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"No, and nobody'd know it was there if there wasn't a boat around here named after it." "Is there a boat called that?" asked the colonel, and he tried to keep the eagerness out of his voice. "Yes. The ferryboat that runs from Lakeside to Loch Elarbor is named that. Seems that one of the men in the company that owns it used to live at Allawanda when he was a boy, and he called the boat that.
He went afoot to the ferry dock, and when the Allawanda floundered in like a porpoise he went on board. It was his first visit to this part of the inlet that separated Lakeside from Loch Harbor, and this means of getting to the yachting center was seldom used by any guests of The Haven. They went around by the highway in automobiles.
Though the little booth was meant to keep sounds from entering, as well as coming out, the door was not tightly closed and as LeGrand Blossom spoke rather loudly Colonel Ashley heard distinctly. "Yes," said the head clerk over the wire, "I'll pay the money tonight sure. Yes, positive." There was a period of waiting, while he listened, and then he went on: "Yes, on the Allawanda. I'll be there.
The after deck was but dimly lighted. For a time the woman and man talked in tones so low that the detective could hear nothing, and he dared not leave his hidden corner to come closer. But, just as the Allawanda was nearing her slip on the other side, the man spoke in louder tones. "And so we come to the end!" he said. "No, please don't say that!" begged the woman. "I must," Blossom answered.
But just as the Allawanda was about to pull out for her third voyage across the inlet, there came on board a woman, with a shawl so closely wrapped about her that her features were completely hidden. There were only a few oil lamps on the old-fashioned craft, and the illumination was poor. The colonel thought there was something vaguely familiar about the figure, but he was not certain.
"Oh, they just bit and I hauled 'em in," said he colonel. "By the way," he went on, "is there a place around here called Allawanda?" "Yes, there's a little village named that, about ten miles back in the country," said the boatman. "Nothing there, though, but a few houses and one store." "Oh, I thought it might be quite a place."
"I wonder," mused the colonel, as he started for the car where Jean awaited him, "what or who or where the Allawanda is? I must find out." He found further cause for wonder as he started off in the car with the French chauffeur for the boat dock, at the conduct of Jean himself. For the man appeared to be a wholly different person.
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