of precious stones. Suppose +you had hunted for years but could never find it. After a while some +friends discover the treasure for you, and give it back to you? Don't +you believe you would like to do something to show your gratitude?" + +"Certainly I should," replied Miss Jenny Ann promptly, falling into the +trap. + +"Then why not let me have a houseboat party this fall?" proposed Mrs. +Curtis. "Madeleine and I will be staying near Old Point Comfort. Tom +will be camping with some boy friends near Cape Charles. I am going to +count on your bringing the houseboat down the shore to pay us a visit +and you are to be my guests from the moment you set foot on the boat." + +The four chums looked at Mrs. Curtis, their eyes shining with delight. +Another holiday on their beloved houseboat! But ought they accept so +great a gift from Mrs. Curtis. They understood that it was her +intention to finance the trip. + +Tom looked at his watch. "It's a pity to break up the party. But as +we are to drive to the village we must soon be off. The expressman has +already taken the trunks. You'd better accept mother's invitation." + +"We thank you," said Madge slowly, "but will you give us a few days in +which to decide? Then we will write you at Old Point Comfort." + +"Very well," replied Mrs. Curtis, "but let us hope that your answer +will be 'yes.' I wish you would look upon the trip as a love offering +from Madeleine." + +Mrs. Curtis looked wistfully at the circle of girlish faces. Her eyes, +mute with pleading, met Madge's. They seemed to say, "Why not decide +now, and make us happy?" + +Their appeal was too strong for Madge. "Girls, I think we ought to +accept Mrs. Curtis's gift to us. It is right and she wishes us to do +so. Of what use is it to wait three days. Let us say 'yes' now and +then we shall all he happy. All together! Is it 'yes'?" + +"'Yes,'" chorused four voices. + +Madge turned to Mrs. Curtis. "We must say good-bye this minute, but +we'll write you, and one of these days you'll find our 'Ship of Dreams' +anchored on your beach." + +How Madge kept her promise and what happened during their visit to Old +Point Comfort is fully set forth in "MADGE MORTON'S SECRET," a story no +wide-awake girl can afford to miss. + + + + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid +by Amy D. V. 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