CHAPTER 19 _STANDING GUARD_
Keeping low amid the underbrush, Penny and Louise waited and watched.Bill Evans did not see them although he approached within a few feet oftheir hiding place. With no hesitation, he went to the motorboat andbegan filling the tank with gasoline.
"Bill Evans, a thief and a saboteur!" Louise whispered. "I'll never getover it!"
"Bill hasn't the pep to be a saboteur," Penny muttered. "There'ssomething wrong with this melodrama, and I'm going to find out about itright now!"
Before Louise could stop her, she arose from the underbrush to confrontthe dumbfounded young man.
"Bill Evans, what do you think you're doing?" she demanded sternly.
Bill nearly dropped the gasoline can. "Why, I'm filling this tank," hereplied. "Why are you girls hiding behind that log?"
"Because we've been waiting to catch a motorboat thief! And you're it!"
"Now listen here!" said Bill, setting down the gasoline can. "You can'tinsult me, Miss Penny Parker! Just what do you mean by that crack?"
"This motorboat was stolen from Sara Ottman. You're filling the tank withgasoline, so you must expect to make a get-away to parts unknown."
"This boat belongs to Sara Ottman?" Bill demanded in amazement.
"It certainly does."
"You're kidding. It belongs to a Mr. Wessler."
"Who's he?" asked Penny. "I never heard of him."
"Well, neither did I until this afternoon," Bill admitted. "He gave me adollar to come over here and fill the tank of this boat with gas. I'monly carrying out orders."
"Now we're getting somewhere," Penny declared with satisfaction. "How didyou meet Mr. Wessler?"
"I was working on the dock, tinkering with my engine, when a man came upand started talking to me. He said he was a friend of Mr. Wessler who wasplanning a fishing trip. Then he told me where the boat was, and saidhe'd give me a dollar if I'd run over and fill the tank with gasoline."
"Didn't you think it a rather peculiar request?"
"Not the way the fellow explained it. Mr. Wessler is a busy man anddoesn't have time to look after such details."
"Mr. Wessler is afraid this locality is being watched, and he isn'ttaking any chances," Penny said soberly. "Bill, you've been assisting athief!"
"Gee Whiskers!" Bill exclaimed, aghast. "I never thought about him notowning the boat. What should I do?"
"First of all, don't fill that tank with gasoline," Penny advised.
"It's about half full now."
"Can't you siphon it out?"
"Not without a tube, and I didn't bring one."
"You'll never in the world make a G-man," sighed Penny. "Well, at leastyou can describe the fellow who hired you."
Bill's brow puckered. "I didn't pay much attention," he admitted. "I'dsay the fellow was about thirty-eight, with a little trick moustache."
"That can't be the man who originally rented the boat from Sara," Pennyremarked, frowning.
"Say, are you really sure this boat belongs to the Ottmans?" Bill asked."You know they're pretty badly tangled with the police. It said in thepapers--"
"I know," interrupted Penny wearily. "Or do I know? I'm so mixed I feellike a perpetual motion machine running backwards."
"We've been watching here all day," Louise added, her voice quavering."We've had nothing to eat. No wonder our minds are failing."
"Why don't you go home?"
"And let a saboteur run off with this boat?" Penny demanded. "We promisedto stay here until Sara comes."
"Maybe she and her brother are pulling a fast one on you."
"I might think so, only this was my own idea," Penny answered. "Bill, didthat man mention when his friend Wessler intended to go fishing?"
"No, he didn't."
"He might intend to use the boat tonight, and then again, perhaps not forseveral days. Say, Bill, how would you like to do your country a greatservice?"
"I'm aiming to enlist when I get through High School."
"This would be immediate service. Why not stay here and watch until Saracomes? It shouldn't be long."
"And what if those men should show up?"
"Just keep watch and see what they do. Of course, if they try to get awayin the motorboat, you'll have to capture them."
"Oh, sure," Bill said sarcastically. "With my bare hands?"
"We won't leave you here long," Penny promised. "Louise and I haven't hada bite of food all day--"
"Okay, I'll do it," Bill gave in. "But see to it you're back here in anhour. Better bring the police too."
Learning that the young man had crossed the river in his own motorboat,the girls obtained permission to borrow it for the return trip. Theyfound the craft at the mouth of Bug Run, and made a quick trip to theOttman Dock.
"No one here," Penny observed as they alighted at the platform.
The boat shed was closed and locked. A small boy, loitering nearby, toldthe girls that he had not seen Sara Ottman for several hours.
"Now this is a nice dish of stew!" Penny exclaimed. "Where could she havegone? And why?"
"I know where I am going," announced Louise grimly. "Home! Be it ever sohumble, there's no place like it when you're tired and hungry."
"But what about poor Bill? We can't expect him to stay in the woods allnight."
"Well, there's a hamburger stand at the amusement park," Louise suggestedafter a moment. "We could go there for a sandwich. Then we mighttelephone home and request advice."
"Not a bad idea," Penny praised.
At the hamburger stand they ate three sandwiches each and topped off themeal with ice cream and pie. Seeking a public telephone, Penny then useda precious nickel to call her home. No one answered. Deciding that herfather might be at the _Star_ office, she phoned there. Informed that Mr.Parker was not in the building, she asked for Mr. DeWitt.
"DeWitt left the office a half hour ago," came the discouraging response.
"I wonder where I can reach him?"
"Can't tell you," was the answer. "Burt Ottman has skipped his bail, andDeWitt's upset about it. He may have gone to talk to his lawyer."
"What was that about Burt Ottman?" Penny asked quickly.
"He's disappeared--skipped town. Due for trial day after tomorrow, too.Looks like DeWitt is holding the bag."
Penny hung up the receiver, more bewildered than ever. Without takingtime to repeat the conversation to her chum, she called Sara's home.
For a long while she waited, but there was no reply. At last, hanging up,she eyed the coin box, expecting her nickel to be returned. Though shejiggled the receiver many times and dialed to attract the operator'sattention, the coin was not forthcoming.
"You've had no luck," said Louise, taking Penny's place at the telephone."Now it's my turn. I'll call home. Mother's always there."
She held out her hand, expecting a coin. Penny had nothing for her, andwas forced to admit that she had used the last nickel on the precedingcall.
"Then we have no bus money either!" gasped Louise.
"Stony broke--that's us."
"How can you be so cheerful about it?" Louise asked crossly. "We can'twalk home--it would take us all night!"
"There's only one thing to do, Louise. We'll have to go back and talk toBill. At least he should be able to loan us bus fare."
By this time the girls had lost all enthusiasm for saboteurs andsleuthing. As they recrossed the river in Bill's boat, they vowed thatnever again would they involve themselves in such a ridiculous situation.
"And just wait until I see Sara!" Penny added feelingly. "If I don't tearinto her for playing a shabby trick on us!"
"She probably skipped town along with her brother," Louise replied. "I'mbeginning to wonder if that motorboat we guarded so faithfully everbelonged to the Ottmans."
Landing not far from the mouth of Bug Run, the girls proceeded afoot tothe site where Bill Evans last had been seen. To their r
elief, he had notdeserted his post. Cold, his face swollen by mosquito bites, he hailedthem joyously.
"Thought you were never coming back! I'm getting out of here, and how!"
"What happened while we were gone?" Penny asked sympathetically. "Didn'tSara come?"
"No one has been here."
As Bill started away, the girls tried to dissuade him.
"I wouldn't stay here another hour if you'd give me the boat!" heretorted. "I'm going home!"
Jerking free from Louise who sought to hold him by main force, he movedoff.
"At least telephone our folks when you get to Riverview!" Penny shoutedindignantly. "Tell our parents that if they're still interested in theirdaughters to come and lift us out of this sink hole!"
"Okay, I'll do that," Bill promised. "So long."
After the sound of footsteps had died away, Louise and Penny sat down onthe log and took stock of the situation.
"Any way you look at it, we're just a couple of goats," Penny saiddismally. "It wouldn't be so bad if Old Noah would take us into his arkwith the rest of the animals, but he's not at home."
"Sara played a trick on us, our parents went off and hid, and I don'tthink we can trust Bill too far," Louise sighed. "Why do we stay hereanyway?"
"Well, something could have happened to detain Sara."
"I wish I could think so, but I can't. It would serve her right to losethis boat--if it actually is hers."
"Sara always seemed sincere and honest to me," Penny said, slappingfuriously at a buzzing mosquito. "Until we have definite proof otherwise,I want to trust her."
"Even if it means staying here all night?"
"Well, my trusting nature has a limit," Penny admitted. "But surely ourparents will come to rescue us before long."
"I wouldn't count on it," Louise returned gloomily. "Bill was in a badmood when he left here."
The girls fell into a deep silence. They huddled together to keep warm,and slapped constantly at the insects. For a time it grew steadilydarker, then a few stars brightened the patches of sky which could beseen through the treetops.
"Imagine explaining all this to Mother," Louise murmured once. "Why, itdoesn't even make sense to me."
The noises of the forest began to annoy the girls. Overhead an owlhooted. Crickets chirped, and at frequent intervals a frog or a smallanimal would plop into the water.
"Listen, Lou!" Penny presently whispered. "I hear something coming!"
"Maybe it's a bear," Louise shivered.
"Silly! There aren't any bears in this part of the country."
"How do you know what sort of animals are around here?" Louise countered."Maybe one escaped from Old Noah's zoo."
As the sound grew louder, the girls crouched low amid the brush. Throughthe trees they saw the gleam of a flashlight and distinguished the figureof an approaching man.
"It's probably my father!" Louise whispered, and started forward.
Penny jerked her back. "Bill hasn't had time to get to Riverview yet!This may be the big pay off!"
"A saboteur?"
Penny nodded, her gaze on the approaching figure. The man was tall andmuscular and walked with a cat-like tread. He came directly to themotorboat, muttering under his breath as he examined the half empty fueltank.
Straightening, he turned so that he faced the girls. For a fleetinginstant Penny thought that he was Burt Ottman, and then she recognizedher mistake. The man was the one who had rented Sara Ottman's boat--thehead waiter of The Green Parrot.