Missing at Marshlands Part 7

"Dimitri, stupid," Terry went on. "When he saw whom I had in the boat I never saw a man look so mad."

"What did he do?" Arden asked with great interest and hopeful expectancy.

"Oh, he was polite enough in a cold way," Terry told them with a show of relish. "He tied up Tania and said he didn't know whether or not to thank me. I heard him call her 'Olga.' When I left they were jabbering away as though they were mad at each other. Talking Russian, I guess," Terry said rapidly. The sudden appearance of the spectacular woman had given them more excitement than mere words might explain.

"Why do you suppose she didn't want to go through the village?" Sim inquired cannily.

"It looks to me as if she didn't want to be seen," Arden ventured.

"She seemed to know the artist pretty well," Terry resumed. "She spoke as if it was queer that he should live in the houseboat."

"Let's go back to the house, the mosquitoes are beginning to bite," Sim said, slapping her stockingless leg. "We can talk better there, anyway.

Our voices might carry over the water."

They all agreed this was a good plan and scrambled out of the boat. Terry tied it up and took the oars, and they went back to the porch.

It was almost dusk now, and the bay was hardly rippled by a land breeze that carried the annoying little mosquitoes with it. The porch offered the most comfortable place, screened in and commodiously furnished. Once there, the girls got ready for a "good talk," and presently Terry's mother joined them.

"I wouldn't make too much out of this," she warned. "You girls will become gossips if you don't be careful," she laughed.

"But, Mother," Terry insisted, "he was so mad, and Tania was quite wild with rage. There must be something wrong about it."

"Tania is a nervous dog, she barks at everyone," Mrs. Landry remarked.

"She knows us now. I don't think she'd bark at us ever again," Terry decided rather triumphantly.

As though to prove this a.s.sertion, at that very moment Tania came bounding up the path. Her beautiful silky fur was coated with mud from the marsh, and water was dripping from her as the dog pranced along. She reached the screen door and gave a little "woof," asking to come in.

Arden got up and opened the door. At once Tania, in high spirits, planted her muddy feet on Arden's shoulders and licked her face. Arden staggered backward from the weight of the dog and stumbled over a chair. Tania could not keep on her own feet, and the two went down with a mighty b.u.mp.

In the scramble Tania again playfully licked Arden's face in the most rea.s.suring if not the most dignified way.

Terry and Sim were laughing so hard they could do nothing to help, and Arden rolled over and buried her face in her hands. It was so sudden and so funny.

"Tania!" called Mrs. Landry sharply. "Stop it! Come here at once!"

At the sound of her name, Tania looked up and walked with her usual dignity to Terry's mother, obediently resting her head in the woman's lap. Mrs. Landry rubbed the silky ears and gently scolded the dog, while Arden scrambled to her feet and attempted to brush off the mud.

"See, Mother," Terry said as she stopped laughing. "I told you she knew us."

At that Terry reached out a hand to pet the animal and then exclaimed in surprise: "Look! Tania has a note under her collar!"

Quickly Terry pulled it out and began to read.

"It's from Dimitri," she announced as her chums waited to hear. "He wants to know if we can go back and get his guest, as his boat has sprung a leak and he can't use it. Oh, Mother, may we go?"

"You'll have to, I guess, since you took her over there," said Mrs.

Landry somewhat reluctantly. "But not all of you. With Tania and your queer lady pa.s.senger the boat would be too crowded. Just two of you should go, I think."

"Oh, Mother, can't we all go?" Terry begged, reasoning that she, as the best rower, must necessarily go, and hating to leave one of her chums at home.

"No, I think it would be too crowded. I'd worry. Why don't you toss a coin and decide which one is to go with you?" Mrs. Landry suggested. She always worked with the girls, never against them.

Terry dashed into the house and, coming out, cried: "Heads Arden goes-tails Sim does." She flipped the coin into the air and caught it on the back of one hand, cleverly, covering it for a moment with her other hand. Then she announced: "You win, Arden. It's too bad, Sim dear. But you can take care of Mother, and we'll come back just as soon as we can and tell you every little thing; won't we, Arden?"

"Oh, surely!"

As was natural, perhaps, Terry and Arden were too excited to notice whether or not Sim minded very much being thus left behind. The two hurried down to the rowboat with Tania trotting after them. The dog curled up on the broad stern seat, and Arden sat near her to restrain her if necessary. But there was no need. Tania seemed very much accustomed to boats and hardly stirred.

Terry rowed quickly in the direction of the _Merry Jane_. From her position Arden could see Dimitri and his somewhat mysterious guest out on the narrow, railed walk that extended all around the house part of the boat. The Russian was obviously waiting for those whom he had summoned by the note on his dog's collar. The woman Olga was talking to him rapidly, as Terry and Arden could hear. They noticed, as they drew nearer, that her face seemed paler than before, and her eyes were flaming. Dimitri looked quizzically at the approaching boat, and when they pulled alongside he quickly grasped Tania by the collar. The dog was transformed, suddenly, from the dignified white animal who had sat so quietly in the boat, to a raging, snarling beast. Dimitri hustled her on the houseboat and made her secure somewhere inside. He reappeared almost at once and said to Terry and Arden:

"It is most kind of you to do this. I do not like to be such a nuisance, but I promise you it shall not happen again." The girls thought he seemed too cross even to talk to them.

He motioned to Olga, who jumped lightly into the boat.

"Good-bye, Dimitri," she said clearly. "You have won this time, but it is not the end, by any means."

"_Au'voir_, then, Olga, till we meet again. I hope it will not be-too soon," he said, totally ignoring all politeness and smiling, the girls thought, bitterly.

"Thank you, comrade," he said to Terry. "Will you take her back now? She is driving to New York tonight."

Though he spoke to Terry, his remark almost seemed like an order to the dark woman, an order delivered in such a tone that it would seem foolhardy to overlook it. So Terry nodded her sandy head, and Arden said, "Good-bye," almost inaudibly. Then they started back once more to Terry's landing.

When they were out of earshot the woman apparently regained some of her composure; at least, she did not seem so angry.

"You know Dimitri, then?" she asked in an attempt to be pleasant.

"We gave him some candles one night, and he lent us an oar once," Arden answered. "We don't see him very often."

"No, and you won't," the woman added. "He is a queer one. Did he ever show you any of his things? Any jewels, maybe?"

"Only some pictures. Why?" Arden asked frankly.

"I just wondered. Of course, he is very fond of his pictures and that dog of his," she went on. "The largest picture. Did you see it?"

Arden shook her head.

"Oh, well," Olga shrugged her shoulders and adjusted her silver fox scarf. "He won't bother you again, I'm sure," and she smiled to herself.

They reached "Buckingham Palace," and Olga stepped out. With a perfunctory "thank you" she hurried to her car. There was Melissa Clayton gazing at it in raptures. Running her fingers over the shining fenders and pushing the upholstery to test its softness, Melissa was enchanted.

As Terry and Arden watched, they could see Olga speak to Melissa. The girl answered, her face wreathed in smiles. Then, as Olga spoke again, Melissa hurried around to the side away from the steering wheel and got in the car, shutting the door after her.

Olga, settling herself, started the motor, reversed the car on the narrow sandy road, and turned back the way she had come, with Melissa beside her.

For a moment the girls were speechless.

Melissa going off in the strange woman's car!