“You know we’d trust you,” Doris protested quickly.
Dave grinned.
“Well, anyway, I thought it would give me a better chance to talk with you girls.”
A few minutes later the cab turned in at the flying field and came to a standstill near a row of hangars. Dave helped the girls to alight and paid the driver.
“This way,” he directed, leading them toward a monoplane at the far end of the runway.
Quickly he introduced Don Everts, the pilot, a lean chap in helmet and dungarees. The girls found him very quiet and self-contained, but liked him at once.
They took their places in the cockpit and Dave smiled at them reassuringly. The pilot carefully examined the controls and then nodded to the mechanic who stood waiting to swing the propeller.
“Switch off?”
“Switch off!” the pilot confirmed tersely.
“Contact?”
“Contact!”
The mechanic gave the propeller a mighty swing and the engine began to roar. To Doris and Kitty it was all very thrilling.
“All set?” Dave questioned after the engine had warmed up.
Kitty and Doris nodded grimly.
The monoplane had headed into the wind, and as Don Everts opened the throttle, it moved rapidly across the field. The girls held their breath, but almost before they were aware of it, the plane had taken to the air and leveled off.
It no longer seemed to Kitty and Doris that they were traveling swiftly, for the plane appeared to be almost stationary in the sky.
“Not going very fast, are we?” Doris asked Dave.
“Ninety-eight miles per!” he shouted back.
Glancing down, the girls saw the earth pass slowly in review before them. They made out a few buildings but it was difficult to believe that the miniature structures comprised the town of Rumson.
The day was an ideal one for flying, with very few clouds visible. That the girls might enjoy the novelty of their ride to the utmost, the pilot presently zoomed up above a small bank of mist and permitted them to look down upon the fleece-like floor.
For Doris and Kitty, who were having the thrill of their lives, the time passed all too swiftly. When Dave told them that they had been in the air nearly two hours they were amazed.
“I haven’t had so much fun in ages,” Doris declared enthusiastically, after they had landed safely at the air field.
“I’ll take you up again,” Dave promised, “and now that I know you won’t be afraid, I’ll pilot you myself some time. I should have my license in a little while.”
Leaving the monoplane to the care of an attendant, the two young men escorted the girls to a taxicab and took seats beside them.
“You know, I was thinking perhaps we could get up a picnic one of these days,” Dave suggested as they drove toward the mansion. “Marshmallow has been hinting that he wants to be included.”
“I think a picnic would be lots of fun,” Doris declared, “and by all means let’s have Marshmallow. He always brings the best things to eat! Of course that isn’t my reason for wanting him,” she added hastily, as the others began to laugh.
During the flight Dave had chanced to remark that Don Everts had formerly piloted an air mail plane and had a flying acquaintance with nearly every town and city in the east. Doris had been longing to ask him if he had ever passed over Cloudy Cove and now she broached the subject.
“My cousin comes from there,” she explained.
“Cloudy Cove?” the pilot repeated thoughtfully. “Sure, I remember the place. It’s in Massachusetts. City of about thirty or forty thousand, I’d say.”
The taxicab drew up at the rear gate of the old mansion, and the four alighted. Doris noticed that Ronald Trent’s red roadster was still parked nearby.
“Won’t you come in?” she asked the two young men. “It isn’t late yet.”
They accepted with alacrity and the girls led the way to the house.
“I hope Cousin Ronald doesn’t try any more of his foolishness,” Doris said in an undertone to Kitty.
Entering the house they found the Gates twins and Ronald in close conference. Doris thought Azalea and Iris looked somewhat relieved as the group came into the living room and wondered what her cousin had been saying to disturb them.
The twins were delighted that the girls had brought their friends into the house, and at once made them feel at ease, but Ronald frowned as though he considered it an intrusion. He spoke agreeably enough to Dave when introduced, but it was apparent to the girls that they took an instant dislike to each other.
While the Misses Gates chatted pleasantly with Doris and her friends, Ronald fidgeted in his chair and kept glancing at his watch. After a few minutes he abruptly arose and, with only a few words spoken quietly to Azalea and Iris, departed.
After that, Doris sang a number of songs which met with enthusiastic approval. Azalea rang for the tea things and, as the hour grew late, Dave and his friend regretfully took their departure.
“Don’t forget the picnic,” the girls were reminded by Dave as he said goodbye. “We can decide upon the date and the place later on.”
“We will watch for your message,” assured Kitty.
“A summer without a picnic wouldn’t be a summer at all,” sang Doris, as the two girls waved goodbye and opened the back gate.
CHAPTER XVII
A Dog’s Discovery
Doris and Kitty did not spend a comfortable night. Since the ruby ring had been given into their keeping, they found themselves unable to sleep as soundly as before and the slightest noise caused them uneasiness.
Retiring early as was their custom since coming to Locked Gates, they dropped off almost at once, but some time after midnight they were suddenly awakened by a wild cry. To the frightened girls it sounded strangely like some one in distress.
“This house gets more creepy all the time,” Kitty whispered shakily. “That couldn’t have been the wind.”
“No,” Doris agreed, “it sounded like a human voice to me. I wish we weren’t alone in this wing.”
After that they lay awake for several hours, but the cry was not repeated. Finally they fell asleep again, and when they opened their eyes the morning sun was shining brightly in at the windows.
Somewhat ashamed of their fears, now that it was broad daylight, the girls did not mention the subject at the breakfast table. Azalea and Iris appeared more cheerful than on the previous day and Doris was glad to see that they were both wearing blue dresses, a sign that they had partially forgotten their disagreement.
Before breakfast had been finished, Ronald Trent put in his appearance. The girls were surprised at such an early call, but apparently Iris and Azalea knew what brought him, for they exchanged rather embarrassed glances. For once the man did not flatter and palaver with the ladies but turned his attention to Doris.
“Well, cousin,” he began in his blustering way, “I hear you’ve promised to come across with five hundred dollars.”
“I promised the Misses Gates that amount,” she returned, placing stress upon the name.
“Well, it all amounts to the same thing,” Ronald said easily. “Naturally, they’ll