Swamp Island Part 30

"Hain't saying."

"You know Danny Deevers is hidden somewhere in the swamp! You're helping to protect him!"

Old Joe's feet came down from the railing with a thump. "Now that hain't so!" he denied. "I got no time fer the likes o' Danny Deevers. If I knowed where he is, I'd give him up to the law."

"Well, someone is hiding there! I heard Ezekiel Hawkins talking on Lookout Point, didn't I? We found the dead campfire. Your gun was stolen, and later a mysterious person rescued me when I was treed by the boar."

"Could have been one o' the Hawkins."

"You don't honestly believe that, Joe."

"No, reckon I don't," the guide sighed. "You sure kin shoot questions at a feller faster'n these new Army rockets I hear tell about. I'd like to tell ye what ye want to know, but there's things best not talked about.

Knowin' too much kin be dangerous."

Penny scarcely could hide her annoyance, for several times now the guide had made similar hints.

"I don't trust the Hawkins' family at all," she announced. "If they're not involved with Danny Deevers, they're up to something here in the swamp. Otherwise, why would they be so mean?"

"The Hawkins' family always has been mean an' ornery."

"Another thing--" Penny started to mention how she and Salt had seen large containers of some unknown product being removed from the swamp, but broke off as she decided to keep the information to herself.

"Yeah?" inquired the guide.

"Nothing," replied Penny. "If you won't take me into the swamp, is there anyone else who will?"

"Couldn't say fer sure," Joe replied, "but I reckon I'm the only guide herebouts fer maybe fifty miles."

"Won't you reconsider?"

"You put up a powe'ful strong argument, young'un, but I gotta say no fer yer own good."

"You've certainly ruined all my plans," Penny said crossly. "Well, since you won't help me, I'll say goodbye."

Back in the car once more, she could not bring herself to return home so early in the morning. Debating a moment, she drove to the homestead of the Widow Jones.

Dressed in a bright calico dress, the woman sat under a shade tree skillfully cutting up the meat of a turtle and dropping it into a pan of cold water.

As Penny walked across the weed-choked yard, she looked up in a startled way, but smiled as she recognized the girl.

"I'm fixin' to have me a nice soup," she explained. "Ye cook the turtle with diced carrots, potatoes, okra, and tomatoes and serve it piping hot.

Ever et any?"

"No, I never have," Penny replied, watching the preparations with interest. "It sounds good."

"Ye kin stay and have dinner with me," the woman invited. "I'll fix some flour biscuits and we'll have a right nice meal."

"I'm afraid I'll have to get back home," Penny said regretfully. "My trip here today was a failure."

Because the Widow Jones gave her an inquiring look of sympathy, she explained that Trapper Joe had refused to take her into the swamp. She went on to tell why the trip meant so much to her, and of her belief that a clever investigator who knew the area might find clues which would lead to the capture of Danny Deevers.

"So Joe wouldn't take ye?" the Widow Jones inquired softly. "Why?"

"He says it's dangerous."

"And since when has Joe got so a-feared of his shadow?"

"It did sound like an excuse to me. I think he knows what is going on in the swamp, and wants no part of it."

"Ye say it means a lot to ye to make the trip?"

"Oh, yes, I'd do it in a minute, if I could find anyone who knows the channels. But Joe says he's the only guide for fifty miles around."

Mrs. Jones slapped the last piece of turtle meat into the water with a splash. She arose, gathering her long skirts about her.

"Joe's maybe fergettin' that as a gal, my paw taught me every crook and turn of the swamp. Hain't been in there fer quite a spell now, but I got a hankerin' to go agin."

Penny stared at her incredulously.

"You mean you'll take me?" she demanded. "Today? Now?"

"I've got a quilt I should be piecin' on this afternoon, but hit can wait. If you hain't afeared to place yerself in my hands, I'll take you."

"I'll jump at the chance! But do you have a boat?"

"We'll make Joe lend us his!" the widow said grimly. "And if he tries squirmin', well, I know how to handle him!"

CHAPTER 19 _PENNY'S PLAN_

Making elaborate preparations for the trip into the swamp, Mrs. Jones packed a lunch, and donned a huge straw hat and stout boots.

However, she did not change the long, flowing skirt, which flopped about her ankles as she and Penny walked through the meadow to Trapper Joe's dock.

From the porch, the old guide saw the pair and watched them warily.

"We're takin' yer boat, Joe," the widow called to him from the creek's edge. "We're makin' a little trip into the swamp."

Joe pulled himself from the chair and came quickly to the dock.

"Hold on now!" he protested. "Two wimmin can't go alone into the swamp!

Leastwise, not beyond Lookout Point."

"Says who?" retorted the widow, already untying the boat.