“Noah! Noah!” called Louise wildly.
Only the parrot answered, crackling saucily from a porthole: “Hello, Noah, you old soak! Where are you, Noah?”
Breathless and bewildered, the girls did not know what to do. Before they could turn and run on, the man who so ruthlessly pursued them, dashed out from among the trees.
“Oh, here you are,” he said, and moonlight gleamed on the revolver he held in his hand. “A very pretty race, my dears, but shall we call this the finish line?”
CHAPTER
22
A SEARCHING PARTY
“Now we’ll have no more nonsense,” said the man who held the revolver. “Stand over there against the tree.”
Penny and Louise were so frightened that they trembled violently.
“You’ll not be harmed if you do exactly as you’re told,” the waiter assured them.
“Why not let us go home?” Penny ventured, recovering her courage.
“Not tonight, my dear.” The man smiled grimly. “Unfortunately, you have learned too much regarding my affairs.”