Mystery Of The Tolling Bell Part 5

THE boat was still some distance away, tied to the jagged rock. Nancy knew that she and George never could reach it before the water struck them. But Bess, who stood on the ledge of the cave beside the craft, might escape.

"Get in the boat! Cast off!" Nancy shouted frantically.

It took Bess only a second to realize her great danger. She bent down to loosen the rope.

The next instant the great wall of water rushed through the cave, sweeping everything before it. Nancy and George, struggling desperately, were engulfed.

Instinctively Bess clung to the painter of the boat. As the water struck her, the rope snapped free of the rock. The craft raced toward the cave entrance.

Bess, holding fast to the rope, was carried face downward through the torrent.

Almost suffocated, Bess clung with all her strength to the rope as the boat shot from the mouth of the cave. Finally, when the speed of the craft lessened, she was able to raise her head to take a deep breath of air and grasp the gunwale.

The motorboat was half-filled with water. Bess knew if she climbed aboard, it probably would sink. Swimming with one hand, the girl tried to tow the boat toward sh.o.r.e. It was difficult going.

Frantically her eyes darted toward the cave entrance. Water still boiled from the cavern's gaping mouth. What had happened to her friends?

"Nancy! George!" she shouted.

There was no answer. Bess did not try to call out again. She concentrated all her efforts upon reaching the rocky beach.

Presently her feet struck bottom. Standing upright, she pulled the boat in so it could not float away, and began bailing water. As she worked, the distressed girl kept scanning the bay, hoping she might see Nancy or George.

"They're both good swimmers. I'm sure they reached safety," she told herself hopefully.

But in a moment panic seized her again. Possibly the girls had not been swept from the cave. They might have been caught inside and drowned!

Her mind numbed by fear, Bess worked automatically on the boat, hardly taking her gaze from the water. She suddenlv detected an object some distance away. Could it be a swimmer?

Leaping to a high rock, Bess shaded her eyes against the glare of the sun. Yes, someone was swimming feebly. Even as she looked, the person disappeared.

"Hold on! Don't give up!" she shouted as the swimmer reappeared. "I'll reach you in a minute, George."

Bess rushed to the boat and tried to start the motor. It was waterlogged and refused to catch. The oars had been washed overboard. After kicking off her shoes, Bess plunged into the water.

"I'm coming!" she screamed.

Bess reached her cousin not a moment too soon.

"I'mallin," George gasped. "Hurt my arm."

Bess, realizing the other girl could no longer help herself, grasped her in the cross-chest carry and pulled her through the water. But it seemed as if she could not possibly reach the sh.o.r.e. Burdened by George's weight, and with her own strength giving out, she found it harder and harder to keep going.

But just as Bess was about to give up in despair, her feet came in contact with the bottom. Standing up, she discovered that the water was only a little above her waist.

Bess pulled the exhausted George to safety. It was several moments before either of them could speak. Finally George mumbled:

"Nancy-Is-she-safe?"

Fear for their missing friend drove Bess into a panic. Anxiously she looked about. Nancy was not in sight.

When Bess did not answer, George tried to pull herself to a sitting position. But it was useless. Her strength was gone, and her left arm, bruised on the rocks when she had been catapulted from the cave, hung limp.

"Nancy-was-beside me-in the cave," she said brokenly. "That was the last I saw of her."

Tears rolled down the cheeks of both girls. Each was silent with her own thoughts. Then suddenly Bess sprang toward the motorboat. She was just in time to prevent the rising tide from carrying it down White Cap Bay. As Bess tied the rope to a rock on the sh.o.r.e, she was startled to hear a faint "h.e.l.lo" from the direction of the cliff above the cave.

"Nancy's voice!" she exclaimed joyfully. "She's safe! But where?"

Excitedly calling a reply, she and George waited eagerly for another shout. But it did not come. Bess waded into the water and looked up. Nancy was seated high on the cliff among the rocks.

"There she isl" Bess cried out. "Thank goodnessl"

Relieved, George felt her strength returning. She got up, and together the girls shouted rea.s.suringly to Nancy. But she did not seem to see or hear them. How were they to reach her?

"We'll have to use the boat," George decided. "Where are the oars?"

"Gone. And the motor won't start," Bess said forlornly. "But maybe I can dry it off."

In a watertight compartment under one of the seats she found a few dry rags which she used to wipe off the engine parts. After several sputters the motor finally started and the girls were able to get under way.

"Now where's Nancy?" Bess asked, steering toward the mouth of the cave and looking up.

Their friend had disappeared!

Shouting her name several times, the cousins cruised back and forth near the base of the cliff. Nancy, however, did not reappear.

"She may have found a road up there and decided to hitchhike or walk to the boathouse," George decided at length. "Let's go back."

Upon reaching the boathouse, the girls saw Nancy's car parked exactly where it had been left a few hours earlier. Their friend was not there, and the fisherman from whom they had rented the boat reported that she had not returned.

The man looked hard at the girls. Although the hot sun had dried their clothing, they presented a very bedraggled appearance. They replied briefly to the fisherman's questions, but did not reveal all the details of their mishap at Bald Head Cave. They thanked him for the use of the boat, paid him for it and also for the lost oars. Then they left.

"We must find Nancy," George declared anxiously. "Let's take the car and drive to the cliff. We may meet her on the road." Fortunately she knew where Nancy kept an extra key to the automobile.

"But what about your arm?" Bess objected.

"It feels much better," George declared. "The numbness is gone now. I can move it."

Meanwhile, Nancy was making an effort to recover from her own frightening experience. The great rush of water had washed her out of the cave just behind George. Being a strong swimmer, she made her way back to the cliff and struggled to a handhold amid the rocks some distance from the entrance of the cave.

She pulled herself out of the water, and for a time lay panting on the rocks. Then, getting to her feet, she looked about in search of her friends. The uneven line of the cliff obscured her view, and she could not see Bess or George.

After shouting their names several times, Nancy climbed higher. From this perch, she saw the motorboat and both girls on the sh.o.r.e. Relieved that they were safe, she tried to figure out a way to reach them. She decided to climb to the top, in the hope that she could find a path that would lead down to her friends. When Nancy reached the top, she stood still to look around. Suddenly she began to feel light-headed and had to sit down.

"I'm getting to be a sissy," she scolded herself. "I must go on."

But Nancy seemed unable to move from the spot. She became so drowsy she had to lie down. The warm sun and a faint sweet aroma added to her drowsiness. Delightfully comfortable, she lost all track of time.