Madge was thoroughly alarmed. It was immediately apparent to her that something was radically wrong. She saw clearly that there had been a struggle, and from the condition of the furniture and fixtures, it had been a desperate one. What had become of Mr. Burnett and Enid?
“It’s a case for the police,” she decided instantly. “I must return to the city as quickly as I can and bring someone here!”
Closing the door behind her, she ran back to the railing. Peering down, she searched in vain for her boatman. Her eyes turned shoreward and she saw him several hundred yards away, rowing hurriedly toward the harbor.
“Come back!” she called frantically. “I want to go with you!”
She shouted until she was nearly hoarse, but the boatman gave no indication that he heard. He kept his face lowered and not once did he glance back toward the yacht.
“Now what shall I do?” Madge asked herself in desperation. “I believe that man left me stranded here on purpose! Oh, I could scalp him!”
She gazed resentfully after the retreating boatman, observing that he made far greater speed than on the trip out to the yacht. Not for a moment did she believe he had mistaken her order to wait.
She consoled herself with the thought that she would have him arrested for carrying away her luggage. However, unobserved by her, the boatman had brought the suitcase aboard. She saw it on the deck as she turned around.
“He came aboard quickly enough when he wanted to!” she exclaimed. “I wonder why he ran away? Perhaps he had a suspicion that something was wrong here.”
She recalled his reluctance to rent his boat and his unwillingness to make the trip to The Flora. Having taken an instant dislike to him, she decided without further consideration, that he was a questionable character and would bear investigation. She determined to speak of him when she acquainted the authorities with the situation as she had found it aboard the yacht.