Margaret Penrose

“ Cora’s boat was likewise equipped.
“Are you going to beat him?” asked Lottie, as she moved back where no drop of spray could spot her blue dress.
“I am certainly going to try,” said Cora with a smile. “What does a race amount to if you don’t try to win?”
“Oh, of course, but then I thought this was only in fun.”
“It’s a race for keeps,” announced Cora. “And I think we’ll win. That last gasoline we got is the best we ever had. It gives us more power, and the Chelton is running like a sewing machine, as Jack says. I think we’re going to win!” ”

“ Cora and the motor girls had been on so many trips on land and water that they had learned how to meet and accept the advances of strangers, even when they were good-looking young men. There was, too, a sort of comradeship about a motor boat that lent a chaperonage to the effect of girls talking to men to whom they had never been introduced. Cora’s chums realized this and thought nothing of her offer. ”

“ Under these calming influences of nature the girls—even nervous Bess—felt themselves growing calm, and at peace with the world. The trouble of the night before seemed to melt away, and assume a less sinister aspect. But Cora could not get over the feeling that something akin to a tragedy had nearly happened.
“And it may again,” she thought. “I do wish we could help Freda and her mother, but I don’t see how. Land troubles are always so complicated.” 162
As Cora turned the wheel and swung the boat about in a wide circle, she was aware of another craft coming toward her. ”

“ Cora whispered to Bess. “I’m afraid another and worse storm is gathering!”
“Don’t give up,” replied the girl, her own face gray in the mist and spray that covered the deck even under the awnings.
“I—see—something bobbing up and down over there!” Cora continued. “See! It is—a big, strong boat, perhaps a lifeboat!”
“Let us hope so,” answered Bess, fervently.
Not one word could Cora exchange with Jack, he was too far from her to hear her voice. The Dixie was still near enough to be sighted, but how the boys managed to keep her so was as remarkable to themselves as to those on the Chelton. ”

“ Lewis.
“Cora must have known those men were going to put the ‘for sale’ sign on the cottage, when she hurried so to get Freda and her mother over to our place the other night,” went on Bess. “I knew there was something more important than merely taking care of us.”
“Oh, of course, that’s just like Cora. Fancy Mrs. Lewis never hearing a word about it. If she had been in the house when they tacked that sign on——”
“It must be perfectly awful to lose everything that way; to feel it is all an injustice, yet not to be able to prove one’s own claim,” said Belle. ”

“ We could take a prisoner or two in our boat.”
There was a chorus of screams.
“Cora Kimball—how dare you?” demanded Belle.
“Oh, I meant if he was tied hand and foot,” went on the leader of the motor girls. “Villains are always tied hand and foot, you know. They can’t move. They’re gagged, too. I think I should insist on having our villain gagged. It might happen to be that young man who raced with us to-day, and he might get sarcastic if he could talk. Yes, I think he must be gagged.”
“Oh, Cora, you’re hopeless,” sighed Lottie. ”

“ Freda replied. “If we lose it all now, I will have to look for work. Not that I mind that,” she added, “but I intend to take a course in nursing. I have always longed to be a nurse.”
“And that would be a splendid profession for you,” Cora agreed. “I do hope you will not have to go to work in some office.”
“Oh, there’s Denny! Denny!” called Freda, leaving Cora without further ceremony, and hurrying ahead as fast as the soft sand would allow. “See, there he is! Just going out in his fishing boat.”
Cora ran after her, and soon they overtook the old fisherman, who was deaf. ”

“ Cora said, as the two visitors were about to climb into their frail skiff. “You would be washed out during the storm that’s coming. Here, Bess, hold this,” handing Bess one end of the awning tie. “Belle, can you keep that rope taut?”
It was astonishing how quickly the scene of enjoyment turned to one of alarm. Those of the girls who were active and eager to assist in making things safe, did not suffer so much from fright as did they who took time to watch the clouds. ”

“ I am afraid those land sharks have our little place marked, too, for they have been loitering around all day. I don’t want to tell the boys. They are hasty and so apt to resent any intrusion that would worry us.”
“Why should the men bother you?” asked Mrs. Lewis.
“I suppose because they know that Freda is a friend of ours,” replied Cora. “But don’t worry about them bothering us, all we want is to be able to meet them fairly. Of course if they knew we were alone at night they might be mean enough to frighten us, and some of the girls are rather timid.” ”

“ It was when Cora and her chums were in the midst of their impromptu luncheon that they heard 181 a boat grate on the beach that was hidden from view by the bushes.
“Someone is coming!” exclaimed Bess.
“Maybe it’s the boys,” remarked Belle.
“It’s about time they followed us,” suggested Lottie. “They don’t give us a moment’s peace.”
“Do you want it?” asked Cora pointedly, for Lottie had been rather taken up with Jack, of late.
“Oh, I don’t know,” answered the girl. “Of course the boys are nice, and——”
“‘Handsome is as handsome does,’” quoted Belle. “But that doesn’t happen to be the boys.” ”

“ She told them something of Freda’s story, and Ed Foster promised to talk the matter over with Mrs. Lewis later, and see if he could give any legal aid.
“It’s too bad!” exclaimed Bess. “There ought to be a law to punish such men.”
“There probably are laws,” said Cora, “but the trouble is there are so many laws that bad men can often use them for their own ends.” 25
“Bravo, Portia. A Daniel come to judgment!” cried Ed. “With you on her side, Freda is sure to win!”
But, though the motor girls tried to be merry, the little cloud of Freda’s trouble overshadowed them all the way to Crystal Bay. ”

“ Lewis, “and go right over with you. We have not many treasures now to be afraid of losing.”
“Oh, that is splendid!” Cora cried. Freda immediately went about fastening the windows and seeing to the general locking up, while Mrs. Lewis hurried up stairs to pack a small bag. It seemed as though they were ready almost instantly, much to the relief of Bess, who kept wondering if the boys would remain at the bungalow with the girls until her own and Cora’s return. ”

“ The Chelton was in running order, and soon they were out on the moonlit waters of the bay.
“There’s a light in his cabin,” said Cora, as they came out from behind a point, and had a view of the little cove where nestled Denny’s cottage.
“I hope the boys are there,” remarked Bess, “and that they have the villains all tied up and ready for delivery.”
“Ugh!” exclaimed Belle. “If they have I wish they’d send them by parcel post instead of asking us to take charge of them.”
“They’ll be harmless,” guaranteed Cora. “Besides, the Dixie can’t hold more than the boys; our boat is larger.” ”

“ How boys can get work done that way is always a mystery to girls, who find the same play labor.
“Do I stay for lunch?” Tom asked. “I suppose when a fellow helps with the general housework he is entitled to his ‘keep.’”
“Oh, we would just love to have you,” replied Jack, with mock seriousness, “but the fact is, we are all invited out. We lunch on the Chelton to-day,” and he strutted around with such wide sweeping curves, and twists, that he knocked from the narrow board table every last bit of butter the “Couldn’ts” had in their camp. ”

“ There were a number of conveniences at Crystal Bay. Stores were not out of reach, and supplies could be procured with little trouble. A trip across the bay brought one to the shores of a real village, with school house, post-office and other accessories of civilization. A trip down the bay opened into eel pots in August, bluefishing in September and deep sea fishing later on, when the Summer colonists had departed.
Very early in the morning after the arrival of the motor girls at Crystal Bay, house, tent and bungalow were deserted—it was all a matter of motor boat. ”

“ What sport!” exclaimed Lottie, to whom motor boating was an entirely new experience. “I hope we make it Holland. I have always longed to see a real, live Holland boy. The kind who are all clothes and wooden shoes.”
“We might make one up for you,” suggested Belle. “I think Wallie would look too cute for anything in skirty trousers and polonaise shirts. Just let his locks grow a little—Look out there, Bess! That’s water around the boat. It only looks like an oil painting. It’s real—wet!” ”

“ Belle and Lottie usually took a twirl while Bess and Cora did the shopping, but to-day having walked instead of coming by motor boat they sank into a seat at the water’s edge and watched others try the newest steps.
Around the drug counter a number of men were engaged in earnest conversation with the salesman. Belle needed cold cream and was waiting her turn to tell the clerk so.
“We just about have it,” said one man to the man behind the counter. “There is no question about the legal right; it is only a matter of a lost document. ”

“ The girls paused in dragging the baggage toward the front door.
“Just the same,” Marita went on, “Lottie was frightened to-day and she only heard a strange man say, ‘They call them the motor girls.’ As if that was anything terrifying.”
“But it was the way they said it,” Lottie protested. “They just peered at us—and——”
“Now, Lottie,” said Cora, “you have an idea that everyone who looks at us ‘peers’ at us. For my part I was rather flattered by their attention. You see the fame of the motor girls is spreading. ”

“ There’s a hole there,” Cora warned just in time, for in the heavy sand little rivulets were creeping from some rollers tossed in by a passing boat. The bay was dotted with many craft, and the picture it presented gave Cora keen delight, for it forecasted a merry Summer for the motor girls.
“We only have a little farther to go,” Freda said. “I hope old Denny has kept his word and stayed in. He is the queerest old fellow—you will be amused at him, I am sure. But he was always such a staunch friend of grandfather.” ”

“ Lottie answered, with an affectionate squeeze of Cora’s arm. “What about you? Who did all the engineering in the storm? And who is still ‘on deck’ giving orders?” 110
“Oh, I am strong,” replied Cora, though strong as she was the last few hours had told in the paler tint of her cheeks.
The return of the storm-stricken ones attracted crowds of bungalowers and campers to the beach; for, of course, craft of all sorts had been caught in the gale. The center of interest, however, was the Chelton, for that boat had already gained a reputation at Crystal Bay. ”

“ Lewis,” declared Cora. “You always have a full larder. I don’t see where it comes from, for you don’t even use up the budget.”
“It’s a matter of experience,” answered Mrs. Lewis. “When one has to do things, my dear, one learns how. I am so glad we have macaroni cooked. Boys love big, steaming dishes.”
Cora gave a sigh of relief. What a blessing Mrs. Lewis had proven to be! After finding themselves shut out of their house by a trick of the land agents she and her daughter had taken up a permanent residence in the girls’ camp. Freda, in spite of all opposition, had installed herself as “maid.” ”

“ Jack Kimball and his chums, landing at the fisherman’s dock from the Dixie, thus commented when they paid another visit to Denny’s cabin, and found him still absent.
“No, I don’t imagine anything has happened,” said Jack. “You know he often goes off and stays a long time in his boat. He’s got a crazy sort of motor in it, that runs about as often as the one does in the Lassie. He may be stuck somewhere.” ”

“ That’s a neat little boat you have, a perfect little model,” he finished, coming as close as possible to the Chelton.
“Yours is all right, too, Dray,” replied Jack, “but it looks too good to be true. Doesn’t shoot up on land for a change, does it? I have heard of Dixies doing that stunt.”
“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Lottie. “I am freezing to death. I guess I’ll go change my dress.”
“Good idea,” agreed Cora, who was ready to leave her boat and go back to the bungalow with Lottie. “Come on,” and she jumped to the dock to which her boat had drifted. “I’ll run along with you.” ”

“ Foot by foot the young man urged his boat onward. Clearly he was not of that false chivalrous type that permits a lady to win whether she has the ability or not. To a really athletic girl, pitted against a man in an equal contest, nothing is more humiliating than to realize that her opponent is not putting forth all his powers. There are some 170 men who will never try too hard to win from a woman. This stranger was evidently not of that type, and Cora valued him accordingly. ”