The very cause of Mike O’Malley’s delay in arriving at the empty house on Monday evening proved to be the thing that saved the three girls in the tower. It was the huge ladder on the telephone repair truck.
When Mike left the girls on Sunday with his promise to help them, he drove straight back to Milwaukee to give the story of the treasure hunt to his newspaper. At the same time he asked for Monday afternoon off, in order to follow the “Linda Carlton Mystery,” as he called the accident to Helen Tower. When this leave was granted he sat down in his boarding-house bedroom to contemplate what he had better take with him.
“There’s something in that tower that mystifies Miss Linda,” he said to himself. “And she seems to think it is closed off from the rest of the house. I wonder how we could get in.”
He had all sorts of ideas—of going up in the autogiro and coming down in a parachute, of jumping from the “Ladybug” to the window—but, of course, these things wouldn’t do, because most likely the windows would be closed and locked. No; a ladder was the only solution; but how could he carry a ladder on his little Ford?
It was one of his brothers who solved the problem for him. As he had told Miss Carlton on the occasion of his first visit to the bungalow at Green Falls, Mike O’Malley was one of a large family. Two of his brothers had left the farm for jobs in Milwaukee, and one of these was with the telephone company. Pat—for that was his name—would be the very person to help!
It was easily arranged, the only difficulty being that his brother could not leave until four o’clock. However, the boys planned to meet outside of the city, thereby avoiding the worst of the traffic, and they made good speed along the country road. A little before eight, supperless but happy, they drove up to the empty house.
“We’re too late!” shouted Pat, leaning out of his truck. “She’s on fire!”
Mike had been pretty sure of this fact several minutes earlier, when he had noticed some smoke in the sky, but he had said nothing. They must go on, he had decided, for Linda and Dot might be trapped inside.
“We better get out of here,” called Pat, above the noise of the two engines. “Don’t forget we’ve got gas, and both our cars may explode.”
“Pull over there in the field,” directed Mike, briefly. “I’ve got to make sure that the girls are safe.”