The Motor Girls on the Coast: or, The Waif From the Sea

“And they followed us, that’s one sure thing,” added Jack. “Their car passed us several times. They were just waiting for a good chance, and they took the first opportunity.”

“I should have known him at once, when they passed, but for his beard,” said Nancy. “Oh, I feel so nervous and weak!” She was on the verge of tears again.

“Come, we will go back to the bungalow,” suggested Cora. “I must tell the lawyer about it. He may wish to take some action.”

A little later they were back in the summer cottage, where, to the wonderment of the others, the strange story was told with all the details, for when Cora’s car developed the tire trouble the rest had continued on, Jack and Ed remaining behind.

“Oh, I’m glad I was not along!” breathed Belle.

“And I wish I had been!” exclaimed Walter. “Jack, you and Ed had all the fun.”

“I didn’t do anything,” said Ed. “Jack was the hero.”

“Only a near-hero,” said Cora’s brother. “I didn’t get near enough to do any damage.”

Mr. Beacon, the lawyer, on hearing the account of what had happened, at once took steps to expedite the matter of the removal of Mr. Cross as guardian of Nancy Ford. He declared that the attempted abduction would operate against the unprincipled man. The matter of the loss of the money, for which Mrs. Raymond was once suspected, had been gone into, and the indications pointed in many ways to Mr. Cross and his crony.

“But it doesn’t seem as if Mrs. Raymond would ever be found,” sighed Cora. “Poor woman!”

“Yes, my sister must be having a hard time,” said the keeper of the light. “I wish she would come to me. I could give her a good home now. The work is almost too much for Rosalie.”

“Oh, I don’t mind, Daddy!” exclaimed the little “mermaid.”

Summer was wearing on. It had been a most glorious one and the bungalow residents had enjoyed it thoroughly. They went off on several motoring trips, but they were careful always to remain in one party, and even then Nancy could not forbear a nervous glance about whenever another auto approached.

But Mr. Cross appeared to have taken himself to parts unknown. Private detectives who were looking for him, on an order of the court to which Mr. Beacon had appealed, reported that they could get no trace of him. Nor was the whereabouts of the missing Mrs. Raymond discovered.

In their two motor boats the young people paid visits to many near-by resorts, occasionally, when the weather was fine, even venturing out on the ocean. But, save for Cora, the girls were always a little timid about this, and so the ocean trips were not numerous.

One day Mr. Haley came hurrying over to the girls’ bungalow from the lighthouse. He held a paper in his hand.

“Where is Miss Kimball?” he asked of Belle, who answered his knock. “I must see her at once.”

“Why, has anything happened?” Belle asked in sudden alarm. She looked down on the beach, and was relieved to see Nancy safe there.

“No, miss, nothing has happened–yet,” replied the keeper. “But I received a strange message just now, and I want to tell Miss Kimball.”

“Cora!” called Belle, and Cora, who had been in an inner room, came out.

“What is it?” she asked, and Mr. Haley handed her the piece of paper.

“I just found that on my doorstep,” he explained. “I was home all alone, my helper being in town buying supplies, and Rosalie and Dick being out in the boat. Read it.”

“But how did it get there?” asked Cora, as she stepped over to a window to see more plainly.

“I don’t know, except some boy must have brought it there, left it and run away. It was weighted with a stone.”

“Then that’s probably how it was left,” suggested Belle. “But what is so mysterious about it What does it say, Cora?”

Cora read:

“If you would have news of your sister come alone to Shark’s Tooth at nine to-night.”

CHAPTER XXIX

AT THE SHARK’S TOOTH

“What a strange note!”

“Isn’t it? And the odd way it was delivered!”

“What is the Shark’s Tooth, Mr. Haley?”

The boys and girls were all together in the bungalow of the latter–or, rather, were out on the broad porch, for, following the visit of the light keeper, with the strange letter, they had gathered to discuss the matter.

“The Shark’s Tooth,” said Mr. Haley, “is a long, low ledge of rock, jutting out in the water about a mile above the light. It looks somewhat like a big tooth–the end of it does, I mean.”

“Will you go there?” asked Jack.

“I sure will, my boy.”

“Maybe it’s a trap,” suggested Ed. “This fellow Cross may be trying to get hold of you, Mr. Haley.”

“I’m not afraid of him. I think I’ll be his match,” and certainly the sturdy keeper looked able to take care of himself.

“But he may not be alone,” suggested Walter.

“However, we could go with you,” he added hopefully.

“The note says to come alone, my lad, and alone I’ll go. I’d do more than that to get news of poor Margaret. I’m not afraid.”

“You boys might be within call,” suggested Cora. “You need not be seen.”

“Well, I’d consent to that,” agreed Mr. Haley. “And it might be a good thing. And yet, somehow, I’m not worried.”

“This is certainly a trap!” declared Norton. “They want you to go there, a lonely spot–after dark. Probably they’ll take you off in a boat! Ha! I have it! Wreckers!” and he struck a dramatic posture.

“Wreckers?” questioned Jack.

“Yes, don’t you see. They want to get Mr. Haley in their control. Then they’ll carry him off, some of them will put out the light and lure vessels ashore by means of a false beacon. Then they’ll get the booty!”

“Say, what sort of a dime novel have you been reading lately?” asked Ed, with a laugh. “Wreckers!”

“Sure!” maintained Norton, earnestly.

“No, lad,” said Mr. Haley, quietly, “it isn’t wreckers, for the light would be well defended by my helper, even if they got me. Besides it’s dead low water at nine to-night, and they couldn’t get a boat within a mile of the Shark’s Tooth without staving a hole in her. The only approach is from the beach. I’m not afraid.”

“Besides,” added Cora, “this note was written by a woman. That’s plain.”

“A trick!” declared Norton, who seemed to insist on the melodramatic theory.

“Is this like your sister’s writing?” asked Belle.

“I really couldn’t be sure. Margaret was never much of a writer, and I can hardly see to read print, let alone writing, even with my glasses. So I couldn’t say as to that. However, I’ll be there.”

“And so will we,” added Jack, “out if sight, of course.”

“This is getting more and more complicated,” declared Bess. “Oh, I do hope it won’t turn out to be that horrid Mr. Cross, or any of his men.”

“Hush!” said Cora, in a low voice. “Don’t make Nancy nervous. She is alarmed enough now.”

It seemed as if night would never come, and the boys and girls hardly had the heart for amusements to make the time pass more quickly. They remained near the bungalows, going in bathing when the tide was right. Belle was learning to swim with considerable confidence.

“You are getting quite brave,” Cora told her when she had gone out to the float and back all alone.

Eline, who was rather daring in spite of her timid manner, made a half-suggestion that the girls go out in autos to see what happened at Shark’s Tooth, but Mrs. Chester, exercising her authority, vetoed the scheme.

Mr. Haley started off alone, and was followed later by the boys, who arranged to conceal themselves where they could have a view of the ledge of rock that was uncovered at low water.

There was a half-moon that night and by the light of it Jack and his chums could see the long, black ledge extending out into the bay. They had a glimpse of Mr. Haley walking slowly up and down the beach, now and then looking at his watch to note the time. Jack and the others did likewise.

“It’s nine now,” whispered Walter, after a long–a seemingly long–wait, though it was really only a few minutes.

“And nothing seems to be happening,” remarked Jack.

“Look!” suddenly exclaimed Ed, pointing to the sandy stretch. A dark figure was seen gliding over it–a figure of a woman–alone!

The light keeper heard the approaching footsteps, and turned quickly. He stood for a moment The woman had halted. Then Mr. Haley cried:

“Margaret!”

“Jim!” she responded, and they clasped each other close.

“I guess it’s all right–they don’t need us,” whispered Jack. “It’s his sister. She wrote the note. It’s all right, we’ll go tell the girls the mystery is solved and the missing one found.”

“That’s right,” was the answer. “Say, this is great, isn’t it?”

“It sure is.”

“Now that they are together – ”

“Come on, they may hear us.”

“All right, I’m with you.”

But, as they started away, Mr. Haley called to them:

“Boys, come here. I want – ”

“No, no, Jim dear! Don’t call anyone!” interrupted Mrs. Raymond. “I dare not be seen. You don’t know the stigma I am under. I even hesitated to come and see you in this secret way, but I am in need of help. It was the only way I could think of. I am so–so afraid of arrest.”

“Well, you needn’t be!” cried her brother. “We can prove your innocence!”

“Prove my innocence! How? Only Nancy Ford can do that, and she can’t be found, I have been searching for her so long–so long!” Her sobs prevented her from talking.

“But Nancy Ford is found!” cried the keeper of the light, “and the boys I called to–or rather their girl friends–found her. It’s all right, Margaret. Your name will be cleared, and you will be happy with me. It’s all right, Sister!”

“Oh, thank the dear Lord for that!” she sobbed.

CHAPTER XXX

HAPPY DAYS

The sun was shining on a shimmering sea. Little waves were breaking on the white sands. The gulls were wheeling about in big circles. Gathered in the old-fashioned living room of the lighthouse were the motor girls, and two other girls, Rosalie and Nancy Ford. Also the boys were there, Mrs. Raymond, her brother, and Mr. Beacon, the Kimballs’ lawyer. He had just concluded some remarks. It was the day after the strange night scene at the Shark’s Tooth.

“And to think how it all came about,” spoke Cora. “It is like a play, or a book.”

“It fits together like one of those Chinese puzzles,” remarked Jack. “At first it seems as if it never will, but one little touch, and–there you are!”

“And it was Cora who supplied the one little touch,” said Belle.

“Oh, I didn’t do it all,” remonstrated Cora.

“Well, your finding Mrs. Raymond in the burning garage started the whole affair,” insisted Ed. “But for that we never would have known of Nancy Ford, nor how important she was in this puzzle.”

“I don’t want to be important,” answered Nancy, with a smile. “I just want to go off somewhere quietly.”

“And you may,” spoke Mr. Beacon, the lawyer, with a smile. “The court proceedings will not take long, now that your guardian is arrested. The judge will require no further proof than his commission of the crime to remove him from having charge of you and your property, and some one else will be named in his place.”

“I wish the judge would name you!” exclaimed Nancy impulsively.

“Thank you!” laughed Mr. Beacon.

Mrs. Raymond had told her story. On up to the time she had fled from the office, when the two men came in, and her wanderings until she went into the Kimball garage, my readers need no enlightenment. After leaving Cora’s house so suddenly, for fear she might be suspected of having accidentally set the fire, the poor woman wandered from place to place, vainly seeking Nancy Ford. It was Mrs. Raymond whom the sheep herder had met that night when he spoke kindly to her. After that she kept moving about, getting work in various offices, for she was an expert in her line. But she could not find Nancy, for reasons very well known to my readers.

“And oh, how kind one of you girls was to me!” exclaimed Mrs. Raymond. “Your money saved my life I believe,” and she held out the little silver purse.

Finally, she explained, matters reached a point where she could get no more work, and she had to appeal to her brother. She had refrained from doing that fearing she might be traced through him, for she still feared she would be arrested for the crime she had never committed. But, growing desperate, she made the night appointment with her brother, hiring a boy to leave the note at the lighthouse, intending to explain matters to Mr. Haley, get some money, and go away again.

But it all ended happily.

“And so they caught Cross?” remarked Jack.

“Yes,” said the lawyer, “one of the private detectives got a clue and followed it up. They got his crony, too, the other man who came in the office when you ran out, Nancy. And they both confessed, after pressure was brought to bear on them. It is not the first crime Cross has been guilty of. He has a bad record, I am told. I learned of his arrest after I started here this morning, following your telegram,” he said to Cora, for, on learning of the arrival of Mrs. Raymond, Cora had wired to her mother’s lawyer to come in haste.

“Then my name is cleared?” asked Mrs. Raymond.

“Absolutely,” answered Mr. Beacon. “You will not even have to appear in court.”

“I wish I didn’t have to,” said Nancy, nervously.

“I can arrange to have a private hearing,” went on the lawyer. “It will be no ordeal at all.”

Nor did Nancy find it so. A kindly judge in his chambers, several days later, listened to the story, and named Mr. Beacon as guardian of Nancy Ford, whose property was, in the main, saved from the clutches of Mr. Cross. He had embezzled some of it, and that crime, with others, brought him severe punishment.

As for Mrs. Raymond, she went to live with her brother in the lighthouse.

“And now for some good times!” exclaimed Cora when all the legal matters had been attended to. “We have had enough of mystery and wonderings. You can spend the rest of the summer here with us; can’t you, Nancy?”

“If you want me, and have room.”

“Of course we want you!” cried Jack. “Remember you promised to ride in my car when we go over to Stony Beach to-morrow.”

“I asked her first!” cried Norton.

“But she promised me,” cut in Walter.

“Oh, what boys!” protested the blushing Nancy.

“Don’t mind them,” suggested Cora, putting her arms around her new friend. “You’ll soon get used to them.”

“I think I can get used to almost anything– after that shipwreck,” said Nancy, with a smile.

“Well, I like that!” cried Jack. “Comparing us to a shipwreck! Come on, fellows, let’s go fishing. The tide is right for crabbing, too,” and they went out, leaving the girls to themselves.

“In spite of everything–the fire, the shipwreck and the many wonderings it has been a wonderful summer,” said Cora softly, as they sat on the broad porch.

“And I wonder what the winter will bring forth–and next summer?” remarked Belle. But the further adventures of the little band of friends must be reserved for another volume, which will be entitled “The Motor Girls on Crystal Bay; Or, The Secret of the Red Oar.”

The summer vacation was almost at an end. There was one last motor boat trip, and then the Duck was returned to its owner, and the Pet again made ready for the land journey back to Chelton.

“Good-bye, bungalows, good-bye!” recited Cora on the day of their departure, as she got into her big maroon car.

“Good-bye, my lighthouse, good-bye!” sang Bess.

“And don’t forget to write to us, little mermaid,” called Jack to Rosalie. Blushingly she promised.

“What will Nancy say?” asked Eline.

“Oh, Nancy is coming to our house to stay–she won’t have to write,” said the bold Jack.

There were more good-byes, to the light keeper and his sister, to many fishermen and life-savers, whose friendship the boys and girls had made, and then the autos started off on the long trip to Chelton.

Gaily fluttered in the wind the flags they bore, the sea smiled under the yellow sun at the motor girls, seeming to beckon them to return, but they could not. And so, for a time, we will also say good-bye.

THE END