The Secret at the Seashore

by Laura Lee Hope

  “Snoop says he’ll be good,” the little boy announced when he returned with the pet in his arms. “He was just scared.”

  “Panthers aren’t s‘posed to be scared !” Flossie said with a giggle.

  Snoop did seem to be sorry for the commotion he had caused and lay quietly on Bert’s shoulder while Mrs. Bobbsey took their pictures.

  Then Hal said good-by. “See you after lunch tomorrow!” he called as he left.

  The next day was bright and clear. After church and a quick lunch the children got dressed for the Carnival and went to Lakeside, carrying Snoop in a basket.

  Hal beached his canoe next to the outboard motor covered wagon. On the side of the silvery craft the words The Swan were painted in red. Hal’s face was painted with streaks of red, yellow, and green. He wore swim trunks and several strings of bright-colored beads about his neck. Stuck in the back of his red headband were feathers from the duster.

  “Oohl” Flossie cried. “You look awful scary!”

  Bert and Freddie, dressed like Hal, clapped their hands to their mouths and uttered Indian war cries.

  Hal beached his canoe next to the outboard motor covered wagon

  “Heap big chief scalp little girl!” Bert shouted and grabbed Flossie’s yellow curls. Flossie screamed in pretended terror.

  The boys started off in the canoe with Hal and Bert at the paddles. The girls followed in the boat.

  When they arrived at the lagoon, it was packed with boats and children in costume. Hal and Dorothy tied up their craft, and the children all jumped out onto the little dock.

  Cindy Weller was waiting for them. “Oh, you all look so nice,” she said, then explained, “You have to go up to that desk and register.”

  “Is there any news about your father?” Nan asked quickly.

  Cindy shook her black curls. “The IAC man called Mother and told her they were sending out a plane to look for Daddy Pete, but we haven’t heard anything more.”

  “I’m sure they’ll find him,” Nan said kindly.

  At the registration desk Flossie looked at Bert. “Where’s Snoop?” she asked. “Doesn’t he have to register?”

  Bert grinned. “He was asleep in the bottom of the canoe, so we decided not to disturb him. We’ll register for Snoop.”

  The children listened carefully to the rules and instructions for the contestants, then started back to the boats. “We’ll see you when the parade is over!” Flossie called to Cindy.

  Suddenly Hal’s voice was heard above the chattering of the crowd. “My canoe’s gone!”

  Nan, Flossie, and Dorothy ran to the spot where Hal and the other boys stood staring at the empty space where the canoe had been.

  “Who could have taken it?” Dorothy asked in bewilderment.

  “And Snoop’s in it!” Freddie cried. “Snoop’s been stolen I”

  In a few minutes a crowd had gathered at the place where the boats were tied up. As Hal was questioning the bystanders, a man pushed his way through.

  “That aluminum canoe tied here?” he said to Hal. “Was that yours?”

  The boy nodded.

  “About ten minutes ago,” the newcomer said, “I saw a man jump into it and paddle away. I noticed him because I thought I had seen some children arrive in that same canoe.”

  “Thank you, sir,” said Bert “Did you see which way he went?”

  “Yes, I watched him,” the man replied. “He paddled down to the end of the lagoon, then turned north into the lake.”

  “Come on, Hal, let’s follow him!” Bert cried. “May we take your boat, Dorothy?”

  “Sure, go ahead!” Dorothy said. “Good luck! I hope you catch him.”

  Bert, Harry, and Hal jumped into the boat. Bert started the motor and turned the bow toward the open water. When they reached the main part of the lake, he turned north.

  “It’s going to be hard to find anyone along here,” Hall observed. “There are so many coves, a man could pull into one and we’d miss him completely!”

  “Remember, though, he’s paddling and we have a motor,” Bert reminded Hal. “I think we can catch up to him.”

  The boys were silent for a while as the motorboat put-putted up the lake. They scanned the shoreline intently, searching for a sign of Hal’s aluminum canoe.

  “It looks as if the thief has given us the slip,” Harry observed finally.

  Several times Hal thought he saw the canoe in the underbrush which grew down to the water’s edge. But when Bert brought the Firefly closer to shore, it generally proved to be only the trunk of a dead tree which had fallen among the bushes.

  Then suddenly Bert shouted and pointed to a little cove they were just passing. “Isn’t that a canoe on the sand in there?” he asked.

  Hal shaded his eyes and peered at the spot. “Turn around!” he cried. “I think you’re right!”

  Deftly, Bert turned the boat in a wide circle and headed toward the little cove. He ran his craft up on the shore next to the canoe. It was The Swan!

  “Wow! Am I lucky!” Hal said.

  “I hope Snoop’s still there !” Bert exclaimed.

  He and Harry jumped into the water and waded to the spot where the canoe was beached. They looked in and began to laugh.

  There was Snoop sound asleep in his basket in the bottom of the canoe! Bert bent over and tickled the cat under the chin.

  “Wake up, Snoop, old boy!” he said. “Time to go back to the Water Carnival!”

  The cat stretched and sat up. “Say, what’s that in back of the basket?” Harry asked. He leaned over and picked up a white cloth cap. On the visor was some faded printing. Hal came up, and the trio studied the letters.

  “This could be the thief’s cap!” Bert said, and spelled out: “ed Cargo.”

  “Yes,” Harry agreed. “But it doesn’t sound like a person’s name.”

  Bert frowned, concentrating. Then he burst out, “I know—the first two letters are only part of a word. The full name on the cap could have been Allied Cargo Airlines—the company Albert Garry worked for!”

  Harry excitedly agreed. “Sure!” he cried. “Garry was the one who stole your canoe, Hal!”

  “He’s probably been hiding in the amusement park ever since last Tuesday!” Bert added. “And the carnival today gave him a good chance to steal the canoe for his getaway!”

  “Maybe we can still catch him!” Hal said in excitement. “He can’t have gone very far.”

  Quickly the boys scanned the area for any sign of the suspected thief. Suddenly Bert shouted:

  “I see footprints!” He led the way to deep shoe tracks in the sand.

  “Oh boy!” Hal exclaimed. “Let’s follow them. They could belong to Garry.”

  Harry also was eager to pursue the trail of footprints. But Bert looked sober.

  “I wish we could follow the prints and find Garry,” he said, “but we ought to get back to the park. We have Dorothy’s boat, and the girls can’t enter the contest without it.”

  “That’s right,” Hal agreed. “Harry and I’ll paddle the canoe back while you go in the covered wagon!” he ended with a grin. “That way we’ll make better time!”

  Harry and Hal paddled as fast as they could and drew up at the Lakeside dock not long after Bert. When they arrived they saw the Bobbsey boy deep in conversation with a policeman.

  As they came up the officer turned to them. “Bert tells me that you think Garry stole your canoe and escaped. I’ll send a prowl car out to look for him.”

  Then the officer continued with a rueful grin, “To think that crook has been hiding out here for almost a week and none of us could catch him!”

  At that moment an announcement came over the loudspeaker, asking all entries to line up at the end of the lagoon for the parade past the judges’ stand.

  A band began to play as the entries took their places. The boat with Nan, Flossie, and Dorothy was third in line, while the boys’ canoe was next to last.

  All the children admired the first boat
in line. It had a great paper dragon riding in it. The giant head was lighted from inside by an electric lantern which was fixed to go on and off at intervals. This made the dragon look as if it were spouting fire.

  “Ooh! It looks real!” Flossie cried, shivering a little.

  The next boat held two boys dressed as clowns. They were pretending to have a boxing match with huge gloves made of balloons.

  “Oh, look!” Nan laughed. “There’s Washington crossing the Delaware !” She pointed to a rowboat filled with boys dressed as Revolutionary soldiers. In the center, with his foot up on one of the seats and one arm pointing forward, was “George Washington”!

  Another boat carried several pretty girls in bathing suits who tossed a big beach ball back and forth.

  Slowly the parade moved past the reviewing stand. Just before the boys’ turn came, Snoop began to squirm on Bert’s shoulder.

  “Here, Freddie, take your black panther!” Bert said, passing the cat down to the little boy. “Maybe you can make him stay still!”

  As the Indian canoe slipped past the judges, a wave of laughter swept over the watching crowd. Snoop was seated on Freddie’s shoulder calmly giving himself a bath!

  When the parade was over the boats lined up along the side of the lagoon while the judges conferred. Everyone waited eagerly to hear who had won the prizes. The three men who were doing the judging walked along and examined the boats closely.

  Finally they seemed to have made their decision. There was a flourish from the band, and the head judge stood up.

  After announcing that the first prize would go to the paper dragon as the most original, he said, “The second prize for the boat entry showing the most ingenuity goes to Dorothy Minturn and Nan and Flossie Bobbsey.”

  There was loud applause. Then the judge held up his hand. “We have decided to award an extra prize today,” he said.

  A hush fell over the crowd as they waited for the announcement.

  CHAPTER XI

  A FLOATING TRICK

  “THE third prize,” said the judge, “goes to the one who gave us the biggest laugh—Freddie Bobbsey and his black panther Snoop!”

  Freddie grinned at the announcement that he and Snoop had won a prize. “I’m sorry Snoop wouldn’t play dead,” he said to Bert, “but I guess the judges liked him anyway!”

  The band struck up another lively tune as the winning boats swung around to the judges’ stand to receive their prizes. The designers of the fiery dragon won sets of flippers, face masks, and snorkel tubes.

  The girls’ prize was an inflatable rubber raft with paddles. “We can have a lot of fun with this!” Dorothy exclaimed after they had thanked the judges and moved away.

  Hal held his canoe steady while Freddie leaned forward to take his prize from the head judge. It was a large toy sailboat with three masts and several sails.

  Freddie’s eyes shone with happiness. “Thank you!” he cried. “She’s a beauty!”

  That night as the girls were talking about the carnival before going to sleep, Dorothy suddenly sat up in bed. “You know, we’ve never done anything to get even with Bert and Harry for sewing up our swim suits!”

  “That’s right!” Nan said. “What can we do?”

  There was silence for a moment, then Dorothy giggled. “I have an idea,” she said.

  When she told Nan and Flossie her plan, they too laughed. “That’s good, Dorothy,” Nan said. “I’m sure Dinah will help us.”

  After breakfast the next morning, Bert and Harry wandered out to the porch while the girls went into the kitchen.

  “Dinah,” Flossie said, “remember, you said you’d help us play a trick on the boys?”

  “I sure will, honey,” the cook said. “What you all got in mind?”

  The girls told her what they needed. In a few minutes the articles were collected and they went to work. Finally Dorothy stood up and started toward the door.

  “Come on!” she said. “I think that’s all we can do. I hope it works!”

  Nan and Flossie followed their cousin upstairs and they got into their bathing suits. When they went out onto the porch, Bert pointed to a yellow rubber boat.

  “We blew up your raft for you,” he said. “Harry and I’ll get on our trunks, then we can try it out!”

  While the boys were upstairs, Nan, Flossie, and Dorothy ran down to the sand. “I’ll hide it here by this driftwood,” Dorothy said, putting something down and covering it with sand.

  By the time Bert and Harry reached the beach the girls were already pulling the raft out onto the water. For the next half hour the six children played with the rubber boat. Bert took Freddie and Flossie for a ride in it. Then the others took turns paddling around.

  Finally, tired out, they all flopped down on the sand. Dorothy took a seat near the pile of driftwood. In a few minutes she stood up.

  “I’m going in again and get a little of this sand off,” she said. As Dorothy walked past Nan she winked.

  Dorothy waded out until the waves splashed over her shoulders, then came in and sat down by Bert. He and Harry were busy discussing the events of the day before.

  “I think we ought to go back up there where we found Hal’s canoe,” Bert said. “We might—” He stopped, his attention caught by something bobbing in the water. “Say! That looks like another bottle!”

  Bert got up hurriedly and ran down to the water’s edge. He waded out a short distance then turned around triumphantly, a brown bottle held high in his hand.

  “I’ve found one!” he exclaimed. “Maybe it’s another message from Captain Weller!”

  All the children jumped to their feet. Harry was particularly excited. “I’m glad I’m here,” he said. “I missed seeing the one Nan found.”

  Bert had been examining the bottle. “I think it’s one of those from the Hydrographic Office,” he said excitedly. “See, it has real sealing wax around the cork!”

  “Why don’t you open it, Bert?” Flossie cried impatiently, her blue eyes snapping with mischief.

  “Okay.” Bert looked around. “Maybe I can get the seal off with this.” He picked up a sharp shell and began to chip off the wax.

  Finally it came loose, revealing the cork which stuck up slightly from the neck of the bottle. Using the sharp point of another shell, Bert managed to pry it out.

  “Hurry! Hurry!” Freddie urged.

  Eagerly Bert pushed his finger into the bottle and worked out a rolled-up piece of paper.

  “What does it say?” Harry asked.

  Bert’s face was a study in bewilderment as he read the message:

  Help! I’m drowning!

  Moby Dick, the Whale.

  At the sound of laughter from Dorothy, Nan, and Flossie, Bert looked up. “So that’s it!” he said with a grin. “Just you wait!”

  The girls were still laughing at the success of their trick when Hal came over after lunch. “Did you know that Bert found another floating bottle this morning?” Dorothy greeted him.

  “Nan and Dorothy think they’re very clever,” Bert said with a sheepish grin. “I’ll get even with them !”

  Hal laughed. “How about running up a white flag of truce? Come with me to the cove where we found the canoe yesterday. That fellow Garry hasn’t been caught yet.”

  “Sounds great!” Bert said. “We can follow those footprints and maybe find a clue to that thief.”

  Nan, Dorothy, and Harry were eager to go too. But Freddie and Flossie decided they would rather stay at home and sail the new toy boat.

  “May I paddle, Hal?” Dorothy asked hopefully. “I’d like to see how your canoe handles.”

  “Sure, get in the bow,” Hal replied as he walked back to the stern.

  When the others were seated, Dorothy gave the silvery craft a push and jumped in. Then, with strong, even strokes, she and Hal paddled the canoe up the lake. In a few minutes they had passed the water carnival area.

  “It was about the fourth or fifth cove above here, wasn’t it?” Hal called
up to the two boys in the center.

  They both nodded. Everyone was quiet for a while as the children peered into each little inlet they passed.

  “There I” Bert cried. “I think it was this one.”

  Dorothy and Hal turned the canoe and headed for the shore. “You’re right!” Hal called. “I see where Garry beached.”

  When the canoe touched the shore Dorothy leaped out and held the craft while the others walked forward and got out. Then they pulled the canoe up onto the narrow, sandy beach.

  “I hope no one’s rubbed out the footprints,” Harry said worriedly.

  “Are these the same ones you saw?” Dorothy pointed to deep marks in the sand, leading away from the water.

  “Yes,” replied Bert, and ran on ahead, following the shoe tracks. When he reached the spot where the sand ended, Bert cried, “There’s a path here !”

  A narrow lane ran from the beach through the low underbrush. The ground was marshy and the path was muddy. The footprints were easily traced. The children followed them until they reached the highway which ran parallel to the ocean.

  “Which way now?” Hal asked as they all paused by the side of the road.

  “He could have gone in either direction from here,” Nan said, in discouragement. “Or a car might have picked him up.”

  “Maybe he crossed the road.” Bert ran to the other side of the highway and peered carefully around. “Can’t make out anything here,” he said sadly.

  “We may as well go back to the lake,” Dorothy said after Bert joined them again.

  The children walked back across the stretch of land between the highway and the lake. Nan, who had knotted her favorite red scarf around her neck, took it off and trailed it from one hand.

  Suddenly she felt a tug on the scarf which pulled her backwards. “Oh!” she screamed, looking down. “It’s a huge turtle!”

  Hal ran to her side. “Watch out!” he warned. “He’s a snapper! Better let go of the scarf!” Quickly Nan dropped it.

  The turtle was about a foot long. He had a grayish brown shell with regular, square-shaped markings. His little head with beady eyes protruded some distance from the shell.