“It’s barely possible Mr. Jay may know something of interest, having lived here so many years,” she told herself. “Since I’m not making much headway as it is, I certainly can’t waste my time talking with him. At least, I can be sure he won’t discuss my business affairs with others when he is so secretive about his own.”
Doris was abroad early the next morning, but Kitty, who had caught a slight cold from the previous day’s exposure, announced her intention of sleeping until noon. Marshmallow and Dave appeared at the cabin for breakfast at the usual hour of eight.
“We’re going to town just as soon as we eat,” Marshmallow announced, more excited than usual. “Want to go along, Doris?”
“I can’t get ready as soon as that. Why the rush?”
“There’s a flying circus coming in this morning. We saw the posters tacked up along the road. Dave has an itch to meet the pilots and exchange yarns with them. He thinks if we get there early, we may get a free plane ride.”
“But you’ve both been up any number of times.”
“Dave has, but I haven’t had a ride in a year. Better come along, Dory.”
“I’d like to, but I simply can’t leave for a couple of hours.”
“We can wait—” Dave began, but Doris, seeing the disappointed look in his eyes, quickly interrupted.
“No, I know you’re eager to get there early, so go on without me. I have several things which I must do before I leave. If I should decide to go later in the morning, I can probably find someone here at the camp who is driving in.”
“Marshall, you be careful if you plan to fly in any of those planes!” Mrs. Mallow cautioned. “I’ll be uneasy every moment you’re gone.”
“Now, Ma, don’t start worrying,” Marshmallow said impatiently. “Flying is safe enough these days.”
“If the plane is a good one and the pilot knows his stuff,” Dave added with a grin.
After the young men had departed in the old car, Doris helped Mrs. Mallow with the dishes. As she tidied the living room, she tried to think of a pretext for calling on the old miser, for that was the real business which she had in mind.
“Doris, would you mind taking a custard over to Mr. Jay?” Mrs. Mallow called from the kitchen. “It’s just out of the oven and I think he might like it. What Marshall said about him not having enough to eat has worried me.”
“Of course I’ll take it.”
As soon as the dish was wrapped in a paper, she set out through the woods to the cabin. She did not see the miser or his dog anywhere about the premises and so quickened her step, fearing that he might be ill. The cabin door was closed and she rapped firmly upon it. When there was no response, she knocked again, louder than before.
“I wonder if anything Can be the matter?” she thought anxiously.
Again she rapped and then listened intently. She could hear no sound from within. After an instant’s hesitation she turned the knob and gently pushed the door open. One glance about the room disclosed the fact that Mr. Jay was not there. However, she saw that the bed had been made that morning, the floor swept, and the breakfast dishes neatly stacked on the kitchen table.
“He must have taken his dog and gone for a walk,” Doris assured herself.
She was relieved not to find him confined to his bed, yet disappointed that he was gone. Her talk must wait. After placing the custard where he would be certain to see it upon his return, she walked slowly back toward her own cabin. She paused to look hopefully up and down the beach, but Mr. Jay was not in sight. Nor did she find him anywhere about the camp.
“I wonder where he could have gone?” she asked herself thoughtfully. “He usually stays close about the place.”
Kitty was awake when she returned to the cabin, having just finished a belated breakfast. She spoke a trifle hoarsely, but otherwise appeared not to have suffered from the previous day’s adventure.
“Mr. Baker was here while you were away,” Mrs. Mallow told Doris. “The poor man is in a frightful mixup now.”
“What has he forgotten this time?”
“Oh, another mistake about tenants. He rented one cabin to two parties, and as luck had it they both arrived at the same time. He’s trying to straighten it out now, but both claim the cottage which faces the cove.”
“I wonder if he’s going back to Cloudy Cove soon?”
“I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Let’s go with him, if he’ll take us, Kitty!” Doris cried impulsively. “We can meet Dave and Marshmallow at the air circus.”
“Suits me. There’s nothing to do around here save swim, and I don’t dare go in the water with this cold.”
The girls rushed off to find Mr. Baker. They hailed him just as he was stepping into his automobile.
“Of course I’ll take you,” he assured them gaily. “Get your bonnets.”
As the three rode toward Cloudy Cove, he told them of the trials which beset the owner of a summer camp. He gave a vivid account of his encounters with the unreasonable tenants, ridiculing himself for the trouble he had caused.
“There’s one thing I never forget,” he chuckled, “and that’s to collect the rent. In fact, I’ve been known to try to collect two times!”
Mr. Baker offered to tclke the girls directly to the fair grounds, where the flying circus was to stage its exhibition, but Kitty had a few knickknacks to purchase, so they asked to be taken to the shopping district.
After Kitty had made her purchases they walked slowly toward the exhibition grounds. The circus was not scheduled to start until afternoon, but two planes could be seen flying high above the fair grounds.
“I wonder if Dave and Marshmallow are up?” Doris murmured. “They’ll be disappointed, if they don’t get a free ride.”
The girls were so absorbed in watching the two airplanes that they nearly ran into a man who was approaching from the opposite direction.
“I beg your pardon,” Doris said quickly, and then laughed. “Why, Mr. Jay! I didn’t recognize you in your new suit!”
“Time I was getting one,” the old miser muttered, obviously pleased that Doris had noticed his improved appearance.
He still wore old shoes and a shapeless hat, but as he removed the latter the girls observed that his hair had been carefully groomed.
“When I found you had gone away this morning, I was somewhat worried,” Doris declared. “You’re feeling all right again?”
“Never felt better in my life.”
The three chatted together for a few minutes, Mr. Jay appearing unusually at ease. Doris told him of the, custard which she had left at his cabin, and he thanked her, though somewhat awkwardly.
“It goes against his grain to accept favors,” Kitty commented, as they walked on again, “and yet he does appreciate everything we do for him. You can tell that.”
They continued toward the exhibition grounds, making it a point to avoid passing the office of the sight-seeing bus company where Ollie Weiser was employed. As they drew near they saw a throng of persons hurrying in the same direction. Several planes could be seen flying overhead, one in particular attracting Doris’s attention.
“Look!” she cried, clutching her chum’s hand. “Is that plane stunting, or what?”
Even as she asked the question it was answered for her. The plane, which was flying low above the earth, seemed to waver in the air, and to the horror of the girls it plunged nose downward. There was a loud crash as it struck the ground and the wings crumpled like so much paper.
“Dave and Marshmallow!” Doris exclaimed tensely. “What if they—”
She could not finish, for the thought was too horrible.
CHAPTER XXI
A Narrow Escape
Catching her chum by the hand, Doris dragged her forward. Swiftly they ran toward the exhibition grounds, each afraid to express the fear that their friends had been injured. Already they could hear the frightened shouts of those who had witnessed the airplane crash.
“Dave and Marshmallow
just couldn’t have been up,” Kitty half sobbed. “It would be too terrible!”
“Mrs. Mallow was so sure something would happen,” Doris murmured. “She didn’t want Marshmallow to fly today.”
Other persons were running toward the scene of the accident, but the girls, in their anxiety to learn the worst, outdistanced nearly everyone. They reached the gate all but winded and were forced to slacken their speed. Doris caught sight of a small boy who apparently had been on the grounds for some time, and called to him:
“Was anyone—killed?”
“Don’t know,” the youngster returned, without halting. “Two young men from Baker’s summer camp were up.”
Doris and Kitty exchanged horrified glances. Dave and Marshmallow! There could be no doubt of it.
“Oh!” Kitty gasped, clinging weakly to her chum’s arm. “I can’t go on! I can’t!”
“You must!” Doris commanded tersely, but all color had drained from her face. “There may be some mistake. Perhaps the boy didn’t know.”
The airplane had fallen not far from the race track, but the girls could not see the wreckage, for hundreds of persons had crowded about the spot. In vain they endeavored to push through.
“We must get to them!” Doris cried frantically.
An ambulance, its siren crying out a warning to those in its path, came rattling through the gate. The crowd was forced to bredk away.
“Quick!” Doris ordered. “Jump on the running board!”
As the ambulance moved slowly through the crowd, she sprang up on the side, Kitty following her example.
“Hey, get down!” they were sharply ordered.
“Our friends were in that crash!” Doris panted. “We’ve got to get to them!”
A moment later the ambulance came to an abrupt halt, and the girls dropped off. They steeled themselves for the first glimpse of the wreck. The plane resembled so much kindling wood; the wings had been neatly severed, the propeller smashed, the fuselage crushed in. A man lay groaning on the earth not far away and several persons were endeavoring to lift him.
Doris was afraid to look, yet she must know the worst. She moved nearer until she caught a glimpse of the bruised face. It was neither Marshmallow nor Dave!
Frantically she searched the crowd about the wrecked ship. If the boys had been in the crash, what had become of them? Had they been killed outright?
Suddenly she caught sight of Dave and gave a little cry of joy. At the sound he turned, saw her, and rushed to her side.
“Dave! Dave!” Doris cried, clutching him tightly by the arm. “You’re not dead! Oh, I’m so thankful!”
“I’m very much alive,” Dave laughed, “and I, too, am thankful. Had a mighty narrow escape.”
“Marshmallow!” Kitty exclaimed. “Is he—?”
“Not hurt a particle. He’s so roly-poly that when we struck the ground, he just bounced.”
“Where is he?”
Even as she spoke, Kitty saw Marshmallow coming toward her. The usual smile had been wiped from his face, but otherwise he appeared very much the same. The clothing of both young men was soiled and torn, and Dave had an ugly scratch across his left cheek.
“Oh, Marshall,” Kitty cried anxiously, “when we saw that ambulance we were afraid you had both been killed!”
“Not us,” the plump lad returned proudly. “We’re too tough to kill.”
“The pilot is badly injured?” Doris questioned, shuddering as she saw the ambulance attendants lift him upon the stretcher.
“I don’t think so,” Dave told her soberly. “His leg is broken and he’s badly shaken up, but otherwise he seems to be all right.”
“The old crate is sure a wreck, though,” Marshmallow observed. “I guess we were lucky to get out the way we did.”
“Lucky!” Doris exclaimed. “It was nothing less than a miracle. What’happened, anyway?”
“Engine failure,” Dave told her. “If I’d been at the controls, I believe I could have brought the plane down safely, but the pilot became excited. Crowds were milling about over the field, and in trying to pick out a landing place he lost control of the ship completely. We just crashed.”
“And how!” Marshmallow added slangily. “I think it jarred loose my wisdom tooth.”
“Your wisdom tooth!” Kitty chided. “If you had one, you wouldn’t have gone up in that plane.”
“It was a foolish thing to do,” Dave agreed soberly. “I’ve always known that one takes a risk flying with these barnstormers. I guess I let my enthusiasm get the best of me. It was my fault entirely.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Marshmallow chimed in. “I thought of the idea.”
“At any rate, the ride was expensive at the price, and we didn’t pay a cent.”
Assured that the pilot was to be taken immediately to the hospital, Doris and her friends hurriedly left the grounds for they did not wish to be annoyed by reporters or curious persons.
“I guess we’d better go home and change clothes,” Dave declared, leading the way to the parked car. “Are you girls ready to go back?”
“I am,” Kitty announced, clinging anxiously to Marshall’s arm. She could not convince herself that he really had escaped unhurt.
Doris hesitated. She had hoped to call again at Frank McDermott’s office before returning to the camp. Reading this thought, Dave quickly assured her that if she wished to remain he would return for her in an hour.
“Then if you don’t mind, I shall stop to see the lawyer,” she said in relief. “My vacation is fast slipping away, and if I don’t get busy soon, I’ll be forced to return home without my inheritance.” Accordingly, Dave dropped her at McDermott’s office, promising that he would not fail to return after he had made himself more presentable. Scarcely had she said goodbye to her friends when she was startled to hear her name called. Wheeling about, she saw Mr. Baker.
“What are you doing in this end of town?” he demanded pleasantly.
Doris explained her mission, adding that she was somewhat timid about accosting the lawyer.
“I’ll go along with you, if you like,” the old gentleman volunteered. “I know Frank McDermott, though I’m not proud of the acquaintance. I’ll introduce you.”
“You did once before,” Doris reminded him with a smile.
“So I did. Well, another introduction may not be amiss.”
The two entered the office together and Mr. Baker’s presence did give t)oris more confidence. The stenographer informed her that the lawyer was in and would see her in a few minutes.
After perhaps a quarter of an hour the inside office door swung open, and McDermott stepped out into the waiting room. He greeted Doris pleasantly, and after Mr. Baker had explained that she wished to see him on legal business, escorted her to his private room. Mr. Baker, who had no desire to appear inquisitive, withdrew. Doris would have preferred that he remain, for, while the lawyer was very polite, she felt uneasy in his presence.
Quietly she told her story. Mr. McDermott made no comment until she had finished, but while she was speaking his eyes bored into her in a most unpleasant manner. Doris felt that he was reading her very thoughts, and perhaps for that reason did not tell him all of the details of the case. She spoke of Joe Jeffery who had been sent to prison for his attempt to cheat the Misses Gates, but made no mention of her interview with the man who was head of the bank.
As she mentioned the criminal’s name, she saw a strange expression pass over the lawyer’s face, the significance of which was not clear to her.
“So that’s why I haven’t heard from him lately,” McDermott muttered under his breath.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I was just mumbling to myself,” the lawyer said, smiling blandly. “A bad habit of mine.”
He fell into a moody silence, and after a few moments Doris was forced to remind him of her presence.
“I thought perhaps you could help me clear up the affair, Mr. McDermott. That’s why I came to you.”
&n
bsp; “My dear Miss Force, I shall do all in my power to aid you, but I am afraid I can tell you nothing of your uncle.”
Doris looked at him somewhat sharply, almost suspiciously.
“But surely you know of John Trent! Mr.
Cooke at the bank said you had paid the rent on his safe deposit box for years!”
A red glow spread over the lawyer’s face, yet he did not lose his composure.
“Oh! Your uncle is John Trent?”
“Certainly. I told you that.”
“I misunderstood the name.”
“Then you do know something concerning him?”
“What did Mr. Cooke tell you?”
“Very little.”
“I fear I can add but little to what you already know. It is true I have paid the rent on the safe deposit box for many years, but it is my honest belief that your uncle is dead.”
“Then I’ll be able to claim the inheritance?” Doris questioned eagerly.
“Perhaps in time. Mr. Trent came to me years ago and requested me to draw up a will for him. He set aside a fund which was to be used to defray the expense of a safe deposit box. I have not seen your uncle since that day. Naturally, I have met the payments on the box, but the fund is nearly exhausted now.”
“Was the will made out in my favor?” Doris demanded.
“Really, I cannot remember. I believe a niece was mentioned.”
“Then surely, since my uncle left a will, the Estate can be settled easily.”
Mr. McDermott shrugged his shoulders, a gesture which Doris could not understand. She felt that her arrival on the scene had not entirely pleased him.
“It will not be as easy as you anticipate,” he said slowly, fingering the penknife on his desk. “There will be a great deal of red tape.”
“I know nothing of legal matters,” Doris returned. “Surely, I can trust that end to you.” McDermott visibly brightened.
“As I said before, I shall be pleased to help you, but there is the necessary matter of a fee, you know.”
The Second Girl Detective Megapack: 23 Classic Mystery Novels for Girls Page 24