CHAPTER XII
THE CURIOUS BEHAVIOR OF TED
True to their previous arrangement, Phyllis spent the night with Leslieat Rest Haven. They read together till a very late hour and then sat upeven later, in the dark, watching from Leslie's window to see if therewere any further developments at Curlew's Nest. But nothing unusualhappened.
"Isn't that exactly my luck!" complained Phyllis. "If I weren't here, Isuppose there'd be a half a dozen spooky visitors!"
"Oh, no!" laughed Leslie. "Probably nothing will happen again for sometime. Remember how very few times it _has_ happened, anyway. But it isprovoking--just when we're all ready for it!"
"Do you know," exclaimed Phyllis suddenly, "this is the time when I'djust love to go through that place again! What do you say if we get outof this window and try it?"
"Oh, no, no!" cried Leslie. "You mustn't think of such a thing! Can't yousee how awfully dangerous it would be? Just suppose some one should takeit into their heads to visit the place again to-night--and find us inthere. It would be a terrible position for us!"
"I wouldn't be afraid of Eileen!" stoutly declared Phyllis. "I'd ratherenjoy meeting her there. It would give her something to explain!"
"But there's some one else you might meet there who might not be soamusing--the man with the limp!" Leslie reminded her.
Phyllis had to acknowledge that this was so, and the subject was dropped,much to Leslie's relief.
Next afternoon, Eileen came over with her car and invited the girls andMiss Marcia to go for a long ride. They all accepted with alacrity,enjoying the prospect of a change. Eileen insisted that Miss Marcia sitby her while she drove. And as she did this with remarkable ease, she wasable to converse pleasantly with her guests most of the time. She tookthem for a very long drive, and they were all astonished at herfamiliarity with the roads in that part of the country. She assured themthat she had grown to know them well, during the long days lately whenshe had little else to do than to explore them with the car.
It was dusk when they returned at last to the beach, and, havingdeposited Phyllis first at her bungalow, Eileen drove the others totheirs. They bade her good night at the foot of the wooden path that ledup the slope to their cottage, and she sat and watched them, withoutstarting the car, till they had disappeared indoors. But it so happenedthat Leslie turned around, opened the door, and came out again almost atonce to get an armful of wood for the fire from the bin on the backveranda. And in so doing, it happened also that she witnessed a curiouslittle incident.
Eileen seemed to have had a slight difficulty in starting the car, but itwas in motion now, going slowly, and had advanced only about as far asthe path leading up to Curlew's Nest. Leslie stood in the darkness of herporch, idly watching its progress, when something that happened causedher heart to leap into her throat. Out from some thick bushes at the edgeof the road, there appeared a dark form, which signaled to the car.Eileen whirled the wheel around, applied the brake, and the car almostcame to a stop. Almost--but not quite, for the figure leaped into itwhile it was still going. Then Eileen stepped on the accelerator, the carshot forward, and was almost instantly out of sight.
Eileen whirled the wheel around, applied the brake,and the car almost came to a stop]
Leslie got her wood and went indoors in a daze. What could it all mean?What duplicity had Eileen been guilty of now? The thing certainly lookedvery, very sinister, consider it how you would! And she could breathe noword of it to her aunt, who, as Leslie entered, straightway began on along eulogy of Eileen, her delightful manners, her thoughtfulness, andher kindness in giving them an afternoon of such enjoyment. It seemed toLeslie, considering what had just happened, that she must certainlyscream with nervousness if Miss Marcia did not stop, and she tried vainlyseveral times to steer her to another theme. But Miss Marcia had found atopic that interested her, and she was not to be diverted from it till itwas exhausted!
With all her strength, Leslie longed for the time to come when Phyllisshould appear, for she had promised to come again for the night. And whenthe supper was eaten and the dishes had been disposed of, Leslie wentoutside and paced and paced back and forth on the front veranda, peeringvainly into the darkness to watch for her friend. Miss Marcia, indoorswith Rags by the blazing fire, called several times to her to come in andshare the warmth and comfort, but she felt she could not endure theconfinement in the house and the peaceful sitting by the hearth, when herthoughts were so upset. Would Phyllis never appear? What could be keepingher?
It was a small, but very active, indignation meeting that was held whenthe two girls were at last together. Leslie would not permit Phyllis togo indoors for a time after she arrived, though the night was ratherchilly, but kept her on the veranda to explain what had happened.
"The deceitful little thing!" cried Phyllis. "Now I see exactly what shetook us all out for this afternoon, even Miss Marcia--to get rid of usall for a good long time while some accomplice of hers did what theypleased in Curlew's Nest, quite undisturbed by any one around!"
"That's exactly what it must have been," agreed Leslie. "But who couldthat other person have been?"
"The man with the limp?" suggested Phyllis.
"No, I'm very sure it was not he. This person sprang into the car whileit was still in motion--was very active, evidently. I'm certain the manwith the limp could never have done that!"
"Well, was it a man or a woman? Surely you could tell _that_!"
"No, actually I couldn't. It was getting so dark, and the figure was sofar off, and it all happened so quickly that I couldn't see. But,Phyllis, I'm horribly disappointed in Eileen! I had begun to think shewas lovely, and that we had misjudged her badly. And now--_this_!"
"She's simply _using_ us--that's plain," agreed Phyllis. "She evidentlyintended to do so from the first, after she found out we were right onthe spot here. She deliberately came out to cultivate our acquaintanceand make it seem natural for her to be around here. Then she and the oneshe's working with planned to get us away from here for the wholeafternoon and have the field free for anything they pleased. Faugh! Itmakes me sick to think of being duped like that!"
"But after yesterday--and the way she acted when you played Chopin, andwhat she said about our friendship, and all that--Was _anything_ genuineat all?"
"Not a thing!" declared Phyllis, positively. "All put on to get a littlefarther into our good graces. Well, I'll never be caught like _that_again. We'll continue to seem very friendly to Miss Eileen Ramsay, but wewon't be caught twice!"
"By the way, what made you so late to-night?" questioned Leslie, suddenlychanging the subject. "I thought you'd never come!"
"Oh, I meant to tell you right away, but all this put it out of my head.When I got home after the ride, I found only Father there. He said Tedhad been away most of the afternoon. He'd gone down to the village aftersome new fishing-tackle and hadn't come back yet. I started in and gotsupper, and still he didn't appear. Then we began to get worried and'phoned down to Smithson's in the village where they sell tackle, to seeif he could be there. They said he _had_ been, early in the afternoon,but they hadn't seen him since. We called up every other place he couldpossibly be, but nowhere was he to be found. I was beginning to be quiteupset about him--when in he walked!
"He was very quiet and uncommunicative and wouldn't explain why he was solate. And then, presently, he said in a very casual manner that his handwas hurt. And when he showed it to us, I almost screamed, for it was verybadly hurt--all torn and lacerated. He had it wrapped in hishandkerchief, but we made him undo it, and I bathed it and Father putiodine on, and I fixed him a sling to wear it in. The thing about it wasthat he didn't seem to want to tell us how it happened. Said he met afriend who invited him to ride in their car and had taken him for a longdrive. And on the way home they'd had a little breakdown, and Ted hadtried to help fix it and had got his hand caught in the machinerysomehow.
"But he was plainly very anxious not to be
questioned about it. AndFather says that Ted is old enough now to be trusted, and should not becompelled to speak when he doesn't wish to, and so nothing more was said.But it all seemed a little strange to me, for, honestly, I don't know asingle soul in this village that Ted knows who owns a car, or any otherof our friends who would be likely to be around these parts just now.They're all home at their schools or colleges. When I asked him whose carhe was in, he just glared at me and said I always did ask too manyimpertinent questions! But I can't make much out of it, and I hate anymore puzzles to think about."
Leslie, however, could cast no light on this new problem; and she wassomewhat more interested, moreover, in their other puzzle. But as she wasabout to revert to that subject again, Phyllis suddenly interrupted:
"Oh, by the way, soon after I got home, Aunt Sally 'phoned to ask if wewere back from the ride yet. And when I said we'd been back some time,she said she was quite worried because Eileen had not yet appeared and itwas late and dark. I said perhaps she had stopped somewhere in thevillage, as she had left us a good while before. Quite a little later,just before Ted got in, Aunt Sally 'phoned again to say that Eileen hadjust arrived. She'd had some trouble with the car after she left us andhad to stop and fix it. I wonder what was the matter _there_!"
Suddenly Leslie clutched her friend's arm. "Phyllis Kelvin, are we goingcrazy, or is there some strange connection in all this? Can't yousee?--Ted late and mixed up with some breakdown--Eileen late and hadtrouble with the machinery,--and with my own eyes I saw some one jumpinto her car!--Could it, _could_ it be possible that person was--_Ted_?"
Phyllis stared at her as if she thought Leslie certainly _had_ "gonecrazy." "There's not the slightest chance in the world!" she declaredpositively. "Why, only last night, when I was explaining to Ted aboutEileen and how we'd become friends, all he said was: 'Well, so you'vetaken up with some other dame, have you! Might as well not have broughtyou down here, all the good you are to _us_, this time. Haven't beenfishing with us more than twice since we came! Whoever this Eileen is,don't for goodness sake have her around here!' If he'd known her, hecertainly would have shown it in some way. He acted utterly disgustedwith me for having made her acquaintance!"
"That may all be true, but it doesn't prove that _he_ is not acquaintedwith her," stubbornly affirmed Leslie.
And Phyllis was driven to acknowledge the force of the argument!