The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (125 page)

“If you expect to be here a few minutes, Louise and I might pay Old Noah a flying visit,” Penny said eagerly. “We’re curious to learn what has happened to him.”

“I’ll be around for at least half an hour,” Sara replied. “Take your time.”

Penny and Louise set off along the twisting bank of Bug Run. Approaching the vicinity of the ark, they noticed many corked blue bottles caught amid the debris of the sluggish stream.

“I’ll bet a cent and a half that Old Noah still is on the old stamping grounds!” Penny remarked. “Sheriff Anderson probably hasn’t found a way to get rid of him. Why, unless a regular deluge floods this stream, the ark never could be floated out to the main river.”

“The sheriff could put Old Noah in jail.”

“True, but a great many people would criticize him if he did.”

A moment later the girls rounded a bend and saw the ark in its usual setting. A long clothes line had been stretched from bow to stern, and wet garments fresh from the wash tub, flapped in the breeze.

“Well, Noah is still here,” chuckled Penny. “He’s run up the white flag though! Or should we say the white flags!”

On the deck of the ark, Old Noah was so busy that he failed to note the approach of the two girls. He stood in the center of a ring of soiled clothes, laboring diligently over a tub of steaming suds.

As the girls reached the gangplank, a dog from inside the ark began an excited barking. Startled, Old Noah glanced up. Unnoticed by him, his long white beard slipped into the soapy water and he rubbed it vigorously on the washboard.

Scarcely able to control a giggle, Penny followed her chum aboard the ark. As Old Noah kept on scrubbing his beard she could not resist asking: “Excuse me, but aren’t you washing your whiskers by mistake?”

Surprised, the old man straightened to his full height. Squeezing the dripping beard, he carefully wrung it out. Next he produced a comb from his loose fitting brown pantaloons, and painstakingly unsnarled the tangles. Then turning to the girls, he greeted them with his usual dignity.

“Good morning, my daughters. I am glad you kept your promise to visit me again.”

“Good morning, Noah,” responded Penny, trying not to laugh. “We thought we would drop by and see if you were still here. I remember Sheriff Anderson said he was going to call on you again.”

The old man’s weather beaten face crinkled into deep wrinkles. “Ho, ho! So he did, but he reckoned without the Might of the Righteous. I was watching for him when he came.”

“I hope you didn’t mistreat him,” Penny said uneasily.

“When I observed his approach I untied my two hounds, Nip and Tuck, and hid myself in the forest. He was gone when I returned to the ark.”

“Likewise, part of his anatomy, I suppose,” commented Penny.

“Nip and Tuck did cause a commotion,” Old Noah acknowledged, “but they did him no harm. When he went away the sheriff left a cowardly note tacked to a tree. It said he would return to dispossess me. Before that happens, I will blow this ark to Kingdom Come!”

“How will you do that?” inquired Penny, rather amused.

“With dynamite.”

“Do you have any aboard the ark?”

Old Noah smiled mysteriously. “I know where I can lay my hands on all I’ll need. When I was hiding in the woods yesterday, I saw where they keep it.”

Penny and Louise glanced quickly at each other. While it was possible that Old Noah was talking wildly, the mention of dynamite made them uneasy. If it were true that he had come into possession of such a cache, then obviously it was their duty to report to the authorities.

“Who hid the dynamite?” Penny asked.

“I do not rightly know,” replied Old Noah. “It may have been those strangers who were pestering me last night. They came to my ark and were very nosey, asking me about this and that.”

“Not officers?”

“They had no connection with the Law, speaking of it with great contempt.”

“How many men were there, Noah?”

“Two.”

“And they came by car?”

“Bless you, no,” replied Noah wearily. “They arrived in a motorboat. Of all the pop-poppin’ you ever heard! It almost drove my animals crazy.”

“After they talked to you, the men went away again in their boat?”

“They started off, but as soon as they had turned the bend they switched out the motor. I wondered what they were up to, so I sneaked through the bushes and watched.”

“Yes, go on!” Penny urged eagerly as Old Noah interrupted the narrative to wash another shirt. “What did the men do?”

“Why, nothing,” answered the old man. “They just pulled the boat up into the bushes and went off and left it.”

“The boat is still there?” Penny demanded.

“So far as I know, my daughter.”

“Will you show us where the boat is hidden?” pleaded Penny. “And the dynamite cache too!”

“I am very busy now,” Old Noah said, shaking his flowing locks. “I have this pesky washing to do, and then, there’s all the animals to feed.”

“Can’t we help you?” offered Louise.

“I thank you kindly, but it would not be fit work for young ladies. If you will return tomorrow, I gladly will guide you to the place.”

Penny and Louise tried their powers of persuasion, but the old man was not to be moved. In the end they had to be satisfied with a description of the site where the motorboat had been hidden. Old Noah stubbornly refused to tell them more about the cache of dynamite.

Finally, the girls said goodbye to the master of the ark, and hastened toward the river to join Sara. They were greatly excited by the information they had obtained.

“Old Noah may have talked for the fun of it,”Penny declared as they struggled through the underbrush. “If not, I think we’ve stumbled into an important clue—one which may have a bearing on the bridge dynamiting case!”

CHAPTER 18

PENNY’S PLAN

Sara was waiting beside her boat when Penny and Louise came running along the muddy shore. Without apologizing for being so late, they excitedly related their conversation with Old Noah.

“Say, maybe that hidden motorboat is mine!” the girl exclaimed. “What did it look like?”

“We didn’t take time to search for it,” Penny replied. “We knew you would be waiting so we came straight here.”

“Let’s see if we can find it,” Sara said, starting up the engine.

“Noah’s animals don’t like motorboats,” Louise chuckled. “I suggest we do our searching afoot.”

“All right,” Sara agreed readily, switching the motor off again. “Lead and I’ll follow.”

Penny and Louise guided their companion to the mouth of Bug Run and thence along its slippery banks to a clump of overhanging willows.

“According to Old Noah’s description, this should be the place,” Penny declared, looking about. “No sign of a boat though.”

Sara took off shoes and stockings and waded through the shallow, muddy water. Whenever she came to a clump of bushes, she would pull the branches aside to peer behind them.

“Old Noah may have been spoofing us,” Penny began, but just then Sara gave a little cry.

“Here it is! I’ve found it!”

Penny and Louise slid down the bank to the water’s edge. Behind a dense thicket, a motorboat had been pulled out on the sand. The engine remained attached, covered by a piece of canvas.

“Is it your boat, Sara?” Penny asked eagerly.

“It certainly is!” She spoke with emphasis. “The hull has been repainted, but it takes more than that to fool me.”

“Any positive way to identify it?”

“By the engine number. Ours was 985-877 unless I’m mistaken. I have it written down at home.”

“What’s the number of this engine?”

“The same!” Sara cried triumphantly after she had removed the canvas covering and examined it. “This is my property all right, and I shall take it back with me.”

“Old Noah spoke of two strangers who came here last night by boat,” Penny said thoughtfully.

“The fellow who stopped at the dock probably picked up a pal later on,” Sara commented, trying to shove the boat into the water. “My, this old tub is heavy! Want to help?”

“Wait, Sara!” Penny exclaimed. “Let’s leave the boat here.”

“Leave it here! Now that would be an idea! This little piece of floating wood represents nine hundred and fifty dollars.”

“I don’t mean that you’re to lose the boat,” Penny hastened to explain. “But if we take it now, we never will catch the fellow who stole it.”

“That’s true.”

“If we leave the boat here we can keep watch of the place and catch those scamps when they come back.”

“They may not come back,” Sara said, without warming to the plan. “Besides, I’ve no time to do a Sherlock Holmes in the bushes. I have my dock to look after.”

“Louise and I could do most of the watching.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Sara said dubiously. “Something might go wrong. I never would get over it if I lost the boat.”

“You won’t lose the boat,” promised Penny. “It’s really important that we catch those two men, Sara. From what Old Noah said, they may be connected with the bridge dynamiting.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because Old Noah found a cache of dynamite somewhere near here.”

“He won’t tell us its location,” added Louise.

“If it should develop that the men are saboteurs, we might learn something which would help your brother’s case,” Penny said persuasively. “How about it, Sara?”

“I’d be glad to risk the boat if I thought it would help Burt.”

“Then let’s leave it here. We can watch the spot night and day.”

“And what will your parents have to say?”

Penny’s face fell. “Well, I suppose when it comes right to it, Dad will set his foot down. But at least we can watch during the day time. Then if necessary, we might report to the police.”

“Let’s leave them out of it,” Sara said feelingly. “If you girls will remain throughout the day, I’ll stand the night watch.”

“Not alone!” Louise protested.

“Why not?” Sara asked, amused. “I’ve frequently camped out along the river at night. Once I made a canoe trip the full length of the river just for the fun of it.”

“Louise and I will stay here now while you return to the dock,” Penny declared. “Better call our parents when you get there and break the news as gently as possible.”

“What will you do for lunch?”

“Maybe we can beg a sandwich or a fried egg from Old Noah,” Penny chuckled. “We’ll manage somehow.”

“Well, whatever you do, don’t leave the boat unguarded,”Sara advised, starting away. “As soon as it gets dark I’ll come back.”

Left to themselves, Penny and Louise explored the locality thoroughly. Not far away they found a log which offered a comfortable seat, and they screened it with brush.

“Now we’re all ready for Mr. Saboteur,” Penny said. “He can’t come too soon to suit me.”

“And just what are we going to do when he does arrive?”

“I forgot to figure that angle,” Penny confessed. “We may have to call on Old Noah for help.”

“Noah will be busy doing a washing or giving the goat a beauty treatment,” Louise laughed.

The sun lifted higher, and steam rising from the damp earth made the girls increasingly uncomfortable. As the hours dragged by they rapidly lost zest for their adventure. Long before noon they were assailed by the pangs of hunger.

“If I could catch a bullfrog I’d be tempted to eat him raw,” Penny remarked sadly. “How about chasing up to the ark? Noah might give us a nibble of something.”

“Dare we go away and leave the boat?”

“Oh, it’s safe enough for a few minutes,” Penny returned. “The idea of staying here wasn’t such a good one anyhow. What if those men should never come back?”

“This is a fine time to be thinking of that possibility!”

Moving quietly through the woods, the girls came to the ark. They could hear the hens cackling, and as they called Old Noah’s name, the parrot answered, squawking: “Polly wants a cracker.”

“You’ve got nothing on me, Polly,” said Penny. “Where’s your master?”

The old ark keeper was nowhere in evidence. Nor were the girls able to board the boat, for the gangplank had been removed.

“Now if this isn’t a situation!” Penny exclaimed, exasperated. “It looks as if we’re going to starve to death.”

After lingering about the ark for a few minutes, they returned to their former hiding place. By this time they were so sorry for themselves that they could think of nothing but their discomfort. Belatedly, they recalled that Sara had smiled as she went away.

“She knew what we were up against staying here!”Penny declared. “Figured us for a couple of softies, I bet!”

“While everyone knows we’re regular Commandos,”Louise retorted sarcastically. “Why, if necessary we could go an entire day without eating.”

“That’s exactly what we will do,” announced Penny with renewed determination. “I’ll stay here until Sara comes if it kills me. But I hope you slug me if ever I get another idea like this.”