CHAPTER 25 _A SCOOP FOR UNCLE SAM_
Penny opened her eyes and wondered where she was. For a moment she couldremember nothing of what had transpired. Gradually, she realized that shewas lying down, her head pillowed in someone's lap. She seemed to be in afast-moving motor boat for she could hear the wash of waves against thecraft. In panic she decided that she must be a prisoner enroute to theGerman submarine. She struggled to sit up.
"Easy there, partner," said a soothing voice.
Penny twisted sideways to look at the speaker. "Jerry!" she whispered.
"You're all right," he said, pressing her gently back. "We'll get you toa doctor in a few minutes."
"A doctor, my eye!" Penny protested with spirit.
"That was a nasty blow Mrs. Deline gave you on the head," contributedanother voice.
Penny turned again and saw her father. His shirt was half torn off andthere was a long gash on his cheek.
"Dad, you're hurt!"
"Nothing but a few scratches, Penny. Jerry took worse punishment than Idid. But you should see the other fellows!"
"What happened?" Penny asked. "Where am I anyhow?"
"In a patrol boat bound for the hotel."
"But what happened on the beach? The last I remember was when I tried toslash the rubber boat."
"You not only tried, you did!" chuckled Jerry. "Mrs. Deline struck you onthe head with something--maybe a rock--and you went down for the count.About that time, some of the Army boys arrived. Mrs. Deline and her crowdtried to make a get-away, but the boat couldn't be launched."
"Then what happened?" Penny demanded as Jerry paused for breath.
"The two members of the sub crew tried to swim. They were picked up by apatrol boat that had been drawn to the locality by the gun fire."
"And Mrs. Deline?"
"She and her pal Emory, together with the escaped flier, struck offacross the sand dunes."
"They didn't get away?"
"Not on your life. They reached the road and there found a nice receptionawaiting them! Right now the three are lodged at Headquarters."
Penny took a deep breath. Her head was throbbing but she scarcely feltthe pain.
"What about Jim McCoy at the lighthouse?" she inquired.
"He was taken into custody earlier in the evening. A portablebroadcasting outfit was found on the premises."
"Then Mr. McCoy really was the man responsible for those mysteriousbroadcasts--the Voice from the Cave?"
"No doubt he had helpers," Mr. Parker contributed. "We expect to trackdown most of the ring now that the leaders have been captured. At anyrate, we've put an end to the broadcasts. Your other theory was righttoo, Penny."
"What theory, Dad?"
"That the cave effect was produced by an echo chamber."
"Then no broadcast ever originated in a cave?"
"Probably not. We know McCoy shifted locations frequently. Tonight wasthe first time he ever dared broadcast from the lighthouse."
"And what of the old beachcomber, Jake Skagway?"
"Just a beachcomber," Jerry answered. "He had no connection with Emory orMrs. Deline."
Penny lay perfectly still for a few minutes, gazing up at the dark sky. Afew stars pricked the black canopy above her, and now and then a quartermoon peeped from behind a cloud screen.
"How did I get aboard this boat?" she presently inquired.
"Another patrol boat came by," Jerry explained. "In fact, after all thefireworks, just about everyone in Sunset Beach arrived on the scene. Wewanted to get you to a doctor so we took the first transportation thatoffered."
"Almost there now too," added Mr. Parker.
Penny sat up. The shore was dark but she could dimly see the dark CrystalInn hotel.
"I don't need a doctor," she laughed. "I'm feeling better every minute.My, won't Louise be green with envy when she learns what she missed!"
"I'd say she was lucky," Mr. Parker corrected. "Penny, you don't seem torealize what a narrow escape we all had."
"That's right," added Jerry, "those men were desperate, and they'd havestopped at nothing. I guess we owe our lives to you, Penny."
Penny loved the praise. Nevertheless, she replied with a show of modesty:
"Oh, I didn't do a thing, Jerry. As a matter of record, I nearly messedup the show. When I threw that hand grenade I forgot to pull the safetypin."
"I'm glad you did," chuckled Jerry. "If it had exploded, we might not behere now."
Penny sat very still, thinking over what had happened. Events were a bithazy in her mind and many questions remained unanswered.
"The submarine?" she asked after a moment.
"Sunk," Jerry replied. "One of our patrol planes scored a direct hit."
"I guess that brings me up to date," Penny sighed, "There's only onething that bothers me."
"What's that?" inquired her father.
"Did you know who Mrs. Deline was when you invited her to come with us toSunset Beach?"
"No, but I had a healthy suspicion that she might be working against ourcountry, Penny. I first met Mrs. Deline at the Club. However, she wasrather transparent in making a play for my attention. In checking up Idiscovered that she never had been in China and never had written anewspaper story in her life. When she practically invited herself to ridewith us to Sunset Beach, I thought I'd try to find out more about herlittle game."
"I acted so silly about everything," Penny acknowledged, deeply ashamed."I'm sorry, Dad."
"You needn't be, Penny. At times you were rude to Mrs. Deline which waswrong. But your actions served a good purpose by keeping the woman sodiverted that she never was on her guard."
Shore was very close. As the powerful engines of the motor boat becamemuted, Penny said wistfully:
"Now that your work is done here, Jerry, I suppose you'll be winging offto some far corner of the country."
"Not for a few days at least," he reassured her. "I'm expecting afurlough and I'll spend it right here at Sunset Beach. We'll cram thosedays full of fun, Penny. We'll swim and golf and dance. We'll make everyminute count."
The boat grated gently against the dock and a sailor leaped out to makethe craft fast. Mr. Parker and Jerry helped Penny ashore. Though shetried to stand steady upon her feet, the boards rocked beneath her.
"Hook on," invited Jerry, offering an arm.
Mr. Parker supported her on the other side, and thus they walked slowlytoward the hotel.
"The Three Musketeers!" chuckled the editor. "'One for all, and all forone.'"
"We do make a trio," agreed Penny. "Tonight it seems just as it did whenwe were together in Riverview working on a big news story. There's onedifference though."
"What's that?" asked Jerry.
"Tonight we were actors in a little drama that should be page one on anynewspaper. Yet neither of you news hawks so much as spoke of trying toget a scoop for the _Riverview Star_."
"Good reason," rumbled Mr. Parker. "The story of what happened tonightmay never be published."
"I understand, Dad. If the news were printed now it might give valuableinformation to the enemy."
Penny paused to catch her breath. With Jerry and her father stillsupporting her, she turned to face the restless sea. The patrol boat hadslipped away into the darkness. Far up shore, unmindful that herfaithless master had gone, the bright beacon from the lighthouse sweptthe water at regular intervals. Nothing seemed changed.
"Curtain going down on one of the best adventures of my life," Penny saidsoftly. "Who cares that the _Riverview Star_ missed the story? Why, thiswas an A-1 scoop for Uncle Sam!"
Transcriber's Notes
--Replaced the list of books in the series by the complete list, as in the final book, "The Cry at Midnight".
--Silently corrected a handful of palpable typos.
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book w
ith friends