Saboteurs on the River Page 12

  CHAPTER 12 _JERRY'S DISAPPEARANCE_

  Without noticing Jerry and the girls, Burt Ottman walked directly to atable at the other side of the dining room. He spoke to the stranger whomPenny and Louise had followed, and sat down opposite him.

  "Ha! The plot thickens!" commented Jerry in an undertone. "Obviously ourfriend and Burt Ottman had an appointment together."

  "This is certainly a shock to me," declared Penny. "I'd made up my mindthat Burt had nothing whatsoever to do with the dynamiting. Now I don'tknow what to think."

  "He must be the saboteur," Louise said, speaking louder than sherealized. "We picked up the billfold along the river and it undoubtedlywas his."

  "He denied it," replied Penny. "However, when I spoke of The Green ParrotI noticed that he seemed to recognize the name. Oh, dear!"

  "Now don't take it so hard," Jerry comforted her. "The best thing to dois to report what we've seen to police and let them draw their ownconclusions."

  "I suppose so," Penny admitted gloomily. "I had hoped to help Sara andher brother."

  "You wouldn't want to protect a saboteur?"

  "Of course not, Jerry. Oh, dear, it's all so mixed up."

  So intent had the young people been upon their conversation that theyfailed to observe a waiter hovering near. Nor did it occur to them thathe might be listening. As Jerry chanced to glance toward him, he bowed,and moving forward, presented the bill.

  "Howling cats!" the reporter muttered after the waiter had discreetlywithdrawn. "Will you look at this!"

  "How much is it?" Penny asked anxiously. "We only had three hamsandwiches."

  "Two dollars cover charge. Three sandwiches, one dollar and a half. Tip,fifty cents. Grand total, four dollars, plus sales tax."

  "Why, that's robbery!" Penny exclaimed. "I wouldn't pay it, Jerry."

  "I can't," he admitted, slightly abashed. "I only have three dollars inmy pocket. Then I'll have to buy my hat back from the checkroom girl."

  "Louise and I haven't any money either," Penny said. "Thirty-eight centsto be exact."

  "Thirty-three," corrected her chum.

  "Tell you what," said Jerry after a moment of thought. "You girls stayhere and hold down the chairs. I'll go outside and telephone one of theboys at the office. I'll have someone bring me some cash."

  Left to themselves, the girls tried to act as if nothing were wrong.However, they were very conscious of the waiter's scrutiny. Every timethe man entered the dining room with a tray of food, he gazedsuggestively at the unpaid bill.

  "I'd feel more comfortable under the table," Penny commented. "Whydoesn't Jerry hurry?"

  "Perhaps he can't find a telephone."

  "Something is keeping him. We're going to become conspicuous if we stayhere much longer."

  The girls fumbled with their purses and sipped at their water glassesuntil the tumblers were empty. Minutes passed and still Jerry did notreturn.

  After a while, Burt Ottman's companion left the dining room. The youngowner of the boat dock waited until the older man had vanished, and thencalled for his check. If the bill were unusually large he did not appearto notice, for he paid it without protest and likewise left the diningroom.

  "Louise, I don't want to stay here any longer," Penny said nervously. "Ican't understand what's keeping Jerry."

  "Why not go out to the foyer and look for him."

  "A good idea if we can get away with it," Penny approved. "I judgethough, that if we start off, the waiter will pursue us with the bill."

  "Couldn't we just explain?"

  "We can try. Anyway, it will be interesting to see what will happen."

  Before leaving the table, Penny scribbled a hasty note which she left forJerry on his plate. It merely said that the girls would wait for him inthe foyer. Choosing a moment when their own waiter was occupied atanother table, they sauntered across the room and out into the hall.

  "That wasn't half as hard as I thought it would be," chuckled Penny. "Butwhere's Jerry?"

  The foyer was deserted. Noticing a stairway which led to a lower level,the girls decided that the telephones must be located below. They starteddown, but soon realized their mistake for no light was burning in thelower hall.

  "We're not supposed to be down here," Louise murmured, holding back.

  "Wait!" whispered Penny.

  At the far end of the dingy hall she had glimpsed a moving figure. Forjust a second she thought that the young man might be Jerry. Then she sawthat it was Burt Ottman.

  "What do you suppose he's doing down here?" she speculated. "He seems tobe familiar with all the nooks and crannies of this place."

  Burt Ottman had not seen or heard the girls. They saw him pause at theend of the hall and knock four times on a closed door. A circularpeep-hole shot open and a voice muttered: "Who is it?"

  The girls heard no more. Someone touched Penny on the shoulder frombehind. With a startled exclamation, she whirled around to face the headwaiter.

  "So sorry, Mademoiselle, to have frightened you," he said blandly. "Youhave taken the wrong stairway."

  "Why, yes," stammered Penny, trying to collect her wits. "We were lookingfor the public telephones."

  "This way please. You will find them in the foyer. Just follow me."

  Penny and Louise had no choice but to obey. They wondered if the headwaiter knew how much they had seen. His expressionless face gave them noclue.

  "We were waiting for our friend," Louise remarked to cover herembarrassment.

  "The young man who escorted you here?"

  "Yes," nodded Louise. "He went to telephone and we haven't seen himsince."

  The waiter had reached the top of the stairs. He turned and lookeddirectly at the girls as he said: "The young man left here some minutesago."

  "He left!" Penny exclaimed incredulously. "But the bill wasn't paid."

  "Oh, yes, the young gentleman took care of it."

  "Why, Jerry didn't have enough money," Penny protested, unable to graspthe situation. "You're sure he left the cafe?"

  "Yes, Mademoiselle."

  "And didn't he leave any message for us?"

  "I regret that he did not," the waiter replied. "As young ladies withoutescorts are not permitted at The Green Parrot, I suggest that you leaveat once."

  "You may be sure we will," said Penny. "I simply can't understand whyJerry would go off without saying a word to us."

  The head waiter conducted the girls to the exit, bowing as he closed thedoor in their faces. Rather bewildered, they huddled together on thestone steps. Rain had started to fall once more and the air wasunpleasantly cold.

  "We certainly got out of that place in a hurry," Louise commented. "Ifyou ask me, it was a shabby trick for Jerry to go off and leave us.Especially when he knew we didn't have the price of a taxi."

  "Lou," said Penny soberly, "I don't believe that Jerry did desert us."

  "But he disappeared! And the head waiter told us that he left."

  "Something happened to Jerry when he went to telephone--that's certain,"replied Penny, thinking aloud.

  "Then you believe he was forcibly ejected?"

  "No one could have tossed Jerry out of The Green Parrot without a littleopposition."

  "Jerry's quite a scrapper when he's aroused," Louise agreed. "We didn'thear any sound of scuffling. What do you think became of him?"

  "I don't know and I'm worried," confessed Penny. Taking Louise's arm, sheguided her up the stone steps to the street. "The thing for us to do isto get home and tell Dad everything! Jerry may be in serious trouble."