Show over butt jhc thc agg HI M richard flo 94 powe powell 11 art schooling Sho oling AN SANCTUM MYSTERY ry li ST ARniNG NO ARAB BLAKE wu faatu C THE STOUT STORY THUS THOS PAR FARI lt LL andy make ake a and n d till his wile wife arab discovered a evidence a 0 ol of a spy py ring headed beaded by a mr gonei an they went to andys home know ln n th that lt jones would follow renee J an jones a its agent 1 n t came through the window and aw wai as e captured by andy and arab arab la in trying 11 to 0 scapa wits wai captured by jones when jones broke into the collar cellar he took renee but left andy believing him dead andy went to 1111 in perlor and reported an all the facts he then rushed to a service station friendly to jones tied up op taa the s operator before he could set get away a car with friends of jones drove up they made andy in 1 with them he had got cot word gli to W Intelli intelligence Sence but not la in time CHAPTER XIV keep keel the change I 1 said handing the coins mackto her and gripping her hand hard her mouth c closed limply she looked at me in wonder but speak I 1 had almost been sp raining my eyes trying to give her a warning we went back to the car and the tha driver said got dough have you what else cougot in your pock ts they gave me a fast cleaning found a ten dollar bill a quarter my pencil a watch and a handkerchief they let me keep the handkerchief there was nothing bus su niclous for or them to find my dog tags were in a corner comer of the garage garag back near washington and m my AGO card was in my blouse also back in the garage we headed north circled camden and swung east route signs announced noun ced lakehurst toms river lakewood barnegat Barne gat Mana manahawkin hawkin beach haven it pay lor for me to make quick moves now when I 1 reached suddenly tor for my handkerchief to catch a sneeze a big hand locked my wrist the guy was fast I 1 sneezed and told him what I 1 wanted and he released his grip A half hour later the same move brought me a clip on the jaw and a growled order to sit still salil they were getting jumpy neared the hangout the sun dove into a foxhole on the me mainland wand for a few minutes the western sky dripped splotches of red into the bay then it was dark no street lights came on the island was dimmed out the car crept south sou th on cowl lights teach beach haven drifted past like a ghost town I 1 had been there once tor for a week end we had gone fishing for kings and flounders in beach haven inlet and had bad caught dog sharks and skates the inlet far so south uth of beach haven the hangout must be near two miles farther on we swung over to the bay and stopped there was nothing seen except a small shack and a dock that tipsily out into the bay the driver patted a tune on the horn hom A man came out of 0 the shack peered doubtfully at us take a good look pop the driver snarled you better make sure I 1 got the same number of whiskers I 1 had last time or I 1 might be a different guy 1 I know you the man said and I 1 know your friend back there but I 1 dont know that feuer feller in the corner lie of 0 the back seat hes our business pop nobody was lookin for or you to come com e up we got a reason wheres where the garvey it aint here nobody was lookin tor for you to come so it aint here so nobody was lookin for us to come get it back here I 1 now wait aft a minute the man said this aint rum burn in twenty nine theys patrols on the beach and maybe a cutter alyin off the inlet you diddle around with flashlights and be bombin thirty caliber slugs autta your leair h aar it aint healthy to signal at night what are we supposed to do swim I 1 make it across a bathtub 1 I got a rowboat but its two miles even if you could row straight which you cant the way the tides out have to detour the inlet you better lay over to morning we got business that wont wal wait 10 can you handle a sailboat you mean one of them laundry on a raft things 1 I dont guess you can I 1 cleared my throat and said laid 1 I 11 can the caretaker and driver looked at me whispered together for or a moment then the caretaker said a centerboard centerboard I 1 repeated a keel you can drop to keep a shallow draft boat from being shoved sideways by the wind you raise it when youre going over shoals 1 I guess he can sail a boat the caretaker said laid we left the car and walked out long along the rickety wharf an eight een cen foot oversize sneak box was wai moored at the end they ordered me to get it ready and sat on the dock wa watching aching suspiciously while I 1 made sail and fitted rudder and tiller into place then the two big men climbed in and huddled down inside the tiny cockpit leaving the caretaker on the pier starlight gleamed on blue steel in their hands they have looked much more worried if I 1 had been playing with a bomb the caretaker dropped the hawser on deck gripped the mast and prepared to cast us ui off walt wait a min ute 11 I 1 said what happens if the coast guard spots us Nobody dyll 11 bother you in the bay he a said just dont go outside lie he wont one of my pals said the caretaker shoved us off I 1 brought in the tha sheet rope until the sail ball lined filled and tugged at nay my arm water chuckled under the hull bull we slid out of the tiny cove the figure of the caretaker backon the dock got fuzzy at the edges and faded I 1 took a deep breath I 1 felt good tor for the A first r at time in twenty tour four hours th things ings werd were looking up in a short time I 1 would know the location oca of the hangout and maybe where to find arab and now I 1 jammed helplessly in a comer of 0 a car this time it was my party lots of interesting things can happen in sailboats the that man yelled get this thing back bach on the I 1 let the sheet rope run free ree the boat came back to an even keel lost headway the bands loosened U Z she looked at me in wonder but bat speak on my throat I 1 gave him a lecture on sailing failing explaining that an all sail gall boats tilt in a breeze the wind was south southwest and the big sneak box woul dat point close into the wind and I 1 had bad to tack the boom swung over and my passengers almost almo shot me I 1 explained that it was called going about and that often in a sailboat you coulat head right where you wanted to go you had to zigzag to it first on one tack and then on another I 1 demonstrated how bow the sail fluttered and spilled wind when you tried to point too close into the direction from which the wind was coming they grumbled about that they said it was the screwiest screw iest lest setup they ever heird heard of 0 they wanted to know why anybody had been crazy enough to invent sailboats when motor boats were so much better they complained for several minutes but finally had to let me have my way we racked along smartly in half an hour a nun buoy slipped by and the inlet opened up off to port the boat heaved in channel swells the stars were making a night of it you could see surprisingly tar far but I 1 spot the loom of a cutter across the sequin shimmer of waves A con can buoy bobbed past heeling far ar over it took plenty of 0 tide to do abat you better tell me exactly where you want to go 1 I said there seems to be a little island across the wet inlet ill have to make a long tack west to clear it the island we want one 0 ot I 1 them said 1 I peered south at first I 1 could only see ancarrow a narrow strip of beach then a shadow formed b bulky and clar dark k in the middle of the island A ho house use A big one where do we land I 1 asked theres a dock on an the bay side how do you boys get away with it I 1 said dont nobody ask what youre youra doln this time ot of year one of them grunted were supposed to be fishing shing fl for striped bass A month ago the chief made me stand on the beach all day with a lousy pole and hunk of string I 1 said innocently if you two guys guy would sit up here with me we w tilt so much not me that booms boom too much like a blackjack when it comes come over maybe youre right I 1 said under cover of the darkness I 1 looped the sheet rope around a cleat beside me it was ume time to give them a final lesson in sailing A lesson on the danger of a sailboat when the sheet rope cant run tree free in a jibe you turn the stern latr the wind instead of the bow the boom thunders across wil wi fun full leverage of 0 the wind behind behina I 1 it jibing Is a racing trick and nothing to tool fool with even in a mild breeze going about I 1 droned dronek hard akcel the big men ducked their heads they see that the stern was creeping into the wind instead of the bow and probably it have meant anything to them an anyway we were wera running before th the wind now water hissed past th the rudder got sluggish I 1 jammed it hard over A little more a little more the taut sail crumpled for or an instant then it bellied the other way flitted flirted across the boat like the beat of a giant wing I 1 dodged the bat eleax sweep of the boom in the next split second the sheet rope snubbed the boom up short abort the sail flapped tight bellowing like a gun fired in a barrel the power behind it switched to cleat and mast and hull bull wood shrieked and crackled I 1 halt half started a dive overs lude when the boat reared and flipped me out sprawling for a few seconds everything was scrambled water slapped half the air out of my lungs I 1 went down fighting the drag of sweater and ancl pants and shoes sparks were flickering in my head before I 1 clawed back to the surface I 1 gulped air twice let myself go under and wrestled out of the sweater it so hard to climb to the surface this time after a few breaths I 1 curled under to work on my shoes the laces turned into angry little snakes but I 1 finally managed to loosen them and to kick ott off the shoes therk then I 1 relaxed treading water and let the tide carry me along it was difficult to see anything salt stung my eyes and the black glitter of waves tired them there was no sailboat once or twice something gleamed f faintly might in y out across the waves it might have been the curved green bottom of a boat once I 1 heard a distant shout shou t it might have been a man calling a man who swim across a bathtub I 1 thought grimly if they dont like it here let lem em swim back where they came from the water was cold but not numbing I 1 peeled off my shirt the island where we had been heading seemed to be about a quarter mile away I 1 angled toward it with a quiet side stroke going with the tide instead instead of trying to fight it I 1 would miss the inlet side of the island b but ut with luck there would be a return eddy to help me make the ocean side of the beach it took less time than I 1 the tide set toward the island alter after boiling through the inlet narrows and my angled course helped in a way I 1 used some of the force of the tide just as the boat had used the wind I 1 was still fairly fresh when I 1 got into the pound and drag of the breakers fresh eno enough ugh to take a few bruising somersaults and struggle out of the undertow onto a 8 hard packed beach I 1 take time to rest there the beach was empty too empty there even much driftwood the house was only a hundred yards away and a big dark blob on the beach might make an observer curious I 1 stumbled across the beach and up a dune I 1 flattened to the sand gasping the breeze chilled my body and the sharp beach grass stung my face but gradually a little strength seeped back into my arms and legs I 1 sat up to study the situation A hundred years ago perhaps a sand bar had started at the bottom and worked its way up in the world not very tar far up however from north to south it was only a lew few hundred yards long you could cross its widest part with two or three throws of a clam clamshell shell even allowing for the way clam shells curve low dunes protected by a double row of piling stuffed with brush formed its backbone the house sat on a central dune close enough for me to pick out details it was a gaunt three story affair with unpainted shingles weathered almost black in its shadow was a concrete structure the size of a tour car garage starlight silvered a small boathouse on the bay side a dock and a board gangway leading across the wayside bayside marsh to the house the place might one ones have veen been a sportsmens sports mens club in the days before civilization caught up with the ducks and stripers strikers pers and big tide run ning weakfish judging from what I 1 had heard earlier the house had been a drop for or rum runners in the twenties apparently the ambitious sand bar done so well recently it might have moved in better company if it had stayed on the bottom I 1 the slightest idea what to do my resources consisted of a pair of pinks wet one undershirt wet one pair of shorts wet and one handkerchief wet I 1 began to realize what an unusually helpless guy had been carrying the name of andrew blake around for or thirty odd years I 1 a good enough swimmer to make the mile wide cross crossing 1 p g back to the main island of co course u r se I 1 could send signals all I 1 had to do was to spot a coast guard cutter and find a flashlight and lonte somebody who would give me ma in international code TO BE |