“We’re sunk!” Sally moaned. “We can’t run across the beach without being seen, and we’re certain to be caught here.”
Keeping close to the wall, treading in firm earth which left no visible shoemarks, the girls crept around the building corner. The slamming of a door warned them that Claude Harper already was on their trail.
“Someone’s been here by the window!” they heard him shout.
Frantically, the girls looked about for a place to hide. There was no shrubbery nearby, only the waterfront. Penny’s desperate gaze fastened upon the rowboat tied up at the pier nearby. In the bottom lay an old canvas sail.
“Quick! The boat!” she whispered to Sally.
“We’ll be caught there sure!”
“It’s even more certain if we stay here. Come on, it’s our only chance.”
Choosing the lesser of two evils, they tiptoed across the pier. Though many of the boards were rotten and loose, their shoes fortunately made no sound.
Scrambling down into the boat, the girls jerked the canvas sail over them. Barely had they hidden themselves, than their hearts sank, for they heard heavy footsteps approaching on the pier.