Part 32 (1/2)

”Then at least let me go back to Riverview,” Jerry grumbled. ”I don't want to be stuck in any hick town hospital.”

”If you feel equal to the trip, I guess we can grant you that much. You seem to be all right, but I want to make sure. Can't take chances on the paper being sued later on, you know.”

”Oh, I get the idea,” said Jerry with a grimace. ”Thinking of the old cash register, as usual.”

Penny drew a deep sigh of relief. If Jerry were able to make jokes he couldn't be seriously injured. She still felt weak from the fright she had received.

”The police will find those men who attacked you,” she told him. ”I hope they're put in prison for life, too!”

”The police?” Jerry repeated. He stared up into Mr. Parker's face. ”Say, Chief, you're not aiming to spill the story, are you?”

”I was.”

”But see here, if you notify the police, we'll show our hand to the rival paper. If we keep this dark we could do our own investigating, and maybe land a big scoop.”

”Justice is more important than a scoop, Jerry,” returned Mr. Parker. ”If those men had anything to do with Atherwald's disappearance, and it looks as if they did, then we are duty bound to hand our clues over to the police. By trying to handle it alone, we might let them escape.”

”Guess maybe you're right at that,” Jerry acknowledged.

As she saw that the reporter was rapidly recovering strength, Penny left him to the care of her father and went forward to speak with Harry Griffith.

”Where are we now?” she inquired.

”Just comin' to the Kippenberg estate,” he told her.

”Only that far? We don't seem to be making very fast time.”

”We're buckin' the current, Miss. And there's a right stiff wind blowing.”

She had not noticed the wind before or how overcast the sky had become.

One could not see many yards in advance of the boat.

Ahead loomed the drawbridge in open position as usual. But Penny could not see the red lantern which she had noticed upon the trip down. Had the light been blown out by the wind?

In any case, it would not greatly matter, she reflected. Few cars traveled the private road. And any person who came that way would likely know about the bridge.

And then, above the steady hum of the motor boat engine, Penny heard another roar which steadily increased in intensity. A car was coming down the road at great speed!

”The lantern must be there,” Penny thought. ”It's probably hidden by a tree or the high bank. Of course it's there.”

She listened with a growing tension. The car was not slowing down. Even Harry Griffith turned his head to gaze toward the entrance ramp of the drawbridge.

It was all over in an instant. A scream of brakes, a loud splintering of the wooden barrier. The speeding automobile struck the side of the steel bridge, spun sideways and careened down the bank to bury itself in the water.

CHAPTER 19 _A DARING RESCUE_

Those in the motor boat who had witnessed the disaster were too horrified to speak. They could see the top of the car rising above the water into which it had fallen, but there was no sign of the unfortunate driver or other possible occupants.