Dorothy Dale to the Rescue

Dorothy Dale to the Rescue by Margaret Penrose

Dorothy Dale to the Rescue centers on Dorothy Dale and her chum Tavia Travers, newly engaged to Nat White and Garry Knapp respectively, whose reunion at Tavia's home is cut short by shocking news: Dorothy's young brother Joe has vanished on the very day a local store burned down under suspicious circumstances. Fearing Joe may somehow be connected to the fire, Dorothy rushes home to North Birchlands, where she finds her father, Major Dale, dangerously weakened by worry and learns from her youngest brother Roger that Joe had last been seen with a disreputable boy named Jack Popella. Confronting Popella, Dorothy extracts a damning claim — that Joe himself started the fire after a dispute with the store's owner — though she refuses to fully believe it. Amid the crisis, young Roger also goes missing and is rescued from a tree by Nat and Tavia, while Dorothy and her cousin Ned trace Joe's trail to a station where he boarded a westbound train, leaving behind his cap. Certain Joe has fled to seek help from Garry Knapp on his Colorado wheat ranch, Dorothy and Tavia set off for the West themselves. En route to Chicago, they become entangled with two suspicious men, "Stanley Blake" and "Gibbons," and overhear them plotting against Garry — revealing that shadowy enemies are scheming to force Garry off his valuable ranch land, exploiting a legal cloud on his inheritance from his late uncle. Further clues from a sympathetic newsstand vendor confirm Joe boarded a train toward Garry's ranch. On the final leg of their journey, the girls again encounter the same men — now unmasked by their cowboy friend Lance Petterby as notorious schemers named Stiffbold and Lightly, operating alongside a villain named Larrimer and the old antagonist Philo Marsh. Arriving at the ranch, Dorothy learns from Garry that Joe did reach him safely but has since been kidnapped, apparently to pressure Garry into selling his land. While Garry and his men search the hills, Dorothy and Tavia impulsively mount their own rescue expedition, surviving a narrow escape from a stalking panther (saved by Lance's timely rifle shot) and a violent mountain storm that leaves Dorothy injured and both girls lost in the wilderness. Guided by a desperate cry, they discover a hidden cave where Joe is being held captive by one of Larrimer's men, who is trying to coerce the boy into writing a letter pressuring Garry to sell his ranch — an ultimatum Joe bravely refuses despite his fear, setting the stage for the girls' attempted rescue as the narrative breaks off.

By Margaret Penrose · First published 1924 · Genre: Young Adult Adventure Fiction, Mystery, Suspense/Thriller · 30 chapters · 59,430 words

First lines

"Everything about the old _Bugle_ office seems so changed," said Dorothy Dale slowly. "I feel sort of -- "

"Homesick? " giggled her chum, Tavia Travers.

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Dorothy Dale to the Rescue is listed on Textopian as a novel by Margaret Penrose, dated 1924 CE.

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adventure · mystery · young adult · female protagonist · 1900s setting · American literature · coming-of-age · girl detective · friendship · family drama · school setting · action

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