CHAPTER XX
THE NIGHT PLOT
The girls looked at one another with startled glances. Cora bentforward eagerly in order to better hear what else was said. She had nocompunctions as to eavesdropping, feeling that it was justified underthe circumstances.
"They must mean Denny Shane, the old fisherman," whispered Bess.
"Hush!" cautioned Cora. Not only did she want to listen, but she wasfearful lest the men on the other side of the hedge discover thepresence of herself and her chums.
"Yes," resumed the speaker, "we must make old Shane do it. Once we gethim in the proper frame of mind he'll testify just as we want him to.And we need some testimony to offset that of the widow and her girl.Otherwise we'll never get the property without a long delay."
"But how can we get Shane in the proper frame of mind to testify as wewant him to?" asked another of the trio.
"Leave that to me," answered the one who had been in the fast motorboat. And Cora started as she noted the difference in his tone now. Itwas hard and cruel, while, in speaking to her, his accents had beenthose of a cultured gentleman, used to polite society. There was ametallic ring to his voice now that boded no good to Denny Shane.
"Yes, I guess we'll leave it to you, Bruce," said a voice, "thoughmaybe Kelly could put it over him with a bit of blarney. You knowShane is Irish."
"Hush! No names, and not so loud!" cautioned the one who had beenaddressed as Bruce.
"Who'd be listening?" asked the other.
"You never can tell, Moran," was the retort.
"There you go!" exclaimed Bruce, fretfully, and the girls knew it musthave been the one called Kelly who spoke that time.
There was a movement on the other side of the bush, and Cora, with asudden motion, crouched down, signalling the others to do the same. Itwas only just in time, too. Fortunately for the girls they were in asort of depression, and by crouching down they got out of sight, asone of the men came forward to peer through the underbrush. He sawnothing, as was evidenced by his report a moment later.
"There's not a soul here," he said. "There's been some picnic partyaround, but they've gone. It's as deserted as a graveyard."
"I'm glad we came away from our luncheon," whispered Cora, as the menresumed their talk. The wind sprang up, for a moment, and carriedtheir tones away from the girls, so that only an indistinct murmurcould be heard. Then there came clear talk again.
"Well, what's the program, then?" asked one whom the girls could tellwas Moran. He was the same man they had seen before in the drug store.
"Get at Shane first of all," decided Kelly. "I'm willing to let Brucedo it, even if I am Irish."
"We'll all have to call on him," said Bruce, grimly, "but only oneneed actually do the business. We've got to deal with him in two ways.We've got to make him tell what we want brought out in court, andwe've got to scare him so that he won't tell what we don't want known.And there are two ways of doing that."
"How?" asked Kelly.
"First we can offer him a reward. It will be worth it, even if we haveto pay something to have him testify as we wish. The committee allowedus a certain sum for--well, let us say for witness fees. I'd ratherpay him a hundred dollars and have it all over with. It's better tohave a friend than an enemy, and you never can tell which way a thinglike this is going to swing."
"Sposin' he won't take the cash?" asked Moran.
"Then I have another plan," and Bruce laughed bitterly. "I guess Idon't need to say what it is."
"I'm wise," remarked Kelly. "Only--not too rough, you understand. He'sa feeble old man."
"No rougher than's necessary," agreed Bruce.
Cora clasped her hands, and looked with fear in her eyes at her chums.
"We----we mustn't let them harm dear old Denny!" whispered Belle,shivering with nervousness.
"Hush!" cautioned Cora. "Don't talk--think!"
There was a movement on the other side of the screen of bushes, asindicating that the men were about to leave.
"Well, we'll let it go until to-night then," said Kelly.
"Until to-night," agreed Bruce. "And we know, in case of a slip-up,that there's no motor boat around here that can catch us when we makeour get-away."
"There's the _Dixie_," suggested Moran.
"She's out of commission, I heard," responded Bruce. "And she won't bein shape for a day or so. The _Chelton_--well, I gave her a try-out awhile ago, and I know what she can do."
"Oh, do you?" thought Cora. "Perhaps you don't."
"I have to laugh when I think how I took those girls in," went onBruce. "I pretending that I was a stranger in these waters, and theykindly offering to pilot me. I guess they took me for some societyswell of Bayhead."
"The mean thing!" hissed Lottie.
"Well, you can do the society act when you have to," said Kelly. "OnlyI guess we won't need that now. Shane doesn't move in society circles.How'd the game with the widow's daughter work out?"
"It didn't work at all. 'Confidence Kate' didn't gain her confidence.That's why I'm switching to Shane," answered Bruce. "But we'd betterbe going. There's lots to be done."
Cora and the motor girls listened in silence as the men crunched theirway down the beach to their boat.
A little later they were chugging away in the speedy _Pickerel_.
"Isn't that just awful!" gasped Belle.
"It's a villainous plot!" exclaimed Bess. "Oh, I'm so nervous! I knowI'm going to cry--or laugh--or do both."
"Bess Robinson, if you do anything foolish, or faint, you shan't do athing toward helping to save Denny Shane!" exclaimed Cora, vigorously."And I know you do want to help him."
"I certainly do. I'll behave. Oh, let me have a cup of tea."
"I think we'll all be better for it," assented Cora. "Come, girls,let's eat and then we'll get back. We, too, have a great deal to do."
"Do you mean that you girls are going to try to----to outwit thosedesperate men?" asked Marita, her eyes opened wide.
"We certainly do mean to!" insisted Cora. "Who else would do it?"
"Why, the police."
"There are only constables in a place like this. We can do better thanthey--especially with the boys to help."
"Oh, of course, the boys!" agreed Marita, and she seemed relieved.
"I must say it was most providential that we heard what they said,"spoke Lottie, looking to see if there were any grass stains on herdress.
"Indeed it was," assented Cora.
It was rather an excited little luncheon, but the hot tea did them allgood, and then, rapidly talking over what they had just gone through,and making all sorts of plans to outwit the schemers, the girls gotinto their boat again, and headed for the bungalow.
"Of course we must warn Denny at once," said Cora, and to this thegirls agreed. "Then we'll tell the boys, and see what they suggest.But I almost know what Jack will say!"
"What?" asked Lottie. She was very much interested in Jack.
"Oh, he'll want to hide and capture the villains 'red-handed,' as hecalls it."
"And I don't know but what that's as good a plan as any," remarkedBelle. "I'd like to see them do it!"
Cora and her chums found Mrs. Lewis rather worried over their absencefrom the bungalow. She had returned, unsuccessful, from seeing herfriends. Freda was recovering from the shock and fright of the daybefore.
"Where have you been?" Mrs. Lewis asked Cora.
"Oh, just off on a little picnic," was the answer, and Cora motionedto her chums to say nothing of what they had heard. They had agreedthat it would be better for the widow not to know, at least for thepresent.
"Dinner will be ready soon," suggested Mrs. Lewis.
"We'll have it a little late to-day," replied Cora. "We have had sometea, and I want to go over and see Jack. They haven't been around heresince we left; have they?"
"Oh, yes," answered Freda. "They were all here, wanting to know whereyou'd gone; but of course I couldn't say. Then they went out in yourbrother's boat, but they did
n't get far before they had a breakdown."
"It's the _Lassie_'s day off again," laughed Belle.
"Why didn't they take the _Dixie_?" asked Bess.
"Something is the matter with her, too," replied Freda.
Cora and her chums exchanged meaning glances. The talk of the men wasconfirmed. Evidently they had their own way of getting information.
"Well, we'll go over to Camp Couldn't," suggested Cora, after a pause."They're probably there now."
They found the boys grouped about, in and out of the tent.
"Here they come!"
"Where have you been, girls?"
"We've been lonesome for you!"
"How bright the day seems now, to what it was before!"
Thus chanted Jack, Walter, Ed and Dray Ward, as they saw the advancinggirls.
"Oh, stop that nonsense, Jack!" exclaimed Cora, as her brother waltzedforward to do a two-step on the moss with timid Marita.
"Why, what is wrong?"
"Lots!" she exclaimed, and her manner must have impressed Jack, for hegrew grave at once.
"Has anything more happened since last night?" he asked.
"There has. We've discovered the meanest plot to harm Denny Shane.Listen."
"We list!" recited Walter, but Cora quieted him with a look.
Then began the telling of the overheard conversation.
"Well, what do you know about that?"
"The nerve of that chap wanting a race!"
"We'll race _him_, all right!"
"And so they're going to do up old Denny, eh?"
"Well, I guess we'll have a hand in that!"
These were the comments of Jack and his chums.
"Now don't do anything rash," begged Cora.
"We've got to do _something_," insisted Jack.
After some consultation it was agreed that the boys should go over andhave a talk with the fisherman, and then, among themselves, they woulddecide on what was best to be done.
Meanwhile the girls would go back to the bungalow, there to await thereport of the boys. Nothing would be said to Mrs. Lewis, for she hadhad alarm enough.
It was anxious waiting for the girls, and they were so nervous thatthey did not enjoy the dinner Mrs. Lewis had prepared, at which lackof appetite she wondered much. But she ascribed their distraction, andtheir rather strange comments, to the alarm of the day before.
Finally the _Lassie_, which had somehow been induced to "mote," wasdescried coming across the bay from the direction of the oldfisherman's cabin.
"Come on, girls!" called Cora as she saw the boys. "We'll go down andmeet them." She did not want Mrs. Lewis to hear the talk.
"Well, Jack?" asked Cora, as the boat came in.
"Not well--bad," he said. "Denny wasn't at home, and no one knew wherehe had gone. So we left a note for him, and we'll be on handto-night."
"What about us?" asked Bess.
"You'd better stay here," said Jack. "No telling what sort of a row wemay run into, and you're better at home."
"I think so, too," agreed Cora, but the look she gave her chums hadmore meaning in it than the mere words indicated. Bess and the othersunderstood.
"And now," went on Jack, "we'll proceed to find out why the _Dixie_won't mote. We want her in shape to-night."
"That's right," assented Dray. "I think it's the carbureter. I'll geta man from the garage to look it over."
"We'll want a fast boat if the one those fellows have is as speedy asyou girls say," remarked Walter.
"Couldn't we take the _Chelton_?" asked Ed.
"The _Pickerel_ beat us to-day," said Cora. "Besides, it might be goodto have her in reserve. Try and have the _Dixie_ fixed up."
"We will!" promised her owner.
The remainder of the day seemed like a dream to the girls. Never hadtime passed so slowly. They were waiting for what the night mightbring.
The boys made several other trips to the fisherman's cabin, goingafoot through the woods, as the _Lassie_ had again gone on a strike,and a man from the garage was working over the _Dixie_.
The fisherman's cabin could be reached in two ways, but the waterroute was preferred by the young people, even though it was longer.
The boys could not find Denny at home, however, and planned to be athis cabin just at dusk, and to remain there until something happened.
"So we'll be sure to be there when the men arrive," said Jack.
Finally twilight came, and with the falling of night the repairs tothe _Dixie_ were completed. She seemed to be running better than insome time.
"Well, here we go!" remarked Walter, as the boys took their places inthe swift craft. "We'll let you girls know what happens--as soon as ithappens."
"You'd better!" laughed Cora. "We'll be very anxious."
She and her chums had come down to the dock to see the boys leave ontheir trip to save Denny from an unknown danger.
Then came more anxious waiting.