"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 336 - Blackmail Bay" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

them.
Right now, it's high tide, which gives us another fifteen feet of water,
enough
for the 'Priscilla' to make it."
They made it nicely enough, though the sides of the wide-built steamer
almost scraped the alders on the banks. Then, Margo gave another gasp as she
looked ahead and saw a massive bulk of rock and thick trees looming out of the
bay to a height of a hundred feet or more.
"Hiram's Head," identified Barton, "don't try climbing that, Miss Lane,
while you're staying on Spruce Island. Unless you get a good hold on a tree,
you may slide down into the bay."
As the boat followed the shore, Barton pointed out Hiram's Cove and Margo
was enthralled by the brilliant sheen of the sparkling blue water. Well back
in
the cove was a large float with a long gangplank stretching to the foot of
some
steep steps leading to an attractive ranch house perched on a ledge. It struck
Margo that this could be the home of Judge Kroft, but she ignored that fact as
she exclaimed: "What a beautiful setting! Imagine, having friends come in and
out, in their own speed-boats, at any hour of the day or night!"
"You'd have to imagine it at low tide," laughed Barton, "because when the
tide goes out, coves like this one become mud flats and so does most of the
shore. So half the time, you wouldn't have enough water to dive in and, as for
swimming, the water is too cold this late in the season."
That put a chill on Margo's enthusiasm, but she smiled it off in a casual
way as the 'Priscilla' plodded along, arriving at a solid stone landing that
ran along the water's edge. There, Barton politely helped Margo down the
companionway to the lower deck, where a gangplank had been thrust down on to
the stone wharf. Barton insisted on carrying Margo's bags to the porch of a
large frame building which bore an imposing sign:

EARL TORGESEN
GENERAL STORE

Outside the main door was a bulletin board decorated with a variety of
notices, small and large, some printed, others hand-written, all held in place
by handy push-pins. Barton gave the array a rapid glance as he remarked to
Margo: "This is Spruce Island's information center. People tell everybody else
what's going on, or leave messages for one another. There's nothing extra
special today, so let's go in and talk to Earl."


THEY found Earl Torgesen seated on a high stool behind one of the store's
half-dozen counters. He was a stocky, stolid man who kept his arms folded as
he
nodded a routine greeting when Lew Barton introduced Margo Lane. Hearing the
name "Miss Lane," the store-keeper reached to a handy shelf and drew down two
notes, which he handed to Margo with the comment:
"Hobbs brought these yesterday but didn't post them on the board because
he figured you wouldn't know to look there."