PRINTED IN U. S. A.
The boar had turned and was coming for her again.
“Swamp Island” ([See Page 127])
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE [1 THE BEARDED STRANGER] 1 [2 ALERTING ALL CARS] 7 [3 UNFINISHED BUSINESS] 16 [4 A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT] 25 [5 THE RED STAIN] 33 [6 AMBULANCE CALL] 42 [7 AN EMPTY BED] 50 [8 IN SEARCH OF JERRY] 58 [9 THE WIDOW JONES] 64 [10 INSIDE THE WOODSHED] 73 [11 AN ABANDONED CAR] 81 [12 A JOB FOR PENNY] 91 [13 INTO THE SWAMP] 100 [14 A CODE MESSAGE] 107 [15 BEYOND THE BOARDWALK] 113 [16 TREED BY A BOAR] 121 [17 RESCUE] 128 [18 WANTED—A GUIDE] 136 [19 PENNY’S PLAN] 146 [20 TRAILING HOD HAWKINS] 153 [21 THE TUNNEL OF LEAVES] 160 [22 HELP FROM TONY] 166 [23 LOST IN THE HYACINTHS] 175 [24 UNDER THE FENCE POST] 183 [25 OUTWITTED] 192
CHAPTER
1
THE BEARDED STRANGER
With slow, smooth strokes, Penny Parker sent the flat-bottomed skiff cutting through the still, sluggish water toward a small point of wooded land near the swamp’s edge.
In the bottom of the boat, her dark-haired companion, Louise Sidell, sat with her hand resting carelessly on the collar of her dog, Bones, who drowsed beside her. The girl yawned and shifted cramped limbs.
“Let’s go home, Penny,” she pleaded. “We have all the flowers you’ll need to decorate the banquet tables tonight.”
“But not all I want,” Penny corrected with a grin. “See those beautiful Cherokee roses growing over there on the island point? They’re nicer than anything we have.”