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Page 47
"I don't believe the man would give his daughter to us if we merely
offered to take care of her. She is too useful to him. But he might
let her come with us if we could pay him a great deal of money besides.
At least, if we offered him a bribe he might be influenced to tell us
where poor Mollie is. However, there is no use in talking about money.
We'll have to do the best we can without it," finished Phil.
The two friends were walking disconsolately along the shore of the
island. Neither one of them was anxious to return to the shanty boat
for another interview with the slatternly woman who presided over it.
"Phil," Madge's eyes brightened, "if we need any money to help this
girl, I feel sure Mrs. Curtis will be glad to give it to us. She is
rich and generous, and Tom says she dearly loves to do things for those
who are in need. I should not mind in the least asking her help. She
is very fond of young girls."
"She is very fond of you, at any rate," returned Phyllis, with a
smothered sigh. "Sometimes I feel as though she wanted to take you
away from us for keeps."
Madge laughed. "What nonsense, Phil. Why should she wish to take me
away for 'keeps'?"
But Phyllis did not reply to the little captain's laughing question.
"Let's not go around to the shanty boat the way we did this morning.
Let us go back the opposite way, and then we shall have encircled the
whole island," planned Madge. "If Mollie is hidden anywhere, we might
happen to discover her."
The loneliness of their walk affected both Madge and Phyllis. There
were no houses on the island. It was visited in the autumn for duck
shooting, and in the summer was used as a camping ground for a few
fisher folk. The girls passed only one man in their entire journey.
He was lying under a tree, fast asleep. A hat covered his face. As
the two friends hurried by they did not seek to discover who the man
was. He was a rough-looking fellow, and they preferred not to awaken
him.
This time the deck of the shanty boat was deserted. It was noon. The
other members of the small shanty colony must have been out on the
water, for there was no one in sight.
The girls stood staring irresolutely at the boat. "I suppose the woman
is indoors fixing the luncheon. I can see the smoke coming through the
smokestack," declared Phil. "Shall we call to her, or just march
boldly aboard her old boat?"
"I don't know," hesitated Madge. "I don't believe we ought to mention
Mollie's note. We might get the child into more trouble."
Phyllis shook her head. "Well, then, you decide upon something. You
always plan things better than I do. I think we had better say that we
have come back to inquire of Captain Mike how long he expects Mollie to
be away. Then we can insist on waiting until his sailboat returns."
The two girls strode bravely up the single, rickety board that served
as the gangplank of the shanty boat. At their first step on the dock a
yellow dog rushed to the door of the dirty kitchen and set up a furious
barking. Behind him stood the menacing figure of the woman whom Madge
and Phil had seen a short time before. About her torn skirts were
clustered three or four stupid-looking, tow-headed children. It was
impossible for Phil to conceive how beautiful Mollie could be a member
of such a family. Yet the unfortunate girl had told Phyllis that she
had known no other than the hard, joyless life she had always led.
It was Madge who opened the conversation this time. To her
disappointment she received no different answer to her inquiries than
had Phil. "Moll was gone." The woman did not know where she had gone
and she didn't care. But she wasn't coming back. Further, Mollie's
step-mother did not see what business Phil and Madge had in coming to
ask about her.
"We are going to wait to talk to your husband," announced Phil with
quiet decision.
"You git off my boat in a hurry," the woman snarled angrily. "You can
stay on the island all day if you like, but you can't hang around here.
Mike won't be home before night, and he ain't goin' to tell you nothin'
then. You'll find the beach pretty comfortable; it's so nice and
shady." The woman grinned maliciously.
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