CHAPTER 20 NYMPHS OF THE SEA

“How you expect to get Mrs. Deline to go swimming with us is beyond me!” Louise opined as she and Penny left the hotel, their bathing suits swinging over their arms. “It’s none too warm today. She dislikes us both intensely. Furthermore, she never swims.”

“Any other reasons?” Penny asked cheerfully.

“That should be enough.”

“Just wait and watch,” Penny chuckled. “I just hope she doesn’t suspect we’ve been prowling in her room. If she got wise to that she’d report us to the hotel management.”

Before leaving the hotel the girls had taken care to drop the room key in the chair where Mrs. Deline had left it. They were confident that no one had seen them take the key or enter the room.

The widow remained as the girls last had seen her. She was sitting on a bench facing the sea, her gaze fixed on the deep blue line of the horizon. As the girls passed beside her, she looked up, frowning slightly.

“We’re on our way to the bath house,” said Penny, her tone implying that the matter was one of great importance.

“Really?” Mrs. Deline’s voice barely was polite.

“Wouldn’t you like to come with us?” Louise invited cordially.

The invitation took Mrs. Deline by surprise. “No, thank you,” she declined. “I can’t swim.”

“We’ll teach you,” offered Penny.

“You’re too kind. I don’t care for the water. I particularly detest cold water.”

“The air is warming up,” Penny tried to encourage her. “Why not try it with us?”

“Nothing could induce me.”

Louise nodded grimly, as much as to say that she had known how it would be. Penny would not give up. She decided to adopt drastic measures.

“No, I didn’t suppose you would go into the water,” she said. “You’re probably afraid you’ll get salt water on that lovely skin of yours, or muss up your hair.”

“Oh!” gasped Mrs. Deline. “The very idea!”

“Isn’t that the reason?” Penny pursued ruthlessly. “You have to protect your beauty?”

“No, it’s not the reason!” Mrs. Deline snapped. “If I had a bathing suit, I’d show you!”

“You can use mine,” Penny said promptly. “Louise has an extra one she’ll let me have.”

Mrs. Deline looked trapped and angry. She sprang to her feet.

“All right, I’ll go swimming!” she announced. “If I catch pneumonia I suppose you’ll be satisfied!”

“Oh, you’ll love the water once you’re in,” Penny said sweetly. “The bath house is this way.”

Mrs. Deline spent so long getting into the borrowed suit that the girls began to fear she had outwitted them. But just as they were ready to give up, the woman came out of the dressing room. Penny’s suit was a size too small for her so that she looked as if she had been poured into it. Her legs were skinny, her hips bulged. She still wore the elephant charm.

“Don’t I wish Dad could see her now!” Penny muttered. “What a disillusionment!”

Ignoring the girls, Mrs. Deline walked stiffly toward the surf. A wave rolled in, wetting her to the knees. Mrs. Deline shrieked and backed away.

“It’s freezing!” she complained.

“You have to get wet all at once,” Penny instructed kindly. “This way.”

She seized Mrs. Deline’s hand and pulled her toward the deeper water.

“Let me go!” Mrs. Deline protested, trying to shake free. “Stop it!”

Penny held fast to her hand. A big roller broke over their heads. Mrs. Deline sputtered and choked and struggled.

“Oh, this is dreadful!” she whimpered.

“You have to watch for the waves and jump just as they strike you,” Penny laughed. “Now!”

She leaped, but the widow mistimed the roller. It struck her a resounding whack on her shoulders and head.

“Oh! Oh!” she moaned.

“Here comes another!” warned Louise. “A big one too!”

Mrs. Deline broke away from Penny. She started to run for shore. The big roller overtook her, sweeping her from her feet.

This was the opportunity that Penny awaited. Pretending that she too had lost her balance, she allowed the tide to carry her straight into Mrs. Deline. For an instant they both were beneath the surface of the water.

Penny worked fast. Clutching Mrs. Deline as if in terror, she yanked hard at the slender chain that held the green elephant charm. It snapped and the jade piece came off into her hands. Deftly she thrust the charm into the front of her bathing suit. Then she popped up above the water, winking at Louise.

Mrs. Deline scrambled to her feet, clutching at the broken chain.

“See what you’ve done!” she accused Penny. “You pulled it apart. My beautiful charm has fallen into the water!”

“Let me help you look for it,” Louise offered, darting forward.

As the pair were groping about on the sandy floor, another wave rolled in. Penny neglected to warn Mrs. Deline. It struck her from behind, toppling her over on her face. Her cap slipped awry and she swallowed salt water.

“Oh, I can’t stand any more of this!” she spluttered. “It was cruel of you to get me to come into the surf! Now I’ve lost my charm, and it was all your fault, Penny Parker.”

“I’ll buy you another ornament,” the girl offered. Seeing Mrs. Deline’s distress she felt a bit ashamed of herself.

“Another ornament!” the widow mocked. “I don’t want another! I want the one I’ve lost. It’s of vital importance to me to keep it.”

Mrs. Deline made another futile search for the charm.

“It’s been washed away,” she cried. “I’ll never find it now!”

Glaring furiously at Penny, she turned and fled to the bath house.

“Did she really lose the charm?” Louise demanded the moment the girls were alone. “Or did you get it, Penny?”

Penny answered by producing the green elephant charm from the front of her bathing suit where she had hidden it.

“Easy as taking candy from a babe,” she chuckled. “My, but was she hopping mad!”

“You may not be laughing if your father hears about this,” Louise warned. “He’s apt to look at matters from a different angle than we do.”

Penny skipped through the shallow water and sat down on the beach well beyond the reach of the waves. Louise flopped beside her. Eagerly they examined the jade green trinket.

“Looks like any ordinary charm to me,” Louise remarked. “No special carving.”

“It should open,” Penny said. “The first night when Mrs. Deline and I shared a room, I was sure I saw her close it.”

Louise turned the charm over and pried at it with a hairpin.

“It does have a back lid!” she exclaimed excitedly. “Penny, I think it’s going to open!”

“I’ll say magic words while you work,” Penny laughed. “Furthermore, I’ll keep watch of the bath house. We don’t want Mrs. Deline to pop out here and see us.”

Louise pried again at the lid of the charm. It gave suddenly.

Inside the tiny cavity was a folded piece of paper. While Louise stared in delighted awe, Penny gained possession. With nervous haste she unfolded the paper. She gazed at it a moment and her face fell.

“Why, I can’t make anything of the writing!” she declared in disappointment. “The words don’t make sense.”

“Just a mess of letters,” Louise agreed, peering over her shoulder.

The girls were decidedly let-down for they had gone to much trouble and risk to obtain the jade ornament. But Penny’s disappointment did not last long. As she stared at the paper, its significance dawned upon her.

“Why, this is important, Lou!” she cried. “Maybe we’ve stumbled into something big!”

“How do you mean?”

“Don’t you see?” Penny demanded triumphantly. “The letters, of this message must comprise a secret code! If only we can break it down we may learn all we need to know about Mrs. Deline and her strange friends!”