The School by the Sea

  CHAPTER IX

  A Message

  Now that they had decided on an explanation of their schoolfellow'smysterious conduct, the chums felt that every circumstance seemed topoint in its favour. They wondered they had never thought of it before.The importance of keeping a strict watch was realized by both. There wasa certain satisfaction in doing so. They felt as if they were renderingtheir country a service, almost indeed as if they were members of asecret diplomatic corps, and had been told off for special duty. Whoknew what England might have to thank them for some day? Possibly at novery far-off date the whole country might be ringing with their names,and the newspapers publishing portraits of the two schoolgirls who hadaverted a national disaster. Just to be prepared for emergencies, theytook snapshots of each other with Dulcie's Brownie camera, and added aseries of photographs of the school, all of which they thought would bevery suitable to give to the enthusiastic reporter who would demand anillustrated interview. They were rather disappointed with the results ofthe portraits, which in their estimation scarcely did them justice.

  "I look more like forty than fourteen!" said Deirdre, regarding ruefullythe dark shadows on her cheeks and the lines under her eyes. "It doesn'tshow my hair properly, either. No one could tell it was curly."

  "And I look as fat as a prize pig, with no eyes to speak of, and animbecile grin."

  "I wonder how real photographers manage to touch things up, and makethem look so nice?"

  In spite of their best efforts it had proved impossible to do theirdeveloping and printing without their handiwork being seen by theircompanions. The photographs of the school were so good that the girlsbegged them shamelessly to send home. Gerda was particularlyimportunate, and even offered to buy copies when they were refused as agift.

  "We don't sell our things," said Dulcie bluntly. "You may go on askingtill Doomsday, and you won't get a single print, so there!"

  To the chums, Gerda's request was full of significance.

  "It shows pretty plainly we're on the right track," said Deirdre. "Ofcourse she wants them to send to her foreign government. They'd pay herhandsomely."

  "Don't she wish she may get them!" snorted Dulcie.

  The affair made an added coolness in their dormitory. Gerda appeared tothink them unkind, while they stood more than ever on the alert. Theywatched her unceasingly. For some days, however, they could find nothingof an incriminating nature in her conduct. Possibly she was aware oftheir vigilance, and was on her guard against them.

  "I believe we're overdoing it," said Deirdre anxiously. "Best slack offa little, and seem as if we're taking no notice of her. Don't follow herabout so continually. It's getting too marked altogether. We must bediplomatic."

  Just at present Gerda's behaviour was perfectly orthodox. If she went onthe warren, it was invariably as one of a "threesome", and the chumscould detect her in no more solitary and clandestine excursions. Sheseemed to have assumed a sudden interest in salvaging, and particularlyin the beacon which the girls were beginning to build upon the headland.No one was ready to work harder in carrying up the pieces of driftwoodfrom the beach, and piling them on to the great stack which every daygrew a little higher and higher, till it really began to be aconspicuous object, and could be seen from both the villages ofPontperran and Porthmorvan, and from the sea. It was at Gerda'ssuggestion that a Union Jack, fastened to a pole, was kept flying fromthe top--a little piece of patriotism which appealed to the school atlarge, though it roused suspicion in the minds of the chums.

  "It's a signal, of course," said Dulcie.

  "Some fine day she'll pull it down, and substitute the German flag,"agreed Deirdre. "She's only waiting her opportunity."

  "Unless we circumvent her. There are two Britishers here who mean tolook after their country!"

  It was curious how many little things, really quite trivial inthemselves, seemed to point in the direction of the chums' fears. MissBirks greatly encouraged a debating society among her girls, and on herlist of subjects for discussion had placed that of "National Truthversus Diplomatic Evasions". Gerda had certainly been chosen to speakfor the opposition, and was therefore pledged to the side of diplomacy;but Deirdre and Dulcie thought she made far too good a case of it, andpleaded much too warmly the cause of the ambassador who on behalf of hiscountry's honour is obliged to meet guile with guile, and outwit theenemy by means of stratagems and deeply-laid schemes.

  "Any expedient is allowable for the sake of your fatherland," she hadcontended, and Dulcie quoted the words with a grave shake of her head asshe talked the matter over with Deirdre.

  "Notice particularly that she said fatherland! Now the Vaterland isalways Germany. She didn't mean Britain, you may depend upon it.No--she's planning and scheming for another war!"

  "Then we'll plan and scheme for King George! We'll accept herprinciples, and 'make use of any stratagem to outwit the enemy'."

  So they waited and watched, and watched and waited, in what theyflattered themselves was true Machiavellian style, till they were almostgrowing tired of so fruitless an occupation.

  Then one day, quite unexpectedly, something happened. It was a wild,windy March morning, and the girls were taking a hasty run on thewarren between morning school and dinner, to "blow away cobwebs" andgive them an appetite. There was not time to go far, but they dispersedin all directions, trying which could make the biggest distance recordavailable. Gerda had started with Annie Pridwell and Betty Scott, butunder pretence of beating their speed she had got considerably ahead andleft them panting in the rear.

  "Where's Gerda?" asked Deirdre, who, with Dulcie and Evie Bennett, hadfollowed the first "threesome".

  "We simply can't keep up with her! She walked as if she hadseven-leagued boots. She's gone over the hill there. I'm going to waittill she comes back."

  "There's no sense in flying like the wandering Jew!" protested Betty. "Ihope she won't be long, because I don't want to walk back as fast as Icame."

  "Dulcie and I'll go after her," said Deirdre promptly. "We don't mindrunning. You two can be toddling along with Evie as leisurely as youlike."

  It only meant a change of "threesomes", so the girls agreed readily anddeparted at once, leaving the chums to act escort to the truant.

  "She's done it on purpose," gasped Dulcie as soon as they were alone.

  "Of course. It's a perfectly transparent dodge. Now we must do SecretService work again and not let her see she's being followed."

  The chums really congratulated themselves that they were getting on inthe matter of scouting, they availed themselves so cleverly of the coverof rocks and bushes and proceeded with such admirable caution and care.Their efforts were successful, for after a few minutes of skilfulstalking they caught sight of their quarry.

  Gerda was climbing down the cliff side, fully a hundred feet below them,and had nearly reached the level of the beach. She descended quickly,almost recklessly, scrambling anyhow over rocks and through brambles,and splashing through a boggy piece where a trickle of water had formeda pool. Arrived on the shingle, she went straight to a hole among therocks, searched in the seaweed, and produced a bottle. Taking a piece ofpaper from her pocket, she folded it into a long narrow slip and put itinside, replacing the cork tightly. Then she ran towards the crag at themouth of the cove, and climbing up higher than was compatible withsafety she hurled the bottle as far as she could throw it into the sea.She stood looking for a moment or two as it bobbed about on the surfaceof the water, then, turning round, began to scramble back with morehaste than care.

  "We've seen enough! Come quick before she spies us!" whispered Deirdre,dragging Dulcie away. "We mustn't let her know we were anywhere near.Let us run and be a long way off before she gets to the top of the cliffand sees us."

  The clanging of the first dinner bell, which could plainly be heard inthe distance, certainly offered a reasonable excuse for hurry. The chumsfled like hares, and even with their best efforts only took their placesat table when grace was said and the beef carved. Gerda
was later stilland scurried in, hot and breathless, after the potatoes had been handed.She drank her whole glassful of water at a gulp. Deirdre and Dulcieavoided looking at her, but they nudged each other secretly. It was asatisfaction to know what she had been doing, though they could notopenly proclaim their rejoicing. The penalty for lateness at meals was afine, but they put their pennies in the charity box with the feeling ofphilanthropists. They considered them as contributions to a mostexcellent cause.

  It was Wednesday, and a half-holiday. At three o'clock the whole schoolwas to start for a walk to Avonporth, and in the meantime the girls wereexpected to busy themselves with minor occupations. A certain numberwere due at the pianos for practising or music lessons, and from therest stocking-darning, mending, and the tidying of drawers would berequired. Gerda marched off with a volume of Beethoven, and was soonhard at work on the Moonlight Sonata under Mademoiselle's tuition. Sheplayed well, for she had been carefully taught in Germany, and had agood execution and sympathetic touch.

  Deirdre and Dulcie stood outside the door for a moment or two listeningto her crisp chords.

  "She's boxed up there safe for an hour," commented Deirdre.

  "Yes, Mademoiselle won't let her off," agreed Dulcie.

  "I could do my darning after tea, and my drawers are as tidy as tidy."

  "So are mine!"

  "Should we? Do you think we dare?"

  "Yes, yes. I'm game if you are."

  Then the pair did a scandalous deed, such as they had never evencontemplated in all their schooldays before. They took French leave andwent out on to the warren. They knew the consequences would bedisastrous if they were caught, for they were breaking three rules allat once, absenting themselves without permission, going two togetherinstead of in a "threesome", and being on the headland at a forbiddenhour. Perhaps the very riskiness of the undertaking added to itsenjoyment.

  "We must try and get that bottle, and here's our opportunity," saidDeirdre.

  "We can't explain to Miss Birks now, but we can tell her some day thatwe went out of sheer necessity," argued Dulcie.

  "Of course; it's only our duty. Even the best of rules have to be brokensometimes when it's a matter of expediency. Miss Birks will quiteappreciate that."

  "Yes--when she knows the whole."

  Meantime Miss Birks did not know, and the sense that their disinterestedmotives might be liable to misinterpretation caused the chums to proceedwarily and avoid exposing themselves to any observer from the upperwindows. They tacked along bypaths and went rather a roundabout route toreach their destination. Their hope was that the rising water might havewashed the bottle back on to the beach, for Gerda's arm had not beenstrong enough to throw it sufficiently far to carry it into the opensea, and when they last saw it it had been whirling round and round atthe mouth of the creek. They climbed down the cliff side by the sametrack that she had followed, and ran eagerly to the edge of the waves.

  The tide was much higher than it had been before dinner, and was rollingup its usual toll of sticks, seaweed, and miscellaneous debris. What wasthat dark-green object that kept appearing and disappearing, half-hiddenby a mass of floating brown bladderwrack? One moment it had vanished,and the next it bobbed up persistently. Deirdre and Dulcie did not waitto ask. With one accord they whisked off shoes and stockings (aproceeding utterly and entirely forbidden except in the months of Juneand July) and plunged into the water. They were both adepts in the artof salvaging, but no piece of driftwood ever gave them more trouble thanthat elusive bottle, which dipped and dived and evaded them with theskill of an eel. The beach was shingly, not sandy, which made theirfishing not only a slippery but a most agonizing performance. They wereobliged to grip each other's hands to keep their foothold at all. Atlast a larger wave than usual proved helpful, and indeed did its officeso thoroughly that it dashed the bottle against Dulcie's shins. With asqueal of pain she caught it, nearly upsetting herself and Deirdre inthe process, and the pair hobbled back to where they had left theirshoes and stockings.

  "Ugh! I'm absolutely lame! I didn't know stones could cut so,"complained Deirdre.

  "Look at my leg! It will be black and blue, I know," groaned Dulcie.

  The possession of the bottle, however, was ample compensation for anyscars they might have won in the struggle for its acquisition. Theytried with impatient fingers to pull out the cork, but as that provedobdurate they cut the Gordian knot by breaking the neck on a stone. Thethin piece of foreign note-paper was quite untouched by wet. Togetherthey unfolded it, knocking their heads in their eagerness to read itboth at once. At last, surely, they were within reach of Gerda's secret.But the letter was written in German, and alas! the chums were still inthe elementary stages of the language, so that except for a chance wordhere and there they could not decipher a line of it. Theirdisappointment was keen.

  "What does she mean by writing in her wretched old Deutsch?" demandedDulcie indignantly.

  "Oh, bother her! I wish I could read it!" moaned Deirdre.

  Never had the advantages of education appealed to the girls morestrongly. They began to think quite seriously of the necessity forstudying foreign languages.

  "Why didn't I have a Fraeulein in my babyhood instead of an ordinaryEnglish nursery governess?" lamented Deirdre.

  "We may be able to do something with a dictionary," said Dulcie morehopefully.

  The idea was consoling enough to prompt them to put on their shoes andstockings, pocket the document, and climb the cliff. After all, if theycould make little out of it themselves, they had at least prevented themessage from falling into the hands of the person for whom it wasdestined, and so had frustrated Gerda's intention. That was sufficientreward for their trouble, even without the chance of learning itscontents.

  "We can keep asking separate words or even sentences until we can pieceit all together," said Dulcie sagely.

  "Right you are! and now we'd best rush back as fast as we can."

  Time waits for nobody, and during their excursion to the beach it hadseemed to roll on above the speed limit. Unless they meant to be latefor the walk, they must hurry. They were obliged to skirt the cliffs,for they did not dare to show themselves on the open tract of thewarren. It was not particularly easy to make haste along a narrow pathbeset with briers and riddled with rabbit holes. Deirdre went first,because she always naturally took the lead, and Dulcie, whose physicalendurance was less, panted after her a bad second. Suddenly Deirdrestopped, and, shading her eyes with her hand, looked intently over thesea at a small object in the far distance.

  "What's that?" she asked sharply.

  For a moment or two it had the semblance of a huge bird, then a strangewhirring noise was heard, and as it drew rapidly nearer and nearer theycould see it was an aeroplane flying at no great height over the water.Apparently it was aiming for the exact spot where they were standing,and, quite scared, the girls crouched down beside a gorse bush. With aloud whirr it passed over their heads, and, steering as easily as ahawk, alighted gently on the moorland only about a hundred yards fartheron.

  Here was a pretty state of things! Had the vanguard of the German armyarrived already? And did the enemy mean to swoop down on the school?They peeped timorously from behind the bush and saw two airmen in fulloilskins dismount hastily and make an examination of the machine.Whether they were Germans it was impossible to tell; they spoke in tonestoo low for their words to carry, and certainly their garments gave nohint of their nationality. They looked round searchingly, as ifverifying their whereabouts, glanced in the direction of the girls whocowered under their gorse bush, devoutly hoping they were not visible,and consulted a map; then, after an earnest conference, entered theirmachine again and started off in a northerly direction, flying over thewarren towards Avonporth. The chums, almost spellbound, watched theaeroplane till it waned into a mere speck in the sky; then fear lentthem wings and they scuttled back to school at a pace they had neverattained even at the annual sports. Fortune favoured them, and theymanaged to dodge unnoticed into
the garden, run round to the front, andjust in the nick of time take their places among the file of girlsassembled on the drive.

  Nobody mentioned the aeroplane, so evidently nobody but themselves couldhave seen it. Whence it came and where it was going remained a mystery,though Deirdre and Dulcie had a settled conviction that Gerda could haveenlightened them on that point. She was quite unconscious of the trickthey had played her, and as they walked just behind her they chuckledinwardly at the knowledge that her cherished letter lay in Deirdre'spocket. Outward and visible triumph they dared not venture on: it wastoo dangerous an indulgence for those who wished to keep a secret. As itwas, they found it difficult to evade the enquiries of their friends.

  "What became of you two just now?" asked Evie Bennett. "Miss Harding wasinspecting drawers, and she sent me to fetch you. I'd such a hunt allover the place and couldn't find you anywhere."

  "You're a notoriously bad looker, you know, Evie," returned Deirdre,laughing the matter off.

  "So Miss Harding said; but it isn't fair to expect one to find peoplewho aren't there."

  "Perhaps Betty had mesmerized us into the hypnotic state and rendered usinvisible to mortal eyes such as yours!"

  "Now, don't rag me! Oh, wasn't that joke spiffing! I shall never forgetVA with their faces all streaked with black! I laughed till I nearlydied. They haven't forgiven us, and I believe they're plotting somethingto pay us back in our own coin."

  "Let them try, if they like. We're not easily taken in."

  "By the by, I was hunting for you two just now," Annie Pridwell brokein. "I wanted to borrow some darning wool, and as I couldn't find you Ihelped myself off your dressing-table. I don't know whose basket it wasI rifled. I took the last skein."

  "Mine, but you're welcome," said Dulcie. "My stockings are darned forthis week, and shown to Miss Harding and put away. I'll get some morewool on Saturday, if we go to the village."

  "But I couldn't find you when I looked for you," persisted Annie.

  "Yes, where were you?" asked Evie again.

  But to such an inconvenient question the chums prudently turned deafears.

  Deirdre and Dulcie were determined to leave no stone unturned until theyhad obtained a translation of the letter which they had purloined fromthe bottle. They did not care to show the manuscript itself to any ofthe elder girls, as to do so might be to betray their secret, but bydint of asking odd sentences and words they made it out to run thus:"Very little to report. No progress at all just at present. Extremecaution necessary. Better keep clear of headland for a while, and letall plans stand over." There was neither beginning nor signature, and nodate or address.

  To the chums the communication had only one meaning. It must refer to aGerman attack upon the coast. The aeroplane had probably beenprospecting for a suitable place to land troops. It was Gerda who was tosupply the information needed by the foreign government as to afavourable time for executing a master-stroke.

  Evidently she did not consider the hour was yet ripe. For the presentEngland was safe, but who knew for how long?

  "It's that man in the brown jersey who's engineering the mischief," saidDeirdre. "When we see him sneaking about in his boat we may know there'ssomething on foot."

  "What ought we to do?" asked Dulcie doubtfully.

  "Nothing can be done just now, if they're on their guard and lying low.We must be vigilant and keep a general eye over things. If anythingunexpected crops up we can warn the police. But, of course, we shouldhave to have very good grounds to go upon in that case, a perfectlycircumstantial story to tell."

  "We've nothing but suspicions at present."

  "That's the worst of it. We want more direct evidence. They might onlylaugh at us for our pains, and we should get into trouble with MissBirks for interfering in concerns that aren't ours. No; we'll keep thepolice as the very last resource, and only tell them what we know in theface of a great emergency."