“Not much you didn’t!” Rex protested. “If you hadn’t been along, I doubt if we’d have found this place. When we landed at the beach and were puzzled which way to go, he picked up Madge’s trail like a blood hound.”
“A blind man could have followed it,” Jack declared modestly.
The young people decided to allow other questions to go unanswered until they reached the yacht, for Mr. Burnett was in need of food and rest. While the kidnappers had not actually mistreated him, they had grilled him at all hours and had shortened his rations to the vanishing point.
“When I get to The Flora I want a big juicy steak, French fried potatoes, several pies and at least a gallon of good, hot coffee,” Mr. Burnett announced, “and you all must share the feast with me.”
With Rex and Jack supporting him on either side, he was able to walk. They helped him down to the beach and established him comfortably in the cockpit of the amphibian. Jack, Madge and Enid said they would return in the motor boat, and before leaving Cedar Point, watched the amphibian take off.
During the long trip back to The Flora, Madge and Jack had ample opportunity to renew acquaintances. They had been separated less than a month yet from their conversation a stranger would have judged that they were meeting after several years’ absence. Enid piloted the boat, obligingly keeping her eyes glued on the course. She experienced no difficulty in avoiding Clingman’s Rock and brought them safely into harbor.
“I hope the Zudi Drum is still here,” Madge said as they stepped aboard the yacht. “If it isn’t, I’ll go jump off the deep end.”
She found the trophy in Mr. Burnett’s cabin where she had hidden it.
There was no sleep for anyone that night. Jose, the cook, was rousted from his bed to prepare the most ambitious meal of his life. The feast came to an end just as the sun was coloring the east.
“‘All’s well that ends well,’ as our good friend Shakespeare once said,” Mr. Burnett quoted when the party showed signs of breaking up. “I particularly want this affair to end pleasantly. As soon as I feel able to handle a sail again, I want the vacation to go through as it was originally planned. Enid and I will not be satisfied unless you all join us. You’ll come, won’t you, Mr. French?”