"I guess you will have to drive--" began Sim but a look from Arden stopped her from continuing.

"And if I meet Dimitri coming out in his handsome car, we will be like two goats on the bridge. Yes?" Olga smiled as she still sat in the auto, reluctant to put her dainty feet on the wet ground.

"But you won't meet him," Terry said quickly. "He's not there!" She waited to see what effect this statement would have on the mysterious woman.

"No? He often goes away, sketching. He is very strong. A sea such as this wild one would delight him. However, I will go over and wait for him."

Olga decided and drew her slim legs back into the car as she prepared to drive away.

"But he won't come back; at least, we don't think he will. He's been gone for days without taking the car or his skiff, and the houseboat was not even locked," Arden stated and watched the woman closely for her reaction to that statement.

"What do you mean?" Olga asked shrilly and jumped quickly out of the car to stand squarely in front of Arden. She looked straight into Arden's eyes and repeated her question. "What do you mean? What are you trying to tell me?"

"Dimitri's gone," said Arden simply.

"Gone?" Olga asked. "Come, we must go over at once! There is something I must find out!"

And then the excitement began all over again.

CHAPTER XVII Olga Makes Light of It

"To find out something," was what Olga had said, her dark eyes flashing.

The girls, too, wanted to find things out. Did Olga know about the missing snuffbox, and did she also know, or suspect, where Dimitri might be?

They eagerly accepted the invitation to get into the car. Olga drove rapidly, scorning ruts and b.u.mps. Once she spoke questioningly to Arden, who was in the front seat with her.

"My little friend, Melissa? Did she enjoy her ride?"

"Very much," replied Arden. "But she got into trouble over it. Her father--"

"Ah, yes, she told me of him. Have you seen her recently, then?"

"Not for quite a few days," Arden answered, and then she remembered, with a start, that no one had seen Melissa or George Clayton for-she could not recall how long. Three or four days, at least.

"The dog!" Olga exclaimed suddenly. "Is she still on the boat? She cannot bear me. I attempted to discipline her once, and ever since that I cannot go near her. She never forgets."

"She's still there, but I guess we can tie her up before you go in,"

Arden said, wondering how they were going to do it.

Then Olga drove without talking further. When they got to the end of the narrow road leading to the houseboat the three girls sprang out and, going on board, coaxed Tania to the stern of the craft, where they tied her securely. They then called down that it was safe for Olga to come aboard.

"Watch her carefully," Arden cautioned Terry and Sim, indicating Olga.

"Notice just what she does."

Terry and Sim agreed silently as Olga appeared at the steps. Tania barked furiously at the sight of her and strained to get loose. Olga, casting the merest glance in the direction of the animal, at once went inside the houseboat. The three girls followed close behind her. She did not hesitate in the living room. But, walking briskly, pushed aside the curtains and stopped short as the broken cupboard caught her eye. The mysterious covered canvas might not have been there for all the notice she gave it.

"Who did that?" she asked, angrily turning to the girls. "Who? Tell me at once!"

"We found it that way," Arden answered. "What's the matter?"

"Matter?" Olga repeated. "Did you not know, then, that Dimitri had here a gold box worth a fortune? Come! I see by your faces you did know. This is where he kept it. I told him it was foolish. After all, one can get around Tania with a piece of raw beef. Yes!"

She was quite beside herself with rage. Her dark eyes flashed, and she bit her lips impatiently. Then, apparently realizing how odd all this must seem to the girls and shrugging her shoulders, she attempted to make light of the incident. With another shrug of her expressive shoulders, she said:

"But of course he has removed his precious box with him. He can take care of himself, that one. Ha! Yes! There is no use wasting time here. I must get back to New York-quickly!"

Olga fumbled in her bag and pulled out a gaudy compact. At the same time a paper fell but, though she did not notice it, none of the girls attempted to pick it up. The whole affair seemed to rob them of their natural intelligence. Olga's personality was so overpowering.

"But," Arden began, "why should he break open the cupboard? Surely he had a key."

"I have known him to lose things more important than keys. Don't worry your pretty heads over it, Dimitri is not harmed, I am sure of it." Olga used her compact vigorously. All that she did was vigorous.

"And Tania," Sim reminded her. "He left nothing for her to eat."

"About that I know nothing. Oh, you dear, foolish children! What do you think has happened? Murder? Abduction? Come, I am going back!" Olga swept out of the small s.p.a.ce. She had succeeded in making the girls feel very young and rather silly. They followed her almost against their wills, and she drove them back to the cottage, where she stopped and, smiling brightly, said:

"Please don't distress yourselves. I tell you, Dimitri is very capable.

You believe me-yes?"

"Yes, of course," Arden faltered.

"Oh, and if you see my little friend Melissa, tell her I have been here, will you?"

The girls nodded dumbly, and Olga drove off up the muddy road, splashing the brown water widely out from beneath the wheels.

There was a temporary lull in the storm, a sort of breathing spell. The rain had ceased, and the wind was less. The surf, though, was heavier than ever, booming on and tearing at the beach.

Arden stood in a little pool of rain water watching the car fade from sight. She suddenly moved aside as the water soaked through her shoes and wet her feet.

"What next?" she asked of no one in particular. "She is the queerest person I ever saw."

"Do you think she really was disturbed about Dimitri and just pretended she wasn't?" Sim inquired.

"If you ask me," Terry began, "she doesn't care a snap about Dimitri. But she did seem mad about the box and the broken cupboard."

"That's just what I thought," agreed Arden. "I think she was surprised to find it gone, and maybe I'm crazy, too, but she seemed to expect that, somehow."

"Why should we tell Melissa we saw her?" Terry reflected. "Anyway, we haven't seen Melissa for days, and that's odd, too."

"That's just Olga's manner: playing Lady Bountiful to the poor native child," Sim sneered. "What does she know about Melissa, anyway?"

"What does she know about this whole business?" Arden said firmly. "I'm for telling Chief Reilly. Then, if anything should be wrong, our consciences would be clear. What do you say?"

"I think you're right, Arden!" Terry exclaimed. "There's more to this than we realize. Wait till I tell Mother where we're going."

Terry ran into the house and was out again almost at once.