Drawbridge

“ Penny said, showing her the white gold ring.
“It’s amazing how you get into so much adventure,” Louise replied enviously as she studied the trinket. “Start at the beginning and tell me everything.”
The invitation was very much to Penny’s liking. Perching herself on the highest porch step she recounted her visit to the Kippenberg estate, painting an especially romantic picture of the castle dwelling, the moat, and the drawbridge. ”

“ OVER THE DRAWBRIDGE
Wasting no moments in useless conversation, Mr. Parker rented a fast motor boat and prevailed upon Harry Griffith to operate it for him. Guided by the stars and a half moon which was slowly rising over the treetops, the party swung down the river.
Riding with the current, they came before long to the locality where Penny and Jerry had first sighted the two seamen’s cruiser. But now there was no sign of a boat, either large or small. ”

“ It’s just a nice picture of a drawbridge.”
“That’s just the point, Salt!” Penny’s eyes danced with excitement. “A drawbridge!”
The photographer glanced again at the painting, this time with deeper interest.
“Say, it looks a lot like the bridge which was built over the river,” he observed. “You think this picture is a copy of it?”
[26]
Penny shook her head impatiently. “Salt, your knowledge of art is dreadful. This Van Gogh was painted ages ago and is priceless. Don’t you see, the drawbridge has to be a copy of the picture?”
“Your theory sounds reasonable,” Salt admitted. ”

“ Another car coming from the opposite direction had pulled up at the side of the road. Penny did not recognize the three men who were crowded into the front seat, but the printed placard, Ledger which was pasted on the windshield told her they represented a rival newspaper in Riverview.
“What luck, Les?” Salt called, craning his neck out the car window.
[13]
“You may as well turn around and go back,” came the disgusted reply. “The old lady won’t let a reporter or a photographer on the estate. She has a guard stationed on the drawbridge to see that you don’t get past.” ”

“ Mrs. Kippenberg she keeps the drawbridge up so she’ll have more privacy. And I ain’t blamin’ her. These here newspaper reporters always is a-pesterin’ the life out of her.”
Penny nodded sympathetically and walked back to make her report to Salt.
“No luck?” he demanded.
“Guess twice,” she laughed. “The old bridgeman just took it for granted I was one of the wedding guests. It will be all right for us to go over in the guest launch as soon as it arrives.” ”

“ But now she had no hope of learning more, and so turned away.
Emerging from among the trees, she glanced toward the rose garden. Nearly all of the wedding guests had departed. Penny considered whether or not she should speak to Mrs. Kippenberg about finding the ring. Deciding against it, she joined a group of people at the boat dock and was ferried across the river.
Salt awaited her at the drawbridge.
“I just about gave you up,” he complained. “It’s time for us to get back to the office or our news won’t be news. The wedding is definitely off?” ”

“ The besieged attempt to raise the drawbridge—Puddingfield and Beefington press forward with alacrity, throw themselves upon the drawbridge, and by the exertion of their weight, preserve it in a state of depression—the other besiegers join them, and attempt to force the entrance, but without effect. ”

“ Penny declared, keeping her voice low. “This estate with the drawbridge was built by Clayton Kippenberg. He must have been familiar with the Van Gogh painting, and had the real bridge modeled after the picture. For that matter, the painting may have been in his possession—”
“Then you think the picture was presented to Sylvia Kippenberg by her father?” Salt broke in quickly.
“Yes, I do. Only a person very close to the bride would have given such a gift.” ”

“ And I ought to change my dress.”
“Wear something dark which won’t attract attention in the bushes,” advised Penny. “Now get to working on yourself while I finish the dishes.”
Louise dropped the dishcloth and hurried upstairs. When she returned ten minutes later, her chum was swishing the last of the soapsuds down the sink drain. Another five minutes and they were in Penny’s battered car, speeding toward Corbin.
The sun rode high in the sky by the time they came within view of the drawbridge. ”

“ Kippenberg, she don’t mind. Fact is, she ain’t much afraid of the bridge. She drives her car across whenever she takes the notion.”
“Then the bridge does operate!” Penny exclaimed.
“Sure it does. That’s my job, to raise and lower it whenever the owner says the word. But the bridge ain’t fit for delivery trucks and such-like. One of them big babies would crack through like goin’ over sponge ice.”
“Well, I rather envy your employer,” said Penny lightly. “It isn’t every lady who has her own private drawbridge.” ”

“ SECRET OF THE LILY POOL
The moon rode high in the heavens as the cabin cruiser let go its anchor in a cove off the Kippenberg estate. Penny who had been dozing for the past hour in her self-imposed prison started up in alarm as Jerry nudged her in the ribs.
“Wake up,” he whispered. “We’re here.”
“At the estate?”
“I think so.”
On the deck above their heads they could hear the men talking together.
“You’ll come along with us, Atherwald,” Aaron Dietz said. “Flora, you stay here and guard the boat. If you see anyone watching or acting suspiciously, blow the whistle two short blasts.” ”

“ Reaching the banks of the river, the two men boarded a sturdy cabin cruiser which had been moored to a sagging dock.
“It’s the very same boat,” Penny whispered jubilantly. “I knew I wasn’t mistaken.”
“Even so, what does that prove?” demanded Jerry. “It’s no crime to run a motorboat near the Kippenberg estate. The river is free.”
“But you must admit there is other evidence. Oh, why can’t we follow them? We might learn something really important.”
“We’re not going off on any wild chase tonight,” stated Jerry sternly. ”

“ You and Jake will get your pay anyhow. And even if Atherwald doesn’t know the hiding place we’ll make Kippenberg come through.”
“You’ll have to find him first,” the other retorted. “If you ask my opinion, you’ve made a mess of the whole affair.”
“No one asked your opinion! We’ll make Atherwald tell tonight or else—”
The man with the lantern started away from the dock but paused before he had taken many steps.
“Get those supplies up to the shack,” he ordered. “Then I want to talk with you both.”
“All right,” was the reply, “but we have to get the cabin door open first. ”

“ She now arose and came over to the desk. From her pocket she took the white gold wedding ring.
“Mr. Atherwald,” she said, “I wonder if you could identify this.”
The man studied the trinket for a moment.
[65]
“It looks very much like a ring which Grant purchased for Sylvia,” he declared. “Where did you get it?”
“I found it lying on the ground at the Kippenberg estate,” Penny replied vaguely. She had no intention of divulging the exact locality where she had picked up the ring.
“You see,” said Mr. Parker, “we have supporting facts in our possession which were not published. ”

“ Louise inquired, for Penny had not told her that the structure was still in use.
“Oh, sure, Miss. That’s what I’m here for. But it ain’t safe for nothin’ heavier than a passenger car.”
“I’d love to see the bridge lowered.” Louise stared curiously up at the tall cantilevers which pointed skyward. “When will you do it next time, Mr.—?”
“Davis, if you please, Miss. Thorny Davis they calls me. My real name’s Thorndyke.”
The old man pulled a large, silver watch from his pocket and consulted it.
[136]
“In about ten minutes now, Mrs. Kippenberg will be comin’ back from town. ”

“ He cut the way up the ravine by which the gorge was made accessible. When I was a boy the only method by which it could be explored was by swimming and scrambling in summer, when the water was low. Mr. Radford built Bridge House and restored the church. It was due to him that I undertook, in 1888, to collect the folk-music in Devon and Cornwall; and it is in Lydford churchyard that he lies, awaiting the resurrection of the just. Not without deep feeling can I pen these lines to commemorate one of the best men whom it has been my happiness to know. ”

“ He wanted her, and wanting her, was committed to scrupulous frankness.
Drake looked out across the city. At his feet lay the quiet strip of garden, lawn and bush; beyond, the lamps burning on the parapets of the Embankment, and beyond them, the river shining in the starlight, polished and lucent like a slab of black marble, with broad regular rays upon it of a still deeper blackness, where the massive columns of Hungerford Bridge cast shadows on the water. An engine puffed and snorted into the station, leaving its pennant of white smoke in the air. ”

“ The tragedy of a whole life is concentrated in that sonnet, and the heart-pang in it is unmistakable. But Drayton had stood as witness to the will of Anne's father, by which £1500 was set down for her marriage portion. She was an heiress, he a penniless poet, and what was to be done?
About 1590, when Drayton was twenty-eight, and Anne was probably twenty-one years old, Drayton left Polesworth Hall and came to London. Perhaps the very parting was the means of revealing his heart to himself, for it is from near this time that, as he confesses later, he dates the first consciousness of his love. ”

“ The latter was lured on by the prospect of the glittering reward that would become his, if, through his instrumentality, the escaped prisoner should be recaptured. Drayton was led on by a purely professional ardour. To succeed where the great Whiffins from Scotland Yard had failed, even though that success were won by a fluke, and by no brilliant stroke of his own genius, was in itself something to be proud of—something that would bring his name prominently before the notice of his superiors. ”

“ Drayton--nothing more, thank you," replied Ralph; "I have had quite enough, and all has been very good."
"Perhaps, sir, you would like to look through the house," said Mr. Drayton, determined not to leave the young stranger to his own bitter thoughts if he could help it; "it is a curious old place, and, to my mind, looks better by candlelight than at any other time. I think old places always do; for there is something about them which makes one feel that their real light is gone, and that they can only be viewed pleasantly by something manufactured and modern. ”

“ He fumbled his torn ulster. "I must change my coat," he said.
"No."
"She'll see the rent."
"So much the better."
"But the people at the junction will see it."
"What matter?—you will be there as Paul Ritson, not Paul Drayton."
Drayton began to laugh, to chuckle, to crow.
"Hush!"
The sound of carriage-wheels came from the road.
"They're here," said Hugh Ritson. "Keep you out of sight, as you value your liberty. Do you hear? Take care that he doesn't see you, and that she doesn't see you until he is gone."
Drayton was tramping about the floor in the intensity of his energy. ”

“ I’ve drilled the men and shown the people how to stack their oats better; and I’ve brought in those tinware rifles from Ghorband—but I know what you’re driving at. I take it Kings always feel oppressed that way.’
“‘There’s another thing too,’ says Dravot, walking up and down. ‘The winter’s coming, and these people won’t be giving much trouble, and if they do we can’t move about. I want a wife.’
“‘For Gord’s sake leave the women alone!’ I says. ‘We’ve both got all the work we can, though I am a fool. ”

“ Radford, "and you shall have a wedding-gown from me, Kate.--Look out of the window, there's a good girl, and see if any of those dragoons are about."
Kate did as he bade her, and replied in the negative; and Mr. Radford, after giving a few more directions, mounted his horse and rode away, muttering as he went--"Ay, Master Harding, I have a strong suspicion of you; and I will soon satisfy myself. They must have had good information, which none could give but you, I think; so look to yourself, my friend. No man ever injured me yet who had not cause to repent it." ”

“ Drayton, in that commonplace tone which somewhat jars with strong emotions, "to write a letter at night, take counsel with one's pillow, and read it over before one sends it in the morning. It seems my lady has made some mistake about this duel, and it has taken you by surprise. You had better think well, sir, before you act in any way, for one does not always do the wisest when one acts in a hurry."
"True--true, Mr. Drayton," said Ralph, in an absent tone, "I will think before I act; but still I must not suffer an imputation to rest upon me which I do not deserve;" ”

“ For purposes of poetry, Britain is an unwieldy subject, and if you are to allow to a river no other characters than those of mud and ooze, swiftness or slowness, why, you will relate of it little but its rise, length and fall. Drayton's weakness is that he can conceive of no other relation than a sex-relation, and in so describing the relations of every river in England, he very naturally becomes tedious. Satiety is the bane of the amorist, and of worse than he. ”

“ An open carriage was waiting for them in the outer court of the inn, and ten minutes afterward they drew up in a narrow street off Whitehall under a wide archway which opened into the large and silent quadrangle leading to the principal public offices. It was the Home Office; the carriage had come for Drake.
Drake had seen changes in his life too. His father was dead and he had succeeded to the baronetcy. He had also inherited a racing establishment which the family had long upheld, and a colt which had been entered for the Derby nearly three years ago was to run in the race that day. ”