The White Elephant Mystery Part 15

"Unfortunately for him," Cannonball answered, "Sonny Grant recognized him when he took over the circus. Ned Barrow had been in Yarwell for a short stretch. He was 'going straight' with the circus, when Sonny recognized him and forced him to take his orders, on threat of exposure. He'll go back to Yarwell now, for his attempt on Spitfire's life, if we can prove it, for a much longer stretch than he had before."

And then, that was as long as anyone present could contain himself any longer. Merry Andrews yelled "Yippee!" and turned a standing back somersault; and Trixie Cella, in spite of the tears in her eyes that were almost blinding her, grabbed Spitfire when he moved his feet and looked as though he were going to try to do the same thing. Joy Maybeck's father began to hug his wife and Joy and her sister, while he said over and over in a dazed voice, "We own one third of the circus!"

Everyone was so excited that they all began to talk at once-until Socker Furlong did an imitation of a drum ruffle, the way he had heard Trixie and Spitfire do it from the pedestal board when they were practicing their flying; and when everyone stopped talking for two or three seconds he shouted, "Ah, heebie, hebby, hobby, holey, go-long! La-ay-dies an' gen-n-n'men! At the t-a-able at the fa-a-a-ar end of the room is arranged the gr-r-r-e-ates-st a-s-sortment of delicate delicac-i-ie-es ever before as-s-sem-bled under one tent! Crisp, br-r-rown turkey from the pl-l-ains of Guatemala, j-u-u-icy ambrosial ham from the mountains of Tibet, spiced peaches from the lowlands of Poland, and delicious i-ces from the polar circle! Move up a li-ittle closer, la-ay-dies an' gen-n-n'mun!"

"Jiminy crimps!" Djuna said to Joy Maybeck, who was laughing happily beside him. "He ought to be with the circus!"

"He's going to be, if I have anything to say about it!" Joy leaned down to whisper in Djuna's ear. "Can you keep a secret?" she added.

"Oh, sure!" Djuna said. "I should say so!"

"Well, I think that if I can persuade him to give up that awful newspaper job, he's going to be the press agent for the whole circus!"

"Hoddy-doddy!" Djuna said and his face beamed. "And he'd travel right with the circus all the time?"

"All the time," Joy whispered gleefully.

"Could Tommy and I-" Djuna started to say, when the superintendent of the hospital came bustling in to interrupt him by saying, "Mr. Peters must go back to his room now. He-"

"Hey, Djuna!" Spitfire shouted as she started to turn his wheel chair around. "How would you and Tommy like to travel along with the circus for a couple of weeks when we start on the road next week?"

"Great glittering glories of Golconda!" Miss Annie exclaimed. "I-I-"

"Could we, Miss Annie, could we?" Djuna shouted joyfully. "Could we, please?"

"Well, I suppose so," Miss Annie said doubtfully-but her eyes were twinkling-"now that you've made it safe!"

Merry Andrews turned another standing back-flip, and said, "I'll teach you both how to do that while you're with us!"

"Jiminy crimps!" Djuna and Tommy said together, because that was all they could say.

But the little black terrier, Champ, danced around them on his hind legs, barking like mad. It was plain that he intended to lead every other animal in the next circus parade, including the real white elephant.

And everybody, while Socker marked time, joined in the chant that the circus men always sing as they drive the tent pegs into the ground: "Ah, heebie, hebby, hobby, holey, go-long!"

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Chapter One.

Djuna Meets a Yellow Cat

THE BOY named Djuna peered anxiously out the window of the big, gray bus as the door opened and the driver called, "Dolphin Beach! Dolphin Beach!"

Djuna picked up his heavy suitcase, took a firmer grip on the leash of his little black Scotty, Champ, and scrambled down the steps to the Federal Highway. The door clanged shut behind him, the overhead light turned green and the big bus rumbled into the northbound traffic.

Djuna looked carefully around for his friend Tommy Williams, and for Tommy's father and his car. There were all kinds of cars whizzing north and south on the highway; and Djuna, in spite of his mounting anxiety as he failed to see Tommy, was fascinated by the license plates of so many different states. When the traffic light turned red there were just as many cars whizzing east and west on the main street of Dolphin Beach, a street called Atlantic Avenue.

There were gaudy gas stations on all four corners of the intersection, and when Djuna could not see Tommy he made his way toward the one behind him that had a small sign above the door: BUS STATION.

An attendant wearing a blue jumper leaned down to pat Champ on the head as Djuna approached him and said, "Do you know Tommy Williams?"

"Can't say as I do," the man drawled. He grinned as he saw the perspiration streaming down Djuna's face and added, "Why don't you set down that heavy suitcase? Is Tommy supposed to meet you here?"

"Yes, sir," Djuna told him. "But I guess his father would have to bring him. He's a bean grower."

"Harry Williams?" the man asked. "Lives out on the Dixie Highway?"

"Yes, sir," Djuna said eagerly. "Do you know Mr. Williams?"

"Sure do," the man said agreeably, and then he peered at Djuna more closely and said: "You look kinda puckered out. You just get in?"

"I took the train from up North yesterday morning and sat up all night," Djuna explained. "I got into Miami this afternoon and took the bus back up here because my train didn't stop here."

"Well, put your suitcase in the office there and stop sweatin'," the man said. "Tommy or his pappy will show up. People ain't in such a hurry down here, the way they are up North. Makes 'em live longer. Take your Scotty for a walk and give him some suns.h.i.+ne. He'd look good with a tan."

"Yes, sir. Thank you," Djuna said as the man left to gas a car. He put his suitcase inside the door of the gas station and then led Champ over to the corner of the intersection. Above the Atlantic Avenue sign on the corner was a sign that had an arrow on it pointing east: TO THE BEACH. Over the traffic light in the center of the intersection was still another sign that had an arrow on it pointing west: TO THE BUSINESS SECTION. There were office buildings and stores on each side of Atlantic Avenue for about a block in each direction and then the street became residential. There were bright green lawns in front of the pastel-painted houses and around most of them there were bushes with cl.u.s.ters of salmon or red or purple flowers, and green hedges with scarlet blossoms that Djuna had never seen before. But there were beds of yellow lilies and varicolored petunias that were just like the ones he had seen in lawns up North.

About a mile down the road that led to the east, Djuna could see a bridge, and then a little farther on the road seemed to end. His pulse quickened as he imagined that where the road seemed to end there was a long sandy beach and beyond the beach the cool waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

When the traffic light changed to green he scurried across the Federal Highway and sauntered down Atlantic Avenue toward the business section. He pa.s.sed a tackle-and-bait store that had all kinds of fis.h.i.+ng equipment in the window; a real estate office that had a map of Dolphin Beach in the window; a super-market that had a sign saying it was air-conditioned; a variety store; a drugstore that was featuring sun-tan lotion in the window; and a gift shop. Beyond that there was a light green stucco house with red flowers climbing over the roof, surrounded by a darker green lawn of Bermuda gra.s.s. A blood-red sun shone through a hazy sky in the west and great puffs of c.u.mulus clouds floated lazily on the horizon.

Djuna was wondering if the deep red flowers that climbed over the roof of the light green house were anything like rambler roses when he first saw the cat-an enormous yellow cat.

An old lady had come out on the porch of the light green house and was putting the yellow cat in a wicker carrying-basket when he first saw it.

Before Djuna realized what had happened, the end of Champ's leash was no longer in his hand and Champ was racing across the green lawn toward the porch as fast as his stubby legs would carry him. When the hair on the cat's back suddenly stood straight up and it started to spit, the old lady gave it a final shove into the basket and slammed the basket lid.

Djuna shouted, "Champ!" as loudly as he could and started to run after him. Champ shouted back, "Don't be silly-it's a CAT!"-at least that's the way his series of fierce barks sounded as he scrambled up the steps.

"Get that horrid little dog out of here!" the old lady screeched at Djuna as he reached the porch. The cat was spitting inside the basket as the little old lady lifted it off the floor, and Champ raced around and around her, trying to get at the basket.

"Gee!" Djuna panted as he managed to get a firm hold on Champ's leash. "I'm awful sorry! He-he saw your cat before I did, and yanked the leash right out of my hand."

"Well, it's a good thing for him I got my cat inside the basket," the old lady said indignantly. "He'd have scratched his hide off. Where did you ever get such a ridiculous-looking animal anyway?"

"Why, why, I've always had him," Djuna said, and added lamely, "He's a Scotty."

"He looks as though he belonged on the end of a mop handle," the old lady said tartly. "Why don't you teach him to obey you?"

"He usually does," Djuna told her quite seriously, and added, "Down, Champ!" Champ sat down and looked up at him through the s.h.a.ggy black hair that drooped over his shoe-b.u.t.ton eyes. His long red tongue came out and he began to pant so hard he seemed to rattle.

"For goodness' sake!" the old lady said. "Why don't you give him some water? He's thirsty."

"Why-why-I-" Djuna stammered, "I guess I forgot it. I was so excited about getting here I-"

"Wait a minute. I'll get a pan," the old lady said, and she went into the house, taking the cat's carrying-basket with her. She came back in a minute with a small tin basin filled with water. When she put the basin down on the porch Champ licked her hand to thank her before he took any of the water.

"Well, I declare," the old lady said, and she stroked Champ while he drank, "for a dog he's quite cute." She straightened up and looked at Djuna and said, "Where 're you from? Where 're you going? What's your name?"

"Why-why-" Djuna began to answer, but he couldn't say anything else, because he was so mixed up with so many questions being fired at him at once that he couldn't think of any of the answers.

"Speak up! Speak up!" the old lady snapped as she sat down in a metal porch chair. "Cat got your tongue?" Then she laughed and added, "No, but a cat almost got your dog. Just as I told you, Tootler-that's his name-would have scratched the black hide off him. He's got an ulcerated tooth and he's been as mean as a skunk with boils. I was just going to take him down to the dentist when you came along."

"Take him to the dentist?" Djuna exclaimed with astonishment. "Don't you mean a vet-vet-veterinarian?"

"No I don't mean a vet-vet-veterin-arian," the old lady mimicked. "My husband was a dentist before he died and he always took care of Tootler's teeth. If he could do it, so could this young dentist who just came to town and bought my husband's equipment. Besides, there ain't any vet in Dolphin Beach. I can't afford to take him all the way to Fort Laurel to the vet. I can't afford to even take a taxi downtown to the dentist. But I'll be able to, if he ever pays for my husband's instruments." The old lady stopped speaking as she peered at Djuna more closely. "What did you say your name is?" she asked, after a moment.

"Djuna," he told her. "I just got in on the train from up North. I'm going to visit Tommy Williams here during my Christmas vacation from school. Do you know him?"

"Williams ... Williams," the old lady said as she c.o.c.ked her head on one side and pursed her lips. "I know a lot of Williamses, but none with a son named Tommy. I know all the old-timers here. Prob'ly the one you know is a newcomer."

"Yes," Djuna said eagerly. "Tommy only came down here last year. His father inherited some land and he came here to become a bean farmer."

"And prob'ly don't know beans about it," the old lady stated. "My name is Mrs. Pulham. People used to call my husband Dr. Pullem," she added, and chuckled. Djuna had thought at first that she was an awfully cranky old lady, but now when she smiled and her eyes softened at the mention of her late husband's name she seemed quite nice.

"I hope the new dentist can fix your cat's tooth," he said and then he looked at the watch on his wrist and said, "Jeepers! I better get back to the bus station. Tommy was going to meet me there when I arrived, but he wasn't there, so I thought I'd look around a little. He may get there and think I didn't come, and go home."

"He'll be there," the old lady said in a kindly voice as she rose from her chair. "Come and see me again while you're here, but be sure to hang on to your dog's leash or Tootler will eat him alive."

"Yes, ma'am, I will, and thank you," Djuna said. "Good-by."

"Hurry back," Mrs. Pulham said as Djune bounded down the steps.

Djuna ran all the way back to the bus station with Champ panting along at his heels. Just as he arrived there Mr. Williams drove up in his old sedan. Tommy was by his side. Tommy jumped out of the car as soon as Mr. Williams brought it to a stop. He and Djuna shook hands delightedly while Champ jumped up and down to let them know that he was glad to be there, too. Mr. Williams, who was a tall, heavy-set man with a hooked nose and graying hair, greeted Djuna warmly and Djuna told him how Champ had tried to chase a yellow cat that belonged to Mrs. Pulham. But he didn't tell him that Mrs. Pulham was going to take her cat to a dentist, because he wasn't sure that Mrs. Pulham was really going to do that.

"I don't know her, but I knew her husband," Mr. Williams said, and then he asked Djuna if he'd like to drive over to the beach before they went home.

"I'd like to see the beach and the ocean, if it isn't too much trouble, Mr. Williams," Djuna said promptly.

"No trouble at all, Djuna," Mr. Williams said, and he drove around the corner and east on Atlantic Avenue while Tommy pointed out the points of interest and told Djuna the names of the different flowers around the houses.

As they approached the narrow bridge Djuna had seen in the distance, a green light on the bridge turned red and the bridge tender dropped the black and yellow striped gate across the end. Mr. Williams brought his car to a stop as the tender ducked under the gate and went to the middle of the bridge. There he removed an iron bar that locked the bridge in place and turned an electric switch. Djuna, who had been so interested in listening to what Tommy was telling him that he hadn't even noticed that Mr. Williams had stopped the car, gasped as he looked through the winds.h.i.+eld and saw the bridge turning. He looked quickly up and down the narrow stretch of water the bridge crossed and said, "Jeepers, what's the name of this river?"

"It's not a river," Tommy said. "It's the Inland Waterway. See-" he pointed down the waterway at a boat that was approaching the bridge-"its for small boats."

"Small boats!" Djuna exclaimed as he looked at the trim sixty-foot cruiser that was approaching the swinging bridge. He b.u.mped his head on the top of the car as he jumped up in his excitement to watch the sharp prow of the boat knife through the water. "Wow! I wouldn't call that a small boat. It's about the biggest one I ever saw!"

Two men and a woman lounging on the afterdeck of the cruiser waved and Djuna leaned out the window of the car to wave back.

"Tommy means the waterway is for boats that are too small to weather the open sea," Mr. Williams explained. "It runs all the way from New York to the tip of Florida and is used by boats that are too small to risk going back and forth on the ocean."

"Is it fresh water?" Djuna asked, but he didn't wait for an answer. His eyes grew wide as he pointed up the inland waterway to a spot the sixty-foot cruiser was pa.s.sing. There he saw, glistening in the bright sunlight, between twenty and thirty boats of all sizes and kinds lying in their berths.

"What's that?" he gasped.

Mr. Williams laughed as he followed his wide-eyed gaze. "That's the Dolphin Beach Yacht Basin. And just beyond it is Captain Andy Jackson's boatyard where they repair and paint boats. You see, quite a few people live on their boats down here. They bring them down the Inland Waterway and live on them here in the wintertime, and then take them North in the spring and live on them up North during the summer. If they don't want to live on their boats down here, and can afford it, they can get apartments in that long white building at the end of the yacht basin. It's called a Yachtel."

"It must be fun to live like that!" Djuna eyed the gaily bedecked yacht basin with its streaming flags and pennants.

"sort of like living in a trailer," Tommy said, and Djuna nodded his understanding as the black and yellow striped gate lifted and Mr. Williams drove on across the bridge. On the left, a half-dozen men and women were fis.h.i.+ng from the concrete bank of the waterway; a little further on, a wide-beamed sightseeing craft was moored. A banner across its stern announced a daily Jungle Cruise for two dollars and a half a person, and among other things it promised a wrestling match between Seminole Indians and live alligators.

There were so many things to see and ask about that Djuna couldn't find time to ask about any of them!

There was another block of interesting-looking novelty stores on the other side of the bridge; and, about two hundred yards beyond the stores, Atlantic Avenue came to an end as it ran into a street called Sunrise Boulevard. Sunrise Boulevard ran north and south along the beach. There were restaurants on the two corners, and on the other side of Sunrise Boulevard was the beach parking s.p.a.ce.

Directly beyond the benches where Mr. Williams brought his car to a stop the white sands of Dolphin Beach sparkled in the bright sunlight. The beach was dotted with people of all sizes and shapes wearing colors of every hue. At its edge the waters of the Atlantic played a muted melody as they came rolling in on an incoming tide. Beyond the breakers, where the water was shoal, it was a cool, inviting aquamarine in color and then merged into a great sheet of rolling turquoise until it became as blue as the bluest sapphire. There it flowed north and was called the Gulf Stream. Just inside the Gulf Stream there were prancing white dots that were fis.h.i.+ng boats, and cruising along only a few hundred yards offsh.o.r.e were two black-hulled cargo vessels, their stacks pluming black smoke on the blue horizon.

"Chattering chimps!" Djuna said with an excited voice. "I wish I had on bathing trunks."

Mr. Williams laughed and said, "It's too late today, Djuna. I've got to get out to my beanery before-"

"What's that?" Djuna wanted to know, as Tommy snickered.

"My bean farm," Mr. Williams explained. "You boys can come over here the first thing in the morning on Tommy's bike."

"Oh, that's all right with me, Mr. Williams," Djuna said. "It'll look even better in the morning."

Mr. Williams turned his car around and they re-crossed the bridge over the Inland Waterway and went down Atlantic Avenue until they crossed the Federal Highway and were on their way toward the business section of Dolphin Beach. The houses on the west side of the Federal Highway were much like the houses on the east side, with their lawns studded with colorful flowers; and here and there a flame vine blazed.

Djuna was so busy looking at all the strange vegetation that he wouldn't have noticed the old lady who had told him her name was Mrs. Pulham, if Mr. Williams hadn't stopped the car. He had stopped because it was only too apparent that old Mrs. Pulham was having difficulties. She had put the wicker bag she was carrying on the ground and was leaning against a jacaranda tree that stood beside the sidewalk. She was holding a handkerchief over her face and she looked exhausted. Mr. Williams put his head out of the car window and said, "Can't I give you a lift wherever you're going, madam?"

When Mrs. Pulham took the handkerchief away from her face it was startlingly white; but she looked relieved when she understood that Mr. Williams had offered to give her a lift. But before she could speak Djuna said, "Why, it's Mrs. Pulham!"

He opened the door of the car and leaped out as Mrs. Pulham said, "I'd be very much obliged to you. I live only a half mile up this street."

Djuna picked up the heavy cat bag and helped Mrs. Pulham across the street and into the front seat beside Mr. Williams, who smiled at her and said, "I thought it was too hot a day for you to be lugging that heavy bag."

"This is Mrs. Pulham, Mr. Williams," Djuna said politely. And then he said to Mrs. Pulham, "This is the Mr. Williams I was telling you about."

Mrs. Pulham thanked Mr. Williams again and then she turned and smiled at Djuna who was holding Champ down on the floor in the back so he wouldn't begin to bark at the yellow cat again. "I guess it was a lucky thing for me that your dog chased my cat," she said. "I suppose this is Tommy?" Tommy grinned at her as Mr. Williams turned the car around and went back up Atlantic Avenue.

"That dratted dentist wasn't in his office and there wasn't even a note on the door saying when he would be back," Mrs. Pulham said to Djuna. Then she turned back to Mr. Williams and said, "I took my cat to the new dentist to have his teeth fixed and he wasn't even there."

"I see," Mr. Williams said, but he looked as though he didn't quite understand what Mrs. Pulham was talking about. He turned his head to give her a fleeting glance and his expression showed that he thought she was a little crazy.

"My husband always used to keep the cat's teeth in shape," Mrs. Pulham went on. While she was explaining it to Mr. Williams, Djuna whispered to Tommy, "Could you carry me and that cat bag on the handlebars of your bike?"