CHAPTER VI
MOONLIGHT AND MYSTERY
The moon made a rippling path of silver upon the water, a soft windwhispered drowsily through the trees, and far off in the depths ofthe woodland, an owl hooted plaintively. Ordinarily, the romanticpaddle back to the island would have been filled with delight for theOutdoor Girls and their four boy friends, but tonight the profusebeauty all about them passed unnoticed.
Betty, sitting beside Allen in the bottom of the canoe, while Frankand Grace paddled, was very pale and silent. However, the otherstalked enough to make up for her silence.
"What do you suppose is in the letter?" said Mollie, for perhaps thehundredth time.
"How do you suppose we know?" responded Will, exasperated. "We can'tvery well read it until we get home; and then perhaps there won't beanything important in it. Gee, if we'd only gotten that fellow!"
"Well, it's of no use to cry over spilled milk," said Frankphilosophically. "We were mighty lucky to get the letter. Allen's theonly one that ought to kick--he got the rough end of the deal."
"Yes," said Betty fiercely; "and we ought to get that man forshooting him. The coward!"
Allen laughed softly, and put a hand over Betty's little clenchedone.
"I don't suppose he meant to shoot me, especially," he said. "It wasmy fault for getting in the way of the bullet."
"Yes, that's a mighty bad habit to get into," remarked Roy dryly,"especially in these times, when we're more than likely to get achance to exercise it."
"Ooh!" squealed Amy, giving a sudden splash with her paddle, thatsent a geyser of spray all about her, causing several loud protests."I wish you'd stop talking about such things. I'd like to stopshivering for about five minutes."
The girls giggled hysterically and felt more natural.
"Goodness," sighed Grace, after five minutes of silence, during whicheach had been busy with his or her own thoughts. "This paddle neverseemed so long to me before."
"Thanks," said Frank. "May I ask whether you are referring to thecompany?"
"I wasn't even thinking of the company," retorted Grace ungraciously.
"Gee, we must be impressive," murmured Roy. "She doesn't even knowwe're around."
"Stop paddling, Frank," suggested Mollie maliciously, "and see howsoon she'd know you weren't around."
Obediently Frank drew his paddle from the water, and Grace, who hadonly been making a pretense of doing her share, looked aroundindignantly.
"Well, you can't expect me to do it all," she said, and with a sighof utter resignation, Frank resumed his work.
"Say, fellows," he said, "isn't that just like a girl?"
"What's that?" cried Amy suddenly, making them jump nervously.
"What?" queried Grace in a voice scarcely above a whisper, while therest looked for an explanation from Amy to the shadowy woodland andback again.
"It--it was a noise," explained Amy, incoherently, "like a manmoving, and I was sure--I--saw a--couple of eyes watching us--"
"For heaven's sake!" cried Allen, raising himself suddenly in thecanoe, "put on more steam, you fellows! We've got to get the girlsout of this. What do you say, Mrs. Irving?" turning to theirchaperon, who had been a silent spectator until the moment.
"By all means," she said decisively. "We can face these mysteriesbetter by daylight, and we've had enough excitement for one night."
So they all paddled hard while the girls' eyes remained fixed inhalf-fearful, half-hopeful expectation upon the shadowy shore. Forthese girls were outdoor girls, and adventure was the breath of lifeto them.
However, nothing else happened to disturb the calm of a perfectsummer night, and a few minutes later they landed at the pier, andhastily fastened the canoes.
"Now for a light and the contents of that letter," cried Will, hiseyes gleaming with anticipation. "We'll soon find out whether Mr.Adolph Hensler was a regular, honest-to-goodness spy, or just animpostor. How about it, Allen?" he went on, as the latter stumbledover a stone, and Will hooked an arm through his. "Feeling prettymuch all in, are you?"
"A little unsteady on my pins, as our friend Captain Kidd would say,"Allen replied, though his lips were set with the effort to walksteadily. "It's funny what a little scratch will do to a fellow."
"It wasn't such a little scratch, old man," said Will soberly. "If ithad hit you more directly, you'd have been in for a pretty longsiege. As it is, I'm afraid you'll have to lie low for a week or so.Here we are. Now, just a couple of steps, old fellow--"
Allen was, in truth, weaker than he thought, for each step seemedmountains high, and Frank had to grasp his other arm, before theyfinally made the floor of the porch, and succeeded in getting himacross the threshold.
"Never mind," whispered Mollie, slipping a comforting arm aboutBetty's shoulders as they followed slowly. "He isn't hurt seriously,dear, and by to-morrow he'll be feeling all right again."
"I know," said Betty, a little catch in her breath. "It isn't so badnow, but I was just thinking what it would be like, if he werewounded on the battlefield, with no one to look after him--and--and--"
"Oh, Betty, we just mustn't think of things like that!" said Mollie,her voice quivering. "No matter how we feel, we've just got to keepon smiling for the boys' sake."
"I know," said Betty, straightening up with a pathetic little attemptat a smile. "We'll all have to say like the little boy that fell downand hurt himself, 'I'm not cryin'; I'm laughin'.' Yes, we're coming."This last was interpolated by way of encouragement to Frank, who hadbeen sent back to look for them.
They found Allen propped up in a huge armchair before a fire, whichhad been hastily laid in the grate, looking rather pale and wan, buttremendously interested in the proceedings, nevertheless.
"Betty," he said pleadingly, stretching out a hand to her.
Without a word she went over to him, taking it in both her own.
"I don't want you to go out of my sight," he whispered, while theothers thoughtfully looked the other way. "My shoulder doesn't achewhen you're around," he added whimsically, knowing how clearly Bettysaw through him; "but when you go away, the ache in it is--fiendish!"
"I won't go away," Betty promised, touching the bandaged shouldergently.
"Never?" he queried eagerly, twisting around so he could see herface. "Is that a promise, Betty?"
"While your shoulder hurts," she added quickly, while the color,which did not come from the fire, flooded her face. "I--I hate to becross with you when you're not feeling well," she added, trying to besevere, "but if you don't stop--looking at me--Allen... See,they're waiting to read the letter!"
WILL LEANED FORWARD, REGARDING THE PAPER CLOSELY.]
"Does that mean I have to stop looking at you?" queried Allen, with asmile. "Oh, well, I'll not complain, if you'll only keep on holdingmy hand, Betty. I'd have a chronic bullet wound all the rest of mylife--"
"Well, when the invalid and hero of the occasion is ready," Willbroke in, his patience at an end, "we should be pleased to read adocument, which probably will seem dull and uninteresting to himbeside what he has to say--"
"Oh, Will, please don't talk so much," cried Grace. "If you don'thurry I'll be so sleepy it wouldn't bother me if Adolph Henslerturned out to be the Kaiser himself."
"Yes, speed up, old man," Roy added. "Expectation may be better thanrealization, but I don't believe it."
"Well," said Will, opening the letter which had not been sealed, withexasperating deliberation, "we shall see--what we shall see."
He leaned forward, regarding the paper closely in the yellowlamplight, while the others crowded eagerly about him.
"Well--what-do-you-know-about-that!" he said slowly, pushing thepaper from him disgustedly. "All in code--and a code that will needan expert to figure it out. Gee, that's a mean trick, that is!"
Frank picked up the paper and pored over it for a moment, while therest watched him anxiously.
"Yes, that's a stiff one," he said at last. "I guess there's no usein our wasting time over it."
"Much good that does us," said Will, morosely folding the paper andstuffing it carefully into his pocket. "Of course, it's better thannothing, and we'll get it into official hands just as soon as we can;but we certainly ought to have caught that rascal."
"Say!" exclaimed Roy suddenly, his eyes gleaming with the light ofadventure, "maybe it isn't too late yet. Unless Adolph, the spy, hada boat or swam to the nearest island, which is more than a mile away,he's still on this island somewhere. We've got our good old trustiesover in the big tent, and there's a bare chance we might be able toround him up."
"No, you don't!" said Grace decidedly, while all the girls lookedstartled. "You're going to use your guns to keep that man away fromhere. Do you suppose we're going to lie awake all night listening forshots?"
"Oh, all right," said Roy, "I'm properly squelched."
"Let's go to bed," yawned Grace, "I'm dying by inches. And, oh,Mollie, dear, don't forget to bring the candy box!"
Half an hour later the lights in the little cottage were out and theboys, all except Allen, who had been made as comfortable as possiblein the house, were taking turns at standing guard outside.
Despite the quiet beauty and peace of the night, the girls found italmost impossible to sleep. They tossed and dozed, and waked anddozed again until, toward daylight, they fell into a restless, uneasysleep.
The Outdoor Girls in Army Service; Or, Doing Their Bit for the Soldier Boys Page 6