CHAPTER 21 _RESCUE_
Fearful that she would be killed, Penny screamed and waved. Straight onsteamed the _River Queen_, so close now that she could see Sally Barkeron the starboard deck. But the girl was gazing away from her, towardSweeper Joe and the other drifting boat.
"Help! Help!" screamed Penny in one last desperate attempt to saveherself.
Her cry carried, for she saw Sally whirl around and stare intently at thedark water ahead. Then she shouted an order to her father. There came aclanging of bells, and the _Queen_ swerved to port, missing Penny by ascant ten feet.
Great waves engulfed her, and she fought to keep above the surface. Herstrength was practically gone. She rolled over on her back, gasping forbreath.
Then she saw that the _Queen_ had greatly reduced speed and was turningback on her course. A lifeboat also was being lowered.
"They're going to pick me up!" Penny thought, nearly overcome by relief.
The next minute Sally and a sailor were pulling her into the boat.
"Why, it's Penny! And she's half drowned!" she heard her friend exclaim.
Then she knew no more.
When she opened her eyes, Penny found herself in a warm, comfortable bed.Sally stood beside her with a cup of steaming hot soup.
"You're coming around fine," she praised. "Drink this! Then you'll feelbetter."
Penny pulled herself up on an elbow and took a swallow of the soup. Itwas good and warmed her chilled body. She gulped the cupful down.
"Sally--"
"Better not try to talk too much now," Sally advised kindly. "How did youget into the water?"
The question aroused Penny, bringing back a flood of memories. Shesuddenly realized that she was in Sally's cabin on the _River Queen_ andthe ferry was moving.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"You're safe," Sally said soothingly. "You were swimming in the river. Wenearly ran you down. Lucky I saw you just in time and we picked you up."
"Yes, I know," Penny agreed. "But _where_ are we? Near the Harpers?"
"Oh, no, we passed their place long ago. We're far upriver."
Penny struggled up, swinging her feet out of the bunk. She saw then thatshe was wearing a pair of Sally's pajamas, and that her own wet garmentshung over a chair.
"We must turn back!" she cried. "Tell Captain Barker, please! Oh, it'svitally important, Sally!"
Sally was maddeningly deliberate.
"Now don't get excited, Penny," she advised. "Everything will be allright."
Penny resisted as Sally tried to push her back into bed. "You don'tunderstand!" she protested. "Sweeper Joe, Claude Harper, and ClarkClayton are expecting to make their get-away tonight. They're the oneswho have been stealing brass from the Gandiss factory. It's all cached inthe basement of the Harper house--or was unless they've dumped it."
"Penny, are you straight in your head? You know what you're saying?"
"I certainly do! I went there this afternoon. When I learned too much,they tried to hold me prisoner. I escaped by the river--hid in the grasspatch. But they followed me there, and were about to get me, when the_River Queen_ steamed by."
"I did see two small boats there. Just before you shouted I wondered whatthey would be doing at this time of night."
"Sweeper Joe and Clark Clayton have been dumping the stolen brass! Unlesspolice stop them before they dispose of it all, not a scrap of evidencewill be left! All those men expect to leave town tonight!"
"Thank heavens, we have a ship-to-shore radio telephone!" Sally cried,thoroughly aroused. "I'll have Pop call the police right away!"
She bolted out the cabin door.
Every muscle and joint in Penny's body ached, but there was no time tothink of her misery. Her own clothes could not be put on. Searching inSally's wardrobe, she found a sweater and a skirt, and undergarments sheneeded. By the time her friend returned, she was dressed.
"Penny, you shouldn't have gotten up!" Sally protested quickly.
"I can't afford to miss the excitement," Penny grinned. "Hope you don'tmind lending me some of your clothes."
"Of course not, and if you must stay up, you'll need a pair of shoes."Sally found a pair of sandals, which although too large, would serve.After Penny had put them on, she said: "Let's go to the pilot house,because I want you to tell Pop exactly what happened."
"Did you notify police?"
"Pop sent the message. It may take a little while, but police should beat the Harpers' almost anytime now."
"Those men saw me taken aboard this boat," Penny worried. "I'm afraidthey'll get away before the police arrive."
The girls climbed to the pilot house where Captain Barker had just turnedthe wheel over to a helmsman. All members of the crew remained aboard,for with the _Queen_ late on her run, there had been no opportunity asyet to put the men ashore.
"We may need all our hands tonight," Captain Barker predicted. "Notelling what may develop. I have one of those feelings."
"Now Pop!" reproved Sally. "The last time you made a remark like that, wesmashed a rudder. Remember?"
"Aye, I remember all too well," he rejoined grimly.
Urged by Sally, Penny related everything that had happened at theHarpers', and told of her endurance contest in the grass patch.
"We'll head back that direction and see what's doing," Captain Barkeroffered to satisfy her. "Maybe we'll catch sight of those rascals intheir boats."
Although the _Queen_ cruised slowly near the shoal area where Penny hadencountered adventure, there was no sign of any small boat. The ferrycrept dangerously close to the grass patch.
"Watch 'er like a cat!" Captain Barker warned the helmsman. "Cramp her!Cramp her!"
When the man did not react speedily enough, he seized the wheel andhelped spin it hard down. The _Queen_ responded readily, moving intodeeper waters.
Satisfied that there were no small boats in the vicinity, Captain Barker,headed upstream toward the Harpers'. Across the water, lights were to beseen on both floors of the two-story river house, but so far as could bediscerned, no boats were tied up at the pier or docks.
"The place isn't deserted, that's certain," Penny declared, peering intothe wall of darkness. "How long should it take the police to get there?"
"If the radio message we sent was properly transmitted, they should be ontheir way now," the captain replied.
Sally, impatient for action, was all for taking a crew and descendingupon the house and its occupants. Puffing thoughtfully at his pipe, herfather considered the proposal, but shook his head.
"We have no authority to make a search," he pointed out. "Any such actionwould make us liable for court action. Just be patient and you'll seefireworks."
Knowing that to stand by near the Harpers' pier would warn the houseoccupants they were being watched, Captain Barker ordered the _Queen_ toturn downriver toward the main freight and passenger docks.
An excursion boat, the _Florence_, passed them, her railings lined withwomen and children who had enjoyed an all-day outing and were returninghome. The steamer tied up at the Ninth Street dock and began to disgorgepassengers.
Then it happened. Penny saw a sudden flash of flame which seemed to comefrom the hold of the excursion ship. The next instant fire shot from theportholes and began to spread.
Captain Barker gave a hoarse shout which sent a chill down her spine.
"The _Florence_!" he exclaimed huskily. "Her oil tanks must haveexploded! She'll go up like matchwood, and with all those women andchildren aboard!"