Guilt of the Brass Thieves - Mildred Augustine Wirt (most popular novels TXT) 📗

launch the lifeboats. With the River Queen desperately short handed, they would be needed to handle oars. A fireman, an engineer, Captain Barker and a helmsman must remain at their posts, which left only three sailors to pick up passengers.

Leaping into the first boat launched, the girls rowed into the path of the blazing vessel. In its bright glow against the sky, they could see panic-stricken passengers running about the decks. An increasing number were leaping into the water, and many could not swim.

Ignoring the cries of those who had life belts or were swimming strongly, they rapidly picked up survivors. To pull children aboard was a comparatively easy task. But many of the women were heavy, and the combined strength of the girls barely was sufficient to get them into the boat without upsetting.

Finally the lifeboat was filled beyond capacity, and they turned to land their cargo aboard the Queen. Only then did they see what Captain Barker intended to do.

His men had succeeded in making a line fast to the Florence’s stern. By this time the excursion boat was a flaming inferno, with only a few passengers, the captain, and crew remaining aboard.

“Pop’s going to tow the Florence downstream away from the freight sheds!” Sally cried. “Some of those buildings are filled with war materials awaiting shipment—coal, oil and I don’t know what all! If a fire once gets going there, nothing will stop it!”

Working feverishly, the girls unloaded their passengers and went back for more. Motorboats had set out from shore, and they too aided in the rescue work. Some of the survivors were taken to land, and others were put aboard the Queen.

Aided by a sailor they had picked up, the girls worked until they no longer could see bobbing heads in the swirling waters.

“We’ve done all we can,” Sally gasped, as they helped the last of the passengers aboard the Queen. “The captain and most of his men will stay on the Florence as long as they are able.”

Though exhausted by their work, the girls did what they could for those aboard. Sally distributed all the blankets she could find, and Penny helped a sailor revive two women who were unconscious from having swallowed too much water.

Suddenly there came a loud report like the crack of a pistol.

The tow line to the Florence had parted! Once more the excursion boat, now a roaring furnace, was adrift in mid-stream.

In an instant it was apparent to Penny what would happen. The cross-current was strong, and in a minute or two would carry the burning vessel into the wharves and sheds. When the boat struck, flying sparks would ignite the dry wood for a considerable distance, and soon the entire waterfront would be ablaze.

Though outwardly calm, Captain Barker was beset as he appraised the situation. It would not be possible to get another tow line onto the Florence for already her decks had become untenable for the crew. The blazing vessel was drifting rapidly.

“We could ram her,” he muttered. “She might be nosed out into the channel again, and headed away from the freight docks.”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?” Sally asked anxiously. “We have at least fifty passengers aboard. In this high wind, the Queen would be almost certain to catch fire.”

“There’s nothing else to do,” Captain Barker decided grimly, signaling the engine room. “The Florence is drifting fast, and before the fire boats can get here, half the waterfront will be ablaze. Have the passengers wet down the decks and stand by with buckets!”

Penny and Sally worked feverishly carrying out orders. The deck hose was attached, and buckets were brought from below and filled with water. All survivors who were able to help, cooperated to the fullest extent, helping wet down the decks and assisting women and children to the stern of the ferryboat.

Captain Barker had given an order for the Queen to move full speed ahead.

In a moment the two boats made jarring contact. Penny was thrown from her feet. Scrambling up, she saw that blazing timbers from the Florence had crashed directly onto the River Queen’s deck. Sparks were falling everywhere. The ferryboat had caught fire in a dozen places.

Seizing a bucket of water, she doused out the flames nearest her. Heat from the Florence was intense, and many of the men who had volunteered to help, began to retreat.

Penny and Sally stuck at their post, knowing that the lives of all depended upon extinguishing the flames quickly. Crew members of the Florence worked beside them with quiet, determined efficiency.

In the midst of the excitement, the final boatload of picked-up survivors had to be taken aboard. Captain Jamison, one of the last to leave the Florence, collapsed as he reached the deck. Severely burned, he was carried below to receive first-aid treatment.

Undaunted, Captain Barker shouted terse orders, goading the men to greater activity when the flames showed signs of getting beyond control. After the first contact with the Florence, only occasional sparks ignited the Queen’s decks, but the heat was terrific. Women and children became hysterical, fearful that the ferryboat would become a flaming torch.

“The worst is over now,” Sally sighed as she and Penny refilled water buckets. “Pop knows what he’s doing. He’s saved the waterfront.”

“But this ferryboat?”

“It still may go up in smoke, but I don’t think so,” Sally replied calmly. “Pop is heading so that the wind will carry the flames away from us. He’ll beach the Florence on Horseshoe Shoal and let the wreck burn to the water’s edge.”

For the next fifteen minutes, there was no lessening of worry aboard the River Queen. The ferryboat clung grimly to the blazing excursion boat, losing contact at times, then picking her up again, and pushing on toward the shoal.

Fire fighting activities aboard the ferryboat became better organized; the passengers, observing that Captain Barker knew what he was about, became calm and easily managed. By the time fire boats arrived to spray the Florence with streams of pressured water, the situation was well in hand.

Collapsing on the deck from sheer exhaustion, Penny and Sally gazed toward the warehouses and docks on the opposite shore. Only one fire of any size was visible there.

“The fire boats will quickly put it out,” Sally said confidently. “But I hate to think what would have happened if the wind and current had driven the Florence along those wharves.”

Penny wiped her cheek and saw that her hand was covered with black soot. Sally too was a sight. She had ripped the hem from her skirt, her hair was an untidy mess, everything about her was pungent with smoke.

“Where were we when all this excitement started?” Penny asked presently. “If my memory serves me correctly, we had sent out a police call for Claude Harper and his pals to be arrested. It all seems vague in my mind, as if it occurred a million years ago.”

“Why, I had forgotten too!” Sally gasped. “I hope the police went there and caught those men before they made a get-away.”

Scrambling to their feet, the girls moved to the starboard side of the Queen, which permitted a view of the Harper house far upriver. They were startled and dismayed to see tongues of flame shooting from a window.

“That place has caught on fire too!” Sally exclaimed, then corrected herself. “But sparks from the Florence never could have been carried so far!”

“The house has been set afire on purpose!” Penny cried. “Oh, Sally, don’t you see? It’s a trick to destroy all the evidence hidden there! The Harpers intend to skip town tonight, and they’re taking advantage of this fire to make it appear that destruction of the house is accidental!”

CHAPTER
23
FIRE!

Sick at heart, the two girls realized with the Harper house aflame, their last chance of proving the guilt of the brass thieves might be gone. As they stood at the railing of the Queen, gloomily watching the spreading, creeping line of fire, a motorboat chugged up.

“Ahoy!” shouted a familiar voice. “Can you take aboard three more survivors? They’re the very last we can find on the river.”

“It’s Jack!” Penny cried, recognizing his voice though unable to see his face in the dark. “After we get the passengers aboard, perhaps he’ll take us upriver to the Harpers!”

The girls ran to help with the new arrivals, but sailors already had lifted them from the boat and carried them aboard the Queen.

“This is my last load,” Jack called out. “Nearly everyone was saved. Coast Guard boats are patrolling now, and if there are other survivors, they’ll be taken ashore.”

“Jack!” Penny called down to him.

“That you, Penny?” he demanded in astonishment. “Why didn’t you come back to Shadow Island this afternoon? We’ve all been worried about you!”

“It’s a long story, and there’s no time to tell it now! Jack, will you take us to the Harpers’ in your motorboat?”

“Now?”

“Yes, the house is on fire.”

Helping the girls into the boat, Jack turned to gaze upstream. “That’s strange!” he exclaimed. “How could sparks from the Florence have carried so far?”

“The answer is, they didn’t,” Penny said grimly. “The house was set afire on purpose. Just get us to the pier as quickly as you can.”

Somewhere along the shore a big city clock struck the hour of midnight. The young people did not notice. As the boat raced over the water, bouncing as it struck each high wave, they discussed what had happened just prior to the outbreak of fire aboard the Florence.

“I know part of the stolen brass was dumped into the river by Sweeper Joe,” Penny revealed excitedly. “The remainder was locked in the basement of the Harper house the last I knew. And I’m satisfied the brass lantern taken from the Queen by Adam Glowershick is among the loot. All the thieves expect to skip town tonight. Probably they’re gone by this time.”

Beaching the boat some distance from the burning house, the three young people ran up the slope. Firemen had not yet reached the scene, and the few persons who had gathered, were watching the flames but making no effort to battle them.

“It’s a hopeless proposition,” Jack commented. “This far from the city, there’s no water pressure. The house will burn to the ground.”

“And all the evidence with it,” Penny added gloomily. “What miserable luck!”

No boats were tied up at the dock, nor was there any sign of the Harpers or their friends in the crowd. Obviously, the entire party had fled.

“Isn’t there some place where we can telephone the police?” Penny suggested impatiently. “If they act quickly, these men still may be caught. They can’t be very far away.”

“The nearest house is up the beach about an eighth of a mile,” Jack informed. “Maybe we can telephone from there.”

“You two go,” Sally said casually. “I want to stay here.”

At the moment, Jack and Penny, intent only upon their mission, thought nothing about the remark. Following the paved road which made walking easy, they hastened as fast as they could.

“Jack,” Penny said, puffing to keep pace with him. “There’s something I want to ask you.”

“Shoot!”

“Why have you felt so friendly toward that crook, Glowershick?”

Jack’s eyebrows jerked upward and he gave a snort of disgust. “Whatever gave you that crazy idea?”

“Well, he came to the island, and you borrowed money from me to give him—”

“So you recognized him that day?”

“Yes,” Penny answered quietly. “You tried to hide his identity, so I said nothing more. I kept thinking you would explain.”

“I’m prepared to pay you what I owe, Penny.”

“Oh, Jack, it’s not the money. Don’t you understand—”

“You think I’ve had a finger in lifting the brass lantern from the Queen,” Jack said stiffly.

“Gracious, no! But shouldn’t you explain?”

Jack was silent for a moment. Then he said, “Thanks, Penny, for having a little faith in me. I know I’ve been an awful sap.”

“Suppose you tell me all about