  Without noticing Jerry and the girls, Burt Ottman walked directly to a table at the other side of the dining room. He spoke to the stranger whom Penny and Louise had followed, and sat down opposite him. “Ha! The plot thickens!” commented Jerry in an undertone. “Obviously our friend and Burt Ottman had an appointment together.” “This is certainly a shock to me,” declared Penny. “I’d made up my mind that Burt had nothing whatsoever to do with the dynamiting. Now I don’t know what to think.” “He must be the saboteur,” Louise said, speaking louder than she realized. “We picked up the billfold along the river and it undoubtedly was his.” “He denied it,” replied Penny. “However, when I spoke of The Green Parrot I noticed that he seemed to recognize the name. Oh, dear!” “Now don’t take it so hard,” Jerry comforted her. “The best thing to do is to report what we’ve seen to police and let them draw their own conclusions.” “I suppose so,” Penny admitted gloomily. “I had hoped to help Sara and her 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 they failed to observe a waiter hovering near. Nor did it occur to them that he 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 the reporter muttered after the waiter had discreetly withdrawn. “Will you look at this!” “How much is it?” Penny asked anxiously. “We only had three ham sandwiches.” “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 in my 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 cents to be exact.” “Thirty-three,” corrected her chum. “Tell you what,” said Jerry after a moment of thought. “You girls stay here and hold down the chairs. I’ll go outside and telephone one of the boys 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 time the man entered the dining room with a tray of food, he gazed suggestively at the unpaid bill. “I’d feel more comfortable under the table,” Penny commented. “Why doesn’t Jerry hurry?” “Perhaps he can’t find a telephone.” “Something is keeping him. We’re going to become conspicuous if we stay here much longer.” The girls fumbled with their purses and sipped at their water glasses until the tumblers were empty. Minutes passed and still Jerry did not return. After a while, Burt Ottman’s companion left the dining room. The young owner of the boat dock waited until the older man had vanished, and then called for his check. If the bill were unusually large he did not appear to notice, for he paid it without protest and likewise left the dining room. “Louise, I don’t want to stay here any longer,” Penny said nervously. “I can’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 judge though, 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 for Jerry on his plate. It merely said that the girls would wait for him in the foyer. Choosing a moment when their own waiter was occupied at another 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. “But where’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 started down, but soon realized their mistake for no light was burning in the lower 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. For just a second she thought that the young man might be Jerry. Then she saw that it was Burt Ottman. “What do you suppose he’s doing down here?” she speculated. “He seems to be familiar with all the nooks and crannies of this place.” Burt Ottman had not seen or heard the girls. They saw him pause at the end of the hall and knock four times on a closed door. A circular peep-hole shot open and a voice muttered: “Who is it?” The girls heard no more. Someone touched Penny on the shoulder from behind. With a startled exclamation, she whirled around to face the head waiter. “So sorry, Mademoiselle, to have frightened you,” he said blandly. “You have taken the wrong stairway.” “Why, yes,” stammered Penny, trying to collect her wits. “We were looking for 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 head waiter knew how much they had seen. His expressionless face gave them no clue. “We were waiting for our friend,” Louise remarked to cover her embarrassment. “The young man who escorted you here?” “Yes,” nodded Louise. “He went to telephone and we haven’t seen him since.” The waiter had reached the top of the stairs. He turned and looked directly at the girls as he said: “The young man left here some minutes ago.” “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 grasp the 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 without escorts are not permitted at The Green Parrot, I suggest that you leave at once.” “You may be sure we will,” said Penny. “I simply can’t understand why Jerry would go off without saying a word to us.” The head waiter conducted the girls to the exit, bowing as he closed the door in their faces. Rather bewildered, they huddled together on the stone steps. Rain had started to fall once more and the air was unpleasantly cold. “We certainly got out of that place in a hurry,” Louise commented. “If you 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 little opposition.” “Jerry’s quite a scrapper when he’s aroused,” Louise agreed. “We didn’t hear 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, she guided her up the stone steps to the street. “The thing for us to do is to get home and tell Dad everything! Jerry may be in serious trouble.” |
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