Saboteurs on the River Part 38

"Not at all," corrected Penny. "Anyway, I like folks who aren't afraid to speak their minds."

From Burt Ottman, Mr. Parker and his daughter heard a story much like the one previously told them by the police. The young man rapidly had gained in strength and was much cheered because he had been cleared in connection with the bridge dynamitings.

"How did you learn that Jard Wessler was a saboteur?" Mr. Parker asked him.

"Accident," admitted Burt. "Even before the bridge was blasted, I had seen the fellow around the docks. One day I overheard him talking to Breneham, and what they said made me suspicious. After getting involved in the mess myself, I made it my business to investigate. I managed to meet one of the saboteurs at the Parrot, but he proved too shrewd for me."

"You woke up in the alley," Penny recalled.

"Yes, after that I watched a place I'd learned about on Fourteenth Street. Figured I had all the dope. But as I started for the police, someone hit me with a blackjack. That's the last I remember until I came to at the woods shack."

Penny and her father were pleased to know that the young man was recovering from his injuries.

After chatting with him for a time, they left the hospital and proceeded toward the ark in the mud flats.

"I confess I don't know what to say to Noah," Mr. Parker declared as they approached the gangplank. "Sheriff Anderson insists the ark is a nuisance and must go."

Penny paused at the edge of the stream. It had started to rain once more, and drops splattered down through the trees, rippling the quiet water.

"Poor Noah!" she sighed. "He'll be unwilling to leave his home or his animals. This ark never can be floated either."

"I'll be glad to pay for his lodging elsewhere," Mr. Parker offered.

"Naturally, he'll have to forsake his pets."

Crossing the gangplank, Penny called Old Noah's name. There was no answer. Not until she had shouted many times did the old fellow come up from the ark's hold. His arms were grimy, his clothing wet from the waist down.

"Why, Noah!" Penny exclaimed, astonished by his appearance.

"All morning I have labored," the old fellow said wearily. "The commotion last night excited Bess, my cow. The critter kicked a hole in the ark.

Water has poured in faster than I can pump it out."

"Well, why not abandon this old boat?" Mr. Parker proposed, quick to seize an opportunity. "Wouldn't you like to live in a steam-heated apartment?"

"With my animals?"

"No, you would have to leave them behind."

Old Noah shook his head. "I could not desert my animals. At least not my dogs and cats, or my birds or fowls. As for cows and goats, they are a burden almost beyond my strength."

"A little place in the country might suit you," suggested Penny brightly.

As Noah showed no interest, she added: "Or how would you like a big bus?

You could take your smaller pets and tour the United States!"

Old Noah's dull blue eyes began to gleam. "I had a truck once," he said.

"They took it away from me after I had made a payment. I've always hankered to see the country. But it's not to be."

"Oh, a truck might be arranged," declared Penny, grinning at her father.

"It's not that." Old Noah leaned heavily on the railing of the ark. "You might say I made a covenant to keep this place of refuge. The Great Flood soon will be upon us--"

"There will be no flood," interrupted Mr. Parker impatiently.

"I'd be happy to leave this ark if only I could believe that," sighed Noah. "I'm getting older, and it's a great burden to care for so many animals. But I must not s.h.i.+rk my duty because I am tired."

Penny knew that the old man could not be influenced by mere words.

Glancing at the sky, she saw that although rain still fell, the sun had straggled through the clouds. Above the trees arched a beautiful rainbow.

"Noah!" she cried, directing his attention to it. "Don't you remember the Bible quotation: 'And I do set my bow in the cloud and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.'"

"'And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh,'"

Noah whispered, his fascinated gaze upon the rainbow.

"There, you have your sign, your token," Mr. Parker said briskly.

"Yes, yes," whispered the old man. "This is the hour for which I long have waited! Behold the rainbow which rolleth back the scroll of destiny!

Never again will the flood come. Never again will destruction envelop the earth and all its creatures."

"How about it Noah?" Mr. Parker asked impatiently. "If I make all arrangements will you leave the ark?"

The old man did not hesitate. "Yes, I will go," he said. "My mission here is finished. I am content."

Penny and her father did not annoy the old man with material details, but slipped quietly away from the ark. Glancing back, they saw that Noah still stood at the railing, his face turned raptly toward the fading rainbow. As the last trace of color disappeared from the sky, he bowed his head in wors.h.i.+pful reverence. A moment he stood thus, and then, turning, walked with dignity into the ark.

"Poor old fellow," said Penny.

"I suppose you mean Noah," chuckled Mr. Parker. "But I deserve sympathy too. Haven't I just been knicked to the tune of an expensive truck?"

"You don't really mind, do you, Dad?"

"No, it's worth it to have the old fellow satisfied," Mr. Parker responded. "And then, the ark brought me a big story for the _Star_."

Penny walked silently beside her father. With the saboteurs in jail, Burt Ottman free, and Old Noah's future settled, she had not a worry in the world. Rounding a bend of the stream, she glimpsed a s.h.i.+ning blue bottle caught in the backwash of a fallen log. Eagerly she started to rescue it.

"Don't tell me you expect to collect every one of those messages!"

protested Mr. Parker.

"Every single one," laughed Penny, raking in the bottle. "You see, last night I lost a very pretty cameo pin. Until I find it, I'll never admit that the case of the saboteurs is closed!"