Guilt of the Brass Thieves Part 3

"You won't," Sally returned shortly. "I accept full responsibility, so let me do the worrying."

A signal bell tapped several times, a warning to the pa.s.sengers that the ferry was approaching sh.o.r.e. As those aboard began to gather up their belongings, Sally b.u.t.toned her oilskin coat tightly about her.

"Excuse me for a minute," she said to Penny and Mr. Parker. "I've got to help Pop. See you later."

CHAPTER 3 _A "PROBLEM" BOY_

Penny, Jack and Mr. Parker reached the deck of the _River Queen_ in time to see Sally leap nimbly across a wide s.p.a.ce to the dock. There she looped a great coil of rope expertly over the post and helped get the gangplank down.

"Step lively!" she urged the pa.s.sengers pleasantly, but in a voice crisp with authority.

In a s.p.a.ce of five minutes, she had helped an old man on crutches, found a child who had become separated from his mother, and refused pa.s.sage to three young men who sought to make a return trip on the ferry.

"Sorry, this is the end of the line," she told them firmly. "Our last trip today."

"Then how about a date?" one of the men teased.

Sally paid not the slightest heed. Raising the gangplank, she signalled for the ferry to pull away.

"Sally always likes to put on a show!" Jack muttered disapprovingly. "To watch her perform, one would think she were the captain!"

"Well, she impresses me as a most capable young lady," commented Mr.

Parker. "After all, we owe our rescue to her and Captain Barker."

Taking the hint, Jack offered no further disparaging remarks. Rain had ceased to fall, but deep shadows blotted out the river sh.o.r.es. Watching from the railing, Penny saw the island loom up, a dark, compact ma.s.s of black.

"The ferry can't land there?" she inquired in surprise.

Jack shook his head. "Shoals," he explained briefly. "In the spring during the flood season, the channel is fairly safe. Now--"

He broke off, and turned to stare toward the pilot house. The engines had been stilled and the ferry was drifting in toward the island. Captain Barker stood by his wheel, silent, watchful as a cat.

"By George!" Jack exclaimed admiringly. "The old boy intends to take her in through the shoals. But it's a risky thing to do."

"It is necessary?" asked Mr. Parker, deeply concerned. "After all, we've already caused the Barkers great inconvenience. Surely there is no need for them to risk going aground just to put us off at the Island."

"Captain Barker could give us a little gasoline, but he gets a big kick out of doing it this way," Jack muttered. "He and Sally both like to show off. It wouldn't surprise me if the old boy oversteps himself this time.

We're running into shoal water."

Sally, evidently worried, stationed herself at the bow of the _River Queen_, dropping a leadline over the side.

"Eight and a half feet!" she called. "Seven and three-quarters--"

"We'll never make it," Jack murmured. "We're going aground now!"

Even as he spoke, the ferryboat grated on the sandy river bottom.

Captain Barker seemed not in the least disturbed. "Let 'er have it!" he shouted through the speaking tube. "Every ounce we've got!"

Rasping and groaning in its timbers, the stout little ferryboat ground her way through the sand. For one terrifying moment it seemed that she had wedged herself fast. But she shuddered and went over the bar into deeper water.

Sally drew a long sigh of relief, and grinned at Jack. "I knew Pop could make it," she chuckled, "but he sure had me scared for a minute."

"That was a remarkable demonstration of piloting," Mr. Parker declared.

"Are we in safe waters now?"

"Yes, the channel is deep all the way to our dock," Jack replied. "I guess Captain Barker aims to dump us off at our front door."

Bells jingled again, the engines were cut, and the ferry drifted up to Shadow Island wharf. While Mr. Parker and Penny were thanking Captain Barker, Sally helped Jack and one of the sailors set loose the towed motorboat. Their loud, argumentative voices could be heard from the stern.

"Those kids sc.r.a.p like a dog and a cat when they're together," chuckled Captain Barker. "But I calculate they'll outgrow it when they're a little older. At least, I hope so."

Saying a reluctant goodbye, Mr. Parker and Penny tramped ash.o.r.e, and with Jack, watched until the _River Queen_ had safely pa.s.sed the shoal and was well out in the main channel again.

Before they could pick up the luggage, an elderly, gray-haired man came hurriedly down a flagstone walk from the brightly lighted house on the knoll.

"Mr. Gandiss!" exclaimed Anthony Parker, grasping his outstretched hand.

"This is my daughter, Penelope. Or Penny, everyone calls her."

The owner of Shadow Island greeted the girl with more than casual interest. But as he spoke, his puzzled gaze followed the _River Queen_ whose lights now could be seen far upstream.

"I may as well make a clean breast of it, Dad," Jack said before his father could request an explanation. "We ran out of gas, and the _Queen_ picked us up."

"You ran out of gas? I distinctly recall warning you this afternoon that the tank would need to be refilled."

"I forgot," Jack said, edging away. Before his father could reprimand him further, he disappeared in the direction of the boathouse.

Mr. Gandiss, a stout, pleasant man, was distressed by his son's behavior.

As he led the way to the house, he apologized so profusely that Penny and her father began to feel uncomfortable.

"Oh, boys will be boys," Mr. Parker declared, trying to put an end to the discussion. "No harm was done."

"We enjoyed the adventure," added Penny sincerely. "It was a pleasure to meet Captain Barker and his daughter."

Mr. Gandiss refused to abandon the subject.

"Jack worries me," he confessed ruefully. "He's sixteen now--almost seventeen, but in some respects he has no responsibility. He's an only child, and I am afraid my wife and I have spoiled him."

"Jack doesn't seem to get along with Sally Barker very well," Penny remarked, smiling at the recollection.

"That's another thing," nodded the island owner. "Sally is a fine girl and smart as a whip. Jack has the idea that because she isn't the product of a finishing school, she is beneath notice. Sally likes to p.r.i.c.k holes in Jack's inflated ego, and then the war is on!"

"You have a fine son," Mr. Parker said warmly. "He'll outgrow all these ideas."

"I hope so," sighed Mr. Gandiss. "I certainly do." His expression conveyed the impression that he was not too confident.