The Phantom Town Mystery

  CHAPTER VIII SINGING COWBOYS

  "What was that?" Mary sat up in bed, blinked her eyes hard to get themopen, then leaped out, and, keeping hidden, peeped down into the dooryard. Near the back porch stood Jerry Newcomb's dilapidated old car, graywith sand. Two cowboys stood beside it, evidently more intent upon anexamination of the machinery under the hood than they were of the house.Although they were whistling, to attract attention, they pretended to bepatiently waiting. Carmelita had informed Jerry that the girls stillslept.

  Mary pirouetted back into the room, her blue eyes dancing. "The boys aregoing to take us somewhere, I'm just _ever_ so sure," she told the girl,who, sitting on the side of the bed, was sleepily yawning.

  "Goodness, _why_ did they come so early?" Dora asked drowsily.

  "Early!" Mary laughed at her and pointed at the little blue clock on thecurly maple dresser. "Dora Bellman, did you ever sleep so late before inall your life?"

  "Yeah." Dora seemed provokingly indifferent to the fact that the boyswaited below, and that, perhaps, oh, ever so much more than likely, theywere going adventuring. "Once, you remember that time after a schooldance when the boys from the Wales Military Academy--"

  Mary skipped over to the bedside and pulled her friend to her feet. "Oh,_please_ do hurry!" she begged. "I feel in my bones that the boys aregoing somewhere to try to solve the mystery and that they want to take uswith them."

  Dora's dark eyes stared stupidly, or tried hard to give that impression."What mystery?" she asked, indifferently, as she began to dress.

  "I refuse to answer." Mary was peering into the long oval mirror brushingher short golden curls. Her lovely face was aglow with eager interest."There is only _one_ mystery that we are curious about as you knowperfectly well and that is what became of poor Little Bodil Pedersen."

  Although Mary was looking at it, she was not even conscious of her ownfair reflection. She glanced in the mirror, back at her friend, and sawher grinning in wicked glee.

  Whirling, brush in hand, Mary demanded, "What _is_ so funny, Dora? Youaren't acting a bit natural this morning. What made you grin that way?"

  "I just happened to think of something. Oh, maybe it isn't so awfullyfunny, but it's sort of uncanny at that. I was thinking that, pretty as_you_ are on the outside, you've got a hollow, staring-eyed skeletoninside of you and that if I had X-ray eyes--"

  Mary, with a horrified glance at her teasing friend, stuffed her fingersinto her ears. "You're terrible!" She shuddered.

  Dora contritely caught Mary's hands and drew them down.

  "Belovedest," she exclaimed, "I'm just as thrilled as you are at theprospect of going buggy riding with two nice cowboys whether we find poorLittle lost Bodil (who is probably a fat old woman now) or solve anyother mystery that may be lying around loose."

  Mary was still pouting. "It doesn't sound a bit like you to pretend--"

  Dora rushed in with, "_That's_ all it is, believe me! There, now I'mdressed, all but topping off. What do you think we'd better wear?"

  "Let's put on our kimonas until we find out where we're going, then we'llknow better _what_ to wear. Jerry may have an errand over in Douglas and,if so, we'd want to dress up."

  Mary's Japanese kimona was one of her treasures. It was heavy blue silkwith flowers of gold trailing all over it. Dora's laughing, olive-tintedface reflected a glow from her cherry-colored silk kimona with its borderof white chrysanthemums.

  Carmelita, who was in the act of reheating the breakfast for the girls,who she felt sure would soon be coming, stared at them open-eyed andmouthed when she saw them tripping through the kitchen.

  In very uncertain Spanish they called "Good morning" to her, then burstupon the boys' astonished vision.

  Dick, snatching off his sombrero, held it to his heart while he made adeep bow. Jerry, bounding forward, caught Mary's two small hands in his.Then he held her from him as he looked at her with the same reverentadmiration that he would have given a rarely lovely picture.

  "I don't know a word of Japanese," Dick despaired, "so how can I make mymeaning clear?" His big, dark eyes smiled at Dora, who gaily retorted,"We didn't know that our prize costumes would strike you boys dumb. If wehad, we wouldn't have worn them, would we, Mary?"

  "I'll say not," that little maid replied. "We're wild to know _why_you've come when you _should_ be roping steers or mending fences, if thatis what cowboys do in the middle of the morning."

  "Oh, we're going to explain our presence all right. We made it up whilewe came along--" Dick began, when Jerry interrupted with, "You girls haveheard range-ridin' songs, I reckon, haven't you?"

  "Oh, no," they said together.

  "That is, not real ones," Dora explained. "We've heard them in thetalkies."

  "Well, this is a real one all right. Just fresh from the--er--" Dickglanced sideways at Jerry who began in a low sing-song voice:

  "Two cowboys in the middle of the night,"

  Dick joined in:

  "Did their work and they did it right. Come, come, coma, Coma, coma, kee. Coma, coma, coma, Kee, kee, kee."

  "That," said Dick with a flourish of the hand which still held hissombrero, "is why we have time to play today."

  The girls had been appreciative listeners. "Oh, isn't there any more toit?" Dora cried "I thought cowboy songs went on and on; forty verses ormore."

  "So they do!" Jerry agreed. "But I reckon _this_ one is too new to bethat long, but there is another verse," he acknowledged.

  Then in a rollicking way they sang:

  "Two cowboys who were jolly and gay Wished to go adventuring the next day. Come, come, coma, Coma, coma, kee. Coma, coma, coma, Kee, kee, kee."

  Then, acting out the words by a little strutting, they sang lustily:

  "Two cowboys who were brave and bold Took two girls in a rattletrap old. Come, come, coma, Coma, coma, kee. And that's _all_ of it If you'll come with me."

  Dick bowed to Dora and Jerry beamed upon Mary.

  "Oh, Happy Days! We're keen to go," Dora told them, "but _where_?"

  The answer was another sing-song:

  "The two cowboys were on mystery bent. They went somewhere, but _you'll_ know where they went If you'll come, come, coma, Come in our old 'bus, Come, come, coma, _Come with us_."

  Carmelita, who had appeared in the kitchen door, started chattering inSpanish and Jerry laughingly translated, rather freely, and not quite asthe truly deferential cook had intended. "Carmelita asks me to tell yougirls that she has reheated your breakfast for the last time and that ifyou don't come in now and eat it, she's going to give it to the cat."

  "Oho!" Mary pointed an accusing finger at him. "I _know_ you are makingit up. Carmelita wouldn't have said that, because there _is_ no cat."Then graciously, she added, "Won't you singing cowboys come in and have acup of coffee, if there is any?"

  Jerry asked Carmelita if there was enough of a snack for two starvedcowboys who had breakfasted at daybreak and that good-natured Mexicanwoman declared that there was batter enough to make stacks more cakes ifJerry wanted to fry them. _She_ had butter to churn down in the coolingcellar.

  Mary insisted that she be the one to fry the cakes, but Jerry and Dickinsisted equally, that she should not, dressed up like a Japaneseprincess.

  "Grease spatters wouldn't look well tangled up in that gold vine," Jerrytold her.

  With skill and despatch, Jerry flipped cakes and Dick served them. Then,while the girls went upstairs to don their hiking suits with the shortdivided skirts, the boys ate small mountains of the cakes.

  "Verse five!" Dick mumbled with his mouth full.

  "Two cowboys with a big appetite They could eat flapjacks all day and all night. Come, come, coma, Coma, coma, kee. Those cowboys, Jerry, Are You and me."

  Back of them a laughin
g voice chanted, "Verse six."

  "Two cowgirls are ready for a lark. Oho-ho, so let us embark. Come, come, coma, Coma, coma, kee."

  Dick and Jerry sprang up and joined the chorus with:

  "We'll coma, coma, coma With glee, glee, glee."