The Secret of Steeple Rocks

  CHAPTER V

  PEGGY SAYS "THANK YOU"

  This was only the beginning of trips. Leslie, Sarita, Dalton, and veryoften Elizabeth, went about bay and sea in the new launch, which Leslienamed at once the "Sea Crest Yacht," only a variation of their own name,she said. Sarita thought it delightful that their name was soappropriate to these circumstances and declared that their prospectivecabin ought to be called Sea Crest instead of the Eyrie. But Lesliereminded her that their father had suggested an "Eyrie."

  "We'll have an 'eagles' nest' on the rocks, perhaps, unless it does seemvery much better to build in the woods," said Dalton bareheaded, keepingthe wheel steady as the little yacht cut the waves.

  "Perhaps Dalton would prefer some other name for his boat, Leslie,"suggested Elizabeth, by way of reminding her sister not to be toopossessive.

  "He told me that I might name it," Leslie replied, "didn't you, Dal?"

  Dalton nodded. "It's the Secrest yacht," said he. "I like Leslie's idea.I'm teaching her to be at the wheel, Beth, and all about the engine,too. I hope that you have no objections."

  "It will probably be too late if I have, but do use judgment, children!"

  "We will, dear old emergency brake!"

  "Poor old Beth! She didn't want to be so grown up and careful, but hadto be!" As she spoke, Leslie put her arm around Elizabeth, who wasstanding beside her.

  "I'm letting you all share the responsibility now," laughed Elizabeth."I hope that I'll not regret it!"

  "If we get reckless, Beth, we've learned that we have to take theconsequences," Sarita inserted.

  "Yes, but we don't _like_ consequences, Sarita."

  "Hear, hear!" came from Dalton, "but Les can run the launch if she keepsaway from the rocks. Luckily the entrance to the bay is broad enough,and the bay itself is remarkably free from rocks that we can't see. Tomhas given me full instructions, and he even drew a little chart for me."

  In two weeks time the "yacht" and a newly painted rowboat were safelytied or anchored within the little cove below the Eyrie, as they haddecided to call their rocks, whether a cabin or lookout were ever builtthere or not. It was Dalton who suggested a "lookout," a small shelteramong the rocks, where Elizabeth could paint, and from which all of themcould watch the changing sea, or be protected from a storm. As Daltontold Leslie and Sarita, perhaps it was a good thing that they werehindered in their first plans and work. "We'll have a much better ideaof what we want to do, for being around the place a while."

  Although Dalton occasionally felt uneasy about matters, his materialshad not arrived for the cabin, and the man whom he had expected to helphim was delayed with other work. They heard nothing from the younglawyer at home about an abstract of title. Indeed, he had not replied totheir letter at all, which seemed strange, considering his previousdevotion to Elizabeth.

  Mr. Ives had not appeared again, nor had they seen anything of Peggy.She, very likely, was more hurt with her fall than she had been willingto admit. Dalton wrote another letter to the lawyer and after learningthat one of Bill's sons had charge of the little village post office, hehired a horse and rode himself to the town at the railroad station, tosee it safely on its way. Just why he should be so suspicious of Mr.Ives, he did not quite know, but it was instinctive.

  Fishing trips in the rowboat were successful. They were managing to havegood meals at slight expense. It was the other part of their undertakingthat took the money, Dalton's boat and the prospective building. Butthey had no regrets. There would be enough to do it and Dalton told Beththat with her attaining fame from some picture of Steeple Rocks, and hislearning to fish and handle a boat, they would be "fixed for life." Itwas a great adventure and the lure of Pirates' Cove brought muchspeculation to Leslie and Sarita.

  "What would it be called Pirates' Cove for," asked Leslie, "if nopirates ever went there? It isn't any worse with rocks than lots ofother places around here where we go, and I think that the story of awhirlpool or current is all nonsense!"

  "That's all right, Les," said Dalton, who was standing by her on the SeaCrest at the time when she made this remark. "Watch your wheel, Sis.There. Turn it that way just a little now. Good girl. But all the same,you keep out of Pirates' Cove, Leslie. So far as the name is concerned,there are plenty of Pirates' Coves on this coast. I've no doubt. It's agood name for any rather mysterious place."

  "Yes, it is," said Sarita, who was waiting her turn at the wheel, "butthat is it. When we _have_ a Pirates' Cove right at our door, so tospeak, why not get some good of it?"

  Dalton laughed at this and said that they would row around into theIves' territory "one of these days. We can see all the rocks closerthere."

  "Not I," firmly said Leslie, not knowing that she would be the first oneto go. "It might remind Mr. Ives of our existence, if he should see us.Let's let well enough alone, folks. When we hear that we have anabstract of title and everything, you can go over to Steeple Rocks, Dal,and tell him so."

  "I'll begin to cut down a few trees, then," said Dalton, with a grin."That will bring _him_ over fast enough."

  But their freedom from Mr. Ives was due to another cause, as they foundout at once; for when they came back from this trip, they found PeggyIves at the camp, in animated conversation with Beth. Beth was showingPeggy their camp and she was admiring the convenience of their "bungalowtent," when Leslie and Sarita appeared in the door.

  "Oh, here is our circus lady," cried Sarita before she thought. She andLeslie had so dubbed Peggy, but they had not intended to announce it.

  Peggy's eyes smiled at Sarita, however, as she turned from anexamination of the ruffled dressing table. "Is _that_ what you call me!I _was_ quite a performer, wasn't I? I just came over to tell you howmuch obliged I am that your brother made me jump before I got to thatawful place further on. I came to say 'thank you' to him, and then Iwant you all to come over to Steeple Rocks to have dinner with us."

  "Thank you, Miss Peggy," Elizabeth said at once. "I scarcely think thatwe can do that. You see, we have chiefly camping clothes, and we are notready for dinner at a home like yours."

  "Oh, we don't always dress for dinner. Mother lets me come in to thetable in my sport things. She wants to see you. Father had to go away onbusiness the very next day after I fell, and we haven't seen a thing ofhim since. I would have been over before, but I did give my ankle aterrible wrench and then I was sick a little, too. Mother said it was'shock,' but my nerves are all right!"

  "I'd think that the scare you had would do something to them," Saritaremarked.

  "It is ever so good of you to ask us over," Leslie added, glad thatElizabeth had started the "regrets," "but Beth is right about ourclothes, Peggy. _You'd_ better visit _us_ here. We'll have a beach partyand chowder. Wouldn't that be fun?"

  "Yes, it would. I'd like to; but still, we want to have you come toSteeple Rocks, too. Where are the clothes you traveled in? You will likemy mother. She is nicer than my father, and I am _very sure_ that shewill be disappointed if you can not come. She told me to bring youto-day if you would, and if you had something else that you were doingto-day, you could come to-morrow. Then she didn't know whether you had acar, or horses, or anything, if you thought it too far to walk. It'sterribly rough for a car, of course."

  They were outside, now, sitting upon the various seats that Dalton hadprovided, from stones, or logs found in the woods.

  "No, we haven't any car or any horses, but it is not too far for us towalk," gently said Elizabeth. "I still think, though, that, as Lesliesays, it would be better for you to visit us here. Stay to supper withus. Dal is fishing now. Sometimes he gets a big fellow that we canscarcely eat up."

  "I wouldn't dare stay this time, thank you. Mother would think that I'dhad another accident. Besides, the boy that you saw the other day iswith me. He stopped back in the woods on the way over from the road. I'd_love_ to stay, though." Peggy looked as if she were almost ready toyield, in spite of better judgment.

  "We
'll hurry up the meal," Leslie suggested. "There comes Dal now. Goand ask your friend to come too. It doesn't take any time to cook fishon our portable stove, and it will be such fun to have you."

  "I'd love to see how you do it! Well, I'll go and call Jack and see whathe says."

  Dalton reached the tent just as the "circus lady" was disappearing intothe woods. "'How now, Malvolio?'" he inquired facetiously. "Morecommunications from the Ives?"

  "Peggy came to say 'thank you,' Dal," Beth replied. "She is a dearlittle girl,--though for that matter, I imagine that she is only a yearor so younger than Leslie and Sarita."

  "She just told me that she is fourteen," said Leslie, who had walked alittle distance with Peggy. "She did it in such a funny way, saying thatperhaps we thought her too young to 'play with us,' but she _would_ liketo know us. Imagine, Dal." Leslie looked at her brother with a funnysmile that Elizabeth, naturally did not understand.

  "Why is that strange?" she asked. "I know that Dal does not like Mr.Ives, from something he said; but why shouldn't he like Peggy?"

  "There isn't any reason at all," Dalton answered. "She did give me alame shoulder and a few bruises and scratches on our first acquaintance,to be sure, but that was nothing."

  "This sounds as if your meeting Peggy were in a fight. Dal," Saritasaid, "but hurry up with that fish. Leslie and I will help you clean it,while Beth gets the things ready to cook it."

  Thus it happened that neither Leslie nor Sarita could offer a fishy handto Jack Morgan, who came hurrying into camp with Peggy, his blue eyessmiling and his frank face interested, as they could clearly see. Heacknowledged the introductions with the manner of a boy used to meetingpeople, and laughed when Leslie and Sarita displayed their hands,cleaning fish with Dalton over some paper which could be gathered up andburned later.

  "I hated to be hurried away that day when Peggy scared the Ives familynearly to death, but her father and I did not know but she might beseriously hurt after all; and after being shaken up by the ride home,she was glad enough to be taken care of in a hurry, weren't you, Peggy?"

  "M'm-h'm," nodded Peggy, watching operations with the fish. "If Dadhadn't been so cross over nothing, I wouldn't have minded so much."

  "He was worried, Peggy," said Jack. Leslie thought it good of him tomake excuses for his handsome but irritable host.

  At once they all liked Jack Morgan. He turned out to be a cousin ofPeggy's, whom Mrs. Ives had invited for the summer at Steeple Rocks.Peggy privately informed Leslie that Jack was worth a dozen of theirother guests, most of them friends of her father's, she said. But almosteveryone was grown up, she said, and Peggy had no chums of her own.Sarita and Leslie forthwith invited her to make chums of them, and theywere not a little touched at the eagerness with which Peggy accepted theoffer.

  The little hurriedly-prepared supper broke any remaining ice. When Jackfinally rode off with Peggy, both insisted that there must be a beachparty at Steeple Rocks very soon, to which all the camping party wouldcome. Beth thought that it would be very pleasant and accepted for thefamily, which was just as well; but she did not notice that while therest commented on the kindness of the invitation, none of them committedthemselves about coming.

  "We did that very well, Dal," Sarita remarked afterwards. "They knowthat we'd love to come, but if Mr. Ives appears and says anything, theymay remember that Beth was the only one who said anything definite aboutaccepting, and even she said 'if we can.' I am pretty sure that they areall regular summer folks with money and clothes and style."

  "It does not sound very well to hear Peggy criticise her father," Daltonsuggested, to the girls' surprise. They had seen Peggy go up purposelybut shyly to Dalton after supper, to say her "thank you," they supposed,and they had noticed Dalton's friendly response.

  "I thought of it, too," said Leslie, "and I am sure that Beth did; butat that, Peggy Ives may have reason to dread her father, even though sheshould not speak so before strangers. I don't trust him."

  Yet it was Leslie, on the very next day, when she was at the beach,alone, who accepted an invitation to enter the Ives' launch. She was thefirst one of the Secrest party to land at Steeple Rocks.