Guilt of the Brass Thieves

  CHAPTER 3 _A "PROBLEM" BOY_

  Penny, Jack and Mr. Parker reached the deck of the _River Queen_ in timeto see Sally leap nimbly across a wide space to the dock. There shelooped a great coil of rope expertly over the post and helped get thegangplank down.

  "Step lively!" she urged the passengers pleasantly, but in a voice crispwith authority.

  In a space of five minutes, she had helped an old man on crutches, founda child who had become separated from his mother, and refused passage tothree young men who sought to make a return trip on the ferry.

  "Sorry, this is the end of the line," she told them firmly. "Our lasttrip today."

  "Then how about a date?" one of the men teased.

  Sally paid not the slightest heed. Raising the gangplank, she signalledfor the ferry to pull away.

  "Sally always likes to put on a show!" Jack muttered disapprovingly. "Towatch her perform, one would think she were the captain!"

  "Well, she impresses me as a most capable young lady," commented Mr.Parker. "After all, we owe our rescue to her and Captain Barker."

  Taking the hint, Jack offered no further disparaging remarks. Rain hadceased to fall, but deep shadows blotted out the river shores. Watchingfrom the railing, Penny saw the island loom up, a dark, compact mass ofblack.

  "The ferry can't land there?" she inquired in surprise.

  Jack shook his head. "Shoals," he explained briefly. "In the springduring the flood season, the channel is fairly safe. Now--"

  He broke off, and turned to stare toward the pilot house. The engines hadbeen stilled and the ferry was drifting in toward the island. CaptainBarker stood by his wheel, silent, watchful as a cat.

  "By George!" Jack exclaimed admiringly. "The old boy intends to take herin through the shoals. But it's a risky thing to do."

  "It is necessary?" asked Mr. Parker, deeply concerned. "After all, we'vealready caused the Barkers great inconvenience. Surely there is no needfor them to risk going aground just to put us off at the Island."

  "Captain Barker could give us a little gasoline, but he gets a big kickout of doing it this way," Jack muttered. "He and Sally both like to showoff. It wouldn't surprise me if the old boy oversteps himself this time.We're running into shoal water."

  Sally, evidently worried, stationed herself at the bow of the _RiverQueen_, dropping a leadline over the side.

  "Eight and a half feet!" she called. "Seven and three-quarters--"

  "We'll never make it," Jack murmured. "We're going aground now!"

  Even as he spoke, the ferryboat grated on the sandy river bottom.

  Captain Barker seemed not in the least disturbed. "Let 'er have it!" heshouted through the speaking tube. "Every ounce we've got!"

  Rasping and groaning in its timbers, the stout little ferryboat groundher way through the sand. For one terrifying moment it seemed that shehad wedged herself fast. But she shuddered and went over the bar intodeeper water.

  Sally drew a long sigh of relief, and grinned at Jack. "I knew Pop couldmake it," she chuckled, "but he sure had me scared for a minute."

  "That was a remarkable demonstration of piloting," Mr. Parker declared."Are we in safe waters now?"

  "Yes, the channel is deep all the way to our dock," Jack replied. "Iguess Captain Barker aims to dump us off at our front door."

  Bells jingled again, the engines were cut, and the ferry drifted up toShadow Island wharf. While Mr. Parker and Penny were thanking CaptainBarker, Sally helped Jack and one of the sailors set loose the towedmotorboat. Their loud, argumentative voices could be heard from thestern.

  "Those kids scrap like a dog and a cat when they're together," chuckledCaptain Barker. "But I calculate they'll outgrow it when they're a littleolder. At least, I hope so."

  Saying a reluctant goodbye, Mr. Parker and Penny tramped ashore, and withJack, watched until the _River Queen_ had safely passed the shoal and waswell out in the main channel again.

  Before they could pick up the luggage, an elderly, gray-haired man camehurriedly down a flagstone walk from the brightly lighted house on theknoll.

  "Mr. Gandiss!" exclaimed Anthony Parker, grasping his outstretched hand."This is my daughter, Penelope. Or Penny, everyone calls her."

  The owner of Shadow Island greeted the girl with more than casualinterest. But as he spoke, his puzzled gaze followed the _River Queen_whose lights now could be seen far upstream.

  "I may as well make a clean breast of it, Dad," Jack said before hisfather could request an explanation. "We ran out of gas, and the _Queen_picked us up."

  "You ran out of gas? I distinctly recall warning you this afternoon thatthe tank would need to be refilled."

  "I forgot," Jack said, edging away. Before his father could reprimand himfurther, he disappeared in the direction of the boathouse.

  Mr. Gandiss, a stout, pleasant man, was distressed by his son's behavior.As he led the way to the house, he apologized so profusely that Penny andher father began to feel uncomfortable.

  "Oh, boys will be boys," Mr. Parker declared, trying to put an end to thediscussion. "No harm was done."

  "We enjoyed the adventure," added Penny sincerely. "It was a pleasure tomeet Captain Barker and his daughter."

  Mr. Gandiss refused to abandon the subject.

  "Jack worries me," he confessed ruefully. "He's sixteen now--almostseventeen, but in some respects he has no responsibility. He's an onlychild, and I am afraid my wife and I have spoiled him."

  "Jack doesn't seem to get along with Sally Barker very well," Pennyremarked, smiling at the recollection.

  "That's another thing," nodded the island owner. "Sally is a fine girland smart as a whip. Jack has the idea that because she isn't the productof a finishing school, she is beneath notice. Sally likes to prick holesin Jack's inflated ego, and then the war is on!"

  "You have a fine son," Mr. Parker said warmly. "He'll outgrow all theseideas."

  "I hope so," sighed Mr. Gandiss. "I certainly do." His expressionconveyed the impression that he was not too confident.

  The Gandiss home, surrounded by shrubs, was large and pretentious. At thefront there was a long, narrow terrace which caught the breeze andcommanded a view of the river for half a mile in either direction. Therewere tennis courts at the rear, and a garden.

  "I'm glad you folks will be here for the annual sailboat race," Mr.Gandiss remarked, pausing to indicate the twinkling shore lights acrossthe water. "If it were daytime, you could see the entire course fromhere. Jack is to race a new boat built especially for him."

  "Sally Barker is his chief competitor?" inquired Penny.

  "Yes, in skill they are about equally matched, I should say. They taketheir feud very seriously."

  In the open doorway stood Mrs. Gandiss, a silver-haired woman not yet inher fifties. Cordially, she bade the newcomers welcome.

  "What a dreadful time you must have had out on the river!" she saidsympathetically. "The storm came up so quickly. My husband would have metyou himself, but he was delayed at the factory."

  A servant was sent for the luggage, and Effie, a maid, conducted Penny toher room. The chamber was luxuriously furnished with a green tiled bathadjoining. Pulling a silken cord to open the Venetian blinds, Penny sawthat the window overlooked the river. She breathed deeply of the damp,rain-freshened air.

  "Where do the Barkers live?" she asked Effie who was laying outembroidered towels.

  "Wherever it suits their fancy to drop anchor, Miss. Since I came here towork, the only home they ever have had was aboard their ferryboat."

  The luggage soon was brought up, and Effie unpacked, carefully hanging upeach garment. Penny inquired if she would have time for a hot bath.

  "Oh, yes, Miss. The Gandiss' never dine until eight. I will draw yourtub. Pine scent or violet?"

  Penny swallowed hard and nearly lost her composure. "Make it pine," shemanaged, "and omit the needles!"

  Exposure to rain and col
d had stiffened her muscles and made her feelthoroughly miserable. However, after fifteen minutes in a steaming bath,she felt as fresh as ever. Her golden hair curled in ringlets tight toher head, and when she came from the bathroom, she found a blue dinnerdress neatly pressed and laid on the bed.

  "Two weeks of this life and I won't even be able to brush my own teeth,"she thought. "No wonder Jack is such a spoiled darling."

  Penny wondered what Mrs. Maud Weems would say if she were there. TheParkers lived nearly a hundred miles away in a city called Riverview, andMrs. Weems, the housekeeper, had looked after Penny since the death ofher mother many years before.

  Mr. Parker, known throughout the state, published a daily newspaper, the_Star_, and his daughter frequently helped him by writing news oroffering unrequested advice.

  In truth, neither she nor her father had been eager to spend a vacationwith members of the Gandiss family, feeling that they were practicallystrangers. Jack, Penny feared, might prove a particular trial.

  In the living room, a cheerful fire had been started in the grate. Mr.and Mrs. Gandiss were chatting with Mr. Parker, trying their best to makehim feel at home.

  An awkward break in the conversation was covered by announcement thatdinner was served. Jack's chair at the end of the table remainedconspicuously empty.

  "Where is the boy?" Mr. Gandiss asked his wife in a disapproving tone.

  "I'm sure I don't know," she sighed. "The last I saw him, he was down atthe dock."

  A servant was sent to find Jack. After a long absence, he returned to saythat the boy was nowhere on the island, and that the motorboat wasmissing.

  "He's off somewhere again, and without permission," Mr. Gandiss saidirritably. "Probably to the Harpers'. You see what I mean, Mr. Parker? Agrowing boy is a fearful problem."

  Penny and her father avoided a discussion of such a personal subject. Anexcellent dinner of six courses was served in perfect style, but whilethe food was well cooked, no one really enjoyed the meal.

  Coffee in tiny China cups was offered in Mr. Gandiss' study. His wifeexcused herself to go to the kitchen for a moment and the two men wereleft alone with Penny.

  Unexpectedly, Mr. Gandiss said:

  "Anthony, I suppose you wonder why I really invited you here."

  "I am curious," Mr. Parker admitted, lighting a cigar. "Does your sonJack have anything to do with it?"

  "I need advice in dealing with the boy," Mr. Gandiss acknowledged. "Itoccurred to me that association with a sensible girl like your daughtermight help to straighten him out."

  "I wouldn't count on that," Penny interposed hastily. "As Dad can tellyou, I have a lot of most unsensible ideas of my own."

  "Jack is a problem," Mr. Gandiss resumed, "but I have even more seriousones. How are you two at solving a mystery?"

  Mr. Parker winked at his daughter and paid her tribute. "Penny has builtup quite a reputation for herself as an amateur Sherlock Holmes. Runningdown gangsters is her specialty."

  "Dad, you egg!" Penny said indignantly.

  Both men laughed. But Mr. Gandiss immediately became serious again.

  "My problem is difficult," he declared, "and I believe you may be able tohelp me, because I've heard a great deal about the manner in which youhave solved other mysteries."

  "Only in the interests of gaining good stories for our newspaper, _TheStar_," Mr. Parker supplied.

  "This probably would not net a story for your paper," the island ownersaid. "In fact, we are particularly anxious to keep the facts fromgetting into print. The truth is, strange things have occurred at myairplane factory in Osage--"

  Mr. Gandiss did not finish, for at that moment someone rapped loudly onan outside screen door.