The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (196 page)

But as she passed the bushes, a hand reached out and grasped her ankle.

Startled, Penny uttered a nervous cry.

“Be quiet, you goon!” a familiar voice bade.

It was Sally Barker crouched amid the foliage. Quickly she pulled Penny with her behind the bushes.

“Sally, what are you doing here?” Penny demanded.

“Watching that house. I saw you a long way down the beach.”

“Anything doing?”

“A boat is coming in now. That’s why I didn’t want you to be seen.”

A rowboat with an outboard, rapidly approached the Harper pier. Already it was making a wide sweep preparatory to a landing.

“Why, it’s that fellow, Joe the Sweeper!” Penny exclaimed, peering out from the hiding place. “Who is steering the boat?”

“Claude Harper,” Sally revealed. “Ma Harper’s husband.”

“Wonder what Joe would be doing here?”

“That’s what I’d like to know myself,” Sally returned grimly. “Joe isn’t as stupid as he’s given credit for being. He’s crafty and mean, and being mixed up with the Harpers is no recommendation.”

While the girls watched, the boat landed. The two men tied up the craft, and removing a burlap sack which apparently was filled with something heavy, carried it into the two-story house.

“I wish we knew what they brought here,” Penny said. “Why not try to find out?”

“How?”

“Couldn’t we sneak up to the house and peek in one of the windows?”

“We might be caught.”

“True, but we’ll learn nothing more here.”

Debating a moment, the girls emerged from their hiding place. To reach the house they were compelled to cross an open stretch of beach. However, no one was to be seen outside the dwelling and their arrival appeared to attract no notice of anyone inside.

“How about that window at the east side?” Penny suggested.

The one she pointed out was half screened by bushes and at a level which would permit them to peer inside.

“Okay,” agreed Sally, “but I’d hate to be caught at this business. The Harpers hate me and they would be mighty unpleasant if they came upon us snooping.”

“What a harsh word!” chuckled Penny. “All this comes under the heading of investigation! The only difference is that Mr. Gandiss’ detectives are paid and we aren’t.”

“If I could get the brass lantern back that would be pay enough for me,” Sally returned.

Creeping to the window, the girls cautiously peeped into the house. The panes were so dirty it was hard to see inside. But they were able to distinguish three persons sitting at a living room table. Papers were spread out before them, and they were adding figures. There was no sign of the sack which had been carried into the house.

“Who are they?” Penny asked her companion.

“Joe the Sweeper, Ma Harper and her husband. Another woman is coming into the room now. But she’s only a stupid houseworker Ma hires by the week.”

Sally moved backwards, intending to give Penny her place at the window. Inadvertently, she stepped on a stick which broke in two with a snap. Though the sound was not loud, it apparently was heard by those inside the house.

For immediately Claude Harper shoved back his chair and started toward the window.

“What was that?” the girls heard him mutter. “I thought I heard someone outside.”

“Quick! Crouch down or he’ll see us!” Penny warned, pulling Sally to the ground.

Claude Harper, a sallow-faced man in dirty leather jacket, appeared at the window. To the alarm of the girls, he thrust up the sash. In plain view, should he peer down over the ledge, they held their breath.

The man, however, gazed toward the boat docks. “I don’t see anyone,” he reported to his companions. “I was sure I heard something—” he broke off, ending sharply: “And I did too!”

“What is it, Claude?” his wife called.

“Anyone been here this afternoon?” he demanded.

“Nary a soul until you came.”

“Take a look at those shoetracks in the sand!”

Hearing the words, Penny and Sally gazed behind them. From the bush on the beach to the wall where they crouched, led a telltale trail.

“I’ll go outside and look around!” Harper said to his wife. He slammed down the window.

“We’re sunk!” Sally moaned. “We can’t run across the beach without being seen, and we’re certain to be caught here.”

Keeping close to the wall, treading in firm earth which left no visible shoemarks, the girls crept around the building corner. The slamming of a door warned them that Claude Harper already was on their trail.

“Someone’s been here by the window!” they heard him shout.

Frantically, the girls looked about for a place to hide. There was no shrubbery nearby, only the waterfront. Penny’s desperate gaze fastened upon the rowboat tied up at the pier nearby. In the bottom lay an old canvas sail.

“Quick! The boat!” she whispered to Sally.

“We’ll be caught there sure!”

“It’s even more certain if we stay here. Come on, it’s our only chance.”

Choosing the lesser of two evils, they tiptoed across the pier. Though many of the boards were rotten and loose, their shoes fortunately made no sound.

Scrambling down into the boat, the girls jerked the canvas sail over them. Barely had they hidden themselves, than their hearts sank, for they heard heavy footsteps approaching on the pier.

CHAPTER 15

UNDER THE SAIL

That Claude Harper was searching for them, the girls did not doubt. But though he knew someone had been peering in the window, they were hopeful he had not actually seen them. Huddling beneath the sail in the bottom of the boat, they nervously waited.

The man came farther out on the pier, the boards creaking beneath his weight. At any instant the girls expected to have the sailcloth jerked from their heads. However, Harper’s attention was diverted as Sweeper Joe came out of the house.

“Find anyone?” the factory worker asked.

“No, but tracks lead to the window. Someone’s been spying.”

“Kids probably.”

“I don’t know about that,” Claude Harper returned gruffly. “I’d feel a lot safer if we didn’t have all that stuff in the basement. What’s our chances of getting rid of it tonight?”

“We can’t do it. Tomorrow or next night maybe. Arrangements have got to be made, and if we try to push things, we’ll end up in a jam.”

The voices faded away, though not entirely. Presently daring to peep from beneath the canvas, Penny saw that the two men had seated themselves on the rear steps of the house at the edge of the river and within plain view of the tied-up boat.

“We’re in a nice position now!” she whispered to Sally. “Suppose they sit there until they decide to leave in this boat?”

“We’ll be caught. We’re the same as trapped now unless they go back into the house.”

The two men showed no inclination to leave. They talked earnestly together, evidently making plans of some sort. Though the girls tried hard to overhear, they could catch only an occasional word. After awhile, Ma Harper, a wiry, ugly woman with stringy black hair, came outdoors to join the men on the steps.

“It’s getting late,” she warned. “If you’re goin’ to tend to that job today, you’ll have to be gettin’ across the river. Ain’t you due to show up for work at four o’clock, Joe?”

“That’s right,” the man yawned, getting up. “I’ll be glad when I can chuck the whole business and live without workin’.”

Though Penny and Sally did not hear much of the conversation, it was evident to them that the men were about ready to make use of the boat.

“We’re sunk,” Sally whispered fearfully. “Maybe we ought to climb out of here and make a dash for it.”

Penny offered a better idea. “Why not untie the rope, and let the boat drift off?” she proposed. “The current is swift and should carry us downstream fairly fast.”

“Any other boat around that they can use to follow us in?”

“I don’t see any.” Penny raised the sail a little higher as she gazed along the pier and nearby beach.

“All right, then do your stuff,” Sally urged.

While she held the sail slightly above Penny’s head so that no movement would be discernible to those on the house steps, the latter reached her hands from beneath the cloth and swiftly untied the rope. The boat began to drift away. Covered by the sail, the girls lay motionless and flat on the craft’s bottom.

At first nothing happened. But as they began to hope that the men would not notice the drifting boat, they heard an explosive shout.

“Look!” Claude Harper exclaimed. “Our boat!”

“Jumpin’ fish hooks!” Sweeper Joe muttered. “How did that happen? I tied ’er secure.”

“It looks like it,” the other retorted sarcastically. “I can’t afford to lose that boat.”

The girls could hear running footsteps on the pier and boardwalk near the dance pavilion. Sally dared to peep from beneath the canvas again.

“They’re after a motorboat!” she reported tensely. “Harper has one he keeps locked in a boathouse.”

“How close are we to the bend in the river?”

“About twenty yards.”

The swift current was doing its best for the girls, swinging their boat toward the bend. Once beyond it, they would be temporarily hidden from the pier. But the current also was tending to carry them farther and farther from shore.

“Do we dare row?” Penny asked nervously.

“Not yet. Harper is having trouble getting the engine of his boat started,” Sally reported. “We’ll be safe for a minute or two. We’re getting closer to the bend.”

To the nervous girls, the boat scarcely seemed to move. Then at last it passed the bend and they were screened by willow trees and bushes.

“Now!” Sally signalled in a tense whisper.

Throwing off the sail, they seized oars and paddled with all their strength.

“Quiet!” Sally warned as Penny’s oar made a splash. “Sounds carry plainly over the water.”

The blast of a motorboat engine told them that Harper and his companion had started in pursuit. Only a minute or two would be required for them to round the bend.

Throwing caution to the winds, Sally and Penny dug in with their oars, shooting their craft toward shore. The boat grated softly on the sand. Instantly, the girls leaped out, splashing through ankle-deep water.

As Sally was about to start across the beach, Penny seized her hand.

“We mustn’t leave a trail of footprints this time!” she warned.

Treading a log at the water’s edge, Penny walked its length to firm ground which took no visible shoe print. Sally followed her to a clump of bushes where they crouched and waited.

Barely had they taken cover when the motorboat came into view, heading for the little cove. There Claude Harper recaptured the runaway rowboat, tying it to the stern of the other craft.

Suddenly Penny was dismayed as she realized that in their flight, a most important detail had been overlooked.

“The oars!” she whispered. “They’re wet!”

“Maybe the men won’t see,” Sally said hopefully. “We left them half covered by the canvas.”

Intent only upon returning to the pier, Claude Harper and his companion failed to notice anything amiss. Apparently assuming the boat had been carelessly tied and had drifted away under its own power, they were not suspicious.

“That was a narrow squeak,” Penny sighed in relief as the motorboat with the other craft in tow finally disappeared around the bend. “The oars will quickly dry in the sun, so I guess we’re safe.”

Now that they were well out of trouble, the adventure seemed fun. Penny glanced at her wristwatch, observing that it was past four o’clock.

“Jack will be waiting for me,” she said to Sally. “I’ll have to hurry.”

“We’ll have plenty of time,” Sally returned carelessly. “You usually can count on Jack being half an hour late for appointments.”

Walking swiftly along the deserted shore, the girls discussed what they had overheard at the Harpers.

“We stirred up a big fuss and didn’t learn too much,” Penny said regretfully. “All the same, it looks as if the Harpers and Sweeper Joe are mixed up in this brass business together.”

“They spoke of having something stored in the basement. That is what interests me. Oh, Penny, if only we could go back there sometime when the Harpers are gone and really investigate!”

“Maybe we can.”

Sally shook her head. “Ma Harper almost never goes away from home. But sometimes she has streams of visitors from Osage—mostly women. I’ve often wondered why.”

“Factory girls?”

“No, they’re housewives and every type of person. I think Mrs. Harper must be selling something to them, but I never could figure it out.”

The
River Queen
was at the far side of the river, so Sally, for lack of occupation, walked on with Penny to the dock where she was to meet Jack. Greatly to their surprise, he was there ahead of them, and evidently had been waiting for some length of time.