The Deserted Yacht

  CHAPTER III The Abandoned Yacht

  The door had swung back to reveal a wrecked stateroom. Everything was inconfusion. Chairs were upset, papers strewn over the floor and a tablelamp had toppled to the floor. Obviously, the room had been occupied byMr. Burnett, for his clothing hung on nails along the wall, but there wasno sign of the noted yachtsman. The bed had not been slept in on theprevious night.

  Madge was thoroughly alarmed. It was immediately apparent to her thatsomething was radically wrong. She saw clearly that there had been astruggle, and from the condition of the furniture and fixtures, it hadbeen a desperate one. What had become of Mr. Burnett and Enid?

  "It's a case for the police," she decided instantly. "I must return tothe city as quickly as I can and bring someone here!"

  Closing the door behind her, she ran back to the railing. Peering down,she searched in vain for her boatman. Her eyes turned shoreward and shesaw him several hundred yards away, rowing hurriedly toward the harbor.

  "Come back!" she called frantically. "I want to go with you!"

  She shouted until she was nearly hoarse, but the boatman gave noindication that he heard. He kept his face lowered and not once did heglance back toward the yacht.

  "Now what shall I do?" Madge asked herself in desperation. "I believethat man left me stranded here on purpose! Oh, I could scalp him!"

  She gazed resentfully after the retreating boatman, observing that hemade far greater speed than on the trip out to the yacht. Not for amoment did she believe he had mistaken her order to wait.

  She consoled herself with the thought that she would have him arrestedfor carrying away her luggage. However, unobserved by her, the boatmanhad brought the suitcase aboard. She saw it on the deck as she turnedaround.

  "He came aboard quickly enough when he wanted to!" she exclaimed. "Iwonder why he ran away? Perhaps he had a suspicion that something waswrong here."

  She recalled his reluctance to rent his boat and his unwillingness tomake the trip to The Flora. Having taken an instant dislike to him, shedecided without further consideration, that he was a questionablecharacter and would bear investigation. She determined to speak of himwhen she acquainted the authorities with the situation as she had foundit aboard the yacht.

  For the present, her one desire was to reach shore as quickly aspossible. She gazed anxiously about for help. Several small boats wereplying in and out of the harbor, but they were too far away to be of aid.As if by a preconceived plan, they kept beyond hailing distance.

  "It looks as though I'll be here for some time," Madge commentedinwardly. "Oh, dear, and it's so important that I notify the policewithout delay. Something dreadful may have happened to Enid and herfather."

  Since it availed her nothing to stand helplessly by the railing, shedecided to look about the ship more carefully and see if she could makefurther discoveries. It was difficult for her to believe that the yachthad been entirely abandoned.

  After visiting the kitchen and the lounge, she noticed a second cabin notfar from the one occupied by Mr. Burnett. The door was unlocked and sheentered, half expecting to find everything in disorder.

  She found herself in Enid's room. Nothing seemed to have been disturbed.Toilet articles were neatly arranged on the dressing table, and inopening a closet door, Madge saw a long line of pretty frocks. An emptytraveling bag occupied the shelf above.

  "Enid couldn't have gone away for the weekend or she would have taken herthings," she reasoned.

  Only the bed gave evidence that the room had been occupied within thepast twenty-four hours. The sheets were wrinkled and the blankets layupon the floor, as though the occupant had tossed them hurriedly asideupon arising.

  "It's beyond me," Madge mused. "Evidently, Enid slept here last night--orat least a portion of the night, but Mr. Burnett didn't."

  In her mind, the conviction was steadily growing that her friends had metwith violence. She had read that robberies were not an infrequentoccurrence aboard luxurious yachts, and Mr. Burnett was known to havevaluables and art treasures in his possession.

  Sorely troubled, she returned to the upper deck to watch for a boat, butas there was none close by, she wandered restlessly about.

  "It's odd what became of all the sailors," she thought. "Surely someonewould be here to tell the story, even if there had been a robbery. It'sthe most mysterious thing I ever encountered."

  Presently, she reentered Mr. Burnett's cabin to look again for clues.Crossing to the desk, she jerked open a drawer. To her astonishment, shesaw, tucked beneath some papers, a leather billfold. A glance disclosedthat it contained two twenty dollar bills.

  "This doesn't look like robbery after all," Madge told herself. "I don'tknow what to make of it now."

  She was even more puzzled when she entered the bathroom adjoining thecabin and found a silver watch lying upon the shelf above the wash bowl.She was still examining it when she became aware of a slight scrapingsound in the bedroom. At first she thought she must be mistaken, but asshe heard it again, she hastily retraced her steps.

  All was quiet in the stateroom. Madge looked about but could see no causefor the strange sound. She was about to turn away when it was repeated,and this time she distinctly traced it to a closet on the opposite sideof the room.

  "There's some one in there!" she thought in excitement.

  She ran to the door and tried to jerk it open. It was locked.

  As she moved the handle, she heard the same scraping noise, louder thanbefore. Now she knew that someone was imprisoned within and pulledfrantically at the knob. Realizing that she was only wasting herstrength, she looked about the room for some object with which to breakthe lock. Instead, her eye fell upon a key that lay on the carpet at herfeet. Evidently, it had fallen from the door or had been droppedpurposely.

  With nervous fingers she fitted it into the lock. It refused to turn. Sheworked with it and after several attempts, was rewarded by a sharp click.

  She jerked open the door and stepped back in amazement and horror. Thereat her feet, bound and gagged, lay Enid.