The Second Girl Detective Megapack: 23 Classic Mystery Novels for Girls

by Julia K. Duncan

  Hearing Doris’s exclamation, Kitty ran to the window. There was no need to ask what had happened for she saw at a glance the havoc Wags had wrought. In his playful attempts to “chase” the flapping garments, which were drying on the clothesline, he had pushed down the supporting pole, with the result that the line was permitted to drop across one side of Marshmallow’s freshly-painted car.

  “Oh, all of our dresses are ruined!” Doris wailed.

  Rushing out into the back yard the two girls snatched their frocks from the line and anxiously examined them for paint marks. Marshmallow and Dave gave chase to Wags, but the wary little dog, realizing that he had made a fatal error of judgment in attacking the clothesline, raced across the street out of danger’s way.

  “I thought you were going to keep that dog in the house,” Marshmallow grumbled, as the boys came back to the car. “Goodnight! Just look at that! We’ll have to paint the whole side over again! And it’s almost dark now.”

  “Just look at our frocks!” Doris retorted. “We’ll be lucky if we ever get the spots out.” While the four were taking stock of the damage Wags had caused, Mrs. Mallow came to the kitchen door to announce that supper was ready. When Dave turned to leave, she called him back, insisting that he remain.

  Marshmallow already had broken the news of the stolen automobile to his mother and was relieved to find that she had not considered him at all to blame for the turn events had taken. In fact, Mrs. Mallow had learned from sad experience that her son’s business ventures frequently were impetuous, and had schooled herself to accept them philosophically.

  On this evening she did not permit the loss of the money to dampen the spirits of the young people, and as usual supper was a very gay affair. Wardell Force, who was always at his best when surrounded by a group of girls and boys, even made a joke of the misfortune, and by the time the salad was served the unpleasant details were forgotten. Mrs. Mallow was an excellent cook and on this night she had quite outdone herself. As Marshmallow passed his plate for a third helping, Doris teasingly observed that his recent troubles did not appear to affect his appetite.

  Naturally the conversation centered about the proposed trip to Cloudy Cove. Dave and Marshmallow insisted that they would have the automobile in shape for the journey within two days, and since the others were eager to be off, it was definitely decided that they leave Chilton on Tuesday. Dave and Marshmallow planned to drive the car, leaving early in the morning, while Mrs. Mallow and the girls would take the late night train.

  “Too bad you’re, not going too, Uncle Ward,” Doris remarked. “Can’t you possibly come with us?”

  “I’m afraid not,” her uncle returned with a regretful smile. “While you’re enjoying yourselves at Cloudy Cove, I must deliver an important lecture in the southern part of the state.”

  “Oh, we don’t expect to play all the time we’re gone,” Doris laughed. “I may surprise you and come back with a fortune!”

  The following day Marshmallow and Dave worked diligently on the old car, yet found time to make a trip to the police station. To their disappointment they were informed that Mr. Dunn had not been apprehended.

  “I guess it’s goodbye to the hundred bucks,” Marshmallow groaned.

  With Mrs. Mallow’s assistance Doris and Kitty rewashed the stained frocks and packed their suitcases. Doris was hard-pressed to find time to get everything accomplished, for she was scheduled to take a singing lesson from Herr Von Heflinger, recognized as the best teacher in the city. She had studied music for many years and had a pleasing soprano voice, which had won her considerable local fame. Herr Von Heflinger was proud of his pupil and encouraged her to try for a career. Indeed, Doris had determined that some day she would reach Grand Opera, but for the present her ambitions were checked by insufficient funds. If only her Uncle John Trent had left her his estate! How much it would mean!

  The Monday morning mail brought Doris a letter from Azalea and Iris Gates.

  “We are enclosing an old photograph which we thought perhaps might b$ useful to you,” they wrote, “but trust that you will have no difficulty in establishing your identity or in settling up the estate.”

  Doris studied the picture with interest. It was old and faded, and the poses of the Misses Gates and her Uncle John Trent were rather artificial, for the photograph had been taken many years before.

  “My uncle was quite dashing at that,” Doris remarked, as she showed the picture to Kitty. “How lovely the twins were, when they were young! No wonder he couldn’t decide which one he wanted to marry.”

  Turning the photograph over, she noticed a signature on the back. Her uncle had written “Deyotedly,” and had signed his name. Doris studied the handwriting critically, admiring the bold scrawl.

  “I’ll take this photograph with me,” she told her chum as she slipped it into her handbag. “It may be useful.”

  “How about the ruby ring?” Kitty questioned.

  She referred to the jewel which the Misses Gates had bestowed upon Doris as a reward for saving their fortune. During the girls’ recent stay at Locked Gates, Wags had unearthed a tiny box containing the beautiful ring. A card inside indicated that John Trent had intended it as a gift to either Azalea or Iris, but since he had failed to state which one he had favored, neither would accept it.

  “I may as well wear it,” Doris responded. “It’s such a valuable ring I’m afraid to leave it here in the house.”

  Early Tuesday morning Dave and Marshmallow piled their luggage into the newly-painted car and prepared to depart for Cloudy Cove. At the last minute Mrs. Mallow and the girls decided to postpone their trip until the following day, for Wardell Force had been unable to secure satisfactory accommodations on the night train.

  “We’ll see you in Cloudy Cove Thursday morning,” Mrs. Mallow declared, as she said goodbye to the young men. “Don’t forget the name of our hotel.”

  “Where did you say you were going to stay?”

  “Oh, Marshmallow,” Doris answered, “anyone would think you had not heard us talking and talking about the Mayfair.”

  Kitty giggled.

  “Don’t you dare forget the name of the hotel or of Cloudy Cove, either!” she commanded.

  “We’ll be there, all right,” Marshmallow assured her.

  After the car had rattled away, Doris and Kitty attended to the last-minute details of their packing. In spite of the work which had to be done, the day seemed to drag.

  “I just feel it in my bones that something exciting will happen to us at Cloudy Cove!” Doris observed to her chum. “Oh, I can hardly wait until we start!”

  The girls were awake at six o’clock the next morning, and though there was no need of arising so early, they soon awakened the household. Breakfast was quickly eaten and then, as it approached train time, the luggage was loaded into Mr. Force’s sedan.

  Jake left his work in the garden to say goodbye to the girls.

  “If you need my help again, just drop me a line,” he grinned at Doris.

  Arriving at the station shortly before eleven o’clock, the girls found they would not have long to wait. Soon they heard a long-drawn-out whistle and a moment later they saw the train rounding the bend.

  “Take good care of yourself,” Wardell Force warned, as he hastily kissed his niece goodbye, “and don’t forget to write.”

  “You’re the one who forgets,” Doris laughed.

  She was the last passenger to step aboard the train, and from the vestibule waved to her uncle until he was out of sight. Then she made her way back to the Pullman car where Mrs. Mallow and Kitty already had established themselves.

  “Why so sober?” Kitty demanded lightly as her chum sat down beside her. “Not homesick already, I hope?”

  Doris shook her head and smiled.

  “Just thinking,” she returned.

  It would have been difficult for her to have expressed her thoughts. She was wondering what awaited her at Cloudy Cove. To her friends the trip meant a pleasan
t summer excursion, but for her it had a vital significance. Though’her Uncle Ward had been far too tactful to remind her of the depleted state of her finances, she realized that what little money she possessed was fast melting away. True, she had received a thousand dollars in reward for aiding in the capture of Joe Jeffery, but the trip to Cloudy Cove would take a portion of it and, when she returned home, there were many expenses to be met. Her schooling at Barry Manor cost a great deal and music lessons were very expensive.

  “What a relief it would be to Uncle Ward if I should be remembered in John Trent’s will,” she thought. “After all, I am his next of kin. But then, I mustn’t build up my hopes! In a few days I’ll know just how the matter stands.”

  CHAPTER IV

  A Chance Acquaintance

  As soon as the baggage had been adjusted to her satisfaction, Mrs. Mallow brought out a magazine and began to read. Doris and Kitty were more interested in their fellow passengers and studied them intently. In particular their attention was attracted to an elderly, white-haired gentleman who occupied the section directly opposite them. Several times he smiled, but it was not until after the conductor had gone through the car collecting tickets that he ventured to speak to them.

  “Did I hear you young ladies say you were going to Cloudy Cove?” he inquired in a curious but friendly manner. “I hail from there myself.”

  “You do?” Doris questioned eagerly. “Then perhaps you can tell us all about the place.”

  “Reckon I can. I’ve lived in Cloudy Cove ever since 1890—or was it 1892? Well, never mind the date. I guess it’s slipped my mind.”

  Mrs. Mallow glanced up sharply to see who it was that had brushed up an acquaintance with the girls but, reassured, returned to her reading. Doris and Kitty, eager to learn more about Cloudy Cove, moved over into the opposite seat.

  “Reckon you’re going to Cloudy Cove on your vacation,” the stranger commented, reaching in his pocket and bringing out a card. “I own a number of cottages on the shore and if you’re looking for a place to stay, you might care to look them over. Here’s my card.”

  He extended it to Doris, who glanced with interest at the name: Silas Baker.

  “We’ve already engaged rooms at the hotel,” she informed him. “We’re really not on a vacation trip at all. I have business to attend to at the National Bank there.”

  “You don’t say!” the old man observed. “Why, I used to work in that bank when I was a boy.”

  “Then you must know nearly everyone in Cloudy Cove!” Doris cried eagerly.

  “I reckon I did at one time, but the town has grown and I don’t remember faces the way I once did. Bless me, I haven’t even told you my name.” He fumbled in his pocket for another card.

  Doris and Kitty found it difficult to refrain from laughing. Silas Baker was indeed a forgetful old man, but obviously very kindly and good-hearted.

  “Tell me,” Doris began hopefully, “do you remember a man by the name of Trent? John Trent?”

  The old man gazed thoughtfully out of the window toward the fields which were flashing past.

  “Seems to me I’ve heard the name,” he said at last, “but I can’t just place it.”

  “Perhaps Mr. John Trent went away from Cloudy Cove?” Doris tried to help the faulty memory of the white-haired passenger.

  “Let me see,” the elderly man answered. “It seerrjs to come back to me that Mr. Trent—”

  Mr. Baker’s voice trailed off into an unfinished sentence. Doris hardly knew whether or not to keep on prodding the forgetful man for information. With her the subject of her uncle was a vital one, but she reminded herself that after all this kindly old man was a total stranger to her.

  She looked at Kitty, to determine what her chum might be thinking. That young lady bobbed her head in approval, and without uttering a sound made her lips say:

  “Go on and ask him some more.”

  Thus urged, Doris tried once more.

  “He didn’t have an account at your bank?” she ventured.

  “Let me see. Trent. John Trent.” Silas Baker repeated the name slowly. “Why, yes, seems to me he did have an account with us at one time. Or was it that he rented a safe deposit box? Bless me, it’s been too long ago for me to recall.” Doris cast her chum a half-despairing glance. If only the old gentleman could remember! It was tantalizing to realize that, had his memory been unimpaired, he might have been able to furnish her with valuable information concerning her long-lost uncle.

  Hopefully she plied him with questions, yet of the past Mr. Baker could remember but little. After the girls had talked with him for perhaps half an hour and were satisfied that they had learned all that he could tell them of Cloudy Cove, they took their leave and walked back to the observation car.

  Entering, they were surprised to see that some form of impromptu entertainment was going on. A group of passengers had gathered about a sallowfaced, sleek young man who was causing a deck of cards to perform in a most astonishing manner. Doris and Kitty crowded forward to watch the exhibition of magic.

  “He’s a professional,” Kitty whispered to her chum. “You can tell that by the way he handles the cards.”

  The magician had seen the two girls enter the car and smiled at them in a rather personal way. Slightly confused, as the other passengers turned to stare at them, Kitty and Doris would have backed out of the room had not the performer called to them.

  “Don’t go away, girlies. The great Ollie Weiser is about to perform a breathtaking stunt. Now, ladies and gentlemen, watch very closely! I place my handkerchief over the palm of my hand thus—”

  In spite of the unrefined manner in which the man had singled them out, Kitty and Doris found it impossible to turn away. Overpowered with curiosity, they crowded forward with the other passengers.

  “Watch my every move,” the magician challenged. “And presto! What have we?” He swept the handkerchief from his hand.

  A cry of horror went up from the ladies and even the men backed hastily away. There, coiled about the magician’s hand, was a small snake!

  “Ugh!” Kitty murmured. “He must have had it up his sleeve! You couldn’t hire me to touch the crawly, thing!”

  “Show’s over,” the magician announced. “This is only a small sample of what I can do. I’ve three other snakes here in this suitcase and they’re all trained.”

  “Better not let the conductor see them or they’ll land in the baggage car,” one of the passengers suggested bluntly.

  Doris and Kitty took seats near the door, and selecting magazines from the table, began to read. However, scarcely had they sat down when Ollie Weiser slid into the vacant chair beside Doris. She looked askance at the suitcase which she knew contained the snakes, but said nothing.

  “Going far?” the magician asked breezily.

  Doris glanced up from her magazine rather coldly, and hoping to discourage any attempt at conversation, said briefly:

  “To Cloudy Cove.”

  “Same here. I’ve been on the road for better’n six years now. Hit all of these jerk-water towns. Lately I’ve been at liberty, but I’m expecting to get an engagement at Cloudy Cove. You want to be sure to see my act while you’re there. It’s great! Took me two years to train my snakes.”

  “Really!” Doris returned with increasing coldness. “I’m not in the least interested in snakes.”

  She opened her magazine and pretended to read. Not in the least rebuffed, Ollie Weiser turned his attention to Kitty. Sincd she did not reply to his questions, the conversation turned into a monologue.

  Finally, the actor did take the hint and became silent. However, he continued to glance with interest at the girls, and they were made painfully aware of his attention.

  “I think we’d better be going back to our car,” Doris suggested.

  “Yes,” Kitty agreed in relief. “Mrs. Mallow will be wondering what has happened to us.”

  “Don’t let me drive you away,” Ollie Weiser said with a grin.
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  Thoroughly provoked at the man’s bold manner, the girls did not trouble themselves to reply. Kitty hastily arose and Doris was just getting to her feet, when her eye noticed the arm of her chair.

  There, not six inches from her hand, lay one of the magician’s snakes!.

  CHAPTER V

  A Pest

  At sight of the snake, Doris instinctively recoiled and gave a little scream of terror. She tried to arise, but fright held her chained.

  “Don’t move!” the magician warned tersely. “I’ll get him!”

  He reached over and gently removed the snake from the arm of the chair, murmuring soothingly, “Figi, don’t you know you shouldn’t annoy the young lady?”

  Still trembling, Doris sprang to her feet. She scarcely knew whether to be grateful to the magician for saving her or angry that he had permitted the snake to escape. As she groped for words, several of the passengers began to protest to Ollie Weiser.

  “Keep those snakes locked up,” one man warned him, “or we’ll report you to the conductor.”

  “It wasn’t my fault,” the magician protested. “Figi is a smart snake. He got out of the suitcase.”

  Doris and Kitty did not wait to hear the end of the argument but fled to their own car.

  “What an experience!” Doris shuddered.

  “Probably the snake was harmless, but my flesh is still creepy from the thought of having that creature near me.”

  “You know, I think perhaps that magician let the snake out on purpose,” Kitty declared.

  “You do? If I thought that—”

  “He wanted to brush up an acquaintance with us and we didn’t pay much attention to him. Probably he thought that trick would make you grateful to him.”

  “I didn’t even thank him. I was so provoked I just couldn’t!”

  “I don’t blame you a bit. Let’s not have a thing to do with him. Maybe we won’t see him again.”

  “He’s going to Cloudy Cove,” Doris reminded her.

  “Yes, worse luck, but we need not have anything to do with him.”

  Mrs. Mallow was quite displeased when the girls told her what had happened. She felt that, Ollie Weiser was not entirely blameless, and was relieved that the girls had decided to pay no attention to him.