Saboteurs on the River

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  Saboteurs on the River

  _By_ MILDRED A. WIRT

  _Author of_ MILDRED A. WIRT MYSTERY STORIES TRAILER STORIES FOR GIRLS

  _Illustrated_

  CUPPLES AND LEON COMPANY _Publishers_ NEW YORK

  _PENNY PARKER_ MYSTERY STORIES

  _Large 12 mo. Cloth Illustrated_

  TALE OF THE WITCH DOLL THE VANISHING HOUSEBOAT DANGER AT THE DRAWBRIDGE BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR CLUE OF THE SILKEN LADDER THE SECRET PACT THE CLOCK STRIKES THIRTEEN THE WISHING WELL SABOTEURS ON THE RIVER GHOST BEYOND THE GATE HOOFBEATS ON THE TURNPIKE VOICE FROM THE CAVE GUILT OF THE BRASS THIEVES SIGNAL IN THE DARK WHISPERING WALLS SWAMP ISLAND THE CRY AT MIDNIGHT

  COPYRIGHT, 1943, BY CUPPLES AND LEON CO.

  Saboteurs on the River

  PRINTED IN U. S. A.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE 1 TROUBLE AFLOAT _1_ 2 FRONT PAGE NEWS _11_ 3 STRAIGHT FROM THE SHOULDER _21_ 4 AN UNWARRANTED ATTACK _28_ 5 HELD ON SUSPICION _36_ 6 OLD NOAH _44_ 7 ARK OF THE MUD FLATS _54_ 8 THE GREEN PARROT _62_ 9 A JOB FOR MR. OAKS _70_ 10 SALVAGE AND SABOTEURS _78_ 11 PURSUIT BY TAXI _86_ 12 JERRY'S DISAPPEARANCE _94_ 13 A VACANT BUILDING _101_ 14 TEST BLACKOUT _110_ 15 A DRIFTING BARGE _120_ 16 DANGER ON THE RIVER _127_ 17 A STOLEN BOAT _134_ 18 PENNY'S PLAN _145_ 19 STANDING GUARD _153_ 20 A SHACK IN THE WOODS _163_ 21 THROUGH THE SKYLIGHT _170_ 22 A SEARCHING PARTY _177_ 23 HELP FROM NOAH _184_ 24 A MESSAGE IN THE BOTTLE _193_ 25 A BOW IN THE CLOUD _201_

  CHAPTER 1 _TROUBLE AFLOAT_

  A girl in blue slacks, woolen sweater and tennis shoes strode jauntilyalong the creaking boards of the dark river dock. A large white cottonbag slung carelessly over one shoulder added to the grace of the litheyoung figure.

  "Hi, Penny!" called a young man who tinkered with the engine of amotorboat. "Out to bury the body?"

  Penny Parker chuckled and shifted the bag to the opposite shoulder. "Justthought it would be a good night for a sail, Bill. Have you seen LouiseSidell sneaking around anywhere?"

  Before the young sailor could answer, a voice shouted from the darkness,"Here I am!"

  Turning her head, Penny glimpsed her chum, a chubby silhouette in themoonlight. Louise, warmly dressed, already was comfortably established inone of the small sailing boats tied up at the wharf.

  "Time you're arriving," she said accusingly as Penny tossed the sail baginto her hands. "You promised to meet me here at eight o'clock. It's atleast eight-thirty now."

  "Sorry, old dear." Penny leaped nimbly aboard and with practiced fingersbegan to put up the mainsail. "After I 'phoned you, I got hung up athome. Dishes and all that sort of thing. Then Dad delayed me ten minuteswhile he lectured on the undesirability of daughter taking a moonlightsail."

  "I gather you gained the better of the argument," Louise grinned. "Mothermade me agree to wear a life-preserver. Imagine! And there's barelyenough wind stirring to whiff us across the river."

  For many years Penny and Louise had been chums. Students at RiverviewHigh School, they enjoyed the same sports, particularly swimming andsailing. The little mahogany dinghy, appropriately named "Pop's Worry,"was owned by Penny's father, Anthony Parker, editor of Riverview's mostenterprising newspaper, the _Star_.

  Together with Mrs. Maud Weems, a housekeeper who had cared for Pennysince her mother's death, he never felt entirely easy when the girls wereon the river at night. Nevertheless, Penny was an excellent sailor andrather gloried in the record that her boat had overturned only onceduring the past season.

  "All set?" she asked Louise, casting off the ropes one by one.

  As Penny shoved the boat away from the dock, the flapping sail stiffenedto the breeze. Louise ducked her head to avoid the swinging boom.

  Bill Evans, watching from shore, called a friendly warning: "If you'replanning to sail down river, better not get too close to Thompson'sbridge! The new regulations say seventy-five feet."

  "We'll give it a wide berth," responded Penny. She sailed the boat outthrough the slip into the main channel of the Big Bear river. When wellbeyond the dock she commented sadly: "Poor old Bill. Always givingadvice. Guess he can't help it."

  "His boat's just a leaky tub," replied Louise. "I hear it sunk twicewhile tied up to the dock. One has to feel sorry for him and treat himwith kindness."

  Penny steered "Pop's Worry" in a diagonal course down stream. On eitherside of the shore, from houses, factories, and a nearby amusement park,lights twinkled and were reflected on the unruffled surface of the water.The breeze was soft and warm; the stars seemed very close. Overhead adisc of orange moon rode lazily, now and then dodging behind a fleecycloud.

  "It's a perfect night to sail," Louise said, snuggling amid the cushions."Wish we'd brought the phonograph along."

  "Uh-huh," Penny agreed, her gaze on an approaching motorboat.

  The oncoming craft showed no lights. Uncertain that the pilot would seePop's Worry, she focused the beam of her flashlight high on the mainsail.The motorboat altered its course instantly and completely. Instead ofturning only enough to avoid the sailing craft, it circled in a sharp arcand sped toward the opposite shore. There it was lost to view amid a darkfringe of trees.

  "It's against the regulations to cruise without lights," Penny commented."Wonder who piloted that boat?"

  "Whoever he was, you seemed to frighten him away."

  "He did turn tail when he saw my light," Penny agreed, scanning thedistant shore. "I imagine the boat came from Ottman's. At least it lookedlike one of theirs."

  Ottman's--a nautical supply shop and boat rental dock--was well known,not only to the girls, but to all sailors who plied nearby waters. Ownedand operated by a brother and sister, Sara and Burt
Ottman, theestablishment provided canoes, sea skiffs and rowboats to all who wereable to pay the hourly rate. Because many of the would-be boatmen weremore venturesome than experienced, seasoned sailors were inclined to eyesuch pilots with distrust.

  "Careful, Penny!" Louise called as she saw the mainsail begin to flap inthe wind. "You're luffing!"

  Reminded of her duties as steersman, Penny headed the little boat on itscourse once more. As the sail again became taut, she noticed a smallobject floating in the water directly ahead. At first she could not becertain what it was, and then she decided that it must be a corkedbottle.

  Deliberately Penny steered close to the object. Remarking that a bottlewould create a hazard for the propellers of a motorboat, she reached tosnatch it from the water. The current, however, swung it just beyond herreach.

  "Bother!" she exclaimed in annoyance. "I want that bottle!"

  "Oh, what do you care?" Louise demanded with a shrug. "Someone else willfish it out."

  "It could do a great deal of damage. Besides, as it floated past, Ithought I saw a piece of paper inside."

  "If you aren't the same old Penny!" teased Louise. "Always looking for amystery. I suppose you think yonder bottle bears a note telling wherepirates buried their treasure?"

  "Probably just a paper requesting: 'Please write to your lonely pen pal.'All the same, I must find out." Keeping her eye on the floating bottle,Penny skillfully brought the boat about.

  "Take the tiller a minute, please," she requested her chum.

  Not without misgivings, Louise reached for the long steering stick.Although she occasionally handled "Pop's Worry," she never felt confidentof her ability as a sailor. An unexpected puff of wind or a sudden tiltof the boat could send her into a state of panic.

  "Grab that old bottle and don't take twenty years," she urged nervously.

  Penny leaned far out over the boat in an attempt to reach the bottle. Herweight tilted the light craft low into the water. Louise hastily shiftedto the opposite side as a counter-balance, and in so doing, released themainsheet. The boom promptly swung out.

  Penny made a wild lunge for the running sheet, but could not preventdisaster. The end of the boom dipped into the water. As the sail becamewet and heavy it slowly pulled the boat after it.

  "We're going over!" Louise shrieked, scrambling for the high side.

  "We are over," corrected Penny sadly.

  Both girls had been tossed into the water. Louise, protected by a lifepreserver, immediately grasped the overturned boat and even saved herhair from getting wet. Penny, however, swam after the bobbing bottle. Amoment later she came back, triumphantly hugging it against her chest.

  "It's a blue pop bottle, Louise," she announced, grasping her chum'sextended hand. "And there _is_ a piece of paper inside!"

  "You and that stupid old bottle!" Louise retorted. "I guess it was myfault we upset, but you never should have turned the tiller over to me."

  "Oh, who minds a little upset?"

  "I do," Louise said crossly. "The water's cold, and we're at least aquarter of a mile from shore. No boats close by, either."

  "Oh, we can get out of this by ourselves," Penny returned, undismayed."Hold my bottle while I try to haul in the sail."

  "I'd like to uncork your precious bottle and drop it to the bottom of theriver!"

  Nevertheless, while her chum worked with the halyard, Louise held tightlyto the little object which had caused all the trouble. Neither in shapenor size was the bottle unusual, but the paper it contained did arouseher curiosity. Though she never would have admitted it, she too wonderedif it might bear an interesting message.

  After pulling in the heavy, water-soaked sail, the girls climbed to thehigh side of the boat, trying by their combined weight to right it. Timeand again they failed. At last, breathless, cold, discouraged, theyadmitted that the task was beyond their strength.

  "Let's shout for help," Louise proposed, anxiously watching the distantshore lights.

  "All right," agreed Penny, "but I doubt anyone will hear us. My, we'redrifting down river fast!"

  Decidedly worried, the girls shouted many times. There were no boatsnear, not even the motor craft they had observed a few minutes earlier.The swift current seemed to be swinging them directly toward Thompson'sbridge.

  "A watchman always is on guard there night and day," Penny commented,scanning the arching structure of steel. "If the old fellow isn't asleephe should see us as we drift by."

  Louise was too cold and miserable to answer. However, she ratherunwillingly held the blue bottle while Penny swam and tried to guide theoverturned boat toward shore.

  When the girls were fairly close to the bridge, they began to shout oncemore. Although they could see automobiles moving to and fro across thegreat archway, no one became aware of their plight.

  Then as they despaired, there came an answering shout from above. Apowerful beam of light played over the water, cutting a bright path.

  "Help! Help!" screamed Louise, waving an arm.

  "Halt or I'll fire!" rang out the terse command from the bridge.

  "Halt?" cried Penny, too exasperated to consider the significance of theorder. "That's what we'd like to do, but we can't!"

  The searchlight came to rest on the overturned sailboat. The girls wereso blinded that for a moment they could see nothing. Then the searchlightshifted slightly to the left, and they were able to distinguish a short,stoop-shouldered man who peered over the railing of the bridge.Apparently satisfied that their plight was genuine, he calledreassuringly:

  "Okay, take it easy. I'll heave you a line."

  The watchman disappeared into the little bridge house. Soon hereappeared, and with excellent aim, tossed a weighted rope so that itfell squarely across the overturned boat. Penny seized an end and made itfast.

  "I'll try to pull you in," the watchman shouted. "Just hang on."

  Leaving his post on the bridge, the old fellow climbed down a steepincline to the muddy shore. By means of the long rope, he slowly andlaboriously pulled the water-logged boat with the clinging girls toward aquiet cove.

  Once within wading depth, the chums aided the watchman by leading thecraft in. Together the three of them beached "Pop's Worry" on a narrowstrip of sand.

  "Thanks," Penny gasped, flipping a wet curl from off her freckled nose."On second thought, many, many thanks."

  "You've no business to get so close to the bridge," the watchmanretorted. "It's agin' the regulations. I could have you arrested."

  "But it wasn't our fault this old sailboat upset," Penny returnedreasonably. "We were reaching for a floating bottle--oh, my Aunt! Whereis that bottle, Louise? Don't tell me we've lost it!"

  Her chum was given no opportunity to reply, for at that moment amotorboat roared down the river at high speed. Its throttle was wideopen, and it appeared to be racing straight toward the bridge.

  "Halt!" shouted the watchman, jerking a weapon from a leather holster."Halt!"

  The pilot did not obey the command. Instead, to the amazement of thewatchers, he leaped from the cockpit and swam for the opposite shore.Twice the watchman fired at him, but the bullets were well above theswimmer's head.

  The unpiloted boat, its helm securely lashed, drove straight on itscourse.

  "It's going to strike the bridge!" shouted Louise.

  As the boat raced head on into one of the massive concrete piers, therecame a deafening explosion. The entire steel structure of the bridgeseemed to recoil from the impact. Girders shivered and shook, cablesrattled. On the eastern approach, brakes screamed as automobiles werebrought to a sudden halt.

  "Saboteurs!" the watchman cried hoarsely. "They've done it--dynamited thebridge!"