The crooked crossDutton, Charles J. (Charles Judson)
General
The crooked cross
Dutton, Charles J. (Charles Judson)
Bartley, John (Fictitious character) -- Fiction; Detective and mystery stories; Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction
The buildings were the sort of summer cottages that one finds so
often, built more for cheapness than for looks or even comfort. But
when we climbed out of the car and went across the high grass, we
found that there was no one at home. The cottages were occupied, for
the doors were not locked. Hammocks were swung under the trees, and on
the verandas were chairs with magazines flung upon them. But there was
no one at home; and when we went down to the wharf, we found the boats
were not in. Evidently we would have to wait until they returned.
We seated ourselves upon the edge of the wharf and let our legs dangle
over the water. Lighting my cigar as the chief lighted his pipe, I
gazed at the scene before. On all sides the woods circled the lake,
the trees green and restful to the eyes. Above in a blue sky little
fleecy clouds floated by, only to be reflected in the darker blue of
the lake. And on every side were the hills, with the lake below, like
the bottom to a cup.
For a while we sat there, and the chief told me the camp was run by
one of the churches in the village. But after a time conversation
ceased, and we sat and smoked, dreaming in the sunlight. Once in a
while a fish would jump from the water—a gleaming mass of silver—and
fall back with a splash; then would come the scream of a bird far down
the lake. But save for these, the air was very still. And just as I
was beginning to grow sleepy, the chief cried, pointing down the lake:
“I guess they are coming.”
I gazed in the direction he pointed and saw three small boats far down
the lake. They were moving very slowly, but once in a while I could
catch the echo of laughter. We watched them approach nearer, until the
people in the boats could be seen—a number of girls in bathing suits,
girls laughing and talking.
They had almost reached the dock before they saw us and for a moment
their voices suddenly ceased. Then, recognizing the chief, they waved
their hands at him. In a moment the row boats were by the dock, and I
started to offer to aid them with their ropes; but instead of tying to
the dock they ran their boats upon the shore and soon ten girls in
bathing suits came running down the planks of the wharf. I could tell
they were curious and that the presence of the chief puzzled them.
From out of the ten figures there stepped a girl who evidently had
been in the water only a few moments before. Her one-piece suit clung
to the perfect figure, and I noticed that her shapely legs were whiter
than the other girls, as though she had not been in the sun very long.
Her face was keen, and her laughing eyes turned upon the chief. She
advanced almost in front of him and in a laughing voice said:
“Did you come after me, chief?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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