CHAPTER 19 _A DARING RESCUE_
Those in the motor boat who had witnessed the disaster were too horrifiedto speak. They could see the top of the car rising above the water intowhich it had fallen, but there was no sign of the unfortunate driver orother possible occupants.
Penny began to kick off her shoes.
"No!" shouted her father, divining her purpose. "No! It's too dangerous!"
Penny did not heed for she knew that if the persons in the car were to besaved it must be by her efforts. Her father could not swim well and HarryGriffith was needed at the wheel of the motor boat.
Scrambling to the gunwale, the girl dived into the water. She could seenothing. Groping her way to the overturned coupe, she grasped a doorhandle and turned it. All her strength was required to pull the dooropen. Her breath was growing short now. She worked faster, with frantichaste.
A hand clutched her own. Before she could protect herself she felt theman upon her, clawing, fighting, trying to climb her shoulders, upward tothe blessed air.
His grasp was loose. Penny ducked out of it but held fast to his hand.She braced her feet against the body of the car and pushed. They bothshot upward to the surface.
Griffith and her father lifted the man out of the water into the motorboat.
"Have to go down again," Penny gasped. "There may be others."
She dived once more, doubling herself into a tight ball, and giving aquick, upthrust of her feet which sent her straight to the bottom. Sheswam into the car and groped about on the seat and floor. Finding nobodies, she quickly shot to the surface again. Her father pulled her overthe side, saying curtly: "Good work, Penny."
The victim she had saved seemed little the worse for his ducking. WithGriffith's help he had divested himself of his heavy coat and waswringing it out.
Penny had obtained no clear view of the man, nor did she ever, for justat that moment, Jerry raised himself to a sitting position. He stared atthe bedraggled one and pointed an accusing finger.
"That's the fellow!" he cried in an excited voice. "The one I was tellingyou about--"
The man took one look at Jerry and gazed quickly about. By this time themotor boat had drifted close to shore. Before anyone could make a move tostop him, the man hurled himself overboard. He landed on his feet inshallow water. Splashing through to the shore, he scuttled up the steepbank and disappeared in the darkness.
"Don't let him get away!" shouted Jerry. "He's the same fellow I saw inthe woods!"
"You're certain?" asked Mr. Parker doubtfully.
"Of course! If you think I'm out of my head now, you're the one who'scrazy! It's the same fellow! Oh, if I could get out of this boat!"
Griffith brought the craft to shore. "I'll see if I can overtake him," hesaid, "but he's probably deep in the woods by this time."
The boatman was a heavy-set man, slow on his feet. Penny and her fatherwere not surprised when he came back twenty minutes later to report hehad been unable to pick up the trail.
"The overturned car may offer a clue to his identity," Mr. Parker said,as they started up the river once more. "The police will be able to checkthe license plates."
"I wonder what the man was doing at the estate?" Penny mused.
She groped her way toward the cabin, thinking that she would divestherself of some of her wet garments. Suddenly she stopped short.
"Dad, that fellow took off his coat!" she exclaimed. "He must have leftit behind!"
"It's somewhere on the floor," Harry Griffith called to her.
Penny found the sodden garment lying almost at her feet. She straightenedit out and searched the pockets. Her father moved over to her side.
"Any clues?" he asked.
Penny took out a water-soaked handkerchief, a key ring and a plain whiteenvelope.
"That may be something!" exclaimed Mr. Parker. "Handle it carefully so itdoesn't tear."
They carried the articles into the cabin. Mr. Parker turned on the lightand took the envelope from his daughter's hand. They were both elated tosee that another paper was contained inside.
Mr. Parker tore off the envelope and flattened the letter on the tablebeneath the light. The ink had blurred but nearly all of the words couldstill be made out. There was no heading, merely the initials: "J. J. K."
"Could that mean James Kippenberg?" Penny asked.
The message was brief. Mr. Parker read it aloud.
"Better come through or your fate will be the same as Atherwald's. Wegive you twenty-four hours to think it over."
"How strange!" Penny exclaimed. "That man I pulled out of the watercouldn't have been James Kippenberg!"
"Not likely, Penny. My guess would be that he had been sent here todeliver this warning note. Being unfamiliar with the road, and notknowing about the dangerous drawbridge, he crashed through."
"But James Kippenberg isn't supposed to be at the estate," Penny argued."It doesn't make sense at all."
"This much is clear, Penny. Jerry saw the man talking with the twoseamen, and they all appear to be mixed up in Grant Atherwald'sdisappearance. We'll print what we've learned, and let the police figureout the rest."
"Dad, this story is developing into something big, isn't it?"
He nodded as he moved a swinging light bulb slowly over the paper,hastening the drying process.
"After the next issue of the _Star_ is printed, every paper in the statewill send their men here. But we're out ahead, and when the big breakcomes, we may get that first, too."
"Oh, Dad, if only we can!"
"Count yourself out of the case from now on, young lady," he saidseverely. "You scared the wits out of me tonight, risking your life tosave that no-good. Now shed those wet clothes before you come down withpneumonia."
He tossed her an overcoat, a sweater and a crumpled pair of slacks whichGriffith had found under one of the boat seats. Leaving the cabin, heclosed the door behind him.
Penny did not change her clothes at once. Instead, she sat down at thetable, studying the warning message.
"'Better come through,'" she read aloud. "Does that mean Kippenberg issupposed to pay money? And what fate did Atherwald meet?"