Missing at Marshlands

  CHAPTER VII A Noise in the Night

  "Well, what do you think of that?" Terry exclaimed as Arden and she,still in the boat at the little dock, watched Melissa get into Olga's carand drive away.

  "Suppose she kidnaps little Melissa?" Arden facetiously suggested. "Wemust tell Sim. I wonder where she is."

  "Sim! We're back!" Terry called. "Where are you?"

  "Here," Sim answered from inside the house. "I was writing a letter. Comeon up to my room and tell me all about it."

  Arden and Terry, each carrying an oar, almost ran from the dock to thehouse, and Sim, who could not wait for them to come up to her room, metthem at the door.

  "Tell me all about it! I'm sure something exciting happened. I can tellby your faces," Sim exclaimed quickly.

  "First, we'll tell you about the lovers' quarrel," Terry joked. "And if_they_ are lovers----"

  "They are not," flatly declared Arden. "More like partners in crime----"

  "Hey, there!" warned Sim, "no crime in this. Go ahead, children. Whathappened?"

  "Well, he was mad as hops when we got there," began Terry.

  "And she was, too," Arden added.

  "He practically said he hoped he'd never see her again," Terry resumed.

  "She was positively _livid_ when she got in the boat, and then she calmeddown and tried to be nice to us," Arden took up the tale.

  "He called me 'comrade.' Wasn't that sweet?" Terry wanted to know.

  "I can't figure it out at all," Sim confessed. "And from the window I sawMelissa Clayton get in the gay car--imagine that! Melissa's been hangingaround here all the time you were away. She walked around the house once,and then I saw her peek in the kitchen window."

  "What can she want, I wonder?" Arden mused. "She's a peculiar girl. Hopeshe isn't in any trouble with that sour old dad of hers."

  "Looks to me as though we've dropped right into the middle of anothermystery," Terry announced, nodding her head wisely. "Maybe there arealways mysteries, but only _wise girls_ really discover them."

  "Oh, Terry!" Sim exclaimed woefully. "I did so want to be lazy thissummer. Mysteries are terribly wearing."

  "Well, you can be as lazy as you want to be, but for my part I'm in thismystery up to my ears already, and I find it thrilling," Terry announcedfirmly.

  Dinner that night was a somewhat hectic meal, for no one had a chance tofinish a sentence about the mysterious Olga and the departure of Melissabefore someone else would break in with the announcement of a new theory.

  Ida, the maid, did her serving wide-eyed with amazement. She was not agirl to be easily frightened, but she possessed a great deal of naturalcuriosity. Despite Mrs. Landry's efforts to shift the conversation intoother channels, the names Dimitri, Olga, and Melissa popped upconstantly.

  Eventually the little house was quiet, with its occupants settled downfor the night. Sim and Arden in one room and Terry alone in her own.

  Sim and Arden literally talked themselves to sleep, but Terry lay awakefor a long time listening to the lap of the waves on the shore and thechirp of the crickets and grasshoppers in the sedges.

  It seemed as if Terry had just gone to sleep when she was awakened by asound somewhere in the house. She listened. It was a barely perceptiblesqueak, as if a window were being pushed up very gently. She started,then sat upright. Yes, there it was again. Then, without waiting for robeor slippers, she jumped out of bed and ran down the short hall to Sim andArden.

  "Arden! Sim!" she called. "Wake up!"

  "H-m-m?" grunted Sim sleepily.

  "Someone's trying to get in!" Terry whispered hoarsely.

  Arden was awake instantly. "Where, Terry?" she murmured.

  "Downstairs, I guess. Sh-h-h! Listen!" Terry put a warning finger to herlips.

  Sim was sitting up now, and the three girls were as quiet as statues inthe eerie moonlight streaming in the open window.

  "There it is again! Did you hear it? Just a tiny squeak," Terry asked.

  "It seems to be coming from the dining room. Had we better call yourmother?" Arden asked in a low voice.

  They listened again, with hearts pounding and eyes questioning. Whatcould it be? Or rather who could it be? Down at Oceanedge it wascustomary not to lock doors, and windows were usually left wide open. ButMrs. Landry, being city-bred, could never get out of the habit of lockingup for the night. Whoever it was, seemed deliberately trying to force upa window, and it sounded as if the hands were slipping on the glass.

  "Can you light the downstairs lights from up here, Terry?" asked Arden."Don't you think it would be a good idea to show them we're awake?"

  "Yes, of course, Arden," Terry quickly replied. "I should have thought ofthat before. I'll turn on the hall lights downstairs and give them analarm!"

  She slipped softly out into the hall and pushed a button. With a littlesnap the lights flashed on. Then silently the alarmists waited withapprehension. What should the next move be?

  The sound was not heard again, and the girls in Sim's room breathed alittle easier.

  "Do you think--they're gone?" Sim whispered.

  "I don't hear anything; do you?" Arden asked.

  "S-sh-h-h!" Terry hissed, and she went to the window.

  The scene below was flooded with moonlight. The sandy stretch, so clearand unbroken, could not possibly hide a marauder. Terry was hoping to seethe intruder make a dash for the safety of the garage shadow.

  "Look!" she whispered to the girls. "It's a woman!"

  Arden and Sim dashed to the window just in time to witness the flight ofsomeone, who, they did not know, in the bright moonlight. The figure wasoddly distorted both by the light and the height from which they werelooking.

  "Who?" Arden asked cryptically.

  Terry shrugged in reply. The figure ran swiftly and was almost instantlylost to sight in the shadow of the garage.

  "There's nothing we can do now," Terry remarked. "And there's no usewaking Mother. She'd only worry."

  "Perhaps we had better tell Chief Reilly in the morning," Ardensuggested. "Isn't it something new, having burglars around here?"

  "I never heard of one before. I didn't think they ever came down here,"Terry remarked. They were still looking out toward the garage.

  "But this could hardly have been an ordinary prowler," Sim reminded them."We may as well go back to bed. She surely won't come back, whoever shewas."

  "I'll leave the lights on downstairs. We must try to get some sleep,"Terry said, her stifled yawn entirely agreeing.

  "Want to come in here?" invited Arden to Terry, who roomed alone.

  "Oh--I don't know. I'm not afraid," Terry answered a little ruefully."But since you suggested it, yes, I guess I will. Move over, Sim."

  After all, three girls might be better than one for almost any midnightalarm.