The Golden Eagle Mystery (19 page)

“Don’t you want to try it now, Mr. Bohnett?” he asked. “It’s really a dandy!”

“Yeah, wouldn’t ye like me to?” retorted Bonehead, with a sly wink. “Nothin’ would suit ye better’n to git me foolin’ with that thing, so as you could git away when I wasn’t watchin’. No, sir, you don’t fool me that easy, young feller!”

“Well, I just thought you might like to try it,” said Djuna meekly. “I don’t see why you should think I’d want to fool
you
, Mr. Bohnett. You’ve helped me a lot, you really have!”

“Don’t try to soft-soap
me
, young feller,” said Bonehead sternly. But Djuna could see that he was much pleased by the flattery.

Djuna wandered around the cabin, whistling carelessly. But each time he passed the boarded-up window on the side nearest Eagle Rock, he paused. There was a crack between two of the boards, through which he could get a glimpse of the channel between the two islands. The fifth time he peered through the cracks, he saw what he had been hoping for—the white sails of Billy’s little boat, silently gliding away from the island.

After that, every minute seemed like an hour.

Djuna sat down on the dusty floor and tried not to worry. But he couldn’t help worrying. It would take Billy almost two hours, perhaps, to get to Stony Harbor. Perhaps he wouldn’t get there at all—perhaps Harvey Bohnett’s motorboat would meet him, and stop him. Perhaps the wind would die out. Perhaps—

Suddenly Bonehead jumped to his feet, grinning. “Here comes Harvey!” he chuckled. “Heerd his whistle!”

Djuna stood up and drew a deep breath. He had been thinking hard, and he had already decided what he must try to do if Harvey Bohnett arrived before Billy could get back with help. He must try to delay the two brothers just as long as he could!

Harvey swaggered in. And behind him came the black-haired man that Djuna had first seen at Mr. Truelove’s store, and then at the Harbor House.

“Got him right here for ye, Mister Patina!” said Bonehead gleefully, pointing at Djuna. “There he be!”

Djuna hurried forward before the two newcomers had had time to open their mouths.

“Gee, I’m glad you got here, Mr. Patina!” he said eagerly. “I went around to the Harbor House this morning to tell you we’ve found the eagles’ nest, but they said you were asleep, so I got Billy Reckless to bring me out here right off! He went back to tell you. Didn’t you see him?”

“Naw, we didn’t see him,” growled Harvey Bohnett, suspiciously. “Don’t lie to me, kid! Where is he?”

He took a step toward Djuna, but the black-haired man seized his arm.

“No, leave him alone, Harvey,” he said impatiently. “The nest! The nest! Where is it, boy? Quick!”

“It’s on Haypenny Island,” said Djuna. “It’s where the tree fell down, the big pine tree, where the nest was. It’s all heaped up there, and there’s grass growing all over it, but you can tell that’s where it was. Want me to show you?”

“Come on, Bohnett, hurry!” exclaimed Mr. Patina, tugging at Harvey’s sleeve. “Come along, boy. Show us where it is!”

“Now, hold your horses,” growled Harvey. “You say it’s buried, kid? Didn’t you dig it up?”

“We didn’t have any spade with us when we found it,” Djuna explained. “We tried to dig it up with an old board, but we couldn’t. We brought a spade today, but I haven’t dug any there, yet. I was waiting for Billy to get back, so he could help.”

“What did you do with the spade?” exclaimed Patina, excitedly. “Where is it?”

Djuna pointed to the spade, which was lying where he had dropped it, beside the old rusty kettle by the fireplace. He held his breath, scarcely daring to breath, while Mr. Patina rushed over and picked up the spade. But Mr. Patina saw nothing else, except a fireplace heaped with ashes and an old kettle full of empty clam shells.

The black-haired man hurried back with the spade, and Djuna’s heart stopped thumping. He started to walk carelessly toward the door. Harvey Bohnett seized him by the arm.

“You’re goin’ to stay right with us till we git through with you,” he growled. “No use your tryin’ to git away.”

“Why should
I
try to get away?” exclaimed Djuna, innocently. “I’m having a swell time, Mr. Bohnett!”

But as they marched him down the beach and ordered him to get into the Bohnetts’ motorboat with them, Djuna looked anxiously across the water toward Stony Harbor, longing for the sight of a rescuing vessel on its way toward him. But there was no sign of one. Even Billy’s boat had disappeared from view, and Djuna felt a sudden chill of fear. What could have happened to Billy?

“Don’t give up the ship!” he repeated to himself. “Don’t give up the ship!”

Bonehead threw off the mooring lines from the rickety pier, and Harvey steered the motorboat towards Haypenny Island. Djuna tried desperately to think of some way to gain time. As they came opposite the channel between the two islands, he jumped up.

“Look!” he exclaimed. “There isn’t any good place to land on Haypenny Island, unless you go up this channel! There’s a creek that goes into a little cove, that’s the best place, right by Eagle Rock!”

Harvey scowled over his shoulder. “Don’t tell
me
how to run my boat!” he snapped.

“Do what the boy says!” ordered Mr. Patina sharply. “It will save time, won’t it?”

“It certainly will!” said Djuna. And under his breath he added, “For
me!
”

Harvey muttered, but steered the motorboat up the channel and into the cove. They climbed ashore.

“Now, then, where is the nest?” Patina demanded. “Show me where it is, boy!”

Djuna led the way across the island, till they came to the hump of earth, covered with low bushes, where he and Billy and Champ had found the ivory cane. “There it is!” he said.

Mr. Patina began digging furiously. The sun blazed down on them, and it was hot work. In ten minutes Mr. Patina grew tired and handed the spade to Bonehead. Bonehead dug until the sweat poured down his face, then handed the spade to his brother. The hole grew deeper and deeper. Next, Harvey took up the digging. Minutes passed, and still the spade turned up nothing except bits of rotting twigs, that showed where the nest might once have been. Djuna sat with his chin on his hands, staring anxiously across the water toward Stony Harbor, but no boat came. He grew more and more worried.

Suddenly Harvey Bohnett stopped working and straightened up, listening intently, his hand cupped behind his ear.

“What’s that?” he exclaimed. “Hear it?”

They all listened. In a moment, the sound was plain—the sound of a powerful motorboat, growing steadily louder. It was coming, not from Stony Harbor, but from the opposite direction. A moment later, the motorboat came into sight, traveling so fast that a cloud of white spray was thrown back from her bows. She was coming straight towards them.

“That’s the Coast Guard boat!” exclaimed Harvey, his voice shaking with terror. “Git back to our boat, quick!”

All three men took to their heels, running toward the cove. Djuna stayed where he was. He saw them scramble over the rocks, fling themselves on board, and try to start the boat. Then howls of rage floated back to him.

They were trapped. The tide had started to ebb, just as the boat entered the cove. So much water had run out, while they were digging, that the boat was stranded.

As the Coast Guard launch came closer, Djuna ran down to the beach and waved his arms frantically. When it was opposite him, he saw Billy Reckless among the men on the launch, waving wildly at him. The next minute, the launch slowed down and came slowly toward him. He ran to meet it, splashing out till he was waist-deep. A rope came flying out to him. He grabbed it. Strong hands hauled him on board.

“Are you all right?” asked Billy anxiously.

“Sure,” panted Djuna, “as soon as I get my breath!”

The officer in charge of the launch, a bos’n’s mate, patted him on the shoulder.

“Now, young man,” he said, “what’s this all about?”

Djuna pointed toward the cove. “There’s a boat in there, with three men on it,” he said. “They’re the ones that stole Mrs. Tubbs’ boat and wrecked it! I got them to go into the cove, but I guess I forgot to tell them the tide had started to run out. I guess they’re stuck there, or something.”

The bos’n’s mate threw back his head and roared with laughter. “You win!” he chuckled. “
You
don’t need the Coast Guard!”

“Well, they’ll only be stuck there about ten hours,” said Djuna seriously. “Could you please arrest them before the tide comes back?”

The bos’n’s mate roared again. “Well, I guess we can get around to it,” he said, wiping his eyes. “You seem to want them pretty bad.”

“Yes, sir,” said Djuna: “Look, I don’t think there’s enough water left in that channel for your boat to get in there, but you won’t have to. There’s an old pier around on the other side of Sixpenny Island you can moor up to, and then you could just holler over to them and make them wade over there.”

“You seem to have it all figured out,” chuckled the officer. “We’ll see if we can get them for you that way. But are you sure you can prove they’re the men that stole Aunt Patty’s boat? You’ll get in trouble, you know, if you can’t prove it.”

“I can prove it,” said Djuna confidently. “Do you want me to tell you how?”

When he had explained how he meant to prove it, the officer stared at him in admiration, and then solemnly stuck out his hand.

“Well, put her there, mate!” he said. “Shake! Blow me down, if I don’t believe you can do it! I’ll back you up, and that’s my word of honor! Let’s go!”

He gave the order to proceed to the landing place on Sixpenny Island. After that, until they got there, he only shook his head and mumbled, “Wait till the wife hears this!”

But he didn’t smile. He didn’t smile even when Djuna suddenly said, “Oh, gee, I almost forgot—they took Billy’s spade over there!” He just shouted across the channel, “Come over here, you three, and bring that spade back with you!” He didn’t smile at all when the three men came wading and stumbling across the channel, looking frightened to death, and were lined up in front of him. The crew of the launch closed in around them.

“I’ve got evidence that you three are the men that stole the
Patagonia
from Mrs. Tubbs and wrecked it,” said the officer sternly. “What have you got to say for yourselves?”

Mr. Patina laughed scornfully. “Say?” he repeated. “Why, I say that’s ridiculous! We were at the Harbor House that night, all three of us, and we can prove it!”

“That’s right!” said Bonehead eagerly. “Nobody seen us take it!”

“Shut up, you!” snarled his brother. “Anybody that says they seen us take it is a liar!”

“That will be enough out of you!” said the Coast Guard man sharply. He motioned to Djuna. “What’s
your
story, Admiral?” he asked. “Tell us what you know.”

“Well, this is what happened that night,” said Djuna slowly, looking straight at Bonehead as he spoke. “You and your brother came to Mr. Truelove’s wharf in your boat, and you stayed there and talked to him until after it got dark, didn’t you?”

Bonehead nodded.

“And then,” Djuna went on, “you told him you were going to the Harbor House, and you got into your boat and went away, didn’t you?”

“Don’t answer him!” growled Harvey Bohnett.

“But you didn’t go to the Harbor House,” said Djuna. “You just went as far as the middle of the harbor, and shut off your engines and your lights, and waited there, in the dark.”

No one said a word.

“And then
you
sneaked past Mr. Truelove’s wharf in the dark!” cried Djuna, suddenly pointing at Mr. Patina. “He didn’t hear you, because he was inside his store, listening to the radio. You tiptoed out on the next pier—”

“That’s a lie!” squealed Mr. Patina, pale with fear and fury. “I never went there!”

Djuna laughed. “You went out on the pier,” he said quietly. “You untied the
Patagonia’s
mooring lines and dropped them. You climbed down into the
Patagonia
in the dark. You knew there would be somebody waiting there to help you.”

Mr. Patina’s eyes seemed starting from his head. “Nobody was there!” he said in a hoarse whisper. “You’re crazy! I wouldn’t know how to start the engine!”

“The Thing that was helping you didn’t need any engine,” said Djuna. “It didn’t make any noise. It just moved in the dark, and carried the
Patagonia
along with it. It was the tide, going out, and it took you out to the Bohnetts’ boat.”

Mr. Patina wiped the sweat from his forehead. He tried to laugh. “So that’s it, is it?” he said. “That’s a likely story! You had better be careful, my boy, you’re going to get into trouble if you say things like that!”

Djuna paid no attention to the interruption. “The reason you wanted to get the
Patagonia
away from the wharf,” he went on, “was because you thought that Mr. Tubbs had hidden some money in it before he died, and you wanted to hunt for it. So you hired Harvey Bohnett to help you.”

“I ain’t going to stand for this!” Harvey burst out angrily. “I ain’t never been near old lady Tubbs’ boat!”

“Oh, is that so?” said Djuna calmly. “Well, you three can settle that between you. You wouldn’t let Billy take your fingerprints, but we got them, anyway.”

“Nonsense!” exclaimed Mr. Patina. “What are you talking about?”

“Fingerprints,” said Djuna. “We put some smoked glass in your room at the Harbor House yesterday, when you weren’t there, and last night you left marks all over it. We got fingerprints from all three of you.”

All three of the men looked down quickly at their hands. Harvey swore. Bonehead put his hands behind his back. Mr. Patina laughed nervously.

“Well, what of it?” he demanded. “What if you have got my fingerprints? That doesn’t prove I had anything to do with stealing that boat!”

“Yes, I think it will,” said Djuna pleasantly. “You see, I happened to find that lantern still burning, on the
Patagonia
, and the chimney glass was all smoked black. You can get awful good fingerprints on smoked glass, you know.”

Bonehead suddenly looked as if he were going to cry. “My gosh, Harve,” he wailed, “I told you we hadn’t ought to light that there lantrun!”