questioned Enid again.

“Did your father keep large sums of money or valuables aboard?”

“Not to my knowledge. He was always afraid of being robbed.”

“Have you heard him express any such fear recently, Miss Burnett?”

“N-o.” Enid hesitated and then went on: “But I will say he hasn’t acted exactly like himself the past month.”

“In what way do you mean?”

“Well, for one thing he purchased a revolver. He seemed to be afraid of something. I can’t say what it was. He always laughed when I asked questions.”

“H-m,” the detective meditated. “And where did he keep the revolver?”

“It was in the desk.”

“It’s not there now,” Randall informed. “You heard no shots fired, Miss Burnett?”

“Oh, no. Only the struggle as I told you.”

“It’s possible your father recognized his assailants and in self-protection they were forced to kidnap him,” Randall suggested thoughtfully. “Their real motive may have been robbery.”

“Then why didn’t they take Mr. Burnett’s pocketbook?” Madge asked pointedly.

“They may have overlooked it.”

Madge made no reply although she took scant stock in such a theory. It seemed to her that the detectives were conducting only a routine investigation, that their interest in the case was only perfunctory. And Mr. Randall’s next words deepened this impression.

“There’s no need to worry, Miss Burnett. We’ll find your father but it may take time. If it’s a case of kidnapping for ransom, you’re sure to hear within a few days at most. In the meantime, we’ll do all we can, and keep in close touch with you.”

Rex carried the detectives back to the mainland after they had completed their investigation and then returned to The Flora. He found Enid sadly in need of someone to cheer her.

“I don’t know how I’ll stand it,” she declared unhappily. “I’ll go crazy just sitting and waiting. If only I could do something!”

Rex and Madge exchanged quick, significant glances. They had both been disappointed at the outcome of the police investigation. They realized far better than did Enid, that it might be a long wait indeed before word was received from Mr. Burnett.

“We will do something,” Madge said quietly, slipping her arm protectingly about her friend’s shoulders. “I don’t know how, but someway we’ll manage to trace your father! And when we find him I think the police will learn that it isn’t a case of ordinary kidnapping!”

CHAPTER VI
A Midnight Visitor

Rex soon took leave of the girls, saying that he intended to return to the police station for another talk with the authorities, and then go in search of the Burnett motor boat which had been cut loose from The Flora.

“I can’t thank you enough for all the trouble you’re taking,” Enid told him gratefully.

“Don’t thank me until I really help you,” he returned. “I probably won’t find the boat for those men may have stolen it instead of cutting it adrift.”

After Rex had gone there was little for the girls to do. Madge thought it best that they leave Mr. Burnett’s room untouched lest the police wish to examine it again and Enid had no desire to put the cabin to rights. She paced nervously up and down deck, avoiding that section of the yacht. Madge begged her to lie down for a few hours and she reluctantly went to her own cabin. After a time she fell into a troubled sleep and did not awaken until her chum shook her gently.

“Wake up, Enid. Rex is here and he’s found the motor boat.”

Enid hastily straightened her rumpled hair and hurried out upon deck. Rex already had come aboard after tying up the recovered boat.

“Where did you find it?” Enid questioned eagerly.

“Out near Culver’s Island. I figured that if it had been left to drift, the current would carry it that way. I cruised around in my amphibian until I sighted it and then notified the Coast Guard. By the time I had gone home for my own motor boat they had recovered it, so I merely towed it out here.”

“Did you examine it, for possible clues?” Madge inquired.

“Yes, I looked it over. If those kidnappers used the boat they were smart enough not to leave any thing behind that would identify them. However, it’s my guess they made their get-away in their own boat and merely cut this one adrift as an additional precaution against being followed.”

“I don’t see how they figured I could follow them when I was tied hand and foot and locked in that stifling closet,” Enid said bitterly, “and to know that Father is in their power! They may mistreat him!”

“Not if they are after a large ransom,” Rex suggested, in an effort to cheer her. “You may be sure of that.”

“The police said probably we would receive some communication within twenty-four hours,” Enid declared, more hopefully. “I wonder how much they’ll want?”

Rex met Madge’s eyes and he read the thought that had flashed through her mind. She had begun to wonder if a communication ever would be received. From the first, it had seemed unlikely to her that the kidnapping had been committed for the sole purpose of securing ransom. She felt there might be a more sinister motive behind the crime.

Before the conversation could be resumed, the sound of a boat grating against the side of the yacht, drew the trio to the railing. Unobserved by them, a craft had made fast to the yacht, and now they saw they were to entertain representatives of the press. The reporters swarmed aboard without waiting for an invitation, bombarding the girls with terse questions. A photographer insisted upon taking their pictures. Likewise, he photographed the yacht and Mr. Burnett’s cabin. Only the arrival of a second boat, containing Mr. Randall and two other detectives, brought the ordeal to an end.

“Have you learned anything new?” Enid inquired hopefully of Mr. Randall, after the reporters had gone.

“We’re making progress,” he informed. “Your father’s description has been broadcast over the radio and the police teletypes. I’ve brought some pictures from the Rogues Gallery that I want you to try to identify.”

For the next fifteen minutes Enid studied photographs of noted criminals known to have records for kidnapping, but as each was presented to her, she only shook her head.

“I’m afraid I can’t be of much help. You see, I caught such a fleeting glance of the two men.”

After the detective had returned to shore somewhat disappointed at her failure to identify any of the photographs, Rex said that he too must leave.

“Surely, you girls aren’t intending to stay here alone tonight?” he inquired.

Enid and Madge had made no plans but now that they considered it, they were reluctant to leave the yacht. Rex suggested that his mother would be pleased to have them stay at the Stewart home, but the girls felt they could not accept.

“We might possibly get word from Father during the night,” Enid explained, “and anyway, the cook and our sailors will be coming back early in the morning. I must be here to tell them what has happened.”

“I wish you had asked for a police guard,” Rex returned with a troubled frown. “I don’t like the idea of you staying here alone.”

“We’re not cut off from the mainland now that we have the motor boat,” Madge pointed out. “Honestly, we’re not a bit afraid.”

In the end they persuaded him to their way of thinking, but