The Girls of Central High on Lake Luna: or, The Crew That Won

CHAPTER XV

TOMMY LONG HAS A BAD DAY

It was all in the papers one evening about detectives from Centerport's police headquarters, aided by the park police, beating the eastern end of Cavern Island, and the caves as well, for poor Short and Long. Reporters had accompanied the expedition; but they rather made fun of the crowd of police searching so diligently for one small boy. It was suggested in the news stories that the efforts of the officers might better be aimed at finding the burglars themselves instead of chasing a frightened youngster who was supposed to have helped the real criminals.

The only thing the police succeeded in doing was to pick up two men who were fighting. These were Tony Allegretto, who had a concession at the amusement park, and another Italian.

The fight might have been a serious matter had not the police came upon the men when they did. Tony had already drawn a knife. The papers reported that Tony and his monkey were shut up together in the park calaboose waiting for court to sit the next morning. The other Italian had been sent off the island and warned to keep away.

But no trace of Short and Long was found during the police search. Mr. Norman, the boat builder, raised the sunken rowboat Billy had borrowed, however, and brought it back to his landing.

The Lockwood twins chanced to be passing Mr. Norman's place when the old boat arrived, and they walked down the long dock to look at it.

"No sign of anything wrong having happened to little Billy," said Mr. Norman. "He tied this old craft, and she filled after a time and sank, breaking the painter, which was a long one. That's all that happened. I don't care about the boat a mite; I only wish I knew what has become of the poor little chap."

"They've just chased him away from home," said Dorothy. "Billy Long never helped those burglars."

"Of course he didn't," said Mr. Norman. "That's what I say. Only folks who don't know the boy will say they believe the police."

"And don't you believe Billy is over there on the island?" asked Dora.

"No. He's got away. He's a sharp boy, Billy is, and next thing you'll hear of him, he'll be off working somewhere and sending his folks home a part of his wages, believe me! I know Billy Long," said the boat-builder.

The Longs lived not far from the Lockwood cottage, and the twins went around through their street. This was on one of those rare days when Alice Long, the oldest sister and the "mother" of the Long family, stayed at home from the box factory to "catch up" in her housework.

Until Mrs. Long died, two years before, Alice had gone to Central High, too, and she was a smart and intelligent girl. But she was a faithful one, as well, and she kept the home together for Mr. Long and the younger children, despite the fact that she could spend only a day once in a while at home. A younger girl did many of the ordinary household tasks, as well as looking after Master Tommy Long, an active piece of mischief now four years old.

As the twins came up the walk before the little cottage they heard Tommy bellowing at the top of his lungs – and they were perfectly sound lungs, too!

"What have you got in here – a lion?" asked Dorothy, putting her head in at the open door.

"Better say a monkey!" exclaimed Alice, much exasperated.

She was just then hustling Tommy across the floor so rapidly that the toes of his shoes scarcely touched the carpet. Upstairs she went with struggling, roaring Master Tommy, and in another moment he was shut into a bedroom and the key turned in the lock.

"There!" gasped Alice, coming back and sitting down, after placing chairs for her visitors. "You think I'm rather harsh with the little plague? You don't know what he's done to-day."

"Has he been very bad?" asked the tender-hearted Dorothy.

"I should say he has!"

"What's he done?" demanded Dora.

"It has certainly been one of Tommy's 'bad days.' You'd think he was possessed. Poor mother! I can imagine the trouble she used to have with Billy."

"But what did Tommy do?" asked Dorothy, bent on trying to plead for the culprit, who was now alternately roaring and kicking the panels of the door upstairs.

"One thing he did was to pour sand into my tub of clothes that I had to leave this morning. He called the tub 'Lake Luna' and said he wanted to make an island in the middle of it, like Cavern Island where Billy is hidden."

"Oh!" gasped Dorothy.

"I had to clean out the tub and rinse the clothes half a dozen times to get the sand out."

"But, Billy!" exclaimed Dora. "They say he isn't over at that island."

"Well, I wish I knew where he was," sighed the worried sister.

Just then Tommy stopped yelling and spoke in a shrill, but perfectly plain tone:

"Sis! I'm a-goin' to bust a winder and fall out, I am!"

"Oh!" ejaculated Dorothy, jumping up. "He'll be hurt."

But Alice put forth a restraining hand to stop her before she could flee to the rescue.

"Don't bother. He doesn't want to jump himself. Tommy is bluffing."

"Bluffing!" gasped Dora. "Did you ever? I should be scared to death that the little scamp would do it."

"I used to be," sighed Alice. "Now I know better. I came to realize that Tommy was taking advantage of my love for him – and he's got to learn better than that."

"Isn't he a scamp?" whispered Dorothy.

In a few moments, after silence from the "chamber of torture," the shrill voice cried again:

"Sis! I've found the matches an' I'm a-goin' to set fire to the curtains – now you see!"

The twins gazed upon the calm face of Alice with wide-open eyes. Alice went on talking without showing the first signs of fear that Master Tommy would keep his pledge. She was resting after a hard day's work, and she enjoyed having her old schoolmates drop in to see her.

After further silence, the boy's shrill voice took up the cry again:

"Sis! don't you smell sumfin burnin'?"

"I do believe I smell something burning – cloth, or something," whispered the nervous Dorothy, sniffing.

"It's an old black rag I put in the kitchen fire, without opening the damper," said Alice, coolly.

"Suppose he has got the matches?" demanded Dora.

"There are none in that room," returned Alice, placidly.

"Goodness me!" gasped Dorothy. "I wouldn't have a boy around for a farm!"

Again came the wail from above:

"If you don't smell nothin', Sis, it's 'cause I pulled off all the match heads an' swallered 'em! I'm goin' ter die – I'se p'izened, Sis!"

"Why! what a dreadful little scamp he is," gasped Dorothy.

Alice jumped up, with her lips set tightly. She ran into the kitchen, from which she returned in a moment with a cup of warm water and mustard.

"He's got to be taught a lesson," declared the much troubled sister, with decision, and she marched upstairs.

"Now, Tommy, if you have swallowed matchheads, you must take this," declared Alice Long, and when Master Tommy, now rather disturbed by the prospect of the ill-smelling cup, tried to escape, she got his head "in chancery," held his nose until he opened his mouth, and made him swallow the entire mess.

It was certainly a bad dose, and its effects were almost immediate and quite surprising to Master Tommy. The twins waited below stairs while the trouble continued; and finally down came Alice with Master Tommy – a much sadder, wiser, and humbled youngster – by the hand.

"I – I'm going to be a good boy," announced Master Tommy, making a wry face.

"I should think you would," Dora said, trying to be severe.

"That's all right," grumbled Tommy, turning to Dorothy for comfort. "I didn't swaller any matchheads."

"Why did you say you did?" asked Dorothy.

"Just to plague Alice. But I won't do it again. Ugh! that was nasty stuff she gave me. That's what she'd give me if I was p'izened. I don't want to be p'izened," declared the little fellow, frankly.

"And you don't want to say what isn't so, either, eh?" queried Dora.

"We-ell," said Master Tommy, slowly, "lots of things that ain't so, is better than them that are so. There's fairy stories."

"Quite right," said Dora, quickly. "But there's nightmares, too – bad dreams, you know. They are not so, but they aren't pleasant to dream, are they?"

"Oh, no!" cried Tommy. "And I had a turrible bad dream – onct! And I was scart – yes, sir! And Billy heard me crying and he took me out of my crib and took me into bed with him."

Alice smiled. "I remember Tommy told about that. He said the cats got to fighting and were scratching and biting him."

"And Billy woked me up and took me to bed with him," said Tommy, placidly. "I wish Billy would come home again."

"When did this happen?" asked Dorothy, quickly, trying to turn the conversation from an unpleasant topic, as Alice's eyes filled with tears.

"Just the other night," said Tommy.

"But Billy's been away two weeks."

"It was jes' afore he went-ed away."

"It wasn't long before Billy went," agreed Alice, nodding.

"I know when!" cried Tommy. "It was the night afore I felled and scraped my knee on the doorstep."

"Why, Tommy!" cried his sister, springing out of her chair. "Are you sure of that?"

"Yes'm. I be sure," declared Tommy. "I dreamed the cats were scratchin' me; an' then that very nex' mornin' the old doorstep scratched me!" cried the small boy.

Alice turned to her visitors, her face pale in her earnestness.

"Oh, girls!" she cried. "I remember that night of Tommy's dream very well. He hurt his knee on Wednesday – the morning following the burglary. Billy took Tommy into bed with him before midnight, and they slept together all night. Doesn't that prove that Billy was not out of the house on the night of the burglary? Doesn't it?"

Dora and Dorothy looked at each other, and each slowly shook her head.

"Do you suppose the police would accept Tommy's testimony?" Dora asked, sadly.

CHAPTER XVI

THE CANOE RACE

The twins were very sorry for Alice and the other Longs and they did not believe the absent Billy guilty as charged; but who in authority would believe the testimony of such a little boy as Tommy? The fact that Billy had been at home, and in his bed, all the night of the burglary at Stresch & Potter's store was established in the minds of Billy's friends only.

The twins saw Chet Belding on the way home and heard some news, after telling Billy's friend of what Tommy had said.

"Of course Billy hadn't any hand in that robbery," Chet declared. "But I wish he hadn't run away. Father and Mr. Hargrew say they'd both go his bail. I wish I knew where he was."

"Didn't you think he was hiding somewhere on Cavern Island?" asked Dora, shrewdly.

"Yes, I did. I found his knife Saturday when we were in that cave," admitted Chet, frankly. "Don't you girls tell anybody. But Lance and I were through all the caverns with a man who knows them like a book – that was after the police searched. He couldn't be found.

"Oh, and I say! did you hear about Tony and his monkey?"

"We read that Tony had been fighting and was arrested," Dorothy said.

"Yep. And it was a near thing he didn't get sent to jail. The judge only fined him. The other man the police drove out of Centerport altogether. They thought he was the worse of the two. And Tony had paid for his concession at the park, and promised to be good.

"But the joke of it is," continued Chet, laughing, "the police don't want Tony to tell all he knows. You see, they shut him into the calaboose at the park and when they went to take him across on the boat to court, Tony wasn't there."

"He had escaped?" interrupted Dorothy.

"That's what," said Chet. "And how do you suppose he'd done it?"

"We couldn't guess," cried the girls.

"Why, the monkey unlocked the door of the cage and let his master out. The jailer had left the key in the lock while he went to breakfast, and the monkey did the rest. You know, that was one of the tricks we saw him do," continued Chet.

"Tony didn't think he had to stay in jail if the door was unlocked, so he walked down to his booth and got his own breakfast. And the police found him there and took him along to court. But they were easy on Tony for fear he would make the park police the laughing stock of the city. Lance and I happened to be over there early – it was when we searched for Billy in the caves – and we saw Tony rearrested."

"That Italian must be a bad one," Dora said. "How did he get off?"

"Tony said the man he was fighting with cheated him out of his share of some money," replied Chet. "And that man is gone, so who is to know the truth?"

The stretch of placid Lake Luna between the boat landing of Central High and the easterly end of Cavern Island was dotted with craft of various kinds and sizes, several afternoons later, when the twins slipped away from Aunt Dora and – with a word to their father in a whisper as to their goal – ran down to the dock and got their canoe into the lake.

Aunt Dora was suffering from what she called a "grumbly head" – which meant that she had a mild attack of neuralgia.

"But mercy, sirs!" Mrs. Betsey said, in a tone of exasperation rather strange for that dear old lady, "she has a 'grumbly' tongue all the time. I don't know what I shall do about keeping Mary if she stays much longer, girls."

"For the good of the family I may have to admit my identity and go home with her," groaned Dora.

"No, you sha'n't!" cried her twin. "You shall not be sacrificed. If Mary goes, we'll divide the work between us, and hire a laundress once a week to relieve Mrs. Betsey."

"My! what a bright girl you are, Dory," laughed Dora. "You've got it all fixed, haven't you? But what about after-hour athletics? No canoeing, and other fun. We'd have all our time out of school taken up with the housework."

"I don't care, Dora!" said Dorothy, firmly. "You could never live with Auntie. Why, she'd nag you to death."

"Dear old thing!" sighed Dora. "I wish she could see herself as others see her. How do you suppose papa came to have such a sister?"

"He has all the mildness of his generation of Lockwoods, and Aunt Dora has all the militancy."

"Oh, see there!" exclaimed her sister. "Hester Grimes and Lily Pendleton out in Hessie's canoe."

"That's a fine canoe," said Dorothy. "It's better than ours."

"But I believe we can beat them just the same."

"I shouldn't wonder if Hessie and Lily were intending to try for the honor of representing Central High in the girls' canoeing contest next month."

"I bet you!" returned her sister. "But Mrs. Case and the girls will have something to say about that."

"Mrs. Case has our records; but I heard that she will time us all again before the Big Day."

"We must do our very best, then," Dora declared, earnestly.

"True as you live!" her twin agreed.

They launched their canoe, stepped in lightly, knelt on the cushions, and dipped their paddles in the water. The craft shot away from the landing amid the approving remarks of the bystanders. The twins certainly did manage their canoe in admirable style.

The rhythm of their bodies, as they swayed to the paddling, was perfect. Their strokes were deep and in unison. The drops that flashed from their paddles as they came out of the water shone like jewels in the sun. The twins had a splendid reach and at every stroke the light canoe leaped ahead and trembled through all its frame.

Other boating parties saw them coming and gave the twins a clear way – all but Hester and Lily. They seemed to be waiting, and Hester flung a backward look every now and then as the Lockwood girls drew farther out into the lake.

"They're speeding up, too," said Dorothy to her sister.

"Let's race them, if they want to," Dora returned. "Who's afraid?"

"You know Mrs. Case would rather we did not race crews that intend to compete for the trophies."

"We – ell! The lake's free. And we're going the same way Hester and Lily are. If they race us, what's the odds?"

Dorothy was just as eager for a trial of speed as her sister. She nodded, and increased the power of her stroke, for she chanced to have the bow.

Immediately Hester and Lily redoubled their efforts and the handsome canoe belonging to the butcher's daughter shot ahead at a swifter pace. But the twins were in fine fettle, and their craft gradually crept up on the one in the lead.

It was evident to everybody who was near that Hester and Lily were putting forth all their strength to keep the Lockwoods from passing them, and some of the nearby boating parties cheered the race on.

Dora and Dorothy kept steadily at work, speaking no word, but gradually increasing their stroke until their craft was fairly flying through the calm water. Hester and Lily were older girls, and heavier; but they hadn't the lithe strength and skill of the twins.

Nearer and nearer the latter's canoe drew to Hester Grimes's boat. The twins were breathing easily, but to their full lung capacity, when they drew beside the other canoe; but they could hear Hester pant and Lily groan as they strained at the paddles.

On and on crept the second canoe, its bow soon at the middle of Hester's boat. Only a couple of yards divided the contestants. Several four-oared boats and the boys' eight-oared shell kept pace with them, and cheered the race.

The twins weaved back and forth like a perfect piece of mechanism. It was a pretty sight to watch them. The paddling of Hester and her chum was more ragged; but they were making a good fight.

The twins' canoe, however, continued to forge ahead. There was little doubt that they would soon pass their rivals.

And just then Hester uttered an angry cry, dipped her paddle more deeply, swerved her canoe, and its side came directly in the path of the twins' boat.

"Look out!" shrieked Lily. "You'll run us down!"

And that is what the twins did.

Crash went their canoe into that of Hester: both boats tipped alarmingly, and in a moment all four girls were struggling in the lake.