Part 13 (1/2)
”Hey, where you think you're going?” he shouted sternly.
”I'm looking for Mr. Oaks,” Penny explained, hugging the ladder.
”Oaks? The new watchman?”
”Yes. He's aboard, isn't he?”
”He should be. Well, go on up, I guess, but it's against regulations.”
Penny climbed the remaining rungs of the ladder and stepped out on the deck of the barge. She was chagrined to see that she had wiped up a great deal of coal dust.
”Oh, Mr. Oaks!” she called. ”Are you here?”
From the tiny deck house the old man emerged. No smile brightened his smudged face as he recognized Penny.
”This is a swell job your father got me!” he greeted her.
”Why, Mr. Oaks, you don't act as if you like it,” Penny replied, walking toward him. ”What seems to be wrong?”
”The pay's poor,” he said crossly. ”I'm expected to stay on this rotten old tub twenty-four hours a day with only time off for my meals. It's so dirty around here that if a fellow'd take a deep breath he'd get a hunk o' coal stuck in his nose!”
”It _is_ rather unpleasant,” Penny admitted. ”But then, the wind can't always blow in this direction.”
”I want you to ask your father to find me another job,” the watchman went on. ”I'd like one on a bridge again.”
”Well, I don't know. After what happened--”
”And whose fault was it?” Mr. Oaks interrupted angrily. ”I helped you and that girl friend of yours, didn't I? Well, now it's your turn to do me a little favor, 'specially since it wasn't my fault I lost the bridge job.”
”I'll talk to Dad,” Penny said. Annoyed by the watchman's att.i.tude, she did not prolong the interview, but quickly climbed down from the barge.
From the coal yards she followed the river for a distance, coming presently to more pleasant surroundings. She was still thinking about Carl Oaks as she approached the Ottman boathouse. Sara and a young man were deeply engrossed in examining a large metal object which appeared to be a homemade diving hood.
For a moment Penny a.s.sumed that Sara's companion was Bill Evans. However, as the young man turned slightly, she saw his face.
”Why, it's Burt Ottman!” she thought. ”He's back on his old job after being released from jail. I'm going to talk to him and see what he'll say!”
CHAPTER 10 _SALVAGE AND SABOTEURS_
Sara Ottman and her brother glanced up from their work as Penny approached the dock. Burt was a tall young man of twenty-six, brown of face, with muscles hardened by heavy, outdoor work. He nodded to Penny, but his expression did not disclose whether or not he bore resentment.
”Anything we can do for you?” he asked, his manner impersonal.
”No, I just happened to be over this way and thought I'd stop for a minute. What's this strange contraption?” Penny indicated the queer looking metal hood.
”A diving apparatus Burt made,” Sara explained briefly. ”We're using it to get Bill Evans' motor out of the river.”
”How does it work?”