“Perhaps Mr. Jay would like to rest for a while all alone. We better go.”
The elderly man looked grateful, and was profuse in his thanks. “It was very kind of you people to take so much trouble.”
“We hope to do so again,” Doris added.
Leaving the cabin, Dave fell into step with her, and the two lagged a short distance behind the others. The rain had ceased to fall and the sun was showing signs of breaking through the scattered clouds.
“I’ve been an awful chump!” Dave began accusingly. “I’m very sorry for the way I acted.”
“You mean about Ollie Weiser?” Doris asked, smiling.
“Yes, I know it was silly to be jealous, but I couldn’t help it. When you and Kitty were out there on the water and that storm came up so suddenly—well, you’ll never know how worried I was!”
“Really?” Doris demanded, rather thrilled at the tender note which had crept into Dave’s voice. She decided it would not do to allow him to become sentimental, so she deftly changed the subject. “Well, Kitty and I were worried, too, but Mr. Jay was a wonder. It was due to him that we reached shore safely. You know, I like that man more every day. There’s something about him that makes me feel sure he must have had a fascinating past.”
Dave was not interested in Mr. Jay at the moment, but when Doris had that far-away look in her eyes he knew it was useless to attempt to talk personalities. At least he felt assured that he had been forgiven.
“When I was waiting for help to come, I distinctly heard Mr. Jay say, ‘The ring. I have it with me.’ What do you think he could have meant by that?”
“Search me,” Dave returned, lapsing into slang. “Probably just nonsense. Or perhaps it was some ring he bought.”
“I wish I knew.”
“I shouldn’t worry about it, if I were you. What he said probably has no significance. You’d better hurry to the cabin now and change your wet clothing or you’ll catch a bad cold.”
Doris permitted the subject to drop, and did not mention it again that day. Yet the time was to come when the significance of those strangely muttered words was to force itself upon her consciousness.
CHAPTER XX
Dave and Marshmallow
True to the doctor’s prediction, Mr. Jay was soon up and about. Several times during the day Doris or one of the others dropped in at his cabin, but as these calls seemed to bother him, they gave up trying to be of service.
“I think he’s fully recovered, anyway,” Mrs. Mallow declared. “He doesn’t like to have us make a fuss over him, so we had, better stay away.”
Dave and Marshmallow remained close to camp, scarcely permitting the girls out of their sight. The former completely forgot his jealousy, and Marshmallow was particularly attentive to Kitty.
Late in the afternoon Silas Baker called to inquire if everything was satisfactory at the camp, and was impressed with the story of the narrow escape which the girls had experienced.
“It’s not often that Mr. Jay is caught out in a storm,” he informed them. “That man knows more about weather than any other person I ever knew. He should at that, having lived on this cove for so many years.”
“How many?” Doris asked curiously.
“Now bless me, I’ve forgotten. When I bought this piece of ground he was living in that same cabin.”
“When was it you purchased the camp?” Kitty inquired.
“It must have been six years ago. No, I’ve had it longer than that.”
“I wonder if by any chance he could have known my uncle?” Doris questioned.
Mr. Baker looked blank.
“Your uncle?”
“Don’t you remember I told you about him?” Doris reminded him a trifle impatiently. “My Uncle John Trent.”
“Oh, yes, yes,” Mr. Baker said hastily. “It’s barely possible he might know something about him. Mr. Jay is a quiet sort, but when you get him to talking, he seems to have an amazing knowledge of Cloudy Cove.”
“The problem is to get him to talk.”
“Yes, but if he takes a fancy to you, he’ll likely tell you anything you want to know. Folks talk against him quite a bit around here, but it’s because they don’t really know him. I’ve always found Mr. Jay to be a kind and generous man.” After her conversation with Mr. Baker, Doris was determined to interview the miser at the first opportunity. She would have returned to the cabin late that afternoon, but she felt it would not be fair to trouble Mr. Jay so soon after his accident. At supper time Mrs. Mallow sent her son to invite him to dine with them, but Marshmallow returned to say that the old man had already eaten.
“Didn’t look like he had much, either,” he added.
“I’m afraid he’s very proud,” Mrs. Mallow said, frowning slightly. “I wonder if someone ought not to stay with him tonight?”
“I offered,” Marshmallow informed her, “but he said he wouldn’t think of it. Anyway, he has only the one cot, so I don’t see how I could have stayed, unless I’d wanted to sleep on the floor.”
“He seemed all right when you left?”
“Sure. That rap on the head just stunned him for a few minutes. He’ll be O. K. by himself, but he promised that if he should need help, he’d send that hound of his,”
While Doris and her friends disliked to leave Mr. Jay alone, his desire for isolation made it difficult for them to help him. The morning’s adventure had convinced the girls that the old miser was the master of his environment; sufficient unto himself, he took life as he found it, asking no favors and expecting to give few in return. Yet, if Doris and Kitty had been drawn a bit closer to him, they actually knew no more about him than before. His past life remained a closed book.
“I wonder if he could have known my uncle?” Doris asked herself. “It would mean so much to me, if he could furnish me with the information I must have! Since coming to Cloudy Cove I’ve made very little progress. Luck has been against me!”
Doris did not really believe in luck. For that reason she determined to investigate every thread which offered the slightest hope of leading to her goal. Twice she had called at Frank McDermott’s office, only to be informed that the lawyer was still out of the city. Until he returned, there was nothing to do but mark time.
“It’s barely possible Mr. Jay may know something of interest, having lived here so many years,” she told herself. “Since I’m not making much headway as it is, I certainly can’t waste my time talking with him. At least, I can be sure he won’t discuss my business affairs with others when he is so secretive about his own.”
Doris was abroad early the next morning, but Kitty, who had caught a slight cold from the previous day’s exposure, announced her intention of sleeping until noon. Marshmallow and Dave appeared at the cabin for breakfast at the usual hour of eight.
“We’re going to town just as soon as we eat,” Marshmallow announced, more excited than usual. “Want to go along, Doris?”
“I can’t get ready as soon as that. Why the rush?”
“There’s a flying circus coming in this morning. We saw the posters tacked up along the road. Dave has an itch to meet the pilots and exchange yarns with them. He thinks if we get there early, we may get a free plane ride.”
“But you’ve both been up any number of times.”
“Dave has, but I haven’t had a ride in a year. Better come along,