CHAPTER XX
CAUGHT
"That woman seems to--persecute us!" burst out Mollie, when the girlswere well on their way again, out of range of the sand dunes, going downthe beach where the salty air of the ocean and bay blew in their faces.
"Oh, hardly as bad as _that_," remarked Amy.
"Well, she always seems to be following us," insisted Mollie, "and I ampositively tired of being asked to her cottage to drink milk."
"I'd never touch a thing she offered," said Betty. "I would be afraid itwouldn't be--clean."
"She always seems to leer at one so," went on Mollie.
"Oh, you're making out a terrible case against the old woman," Grace putin, carefully selecting a chocolate from her supply.
"Well, she is very persistent," observed Betty. "And now let's forgetall about her, and the--well, I won't mention them, but you know what Imean," and she smiled at her chums. Indeed Betty was beginning to thinkshe had been just a little indiscreet in speaking aloud of the preciousstones.
"We'll just have a good outing, as we used to," she went on.
"Like the time when we found the five-hundred-dollar bill," suggestedAmy.
"Or when the girl fell out of the tree," added Mollie.
"Gracious! Those _were_ tragic times enough!" broke in Grace.
"But we enjoyed them--after they were over," added Betty. "And I thinkwe shall enjoy finding--well, finding what we did find, after Allenstraightens it out for us."
"Oh, is he going to straighten it out for us?" asked Mollie.
"Well, isn't he working hard on it?" Betty wanted to know.
"I thought Will was going to get us clues," Mollie went on. "Or yourfather?"
"Oh, of course they may find the owners, but they are waiting forsomething to be published in the papers."
"Well, is Allen doing any more?" Amy asked. "If he is he hasn't saidanything to us about it, though of course you'd be the first one tohear of it, Betty," she said, innocently enough.
"I?" cried the Little Captain, with upraised eyebrows. "Why I, pray?"
"Oh, because you and Allen are----"
"That's enough!" laughed Mollie. "Spare her blushes, child!"
"Oh!" exclaimed Amy, in confusion.
"You needn't worry about me," said Betty, quickly. "What I meant wasthat Allen is working on a plan to solve the mystery."
"Has he told you all about it?" Grace wanted to know.
"Not all. We agreed that it would be better to say nothing to any oneelse about it until he was ready to act."
"Oh, of course," admitted Mollie. "The fewer the outsiders are who knowabout the--well, let's call them 'apples,' and then no one will suspect.The fewer who know about the 'apples' so much the better. But I do hopewe each get one--'apple'--out of it," and she laughed.
"We ought to," returned Betty. She looked back toward the sand dunes,possibly for a sight of the old fishwife, but no one was in view.
The girls wandered on. The day was bright and beautiful, giving littlehint of the tragic occurrence that was in the air. It was as if theoutdoor girls were on one of the walking tours which they hadinstituted. The sand, however, was not conducive to rapid progress, andthey were content to stroll idly.
They were now past the place where the diamonds had been found, thoughthey were all anxious for a sight of the hole in the sand, to see ifthey could discover any signs that those who hid the precious stonesthere had come back to find their booty gone. But they did not think itwise to visit the place, with that queer old woman in the nearby sanddunes.
Now and then they would stop to pick up some prettier shell than usual,or to gather a few of the odd-shaped pebbles.
"They look just like that queer candy they sell in Tracey's," commentedGrace, as she rattled a handful of the little stones of various colors,shapes and sizes.
"Oh, the pebble candy--yes," assented Mollie. "I wonder what they willimitate next?"
"Plenty of wood here for a marshmallow roast," commented Amy, a littlelater, as she idly kicked the bits of drift on the beach.
"Yes!" exclaimed Grace. "But we didn't bring any. I meant to, but----"
"She had so much other candy she couldn't carry marshmallows,"interrupted Betty.
Grace threw a wisp of seaweed at her chum, but the Little Captain easilydodged it.
"I wonder if Percy will really come for us in the car?" asked Amy, aftera pause.
"Do you want him to?" asked Betty, with a smile.
"I? No, indeed!" and Amy's face was suffused with a blush.
"Oh, well, don't get fussy about it," mocked Mollie. "We don't want him,either."
"He'd have trouble running his car through this sand," Grace said. "It'sawfully deep and dry. Let's stop. When are we going to eat?"
"Eat?" cried Mollie.
"Eat?" echoed Amy. "Why we just had breakfast!"
"Eat?" spoke Betty, in a tone characterized as "dull and hopeless," instories. "Why, Grace Ford, if you have done anything else buteat--candy--ever since we started on this picnic, I'd like to know it!"
Poor Grace looked a little startled at this combined attack on her.
"Why, I--I haven't done anything," she said, innocently enough. "I justasked when you were going to eat and you take me up as though I hadproposed throwing those--'apples'--we found, into the sea."
"If you look back along the way you'll see at least three empty candybags," declared Betty.
"Oh, well, they were little bags," protested Grace. "I had them put insmall bags on purpose so I would know just how much I was eating."
"I don't believe you ever know how much candy you are eating," laughedMollie. "Never mind, Grace, we all have our faults."
"We'll eat soon," promised Betty. "I want to get in the shade."
They strolled on, walking near the wet edge of the sand where the tidewas coming in, for that section of the beach made firmer footing.
"There's a good place for our picnic," finally decided Mollie, as shesaw a little clump of scrub evergreens which grew rather close to thewater. "We can eat and have a fine view at the same time."
"Is that the boys' boat out there?" asked Mollie, as they made their waytoward the bit of shade.
"No, that's a small schooner. It's been anchored there for some days,"Betty said. "There's something queer about it, too."
"Something queer?" repeated Amy.
"Yes, the men in it don't seem to be gathering clams, which work all theother schooners are engaged in around here, and they're not netfishermen aboard her."
"Who told you that?" asked Mollie.
"Old Tin-Back. He notices anything odd about the boats. He said hepassed her in his dory the other day, and some one yelled to him not tocome too close."
"Why was that?" Grace asked.
"That's what Tin-Back didn't know. He thought it was very strange,"Betty went on. "But come on, I know Grace must be--famished! Aren't you,my dear?"
The baskets were opened, and the contents spread out on a cloth on thesand. Grace reached for the bottle of olives.
"For an appetizer," she explained.
"You need it, after munching candy all the way here," commented Mollie.
And then, as they ate, the girls talked of many matters, now and thenlooking off toward the bay or ocean, whereon could be seen many vessels,mostly little clamming schooners, drifting with the wind on theirsquared sails, dragging the big rakes along the bottom. But the schoonerof which Betty had spoken rose and fell at her anchor, and there was nosign of life aboard.
"This is just perfect," remarked Grace, as she found a comfortableposition, leaning back against a tree. "Please don't disturb me, anyone, I'm going to sleep."
"I believe I'll join you," added Mollie. "Salt air always makes medrowsy. Or perhaps it is the effect of the bright sun on the sand."
While Mollie and Grace closed their eyes, Betty dug idly in the sand,and Amy produced a handkerchief and a tiny embroidery frame and beganinitialling a corner.
"Virtuous girl," obse
rved Betty. "You shame us all by your industry."
"It's only that I promised Henry I would put his initials on some newhandkerchiefs he bought," Amy explained. "I must hurry and finish them,for he is going West on a trip soon."
"It's nice to have a brother," remarked Betty, idly.
She tossed some sand and little pebbles toward Grace, but the latter hadactually gone to sleep, and the deep and regular breathing of Mollieproclaimed the same fact.
"Oh, I can't stand this!" the Little Captain cried, a few minutes later."I want to do something. Let's go for a little walk, Amy, and let themsleep."
"All right."
"Will you go as far as the place where we found the--'apples'?" askedBetty, with a look around to be sure no stray fishermen were in theneighborhood.
"Yes, if you like."
"Then come on. I want to see if the men came back, and tried to find thebox that was buried in the sand."
It was rather a longer walk than Betty had thought, but finally she andAmy came within sight of the lone fisherman's hut, and the log that layon the edge of the hole in the sand, though the latter, so Bettyexpected, would be filled up by the action of the waves or wind erethis.
"I do hope that horrid old woman doesn't invite us in again," Bettyremarked. "She is a--pest!"
The Little Captain and Amy were walking down the sands, in the midst ofa number of high dunes, or hills.
"There's the place!" Betty said. "It doesn't seem to have been----"
A noise behind caused her to turn suddenly. A scream came to her lips,but it was choked off by the sudden forward rush of the old crone whoroughly placed her withered hand over Betty's mouth.
"I--I've got her!" she croaked. At the same time a man caught Amy by thearm, and stifled her impending cry in the same manner.
THE OLD CRONE PLACED HER HAND OVER BETTY'S MOUTH.--_Page162._
_The Outdoor Girls at Ocean View._]