For the next fifteen minutes, there was no lessening of worry aboard the River Queen. The ferryboat clung grimly to the blazing excursion boat, losing contact at times, then picking her up again, and pushing on toward the shoal.
Fire fighting activities aboard the ferryboat became better organized; the passengers, observing that Captain Barker knew what he was about, became calm and easily managed. By the time fire boats arrived to spray the Florence with streams of pressured water, the situation was well in hand.
Collapsing on the deck from sheer exhaustion, Penny and Sally gazed toward the warehouses and docks on the opposite shore. Only one fire of any size was visible there.
“The fire boats will quickly put it out,” Sally said confidently. “But I hate to think what would have happened if the wind and current had driven the Florence along those wharves.”
Penny wiped her cheek and saw that her hand was covered with black soot. Sally too was a sight. She had ripped the hem from her skirt, her hair was an untidy mess, everything about her was pungent with smoke.
“Where were we when all this excitement started?” Penny asked presently. “If my memory serves me correctly, we had sent out a police call for Claude Harper and his pals to be arrested. It all seems vague in my mind, as if it occurred a million years ago.”
“Why, I had forgotten too!” Sally gasped. “I hope the police went there and caught those men before they made a get-away.”
Scrambling to their feet, the girls moved to the starboard side of the Queen, which permitted a view of the Harper house far upriver. They were startled and dismayed to see tongues of flame shooting from a window.
“That place has caught on fire too!” Sally exclaimed, then corrected herself. “But sparks from the Florence never could have been carried so far!”
“The house has been set afire on purpose!” Penny cried. “Oh, Sally, don’t you see? It’s a trick to destroy all the evidence hidden there! The Harpers intend to skip town tonight, and they’re taking advantage of this fire to make it appear that destruction of the house is accidental!”