XX
The afternoon papers carried the story of the mysterious disappearanceof Queen Teresa and her bodyguard, but strangely enough, there was verylittle in the story about the Evergreen. Indeed the store was merelymentioned in the closing paragraph which reminded Waloo where QueenTeresa had been found.
Granny had been interviewed, and she had tearfully told of theappearance of a white-headed, big-nosed, fat man who had wanted to buythe Sunshine Islands, and who had threatened the queen with all sorts ofbarbarous cruelties if she did not abdicate at once. Granny made nobones about telling the press what she knew of Frederic Pracht, whichwas little, and what she thought of him, which was much.
"I don't believe the Sons of Sunshine have anything to do with this,"she insisted. "I think it was all that Pracht man. He stole the marriagelicense of her father and mother, and now he's stolen her. I know hehas!"
"Be careful, Granny," cautioned Joe with a worried frown. "You don'twant to say anything that will make it worse for Tess."
"No, I don't!" choked Granny. "But I think people should know thetruth. I'm not as pleased with this queen business as I was, Joe. I usedto think it was grand to be a queen, and there are parts of it that arepleasant, I must say, but there are other parts that I don't hold withat all. I don't see how Pete stood it all alone, away off there in thePacific Ocean. I've just about made up my mind that Tessie shan't evergo there. She's too little and helpless. What could she do, if thosesavages should turn against her? You don't think any one would hurtlittle Tessie, do you, Joe? She's all right, isn't she?" And she wentcloser to Joe and peered into his face so that her eyes, as well as herears, could tell her what Joe thought. "You'll find her for me, won'tyou, Joe?"
"Sure, we'll find her!" declared Joe, with far more confidence than hefelt. "The police--every officer in Waloo!--is trying to find her!"
"I'll bet the Boy Scouts can find her!" bragged Johnny, who was thrilledto the very marrow to think that his sister--his own sister who was aqueen--had been kidnaped. Gee whizz! what would the fellows say!
Joe gave a start and looked at Johnny. "Thunder!" he said slowly, andthen he added more quickly, "Johnny, I believe you've said something!Who's at the head of your Scouts?"
"We got a Scoutmaster for every troop," boasted Johnny, but Joe did notwait for him to finish. Joe was at the telephone impatiently askingCentral for heaven's sake to give him the number he wanted, and not halfa dozen numbers he couldn't use.
In an incredibly short time, each Scoutmaster in the city had been askedto have the boys in his troop help find the missing queen of theSunshine Islands.
"Your boys have been taught to observe," Joe eagerly told theScoutmasters. "Perhaps one of them saw the car which carried off MissGilfooly." Joe never could speak of Tessie as Queen Teresa. It was tooridiculous, and then he did not believe in queens. "The number is13,023. Just get in touch with your Scouts, and ask them if they haveseen it. I know it's just a chance, but Waloo is so big and MissGilfooly is so little that we have to snatch at every chance. Herbrother is a Scout, you know," he added, while Johnny stood beside himall puffed with pride.
"We'll do our best!" promised the Scoutmasters. "And our boys are allover town. If one of them saw the car, I'm sure he'll report at once.Sorry about the queen. She seemed a nice little girl!"
"She is a nice little girl!" declared Joe, with considerable emphasis.
"You'll find her all right," prophesied the Scoutmaster. "Queens can'tbe kidnaped in this country."
"Miss Gilfooly was kidnaped!" Joe reminded him curtly. "If you hearanything, call me up at once, at the Waloo!"
He did not feel quite as confident as the Scoutmaster, as he hung up thereceiver, but he nodded encouragingly to Granny.
"They'll find her," he said.
"I'm sure I hope so," wailed Granny. "Poor little Tessie! I never shouldhave allowed her to be a queen! I might have known there would betrouble! Queens aren't as fashionable as they were."
"No," agreed Joe. "They aren't. Gee whizz, Granny!" He jumped to hisfeet and stared down at Granny. "Where do you suppose Tessie is? AndKa-kee-ta? I'd like to ring old Kingley's neck!" he said fiercely.
Granny stumbled to her feet and stared at him. "What has he got to dowith it?" she said quickly. "What has Mr. Kingley got to do withTessie's being kidnaped, Joe?" She caught his arm and held it tight asshe questioned him.
"That," Joe told her with a frown, "is something I'm going to find out."
"But there must be something that makes you think he had a hand in it?"insisted Granny, clinging to his arm.
"Nothing definite," scowled Joe. "But it was his car that carried Tessieaway!"
Granny clutched his arm tighter and shook him. "You don't think Mr.Bill had a hand in it too, Joe?" she cried shrilly. "You don't blame Mr.Bill too, do you?"
"No!" Joe shook his head. He did not see how Mr. Bill could be blamed.Mr. Bill had been working untiringly to find a clue which would lead himto Tessie. He had sworn a mighty oath that he would not close his eyesuntil he found Tessie. "No," Joe told Granny, "I don't think BillKingley knows any more than I do."
"Oh!" Granny released Joe's arm and dropped into a chair. "I thoughtperhaps you might mean that Tessie had eloped with Mr. Bill, and hisfather knew about it. I thought that was what you might mean when yousaid you'd like to wring old Mr. Kingley's neck."
"No, I didn't mean that!" But Joe did not tell her what he did mean. Hejust stood and stared at the telephone, as if he would force it to ringand tell him where Tessie was.
Granny threw her handkerchief over her face and broke into loudlamentations. Johnny ran to her.
"Don't you cry, Granny! Don't you cry! The Scouts'll find Tessie allright! I wish you'd let me go and help them!"
Granny put her arms around him tight. "No, you can't go, Johnny!" shesobbed. "You can't go! The Sons of Sunshine might take you, too. Youstay here with me!"
"It's dreadful!" Norah Lee told Joe. Norah's face was white and anxious,and her voice shook. "If you only knew where to look!"
"That's it!" groaned Joe. "We haven't any idea where to look! It's worsethan a needle in a haystack! She might be anywhere!"
"Poor little queen!" sighed Norah. "You know, Joe, there have beenmoments when I've envied her. I know it was silly, but I did! It was soromantic, you know, and old Mr. Kingley and everybody made such a fussover her. The world just seemed to center around Tessie Gilfooly. Therest of us weren't there at all. We all envied her!"
"You can't envy her now!" Joe had nothing but scorn for one who envied aqueen. He looked oddly at Norah. He could not see why Norah should envyany girl.
"No, we can't envy her now. I'm awfully sorry for you, Joe," she saidafter a moment. "You must be nearly crazy!"
"It's not knowing where she is," Joe said simply. "And when you thinkwhat savage brutes those Sunshine Sons really are, it's enough to makeus all crazy!"
"Poor old Joe!" And Norah put her hand on his and squeezed his fingerswith friendly sympathy. "Poor old Joe!"
"I'm not any good at all," frowned Joe. "That's what takes the starchout of a fellow. I don't know what to do! Bill Kingley is runningaround town like a mad dog, but he isn't getting anywhere. We aren't anyof us as helpful as Johnny here."
Johnny raised his head from Granny's shoulder. "The Boy Scouts'll help!"he insisted. "You just see!"
At almost that very moment Charlie Deakin, the young Scoutmaster ofBeaver Troop in Northeast Waloo, was going home in the early twilight.He had been thrilled to his heels when Joe called him to the telephone,and asked him to help find Queen Teresa. He had been interested in thequeen ever since he read the first story in the _Gazette_. He had goneto the sale in the Evergreen basement for the benefit of the SunshineIsland's shoe fund, and had bought an aluminum stewpan which he hadgiven to his mother, to her undying amazement. He often had seen Tessiedriving with her bodyguard and had admired both of them immensely. Andnow the queen had been kidnaped! He could not believe that any one wouldbe so dastardly as to
kidnap such a charming little girl. But if any onehad, he would like to find her. He would give everything he had in theworld to find her. And as he went home in the early twilight, heconsidered several plans for calling his troop together, and setting theboys to the task so that they really would find Queen Teresa. At thecorner he met Neddie Black, who was an ardent young Scout.
"Hello, Ned!" called Charlie. "I'm glad I met you! I've work for you todo! What's that in your hand?" For from Neddie's fingers dangled abeaded bag, something no Scout would carry.
"I picked it up in the street," explained Neddie, "but I can't find theowner. I thought it belonged to a girl who went into that red-brickhouse, but no one answered when I rang the bell. There is a dollar andseventy-five cents in it, a vanity case, a handkerchief, a pencil, a lotof samples, some pieces out of the newspaper, a veil, three chocolatesand a piece of paper. See!" And he showed Charlie a card on whichseveral words were scribbled.
"'Talcum powder,'" read Charlie Deakin. "'Frederick O'Brien's South SeaIsland book!'" His voice rose excitedly. "'Insect powder.' 'Cocoanut oilfor Ka-kee-ta!' Where did you find this, Ned?" He gave Ned a littleshake, as he questioned him eagerly.
Ned told him that he had been playing ball with a bunch of fellows inthe vacant lot over there--he nodded in the direction of the red-brickhouse--and a limousine had driven up to the curb. Their ball had rolledunder the car--the license number was 13,023--Neddie proudlyremembered, and he had run to pick it up and had found the purse.
"A girl got out of the car. I supposed it belonged to her. But when Irang the bell, nobody came to the door. The car had gone away, so I putthe bag in my pocket. Whose is it, Mr. Deakin, do you know?"
"Neddie Black!" exclaimed Charlie, his voice shaking with excitement."You go and sit on that curb!" he pointed to the curb in front of thered brick house. "And if any one comes out of that house, you yell as ifyou were being killed. I have to telephone!" He looked wildly about fora telephone.
"What is it, Mr. Deakin?" begged Neddie, pulling his sleeve. "What isit?" He knew it was something, because Mr. Deakin was so excited and sobreathless. He felt a little tingle of excitement himself.
"It means we have a clue to Queen Teresa!" declared Charlietriumphantly. "I'll go in here and telephone, and if you see any onecome out of that house, you yell. Gee whizz! Wouldn't it be great if wewere to find the Queen! Just suppose she is in the house now!" He staredat the house. "I believe I'll ring the bell and see!"
"Nobody answers the bell!" Neddie told him. "I rang and rang and nobodycame. I'll sit here, Mr. Deakin, and play ball while you telephone, andif anybody comes out, I'll yell like sixty. You go and telephone!"
"Well--" Charlie hesitated. He hated to turn his back on the red brickhouse for fear some one would come out, but he really could do nothingalone. He was not even sure that the little bag belonged to the queen,although he thought it did. The memorandum which mentioned insectpowder, Ka-kee-ta, and cocoanut oil should be proof enough for anybody.No one but Queen Teresa would be buying cocoanut oil for Ka-kee-ta. Ofcourse, the bag belonged to the Queen! And Neddie had found it in frontof that house, and so the Queen must be in the house. He would telephoneto Joe, and when Joe came with the police, he would go with them andfind the Queen. And while he telephoned, the Boy Scout would be onguard.
"Keep your eyes and ears open, Neddie," he cautioned as he turned towardthe house on his left. "Don't let anything get by you!"
"You bet!" promised Neddie confidently. He threw his ball into the airand caught it, and then bounced it up and down until it led him in frontof the red brick house. "I'll keep my eyes and ears wide open," he toldhimself proudly. "I bet it'll be a good deed if I find a Queen!"