"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mollie. "The beach is free, and it is broad daylight. Come along."
So they strolled along the sand, stopping now and then to pick up a pretty sh.e.l.l or pebble. Out in the bay was the fleet of clamming boats, little schooners from which the grappling rakes were thrown overboard, and allowed to drag along the bottom with the motion of the craft, to be hauled up now and then, and emptied of their sh.e.l.ly catch.
On the other side of the point of land the ocean beat restlessly on the beach.
"Here"s the place," exclaimed Betty, at length, as they came to the log where they had sat when Mollie and Amy dug up the box of diamonds.
"It doesn"t look as though they had come back and searched in vain for the treasure," said Betty.
There was no evidence in the sand, that was certain. The girls looked about a bit, and then strolled on. Before they knew it they found themselves in front of the lone hut where, from the odor that hung in the air, and the evidence of nets and boats about, it was evident a fisherman dwelt.
As the girls came opposite this, the door opened and a woman, with a hard, cruel face, peered out.
"Ah, little missies!" she croaked, "it"s a fine morning for a walk, but you must be tired. Won"t you come in and rest?" And she leered up into their faces.
CHAPTER XVII
ANOTHER ALARM
At the first sight of the old crone Betty had drawn back, and now, as the fishwife spoke, in a voice which she tried to render melodious, though it ended only in a croak, the Little Captain seemed to urge her chums away.
"What does she mean?" whispered Grace.
"Come in and rest--it is wearyin" work, walkin" in the sand," the woman persisted. "I know, for many a day I have walked it lookin" for my man to come back from the fishin" channel. But he"s away now, and it"s lonesome for an old woman. Do come ye in!"
"No, thank you, we like to be out of doors," answered Betty, forestalling something Amy was going to say.
"I could give you a drink of milk," the old fishwife went on. "Nice cold milk. And cookies I baked myself--mola.s.ses cookies."
"No, thank you just the same," spoke Betty, in a voice she tried to render appreciative, though she showed a distinct distaste for the nearness of the old woman. "We have just had breakfast," she added.
"But won"t you come in and rest?" the crone persisted. "The walk in the sand----"
"No, we aren"t tired," said Mollie, seconding Betty"s efforts. "And we must be going back. Come on, girls. I"ll race you to the old boat!" she cried, with a sudden air of gaiety, and she set off at a rapid pace.
For a moment the others hung back, and then Betty cried:
"Come on, girls! It sha"n"t be said that Billy beat me!"
The old woman stared after the girls, uncomprehendingly for a moment, and then, with a scowl on her face, turned back to the hut again.
"Run on! Run on!" she muttered. "But I"ll get ye yet! I"ll get ye!"
She turned, and seeing the backs of the girls toward her, shook a gnarled and wrinkled fist at them.
"I"ll get ye yet!" she repeated.
As she entered the hut a man"s face was thrust down through an opening in the ceiling--a hole that had been covered by a hatch-board.
"Wouldn"t they come?" he asked.
"Naw! They turned from me as if I was dirt."
"The snips! Well, maybe we"ll get another chance."
"Another chance?" repeated the crone.
"Yes! We"ve got to, I tell you. If not, Jake will----"
"Hush! No names!" cautioned the woman.
Meanwhile the outdoor girls, having raced to the goal, an old boat half-buried in the sand, came to a panting halt. Mollie had won, chiefly because she had started off before the others, for Betty was accounted the best runner of her chums.
"Well, what does it all mean?" asked Grace, who came limping in last, for, in spite of her expressed promise to the contrary, she still wore those high-heeled shoes. "You act as though you had run away from the plague, Betty!"
"And so we did, my dear. The plague of fish! Ugh! I can almost taste them--fishy, oily fish!"
"And she offered us--milk!" added Mollie.
"It would probably have been--cod-liver oil," spoke Betty, with a shudder of repugnance. "Oh, let me get a breath of real air!" and she turned her face to the misty wind of the sea.
"But what does it all mean?" asked Amy, in rather bewildered tones.
"Why did we run away?"
"That"s what I want to know," put in Grace. "And I believe--yes, I have dropped my chocolates. Oh, how provoking! I"m going back after them."
"You"re going to do nothing of the sort!" declared Betty, with a firmness she seldom manifested.
"But--why?" questioned Grace. "Why can"t I go back after my candy?"
"Baby!" mocked Mollie.
"Because it"s probably near that abominable hut!" said Betty. "And that old crone might capture you. Did you see how eager she was to get us in there?"
"She did seem rather insistent," agreed Amy. "But was it any more than mere kindness?"
"If you ask me--it was," said Betty, firmly.
"But why?" persisted Grace.
"Eternal question mark!" Betty commented. "Now, girls," she went on, "I don"t know all the whys and wherefores, but I"m sure of one thing, and that is nice people don"t live in that hut. I don"t mean just poor, or unfortunate, or ignorant people, either," she went on. "I mean they aren"t nice--or--or safe! There, perhaps you"ll like that better."
"Not safe?" repeated Grace. "What do you mean?"