Guilt of the Brass Thieves by Mildred Augustine Wirt (unputdownable books txt) 📕

“Will it dry in time for the race tomorrow?” Penny inquired, making conversation.

“The finish won’t be hard, but that’s the way I want it,” Sally said, dipping her brush. “It makes a faster racing bottom.”

“Then you’re all ready for competition?”

“The boat is ready.” Sally hesitated, then added. “But I may not enter the race after all.”

“Not enter? Why?”

Having finished painting, Sally carefully cleaned her brush, and tightly closed the paint and varnish cans. She wiped her hands on her faded overalls.

“The boy who was racing with me served notice this morning that he had changed his mind. I haven’t asked anyone else, because I didn’t want to be turned down.”

“But I should think anyone who likes to sail would be crazy for the chance—” Penny began. Then as she met Sally’s gaze, her voice trailed off.

“You know what I mean,” said Sally quietly.

“Not the factory episode?”

“Yes, word traveled around.”

“Jack didn’t tell?”

“I don’t think so, but I don’t know,” Sally replied honestly. “Anyway, everyone learned why I was discharged. Pop is furious.”

“Your mother too, I suppose?”

“I have no mother. She died when I was ten. Since then, Pop and I have lived aboard the Queen. Pop always taught me to speak my mind, never to be afraid, and above all to be honest. To be accused of something one didn’t do and to be branded as a thief is the limit!”

Penny nodded sympathetically. “About the race,” she said, reverting to the previous subject, “you aren’t really serious about not entering?”

“It means everything to me,” Sally admitted soberly. “But I can’t race alone. The rules call for two persons in each boat.”

“You need an expert sailor?”

“Not necessarily. Of course, the person would have to know how to handle ropes and carry out orders. Also, not lose his head in an emergency. To balance the Cat’s Paw right I need someone about my own weight.”

“It has to be a boy?”

“Mercy, no! I would prefer a girl if I knew whom to ask.” Sally suddenly caught the drift of Penny’s conversation, and a look of amazed delight came upon her face. “Not you!” she exclaimed. “You don’t mean you would be willing—”

“If you want or could use me. I’m a long way from an expert, but I do know a little about sailboats. We have one in Riverview. However, I never competed in a race.”

“I’d be tickled pink to have you!”

“Then it’s settled.”

“But what about the Gandiss family? You are their guest.”

“That part is a bit awkward,” Penny admitted. “But they are all good sports. I’m sure no one will hold it against me.”

“After I was discharged from the factory?”

“That really wasn’t Mr. Gandiss’ doing, Sally. The plant is so large he scarcely knows what goes on in some departments. You were discharged by the personnel manager.”

“I realize that.”

“Didn’t Mr. Gandiss write you a letter asking you to come in for a personal interview?”

“Yes, he did,” Sally acknowledged reluctantly. “I was angry and I tore it up.”

“Then you shouldn’t blame Mr. Gandiss.”

“I’m not blaming him, Penny. I like Mr. Gandiss very much. In fact, I like him so well I never could bear to accept favors from him.”

“Not even to clear your name?”

Sally washed her hands at the river’s edge, and rolled down the legs of her overalls. “The person who put that brass in my locker hasn’t been caught?” she inquired softly.

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Then all Mr. Gandiss could do would be to offer me another chance,” Sally said bitterly. “I’ll never work in the factory on that basis. If I am cleared completely, then I am willing to go back.”

“Mr. Gandiss is trying to solve the mystery of those thefts,” Penny declared. “I know that to be a fact. Have you any idea who the guilty parties might be?”

Sally straightened up, digging at paint which had lodged beneath her fingernails. She did not answer.

“You do have a clue!” Penny cried.

“Maybe.” Sally smiled mysteriously.

“Tell me what it is.”

“No, I intend to work by myself until I’m sure that I’m on the right track. I’ve not even told Pop.”

“Does it have anything to do with Sweeper Joe?”

Sally’s expression became blank. “I don’t know much about him,” she dismissed the subject. “My information concerns a certain house upriver. But don’t ask me to tell you more.”

Hastily she gathered up paint cans and brush, turning to leave. “Are you really serious about racing with me tomorrow?” she demanded.

“Of course!”

“Then you’re elected first mate of the Cat’s Paw! Meet me at the yacht club dock at six in the morning for a trial workout. The preliminary race is at two.”

“I’ll be there without fail.”

“And bring a little luck with you,” Sally added with a grin. “We may need it to defeat the Spindrift.”

When Penny reached the dock next morning she found that Sally had preceded her by many hours. The varnished wood of the Cat’s Paw shone in the sunlight. Below the waterline, the boat was as smooth and slippery as glass.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” Sally asked proudly, squeezing water from a sponge she had been using. “The rigging has been overhauled, and Pop came through at the last minute with a new jib sail. Every rope has been changed too.”

“It looks grand,” Penny praised. “You must have worked like a galley slave getting everything ready for the race.”

“I have, but I want to win. This race means everything to me.”

“Are you sure you want me to sail with you?” Penny asked dubiously. “After all, I am not an expert. I might handicap you.”

“Nonsense! There’s no one I would rather have—that is, if you still want to do it. Was Jack angry when you told him?”

Penny confessed that she had not spoken to any of the Gandiss family of her intention to take part in the race. “But it will be all right,” she added. “Jack really isn’t such a bad sport when you get to know him. I only hope we win!”

“Oh, we’ll come in among the leading five—that’s certain,” Sally said carelessly. “This is only a preliminary race today. The five winning boats will compete next week in the finals.”

“If you lose today must you give up the trophy?”

“Not until after the final race.” Sally laughed goodnaturedly. “But don’t put such ideas in my head. We can’t lose! I’m grimly determined that Jack mustn’t beat me!”

“I do believe the race is a personal feud between you two! Why does it mean so much to defeat him?”

Sally stepped nimbly aboard the scrubbed deck, stowing away the sponge under one of the seats. “Jack and I always have been rivals,” she admitted. “We went to grade school together. He used to make fun of me because I lived on a ferryboat.”

“Jack was only a kid then.”

“I know. But we always were in each other’s hair. We competed in everything—debates, literary competitions, sports. Jack usually defeated me too. In sailing, due to Pop’s coaching, I may have a slight edge over him.”

“Do you really dislike Jack?”

“Why, no.” Sally’s tone indicated she never had given the matter previous thought. “If he weren’t around to fight with, I suppose I’d miss him terribly.”

Penny sat down on the dock to lace up a pair of soft-soled tennis shoes. By the time she had them on, Sally was ready to shove off for the trial run.

“Suppose we take about an hour’s work-out, and then rest until time for the race,” she suggested. “You’ll quickly learn the tricks of this little boat. She’s a sweet sailer.”

The Cat’s Paw had been tied to the dock with a stiff wind blowing across it, and larger boats were berthed on either side. To get away smoothly without endangering the other craft would be no easy task. As the girls ran up the mainsail, a few loiterers gathered to watch the departure.

“All set, mate?” grinned Sally. “Let’s go.”

With a speed that amazed Penny, she trimmed the main and jib sheets flat amidships, placing the tiller a little to starboard.

“Haul up the centerboard!” she instructed.

Penny pulled up the board, feeling a trifle awkward and inadept.

Sally leaped out onto the dock, and casting off, held the boat’s head steady into the eye of the wind. With a tremendous shove which delighted the spectators, she sent the Cat’s Paw straight aft, and made a flying leap aboard.

With sails flat amidships, the boat shot straight backwards. As they started to clear the stern of the boat that was to starboard, Sally let the tiller move over to that side. The bow of the Cat’s Paw began to swing to starboard.

Not until then, did Penny observe that the Spindrift was tied up only a few boat-lengths away. Jack, armed with several bottles of pop, came hurriedly from the clubhouse. Noting Sally’s spectacular departure, he joined the throng at the railing.

“We’ll give the crowd a real thrill,” Sally muttered, keeping her voice low so that it would not carry over the water. “If this trick works, it should be good.”

Even Penny was worried. The bow of the Cat’s Paw had swung rapidly to starboard. But Sally, calm and cool, still hung on to the sheets.

“Put your tiller the other way!” Jack shouted from the dock. “Let your sheet run!”

Enjoying the boy’s excitement, Sally pretended to be deaf. Wind had struck the sails, but the Cat’s Paw continued to sail backwards. A crash seemed impossible to avert. Then at the last instant, the bow swung clear of the neighboring boats.

Grinning triumphantly, Sally put the tiller to port and started the sheets. They sailed briskly away.

“Beautifully done!” praised Penny. “Not one sailor in a hundred could pull that off. It took nerve!”

“Pop taught me that trick. It’s risky, of course. If the sails should decide to take charge, or the tiller should fail to go to starboard, one probably would collide with the other boats.”

“You surprised Jack. He expected you to crash.”

“We’ll surprise him this afternoon too,” Sally declared confidently, steering out into mid-stream. “If this breeze holds, it’s just what the doctor ordered!”

For an hour the girls practiced maneuvers until Penny was thoroughly adept at handling the ropes and carrying out orders. Although the rules of the race did not allow them to sail the actual course, Sally pointed it out.

“We start near the clubhouse,” she explained. “Then, taking a triangular route we sail past Hat Island to the first marker. After rounding it, we keep on to the marker near the eastern river shore, and sail back to our starting point.”

Sally was in high spirits, for she declared that if the breeze held, Cat’s Paw would perform at her best. Though no one knew exactly what Jack’s new boat, Spindrift could do, observation had convinced most sailing enthusiasts that it would be favored in a light breeze.

“I hope it blows a gale this afternoon!” Sally chuckled as they moored at the dock. “Get some rest now, Penny, and meet me at the clubhouse about one o’clock. The race starts sharp at two.”

Penny did not see Jack when she returned to Shadow Island, so had no chance to tell him of her plan to sail with Sally in the competition. Her father, whom she took into her confidence, was not entirely in favor of the decision.

“We are guests of Mr. and Mrs. Gandiss,” he reproved mildly. “To sail against Jack is a tactless thing to do. Though actually you may do him a favor, for you’ll likely be more of a handicap than a help in the race.”

“That’s what I figured,” laughed Penny.

By chance, Mr. Gandiss overheard the conversation. Entering the living room, he declared that Penny must not hesitate to enter the competition.

“After all, the race is supposed to be for fun,” he said emphatically. “Lately Jack and Sally have made it into a feud. I really think it would do the boy good to be defeated soundly.”

Long before the hour of