The Orchard Secret

  CHAPTER XXI A Bold Stroke

  With great difficulty Arden concentrated on her French literature.Daudet's "My Old Mill," seemed very silly and unnecessary. Who caredabout a sleepy French town, drowsing under a provincial sun? A realpresent-day mystery story would have been much more interesting and tothe point.

  Twice Mademoiselle cautioned Arden to pay more attention and finallycalled upon her to translate aloud. Arden arose and stumbled through twoparagraphs which she had known perfectly the night before.

  "That will do, Mees Blake," drawled the gentle Frenchwoman. "Eet isobvious you have not prepared ze assignment. You will please geeve me awritten translation, tomorrow morning, of today's work."

  "Yes, mademoiselle," gulped Arden and sat down.

  The events of the last few days were too much for even the conscientiousArden. She simply could not put her mind on the lesson but sat looking asthough all that mattered in her life was the charming essay the girlswere studying. In reality, however, Arden's mind was far away from thelittle mill town.

  While her classmates went on with their somewhat halting translations,Arden decided on a bold stroke. In her free period, directly aftermathematics, she would go alone over to town and hurry to the policestation. There she would inquire as to the latest developments of thePangborn case. If there was nothing to be learned no one would be thewiser for her daring escapade. For escapade it was, viewed in the factthat she was campused: forbidden to leave the precincts of Cedar Ridge.

  Suddenly Arden felt something of a thrill go through her.

  "I'll do it!" she exclaimed impulsively and half aloud. Then she lookedvery foolish as her classmates stared wonderingly at her.

  "Mees Blake, you are behaving very strangely today," said the Frenchteacher. "Please compose yourself."

  Arden shook her head as if in compliance and smiled weakly.

  "I wonder what that gardener, Anson, was talking about?" she mused. "I'msure he knows what strange mystery is in the orchard, anyway." Mentallyshe reviewed the startling happenings since she and her chums had come toCedar Ridge. It was all so puzzling. On wings of thought Arden flew overto the little stone building in town--Police Headquarters. Boldlyentering, she announced to the officer in charge her solution of thebaffling case of the missing heir and claimed the reward and then, intriumph, presented it to the dean for the repair of the swimming pool soSim would remain in college.

  "All a daydream, though," murmured Arden.

  As the bell rang, marking the end of the French period, Arden recoveredherself with a start. Quickly gathering up her books and papers, shehurried to her class in mathematics.

  This was worse than the preceding session. Now she was absolutely unableto concentrate in the least. Her poor brain whirled with visions ofgeometric figures punctuated with policemen in the disguise of gardeners.She flunked miserably and heard, with a sigh of relief, the ringing ofthe bell for which she had waited so impatiently.

  When the mathematics class was dismissed, Arden left hurriedly, for oncegetting away without Sim or Terry. She took a short cut across the hockeyfield and crawled through a hole in the hedge after a hasty and fearsomeglance backward to observe if anyone might be observing her.

  "Not yet, anyhow," she sighed with relief.

  This route brought her much nearer her destination.

  Arden hastened along the peaceful main street of the suburban town stillclutching her books. In front of a two-story building of mellowed redbricks, partly overgrown with dull green and bronzed ivy, she stopped.Two bright green lamps on each side of the doorway were in readiness toleap into emerald illumination of the sign POLICE HEADQUARTERS whichcaught and held her attention.

  "Dare I go in?" she mused.

  She dared. Gathering together all her courage, she opened the heavy door,its knob of bright brass, and entered. Inside a rather large bare roomall was serene. The dark wooden floor was scrubbed immaculately clean.Behind a heavy desk of light oak, around which high lights played on aglaring brass rail of heavy proportions, a man was reading a paper. Ardencould see him around one end of the desk, his two thick-soled shoeselevated and his hands holding the paper.

  "Ah--a-hem!" she coughed when, after several seconds, he did not seemaware of her presence.

  With a rustle of surprise the paper was lowered, displaying a red-facedmiddle-aged man who looked considerably startled. When he noticed Ardenhe lowered his feet from the desk and tried to look business-like.

  "I didn't hear you come in, young lady," he began. "What can I do foryou?"

  "Good-morning," Arden replied. "I didn't mean to startle you." To gaintime to think, she remarked about the beauty of the morning.

  "Very nice day," agreed the chief, for it was the head of the smallcountry department whom Arden had intruded upon: a fact she observed whenhe donned his cap, officially, and buttoned his gilt braid-encrustedcoat, which gaped wide open. He arose and stood at attention behind thedesk, smiling as he asked:

  "Is there something I can do for you?"

  "Well--yes. That is--you see----" Arden was quite flustered. But gainingcontrol of herself she began again:

  "I am at school--Cedar Ridge. The college, you know."

  The chief nodded helpfully, and a little look of wonder came over hisface. It was seldom he came in contact with the college girls.

  "I saw a circular in the post office, across from the college," went onArden. "It was about a man named Harry Pangborn, who is missing and----"

  "Oh, yes," interrupted the chief, very interested now. "The Pangbornposter--the place is full of them. Missing person posters. We put them upin public places and sometimes forget to take them down."

  Arden felt something of a chill.

  "Oh!" she gasped. "Are they so old, then?"

  "Some are. What did you want to know?"

  "That one about Harry Pangborn." Couldn't the chief have heard the nameat first?

  "Yes," he answered, without much encouragement.

  "It says a thousand dollars reward," Arden reminded him.

  "Just a moment." He smiled at her from behind his heavy desk, a safebreastwork, and went to a filing cabinet. Running his fingers along thetops of a row of cards he brought out one that had a poster fastened toit. "Is this the one?" he asked, holding it out to Arden.

  "That's it!" she answered. "I'm sure I've seen that man's face somewherearound here--in town, perhaps. Don't you know anything about him?"

  "Hum! No, not much. That's rather an old and dead case. We haven't muchto go on about him. I don't think you've seen _him_. If he was aroundhere any place, you can be sure we'd have apprehended him and claimed thereward ourselves."

  "Oh," murmured Arden, rather dismayed. "Then you don't think there's achance that I might have seen him?"

  "There's a bare chance, of course. But you want to make pretty surebefore you turn a man in as a person missing and for whom a reward isoffered. False arrest or detention is rather a serious charge, you know."

  "Yes, I know; that is, I suppose it is."

  Dispirited, Arden looked down at her dusty oxfords. Another of hercherished plans had fallen through. She took a long breath and, lookingat the chief again, remarked:

  "Well, thank you--very much. I must get back to class now." She turned toleave.

  "Just a moment!" called the chief rather sharply. "Why are you sointerested in this man?"

  "Oh, of course." Arden smiled disarmingly. "Only just so I might claimthe reward if I found him and have our college pool repaired. Theswimming pool, you know. It's broken."

  "Yes?" encouraged the chief.

  "Yes. It seemed like a good way to get the money. A friend of mine isawfully disappointed that she can't swim. I mean she can swim, but withthe pool broken she can't, and so I was trying to help and--and----"

  Arden was at the end of her resources. She turned and fled--beat a mostundignified retreat as she told herself later. But the chief was not soeasily disposed of. r />
  "Just a moment!" he called rather sharply, and came out from behind thedesk.

  "Oh!" gasped Arden to herself. "Is he going to arrest me--detain me forquestioning just because I have asked about the poster? If he does--whata terrible disgrace on top of what has already happened to me!"

  But the chief was kindly sympathetic and soon had drawn from Arden allthe story. She told him everything, about Sim's failure, her late return,about being campused and having to hide in the packing case. At this lastthe chief could not restrain a smile.

  "So that's why I wanted to find this man and claim the reward," finishedArden. "You see?"

  "Oh, yes, I see," admitted the chief, going back behind his massive desk."And I'm sorry. I can't help you any. We don't know where this missingyoung fellow is any more than you do. But don't forget I'll always behere if you need me, and I'll help you all I can."

  Arden murmured her thanks, promised to remember, and, bidding himgood-bye, left the building. She breathed a sigh of relief.

  Standing for a composing moment on the sidewalk in front of policeheadquarters, Arden looked up and down the quiet street.

  "Oh, my heavens!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Here comes Toots Everett!"

  And indeed it was. Toots, with her hair freshly finger-waved, was walkingbriskly in Arden's direction.

  Without waiting to greet her, Arden cut across the street and hurriedback to the college.