CHAPTER IX A Jade Pin

“You’re welcome to the pin,” Enid declared readily, turning it over to her chum. “It’s a curious piece of work. To whom do you think it belongs?”

“Unless I’m very sadly mistaken, I saw a pin like that the day I arrived at Cheltham Bay,” Madge responded. “The boatman who brought me out here was wearing it.”

Enid could not resist a smile.

“You’re bound to connect that poor man with the kidnapping, aren’t you, Madge? I’m sure the pin couldn’t have been the same. I’m not an expert on stones but this looks expensive to me. What you saw must have been an imitation.”

“Possibly,” Madge returned, a trifle nettled. “Just the same, if you don’t mind, I’d like to keep it for a few days.”

“Keep it as long as you like, only I don’t see how you hope to trace the owner. If you show it to that boatman he’ll claim it whether he’s the owner or not.”

“I know better than to do that,” Madge smiled. “I have another scheme in mind.”

Before she could explain, they heard a loud hail from windward and turned to see Rex coming toward the yacht in his motor boat. They returned the greeting and a few minutes later he climbed aboard.

“Any news?” Enid inquired hopefully.

Rex shook his head regretfully.

“That’s what I came to ask you. I can only stop a minute because I must get back.”

The girls related all that had befallen since they had last seen him and showed him the note which had been received from the kidnappers.

“Of course you’ve told the police about this?” he demanded.

“No, I don’t dare,” Enid explained. “I’m certain that if the authorities interfere in any way, my father will be made to suffer. I intend to turn over the Zudi Drum Bowl as they request.”

“But Enid—”

“No, please don’t try to make me go against my judgment. Capture of the kidnappers is a secondary question with me. My only purpose is to secure Father’s release.”

Madge sent Rex a glance which warned him that he would only upset Enid by arguing further with her. Reluctantly, he permitted the subject to drop.

“The Zudi Drum is at our summer home in Bay City,” Enid went on. “I must get there somehow. I was wondering if—”

“Let me take you,” Rex broke in. “We can make the trip in a few hours with the amphibian.”

“Oh, I was hoping you’d suggest it! When can we start?”

“I can’t go today because my plane is having a few minor repairs made. How about tomorrow?”

Enid instantly agreed and it was decided that the three should start after breakfast the following day. Soon after final plans had been made, Rex announced that he must hurry back to the mainland.

“Mind if I ride along?” Madge asked quickly. “I haven’t written a word to my aunt or uncle since I left Loon Lake, and I think I’ll send them a telegram telling them I arrived safely.”

Rex promptly extended a hearty invitation and Madge went to the cabin for her hat. Before going back on deck she carefully placed the jade pin in her purse.

Enid insisted that she was too tired to make another trip to the city, and Madge did not urge her. While she would have greatly enjoyed her chum’s companionship, she was looking forward to a private talk with Rex. Then too, she had a special mission in Cheltham Bay which she felt she could attend to much better alone.

Rex helped her into the motor boat and Enid watched until they were well away from the yacht. Before Madge could bring up the subject which was foremost in her mind, Rex spoke.

“I think Enid is making a serious mistake not to tell the police about that note. We can’t let her go to Cedar Point alone. Why, anything might happen to her.”

“We must prevent it if we can,” Madge returned quietly. “But just how can it be managed?”

“We might go to the police ourselves with the story.”

“No, that wouldn’t do. Enid would never forgive us. And if harm should befall her father, we’d be largely responsible.”

“Then, I don’t see what we can do. Unless we strand her tomorrow at Bay City! I might pretend the amphibian broke down.”

Madge considered this suggestion a minute before shaking her head.

“I’m afraid that won’t do either. Enid would simply go wild. And such a scheme might ruin all chances of ever finding Mr. Burnett. No, we must think up a better plan. We’ll have another day to consider it.”

“I’d be glad to go to Cedar Point myself if Enid would permit it.”

“We’ll find some way, Rex. But it won’t be easy, for Enid is set upon obeying those kidnappers to the letter. We must protect her against herself.”

The motor boat coasted in to a landing and was made fast. Madge thanked Rex and said goodbye to him at the wharf. From his directions, she easily made her way to the telegraph office.

She sat down at a desk and hastily scribbled a message to her Aunt Maude and Uncle George Brady, assuring them of her safe arrival at Cheltham Bay. She signed her name in full, and as she handed the telegram to the clerk in charge, he looked up in surprise.

“Just a minute, Miss,” he said, “I believe a message for you just came in. I’ll see if it has left the office.”

He returned a minute later, handing her a sheet of paper. Madge eagerly scanned the typewritten message which to her astonishment was from Jack French:

“LEARNED OF BURNETT KIDNAPPING THROUGH NEWSPAPERS. CAN I HELP? VACATION STARTS TWENTY-SEVENTH. FREE TO COME.”

“If that isn’t just like him!” she thought. “You can always depend on Jack when there’s trouble on hand. I do wish he were here! Well, why not? He said before I left he might come to Cheltham Bay, and surely this is the psychological time.”

She snatched up a form from the desk and after some difficulty composed a message which satisfied her. She paid for both telegrams, a rather large sum since she had not been sparing of words, and after inquiring the name of a reliable jeweler, left the office.

She walked slowly up the street and presently came to the firm of Dewitt and Prager, which she had been informed was the highest grade jewelry store in the city. The shop was nearly empty. As she entered, a clerk came at once to wait upon her.

Madge felt slightly embarrassed as she fished in her pocketbook for the jade pin. Now that she was in the jewelry shop her mission seemed somewhat silly.

Nevertheless, she placed the pin on the counter before the clerk.

“I’d like to find out if this has any value,” she said. “I suppose it’s only a cheap pin but I wanted to make sure.”

The man picked it up, and looked quickly at Madge who felt increasingly uncomfortable. She watched his face as he peered at the stone through a special eye glass.

“Where did you get this?” he inquired.

“Why, I—that is, a friend gave it to me,” Madge stammered. “It was found.”

Again the clerk bestowed upon her a searching glance. She had not counted upon answering questions and realized that her answers were not very satisfactory. It flashed through her mind that the jade pin might have been stolen. In a panic, she pictured herself occupying a jail cell.

Perhaps her expression reassured the clerk, for he smiled as he returned the pin.

“I’m sorry I can’t tell you the value of this stone. Our expert, Mr. Dewitt is out of the city today. However, I do know that this pin is an unusual piece of jewelry. The carving is unique.”

“Is it valuable, do you think?”

“I would judge so, but for any definite estimate, you must see Mr. Dewitt.”

“When will he be in?”

“Tomorrow. Why not leave the pin here until then? Mr. Dewitt has made a special study of jade and I think he may have something interesting to tell you about your stone.”

Madge debated for a minute and finally decided to leave the pin. It would be safer in the hands of the jeweler than in her pocketbook, she reasoned, and until she had definite information concerning the stone, she did not wish to risk losing it.

She promised that she would call again the following day and left the shop. Returning to the waterfront she looked about for a boatman to take her to The Flora.

“I hope I see that same man again,” she thought.

She passed by several boatmen who offered their services and even idled about the wharf for ten minutes, but caught no glimpse of the person she sought.

“He seems to have a way of vanishing when I’m looking for him,” she told herself. “Oh, well, if my suspicions concerning that jade pin are correct, I’ll go after him in earnest. I do wonder if he is deliberately avoiding me?”

For the present, she was forced to abandon the idea of finding him. She engaged another man who agreed to take her to The Flora for a nominal fee.

As they rowed for the yacht, her thoughts were chiefly concerned with the jade pin.

“I wonder what Mr. Dewitt will tell me when I go back tomorrow?” she mused. “I hope it will be something that will help Enid.”