CHAPTER XIV
THE MAN WITH THE LIMP
Two days had passed. To Leslie it was a constant marvel, considering thesecret tension under which she lived, that outwardly her life went on inthe same peaceful groove. She rose and dressed as usual, prepared themeals, ate and chatted with Aunt Marcia, walked on the beach or down tothe village, fished occasionally with Phyllis and the Kelvins, took a dipin the ocean when it was not too chilly, read and slept and idled, as ifthere were nothing in the world but what was quiet and normal and in theordinary course of things.
Aunt Marcia suspected nothing. Even Ted, who, she was certain, suspectedmany things, laughed and chatted with and teased her, and never by somuch as a word or look indicated the slightest suspicion of her interestin Curlew's Nest and its affairs. With Phyllis his manner was somewhatdifferent, and during the last two days their relations had seemedoccasionally rather strained, but there was no open break, in public atleast.
"But at home it's another matter!" Phyllis assured her. "Something's comeover him--I can't guess what. He will hardly speak either to Father ormyself. He doesn't even want to play his violin when we get together, andusually he adores that. He's moody and silent and just--_grouchy_, mostof the time! And that's unusual for Ted. I'll give him credit for being apretty amiable fellow, as a rule. I can't make him out!"
"And it surely is queer that we've seen nothing more of Eileen, don't youthink so?" questioned Leslie.
"Well, no. Considering that she gained her point and got us away all thatafternoon, I don't think it at all queer. She's done with us now. Whyshould she try to keep on with it? By the way, I called her up at AuntSally's last night. She wasn't there, but Aunt Sally said her grandfatherhas been rather worse for the last two days and she's been at thehospital most of the time--was there then. All of which may or may not beso. As a matter of fact, I guess Aunt Sally knows precious little of herdoings when she's away in that car."
Somehow, Leslie could never believe Eileen quite as full of duplicity asPhyllis thought her. While she had to admit that circumstances made thegirl's conduct seem almost inexcusable, there always lingered in her minda stubborn feeling that perhaps there was more back of it all than theyknow--that Eileen herself might be struggling with entangling problems.And secretly she still felt a liking for the girl. But she knew it wasuseless to express these doubts to Phyllis, so she wisely kept her owncounsel. But there was one thing she did allude to.
"Isn't it strange that Eileen never told us a word about her grandfather,or how sick he was, or what was the matter with him? You would havethought it natural, that day when she took us riding, to say _something_about it, anyway. I hardly see now how she could have avoided it. And yetshe did. You'd never have thought she had such a thing as a sickgrandfather on her mind!"
"Leslie, you certainly are a trusting soul!" exclaimed Phyllis,scornfully. "How do you know she _has_ a sick grandfather in anyhospital? I strongly doubt it myself!"
"Oh, I _can't_ believe she's not telling the truth about _that_!" criedLeslie, thoroughly shocked. "Don't you believe anything about her anymore?"
"I don't know what I believe or don't believe--about _her_!" retortedPhyllis. "And what's more, there's only one thing concerning her that I_am_ interested in just now--whether she has discovered the answer tothat note left in there and when she--or any one else--is going to makethe attempt to unearth their treasure again!"
Phyllis had been as good as her word. On the morning after that night ofthe fog, she had returned to her bungalow before breakfast, and hadreappeared later at Rest Haven with a mysterious bundle. When they hadboth retired to Leslie's room she revealed its contents, a piece ofburlap, an exact duplicate of the one which contained the Dragon'sSecret, and an antimony jewel-case. Then they got down the original fromits dusty shelf, fashioned a bag, the exact size and shape of the oneRags had unearthed, placed the jewel-case in it, and sewed it up. Whenall was complete it would have been extremely difficult to tell theoriginal from its duplicate, so nearly alike did they seem.
Late that afternoon, while Ted and his father were far up the inlet, andwith the beach entirely deserted, they buried the false treasure-box inthe sand by the old log. Phyllis did the deed, while Leslie scouted thebeach in every direction, investigated every nook and corner that couldpossibly conceal any one, and made absolutely certain that they were notobserved. And from that time on they had awaited results.
And to their certain knowledge, there had been none. Each day, at somehour when there was least likelihood of any one being near, they hadexamined the place, only to find the buried bag still in itshiding-place, untouched. At night they had taken turns keeping watch, allthe night through; but no stealthy visitor had come to Curlew's Nest, norhad there been any during the day--of that they were absolutely certain.The beach had never seemed so free of visitors before.
And thus matters stood on the second afternoon, and they were beginningto be impatient at inaction and delay. Then Phyllis had an idea.
"I know what's the matter!" she cried. "We're keeping too close a watch.We don't give anybody a chance to come within gunshot of that place,unobserved, so how can we expect that anything is going to happen? Ifit's Ted, don't you suppose he sees us hanging about here all the time?He'd be a goose to try anything right in front of our eyes. No doubt he'sseen one or the other of us at the window all night, too. And if it'sEileen or any one else, it's the same thing. Let's go off somewhere andgive them a chance. Not too far though, for we want to be where we canget back with reasonable speed ourselves."
So they went for a stroll along the beach, accompanied by Rags, who wasonly too delighted at the prospect of an expedition that promised somechange. It was a mild, hazy October afternoon. An opalescent mist layalong the horizon and the waves rolled in lazily, too lazily to breakwith their accustomed crash. Every little while there would be a flightof wild geese, in V-shaped flying line, far overhead, and their honkingwould float down faintly as they pushed on in their southward course. Itwas a golden afternoon, and Leslie almost resented the fact that they hadany worries or problems on their minds.
"Why, who in the world is that?" exclaimed Phyllis, suddenly, as theyrounded a slight curve in the beach and came in sight of a figurestanding at the water's edge, a rod and long line in his hand, and acamp-stool and fishing-kit beside him. "There hasn't been a strangerfishing in this region in an age! People generally go down by the bigbungalow colony three miles farther along for that. We almost never seeany one here. I wonder what it means!"
As they came nearer, they could see more plainly what sort of person heappeared to be. He was tall and stalwart and gray-haired. A slouch hatwas pulled down to shade his eyes, but still they could see that his facewas alert and kindly and placid, with twinkling gray eyes and a whimsicalmouth. He was obviously an adept fisherman, as Phyllis remarked, whenthey had witnessed the clever way in which he managed a catch. They werevery near him by that time, and watching breathlessly. Once his preyalmost eluded him, but with a skilful manipulation of his tackle, hepresently brought the big fellow, lashing wildly, to land, well out ofreach of the water.
"Great Scott!" he exclaimed, winding up his line, "but that fellow gaveme a warm ten minutes!"
The girls had by this time reached the spot and were admiring the catch.
"Congratulations!" laughed Phyllis, with the informal interest of theborn fisherman. "I couldn't have done it myself, not after he had almostescaped. He must weigh five pounds!"
The stranger looked at them with interest. "So you fish? Well, it's thebest sport in the world. This bouncer has been dodging me all theafternoon, and I vowed I'd get him before I left. Almost had him oncebefore, but he got away with the bait. Wouldn't let me alone, though,even after that. I warned him he was flirting with his fate!" And helaughed a big, booming, pleasant laugh.
At this moment Rags, who had been elsewhere occupied, came bounding up,and straightway made a bee-line over to invest
igate the fish.
"Hi! Stop that!" exclaimed the stranger. "I intend to have that fish formy supper to-night!" and he made a dash for his cherished trophy. ButRags, disconcerted by the sudden movement, was on his guard at once. Asthe man approached, he sank his teeth into the fish with a growl that wasa warning not to be ignored.
"Oh, call him off!" cried the man, anxiously, and Leslie, very muchupset, sprang forward to rescue the stranger's dinner. But Rags saw achance for a lark; and as times had been rather slow and uninterestingfor him of late, he determined to make the most of it. Seizing the fishin a firm grip, he galloped madly up the beach, the two girls wildlypursuing.
There ensued a chase very similar to the one he had led them on thateventful day when he had unearthed the Dragon's Secret. Never once did heallow them to lay a finger on his prize, though, panting and disgusted,they pursued him hither and yon, sometimes so close that he was wellwithin their reach, sometimes with him far in advance. Occasionally hewould lie down with the fish between his paws, fairly inviting them tocome and help themselves. Which they had no sooner attempted, than he wasup and away again.
The man wisely took no part in the struggle, but stood looking on,encouraging them with half-rueful, half-laughing remarks. At lengthLeslie had an inspiration. While Rags was standing at the edge of thewater, panting from a long and furious run, the fish reposing at hisfeet, she seized a small board lying near, called to him beguilingly andhurled the board out into the sea.
Here was a game that was even more fascinating. Rags always adored it.Forsaking the much-sought fish, he leaped into the lazy waves and swamout toward his new prize, while the stranger eagerly seized the fish andconcealed it in his basket.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" apologized Leslie. "I know he has spoiled it now. Ihope you can forgive us for this dreadful thing."
"Nothing of the sort!" laughed the stranger. "He hasn't harmed it a bit,for it was only the head he had hold of. When it's washed and cooked,that beauty will taste just as good as if it had never had the adventure.My, but that's a fearsome animal of yours! I wouldn't want to tackle him.But those English sheep-dogs are noted for being wonderful protectors andvery interesting pets besides."
And just to show that he bore Rags no malice, he picked up the boardwhich the dog had retrieved, and obligingly hurled it into the surfagain. Rags ecstatically pursued it once more, dropped it at the man'sfeet, and begged for another opportunity. But just before it was launcheda third time, he spied a hermit-crab scuttling away almost under hisnose, forsook his latest diversion, and was off on another hunt.
The man laughed, dropped the wet, sandy board, dusted off his hands bystriking them together, picked up his fishing-kit, hung his camp-stoolover his arm, bade the girls good afternoon, and strode away.
They gazed after him a moment and were about to turn back toward theirown part of the beach, when Leslie suddenly seized Phyllis's arm in avice-like grip.
"Phyllis, Phyllis, don't think me crazy! Something has just come to me.The way that man threw the board just now and dusted off his hands andthen walked away--was just--exactly like--the _man with the limp_ thatmorning at dawn! The action was identical. I'm positive I'm not mistaken.And he looks just like him, the same height and build and all, as hewalked away."
"But, my dear child, _he doesn't limp_!" cried Phyllis, conclusively. "Soyou certainly are mistaken!"
"I know he doesn't, but I--don't care. He's the same one. I am absolutelysure of it. Maybe he's all over the limp now."
But though Leslie was so certain, Phyllis remained unconvinced!