The Camp Fire Girls on the March
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Jane L. Stewart >> The Camp Fire Girls on the March
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There was a sound of hasty footsteps outside, and Jeff came in
hurriedly. He slipped back a panel at one side of the cabin, and
revealed a little closet.
"In there with you--both of you!" he said. "And I'm sorry, but you'll
have to be quiet, and there's only one way."
In a trice their hands and feet were bound, and handkerchiefs were
stuffed into their mouths. Then they were pushed into the closet and the
panel was slipped back into place. They were helpless. Unable to speak,
or to beat hands or feet against the thin wood, there was no way in
which they could make their presence known. And in a moment they knew
the reason for this precaution. For, through the wood of the panel,
wafer thin, they heard Miss Eleanor's voice.
"You can't deceive me, sir!" they heard her say. "Those girls must be on
this yacht, and I warn you that you had better give them up. Kidnapping
is a serious offence in this state."
"You can see for yourself they're not here, ma'am," said Jeff. "And I
don't take this kindly at all, ma'am. Why, when I saw the fire in your
camp, I went ashore with my men to try to help you--and now you make
this charge against us."
"I certainly do!" said Eleanor, with spirit. "I am quite sure that this
is the only place where my girls can be, and I mean to have them back.
As to the fire, you helped us, it is true. But I am as certain as I can
be of anything that you had something to do with starting it before you
tried to put it out!"
"There's no use talking to you, ma'am, and I won't try it," said Jeff.
"If you're crazy enough to believe anything like that, I could talk all
day and you'd still believe it. Here's the yacht--you're welcome to go
over her and see for yourself. You won't find the girls, because they're
not aboard. That's a good reason, I guess."
"Then let me see Mr. Holmes."
"There you go again, ma'am! Didn't I tell you on deck that there's no
such party aboard, and that I never even heard of him? If you're
satisfied now, we'll be glad to have you go ashore, because I want to
sail. I've got business down the coast."
"I shall not go ashore until I have found my girls," said Eleanor. There
were tears of baffled anger in her voice, and Bessie thrilled with
indignant sympathy at the idea that she was within a few feet of her
best friend without being able to let her know that she was there.
"Then you'll be put ashore--gently, but firmly, as the books say," said
Jeff. "You're dead right, ma'am, kidnappin' is a bad sort of business in
this state, and I don't aim to give you a chance to say we carried you
off with us against your will. Sail we will--and you'll stay behind.
This is my boat, and I've got a right to put off anyone that is
trespassin'."
"You brute!" gasped Eleanor. "Don't you dare to touch me!"
"Will you go of your own accord, then?"
"I suppose I must," gasped Eleanor tearfully. "But you shall pay for
this, you scoundrel! You're tricking me in some fashion, but you can't
deceive me, and you can't keep the truth quiet forever."
Then there was the sound of retreating footsteps, and a few minutes
later Bessie and Zara were released by Jeff, who was grinning as if it
had been a great joke.
"Well, sis, we're off now!" he said. "Come on! I don't want to be hard
on you. Come out here in the passageway, and you can have a look at the
shore as we go off."
He led them to the stern, and to the little cabin, in which was a
porthole. Looking out, Bessie saw the beach indistinctly. The ruined
tents were there, and several of the girls, in bathing suits. And,
swimming slowly to the shore she saw a girl in a red cap, which, as she
knew, belonged to Dolly. How she longed to be able to call to her! But
Jeff was at her side, and she knew that the attempt would be useless,
since he was watching her as if he had been a cat and she a mouse.
A bell clanged somewhere below them, and the next moment there was a
rumbling sound as the machinery was started. At the same moment there
came the grinding of the anchor chains as they were raised. But the
yacht did not move! Even after the anchor was up there was no movement
except the throbbing of the whole vessel as the engines raced in the
hold! Jeff's face grew black, and he turned toward the passage with a
scowl.
"What's wrong here?" he shouted, going to the door. At the same moment,
seizing her brief chance, Bessie gave a wild scream, and saw, to her
delight, that those on shore had heard it. In a moment she was pulled
roughly from the porthole, and Jeff, his face savage and all the
kindness gone out of it, scowled down at her.
"Keep quiet, you little vixen!" he shouted. "Here, come with me!"
At the foot of some steps that led up to the deck he left the two girls
in the care of Larry, one of the two men she had seen the night before.
"Keep them quiet," he commanded, as he sprang up the steps. "What's
wrong, Larry; do you know?"
"Something the matter with the propeller. Can't tell what," said Larry.
And above, on the deck, there was a wild rushing about now. Orders were
shouted to the engineers below; hoarse answers came back. The engines
were stopped and started again. But still the yacht did not move. A
grimy engineer came up and stood beside her.
"Propeller's fouled," he said to Jeff. "We'll have to send a man
overboard to clear it."
"How long will that take?" roared Jeff.
"Maybe an hour--if we're lucky."
"You're a fine engineer, not to have the boat ready to start!" screamed
Jeff, mad with rage. "You'll lose your berth for this!"
"Guess I can get another," replied the engineer calmly. "It's been done
on purpose and it's the business of the deck watch to keep the stern
clear, not mine."
With frantic haste a man was sent overboard. He dived and found the
propeller. Bessie heard his report. The screw was twisted around with
rope--knotted and tied so that, even with a knife he would have to make
many descents to clear it. Without a diving suit it was impossible for
the man to stay under water more than half a minute at a time, and, as
it turned out, he was the only man on board who could dive at all.
Jeff raged in vain. The work of clearing the propeller could not be
hastened for all his bellowing, and the precious minutes slipped by
while the diver worked. Each time that he came up for rest and air he
reported a little more progress, but each time, too, as he grew tired,
his period of rest was lengthened, while his time below the water was
cut shorter.
And then, when he had reported that two more trips would mend the
trouble, there was a sudden bumping of boats against the yacht, on the
shoreward side, which had been left without watchers, it seemed, and
there was a rush of feet overhead. Bessie cried out in joy, and the next
instant a dozen men tumbled down the steps and overpowered Larry.
"Are you Bessie King?" asked their leader. "I've got a search warrant
empowering me to search this yacht for you and one Zara Doe and take you
ashore."
"We're the ones! Take us!" pleaded Bessie.
And, sobbing with joy, she went up the steps to the deck. There Jeff,
furious but powerless in the grip of two men, watched her go over the
side and into a small boat in which sat Eleanor, who threw her arms
joyously about the recovered captives. Dolly was there, too, and she
kissed and hugged Bessie as soon as Eleanor was done.
"The men got here in time from Bay City," said Eleanor. "Thank Heaven! A
few minutes more, and they would have been too late. I telephoned as
soon as I could, and I knew the district attorney there was a friend of
Charlie Jamieson. He came at once with his men."
"The propeller was fouled. That's why they couldn't get away," said
Bessie. "Wasn't that lucky?"
Dolly snorted.
"Luck nothing!" she said, perkily. "I swam out with a rope, and they
never saw me! I was there, diving up and down, for half an hour. I
thought they'd have a lovely time getting it clear when the knots I
made had swollen up!"
"Yes, it was Dolly who saved the day," said Eleanor.
"Shall we row you ashore, ma'am, or do you want to see the rest of the
fun on board?" asked one of the oarsmen.
"Take us ashore, please. I'll hear all about it later," said Eleanor.
And in five minutes the Camp Fire Girls were reunited.
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THE BILLY WHISKERS SERIES
As Originated by
FRANCES TREGO MONTGOMERY
Mrs. Montgomery has the happy faculty of knowing just what the small boy
and his sister like in stories, and the added ability of giving it to
them. Her ideas are touched with the sparkle of real genius and little
folks find it a delight to travel in her company. These adventures of a
frolicsome goat never fail to please.
TWENTY-FIVE VOLUMES
BILLY WHISKERS
BILLY WHISKERS' KIDS
BILLY WHISKERS, JUNIOR
BILLY WHISKERS' TRAVELS
BILLY WHISKERS AT THE CIRCUS
BILLY WHISKERS AT THE FAIR
BILLY WHISKERS' FRIENDS
BILLY WHISKERS, JR., AND HIS CHUMS
BILLY WHISKERS' GRAND-CHILDREN
BILLY WHISKERS' VACATION
BILLY WHISKERS KIDNAPPED
BILLY WHISKERS' TWINS
BILLY WHISKERS IN AN AEROPLANE
BILLY WHISKERS IN TOWN
BILLY WHISKERS OUT WEST
BILLY WHISKERS IN THE SOUTH
BILLY WHISKERS' ADVENTURES
BILLY WHISKERS IN THE MOVIES
BILLY WHISKERS OUT FOR FUN
BILLY WHISKERS' FROLICS
BILLY WHISKERS AT HOME
BILLY WHISKERS' PRANKS
BILLY WHISKERS IN MISCHIEF
BILLY WHISKERS AND THE RADIO
BILLY WHISKERS' TREASURE HUNT
Quarto, six full color illustrations and many black-and-white drawings,
bound in cloth, colored jacket. Price, $1.25 each.
THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
AKRON, OHIO
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EVERY CHILD'S LIBRARY
No child has come into his full and rightful heritage in the world of
books until he has read the stories comprising
Every Child's Library
HEIDI--Spyri
TREASURE ISLAND--Stevenson
EAST O' THE SUN AND WEST O' THE MOON--Dasent
HANS BRINKER--Dodge
THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON--Wyss
ROBINSON CRUSOE--Defoe
PINOCCHIO--D. Collodi
ROBIN HOOD--Gilbert
KING ARTHUR FOR BOYS--Gilbert
ANIMAL STORIES--P. T. Barnum
KIDNAPPED--Stevenson
CORNELLI, HER CHILDHOOD--Spyri
A CHRISTMAS CAROL--Dickens
A DOG OF FLANDERS--Ouida
THE CUCKOO CLOCK--Molesworth
JIM DAVIS--Masefield
AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND--MacDonald
THE PRINCESS AND CURDIE--MacDonald
THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN--MacDonald
BLACK BEAUTY--Sewell
MAXA'S CHILDREN--Spyri
A LITTLE SWISS BOY--Spyri
UNCLE TITUS IN THE COUNTRY--Spyri
THE BLACK ARROW--Stevenson
THE RED FAIRY BOOK--Lang
THE BLUE FAIRY BOOK--Lang
GRANNY'S WONDERFUL CHAIR--Browne
LITTLE MEN--Alcott
AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL--Alcott
Each volume is well illustrated, is bound in cloth and has a jacket in
colors.
THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING CO.
AKRON, OHIO
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JOHN NEWBERY SERIES
Early in the 18th century John Newbery was born in a little Berkshire
village in England, and became a bookman in the old St. Paul's
churchyard.
It was he who first believed children needed books of their own, and he
set about to supply that need. Many of the old stories, quaint jingles
and nursery rhymes we have to-day are due to him. It is therefore
peculiarly fitting this series, comprising the best written for
childhood, should bear his name.
THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN--Robert Browning
THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER--John Ruskin
MONI, THE GOAT BOY--Johanna Spyri
FAIRY TALE GIANTS
FAIRY TALE PRINCES
FAIRY TALE PRINCESSES
A DOG OF FLANDERS--Louisa de la Ramee (Ouida)
THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW--Washington Irving
RIP VAN WINKLE--Washington Irving
THE NURNBERG STOVE--Louisa de la Ramee (Ouida)
THE ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE--Miss Mulock
CHILD VERSES--Eugene Field
These books are well bound in cloth, are profusely illustrated, have a
colored frontispiece and a colored jacket, and contain 92 pages each.
THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING CO.
AKRON, OHIO
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