by Edith Lavell
CHAPTER XVII
_The Lost Necklace_
Many thoughts raced through Linda's mind, as she and Louise sat besidethe airplane, nibbling at their frugal supper. For this time, they haddecided to eat sparingly; nobody knew how long they might have to staythere, without any more food.
But all of Linda's thoughts were regrets. Regret that her father hadmet with an accident, regret that Dan Stillman had borrowed her Arrow,regret that she was unable to locate the trouble herself and repair it.
Louise, with her usual practical cheerfulness, interrupted these gloomymeditations.
"We have three good hours of daylight left, Linda," she announced,glancing at her watch. "To try another direction. There must be a realroad around here somewhere--where automobiles go. Texas isn't the endof the world."
"If we're actually in Texas!" returned Linda. "It may be Oklahoma, forall we know."
"But Oklahoma has roads, too. Come on, finish your cake! We musthurry."
Taking their coats along, for the night gave promise of being cooler,the girls set off in the opposite direction from the one they hadtaken that afternoon. This time they had to go right through theshrubbery--the dangerous shrubbery which had threatened disaster totheir landing.
"This is awful!" exclaimed Louise, pausing to pull a brier from hersweater. "There can't be any road here."
"On the contrary, I think we'll be more likely to find one, once we getthrough this. The very fact that we can't see beyond is hopeful."
"That's true," admitted Louise, starting on again.
They walked for some time, carefully picking their way through theundergrowth, thankful that they were wearing breeches. At last theycame to a more open space, and stopped to look about them.
"No road!" exclaimed Louise, in disappointment.
"But that looks like a stream over there, Lou--between those twobanks!" cried Linda.
"Oh, if it only is! Then we could have a swim!"
"If we ought to take the time."
"I think we might as well, Linda, because it's going to get too darkfor us to take a chance getting lost tonight. Let's have our swim andgo back to the plane to sleep. Then tomorrow morning we'll start tohike--if we have to go all the way to the ranch on foot!"
"We won't have to do that, because we have plenty of money," Lindareminded her. "Once we get back to civilization, our dollars will besome good. And, even if we have to leave the Pursuit, and never see heragain, it would be worth it to get to Daddy!"
Having come to this decision, the girls hurried rapidly towards thestream, and then, taking off their flyers' suits carefully, under coverof their coats, in case there should be some human being around, theyboth plunged in.
The water felt cold, and oh, so refreshing! They swam happily for someminutes, forgetful of all their worries, in the joy of the invigoratingpastime.
When they had gone some distance, Linda suddenly realized how swift thecurrent was, out in the middle of the creek. Already they were severalhundred yards downstream.
"Lou!" she called. "We must be careful of this current!"
Her chum did not answer, and Linda suddenly experienced anothersickening moment of dread. Suppose Louise were unconscious! She turnedaround, but she could not see the other girl.
However, the creek turned sharply at this point, and Linda reassuredherself with the hope that Louise was beyond the bend. She swam in towhere it was shallow enough for her to stand up, and cupped her handsand called.
"Lou! Oh, Lou!"
"Yes!" came the instant reply. "Around the bend."
Linda hurried around the cliff which separated her chum from sight, andthere, to her amazement, she beheld a shattered airplane. The wings andthe propeller were gone--had evidently been floated out on the streamand swept away on the current, and the plane itself was smashed topieces. Louise was standing beside it, holding a man's coat in her hand.
"Ye gods!" cried Linda, shocked by the horror of such a wreck. "Howterrible!"
But Louise was searching the pockets of the coat madly, excitedly, asif she had no thought for the man who had been killed.
"Look, Linda!" she cried triumphantly. "I had an inspiration it mightbe your thief! I've got it!"
"What?" demanded the other.
"The necklace!"
Both girls held their breath while Louise steadied her nervous fingersand opened the box--a cheap pasteboard affair, totally unlike theoriginal one in which Kitty Clavering's pearls had been sold. ToLinda's unbelieving eyes, she held up the costly jewels.
Louise dropped down on the ground, absolutely overcome with emotion,and Linda sat beside her, examining the necklace for herself, as if shecould not believe her eyes. But there was no doubt about it; it was thereal thing this time.
"That man didn't know much about flying," remarked Linda, finally. "Isuppose, though, he realized that his only chance of escape lay ingetting over the border.... But Lou, if his coat is here, why isn't he?"
"He probably took off his coat before anything happened. But his bodymay be somewhere in the wreckage. I--I'd just as soon not see it,wouldn't you, Linda?"
"Of course not," replied the other, with a shudder of repulsion. "Comeon, Lou, let's go. But don't let's try to swim with that necklace. I'drather walk."
"So would I."
Both girls scrambled to their feet, and started back towards theircoats. Suddenly Linda stopped, horrified by what she saw. Over in alittle cove, away from the main stream, were not one, but two bodies,half floating, half caught on the shore by the weeds and underbrush.
"It's the thief, all right," she managed to say. "And I wonder who theother man was."
Louise squinted her eyes; she had no desire to go any closer, and inthe fading light it was hard to see clearly.
"He looks--as--if--he had red hair," she announced, slowly. "That wouldexplain about the gasoline agent, who tried to put the blame on TedMackay."
"Of course!" cried Linda. "Isn't it all horrible? As if any necklacecould be worth this! I wonder when it happened."
"Probably last night, during the storm. That would be too much for aninexperienced flyer."
"Of course."
The girls picked up their clothing and dressed hurriedly, reaching theplane just as it was beginning to get dark.
"Let's make a fire," suggested Linda, "and tell each other stories tillwe get sleepy. We mustn't try to go to sleep too early on this hardground, especially after having had naps."
"Are you scared at all, Linda?" asked Louise.
"No. What of? Ghosts--or tramps?"
"Both."
"Well, I'm not afraid of tramps or robbers because I have mypistol--Daddy made me promise to take it with me on all my flights--andI'm just not going to let myself be worried about ghosts. After all,those two dead men deserved their fate, didn't they? And I mean toforget them. Now, tell me a story!"
"What about?"
"Some nice new novel you've read that I haven't."
So Louise began the story of "Father Means Well"--a very amusing bookshe had just finished, and the girls kept their camp-fire going untileleven o'clock. Then, when both were certain that they were sleepy,they spread out Louise's raincoat on the ground, and, crawling closetogether, put Linda's on top of them. Almost instantly they wereasleep, forgetful of accidents and thieves, not to waken until the sunwas brightly shining again.