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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Clue of the Silken Ladder, by Mildred A. Wirt
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Clue of the Silken Ladder
+
+Author: Mildred A. Wirt
+
+Release Date: December 7, 2010 [EBook #34591]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLUE OF THE SILKEN LADDER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Brenda Lewis and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                Clue of
+                               the Silken
+                                 Ladder
+
+
+                                  _By_
+                            MILDRED A. WIRT
+
+                              _Author of_
+                    MILDRED A. WIRT MYSTERY STORIES
+                       TRAILER STORIES FOR GIRLS
+
+                             _Illustrated_
+
+                        CUPPLES AND LEON COMPANY
+                              _Publishers_
+                                NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+                             _PENNY PARKER_
+                            MYSTERY STORIES
+
+              _Large 12 mo.       Cloth       Illustrated_
+
+
+                         TALE OF THE WITCH DOLL
+                        THE VANISHING HOUSEBOAT
+                        DANGER AT THE DRAWBRIDGE
+                         BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR
+                       CLUE OF THE SILKEN LADDER
+                            THE SECRET PACT
+                       THE CLOCK STRIKES THIRTEEN
+                            THE WISHING WELL
+                         SABOTEURS ON THE RIVER
+                         GHOST BEYOND THE GATE
+                       HOOFBEATS ON THE TURNPIKE
+                          VOICE FROM THE CAVE
+                       GUILT OF THE BRASS THIEVES
+                           SIGNAL IN THE DARK
+                            WHISPERING WALLS
+                              SWAMP ISLAND
+                          THE CRY AT MIDNIGHT
+
+
+                COPYRIGHT, 1941, BY CUPPLES AND LEON CO.
+
+                       Clue of the Silken Ladder
+
+                          PRINTED IN U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+                               _CONTENTS_
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                            PAGE
+  1 DOUBLE TROUBLE                                                    _1_
+  2 A ROPE OF SILK                                                   _12_
+  3 SOCIETY ROUTINE                                                  _23_
+  4 A TURN OF FORTUNE                                                _32_
+  5 THE MAN IN GRAY                                                  _42_
+  6 AN APARTMENT BURGLARY                                            _49_
+  7 MARK OF THE IRON HOOK                                            _59_
+  8 PSYCHIC SIGNS                                                    _67_
+  9 MRS. WEEMS' INHERITANCE                                          _75_
+  10 OUIJA BOARD WISDOM                                              _85_
+  11 THE CELESTIAL TEMPLE                                            _94_
+  12 A MESSAGE FOR MRS. WEEMS                                       _102_
+  13 COUSIN DAVID'S GHOST                                           _111_
+  14 WET PAINT                                                      _118_
+  15 HIDDEN MONEY                                                   _125_
+  16 OVER THE WINDOW LEDGE                                          _135_
+  17 KANO'S CURIO SHOP                                              _142_
+  18 THE BELL TOWER                                                 _151_
+  19 PENNY INVESTIGATES                                             _157_
+  20 INSIDE THE CABINET                                             _163_
+  21 STARTLING INFORMATION                                          _168_
+  22 SCALING THE WALL                                               _174_
+  23 A PRISONER IN THE BELFRY                                       _181_
+  24 THE WOODEN BOX                                                 _188_
+  25 EXTRA!                                                         _200_
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   1
+                            _DOUBLE TROUBLE_
+
+
+"Now I ask you, Lou, what have I done to deserve such a fate?"
+
+Jerking a yellow card from beneath the windshield of the shiny new
+maroon-colored sedan, Penny Parker turned flashing blue eyes upon her
+companion, Louise Sidell.
+
+"Well, Penny," responded her chum dryly, "in Riverview persons who park
+their cars beside fire hydrants usually expect to get parking tickets."
+
+"But we were only inside the drugstore five minutes. Wouldn't you think a
+policeman could find something else to do?"
+
+"Oh, the ticket won't cost you more than five or ten dollars," teased
+Louise wickedly. "Your father should pay it."
+
+"He should but he won't," Penny answered gloomily. "Dad expects his one
+and only daughter to assume her own car expense. I ask you, what's the
+good of having a weekly allowance when you never get to use it yourself?"
+
+"You _are_ in a mood today. Why, I think you're lucky to have a grand new
+car."
+
+Louise's glance caressed the highly polished chrome plate, the sleek,
+streamlined body which shone in the sunlight. The automobile had been
+presented to Penny by her father, Anthony Parker, largely in gratitude
+because she had saved his newspaper, _The Riverview Star_, from a
+disastrous law suit.
+
+"Yes, I am lucky," Penny agreed without enthusiasm. "All the same, I'm
+lonesome for my old coupe, Leaping Lena. I wish I could have kept her.
+She was traded in on this model."
+
+"What would you do with that old wreck now, Penny? Nearly every time we
+went around a corner it broke down."
+
+"All the same, we had marvelous times with her. This car takes twice as
+much gasoline. Another thing, all the policemen knew Lena. They never
+gave her a ticket for anything."
+
+Penny sighed deeply. Pocketing the yellow card, she squeezed behind the
+steering wheel.
+
+"By the way, whatever became of Lena?" Louise asked curiously, slamming
+the car door. She glanced sharply at Penny.
+
+"Oh, she's changed hands twice. Now she's at Jake Harriman's lot,
+advertised for fifty dollars. Want to drive past there?"
+
+"Not particularly. But I'll do it for your sake, pet."
+
+As the car started toward the Harriman Car Lot, Louise stole an amused
+glance at her chum. Penny was not unattractive, even when submerged in
+gloom. Upon the slightest provocation, her blue eyes sparkled; her smile
+when she chose to turn it on, would melt a man of stone. She dressed
+carelessly, brushed a mop of curly, golden hair only if it suited her
+fancy, yet somehow achieved an appearance envied by her friends.
+
+The automobile drew up at the curb.
+
+"There's Lena." Penny pointed to an ancient blue coupe with battered
+fenders which stood on the crowded second-hand lot. A _For Sale_ sign on
+the windshield informed the public that the auto might be bought for
+forty dollars.
+
+"Lena's value seems to have dropped ten dollars," commented Louise. "My,
+I had forgotten how wrecky the old thing looks!"
+
+"Don't speak of her so disrespectfully, Lou. All she needs is a good
+waxing and a little paint."
+
+The girls crossed the lot to inspect the coupe. As they were gazing at
+it, Jake, the lot owner, sidled toward them, beaming ingratiatingly.
+
+"Good afternoon, young ladies. May I interest you in a car?"
+
+"No, thank you," replied Penny. "We're just looking."
+
+"Now here is a fine car," went on the dealer, indicating the coupe. "A
+1934 model--good mechanical condition; nice rubber; a lively battery and
+fair paint. You can't go wrong, ladies, not at a price of forty dollars."
+
+"But will it run?" asked Louise, smothering a giggle.
+
+"There's thousands of miles of good service left in this little car,
+ladies. And the price is only fifteen dollars above the junk value."
+
+The thought of Leaping Lena coming to an inglorious end in a junk yard
+was disconcerting to Penny. She walked slowly about the car, inspecting
+it from every angle.
+
+"Forty dollars is too much for this old wreck," she said firmly.
+
+"Why, Penny, such disrespect!" mocked Louise.
+
+Penny frowned down her chum. Sentiment and business were two different
+matters.
+
+"What _will_ you give?" inquired the car owner alertly.
+
+"Not a cent over twenty-five."
+
+Louise clutched Penny's arm, trying to pull her away.
+
+"Have you lost your mind?" she demanded. "What could you do with this old
+car when you already have a new one?"
+
+Penny did not listen. She kept gazing at the coupe as one who had been
+hypnotized.
+
+"I'd take it in a minute, only I don't have twenty-five dollars in cash."
+
+"How much can you raise?" asked the dealer.
+
+"Not more than five dollars, I'm afraid. But my father is publisher of
+the _Riverview Star_."
+
+Jake Harriman's brows unknitted as if by magic.
+
+"Anthony Parker's daughter," he said, smiling. "That's plenty good enough
+for me. I'll sell you the best car on the lot for nothing down. Just come
+inside the office and sign a note for the amount. Will that be okay?"
+
+Disregarding Louise's whispered protests, Penny assured the dealer that
+the arrangement would be perfectly satisfactory. The note was signed, and
+five dollars in cash given to bind the bargain.
+
+"I'll throw in a few gallons of gas," the man offered.
+
+However, Jake Harriman's gasoline did not seem suited to Leaping Lena's
+dyspeptic ignition. She coughed feebly once or twice and then died for
+the day.
+
+"You have acquired a bargain, I must say!" exclaimed Louise. "You can't
+even get the car home."
+
+"Yes, I can," Penny insisted. "I'll tow her. A little tinkering and
+she'll be as good as new."
+
+"You're optimistic, to say the least," laughed Louise.
+
+Penny produced a steel cable from the tool kit of the maroon sedan, and
+Jake Harriman coupled the two cars together.
+
+"Penny, what will your father say when he learns of this?" Louise
+inquired dubiously. "On top of a parking ticket, too!"
+
+"Oh, I'll meet that problem when I come to it," Penny answered
+carelessly. "Louise, you steer Lena. I'll drive the sedan."
+
+Shaking her head sadly, Louise climbed into the old car. Although Penny
+was her dearest friend she was forced to admit that the girl often did
+bewildering things. Penny's mother was dead and for many years she had
+been raised by a housekeeper, Mrs. Maud Weems. Secretly Louise wondered
+if it were not the housekeeper who had been trained. At any rate, Penny
+enjoyed unusual freedom for a high school girl, and her philosophy of
+life was summed up in one headline: ACTION.
+
+Penny put the sedan in gear, towing the coupe slowly down the street. The
+two vehicles traveled several blocks before a hill loomed ahead. Penny
+considered turning back, and then decided that the cars could make the
+steep climb easily.
+
+However, midway up the hill the sedan suddenly leaped forward as if
+released from a heavy burden. At the same instant Lena's horn gave a
+sharp warning blast.
+
+Glancing into the mirror, Penny was horrified to see Leaping Lena
+careening backwards down the steep slope. The tow rope had unfastened.
+
+Bringing the sedan to the curb, she jerked on the hand brake, and sprang
+to the pavement. Louise, bewildered and frightened, was trying
+desperately to control the coupe. The car gathered speed, wobbling
+crazily toward the line of traffic.
+
+"Guide it! Guide it!" shouted Penny. "Put on the brakes!"
+
+So confused was Louise that she lost her head completely. Straight toward
+a long black limousine rolled the coupe. The chauffeur spun his wheel,
+but too late. There was a loud crash as the two cars came together.
+
+Penny raced down the hill to help her chum from the coupe.
+
+"Are you hurt?" she asked anxiously.
+
+Louise shook her head, wailing: "Penny Parker, just see what has happened
+now! You never should have bought this stupid old wreck!"
+
+Both the chauffeur and an elderly gentleman who carried a cane, alighted
+from the limousine. With grim faces they surveyed the fender which had
+been crushed.
+
+"The owner is Mr. Kohl," Louise whispered nervously. "You know, president
+of the First National Bank."
+
+The banker did not recognize either of the girls. Addressing them both,
+he made several pointed remarks to the effect that irresponsible young
+people were very thoughtless to endanger the property of others with
+their ancient "jalopies."
+
+"It was entirely my fault, Mr. Kohl," acknowledged Penny meekly. "Of
+course, I'll pay for the fender."
+
+The banker softened somewhat, gazing at the girls in a thoughtful, more
+friendly way.
+
+"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, yes, Mr. Kohl." Penny was quick to press for an advantage. "Why, I
+am one of your best customers. Ever since I was six years old I've
+trusted your bank with my savings!"
+
+"I remember you now," said Mr. Kohl, smiling. "You're the Parker girl."
+
+Adding a mental note that Anthony Parker actually was one of the bank's
+largest depositors, he decided it would be excellent policy to make light
+of the accident. A moment later as a policeman came to investigate, he
+insisted that the incident had been unavoidable and that it would be a
+mistake to arrest the girls.
+
+"Mr. Kohl, you were noble, absolutely noble," declared Penny gratefully
+after the policeman had gone. "The least I can do is to pay for the
+damage."
+
+"I'll stop at Sherman's Garage and have a new fender put on," the banker
+responded. "The bill can be sent to your father."
+
+After Mr. Kohl had driven away, Louise helped Penny hook the coupe to the
+sedan once more. She remarked cuttingly:
+
+"You've done right well today. One parking ticket, a bill for twenty-five
+dollars, and another one coming up. Just what _will_ your father say?"
+
+"Plenty," sighed Penny. "I wonder if it might not be a good idea to break
+the news by easy stages? Perhaps he'll take it more calmly if I
+telephone."
+
+"Don't be too sure."
+
+The street was a narrow, dingy one with few business houses. Noticing a
+Japanese store which bore a sign, "Kano's Curio Shop," she started toward
+it, intending to seek a public telephone.
+
+Louise seized her arm. "Penny, you're not going in there!"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"This is Dorr Street--one of the worst places in Riverview."
+
+"Oh, don't be silly," chuckled Penny. "It's perfectly safe by daylight.
+I'll go alone if you're afraid."
+
+Thus challenged, Louise indignantly denied that she was afraid, and
+accompanied her chum.
+
+The door of Mr. Kano's shop stood invitingly open. Pausing on the
+threshold, the girls caught a pleasant aroma of sandalwood.
+
+So quietly did Louise and Penny enter that the elderly, white-haired shop
+owner did not immediately see them. He sat behind a high counter,
+engrossed in something he was sewing.
+
+"Good afternoon," said Penny pleasantly.
+
+The Japanese glanced up quickly and as quickly thrust his work beneath
+the counter. Recovering poise, he bowed to the girls.
+
+"May we use your telephone if you have one?" Penny requested.
+
+"So very sorry, Miss," the Japanese responded, bowing again. "Have no
+telephone."
+
+Penny nodded, absently fingering a tray of tiny ivory figures. The
+Japanese watched her, and mistaking curiosity for buying interest,
+brought additional pieces for her to inspect. The curios were all too
+expensive for Penny's purse, but after endless debate she bought a pair
+of wooden clogs. The shop owner padded away into a back room, intending
+to wrap the package for her.
+
+Scarcely had he vanished when Penny turned excitedly to her chum.
+
+"Lou, did you notice how funny he acted when we came in here?"
+
+"Yes, he didn't want us to see what he was making evidently."
+
+"Exactly what I thought! But we'll fool Mr. Kano!"
+
+Giving Louise no opportunity to protest, Penny boldly peered behind the
+counter.
+
+"Here it is," she whispered. "But _what_ is it?"
+
+Hidden in a pasteboard box lay coil upon coil of what appeared to be
+fine, black silk rope. Curiously, she lifted it up, exposing a network of
+crossbars.
+
+"Well, of all things!" she exclaimed. "It's a ladder, Lou! A ladder made
+of silk!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   2
+                            _A ROPE OF SILK_
+
+
+Even as Penny spoke, she felt a hard, warning tug on her skirt. Quickly
+she turned around.
+
+In the doorway stood the old Japanese. His smile was not pleasant to
+behold.
+
+"We-we were just looking at this rope," Penny stammered, trying to carry
+off the situation with dignity. "I hope you don't mind."
+
+The Japanese shopkeeper gazed steadily at the girl, his face an
+emotionless mask. Since he spoke no word, it became increasingly evident
+that he regarded her with anger and suspicion.
+
+"May I ask what use is made of this silk rope?" Penny inquired. "Do you
+sell it for a special purpose?"
+
+The Japanese coldly ignored the direct questions.
+
+"So very sorry to have kept you waiting," he said softly. "Your change
+please."
+
+Penny knew that she deserved the rebuke. Accepting the package and coins,
+she and Louise hastily left the shop. Not until they were some distance
+away did the latter speak.
+
+"Penny, you would do a trick like that! One of these days your curiosity
+will get us into serious trouble."
+
+"At least I learned what was hidden behind the counter," chuckled Penny.
+"But that Jap didn't seem very eager to answer my questions."
+
+"Can you blame him? It certainly was none of our affair what he kept
+inside the box."
+
+"Perhaps not, Lou, but you must admit he acted strangely when we first
+entered the shop. You know--as if we had surprised him in a questionable
+act."
+
+"He naturally was startled. We came in so quietly."
+
+"All the same, I'm not one bit sorry I looked behind the counter," Penny
+maintained. "I like to learn about things."
+
+"I agree with you there!"
+
+"Lou, what purpose do you suppose silk ladders serve? Who uses them and
+why?"
+
+"Now, how should I know? Penny, you ask enough questions to be master of
+ceremonies on a radio quiz program."
+
+"I can't recall ever having seen a silk ladder before," Penny resumed,
+undisturbed by her chum's quip. "Would acrobats use them, do you think?"
+
+"Not to my knowledge," Louise answered. "If I were in your shoes I should
+worry about more serious matters than those connected with a mere silk
+ladder."
+
+"The world is filled with serious things," sighed Penny. "But mystery!
+One doesn't run into it every day."
+
+"You do," said Louise brutally. "If a stranger twitches his ears twice
+you immediately suspect him of villainy."
+
+"Nevertheless, being of a suspicious nature won me a new car," Penny
+defended herself. "Don't forget Dad gave it to me for solving a mystery,
+for telling his newspaper readers what was going on _Behind the Green
+Door_."
+
+"Oh, your curiosity has paid dividends," Louise admitted with a laugh.
+"Take for instance the time you trailed the _Vanishing Houseboat_, and
+again when you lowered the Kippenberg drawbridge to capture a boatload of
+crooks! Those were the days!"
+
+"Why dwell in the past, Lou? Now take this affair of the silk ladder--"
+
+"I'm afraid _you'll_ have to take it," Louise interrupted. "Do you
+realize it's nearly four o'clock? In exactly ten minutes I am supposed to
+be at the auditorium for orchestra practice."
+
+"Lou, you can't desert me now," Penny protested quickly. "How will I get
+Lena home? I need you to steer her."
+
+"Thanks, but I don't trust your tow rope."
+
+"At least go as far as the _Star_ office with me. Once there, maybe I can
+get one of the reporters to help me the rest of the way."
+
+"Oh, all right," Louise consented. "But the _Star_ office is my absolute
+limit."
+
+Deciding not to take time to telephone her father, Penny once more
+climbed into the maroon sedan, posting Louise behind the wheel of the
+coupe. At a cautious speed the two cars proceeded along the street,
+coming presently to a large corner building which housed the _Riverview
+Star_. No parking space being available on the street, Penny pulled into
+the newspaper plant's loading dock.
+
+"Say, you!" shouted a man who was tossing stacks of freshly inked papers
+into a truck. "You can't park that caravan in here!"
+
+Penny's eyes danced mischievously.
+
+"Oh, it's quite all right," she said. "I guess you don't know who I am."
+
+"Sure, I do," the trucker grinned. "But your dad gave orders that the
+next time you tried to pull that daughter-of-the-publisher stuff we were
+to bounce you! This dock is for _Star_ trucks."
+
+"Why, the very idea," said Penny, with pretended injury. "The night
+edition doesn't roll for an hour and I'll be away from here before then!
+Besides, this is a great emergency! When Dad hears about all the trouble
+I'm in, a little matter such as this won't even ruffle him."
+
+"Okay, chase along," the trucker returned good-naturedly. "But see to it
+that you're out of here within an hour."
+
+Penny bade Louise good-bye, and with plaid skirt swinging jauntily,
+crossed the cement runway to the rear elevator entrance. Without waiting
+for the cage to descend, she took the steps two at a time, arriving at
+the editorial floor gasping for breath.
+
+"What's your rush?" inquired an amused voice. "Going to a fire?"
+
+Jerry Livingston, ace reporter for the _Star_, leaned indolently against
+the grillwork of the elevator shaft, his finger pressed on the signal
+button. He and Penny were friends of long standing.
+
+"Oh, hello, Jerry!" Penny greeted him breathlessly. "Guess what? I've
+just come from Dorr Street--Kano's Curio Shop--and I had the most amazing
+adventure!"
+
+"I can imagine," grinned Jerry. "If you breezed through the place the way
+you do this building, you must have left it in ruins."
+
+"Just for that, I won't tell you a thing, not a thing," retorted Penny.
+"What sort of a mood is Dad in today?"
+
+"Well, I heard him tell DeWitt that unless the news output improves on
+this sheet, he aims to fire half the force."
+
+"Sounds like Dad on one of his bad days," Penny sighed. "Maybe I should
+skip home without seeing him."
+
+"Trouble with the old allowance again?" Jerry asked sympathetically.
+
+"You don't know the half of it. I'm submerged so deeply in debt that I'll
+be an old lady before I get out, unless Dad comes to my rescue."
+
+"Well, good luck," chuckled Jerry. "You'll need it!"
+
+Walking through the newsroom, between aisles of desks where busy
+reporters tapped on their typewriters, Penny paused before a door marked:
+_Anthony Parker, Editor_.
+
+Listening a moment and hearing no voices within, she knocked and entered.
+Her father, a lean, dignified man with tired lines about his eyes and
+mouth, sat working at his desk. He smiled as he saw his daughter, and
+waved her toward a chair.
+
+Instead, Penny perched herself on a corner of the desk.
+
+"Dad, I have a splendid surprise for you," she began brightly. "I've just
+accomplished a wonderful stroke of business!"
+
+"Never mind beating about the bush," interrupted Mr. Parker. "Shoot me
+the facts straight. What have you done this time?"
+
+"Dad, your tone! I've bought back my old car, Leaping Lena. And it only
+cost me a trifling sum."
+
+Mr. Parker's chair squeaked as he whirled around.
+
+"You've done _what_?"
+
+"It's a long story, Dad. Now don't think that I fail to appreciate the
+grand new car you gave me last winter. I love it. But between Lena and me
+there exists a deep bond of affection. Today when I saw her on Jake
+Harriman's lot looking so weather-beaten and unhappy--why, a little voice
+inside me whispered: 'Penny, why don't you buy her back?' So I did."
+
+"Never mind the sentimental touches. When I gave you the new car I
+thought we were well rid of Lena. How much did you pay for it?"
+
+"Oh, Lena was a marvelous bargain. Five dollars cash and a note for
+twenty more. The man said you could pay for it at your convenience."
+
+"Very considerate of him," Mr. Parker remarked ironically. "Now that we
+have three cars, and a double garage, where do you propose to keep Lena?"
+
+"Oh, anywhere. In the back yard."
+
+"Not on the lawn, young lady. And what do you plan to do with two cars?"
+
+"The maroon one for style, and Lena when I want a good time. Why, Dad,
+she bears the autographs of nearly all my school friends! I should keep
+her as a souvenir, if for no other reason."
+
+"Penny, it's high time you learned a few lessons in finance." Mr. Parker
+spoke sternly although his mouth twitched slightly. "I regret that I
+cannot assume your debts."
+
+"But Dad! I'm a minor--under legal age. Isn't it a law that a father has
+to support his child?"
+
+"A child, but not two cars. If you decide to take the case to court, I
+think any reasonable judge will understand my viewpoint. I repeat, the
+debt is yours, not mine."
+
+"How will I pay?" asked Penny gloomily. "I've already borrowed on my
+allowance for a month ahead."
+
+"I know," said her father. "However, with your ingenuity I am sure you
+can manage."
+
+Penny drew a deep breath. Argument, she realized, would be utterly
+useless. While her father might be mildly amused by her predicament, he
+never would change his decision.
+
+"Since you won't pay for Lena, I suppose it's useless to mention Mr.
+Kohl's fender," she said despairingly.
+
+"Does he have one?"
+
+"Please don't try to be funny, Dad. This is tragic. While I was towing
+Lena, the rope broke and smash went the fender of Mr. Kohl's slinky black
+limousine."
+
+"Interesting."
+
+"I had to promise to pay for it to keep from being arrested. Oh, yes, and
+before that I acquired this little thing."
+
+Penny tossed the yellow card across the desk.
+
+"A parking ticket! Penny, how many times--" Mr. Parker checked himself,
+finishing in a calm voice: "This, too, is your debt. It may cost you five
+dollars."
+
+"Dad, you know I can't pay. Think how your reputation will be tarnished
+if I am sent to jail."
+
+Mr. Parker smiled and reached as if to take money from his pocket.
+Reconsidering, he shook his head.
+
+"I know the warden well," he said. "I'll arrange for you to be assigned
+to one of the better cells."
+
+"Is there nothing which will move you to generosity?" pleaded Penny.
+
+"Nothing."
+
+Retrieving the parking ticket, Penny jammed it into her pocket. Before
+she could leave there came a rap on the door. In response to Mr. Parker's
+"Come in," Mr. DeWitt, the city editor, entered.
+
+"Sorry to bother you, Chief."
+
+"What's wrong now, DeWitt?" the publisher inquired.
+
+"Miss Hilderman was taken sick a few minutes ago. We had to send her home
+in a cab."
+
+"It's nothing serious I hope," said Mr. Parker with concern.
+
+"A mild heart attack. She'll be out a week, if not longer."
+
+"I see. Be sure to have the treasurer give her full pay. You have someone
+to take her place?"
+
+"That's the problem," moaned DeWitt. "Her assistant is on vacation. I
+don't know where we can get a trained society editor on short notice."
+
+"Well, do the best you can."
+
+DeWitt lingered, fingering a paper weight.
+
+"The society page for the Sunday paper is only half finished," he
+explained. "Deadline's in less than an hour. Not a chance we can pick up
+anyone in time to meet it."
+
+Penny spoke unexpectedly. "Mr. DeWitt, perhaps I can help you. I'm a whiz
+when it comes to writing society. Remember the Kippenberg wedding I
+covered?"
+
+"Do I?" DeWitt's face relaxed into a broad grin. "That was a real
+write-up. Say, maybe you could take over Miss Hilderman's job until we
+can replace her."
+
+"Service is my motto." Penny eyed her father questioningly. "It might
+save the _Star_ from going to press minus a society page. How about it,
+Dad?"
+
+"It certainly would solve our problem," contributed DeWitt. "Of course
+the undertaking might be too great a one for your daughter." He winked at
+Penny.
+
+"She'll have no difficulty in taking over," said Mr. Parker stiffly.
+"None whatsoever."
+
+"Then I'll start her in at once," DeWitt replied. "Come with me, Miss
+Parker."
+
+At the door Penny paused and discreetly allowed the city editor to get
+beyond hearing. Then, turning to her father she remarked innocently:
+
+"Oh, by the way, we overlooked one trifling detail. The salary!"
+
+The editor made a grimace. "I might have expected this. Very well, I'll
+pay you the same as I do Miss Hilderman. Twenty-five a week."
+
+"Why, that would just take care of my debt to Jake Harriman," protested
+Penny. "I simply can't do high pressure work without high pay. Shall we
+make it fifty a week?"
+
+"So you're holding me up?"
+
+"Certainly not," chuckled Penny. "Merely using my ingenuity. Am I hired?"
+
+"Yes, you win," answered Mr. Parker grimly. "But see to it that you turn
+out good work. Otherwise, you soon may find yourself on the _Star's_
+inactive list."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   3
+                           _SOCIETY ROUTINE_
+
+
+Penny followed City Editor DeWitt to a small, glass-enclosed office along
+the left hand wall of the newsroom. Miss Hilderman's desk was cluttered
+with sheets of copy paper which bore scribbled notations, items
+telephoned to the _Star_ but not yet type-written.
+
+"There should be a date book around here somewhere," DeWitt remarked.
+
+Finally he found it in one of the desk drawers. Penny drew a deep breath
+as she scanned the long list of social events which must be covered for
+the Sunday page.
+
+"Do the best you can," DeWitt said encouragingly. "Work fast, but be
+careful of names."
+
+The telephone bell rang. As Penny reached for the receiver, DeWitt
+retreated to his own domain.
+
+"Hello, Miss Hilderman?" a feminine voice cooed, "I wish to report a
+meeting, please."
+
+"Miss Hilderman isn't here this afternoon," replied Penny politely. "I
+will take the item."
+
+Gathering up paper and pencil, she slid into the revolving chair behind
+the telephone, poised for action.
+
+"Yes," she urged, "I am ready."
+
+There was a lengthy pause, and then the woman at the other end of the
+line recited as if she were reading from a paper:
+
+"'A meeting of the Mystical Society of Celestial Thought, Order of Amar,
+67, will be held Tuesday night at eight o'clock in the Temple, 426
+Butternut Lane. The public is cordially invited.'"
+
+"What sort of society is the Order of Amar?" Penny inquired curiously,
+taking notes. "I never heard of it before."
+
+"Why, my dear, the society is very well known," the woman replied. "We
+hold our meetings regularly, communing with the spirits. I do hope that
+the item appears in print. So often Miss Hilderman has been careless
+about it."
+
+"I'll see that the item is printed under club notices," Penny promised.
+"Your name, please?"
+
+The woman had hung up the receiver, so with a shrug, Penny typed the item
+and speared it on a wire spindle. For the next hour she was kept busy
+with other telephone calls and the more important stories which had to be
+rushed through. Copy flowed steadily from her office by way of the
+pneumatic tube to the composing room.
+
+Shortly after five o'clock, DeWitt dropped in for a moment to praise her
+for her speed and accuracy.
+
+"You're doing all right," he said. "So far I've only caught you in one
+mistake. Mignonette is spelled with a double t."
+
+"This job wouldn't be half bad if only brides could learn to carry
+flowers with easy names," laughed Penny. "When I get married I'll have
+violets and sweet peas!"
+
+DeWitt reached for the copy on the spindle. "What's this?" he asked.
+"More to go?"
+
+"Club notices."
+
+The editor tore the sheet from the wire, reading it as he walked toward
+the door. Abruptly, he paused and turned toward her.
+
+"Miss Parker, this can't go through."
+
+"Why, what is wrong?" Penny asked in surprise. "Have I made another error
+in spelling?"
+
+DeWitt tore off the lead item and tossed it on her desk.
+
+"It's this meeting of the so-called Mystical Society of Celestial
+Thought. The _Star_ never runs stuff like that, not even as a paid
+advertisement."
+
+"I thought it was a regular lodge meeting, Mr. DeWitt."
+
+"Nothing of the sort. Merely a free advertisement for a group of mediums
+and charlatans."
+
+"Oh, I didn't know," murmured Penny.
+
+"These meetings have only one purpose," Mr. DeWitt resumed. "To lure
+victims who later may be fleeced of their money."
+
+"But if that is so, why don't police close up the place?" Penny demanded.
+"Why doesn't the _Star_ run an expose story?"
+
+"Because evidence isn't easy to get. The meetings usually are well within
+the law. Whenever a police detective or a reporter attends, the services
+are decorous. But they provide the mediums with a list of suckers."
+
+Penny would have asked DeWitt for additional information had not the city
+editor walked hurriedly away. Scrambling the item into a ball, she tossed
+it into the waste paper basket. Then upon second thought she retrieved it
+and carefully smoothed the paper.
+
+"Perhaps, I'll drop around at the Temple sometime just to see what it is
+like," she decided, placing the item in her pocket. "It would be
+interesting to learn what is going on there."
+
+For the next half hour Penny had no time to think of the Celestial
+Temple. However, at twenty minutes before six, when her father came into
+the office, she was well ahead of her work.
+
+"Hello, Penny," he greeted her. "How do you like your new job?"
+
+"Fine and dandy. Only routine items rather cramp one's style. Now if I
+were a regular reporter instead of a society editor, I know several
+stories which would be my dish!"
+
+"For instance?" inquired Mr. Parker, smiling.
+
+"First, there's an Oriental Shop on Dorr Street that I should
+investigate. The Japanese owner acted very mysteriously today when I went
+there. Louise and I saw him making a silk ladder, and he refused to
+reveal its purpose."
+
+"A silk ladder?" repeated Mr. Parker. "Odd perhaps, but hardly worthy of
+a news story."
+
+"Dad, I only wish you had _seen_ that old Japanese--the sinister way he
+looked at me. Oh, he's guilty of some crime. I feel it."
+
+"The _Star_ requires facts, not fancy or emotion," Mr. Parker rejoined.
+"Better devote your talents to routine society items if you expect to
+remain on my payroll."
+
+Penny took the announcement of the Celestial Thought meeting from her
+pocket and offered it to the publisher.
+
+"Here's one which might be interesting," she said. "How about assigning
+me to it after I get this society job in hand?"
+
+Mr. Parker read the item and his eyes blazed with anger.
+
+"Do you know what this means, Penny?"
+
+"Mr. DeWitt told me a little about the Celestial Temple society. He said
+the paper never ran such items."
+
+"Certainly not! Why, I should like nothing better than to see the entire
+outfit driven out of town! Riverview is honeycombed with mediums, fortune
+tellers and faith healers!"
+
+"Perhaps they mean no harm, Dad."
+
+"I'll grant there may be a small number of persons who honestly try to
+communicate with the spirit world," Mr. Parker replied. "My concern is
+not with them, but with a group of professional mediums who lately have
+invaded the city. Charlatans, crooks--the entire lot!"
+
+"Why don't you write an editorial about it?" Penny suggested.
+
+"An editorial! I am seriously tempted to start a vigorous campaign, but
+the trouble is, the police cannot be depended upon to cooperate
+actively."
+
+"Why, Dad?"
+
+"Because experience has proven that such campaigns are not often
+successful. Evidence is hard to gain. If one place is closed up, others
+open in different sections of the city. The mediums and seers operate
+from dozens of private homes. When the police stage raids they acquire no
+evidence, and only succeed in making the department look ridiculous."
+
+"Yet the mediums continue to fleece the public?"
+
+"The more gullible strata of it. Until recent months the situation here
+has been no worse than in other cities of comparable size. Lately an
+increasing number of charlatans has moved in on us."
+
+"Why don't you start a campaign, Dad?" Penny urged. "You would be doing
+the public a worthwhile service."
+
+"Well, I hesitate to start something which I may be unable to finish."
+
+"At least the public deserves to be warned."
+
+"Unfortunately, Penny, many persons would take the attitude that the
+_Star_ was persecuting sincere spiritualists. A campaign must be based on
+absolute evidence."
+
+"Can't it be obtained?"
+
+"Not without great difficulty. These mediums are a clever lot, Penny.
+They prey upon the superstitions of their intended victims."
+
+"I wish you would let me work on the story, Dad."
+
+"No, Penny," responded her father. "You attend to your society and allow
+DeWitt to worry about the Celestial Temple crowd. Even if I should launch
+a campaign, I couldn't allow you to become mixed up in the affair."
+
+The telephone bell jingled. With a tired sigh, Penny reached for the
+receiver.
+
+"Society desk," she said mechanically.
+
+"I am trying to trace Mr. Parker," informed the office exchange operator.
+"Is he with you, Miss Parker?"
+
+"Telephone, Dad," said Penny, offering him the receiver.
+
+Mr. Parker waited a moment for another connection to be made. Then Penny
+heard him say:
+
+"Oh, it's you, Mrs. Weems? What's that? Repeat it, please."
+
+From her father's tone, Penny felt certain that something had gone wrong
+at home. She arose, waiting anxiously.
+
+Mr. Parker clicked the receiver several times. "Apparently, Mrs. Weems
+hung up," he commented.
+
+"Is anything the matter, Dad?"
+
+"I don't know," Mr. Parker admitted, his face troubled. "Mrs. Weems
+seemed very excited. She requested me to come home as soon as possible.
+Then the connection was broken."
+
+"Why don't you try to reach her again?"
+
+Mr. Parker placed an out-going call, but after ten minutes the operator
+reported that she was unable to contact the housekeeper.
+
+"Mrs. Weems never would have telephoned if something unusual hadn't
+happened," Penny declared uneasily. "Perhaps, she's injured herself."
+
+"You think of such unpleasant things."
+
+"Something dreadful must have happened," Penny insisted. "Otherwise, why
+doesn't she answer?"
+
+"We're only wasting time in idle speculation," Mr. Parker said crisply.
+"Get your things, Penny. We'll start home at once!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   4
+                          _A TURN OF FORTUNE_
+
+
+Penny immediately locked her desk and gathered up hat and gloves. She was
+hard pressed to keep pace with her father as they hastened to the
+elevator.
+
+"By the way, you have your car downstairs?" the publisher inquired
+absently. He seldom drove his own automobile to the office.
+
+"What a memory you have, Dad!" chuckled Penny. "Yes, I have all two of
+them! Parked in the loading dock for convenience."
+
+"Penny, haven't I told you a dozen times--" Mr. Parker began, only to
+check himself. "Well, it will save us time now. However, we may discuss a
+few matters when we get home."
+
+The elevator shot them down to the first floor. Leaping Lena and the
+maroon sedan remained in the loading dock with a string of _Star_ paper
+trucks blocking a portion of the street.
+
+"Hey, sister," a trucker called angrily to Penny. "It's time you're
+getting these cars out of here." He broke off as he recognized Mr. Parker
+and faded behind one of the trucks.
+
+"Dad, do you mind steering Lena?" Penny asked demurely. "We can't leave
+her here. You can see for yourself that she seems to be blocking
+traffic."
+
+"Yes, I see," Mr. Parker responded grimly.
+
+"Of course, if you would feel more dignified driving the sedan--"
+
+"Let me have the keys," the publisher interrupted. "The important thing
+is to get home without delay."
+
+Penny became sober, and slid into her place at the wheel of Leaping Lena.
+Amid the smiles of the truckers, Mr. Parker drove the two cars out of the
+dock.
+
+Once underway, the caravan made reckless progress through rush-hour
+traffic. More than once Penny whispered a prayer as Lena swayed around a
+corner, missing other cars by scant inches.
+
+Presently the two automobiles drew up before a pleasant, tree-shaded home
+built upon a high terrace overlooking a winding river. Penny and her
+father alighted, walking hurriedly toward the front porch.
+
+The door stood open and from within came the reassuring howl of a radio
+turned too high.
+
+"Nothing so very serious can have happened," remarked Penny. "Otherwise,
+Mrs. Weems wouldn't have that thing going full blast."
+
+At the sound of footsteps, the housekeeper herself came into the living
+room from the kitchen. Her plump face was unusually animated.
+
+"I hope you didn't mind because I telephoned the office, Mr. Parker," she
+began apologetically. "I was so excited, I just did it before I stopped
+to think."
+
+"Penny and I were nearly ready to start home in any case, Mrs. Weems. Has
+anything gone wrong here?"
+
+"Oh, no, Mr. Parker. It was the telegram."
+
+"Telegram? One for me, you mean?"
+
+"No, my own." The housekeeper drew a yellow paper from the pocket of her
+apron, offering it to the publisher. "My Cousin David died out in
+Montana," she explained. "The funeral was last Saturday."
+
+"That's too bad," remarked Penny sympathetically. And then she added:
+"Only you don't look particularly sad, Mrs. Weems. How much did he leave
+you?"
+
+"Penny! You say such shocking things! I never met Cousin David but once
+in my life. He was a kind, good man and I only wish I had written to him
+more often. I never dreamed he would remember me in his will."
+
+"Then he did leave you money!" exclaimed Penny triumphantly. "How much
+does the telegram say, Dad?"
+
+"You may as well tell her, Mr. Parker," sighed the housekeeper. "She'll
+give me no peace until she learns every detail."
+
+"This message which is from a Montana lawyer mentions six thousand
+dollars," returned the publisher. "Apparently, the money is to be turned
+over without legal delay."
+
+"Why, Mrs. Weems, you're an heiress!" cried Penny admiringly.
+
+"I can't believe it's true," murmured Mrs. Weems. "You don't think
+there's any mistake, Mr. Parker? It would be too cruel if someone had
+sent the message as a joke."
+
+Before returning the telegram to the housekeeper, Mr. Parker switched off
+the radio.
+
+"This message appears to be authentic," he declared. "My congratulations
+upon your good fortune."
+
+"What will you do with all your money?" inquired Penny.
+
+"Oh, I don't know." The housekeeper sank into a chair, her eyes fastening
+dreamily on a far wall. "I've always wanted to travel."
+
+Penny and her father exchanged a quick, alarmed glance. Mrs. Weems had
+been in charge of the household for so many years that they could not
+imagine living without her, should she decide to leave. During her brief,
+infrequent vacations, the house always degenerated into a disgrace of
+dust and misplaced furniture, and meals were never served at regular
+hours.
+
+"The oceans are very unsafe, Mrs. Weems," discouraged Penny. "Wars and
+submarines and things. Surely you wouldn't dare travel now."
+
+"Oh, I mean in the United States," replied the housekeeper. "I've always
+wanted to go out West. They say the Grand Canyon is so pretty it takes
+your breath away."
+
+"Mrs. Weems, you have worked for us long and faithfully and deserve a
+rest," said Mr. Parker, trying to speak heartily. "Now if you would enjoy
+a trip, Penny and I will get along somehow for two or three weeks."
+
+"Oh, if I go, I'll stay the entire summer." The housekeeper hesitated,
+then added: "I've enjoyed working here, Mr. Parker, but doing the same
+thing year after year gets tiresome. Often I've said to myself that if I
+had a little money I would retire and take life easy for the rest of my
+days."
+
+"Why, Mrs. Weems, you're only forty-eight!" protested Penny. "You would
+be unhappy if you didn't have any work to do."
+
+"At least, I wouldn't mind trying it."
+
+"Such a change as you contemplate should be considered carefully,"
+contributed Mr. Parker. "While six thousand seems a large sum it would
+not last long if one had no other income."
+
+Before Mrs. Weems could reply, a strong odor of burning food permeated
+the room.
+
+"The roast!" exclaimed the housekeeper. "I forgot it!"
+
+Penny rushed ahead of her to the kitchen. As she jerked open the oven
+door, out poured a great cloud of smoke. Seizing a holder, she rescued
+the meat, and seeing at a glance that it was burned to a crisp, carried
+the pan outdoors.
+
+"What will the neighbors say?" Mrs. Weems moaned. "I never did a thing
+like that before. It's just that I am so excited I can't think what I am
+doing."
+
+"Don't you mind," laughed Penny. "I'll get dinner tonight. You entertain
+Dad."
+
+With difficulty she persuaded the housekeeper to abandon the kitchen.
+Left to herself, she opened a can of cold meat, a can of corn, a can of
+peaches, and with a salad already prepared, speedily announced the meal.
+
+"Mr. Parker, I truly am ashamed--" Mrs. Weems began.
+
+"Now don't apologize for my cooking," broke in Penny. "Quantity before
+quality is my motto. Anyway, if you are leaving, Dad will have to
+accustom himself to it."
+
+"I'll hide the can opener," said Mr. Parker.
+
+"That's a good idea, Dad."
+
+"Before I go, I'll try to teach Penny a little more about cooking," Mrs.
+Weems said uncomfortably. "Of course, you'll have no difficulty in
+getting someone efficient to take my place."
+
+"No one can take your place," declared Penny. "If you leave, Dad and I
+will go to wrack and ruin."
+
+"You are a pair when you're left to yourselves," Mrs. Weems sighed.
+"That's the one thing which makes me hesitate. Penny needs someone to
+keep her in check."
+
+"An inexperienced person would be putty in my hands," declared Penny.
+"You may as well decide to stay, Mrs. Weems."
+
+"I don't know what to do. I've planned on this trip for years. Now that
+it is possible, I feel I can't give it up."
+
+Penny and Mr. Parker regarded each other across the table, and
+immediately changed the subject. Not until that moment had they actually
+believed that the housekeeper was serious about leaving Riverview.
+Somehow they had never contemplated a future without Mrs. Weems.
+
+"I happen to have two complimentary tickets to a show at the Rialto," Mr.
+Parker said offhand. "I'll be tied up with a meeting tonight, but you
+folks might enjoy going."
+
+"Shall we, Mrs. Weems?" inquired Penny.
+
+"Thank you," responded the housekeeper, "but I doubt if I could sit still
+tonight. I thought I would run over to see Mrs. Hodges after dinner.
+She'll be pleased to learn about my inheritance, I know."
+
+"A friend of yours?" asked Mr. Parker.
+
+"Yes, Penny and I have been acquainted with her for years. She lives on
+Christopher Street."
+
+"Perhaps this is none of my affair, Mrs. Weems. However, my advice to you
+is not to tell many persons about your inheritance."
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Hodges is to be trusted."
+
+"I am sure of it, Mrs. Weems. I refer to strangers."
+
+"I'll be careful," the housekeeper promised. "No one ever will get that
+money away from me once I have it!"
+
+Penny helped with the dishes, and then as her father was leaving the
+house, asked him if she might have the two theatre tickets.
+
+"Since Mrs. Weems doesn't care to go, I'll invite Louise," she explained.
+
+Mr. Parker gave her the tickets. Making certain that the housekeeper was
+upstairs, he spoke in a low tone.
+
+"Penny, Mrs. Weems is serious about leaving us. You must try to dissuade
+her."
+
+"What can I do, Dad?"
+
+"Well, you usually have a few ideas in the old filing cabinet. Can't you
+think of something?"
+
+"I'll do my best," Penny said with a twinkle. "We can't let an
+inheritance take Mrs. Weems from us, that's certain."
+
+After her father had gone, Penny telephoned Louise, agreeing to meet her
+chum at the entrance of the Rialto. Arriving a few minutes early, she
+idly watched various cars unloading their passengers at the theatre.
+
+Presently a long black limousine which Penny recognized drew up at the
+curb. The chauffeur opened the door. Mr. Kohl and his wife stepped to the
+pavement. Observing the girl, they paused to chat with her.
+
+"I see you have the new fender installed on your car, Mr. Kohl," Penny
+remarked with a grin. "May I ask how much I owe the garageman?"
+
+"The sum was trifling," responded the banker. "Twelve dollars and forty
+cents to be exact. I may as well take care of it myself."
+
+"No, I insist," said Penny, wincing inwardly. "You see, I am one of the
+_Star's_ highly paid executives now. I write society in Miss Hilderman's
+absence and Dad gives me a salary."
+
+"Oh, really," remarked Mrs. Kohl with interest. "We are giving a dinner
+for eight tomorrow night. You might like to mention it."
+
+"Indeed, yes," said Penny eagerly.
+
+Obtaining complete details, she jotted notes on the back of an envelope.
+Mrs. Kohl, at Penny's request, was able to recall several important
+parties which had been held that week, providing material for nearly a
+half-column of society.
+
+After the Kohls had entered the theatre, Penny turned to glance at the
+black limousine which was pulling away from the curb. A short distance
+away stood a young man who likewise appeared to be watching the car. He
+wore a gray suit and a gray felt hat pulled unnaturally low over his eyes
+as if to shield his face.
+
+As Penny watched, the young man jotted something down on a piece of
+paper. His gaze remained fixed upon the Kohl limousine which was moving
+slowly down the street toward a parking lot.
+
+"Why, that's odd!" thought Penny. "I do believe he noted down the car
+license number! And perhaps for no good purpose."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   5
+                           _THE MAN IN GRAY_
+
+
+Deciding that the matter should be brought to Mr. Kohl's attention, Penny
+looked quickly into the crowded theatre lobby. The banker and his wife no
+longer were to be seen.
+
+Turning once more, the girl saw that the young man in gray had also
+disappeared.
+
+"Now where did he go?" thought Penny. "He must have slipped into the
+alley. I wish I knew who he was and why he wrote down that car license
+number."
+
+Curious to learn what had become of the man, she walked to the entrance
+of the alley. At its far end she could barely distinguish a shadowy
+figure which soon merged into the black of the starless night.
+
+Penny was lost in thought when someone touched her arm. Whirling, she
+found herself facing Louise Sidell.
+
+"Oh, hello, Lou," she laughed. "You startled me."
+
+"Sorry to have kept you waiting," apologized Louise. "I missed my bus.
+May I ask what you find of such interest in this alley?"
+
+"I was looking for a man. He's disappeared now."
+
+Penny told Louise what she had observed, mentioning that in her opinion
+the man might be a car thief.
+
+"I've heard that crooks spot cars ahead of time and then steal them," she
+declared. "I think I should have Mr. Kohl paged in the theatre, and tell
+him about it."
+
+"You'll make yourself appear ridiculous if you do," Louise discouraged
+her. "The man may not have taken down the license number at all. Even if
+he did, his purpose could have been a legitimate one."
+
+"Then why did he slip down the alley?"
+
+"It's merely a short-cut to another street, isn't it? Penny, your
+imagination simply works at high speed twenty-four hours of the day."
+
+"Oh, all right," said Penny with a shrug. "But if Mr. Kohl's car is
+stolen, don't blame me."
+
+"It won't be," laughed Louise, linking arms with her chum. "Not with a
+chauffeur at the wheel."
+
+Entering the theatre, the girls were escorted to their seats only a few
+minutes before the lights were lowered. Penny glanced over the audience
+but failed to see either Mr. Kohl or his wife. The curtain went up, and
+as the entertainment began, she dismissed all else from her mind.
+
+The show ended shortly before eleven and the girls mingled with the crowd
+which filed from the theatre. Penny watched for Mr. and Mrs. Kohl but did
+not see them. As she walked with Louise toward the bus stop she spoke of
+her new duties as society editor of the _Star_.
+
+"Lou," she asked abruptly, "do you mind going home alone?"
+
+"Why, no. Where are you taking yourself?"
+
+"To the _Star_ office, if you don't mind."
+
+"At this time of night?"
+
+"I have a few notes I should type. Unfinished work always makes me
+nervous."
+
+"You, nervous!" Louise scoffed. "I'll bet you want to see Jerry
+Livingston!"
+
+"No such thing," denied Penny indignantly. "Jerry doesn't work on the
+night force unless he's assigned to extra duty."
+
+"Well, you have something besides work on your mind."
+
+"Come along with me, Suspicious, and I'll prove it."
+
+"No, thanks," declined Louise. "It's home and bed for me. You run along."
+
+The girls separated, Penny walking three blocks to the _Star_ building.
+The advertising office was dark, but blue-white lights glowed weirdly
+from the composing room. Only a skeleton night staff occupied the
+newsroom.
+
+Without attracting attention, Penny entered her own office. For an hour
+she worked steadily, writing copy, and experimenting with various types
+of make-up to be used on Monday's page.
+
+The door creaked. Glancing up, Penny momentarily was startled to see a
+large, grotesque shadow of a man moving across the glass panel. However,
+before she actually could be afraid, Jerry Livingston stepped into the
+room.
+
+"Oh, it's you!" she laughed in relief. "I thought it was against your
+principles to work overtime."
+
+The reporter slumped into a chair, and picking up a sheet of copy paper,
+began to read what Penny had composed.
+
+"I'm not working," he replied absently. "Just killing time." With a yawn
+he tossed the paper on the desk again.
+
+"Is my stuff that bad?" inquired Penny.
+
+"Not bad at all. Better than Miss Hilderman writes. But society always
+gives me a pain. Not worthy of your talents, Penny."
+
+"I wish you would tell Dad that, Jerry. I'd love to work on a big story
+again--one that would rock Riverview on its foundation!"
+
+"I could bear up under a little excitement myself, Penny. Ever since you
+broke the Green Door yarn, this sheet has been as dead as an Egyptian
+tomb."
+
+"Things may pick up soon."
+
+"Meaning--?"
+
+"Dad is thinking rather seriously of launching a drive against an
+organized group of mediums."
+
+"So I hear," nodded Jerry. "You know, for a long while I've thought that
+a clever reporter might be able to dig up some evidence at the Celestial
+Temple."
+
+"Then you know about the place?"
+
+"I've been there several times."
+
+"What are the meetings like, Jerry?" Penny asked eagerly.
+
+"Similar to a church musical service. At least everything was dignified
+when I was there. But I sure had a feeling that the lid was about to blow
+off."
+
+"Perhaps you were suspected of being a _Star_ reporter, Jerry."
+
+"Oh, undoubtedly. I could tell that by the way folks stared at me. The
+only person who would have a chance to get real evidence would be someone
+unknown as a reporter."
+
+"I wish Dad would let me try it."
+
+"I don't," said Jerry flatly. "The Celestial Temple is no place for a
+little girl like you."
+
+Penny did not reply as she lowered her typewriter into the cavity of the
+desk. She was thinking, however, that if Louise could be persuaded to
+accompany her, she would investigate the Celestial Temple at the first
+opportunity.
+
+"I'll take you home," Jerry offered as Penny reached for her hat.
+
+The night was a warm, mellow one in early June, marred only by dark
+clouds which scudded overhead, threatening rain. Deciding to walk, Penny
+and Jerry crossed the park to Oakdale Drive where many of Riverview's
+most expensive homes had been built.
+
+"Doesn't Mr. Kohl live on this street?" Penny presently asked her escort.
+
+"Yes," he answered, "in a large stone apartment building. I'll point it
+out when we get there."
+
+They walked for a time in silence. Then Penny found herself telling about
+the afternoon meeting with Mr. Kohl which had led her to Kano's Curio
+Shop. She spoke, too, of the silken ladder which had so aroused her
+speculation. Jerry listened with polite interest.
+
+"You and Louise shouldn't have chased around Dorr Street alone," he said
+severely. "It's a bad district."
+
+"Oh, it was safe enough, Jerry. I'd like to go back there. I can't help
+being curious about that strange ladder which the old Japanese man was
+sewing."
+
+"I doubt if there's a story connected with it. The Japanese make any
+number of curious articles of silk, you know."
+
+"But a ladder, Jerry! What purpose could it serve?"
+
+"For one thing it would be more convenient to carry than the ordinary
+type."
+
+"One couldn't stand it against a wall or use it in the ordinary way,
+Jerry. I asked the Japanese about it but he refused to answer."
+
+"He may not have understood you."
+
+"Oh, he understood, all right. Do you know what I think? He was afraid I
+might discover something which would involve him with the police!"
+
+"Better forget the Kano Curio Shop," Jerry said tolerantly. "I repeat,
+Dorr Street is no place for you."
+
+"And I'm supposed to forget the Celestial Temple, too," grumbled Penny.
+"Oh, I see you grinned behind your hand! Well, Mr. Livingston, let me
+tell you--"
+
+She paused, and Jerry's hand tightened on her own. Unmistakably, both had
+heard a muffled scream. The cry seemed to have come from one of several
+large brick and stone buildings only a short distance ahead.
+
+"What was that?" Penny asked in a low tone. "Someone calling for help?"
+
+"It sure sounded like it!" exclaimed Jerry. "Come on, Penny! Let's find
+out what's going on here!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   6
+                        _AN APARTMENT BURGLARY_
+
+
+Together Penny and Jerry ran down the street, their eyes raised to the
+unevenly lighted windows of the separate apartment houses. They were
+uncertain as to the building from which the cry had come.
+
+Suddenly the front door of the corner dwelling swung open, and a young
+woman in a maid's uniform ran toward them.
+
+Jerry, ever alert for a story of interest to the _Star_, neatly blocked
+the sidewalk. Of necessity the girl halted.
+
+"Get a policeman, quick!" she gasped. "Mr. Kohl's apartment has been
+robbed!"
+
+"Mr. Kohl--the banker?" demanded Penny, scarcely believing her ears.
+
+"Yes, yes," the maid said in agitation. "Jewels, silverware, everything
+has been taken! The telephone wire was cut, too! Oh, tell me where I'll
+find a policeman!"
+
+"I'll get one for you," offered Jerry.
+
+The information that it was Mr. Kohl's house which had been burglarized
+dumbfounded Penny. As the reporter darted away to summon help, she
+showered questions upon the distraught maid.
+
+"I don't know yet how much has been taken," the girl told her excitedly.
+"The rooms look as if a cyclone had swept through them! Oh, what will the
+Kohls say when they learn about it?"
+
+"Mr. and Mrs. Kohl aren't home yet?"
+
+"No, they went to the theatre. They must have stopped at a restaurant
+afterwards. When they hear of this, I'll lose my job."
+
+"Perhaps not," said Penny kindly. "Surely you weren't to blame for the
+burglary."
+
+"They'll think so," the maid responded gloomily.
+
+"I am acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. Kohl. Perhaps, if I speak a good word
+for you it may help."
+
+"I doubt it," the girl responded. "I was supposed to have stayed at the
+apartment the entire evening."
+
+"And you didn't?"
+
+"No, I went to a picture show."
+
+"That does throw a different light on the matter," commented Penny.
+
+"I didn't think it would make any difference. I intended to get here
+ahead of the Kohls."
+
+"The robbery occurred while you were away?"
+
+"Yes. As soon as I opened the door I knew what had happened! Oh, I'll
+lose my job all right unless I can think up a good story."
+
+"I wouldn't lie if I were you," advised Penny. "The police are certain to
+break down your story. In any case, you owe it to yourself and your
+employers to tell the truth."
+
+A misty rain had started to fall. The maid, who was without a wrap,
+shivered, yet made no move to re-enter the building. Overhead, all along
+the dark expanse of apartment wall, lights were being turned on.
+
+"I am afraid your scream aroused nearly everyone in the building," said
+Penny. "If I were in your place I would return to the Kohl apartment and
+not answer many questions until the police arrive."
+
+"Will you stay with me?"
+
+"Gladly."
+
+The apartment door had slammed shut and locked with the night latch.
+Fortunately the maid had a key with her so it was not necessary to ring
+for the janitor. Ignoring the persons who had gathered in the hall, they
+took an automatic lift to the third floor, letting themselves into the
+Kohl suite.
+
+"This is the way I found it," said the maid.
+
+She switched on a light, revealing a living room entirely bare of rugs.
+Where three small Oriental rugs had been placed, only rectangular rims of
+dirt remained to mark their outlines.
+
+Beyond, in the dining room with its massive carved furniture, the
+contents of a buffet had been emptied on the floor. Several pieces of
+china lay in fragments. A corner cupboard had been stripped, save for a
+vase and an ebony elephant with a broken tusk.
+
+"The wall cabinet was filled with rare antiques," disclosed the maid.
+"Mrs. Kohl has collected Early American silver for many years. Some of
+the pieces she considered priceless."
+
+The bedrooms were in less disorder. However, bureau drawers had been
+overturned, and jewel cases looted of everything save the most trivial
+articles.
+
+"Mrs. Kohl's pearls are gone, and her diamond bracelet," the maid
+informed, picking up the empty jewel box. "I am pretty sure she didn't
+wear them to the theatre."
+
+"I wouldn't touch anything if I were you," advised Penny. "Fingerprints."
+
+The maid dropped the case. "Oh!" she gasped. "I never thought of that! Do
+you think the police will blame me for the robbery?"
+
+"Not if you tell them the truth. It surely will be unwise to try to hide
+anything."
+
+"I won't hold anything back," the maid promised. "It happened just like I
+said. After Mr. and Mrs. Kohl left I went to a picture show."
+
+"Alone?"
+
+"With my girl friend. After the show we had a soda together, and then she
+went home."
+
+"What time did you get here?"
+
+"Only a minute or two before I called for help. I tried the telephone
+first."
+
+"Why didn't you summon the janitor?"
+
+"I never thought of that. I was so excited I ran outside hoping to find a
+policeman."
+
+Penny nodded and, returning to the living room, satisfied herself that
+the telephone wires actually had been cut.
+
+"You didn't notice anyone in the halls as you went downstairs."
+
+"No one. Old Mr. Veely was on the lower floor when I came from the show,
+but he's lived here for seven years. I don't see how the burglar got into
+the apartment."
+
+"I was wondering about that myself. You're quite sure you locked the
+suite door?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I know I did," the maid said emphatically. "And it isn't
+possible to get into the building without a key. Otherwise, the janitor
+must be called."
+
+Penny walked thoughtfully to the living room window. The apartment stood
+fully thirty-five feet from a neighboring building, with the space
+between much too wide to be spanned. Below, the alley was deserted, and
+no fire escape ascended from it.
+
+"The burglar couldn't have entered that way," declared the maid. "He must
+have had his own key."
+
+Before Penny could respond, a sharp knock sounded on the door. The
+servant girl turned to open it. However, instead of the anticipated
+police, the apartment janitor, George Bailey, peered into the disordered
+room.
+
+"I heard someone scream a minute or so ago," he said. "Some of the
+tenants thought it came from this apartment. Maybe they were mistaken."
+
+"There's no mistake," spoke Penny from across the room. "The Kohls have
+been robbed. Will you please come inside and close the door?"
+
+"Robbed! You don't say!" The janitor stared with alarmed interest. "When
+did it happen?"
+
+Penny allowed the maid to tell what had occurred, adding no information
+of her own. When there came a lull in the excited flow of words, she said
+quietly:
+
+"Mr. Bailey, do you mind answering a few questions?"
+
+"Why should I?" the janitor countered. "I'll tell you right now I know
+nothing about this. I've attended strictly to my duties. It's not my
+lookout if tenants leave their suite doors unlocked."
+
+"No one is blaming you," Penny assured him. "I merely thought you might
+contribute to a solution of the burglary."
+
+"I don't know a thing about it."
+
+"You didn't let anyone into the apartment building tonight?"
+
+"Not a soul. I locked the service door at six o'clock, too. Now let me
+ask this: Who are you, and how did you get in here?"
+
+"That's fair enough," smiled Penny. She told her name, explained that she
+was an acquaintance of the Kohls, and had been summoned by the maid.
+
+"Please don't think that I am trying to play detective," she added. "I
+ask these questions in the hope of gaining information for my father's
+paper, the _Star_."
+
+"Well, it looks to me as if it was an inside job," the janitor replied,
+mollified. "Come to think of it though, I've seen a suspicious-acting
+fellow hanging around the building."
+
+"You mean tonight?"
+
+"No, several days ago. He stayed on the other side of the street and kept
+watching the doorway."
+
+"What did he look like, Mr. Bailey?"
+
+"Oh, I don't remember. He was just an average young man in a gray
+overcoat and hat."
+
+"Gray?" repeated Penny alertly.
+
+"It may have been light blue. I didn't pay much attention. At the time I
+sized up the fellow as a detective."
+
+Penny had no opportunity to ask additional questions for just then voices
+were heard in the hallway. As she opened the door, Jerry Livingston,
+followed by a policeman, came toward her.
+
+"Learn anything?" the reporter asked softly in her ear.
+
+"A little," answered Penny. "Let's see how much the officer turns up
+before I go into my song and dance."
+
+Making a routine inspection of the rooms, the police questioned both the
+maid and the janitor. From an elderly lady who occupied the adjoining
+suite he gleaned information that the Kohls' telephone had rung steadily
+for fifteen minutes during the early evening hours.
+
+"What time was that?" interposed Penny.
+
+The policeman gazed at her with sharp disapproval. "Please," he requested
+with exaggerated politeness.
+
+"Sorry," apologized Penny, fading into the background.
+
+"It rang about eight o'clock," the old lady revealed.
+
+"The information is not significant," said the officer, glancing again at
+Penny.
+
+She started to speak, then bit her lip, remaining silent.
+
+"Well, sister, what's on your mind?" he demanded abruptly.
+
+"Excuse me, officer, but I think the information does have importance.
+Couldn't it mean that the crooks, whoever they were, telephoned the
+apartment to make certain it was deserted before breaking in?"
+
+"Possibly," conceded the policeman. His frown discouraged her. "Any other
+theories?"
+
+"No," said Penny shortly.
+
+The policeman began to herd the tenants into the hall. For a moment he
+paid no attention to Penny and Jerry, who with the maid were permitted to
+remain.
+
+"Never try to show up a policeman, even if he is a stuffed shirt,"
+remarked the reporter softly. "It gets you nowhere."
+
+The door closed and the officer faced the pair.
+
+"Now young lady," he said, quite pleasantly. "What do you know about this
+burglary? I'll be very glad to listen."
+
+"I don't really know a thing," admitted Penny. "But here's a little clue
+which you may be able to interpret. I can't."
+
+Leading the policeman to the window, she started to raise the sash. The
+officer stopped her, performing the act himself, his hand protected by a
+handkerchief.
+
+"There is your clue," said Penny.
+
+She indicated two freshly made gashes on the window ledge. Separated by
+possibly a foot of space, they clearly had been made by a hook or sharp
+instrument which had dug deeply into the wood.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   7
+                        _MARK OF THE IRON HOOK_
+
+
+"What do you think of it?" Penny asked as the officer studied the marks
+in silence.
+
+"I'd say they were made by something which hooked over the ledge," the
+policeman replied. "Possibly a ladder with curving irons."
+
+Jerry gazed down over the window ledge into the dark alley.
+
+"No ordinary ladder could reach this high," he commented. "Raising an
+extension would be quite a problem, too."
+
+The Kohl maid timidly approached the window, gazing at the two deep
+gashes with interest. Asked by the policeman if she ever had noticed them
+before, she shook her head.
+
+"Oh, no, sir. They must have been made tonight. I know they weren't there
+this afternoon when I dusted the window sills."
+
+"Incredible as it seems, the thief came through this window," decided the
+policeman. "How he did it is for the detectives at Central Station to
+figure out."
+
+Explaining that the rooms must not be disturbed until Identification
+Bureau men had made complete fingerprint records, the officer locked
+Penny, Jerry and the maid outside the suite. He then went to a nearby
+apartment to telephone his report.
+
+"Maybe this is an ordinary burglary, but it doesn't look that way to me,"
+remarked Jerry as he and Penny went down the stairway.
+
+"In any case, the story should be front page copy. Anything the Kohls do
+is news in Riverview."
+
+"How high would you estimate the loss?"
+
+"Oh, I couldn't guess, Jerry. Thousands of dollars."
+
+Passing groups of tenants who cluttered the hallway excitedly discussing
+the burglary, they evaded questioners and reached the street.
+
+"Jerry," said Penny suddenly, "I didn't mention this to the policeman
+because he seemed to resent my opinions. But it occurred to me that I may
+have seen the man who robbed the Kohls--or at least had something to do
+with it."
+
+"How could you have seen him, Penny? We were together when the Kohl maid
+yelled for help."
+
+"Earlier than that. It was while I was at the theatre."
+
+Half expecting that Jerry would laugh, Penny told how she had observed
+the man in gray note down the license number of the Kohl limousine.
+
+"It came to me like a flash! That fellow may have telephoned the Kohl
+apartment after seeing the car at the theatre. Making sure no one was at
+home, he then looted the place at his leisure."
+
+"Wait a minute," interrupted Jerry. "The Motor Vehicle Department closes
+at six o'clock. How could your man have obtained Kohl's name and address
+from the license number?"
+
+"I never thought about the department being closed," confessed Penny.
+"How you do love to shoot shrapnel into my little ideas!"
+
+"At least you have original theories, which is more than I do," comforted
+Jerry. "Before we leave, shall we take a look at the alley?"
+
+Penny brightened instantly and accompanied the reporter to the rear of
+the building. The alley was deserted. Without a light they were unable to
+examine the ground beneath the Kohl's apartment window.
+
+Suddenly, both straightened as they heard a sound behind them. The
+brilliant beam of a flashlight focused on their faces, blinding them.
+
+"Oh, it's you again," said a gruff voice.
+
+The beam was lowered, and behind it they saw the policeman.
+
+"You young cubs are a pest," he said irritably.
+
+Ignoring them, he moved his light over the ground. There were no
+footprints or other marks visible beneath the window.
+
+"If a ladder had stood here it would show," remarked Jerry. "The thief
+must have used some other means of getting into the building."
+
+While the policeman was inspecting the ground, the janitor stepped from a
+rear basement door, joining the group.
+
+"Officer, I have some more information for you," he volunteered.
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I was talking with my wife. She says that about two hours ago she
+noticed a man walking through the alley. He carried a suitcase, and kept
+looking at the upstairs windows."
+
+"No ladder?"
+
+"Only a suitcase."
+
+"I'll have the detectives talk with your wife," the policeman promised.
+"They'll be here any minute now."
+
+Penny and Jerry lingered until the two men arrived, bringing a
+photographer with them. No new evidence being made available, it seemed a
+waste of time to remain longer.
+
+"Don't bother to take me home," Penny insisted. "Dash straight to the
+office and write your story. The other papers won't have a word about the
+robbery until the police report is made."
+
+"I don't like to abandon you."
+
+"Don't be silly, Jerry. It's only a few blocks farther."
+
+Thus urged, the reporter bade Penny good-bye. As she hastened on alone,
+it began to rain and the air turned colder. To save her clothing, she ran
+the last block, reaching the porch quite breathless.
+
+The house was dark, the front door locked. Penny let herself in with a
+key, switched on the lights, and after getting a snack from the
+refrigerator, started upstairs.
+
+From her father's room issued loud snores. However, Mrs. Weems' door
+stood open, and as Penny glanced in she was surprised to see that the bed
+had not been disturbed.
+
+"Mrs. Weems must still be at the Hodges'," she thought. "Perhaps I should
+go after her. She'll have a long walk in this rain."
+
+Penny went to a window and looked out. The downpour showed no sighs of
+slackening. With a sigh she found her raincoat and started for the
+garage.
+
+During her absence, Mr. Parker had towed Leaping Lena to a vacant lot
+adjoining the property. The maroon car awaited her beneath shelter, and
+she drove it through dark streets to the Hodges' modest home.
+
+Lights glowed cheerily from the lower floor windows. In response to
+Penny's knock, a bent old man, his hands gnarled by hard labor, opened
+the door.
+
+"Is it Penelope?" he asked, squinting at her through the rain. "Come in!
+Come in!"
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Hodges. Is Mrs. Weems still here?"
+
+"Yes, I am, Penny," called the housekeeper. "Goodness, what time is it
+anyway?"
+
+"Nearly midnight."
+
+Penny shook water from her coat and stepped into the spic and span living
+room. An unshaded electric light disclosed a rug too bright, wallpaper
+too glaring, furniture stiff and old fashioned. Yet one felt at once
+welcome, for the seamstress and her husband were simple, friendly people.
+
+"Have a chair, Penelope," invited Mrs. Hodges. She was short like her
+husband, with graying hair and an untroubled countenance.
+
+"Thank you, but I can't stay," replied Penny. "I came to drive Mrs. Weems
+home."
+
+"I had no idea it was so late," the housekeeper said, getting to her
+feet. "Mrs. Hodges and I have been planning my traveling outfit."
+
+"I'll try to have the dresses for you within the next two weeks,"
+promised the seamstress. "Your good fortune makes me very happy, Maud.
+Isn't the news of her inheritance wonderful, Penelope?"
+
+"Oh, yes, yes, of course," stammered Penny. "Only I hope Mrs. Weems isn't
+leaving us within two weeks. What's this about a traveling outfit?"
+
+"I've always wanted fine clothing," said Mrs. Weems dreamily. "Mrs.
+Hodges is making me a suit, three silk dresses, a tissue velvet evening
+gown--"
+
+"An evening gown!" Penny gasped. "Where will you wear it?"
+
+"I'll find places."
+
+"Maybe she aims to catch a husband while she's galavantin' around out
+there in Californy," contributed Mr. Hodges with a sly wink.
+
+"The very idea!" laughed Mrs. Weems, yet with no displeasure.
+
+Penny sagged into the nearest rocking chair. The conversation was paced
+too fast for her.
+
+"Evening gowns--husbands--California," she murmured weakly. "Wait until
+Dad hears about this."
+
+"Mr. Hodges was only joking," declared Mrs. Weems, reaching for her hat.
+"I wouldn't marry the best man on earth. But I definitely am going west
+this summer."
+
+"I envy you, Maud," said the seamstress, her eyes shining. "Pa and I want
+to go out there and buy a little orange grove someday. But with taxes
+what they are, we can't seem to save a penny."
+
+Mrs. Weems squeezed her friend's hand.
+
+"I wish I could take you along, Jenny," she said. "All these years you've
+sewed your poor fingers almost to the bone. You deserve an easier life."
+
+"Oh, Pa and I don't complain," the seamstress answered brightly. "And
+things are going to look up."
+
+"Sure they are," agreed Mr. Hodges. "I'll get a job any day now."
+
+Penny, who was watching the seamstress' face was amazed to see it
+suddenly transformed. Losing her usual calm, Mrs. Hodges exclaimed:
+
+"Pa! It just this minute came to me! Maud getting her inheritance is
+another psychic sign!"
+
+Penny rocked violently and even Mrs. Weems looked startled.
+
+"I don't know what you mean, Jenny," she said.
+
+"We said we wouldn't tell anybody, Ma," protested Mr. Hodges mildly.
+
+"Mrs. Weems is my best friend, and Penelope won't tell. Will you,
+Penelope?"
+
+"Not what I don't know," replied Penny in bewilderment. "How can Mrs.
+Weems' inheritance have anything to do with a psychic sign?"
+
+"You may as well tell 'em," grinned Mr. Hodges, "If you keep the news
+much longer you'll bust."
+
+"The strangest thing happened three nights ago," Mrs. Hodges began, her
+voice quivering with excitement. "But wait! First I'll show you the
+letter!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   8
+                            _PSYCHIC SIGNS_
+
+
+As Penny and Mrs. Weems waited, the seamstress went to another room,
+returning with a stamped, slit envelope.
+
+"Notice the postmark," she requested, thrusting the letter into Penny's
+hand.
+
+"It was mailed from New York," the girl observed.
+
+"I mean the hour at which the envelope was stamped by the postmaster."
+
+"I make it 11:30 P.M. June fifteenth," Penny read aloud. "Does the time
+and date have special significance?"
+
+"Indeed, it does," the seamstress replied impressively. "You tell them,
+Pa."
+
+"It happened three nights ago," began Mr. Hodges. "Ma worked late
+stitchin' up some playsuits for Mrs. Hudson's little girl. Afterwards we
+had bread and milk like we always do, and then we went to bed."
+
+"At the time, I said to Pa that something queer was going to happen,"
+broke in the seamstress. "I could feel it in my bones. It was as if
+something was hovering over us."
+
+"A feeling of impending trouble?" questioned Penny.
+
+"Nothing like that," said Mr. Hodges.
+
+"No, it was as if one almost could feel a foreign presence in the room,"
+Mrs. Hodges declared, lowering her voice. "A supernatural being."
+
+"Surely you don't believe in ghosts...?" Penny began, but the seamstress
+did not hear. Unheeding, she resumed:
+
+"Pa rubbed my back to ease the pain I get from working too long at the
+machine. Then we went to bed. Neither of us had gone to sleep when
+suddenly we heard it!"
+
+"Six sharp raps on the outside bedroom wall," supplied Mr. Hodges. "It
+was like this." He demonstrated on the table.
+
+"We both heard it," added Mrs. Hodges. "It scared me nearly out of my
+wits."
+
+"Possibly it was someone at the door," suggested Penny.
+
+"No, it wasn't that. Pa got up and went to see."
+
+"Could it have been a tree bough brushing against the wall?"
+
+"It wasn't that," said Mr. Hodges. "The maple is too far off to strike
+our bedroom."
+
+"There's only one explanation," declared the seamstress with conviction.
+"It was a psychic sign--the first."
+
+"I don't believe in such things myself," announced Penny. "Surely there
+must be another explanation."
+
+"That's what I told Jenny," nodded Mr. Hodges. "But since the letter
+came, doggoned if I don't think maybe she's right."
+
+"What has the letter to do with it?" inquired Mrs. Weems.
+
+The seamstress pointed to the postmark on the envelope.
+
+"The hour at which we heard the strange tappings was eleven-thirty! Pa
+looked at the clock. And it was three days ago, June fifteenth."
+
+"Corresponding to the marking on this envelope," commented Penny. "That
+is a coincidence."
+
+Mrs. Hodges shook her head impatiently.
+
+"You surely don't think it just happened by _accident_?" she asked. "It
+must have been intended as a sign--an omen."
+
+"What did the letter say?" Penny inquired, without answering Mrs. Hodges'
+question. She knew that her true opinion would not please the woman.
+
+"It wasn't rightly a letter," the seamstress returned. "The envelope
+contained six silver dollars fitted into a stiff piece of cardboard."
+
+"We figured it was another sign," contributed Mr. Hodges. "Six raps on
+the wall--six dollars."
+
+"I wish some ghost would come and pound all night long on my bedroom
+door," remarked Penny lightly.
+
+"Penelope, you shouldn't speak so disrespectfully," Mrs. Weems reproved
+in a mild voice.
+
+"Excuse me, I didn't mean to," said Penny, composing her face. "What else
+has happened of a supernatural nature?"
+
+"Why, nothing yet," Mrs. Hodges admitted. "But Pa and I have had a
+feeling as if something important were about to take place. And now Maud
+inherits six thousand dollars!"
+
+"There was nothing psychic about that," said Mrs. Weems. "Cousin David
+had no close relatives so he left the money to me."
+
+The seamstress shook her head, and an ethereal light shone in her eyes.
+
+"Night before last when I went to bed I was thinking that I wished with
+all my heart something nice would happen to you, Maud. Now it's come to
+pass!"
+
+Even Mrs. Weems was somewhat startled by the seamstress' calm assumption
+that her thoughts had been responsible for the inheritance.
+
+"Don't you see," Mrs. Hodges resumed patiently. "It must mean that I have
+great psychic powers. I confess I am rather frightened."
+
+Penny arose and began to button her raincoat.
+
+"Excuse me for saying it," she remarked, "but if I were you, Mrs. Hodges,
+I'd spend the six dollars and forget the entire affair. Someone must have
+played a joke on you!"
+
+"A joke!" The seamstress was offended. "People don't give away money as a
+joke."
+
+"No, these days they squeeze the eagles until they holler," chuckled Mr.
+Hodges.
+
+"The letter was postmarked New York City," went on his wife. "We don't
+know a soul there. Oh, no one ever can make me believe that it was done
+as a joke. The letter was mailed at exactly the hour we heard the six
+raps!"
+
+"And there wasn't a sign of anyone near the house," added Mr. Hodges.
+
+"Well, at least you're six dollars ahead," said Penny. "Shall we go, Mrs.
+Weems? It's after midnight."
+
+The seamstress walked to the door with the callers.
+
+"I'll get busy tomorrow on those new dresses," she promised Mrs. Weems.
+"Drop in again whenever you can. And you, too, Penelope."
+
+Driving home through the rain, Penny stole a quick glance at the
+housekeeper who seemed unusually quiet.
+
+"Do you suppose Jenny could be right?" Mrs. Weems presently ventured. "I
+mean about Cousin David and the inheritance?"
+
+"Of course not!" laughed Penny. "Why, your cousin died a long while
+before Mrs. Hodges discovered that she was psychic. It's all the bunk!"
+
+"I wish I really knew."
+
+"Why, Mrs. Weems!" Penny prepared to launch into a violent argument. "I
+never heard of such nonsense! How could Mrs. Hodges have psychic powers?
+Everyone realizes that communication with the spirit world is
+impossible!"
+
+"You are entitled to your opinion, Penny, but others may differ with you.
+Who can know about The Life Beyond? Isn't it in the realm of possibility
+that Mrs. Hodges may have had a message from Cousin David?"
+
+"She didn't speak of it."
+
+"Not in words, Penny. But those strange rappings, the arrival of the
+letter--it was all very strange and unexplainable."
+
+"I'll admit it was queer, Mrs. Weems. However, I'll never agree that
+there's anything supernatural connected with it."
+
+"You close your mind to things you do not wish to believe," the
+housekeeper reproved. "What can any of us know of the spirit world?"
+
+Penny gazed at Mrs. Weems in alarm. She realized that the seamstress'
+story had deeply impressed her.
+
+"I'll stake my knowledge against Mrs. Hodges' any old day," she declared
+lightly. "I met one ghost-maker--Osandra--remember him?"
+
+"Why remind me of that man, Penny?" asked the housekeeper wearily.
+
+"Because you once paid him good money for the privilege of attending his
+seances. You were convinced he was in communication with the world
+beyond. He proved to be an outrageous fraud."
+
+"I was taken in by him as were many other persons," Mrs. Weems
+acknowledged. "Mrs. Hodges' case is different. We have been friends for
+ten years. She would not misrepresent the facts."
+
+"No, Mrs. Hodges is honest. I believe that the money was sent to her. But
+not by a ghost!"
+
+"Let's not discuss it," said Mrs. Weems with finality. "I never did enjoy
+an argument."
+
+Penny lapsed into silence and a moment later the car swung into the
+Parker driveway. The housekeeper hurried into the house, leaving the girl
+to close the garage doors.
+
+Penny snapped the padlock shut. Unmindful of the rain, she stood for a
+moment, staring into the night. Nothing had gone exactly right that day,
+and her disagreement with Mrs. Weems, minor though it was, bothered her.
+
+"There's more to this psychic business than appears on the surface," she
+thought grimly. "A great deal more! Maybe I am stubborn and opinionated.
+But I know one thing! No trickster is going to take advantage of the
+Hodges or of Mrs. Weems either--not if I can prevent it."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   9
+                       _MRS. WEEMS' INHERITANCE_
+
+
+The clock chimed seven-thirty the next morning as Penny came downstairs.
+She dropped a kiss on her father's forehead and slid into a chair at the
+opposite side of the breakfast table.
+
+"Good morning, Daddykins," she greeted him cheerfully. "Any news in the
+old scandal sheet?"
+
+Mr. Parker lowered the newspaper.
+
+"Please don't call me Daddykins," he requested. "You know I hate it.
+Here's something which may interest you. Your friends the Kohls were
+robbed last night."
+
+"You're eight hours late," grinned Penny, reaching for the front page. "I
+was there."
+
+"I suppose you lifted the pearls and the diamond bracelet on your way to
+the theatre."
+
+"No," said Penny, rapidly scanning the story which Jerry had written,
+"but I think I may have seen the man who did do it."
+
+She then told her father of having observed a stranger note the license
+number of the Kohl car, and mentioned the events which had followed.
+
+"You may have been mistaken about what the man wrote down," commented her
+father.
+
+"That's possible, but he was staring straight at the car."
+
+"I doubt if the incident had any connection with the burglary, Penny.
+With the Motor Vehicle Department closed, he would have had no means of
+quickly learning who the Kohls were or where they lived."
+
+"Couldn't he have recognized them?"
+
+"In that case he would have no need for the license number. You didn't
+see the man note down the plates of other cars?"
+
+"No, but he may have done it before I noticed him standing by the
+theatre."
+
+Turning idly through the morning paper, Penny's attention was drawn to
+another news story. Reading it rapidly, she thrust the page into her
+father's hand.
+
+"Dad, look at this! There were two other burglaries last night! Apartment
+houses on Drexel Boulevard and Fenmore Street were entered."
+
+"H-m, interesting. The Kohls occupy an apartment also. That rather
+suggests that the same thief ransacked the three places."
+
+"And it says here that the families were away for the evening!" Penny
+resumed with increasing excitement. "I'll bet a cent they were at the
+theatre! Oh, Dad, that man in gray must have been the one who did it!"
+
+"If all the persons you suspect of crime were arrested, our jails
+couldn't hold them," remarked Mr. Parker calmly. "Eat your breakfast,
+Penny, before it gets cold."
+
+Mrs. Weems entered through the kitchen door, bearing reenforcements of
+hot waffles and crisp bacon. Her appearance reminded Penny to launch into
+a highly entertaining account of all that had transpired at the Hodges'
+the previous night.
+
+"Penny!" protested the housekeeper. "You promised Mrs. Hodges to say
+nothing about the letter."
+
+"Oh, no, I didn't promise," corrected Penny. "I was careful to say that I
+couldn't tell what I didn't know. Years ago Dad taught me that a good
+reporter never agrees to accept a confidence. Isn't that so, Dad?"
+
+"A wise reporter never ties his own hands," replied Mr. Parker. "If he
+promises, and then obtains the same story from another source, he's
+morally bound not to use it. His paper may be scooped by the opposition."
+
+"You two are a pair," sighed Mrs. Weems. "Scoops and front page stories
+are all either of you think about. I declare, it distresses me to realize
+how Penny may be trained after I leave."
+
+"The way to solve that problem is not to leave," said Penny. "You know we
+can't get along without you."
+
+Mrs. Weems shook her head.
+
+"It cuts me almost in two to leave," she declared sadly, "but my mind's
+made up. Mrs. Hodges says I am doing the right thing."
+
+"And I suppose a ghost advised her," muttered Penny.
+
+Mr. Parker glanced sternly at his daughter and she subsided into silence.
+But not for long. Soon she was trying to reopen the subject of the
+mysterious letter received by the Hodges. For a reason she could not
+understand, her father was loath to discuss it.
+
+"Come, Penny," he said. "If we're having that game of tennis this
+morning, it's time we start."
+
+En route to the park, the publisher explained why he had not chosen to
+express an opinion in the housekeeper's presence.
+
+"I quite agree with you that Mrs. Hodges has no psychic powers, Penny.
+She's been the victim of a hoax. However, Mrs. Weems is intensely loyal
+to her friend, and any disparaging remarks made by us will only serve to
+antagonize her."
+
+"I'll try to be more careful, Dad. But it's so silly!"
+
+Monday morning found Penny busy once more with her duties at the society
+desk. No new information had developed regarding the Kohl burglary, and
+she did not have time to accompany Mrs. Weems who went frequently to the
+Hodges' cottage.
+
+Secretly Penny held an opinion that the housekeeper's inheritance might
+be the work of a prankster. Therefore, upon returning from the office one
+afternoon and learning that the money actually had been delivered, she
+was very glad she had kept her thoughts to herself.
+
+"The lawyer came this morning and had me sign a paper," Mrs. Weems
+revealed to the Parkers. "Then he turned the money over to me--six
+thousand dollars."
+
+"I hope the cheque is good," remarked Penny.
+
+"It was. I had the lawyer accompany me to the bank. They gave me the
+money without asking a single question. I have it here."
+
+"You have six thousand dollars cash in the house!"
+
+"Yes, I had the cashier give it to me in hundred dollar bills."
+
+"Do you consider it safe to keep such a large sum?" Mr. Parker inquired
+mildly. "I should advise returning it to the bank, or better still, why
+not invest it in sound securities?"
+
+Mrs. Weems shook her head. "It gives me a nice rich feeling to have the
+cash. I've hidden it in a good place."
+
+"Where?" demanded Penny.
+
+"I won't tell," laughed Mrs. Weems.
+
+Again later in the evening, Mr. Parker tried without success to convince
+the housekeeper that she should return the money to a bank. Never one to
+force his opinions upon another, he then dropped the subject.
+
+"When will you be leaving us, Mrs. Weems?" he inquired.
+
+"Whenever you can spare me. Now that I have the money, I should like to
+leave within ten days or two weeks."
+
+"Since we can't persuade you to remain, I'll try to find someone to take
+your place," Mr. Parker promised.
+
+Both he and Penny were gloomy at the prospect of replacing the
+housekeeper. Not only would they miss Mrs. Weems but they honestly
+believed that she would never be happy without two incorrigibles and a
+home to manage.
+
+"Dad," Penny ventured when they were alone, "just supposing that Mrs.
+Weems' money should mysteriously disappear--"
+
+"Don't allow your mind to dwell on that idea," cut in her father sternly.
+"We'll play fair."
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't do it," said Penny hastily. "I was only joking. But if
+something _should_ happen to the money, it would solve all our problems."
+
+"Mrs. Weems has earned her vacation. Even though it will be hard to lose
+her, we mustn't stand in her way."
+
+"I guess you're right," sighed Penny.
+
+The following day Miss Hilderman resumed her duties at the _Star_, and
+Penny once more found herself a person of leisure. To her annoyance, Mrs.
+Weems insisted that she spend many hours in the kitchen, learning how to
+bake pies and cakes. A particularly distasteful lesson came to an end
+only when Penny, with brilliant inspiration, remembered that the
+housekeeper had an appointment with the seamstress.
+
+"Dear me, I had forgotten it!" exclaimed Mrs. Weems. "Yes, I must try on
+my new dresses!"
+
+"I'll drive you over," offered Penny.
+
+Not in recent days had the girl called upon the Hodges. As she and Mrs.
+Weems alighted from the car, they both noticed freshly ironed curtains at
+the windows. Mr. Hodges was pounding dust from a carpet on the line.
+
+"Housecleaning?" inquired Penny, pausing to chat with the old man.
+
+"Yes, Jenny's got me hard at it," he grinned. "She's been tearin' the
+house upside down gettin' ready for the new roomer."
+
+"Oh, have you taken one?"
+
+Penny was surprised, knowing that in past years the Hodges had been too
+proud to rent rooms.
+
+"There's a young feller moving in today," Mr. Hodges said, picking up the
+carpet beater. "Go on inside. Jenny'll tell you about it."
+
+Penny and Mrs. Weems entered the cottage where the seamstress was running
+a dust mop over the floors. She was somewhat dismayed to see the
+housekeeper.
+
+"Oh, Maud, I've been so busy I didn't get your dresses ready to be tried
+on."
+
+"It doesn't matter," replied Mrs. Weems. "What's this about a new
+roomer?"
+
+"I always said I wouldn't have one cluttering up the place. But this
+young man is different. His coming here--well, I interpret it as another
+sign."
+
+"A sign of what?" inquired Penny with her usual directness.
+
+"Well, it seemed as if I had a direct message from the spirit world to
+take him into our home. He came here last night. Instead of knocking in
+the usual way, he rapped six times in succession!"
+
+"Probably he was the one who sent the letter," said Penny alertly.
+
+"Oh, no! He didn't know anything about it. I asked him."
+
+"What is his name, Mrs. Hodges?"
+
+"Al Gepper. He's such a nice young man and he talks so refined. I am
+letting him have the entire floor upstairs."
+
+"That should bring you a nice income," remarked Mrs. Weems.
+
+"I am asking only two dollars a week," admitted the seamstress. "He said
+he couldn't pay more than that."
+
+"Why, Jenny," protested Mrs. Weems, "such a small amount hardly will
+cover the lights and various extras."
+
+"I know, Maud, but I couldn't turn him away. He moved his apparatus in
+last night and will bring his personal belongings sometime today."
+
+"His apparatus?" echoed Penny. "What is he, a chemist?"
+
+"No," replied the seamstress, smiling mysteriously. "I'll show you the
+rooms."
+
+Penny and Mrs. Weems followed the woman upstairs. The upper floor was
+divided into two small bedrooms with a wide, old-fashioned sliding door
+between which could be opened to make one large chamber. The larger of
+the rooms had been cleared of its usual furniture. Where a bed previously
+had stood was a circular table with six or eight chairs, and behind it a
+tall cabinet with a black curtain across the front.
+
+"Mr. Gepper plans to use this room for his studio," explained Mrs.
+Hodges.
+
+Penny's gaze had fastened upon the cabinet. She crossed to it and pulled
+aside the curtain. Inside were several unpacked boxes and a suitcase.
+
+"Mrs. Hodges, to what purpose does your young man expect to put this
+studio?" she asked.
+
+"I don't know. He didn't tell me. But I think he intends to carry on
+psychic experiments. He's a student, he said."
+
+"Mr. Gepper was afraid to tell you the truth lest you refuse to rent the
+rooms," declared Penny. "Mrs. Hodges, your roomer is a medium."
+
+"Why do you think so?"
+
+"Because I've seen trappings such as these before at other seance
+chambers," replied Penny. "Mrs. Hodges, you must send him away before he
+involves you with the police."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   10
+                          _OUIJA BOARD WISDOM_
+
+
+"Trouble with the police!" Mrs. Hodges echoed, regarding Penny with
+unconcealed dismay. "How can it be illegal to rent Mr. Gepper these
+rooms?"
+
+"Renting the rooms isn't illegal," Penny corrected. "But if the young man
+conducts public seances here--filches money from people--then you may be
+considered a party to the scheme. This city has a local ordinance
+prohibiting fortune telling, mind reading and the like."
+
+"I am sure the young man means no wrong."
+
+"Penny," commented Mrs. Weems, "it seems to me that you are overly
+concerned. Why are you convinced that Mr. Gepper is a medium?"
+
+"Doesn't this cabinet indicate it?"
+
+"I thought it was some sort of wardrobe closet," Mrs. Hodges admitted.
+
+"Al Gepper is a medium, or pretends to have spiritualistic powers," Penny
+repeated. "In my opinion you'll be very unwise to allow him to start an
+illegal business here."
+
+"Oh, dear, I don't know what to do now," declared the seamstress. "I'll
+have to ask Pa about it."
+
+She and Mrs. Weems started downstairs, expecting that Penny would follow.
+Instead, the girl lingered to inspect the cabinet.
+
+On the lower floor a door slammed, and there were footsteps ascending the
+stairway. She paid no heed, assuming that it was either Mr. Hodges or his
+wife who approached.
+
+The door swung open. Turning, Penny saw a young man, possibly thirty
+years of age, standing on the threshold. His dark eyes were sharp and
+appraising.
+
+"Hello," he said, without smiling. "Aren't you afraid a monkey may jump
+out of that cabinet?"
+
+Penny, who seldom blushed, felt a wave of heat creeping over her cheeks.
+
+"Hello," she stammered. "You must be Mrs. Hodges' new roomer."
+
+"Al Gepper, at your service. Who are you, girlie?"
+
+"You guessed it," said Penny shortly, edging away from the cabinet.
+
+Al Gepper remained in the doorway, blocking the exit with his arm. He did
+not move as the girl attempted to move past him.
+
+"What's your hurry?" he drawled. "Stick around and let's get acquainted.
+I'll show you some neat card tricks."
+
+"Thanks, but I haven't time, Mr. Gepper."
+
+"What's your name anyhow?" he persisted. "You're not Mrs. Hodges'
+daughter."
+
+"No, only a friend."
+
+"You needn't be so icy about it," he rebuked. "Any friend of Mrs. Hodges'
+is a friend of mine."
+
+"I never make friends easily," Penny replied. "For that matter, I don't
+mind telling you that I have advised Mrs. Hodges not to rent you these
+rooms."
+
+"Oh, you have?" inquired the man, his eyes hardening. "And what business
+is it of yours?"
+
+"None, perhaps. I merely am not going to allow her to be taken in if I
+can prevent it!"
+
+"Oh, indeed. Do you mind explaining?"
+
+"It's perfectly obvious that you're one of these fake spiritualists,"
+Penny accused bluntly. "Your nickname should be Six-Raps Al!"
+
+"A little spit-fire, aren't you?" the man retorted. "But you have style.
+Now I may be able to use you in my business."
+
+"You admit that you're a medium?"
+
+"I am a spiritualist. Not a fake, as you so crudely accuse. And I assure
+you I have no intention of deceiving or taking advantage of your dear
+friends, the Hodges."
+
+"You expect to use these rooms for public seances?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Then you are certain to get the Hodges into trouble with the police."
+
+"Not unless you start squawking." Al Gepper's manner changed abruptly. He
+grasped Penny's wrist and pushed a leering face close to hers. "I'm not
+looking for any trouble from you or anyone else--see! If you try to make
+it, you'll wake up with a headache!"
+
+Penny jerked free and, shouldering through the door, raced downstairs.
+
+Glancing back, she saw that Al Gepper was following, though at a more
+leisurely pace. Instantly she divined that he intended to make sure no
+report of the incident was given to the Hodges, save in his presence.
+
+Mrs. Weems and the old couple were talking in the kitchen.
+
+"Well, Ma, it's for you to decide," Mr. Hodges was saying. "We gave our
+word to the young feller, and it's kinda mean to turn him out so sudden
+like."
+
+"I regret Penny said anything about the matter." apologized Mrs. Weems.
+"You know how out-spoken and impulsive she is. Of course, she has no
+information about Mr. Gepper."
+
+"Oh, but I do have information," spoke Penny from the doorway. "Mr.
+Gepper has just admitted that he intends to use the room for public
+seances. Isn't that true?"
+
+Defiantly, she turned to face the young man who had followed her.
+
+"Quite true," he acknowledged loftily. "One who has a great psychic gift
+is duty-bound to allow the world to benefit from one's talents. The
+selection of this house as a Temple for Celestial Communication was not
+mine, but the bidding of the Spirits. In a dream I was instructed to come
+here and take up residence."
+
+"What night did you have the dream?" questioned Mrs. Hodges, deeply
+impressed.
+
+"It was June fifteenth."
+
+"The very night we heard the strange rappings on our bedroom wall, Pa."
+
+"Dogonned if it wasn't!"
+
+"Mr. Gepper, do you truly believe it is possible to communicate with the
+spiritual world?" Mrs. Weems inquired politely.
+
+"My dear madam, I can best answer by offering a demonstration. Have you a
+ouija board in the house?"
+
+"Yes, we have," spoke Mrs. Hodges eagerly. "Pa and I got it from a mail
+order house years ago, but it never worked for us. You fetch it, Pa."
+
+Mr. Hodges brought a large, flat board which bore letters and figures.
+Upon it he placed a small, triangular piece with cushioned legs.
+
+"This do-dad is supposed to spell out messages, ain't it?" he asked. "Ma
+and I could never make it work right."
+
+Al Gepper smiled in a superior way, and placing the board on his lap,
+motioned for Mrs. Weems to sit opposite him. However, before the
+housekeeper could obey, Penny slid into the vacant chair. The medium
+frowned.
+
+"Place your hands lightly on the triangular piece," he instructed.
+"Concentrate with me as we await a message from the spiritual world."
+
+Penny fastened her eyes on the distant wall with a blank stare.
+
+A minute passed. The ouija board made several convulsive struggles, but
+seemed unable to move.
+
+"The Spirits encounter resistance," the medium said testily. "They can
+send no message when one's attitude is antagonistic."
+
+"Shall I take off the brakes?" asked Penny.
+
+Even as she spoke the pointer of the triangle began moving, rapidly
+spelling a message.
+
+"AL GEPPER IS A FRAUD," it wrote.
+
+The medium sprang to his feet, allowing the board to fall from his lap.
+
+"You pushed it!" he accused. "The test was unfair."
+
+"Why, the very idea," chuckled Penny.
+
+"Penny, please allow Mr. Gepper to conduct a true test," reproved Mrs.
+Weems severely. "Let me try."
+
+Al Gepper, however, would have no more of the ouija board. Instead, he
+took a pad of white paper from his pocket. Seating Mrs. Weems at the
+kitchen table he requested her to write a message, which, without being
+shown to anyone in the room, was sealed in an envelope.
+
+The medium pointedly requested Penny to examine the envelope to assure
+herself the writing could not be seen through the paper.
+
+"You are satisfied that I have not read the message?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," Penny admitted reluctantly.
+
+The medium took the envelope, ran his fingers lightly over it, and
+returned it still sealed to Mrs. Weems.
+
+"If I am not mistaken, Madam, you wrote, 'Is the spirit of my cousin in
+this room?'"
+
+"Why, I did!" exclaimed Mrs. Weems. "Those were the exact words! How did
+you know?"
+
+Al Gepper smiled mysteriously.
+
+"You have seen nothing, Madam," he said. "Now if conditions are right, it
+may be possible for us to learn if a Spirit has joined our group. Lower
+the blinds, please."
+
+Mr. Hodges hastened to obey. With the kitchen in semi-darkness, the
+medium motioned for his audience to move a few paces away. Taking his own
+position behind the kitchen table, he intoned:
+
+"Oh, Spirit, if you are with us in the room, signal by lifting this piece
+of furniture."
+
+Slowly the man moved his hands above the table. At first nothing
+happened, then to the astonishment of his audience, it lifted a few
+inches from the floor. There it hung suspended a moment before dropping
+into place again.
+
+"You see?" With a triumphant ring to his voice, the medium crossed the
+room to raise the window shades. "Now do you doubt me?"
+
+"No! No!" cried Mrs. Hodges tremulously. "Only a Spirit could have moved
+that table. Maud, perhaps it _was_ your Cousin David."
+
+The medium gazed at Mrs. Weems with sympathetic interest.
+
+"You have lost a loved one recently?" he inquired.
+
+"Cousin David and I never were well acquainted," replied the housekeeper.
+"That was why I was so surprised when he left me an inheritance."
+
+"Mrs. Weems!" remonstrated Penny. She was dismayed by the revelation so
+casually offered.
+
+"No doubt you would like to communicate with your departed cousin at some
+later time," the medium said smoothly. "Allow me to offer my services as
+an intermediary. No charge, of course."
+
+"Why, that's very generous of you, Mr. Gepper."
+
+"Not at all. Friends of the Hodges are my friends. Shall we set a
+definite date--say tomorrow at two o'clock?"
+
+"Yes, I'll come. That is, if the Hodges are to be present."
+
+"Assuredly. Mrs. Hodges is definitely psychic and should contribute to
+our seance."
+
+It was with the greatest of difficulty that Penny finally induced the
+housekeeper to leave the cottage. Al Gepper accompanied them to the door.
+
+"Tomorrow at two," he repeated, smiling slyly at Penny. "And you may come
+also, my little doubter. I assure you it will be well worth your time."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   11
+                         _THE CELESTIAL TEMPLE_
+
+
+"Penny, tell me the truth," Mrs. Weems urged as they drove home together.
+"Didn't you push the ouija board?"
+
+"Of course," laughed Penny. "But if I hadn't, Al Gepper would have. He
+was trying hard enough!"
+
+"He said you were resisting the spirits."
+
+"That was the worst sort of nonsense," Penny returned impatiently.
+"Gepper is a fraud, and I wish you hadn't told him about your
+inheritance."
+
+"How can you accuse him of being a fraud after you saw his marvelous
+demonstration? The table actually rose from the floor."
+
+"I know it did," Penny acknowledged unwillingly. "But it must have been
+trickery."
+
+"How could it have been? The table was an ordinary one. Mrs. Hodges uses
+it every day of her life."
+
+"I don't know how he did it," Penny responded. "All the same, I am sure
+he's a trickster. Promise me you won't tell him anything more about
+yourself or the inheritance."
+
+"Very well, I'll promise if it gives you satisfaction," the housekeeper
+replied. "However, I do intend to keep my appointment."
+
+Penny had no opportunity to relate to her father what had occurred at the
+Hodges home, for Mr. Parker was absent on a two-day business trip to a
+distant town. Feeling that she must tell someone, she sought Louise
+Sidell, and they discussed every angle of the affair.
+
+"Will you attend the seance with Mrs. Weems?" Louise asked her curiously.
+
+"Will I?" Penny repeated. "I'll be right there with bells! I intend to
+expose Mr. Al Gepper if it's the last act of my life!"
+
+Returning home later in the afternoon, she found Mrs. Weems sitting on
+the living room floor, sorting a drawer of old photographs.
+
+"You're not packing your things already?" Penny asked in alarm.
+
+"Only these photographs," the housekeeper responded. "I wouldn't have
+started the task, only I got into it when the agent came."
+
+"Agent?"
+
+"A man from the Clamont Photograph Studio."
+
+"Never heard of the place."
+
+"It's opening this week. They're having a special offer--three old
+photographs enlarged for only twenty-five cents. I gave the man Cousin
+David's picture and two others."
+
+"That is a bargain," remarked Penny. "I wish I had been here."
+
+The evening meal was served, and afterwards Mrs. Weems devoted herself to
+the reading of travel books borrowed from the library. Penny could find
+no occupation to satisfy her. She turned the radio on, switched it off
+again, and wandered restlessly from room to room. Finally she went to the
+telephone and called Louise.
+
+"How about a little adventure?" she proposed. "And don't ask for
+explanations."
+
+"Will we be home by ten o'clock? That's the parental deadline."
+
+"Oh, yes, we'll make it easily. Meet me at the corner of Carabel and
+Clinton Streets."
+
+Mrs. Weems was so engrossed in her book that she merely nodded as Penny
+explained that she and Louise were going for a walk. Reaching the
+appointed corner the girl found her chum awaiting her.
+
+"Tell me about this so-called adventure," she commanded. "Where are we
+going?"
+
+"To the Celestial Temple, Lou. At least, we'll look at it from the
+outside. Meetings are held there nearly every night at eight o'clock."
+
+"Penny, I don't think I care to go."
+
+"Nonsense! The meetings are open to the public, aren't they? We'll have a
+very interesting time."
+
+"Oh, all right," Louise consented reluctantly. "But I can't understand
+why you're so interested in the place."
+
+The girls took a bus to the end of the line, then walked three blocks
+until they came to Butternut Lane. For long stretches there were only
+scattered houses and the street lamps were far between. Becoming
+increasingly uneasy, Louise urged her chum to turn back.
+
+"Why, we're at our destination now," Penny protested. "I am sure that
+must be the building."
+
+She pointed to an old, rectangular brick structure only a few yards
+ahead. Obviously it once had been a church for there was a high bell
+tower, and behind the building a cluster of neglected tombstones gleamed
+in the moonlight.
+
+The evenly spaced windows were illuminated, and music could be heard.
+
+"Are you sure this is the place?" Louise inquired dubiously. "It looks
+like a church to me, and they're holding a service."
+
+"Oh, the building hasn't been used for such purposes in over fifteen
+years," Penny explained. "I investigated, so I know its history. Until
+three years ago it was used as a county fire station. Only recently it
+was reclaimed by this Omar Society of Celestial Thought."
+
+The girls moved closer. Through an open window they were able to see
+fifteen or twenty people seated in the pews. A woman played a wheezing
+organ while a man led the off-key singing.
+
+"Let's go inside," Penny proposed.
+
+Louise held back. "Oh, no, we can see everything from here. It looks as
+if it were a very stupid sort of meeting."
+
+"Appearances are often deceiving. I want a ringside seat."
+
+Penny pulled her chum toward the entrance door. There they hesitated,
+reading a large placard which bore the invitation:
+
+_The Public Is Invited. Services at eight p.m. daily._
+
+"We're part of the public, Lou," urged Penny. "Come along."
+
+She boldly opened the door, and there was no retreat.
+
+Heads turned slightly as the girls entered the rear of the Temple. As
+quickly they turned forward again, but not before Penny had gained an
+impression, of sharp, appraising faces.
+
+A man arose, bowed, and offered the girls his bench, although many others
+were available. They slipped into the pew, accepting a song book which
+was placed in Louise's hand.
+
+While her chum sang in a thin, squeaky voice, Penny allowed her gaze to
+wander over the room. At the far end she saw a door which apparently
+opened into the bell tower. On a slightly raised platform where the
+leader stood, were two black-draped cabinets somewhat similar to the one
+she had seen at Mrs. Hodges' cottage. Otherwise, there was nothing of
+unusual interest.
+
+The services were decorous to the point of being boring. Yet as the
+meeting went on, Penny and Louise both felt that they were being studied.
+More than once they surprised persons gazing at them.
+
+At the conclusion of the session which lasted no longer than thirty
+minutes, the leader asked the audience if any "brother" were present who
+wished to attempt a spirit communication. Immediately, Penny sat up a bit
+straighter, anticipating that interesting demonstrations were in store.
+
+Nor was she mistaken. A thin, hard-faced man went to the rostrum, and in
+a loud voice began to call upon the spirits to make known their presence.
+Signs were at once forthcoming. The empty pews began to dance as if
+alive. The speaker's table lifted a foot from the floor and a pitcher of
+water fell from it, smashing into a dozen pieces.
+
+Louise, her eyes dilated with fear, edged closer to Penny.
+
+"Let's go," she pleaded.
+
+Penny shook her head.
+
+A woman dressed in blue silk glided down the aisle, stopping beside the
+girls. She held a tray upon which were a number of objects, an opal ring,
+a knife, and several pins.
+
+"Dearie," she said to Penny, "if you would care to have a message from a
+departed soul, place a trinket in this collection. Any personal object.
+Our leader will then exhort the spirit to appear."
+
+"No, thank you," replied Louise, without giving her chum a chance to
+speak.
+
+"Perhaps, you would prefer a private reading," the woman murmured. "I
+give them at my home, and the fee is trivial. Only a dollar."
+
+"Thank you, no," Louise repeated firmly. "I'm not interested."
+
+The woman shrugged and moved on down the aisle, pausing beside an elderly
+man to whom she addressed herself.
+
+"Lou, why did you discourage her?" Penny whispered. "We might have
+learned something."
+
+"I've learned quite enough. I'm leaving."
+
+Louise squeezed past her chum, heading for the exit. Penny had no choice
+but to follow.
+
+Before they could reach the door, it suddenly opened from the outside. A
+young man who had not bothered to remove his hat, entered. Seeing the
+girls, he abruptly halted, then turned and retreated.
+
+Penny quickened her step. Taking Louise's hand she pulled her along at a
+faster pace. They reached the vestibule. It was deserted. Penny peered up
+and down the dark street.
+
+"Well, he's gone," she remarked.
+
+"Who?" Louise questioned in a puzzled voice. "You mean that man who
+entered the Temple and then left so suddenly?"
+
+"I do," responded Penny. "Unless my eyes tricked me, he was none other
+than Al Gepper!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   12
+                       _A MESSAGE FOR MRS. WEEMS_
+
+
+"I don't know anyone answering to that name," remarked Louise. "However,
+the fellow did act as if he were retreating from us."
+
+Penny glanced up and down the dark street. No one was to be seen, and
+since so little time had elapsed, she reasoned that the man had taken
+refuge either in the high weeds or the nearby cemetery.
+
+"It must have been Gepper," she declared. "Naturally he wouldn't care to
+meet me here." Quickly Penny recounted the events of the afternoon.
+
+"Then you think he may be connected with the Temple, Penny?"
+
+"That would be my guess. Lou, this place is nothing but a blind. The
+members of the society pretend to be honest spiritualists, while in
+reality they're charlatans. They hold services for one purpose only--to
+solicit persons for private readings."
+
+"Isn't that illegal?"
+
+"Of course it is. The police should raid the place."
+
+"Then why don't they, Penny?"
+
+"Dad says it's because they've been unable to obtain sufficient evidence.
+But they'll have it after we report what we've seen tonight!"
+
+"How do you suppose they made things jump around as if they were alive?"
+Louise remarked as the girls walked slowly toward home. "It frightened
+me."
+
+"Everything was done by trickery. I'm sure of that, Lou. Just as soon as
+Dad returns I shall make a full report to him. We'll see what he can do
+about it."
+
+By the time Penny arrived home, Mrs. Weems had retired to her room.
+However, the light still burned and the door was open a crack. Rapping,
+the girl entered, for she was eager to tell the housekeeper about her
+visit to the Celestial Temple.
+
+Mrs. Weems sat at the desk. Hastily she closed one of the drawers, and
+turned the key.
+
+"You startled me, Penny!" she exclaimed. "I do wish you would give more
+warning before you descend upon one."
+
+"Sorry," apologized Penny, glancing curiously toward the desk. "Oh, I
+see!"
+
+"You see what?" demanded the housekeeper.
+
+"Six thousand dollars reposing in a desk drawer!"
+
+Mrs. Weems' look of consternation betrayed her. She glanced at the locked
+drawer, and then laughed.
+
+"For an instant I thought you actually could see the money, Penny."
+
+"Then my guess was right?"
+
+"I keep the money in the drawer," Mrs. Weems admitted.
+
+Penny sat down on the edge of the bed, drawing up her knees for a chin
+rest.
+
+"Mrs. Weems, don't you think it's risky keeping so much money here?"
+
+"It will only be for a few days, Penny. I'll have it converted into
+traveler's cheques as soon as I am ready to start west."
+
+"The desk doesn't seem a safe place to me."
+
+"You're the only person who knows where I keep the money, Penny. Oh, yes,
+I told Mrs. Hodges, but she is to be trusted. No one can steal it as long
+as I have the key."
+
+Mrs. Weems tapped a black velvet ribbon which she wore about her neck.
+
+"I keep this on me day and night," she declared. "No thief ever will get
+it way from me."
+
+Penny said nothing more about the matter. Instead, she launched into a
+highly colored account of her visit to the Celestial Temple. The
+housekeeper expressed disapproval, remarking that she never would have
+granted permission had she known in advance where the girls were going.
+Nevertheless, her eager questions made it evident that she was deeply
+interested in the demonstration which had been witnessed.
+
+"I don't see how you can call it trickery," she protested. "You have no
+proof, Penny."
+
+"Never in the world will I believe that spirits can make tables do a
+dance, Mrs. Weems! Probably the furniture had special wiring or something
+of the sort."
+
+"You can't say that about the table at Mrs. Hodges', Penny."
+
+"No, it seemed to be just an ordinary piece of furniture," the girl
+admitted reluctantly. "All the same, Al Gepper is a fraud, and I wish you
+wouldn't attend his old seance tomorrow."
+
+"But Penny, I gave my promise."
+
+"I can run over to the house and tell him you've changed your mind."
+
+Mrs. Weems shook her head. "No, Penny, I am curious to learn if he will
+be able to communicate with the spirits. Tomorrow's seance should provide
+a genuine test. The man knows nothing about me or my ancestors."
+
+"Mrs. Hodges probably has provided all the information he'll require."
+
+"I telephoned her yesterday and requested her not to tell Mr. Gepper
+anything about me. She'll respect my wishes. The test should prove a true
+one."
+
+Penny sighed and arose from the bed. Knowing Mrs. Weems as she did, she
+realized that her opinion could not be changed by argument. It was her
+hope that Al Gepper would discredit himself by failing in the seance.
+
+"Penny, please promise that you'll do nothing outrageous tomorrow," Mrs.
+Weems begged as the girl started to leave. "I am sure Mr. Gepper feels
+that you are antagonistic."
+
+"I'll try to behave myself," Penny laughed. "Yes, we'll give Mr. Gepper a
+chance to prove what he can do."
+
+At two the following afternoon she and Mrs. Weems presented themselves at
+the Hodges' cottage. Both Mr. Hodges and his wife, who were to sit in at
+the seance, were trembling with anticipation.
+
+"Mr. Gepper is simply wonderful," the seamstress confided to Mrs. Weems.
+"He tells me that I have great healing powers as well as a psychic
+personality."
+
+"Jenny, I hope you haven't told him anything about me," the housekeeper
+mentioned.
+
+"Oh, no, Maud. For that matter, he's said nothing about you since you
+were here."
+
+Mrs. Weems cast Penny an "I-told-you-so" glance which was not lost upon
+Al Gepper who entered the room at that moment.
+
+"I am ready for you, ladies," he said. "Kindly follow me."
+
+In the upstairs room blinds had been drawn. Al Gepper indicated that his
+audience was to occupy the chairs around the circular table.
+
+"Before we attempt to communicate with the departed souls, I wish to
+assure you that I employ no trickery," he announced, looking hard at
+Penny. "You may examine the table or the cabinet if you wish."
+
+"Oh, no, Mr. Gepper," murmured Mrs. Hodges. "We trust you."
+
+"I'll look, if you don't mind," said Penny.
+
+She peered beneath the table, thumped it several times, and pulled aside
+the curtain of the cabinet. It was empty.
+
+"Now if you are quite satisfied, shall we begin?" purred Mr. Gepper. "It
+will make it much easier, if each one of you will give me a personal
+object."
+
+"A la the Celestial Temple method," muttered Penny beneath her breath.
+
+"What was that?" questioned the medium sharply.
+
+"Nothing. I was merely thinking to myself."
+
+"Then please think more quietly. I must warn you that this seance cannot
+be successful unless each person present concentrates, entering into the
+occasion with the deepest of sincerity."
+
+"I assure you, I am as sincere as yourself," Penny responded gravely.
+
+Mr. Hodges deposited his gold watch on the table. His wife offered a pin
+and Mrs. Weems a plain band ring. Penny parted with a handkerchief.
+
+After everyone was seated about the table, Al Gepper played several
+phonograph records, all the while exhorting the Spirits to appear.
+
+Taking Mrs. Weems' ring from the tray before him, he pressed it to his
+forehead. A convulsive shudder wracked his body.
+
+"Someone comes to me--" he mumbled. "Someone comes, giving the name of
+David--David Swester."
+
+"My cousin," breathed Mrs. Weems in awe.
+
+"He is tall and dark with a scar over his left eye," resumed the medium.
+"I see him plainly now."
+
+"That _is_ David!" cried the housekeeper, leaning forward in her
+eagerness.
+
+"David, have you a message for us?" the medium intoned.
+
+There was a long silence, during which the man could be seen writhing and
+twisting in the semi-darkness. Then his voice began again:
+
+"David has a message for a person called Maud."
+
+"I am Maud," said Mrs. Weems tremulously. "Oh, what does he say?"
+
+"That he is well and happy in the Spirit World, but he is worried about
+Maud."
+
+"Worried about me? Why?"
+
+The medium again seemed to undergo physical suffering, but presently the
+message "came through," although not in an entirely clear form.
+
+"David's voice has faded. I am not certain, but it has something to do
+with six thousand dollars."
+
+"The exact amount he left to me!" Mrs. Weems murmured.
+
+"David is afraid that you will not have the wisdom to invest the money
+wisely. He warns you that the present place where you have it deposited
+is not safe. He will tell you what to do with it. Now the voice is fading
+again. David has gone."
+
+With another convulsive shudder, Al Gepper straightened from the position
+into which he had slumped. Resuming his normal tone he said:
+
+"That is all. The connection with Cousin David has been broken."
+
+"Can't we contact him again?" Mrs. Weems asked in disappointment.
+
+"Not today. Possibly tomorrow at this same hour."
+
+"Couldn't you call up another Spirit by using my pin or Pa's watch?" Mrs.
+Hodges suggested wistfully.
+
+Al Gepper raised one of the window blinds. "I am very, very tired," he
+said. "This seance was particularly exhausting due to the presence of
+someone antagonistic. Tomorrow if conditions are right, I hope actually
+to materialize Cousin David. The poor soul is trying so hard to get a
+message through to the one he calls Maud."
+
+"You mean I'll be able to see him?" the housekeeper asked incredulously.
+
+"I hope and believe so. I must rest now. After a seance I should refresh
+myself with sleep."
+
+"Of course," agreed Mrs. Hodges. "We are selfish to overtax you."
+
+Recovering their trinkets, the elderly couple and Mrs. Weems went from
+the room. Penny was the last to leave.
+
+"Well, sister?" inquired the medium in a low voice. "Were you convinced,
+or do you still think that you can show up Al Gepper?"
+
+"I think," said Penny softly, "that you are a very clever man. But clever
+as you are, one of your well-trained ghosts may yet lead you to the city
+jail!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   13
+                         _COUSIN DAVID'S GHOST_
+
+
+When Penny reached the lower floor she found Mrs. Weems and the Hodges
+excitedly discussing the seance. The seamstress and her husband
+emphatically declared that they had given the medium no information
+regarding either the housekeeper or the deceased Cousin David.
+
+"Then there can be only one explanation," Mrs. Weems said. "We were truly
+in communication with a departed spirit."
+
+"Don't you agree, Penny?" inquired Mrs. Hodges.
+
+"I am afraid I can't," she replied.
+
+"The test was a fair one," Mrs. Weems insisted. "Mr. Gepper couldn't have
+described Cousin David so accurately if he hadn't actually seen him as he
+materialized from the spirit world."
+
+"Al Gepper could have obtained much of his information from persons in
+Riverview," Penny responded.
+
+"About me, perhaps," the housekeeper conceded. "But not about Cousin
+David. Why, I doubt if anyone save myself knew he had a scar over his
+eye. He received it in an automobile accident twelve or thirteen years
+ago."
+
+"Just think!" murmured Mrs. Hodges. "Tomorrow you may actually be able to
+see your departed cousin!"
+
+In vain Penny argued that Al Gepper was a trickster. She was unable to
+offer the slightest evidence to support her contention while, on the
+other hand, the Hodges reminded her that the medium had never asked one
+penny for his services.
+
+From the cottage Penny went directly to the _Star_ office, feeling
+certain that her father would have returned there from his trip. Nor was
+she mistaken. Gaining admittance to the private office, she wasted no
+words in relating everything which had transpired during his absence. Her
+father's attention was flattering.
+
+"Penny, you actually saw all this?" he questioned when she had finished.
+
+"Oh, yes! At the Celestial Temple Louise was with me, too. We thought you
+might take up the matter with the police."
+
+"That's exactly what I will do," decided Mr. Parker. "I've turned the
+matter over in my mind for several days. The _Star_ will take the
+initiative in driving these mediums, character readers and the like out
+of Riverview!"
+
+"Oh, Dad, I was hoping you'd say that!"
+
+Mr. Parker pressed a desk buzzer. Summoning DeWitt, he told of his plan
+to launch an active campaign.
+
+"Nothing will please me better, Chief," responded the city editor. "Where
+do we start?"
+
+"We'll tip the police to what is going on at the Celestial Temple. Have
+them send detectives there for tonight's meeting. Then when the usual
+hocus-pocus starts, arrests can be made. Have photographers and a good
+reporter on hand."
+
+"That should start the ball rolling," agreed DeWitt. "I'll assign Jerry
+Livingston to the story. Salt Sommers is my best photographer."
+
+"Get busy right away," Mr. Parker ordered. "We'll play the story big
+tomorrow--give it a spread."
+
+"How about Al Gepper?" Penny inquired after DeWitt had gone. "Could he be
+arrested without involving the Hodges?"
+
+"Not very easily if he lives at their place. Has he accepted money for
+the seances he conducts there?"
+
+"He hasn't taken any yet from Mrs. Weems. I am sure he must have other
+customers."
+
+"You have no proof of it?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Suppose we forget Al Gepper for the time being, and concentrate on the
+Celestial Temple," Mr. Parker proposed. "In the meantime, learn
+everything you can about the man's methods."
+
+"No assignment would please me more, Dad. I've the same as promised Mr.
+Gepper he'll land in jail, and I want to make good."
+
+Mr. Parker began to pace the floor. "I'll write a scorching editorial,"
+he said. "We'll fight ignorance with information. Our reporters must
+learn how these mediums do their tricks, and expose them to the gullible
+public."
+
+"I'll do everything I can to help," Penny promised eagerly. "May I have
+Al Gepper for my particular fish bait?"
+
+"He's your assignment. And I'm depending upon you to see that he doesn't
+work any of his trickery on Mrs. Weems. If she can't be persuaded to
+remain away from the Hodges', then we must protect her as best we can."
+
+"I'll try to accompany her every time she goes there, Dad. I am afraid he
+may be after her money."
+
+"Gepper doesn't know she inherited six thousand dollars?" Mr. Parker
+asked in alarm.
+
+"Yes, she dropped the information that she had come into money. He
+supplied figures himself."
+
+"I wonder how?"
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea, Dad. Gepper is as clever a man as ever I
+met. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if he does produce Cousin David at
+tomorrow's seance."
+
+Mr. Parker snorted in disgust.
+
+"Tommyrot! The man will make an excuse about the conditions not being
+right, and fail."
+
+"Perhaps, but he seems pretty confident."
+
+"You expect to attend the seance?"
+
+"Oh, definitely. Jungle beasts couldn't keep me away."
+
+"Then be alert every instant--without appearing too suspicious, of
+course. Try to learn how the man accomplishes his tricks."
+
+"Leave it to me," chuckled Penny. "Mr. Al Gepper is due for his first
+shock when he wakes up tomorrow and reads that the Celestial Temple has
+been raided. Unless I am much mistaken, that place is one of his favorite
+haunts."
+
+Leaving the newspaper office, Penny went directly home. She longed to
+stop at the Sidell home, but she had promised her father to say nothing
+about the planned raid until it was an accomplished fact. Feeling the
+need of work to occupy her time, she washed the maroon car and waxed the
+fading paint of Leaping Lena.
+
+At six o'clock her father came home for dinner.
+
+"Any news?" Penny asked, running to meet him.
+
+"Everything's set," he answered. "DeWitt laid your information before the
+police. Tonight three detectives will attend the meeting at the Temple.
+If anything out of the way happens, the raid will be staged."
+
+Penny was so tense with expectation that she was unable to do justice to
+the delicious dinner which Mrs. Weems had prepared. Her father, too,
+seemed unusually restless. After dinner he made a pretense of reading the
+paper, but actually his eyes did not see the print.
+
+The hands of the clock scarcely appeared to move, so slowly did time
+pass. Eight o'clock came, then nine. Suddenly the telephone rang.
+
+Penny was away in an instant to answer it. From the next room she called
+to her father:
+
+"It's for you, Dad! DeWitt, I think."
+
+"I told him to telephone me as soon as the raid was staged." Mr. Parker
+arose and went quickly to take the receiver. Penny hovered at his elbow.
+
+"Hello! DeWitt?" the publisher asked, and after a slight pause: "Oh, I
+see. No, I don't think Penny was mistaken. It's more likely there was a
+tip-off."
+
+He hung up the receiver and turned toward Penny who anticipated the news.
+
+"The raid was a failure?"
+
+"Yes, Penny. Detectives spent two hours at the meeting. Nothing happened.
+It was impossible to make arrests."
+
+"They must have been recognized as detectives."
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"Others will be assigned to the case?"
+
+"I doubt it, Penny. DeWitt reports that the police have become convinced
+that the spiritualists who use the Temple are not operating for profit."
+
+"Louise and I know better because she was approached." Penny anxiously
+regarded her father. "Dad, even if the police do give up, we won't, will
+we?"
+
+"No, we're in this fight and we'll stay in it," he answered grimly.
+"We'll put some new teeth in our trap. And the next time it's sprung, I
+warrant you we'll catch a crook."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   14
+                              _WET PAINT_
+
+
+Promptly at two o'clock the following afternoon, Penny and Mrs. Weems
+presented themselves at the Hodges' cottage for the appointed seance.
+Already Mr. Gepper awaited them in the darkened apartment on the second
+floor.
+
+Penny's glance about the room found everything in the same order as upon
+the previous visit, save that an easel with a large black sheet of
+artist's paper stood beside the cabinet.
+
+She moved as if to examine it. Al Gepper intercepted her by saying:
+
+"Sit here, if you please. Beside Mrs. Weems. I'll call the Hodges and
+we'll start at once."
+
+The medium went to the door and shouted down the stairway. Penny noticed
+that he remained where he could watch her every move in a mirror which
+hung on the wall. She shrewdly guessed that he was afraid she might
+attempt to examine either the cabinet or the easel.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Hodges came in response to the call, taking chairs about the
+circular table. The gaze which they fastened upon Al Gepper was almost
+worshipful.
+
+"Now today I hope to materialize the Spirit of Cousin David," announced
+the medium. "The task will be difficult, as you must realize. After the
+seance begins I am compelled to request absolute quiet. The slightest
+movement may frighten away the Spirits."
+
+"Why are spirits so timid?" asked Penny.
+
+"Because their beings are so sensitive that they instantly feel an
+unfriendly presence," the man responded glibly. "Please hold hands, and
+use every precaution that contact is not broken."
+
+Mrs. Weems took one of Penny's hands and Mr. Hodges the other. Mrs.
+Hodges sat next to her husband.
+
+After lowering black curtains over the window blinds to further darken
+the room, the medium returned to his chair. Those at the table were
+unable to distinguish his form, and for a time there was no sound save
+the scratching music of a phonograph record.
+
+Presently the medium exhorted the Spirit of Cousin David to appear. For
+at least ten minutes there was no indication that communication was to be
+established. Then a cowbell tinkled, causing Mrs. Weems to shake and
+tremble.
+
+"Are you there, David?" called the medium.
+
+The bell jingled violently.
+
+"We are ready, David," intoned the medium. "Have you a message for us?"
+
+To Penny's amazement, a pair of shapely white hands slowly materialized,
+apparently pulling aside the curtain of the cabinet above the medium's
+head. In the darkness they glowed with a weird phosphorescent light.
+
+Next appeared a white-rimmed slate, upon which luminous words were
+written: "I am the Spirit of Cousin David. Is Maud here?"
+
+"Yes, yes," responded Mrs. Weems, quivering with excitement. "Have you a
+message for me?"
+
+Again the hand wrote: "My happiness in this world beyond is disturbed.
+Maud, do not squander the money which I gave to you."
+
+"Squander it?" the housekeeper said aloud. "Why, I've scarcely spent a
+penny!"
+
+"A trip to California is ill-advised," wrote the hand. "Invest your money
+in good eight per cent securities. There are many excellent
+companies--the Brantwell Corporation, White and Edwards, the Bierkamp
+Company."
+
+The slate vanished and once more the jingling of the cowbell denoted that
+the spirit was moving away.
+
+The medium spoke. "Contact has been broken. Shall we try to reach Cousin
+David again?"
+
+"Oh, please!" pleaded Mrs. Weems. "I don't know what to do now. I've
+planned on the western trip and I can't understand why Cousin David
+should advise me to give it up."
+
+"I wouldn't go agin' the Spirits if I was you," advised Mr. Hodges. "You
+better change your plans, Maud."
+
+"But how can I be certain that the message came from Cousin David?" the
+housekeeper quavered. "Oh, dear, I am so upset! If only I could be
+certain."
+
+"Madam, I hope you do not distrust me," said Al Gepper reprovingly.
+
+"Oh, no, it's not that. I'm just upset."
+
+"Perhaps, if you actually saw your cousin it would set your mind at
+rest."
+
+"Is it possible to see him?"
+
+"I cannot promise, but we will try. Hold hands again please, and everyone
+concentrate."
+
+There followed an interval during which the medium pleaded with the
+Spirit of Cousin David to return and show himself. Suddenly the group was
+startled to see a luminous banjo move high through the air, unsupported
+by any hand. It began to play "Down upon the Swanee River."
+
+Midway through the selection, the music broke off and the banjo
+disappeared. An instant later Mrs. Hodges uttered a choked cry.
+
+"The easel! Look at it, Maud!"
+
+All eyes turned toward the painter's canvas. As the medium focused a
+flashlight upon it, the face of an elderly man slowly materialized on the
+blank surface, the picture appearing in red, blue and finally black oil
+paint.
+
+"It _is_ Cousin David!" whispered Mrs. Weems, gripping Penny's hand so
+tightly that it hurt. "He looks exactly as he did when last I saw him!"
+
+The medium extinguished his light and again the room was dark. Mrs.
+Weems' chair creaked as she stirred restlessly. Mr. Hodges' heavy
+breathing could be plainly heard. There was no other sound. Everyone
+waited in tense expectancy, sensing that the climax of the seance was at
+hand.
+
+Suddenly, behind Al Gepper's chair a spot of ethereal light appeared. As
+Penny watched, it grew in size until the figure had assumed the
+proportions of a man. Then, to her further amazement, it slowly rose
+toward the ceiling, hovering above Mrs. Weems' chair.
+
+Throughout the seance Penny had remained firm in her conviction that the
+medium had resorted to trickery to produce his startling effects.
+Although she could not be sure, she thought that several times he had
+slipped from his chair to enter the conveniently placed cabinet. She also
+believed that the only way he could have materialized the ghost was by
+donning luminous robes.
+
+"I'll end his little game once and for all," she thought.
+
+Deliberately she waited until the ghostly figure floated close to her own
+chair. Then with a sudden upward spring, she snatched at it.
+
+Greatly to her chagrin, her hand encountered nothing solid. With the
+speed of lightning, the figure streaked toward the cabinet behind Al
+Gepper's chair and was seen no more.
+
+Arising, the medium switched on the room lights. His face was white with
+anger.
+
+"I warned you to make no move," he said harshly to Penny. "You
+deliberately disobeyed me."
+
+"Oh, Penny, why did you do it?" wailed Mrs. Weems. "I was so eager to get
+another message from Cousin David."
+
+"His Spirit has been frightened away," announced the medium. "It will be
+impossible ever to recall him. For that matter, I shall never again
+conduct a seance with this young person present. She is a disturbing
+element."
+
+"Oh, Penny, you've ruined everything," said Mrs. Weems accusingly. "Why
+do you act so outrageously?"
+
+Penny started to speak and then changed her mind. Mrs. Weems, the
+seamstress and her husband, all were gazing at her with deep reproach.
+She realized that there was nothing she could say which would make them
+understand.
+
+She arose and walked to the easel. The painting of Cousin David remained
+clearly visible. She touched it and then glanced at her finger which bore
+a streak of red.
+
+The paint was still wet.
+
+Penny stared at her finger a moment. Lifting her eyes she met the
+triumphant gaze of Al Gepper.
+
+"Not even a skillful artist could have painted a picture so quickly," he
+said with a smirk. "Only a spirit would have the ability. You are
+dumbfounded, my little one?"
+
+"No, just plain dumb," answered Penny. "I salute you, Mr. Gepper."
+
+Without waiting for Mrs. Weems, she turned and went from the house.
+
+"Now how _did_ he do it?" she muttered. "I saw everything and yet I am
+more in the dark than ever. But I am sure of one thing. Unless I work
+fast, Al Gepper is almost certain to obtain Mrs. Weems' inheritance."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   15
+                             _HIDDEN MONEY_
+
+
+One of Penny's first acts upon arriving home was to scan the telephone
+directory under the heading, Investment Firms. The three companies
+mentioned during the seance, White and Edwards, Brantwell, and Bierkamp,
+were unlisted.
+
+"Evidently there are no such firms in Riverview," she reflected. "But why
+was Mrs. Weems advised to invest her money with one of them? It looks
+very suspicious to me!"
+
+Not until after five o'clock did Mrs. Weems return from the Hodges'. She
+seemed rather upset, and when Penny tried to bring up the subject of the
+seance, said distantly:
+
+"Please, Penny, I prefer not to discuss it. Your conduct was
+disgraceful."
+
+"I apologize for grabbing at the ghost, Mrs. Weems. I only did it to
+prove that Al Gepper is a fraud."
+
+"Your motives were quite apparent. One could not blame Mr. Gepper for
+being angry."
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Weems," said Penny in desperation. "How can you be taken in by
+his smooth line? His one purpose is to obtain your money."
+
+"You are very unjust," the housekeeper responded. "Today I tried to pay
+Mr. Gepper for the seance and he would not accept one penny."
+
+"That's because he is playing for higher stakes."
+
+"It's no use discussing the matter with you," Mrs. Weems shrugged. "You
+are prejudiced and will give the man credit for nothing."
+
+"I give him credit for being very clever. Mrs. Weems, please promise that
+you'll not allow him to invest your money for you."
+
+"I have no intention of doing so, Penny. It does seem to me that I should
+consider Cousin David's wishes in the matter. Very likely I shall abandon
+my plans for the western trip."
+
+"And stay here with us?" Penny cried eagerly.
+
+"No, I am thinking of going to a larger city and taking an apartment.
+With my money invested in eight per cent securities, I should have a
+comfortable little income."
+
+"Mrs. Weems, I've heard Dad say over and over that sound securities will
+not pay such a high rate of interest. Promise you won't invest your money
+until you've talked with him."
+
+"You're always asking me to promise something or other," the housekeeper
+sighed. "This time I shall use my own judgment."
+
+Realizing that further argument was only a waste of breath, Penny
+wandered outside to await her father. When he came, they sat together on
+the front porch steps, discussing the situation.
+
+"I'll drop a word of advice to Mrs. Weems at the first opportunity,"
+offered Mr. Parker. "If she is in the mood you describe, it would not be
+wise to bring up the subject tonight. She merely would resent my
+interference."
+
+"What worries me is that I am afraid she may have told Al Gepper where
+the money is kept."
+
+"Tomorrow I'll urge her again to deposit it in a bank. We'll do our best
+to protect her from these sharpers."
+
+The publisher had been very much interested in Penny's account of the
+seance. However, he was unable to explain how the various tricks had been
+accomplished.
+
+"Dad," Penny said thoughtfully, "you don't suppose there's any chance it
+wasn't trickery?"
+
+"Certainly not! I hope you're not falling under this fellow's spell?"
+
+"No, but it gave me a real shock when I saw Cousin David's face
+materialize on the canvas. It was the absolute image of him--or rather of
+a picture Mrs. Weems once showed me."
+
+A startled expression came over Penny's face. Without explanation, she
+sprang to her feet and ran to the kitchen.
+
+"Mrs. Weems," she cried, "did you ever get it back? Your picture!"
+
+"What picture, Penny?" The housekeeper scarcely glanced up as she
+vigorously scrubbed carrots.
+
+"I mean the one of Cousin David. You allowed a photographer to take it
+for enlargement."
+
+"It hasn't been returned," Mrs. Weems admitted. "I can't imagine why the
+work takes so long."
+
+"I think I can," announced Penny. "But you never would believe me if I
+told you, so I won't."
+
+Racing to the porch, she revealed to her father what she thought had
+occurred. It was her theory that the agent who had called at the Parker
+home days earlier had in actuality been one of Al Gepper's assistants.
+
+"Don't you see, Dad!" she cried. "The man obtained a picture of Cousin
+David, and probably turned it over to the medium." Her face fell
+slightly. "Of course, that still doesn't explain how the painting slowly
+materialized."
+
+"Nor does it explain the ghost or the banjo. Penny, couldn't Gepper have
+painted the picture himself in the darkness?"
+
+"There wasn't time, Dad. Besides, he held a flashlight on the painting.
+No human hand touched it."
+
+"You say, too, that the banjo was high overhead when it played?"
+
+"That's right, Dad. Gepper couldn't have reached the strings. The
+instrument floated free in the air."
+
+"Sounds fantastic."
+
+"Believe me, it was, Dad. It's no wonder Gepper is gaining such influence
+over Mrs. Weems. He's as slick as a greased fox!"
+
+"I'll have Jerry go to the house and try to learn how the fellow
+operates," declared Mr. Parker. "We can't break the story until we have
+absolute evidence that Gepper has obtained money under false pretenses."
+
+The next day Penny remained close at home. Mrs. Weems still treated her
+somewhat distantly, leaving the house immediately after lunch and
+declining to explain where she was going. Penny was quite certain that
+her destination was the Hodges' cottage.
+
+"Guess I'll run over and see Louise," she thought restlessly. "Nothing to
+do here."
+
+Before she could leave the house, the doorbell rang. A man of perhaps
+thirty, well dressed, with a leather briefcase tucked under his arm,
+stood on the front porch. He bowed politely to Penny.
+
+"This is where Mrs. Weems resides, I believe?"
+
+"Yes, but she isn't here now."
+
+"When will she be home?"
+
+"I can't say," replied Penny. "Are you an agent?"
+
+The man's appearance displeased her although she could not have said
+exactly why. His smile was too ingratiating, his eyes calculating and
+hard.
+
+"My name is Bierkamp," he explained. "I represent the Harold G. Bierkamp
+Investment Company."
+
+Penny stiffened. She glared at the agent. "You mean you represent the Al
+Gepper Spookus Company," she said in a cutting voice. "Well, Mrs. Weems
+doesn't want any of your wonderful eight per cent stocks! She'll not see
+you, so don't come here again!"
+
+"And who are you to speak for her?" the man retorted.
+
+"If you come here again, I'll call the police," Penny threatened. "Now
+get out!"
+
+Without another word, the man retreated down the street. Penny watched
+until he turned a corner and was lost to view. She was a trifle worried
+as to what she had done.
+
+"If Mrs. Weems learns about this she'll never forgive me," she thought
+uneasily. "But he was a crook sent by Al Gepper. I know it."
+
+Wandering upstairs, she entered the bathroom, intending to wash before
+going to Louise's home. On the tiled floor lay a velvet ribbon with a key
+attached. At once, Penny realized that Mrs. Weems had left it there
+inadvertently.
+
+"It's the key to her desk," she reflected, picking it up. "And she
+insists that her money is kept in a safe place! I have a notion to play a
+joke on her."
+
+The longer Penny considered the idea, the more it pleased her.
+Jubilantly, she set forth for the Sidell home. Taking Louise into her
+confidence, she visited a novelty shop and purchased a supply of fake
+money.
+
+Returning home, she then unlocked the drawer of Mrs. Weems' desk and,
+removing the six thousand dollars, replaced it with neat stacks of
+imitation bills. Louise watched her with misgiving.
+
+"Penny, this joke of yours isn't likely to strike Mrs. Weems as very
+funny," she warned. "You're always doing things which get you into
+trouble."
+
+"This is in a good cause, Lou. I am protecting Mrs. Weems from her own
+folly."
+
+"What will you do with the money?"
+
+"Deposit it in a bank."
+
+"You are taking matters into your hands with a vengeance! Suppose you're
+robbed on the way downtown?"
+
+"That would complicate my life. Upon second thought, I'll send for an
+armored truck."
+
+To Louise's amazement, Penny actually carried through her plan. A heavily
+guarded express truck presently drew up before the Parker residence, and
+Mrs. Weems' money was turned over to the two armed men who promised that
+it would be delivered safely to the First National Bank.
+
+"There, that's a load off my mind," said Penny. "Just let Al Gepper try
+to steal Mrs. Weems' money now!"
+
+Louise shook her head sadly. "You may be accused of stealing yourself. I
+wouldn't be in your slippers when Mrs. Weems learns about this."
+
+"Oh, I'll be able to explain," laughed Penny.
+
+The joke she had played did not seem quite so funny an hour later. Mrs.
+Weems returned home and without comment recovered the key which had been
+replaced on the lavatory floor. She did not open her desk or mention the
+money.
+
+At dinner Penny was so subdued that the housekeeper inquired if she were
+ill.
+
+"Not yet," the girl answered. "I'm just thinking about the future. It's
+so depressing."
+
+"Perhaps a picture show would cheer us all," proposed Mr. Parker.
+
+Mrs. Weems displayed interest, and Penny, without enthusiasm, agreed to
+go. Eight o'clock found them at the Avalon, a neighborhood theatre. The
+show was not to Penny's liking, although her father and the housekeeper
+seemed to enjoy it. She squirmed restlessly, and finally whispered to her
+father that she was returning home.
+
+In truth, as Penny well knew, she was suffering from an acute case of
+"conscience." Now that it was too late, she regretted having meddled with
+Mrs. Weems' money.
+
+Gloomily she walked home alone. As she entered, she heard the telephone
+ringing, but before she could answer, the party hung up. With a sigh
+Penny locked the front door again, switched out the lights and went to
+bed.
+
+For a long while she lay staring at a patch of moonlight on the bedroom
+carpet. Although she felt tired she could not sleep.
+
+"It's just as Louise said," she reflected. "I'm always getting myself
+into hot water and for no good reason, either!"
+
+Her morose thoughts were interrupted as a hard object thudded against a
+nearby wall. Penny sat up, listening. She believed that the sound had
+come from Mrs. Weems' room, yet she knew she was alone in the house.
+
+Rolling from bed, she groped for a robe, and without turning on the
+lights, tiptoed down the hall. Mrs. Weems' door stood open. Was some
+intruder hidden in that room?
+
+Peering inside, Penny at first noticed nothing amiss. Then her gaze
+fastened on the window sill, plainly visible in the moonlight. Two iron
+hooks, evenly spaced, had been clamped over the ledge!
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   16
+                        _OVER THE WINDOW LEDGE_
+
+
+As Penny flattened herself against the wall, the head and shoulders of a
+man slowly rose into view. Although his body was plainly silhouetted in
+the moonlight, she could not see his face.
+
+The intruder raised the sash, making no sound. He hesitated, listening a
+moment, then dropped lightly into the bedroom.
+
+Without turning on a flashlight which he carried, he went directly to
+Mrs. Weems' desk. So deliberate was the action that Penny instantly
+decided the fellow had come for a particular purpose and knew the lay-out
+of the entire house.
+
+"He means to steal Mrs. Weems' money!" she thought.
+
+Opening the desk, the man tried the drawer where the inheritance funds
+had been hidden. Failing to unlock it with a key, he took a tool from his
+pocket and in a moment had broken the lock.
+
+Removing the stack of fake bills which Penny had substituted, he thrust
+them into his coat. Taking no interest in anything else in the room, he
+moved stealthily toward the window.
+
+Penny knew there was no one within calling distance and that the man
+probably was armed. Wisdom dictated that she remain in hiding, but she
+was determined the thief should not escape. Hoping to take him by
+surprise, she stalked forward.
+
+A board creaked. With a muttered exclamation the man whirled around. At
+the same instant Penny flung herself upon him, diving low in imitation of
+a football tackle.
+
+The thief reeled, but instead of falling he recovered his balance and
+gave Penny a tremendous shove which sent her sprawling backwards. Before
+she could regain her feet, he ran to the window. Swinging himself over
+the ledge, he vanished from view.
+
+By the time Penny reached the window there was no sign of the intruder.
+He had disappeared as if into thin air. However, she knew that the man
+must have descended by means of a ladder which he had hastily removed.
+
+She ran her hand over the window ledge. The iron hooks no longer were
+there, only the scars which had been cut in the wood.
+
+"This undoubtedly was the same fellow who broke into the Kohl apartment!"
+she thought. "But how did he escape so quickly?"
+
+Penny started for a telephone, intending to notify the police. However,
+when it occurred to her that her father might not wish the matter made
+public, she changed her mind and ran downstairs.
+
+Unlocking the rear door, she glanced carefully about the yard. There was
+no one in sight, no movement behind any of the shrubbery.
+
+"He's gone, of course," she thought.
+
+Penny wore no shoes. Finding a pair of old galoshes on the porch, she
+protected her feet with them, and hobbled into the yard.
+
+The grass beneath Mrs. Weems' window had been trampled, but at first
+glance there was no clue to indicate how the burglar had gained entrance
+to the house.
+
+"Obviously he used a ladder," she reasoned. "But how did he descend so
+quickly? And what became of the ladder? I know he never had time to carry
+away one of the ordinary type."
+
+A dark object lying on the grass attracted Penny's attention. Picking it
+up, she carried it to the porch and switched on a light that she might
+see to better advantage. In her hand she held a torn strand of black silk
+rope.
+
+"This may be an important clue!" she thought excitedly. "I know now how
+the man entered the house!"
+
+As Penny examined the piece of rope, automobile headlight beams cut a
+path across the yard. The Parker car drew up on the driveway and both
+Mrs. Weems and Mr. Parker alighted.
+
+"Dad, come here quickly!" Penny called as he started to open the garage
+doors.
+
+"What's wrong, Penny?"
+
+Both the publisher and Mrs. Weems came toward the porch.
+
+"We've had a burglar," Penny announced. "He broke into Mrs. Weems' room,
+smashing the lock on the desk--"
+
+"My money!" the housekeeper exclaimed in horror. "Oh, Penny, don't tell
+me that it's gone!"
+
+"He escaped with the contents of the drawer."
+
+Mrs. Weems gave a moan of anguish. "Haven't you called the police?" she
+demanded. "When did it happen? Tell me everything!"
+
+"First, I'll set your mind at rest," Penny replied. "Your money is safe."
+
+"Oh! I never was so relieved in all my born days." Mrs. Weems sagged
+weakly into a porch rocker. "Penny, how could you torture me by letting
+me think the money was stolen?"
+
+"Because I have a confession to make, Mrs. Weems. You left the key to
+your desk lying on the bathroom floor. I thought it might be a good joke
+to move the money to another place."
+
+"Oh, you darling blessed girl!" laughed Mrs. Weems. "Where did you hide
+it, Penny? Are you sure it's safe?"
+
+"It should be. I had it taken to the First National Bank and deposited in
+your name. The thief carried off a package of fake money."
+
+"Rather high-handed weren't you?" commented her father.
+
+"Now don't you scold her," spoke Mrs. Weems quickly. "I am glad Penny
+acted as she did. Otherwise, I might have lost my entire inheritance."
+
+Penny drew a deep breath. "I'm relieved you feel that way about it. I
+wish I could see the burglar's face when he discovers he stole worthless
+money!"
+
+Both the housekeeper and Mr. Parker pressed her with questions. She
+revealed exactly what had occurred during their absence, showing them the
+strand of black silk rope.
+
+"Dad, I think this may be a valuable clue," she declared. "What does it
+suggest to you?"
+
+"Not much of anything, I am afraid."
+
+"You remember that when the Kohls were robbed the police couldn't figure
+out how the burglar gained entrance?"
+
+"Yes, I recall the story."
+
+"Well, I believe the same man committed both burglaries."
+
+"Why do you think so, Penny?"
+
+"At the Kohl's the police found two marks on the window ledge apparently
+made by iron hooks. Similar marks are on the sill in Mrs. Weems' room.
+For that matter, I distinctly saw the iron pieces bite into the wood."
+
+"Let's look at them," proposed Mr. Parker.
+
+"Only the marks are there now, Dad. The man jerked the hooks loose after
+he descended. They must have been attached to his ladder."
+
+"I thought you said he had none, Penny."
+
+"There was no time for him to have carried away an ordinary, heavy
+ladder. I think the one he used must have been made of silk."
+
+"And this is a piece of it!" Mr. Parker exclaimed, examining the twisted
+strand with new interest. "Your theory sounds plausible. It would be
+possible for a man to scale a wall with such a ladder."
+
+"He could jerk loose the hooks in an instant, too, Dad. The ladder would
+fit into a small suitcase, or even his pocket!"
+
+"There's one objection to your theory, Penny. How could such a ladder be
+raised to the window ledge? It naturally would be limp."
+
+"That part has me puzzled, I'll admit."
+
+"I never even heard of a silken ladder," said Mrs. Weems doubtfully.
+
+"I once saw one being made," declared Penny with deliberate emphasis. "At
+a Japanese Shop on Dorr Street."
+
+"That's right, you spoke of it!" exclaimed her father. "Penny, you may
+have something!"
+
+"I think so, Dad. This strand of twisted silk may lead straight to Kano's
+Curio Shop."
+
+"And from there?"
+
+Penny hesitated, glancing at Mrs. Weems. She knew that the housekeeper
+might take offense, but she answered quietly:
+
+"My guess would be to Al Gepper, Dad. Who but he or an accomplice could
+have known where the money was hidden?"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   17
+                          _KANO'S CURIO SHOP_
+
+
+As Penny had anticipated, Mrs. Weems indignantly declared that she did
+not believe Mr. Gepper could have had any connection with the attempted
+robbery. Yet, even as she made the assertion, a startled expression came
+over her face.
+
+"Think back, Mrs. Weems," urged Mr. Parker. "How many persons knew where
+you had secreted the money?"
+
+"I told Mrs. Hodges."
+
+"And Al Gepper?" Penny probed.
+
+"Well--" The housekeeper looked ill at ease. "He may have heard me
+talking with Mrs. Hodges. I remember he passed through the hall while we
+were together."
+
+"What day was that?" inquired Penny.
+
+"Yesterday. After the seance. But I can't believe that Mr. Gepper would
+try to steal the money. I just can't!"
+
+"From what Penny has told me of the man, I should judge that he is a
+schemer," contributed Mr. Parker. "You know the _Star_ has started a
+vigorous campaign directed against such mediums as Al Gepper."
+
+"But he told me such remarkable things about Cousin David," protested
+Mrs. Weems. "Facts which couldn't be faked."
+
+"Oh, Gepper doesn't make many false moves," acknowledged Penny. "He's a
+smooth worker. All the same, he's a fake."
+
+"How could he have faked Cousin David's message? You forget we actually
+saw the picture of my relative painted without the aid of a human hand."
+
+"Did the picture closely resemble your cousin?" inquired Mr. Parker.
+
+"Oh, yes, indeed. It looked exactly as I saw him many years ago."
+
+"Isn't that rather odd?" demanded Penny. "One would expect Cousin David
+to age a little."
+
+"Penny believes that a photographer's agent who came here a few days ago
+was sent by Gepper to obtain a picture of your relative," explained Mr.
+Parker. "Did the man ask you many questions about your cousin?"
+
+"Well, yes, he did," Mrs. Weems admitted unwillingly. "I made a mistake
+giving him the photograph."
+
+"It seems fairly evident that the picture was used by Gepper," Mr. Parker
+commented. "Whether he plotted to steal your money remains to be proven.
+Penny, you saw the man plainly?"
+
+"No, I didn't, Dad. Not his face. He was about the same build as Gepper."
+
+"That's not much to go on."
+
+"From the first Gepper was determined to get Mrs. Weems' money, Dad. He
+sent a man here who pretended to be from the Bierkamp Investment
+Company."
+
+"You didn't tell me that," said Mrs. Weems.
+
+"Well, no I didn't. I was afraid you would invest your money with him, so
+I drove the man away. He must have been Gepper's accomplice. Failing to
+acquire the money by that means, he plotted the burglary."
+
+"Surely you don't agree with Penny?" the housekeeper asked Mr. Parker
+unhappily.
+
+"In general, I am afraid I do. Mr. Gepper is an undesirable character,
+and I should like nothing better than to send him to jail."
+
+"Come upstairs, Mrs. Weems," urged Penny. "I'll show you the desk."
+
+Both the housekeeper and Mr. Parker followed her to the second floor. An
+examination of the bedroom disclosed no additional clues, but after
+studying the marks on the window ledge, the publisher favored Penny's
+theory that a silk ladder had been utilized.
+
+"It was unwise of me to keep my money here," Mrs. Weems remarked in a
+crestfallen tone. "I--I've been silly about everything, I guess."
+
+Penny gave her a quick hug. "No, you haven't. Anyone might have been
+taken in by Al Gepper."
+
+"I shall never attend another of his seances. I'll urge Mrs. Hodges to
+turn him from her house."
+
+"Mrs. Weems, are you willing to help get evidence against him?" asked Mr.
+Parker abruptly.
+
+"Why, yes, if I can."
+
+"Then go to the Hodges' exactly as you have in the past," instructed the
+publisher. "Penny has been warned by Gepper not to attend any of the
+seances, but you'll still be welcome. Learn everything you can and report
+to me."
+
+"I'll be glad to do it, Mr. Parker."
+
+"Don't allow him to guess that you have become suspicious. Above all,
+never withdraw your money from the bank at his suggestion."
+
+"You may be sure I won't. This has taught me a bitter lesson."
+
+"Haven't you an assignment for me, Dad?" inquired Penny. "How about
+Kano's Curio Shop?"
+
+"Early tomorrow I'll send Jerry there to question the old Jap."
+
+"Will you notify the police?"
+
+"Not for the present. If we can crack this story I'd like to get it ahead
+of the _Record_."
+
+"I wish you would send me to Kano's instead of Jerry."
+
+"Dorr Street is no place for you, Penny," Mr. Parker replied, dismissing
+the matter. "Shall we get to bed now? It's nearly midnight."
+
+After the doors had been locked once more Penny went to her room, but she
+did not immediately fall asleep. Instead, she kept mulling over the
+events of the night. The more she thought about it the more firmly she
+became convinced that both the Kohl home and her own had been entered by
+the same person.
+
+"The telephone was ringing when I came from the movie," she recalled.
+"Now I wonder who called? It may have been a trick of the thief to learn
+if anyone were in the house. When no one answered, the assumption would
+be that the coast was clear."
+
+Penny felt rather well satisfied with the way matters had developed. In
+one bold stroke she had saved Mrs. Weems' inheritance, convinced the
+housekeeper that Al Gepper was not to be trusted, and had made definite
+progress in gaining evidence to be used in her father's campaign against
+the charlatan invaders of Riverview. Yet it annoyed her that the story,
+now that it had reached an active stage, was to be turned over to Jerry.
+
+"I have a notion to visit the Kano Curio Shop ahead of him," she thought.
+"That's exactly what I'll do!"
+
+Having made up her mind, she rolled over and promptly fell asleep.
+
+In the morning Penny ate breakfast and wiped the dishes with a speed
+which astonished Mrs. Weems. Shortly after her father left for the
+office, she backed her own maroon car from the garage, and offering only
+a vague explanation, departed for Kano's Curio Shop.
+
+Dorr Street was quite deserted at such an early hour, and the Japanese
+shop owner had just unlocked his doors. He was sweeping the floor as
+Penny boldly entered.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Kano," she greeted him. "You remember me, I believe?"
+
+Mr. Kano bowed, regarding her warily. "Yes," he replied. "You are the
+young lady whose curiosity is very large."
+
+Penny smiled. "You are right, Mr. Kano. It is very large, especially
+about a certain silken ladder."
+
+Mr. Kano frowned as he leaned on his broom. "I am very sorry," he said.
+"I am a merchant, not one who answers what you call the quiz-bee."
+
+Penny understood that the Japanese never would tell her what she wished
+to know save under compulsion. She decided to adopt firm tactics.
+
+"Mr. Kano," she said, "my father is the owner of the _Riverview Star_ and
+he intends to expose certain crooks who have been robbing wealthy persons
+such as the Kohls. You read in the paper that their home was entered?"
+
+"Yes, I read," the Japanese shrugged.
+
+"My own theory is that the thief gained entrance by means of a silk
+ladder," Penny declared. "_A ladder made in this shop!_"
+
+The shopkeeper's eyes narrowed. "I know nothing," he replied. "Nothing.
+You go now, please."
+
+"If I go," said Penny, "I'll return with the police. You would not like
+that, I take it?" Her voice was crisp and full of menace.
+
+Mr. Kano lost some of his poise. "No!" he answered sharply. "I am an
+honest man and want no sad trouble with the police."
+
+Chancing to glance toward the street, Penny observed Jerry Livingston
+standing on the opposite corner. He was gazing thoughtfully toward the
+Curio Shop, and she knew that he must have been sent by her father to
+interview Mr. Kano. Inspired, she turned again to the old Japanese.
+
+"You see that young man yonder?" she asked, indicating Jerry. "I have but
+to summon him and he'll come here."
+
+"Detective?" demanded Mr. Kano, peering anxiously through the window. "Do
+not call him! I am an honest man. I will answer your questions."
+
+"Then tell me about the silken ladder."
+
+"I know little," the shopkeeper insisted. "I made the rope for a man who
+said: 'Do this or we will burn your shop down, Mr. Kano.' So I made the
+ladder and he paid me well for fashioning it."
+
+"And what was the man's name?"
+
+"His name I do not know. But his eyes were small and evil. His skin was
+dark, his nose crooked."
+
+Mr. Kano ceased speaking with an abruptness which caused Penny to glance
+toward the door. Her first thought was that Jerry had entered. Instead a
+strange young man stood there, regarding her suspiciously.
+
+As she stared at him he quickly retreated, but not before she had caught
+a fleeting impression of a face which matched Mr. Kano's description with
+startling accuracy.
+
+"Was he the one?" she demanded as the door slammed. "The man for whom you
+made the ladder?"
+
+"No, no!" denied the Japanese.
+
+His words failed to convince Penny. Darting to the door, she saw that the
+young man already was far down the street, walking rapidly.
+
+"He is the one," she thought. "I'll follow him."
+
+"Wait," called the Japanese as she started away, "I have more to tell
+you."
+
+It was a ruse to detain her, Penny knew. Pushing past the shopkeeper who
+sought to bar the exit, she reached the street and ran toward Jerry
+Livingston.
+
+"Why, Penny!" he exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing in this part
+of town?"
+
+"Never mind that," she answered hastily. "If you're after a story, come
+along with me. We're trailing the man who just left Kano's Shop."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   18
+                            _THE BELL TOWER_
+
+
+Jerry fell into step with Penny. As they walked along, she told him of
+her conversation with Mr. Kano.
+
+"I believe this man we're following is the same one who entered our house
+last night," she declared. "He's the same build as the fellow I grabbed.
+Besides, he fits Kano's description of the person who bought the silken
+ladder."
+
+"Here's hoping you're right," replied Jerry. "If I muff this assignment,
+I may wake up looking for another job."
+
+Fearing that the man ahead would discover he was being followed, Jerry
+and Penny dropped farther and farther behind. Presently they saw him
+enter a pawnshop.
+
+"I know that place," commented Jerry. "It's run by Spike Weiser, a
+notorious _fence_. He buys stolen goods and gets rid of it at a profit.
+Has a swell home on Clarmont Drive."
+
+"Why don't the police arrest him?"
+
+"Oh, they watch the place, but Spike is too smart to be caught. He has a
+system for handling _hot_ goods."
+
+"I'll venture some of the Kohl loot was sold through him, Jerry."
+
+"It wouldn't surprise me. But if the police search the place they won't
+find a thing."
+
+Loitering on the opposite side of the street, Penny and the reporter kept
+close watch of the pawnbroker's shop. Thirty minutes elapsed. The man
+whom they had trailed, did not reappear.
+
+"He must have slipped out the back door," Jerry remarked. "Probably knew
+he was being watched."
+
+"I'm beginning to think so myself."
+
+Jerry glanced at his watch. "I can't take any more time," he said. "I'll
+have to get back to the office."
+
+"I'll watch a few minutes longer," answered Penny. "If anything develops
+I'll try to telephone."
+
+Jerry walked hurriedly away. Scarcely had he disappeared when the door of
+the pawnshop opened, and the young man who had entered a half hour
+earlier, appeared. Penny hastily moved back into the vestibule of an
+office building.
+
+Without observing her, the stranger crossed the street and walked briskly
+toward an intersecting boulevard. There was no opportunity for Penny to
+telephone the _Star_ office. Following, she was hard pressed to keep the
+man within view.
+
+Not until they reached the entrance of Butternut Lane did it dawn upon
+her that the Celestial Temple might be their destination. Then, indeed,
+her pulse stepped up a pace.
+
+"It's exactly as I guessed!" she thought triumphantly. "He's connected
+with Al Gepper and the other mediums!"
+
+Not wishing to attract attention in the deserted lane, Penny took a short
+cut through the cemetery, emerging at the rear of the Celestial Temple.
+There was no door on that side of the building but a window had been left
+raised. Placed beneath it, as if for her particular convenience, was a
+large rock.
+
+Penny stood on it, peering into the Temple. The room was unoccupied.
+However, as she waited, the same man she had trailed, quietly let himself
+in through the front entrance, using a key. He glanced about and called
+in a low voice: "Pete! Pete! Anyone here?"
+
+There was no answer, which seemed to please the young man. He moved
+quickly down the aisle, crossed the platform to a door which opened into
+the bell tower. Kneeling he began to fit keys into the lock, seeking one
+which would serve.
+
+As Penny watched, the young man suddenly straightened. Apparently he had
+heard footsteps in the vestibule for he moved away from the bell tower
+door.
+
+A middle-aged woman with dyed hair and a skin of unusual pallor entered
+the Temple. She stopped short as she saw the young man.
+
+"You here, Slippery?" she commented, gazing at him with distrust.
+"Where's Pete?"
+
+"Hello, Sade. I was wonderin' about Pete myself. Just got here a minute
+ago."
+
+The woman's gaze fastened upon the key which had been left in the bell
+tower door.
+
+"Say, what's coming off here?" she demanded. "You were trying to get
+inside!"
+
+"Now don't ruffle your feathers, Sade," the man said soothingly. "I was
+only testing the door to make sure it was locked."
+
+"I'll bet! You were aiming to break in! Slippery, they sure named you
+right. Why, you'd double-cross your own mother!"
+
+"Oh, quiet down," the man retorted angrily. "I only came here to make
+sure Pete was on the job. The lazy loafer has skipped out and left the
+place unguarded."
+
+The woman deliberately seated herself in a chair beside the bell tower
+door.
+
+"I'm parking here until Pete shows up," she announced. "Maybe you're on
+the square, Slippery, but I don't trust you."
+
+"Thanks for your flattering opinion," the man responded mockingly. "You
+give me a pain, Sade. I do all the dangerous work, and what do I get? A
+measly ten per cent."
+
+"Plus what you stick in your pocket when you're on a job," the woman shot
+back with rising anger. "You've been doing pretty well for yourself,
+Slippery--you and Al. But the boys are getting wise. From now on it may
+not be so easy. Better play fair with the rest of us--or else."
+
+"You always did have a wagging tongue," the man retorted. "Always trying
+to stir up trouble. Don't you realize we've got to work together or we'll
+be jailed separately? Our ranks must be united."
+
+"Gettin' sort of jittery, ain't you?"
+
+"Maybe you haven't been reading those editorials in the _Star_."
+
+"Sure, I read them and get a big laugh. This guy Parker has to blow off
+steam. Nothing will come of it."
+
+"The police have visited this place once already."
+
+"And what did they find? Nothing."
+
+"That's no guarantee they won't try again. I tell you this town is
+getting too hot for comfort."
+
+"Figurin' on blowing?" the woman inquired, watching him shrewdly.
+
+Slippery's laughter had an unpleasant edge. "You sure do get ideas, Sade.
+Don't start peddling that line of talk. Understand?"
+
+"I hear."
+
+Suddenly losing his temper, the man strode nearer, seizing her arm.
+
+"Just start something and see where you wake up!" he said harshly. "One
+word to Pete or any of the boys and you won't do any more pretty fortune
+telling!"
+
+The woman jerked her arm free, gazing at the man in sullen silence. Nor
+did she speak as he left the Temple, slamming the door behind him.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   19
+                          _PENNY INVESTIGATES_
+
+
+Penny debated whether or not to follow Slippery. Deciding that she should
+try to keep him within sight, she abandoned her post beneath the window
+and ran to the front of the building.
+
+Already the young man was far down the lane, walking rapidly. Before
+Penny could overtake him he hailed a taxi and drove away. By the time she
+obtained another cab, pursuit was futile.
+
+"To the _Star_ office," Penny ordered the driver.
+
+Although Slippery had eluded her, she did not feel that her morning's
+work had been wasted. She believed that her father would be very much
+interested in a report of her findings.
+
+"It's evident that Slippery is connected with Al Gepper and various
+mediums of the Celestial Temple," she reflected. "I am sure, too, that
+he's the one who broke into our house, but to prove it may not be so
+easy."
+
+Penny had not fully understood the conversation which she had overheard
+between Slippery and Sade. That they distrusted each other was evident,
+but why had the woman feared Slippery might break into the bell tower
+during the guard's absence?
+
+"Something of great value to the organization must be kept there," she
+reasoned. "But what can it be?"
+
+Penny believed that her father would not delay in requesting police to
+search the bell tower of the Celestial Temple. However, a disappointment
+awaited her.
+
+Upon arriving at the newspaper office DeWitt stopped her as she went past
+his desk.
+
+"Don't go in there," he said, jerking his thumb toward Mr. Parker's
+private room.
+
+"Why not?" asked Penny in surprise. "Is Dad having a conference?"
+
+DeWitt nodded as he composed a two column headline. "With J. P. Henley."
+
+"The _Star's_ Sugar Daddy?"
+
+"Our biggest advertiser. He's threatening to go over to the _Record_."
+
+"Why, that's serious!"
+
+"It is if he quits the _Star_. The old man--Mr. Parker--" DeWitt
+corrected hastily, "has been trying to soften him up for the past two
+hours. Whatever you do, don't bust in there now."
+
+"I won't, Mr. DeWitt, but I did wish to see Dad."
+
+"Anything I can do for you?"
+
+Penny hesitated. "Well, I wanted to talk to him about something I learned
+today at the Celestial Temple."
+
+"Oh, yes," nodded the city editor, his attention on a sheet of copy. "Mr.
+Parker is handling the campaign personally. Sorry I can't be of service."
+
+Rather startled by DeWitt's unusual politeness, Penny glanced hopefully
+toward Jerry Livingston's desk. It was littered with papers, but quite
+deserted.
+
+With a sigh she left the building and walked to Dorr Street where she had
+left her maroon car. Upon reaching home she found that Mrs. Weems was not
+there and she had forgotten her own key. For a time she sat
+disconsolately on the front porch. Then she decided to go to the Hudell
+Garage where Leaping Lena had been left for repairs three days earlier.
+
+The car was ready, and with it a bill for eight dollars and forty-two
+cents.
+
+"I'll have to give you a dollar on account and pay the remainder next
+week," said Penny. "Or would you rather keep the car as a deposit?"
+
+"Give me the dollar," said the garage man hastily.
+
+Penny became even more depressed as she drove the automobile home. Not
+for the world would she openly admit that she had made a mistake in
+repurchasing Lena. Secretly she acknowledged that two cars were an
+unbearable financial drain upon slender resources.
+
+Turning into her own street, Penny saw Mrs. Weems walking toward home,
+and stopped for her.
+
+"I've just come from the Hodges'," the housekeeper commented, climbing
+into the car.
+
+"You have?" inquired Penny eagerly. "Did you learn anything?"
+
+"No, I didn't. Mr. Gepper seemed very unwilling to conduct another
+seance. He acted so different this time--almost as if he bore me a
+personal grudge."
+
+"He's probably provoked because your inheritance eluded him."
+
+"He did tell Mrs. Hodges that he doubted I had any money," Mrs. Weems
+responded.
+
+"What happened at the seance?"
+
+"Why, nothing. The table moved and we heard a few raps. That was all."
+
+"No message from Cousin David?"
+
+"Not a word or a sign. Mr. Gepper seemed very indifferent about it all.
+He said he couldn't give me another appointment unless I paid for it."
+
+"What do you think about him now?" Penny asked curiously. "Don't you
+agree with Dad and me that he was after your money?"
+
+"Yes, I was very silly," the housekeeper acknowledged. "Mrs. Hodges has
+begun to lose faith in him, too. She says he's been bringing all sorts of
+folks to her place. When she told him she didn't care to have the house
+over-run with strangers, he became very unpleasant."
+
+"You mean he threatened her?"
+
+"In a mild way. He told her that he would stay as long as he pleased and
+she could do nothing about it. Mrs. Hodges is afraid to go to the police
+for fear she'll be arrested with Mr. Gepper."
+
+"I wonder if he ever has charged for his seances?" Penny said
+thoughtfully.
+
+"I am sure he has, Penny. Of course I have no proof."
+
+"Mrs. Weems, you must go there again this afternoon," Penny urged.
+"Insist upon another seance, and pay him for it! Then you'll be able to
+testify as a witness against him!"
+
+"But I don't wish to go into court," the housekeeper protested. "Besides,
+Mr. Gepper won't be at the cottage this afternoon."
+
+"Where is he going?" Penny questioned alertly.
+
+"I don't know. I heard him tell Mrs. Hodges he would be gone this
+afternoon, but would return for an eight o'clock seance."
+
+"Why, that's fine--wonderful!" chuckled Penny.
+
+Mrs. Weems gazed at the girl with sudden suspicion. "Now what have you
+thought up?" she demanded.
+
+"Nothing alarming," grinned Penny. "I merely plan to visit Mr. Gepper's
+studio during his absence. Who knows, I may yet master a few of the finer
+points of ghost-making!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   20
+                          _INSIDE THE CABINET_
+
+
+Despite Mrs. Weems' protests, Penny remained firm in her decision to
+investigate Mr. Gepper's studio. She ate a belatedly prepared lunch and
+did not reach the Hodges' cottage until nearly four o'clock, having
+driven there in Lena.
+
+The doors were closed and Penny knocked several times without receiving a
+response.
+
+"Everyone must have gone away," she thought. "Oh, dear, now what shall I
+do?"
+
+Penny reasoned that it was of vital importance for her to inspect Al
+Gepper's room during his absence. She might never have another
+opportunity. Yet she hesitated to enter the house while the Hodges were
+away, even though she felt certain the seamstress would not mind.
+
+Walking to the rear, Penny noticed that the porch screen had been left
+unfastened. Entering the kitchen, she called Mrs. Hodges' name but
+received no answer.
+
+"If I wait for her to come home it may be too late," decided Penny. "This
+is an emergency."
+
+Her mind made up, she took the stairs two at a time to Al Gepper's room.
+Her knock went unanswered. Satisfied that he was not there, she tried the
+door and found it unlocked.
+
+Penny raised a blind to flood light into the darkened room. Save that a
+film of dust covered the furniture, everything was approximately the same
+as she had last seen it.
+
+Her gaze fell upon two suitcases which had been pushed beneath the bed.
+The first contained only miscellaneous clothing. The second merited a
+more careful inspection.
+
+Almost at once Penny came upon an old faded picture, the one of Cousin
+David which Mrs. Weems had given to the photographer's "agent."
+
+"So that was how it was done!" she thought. "Al Gepper sent one of his
+confederates to see Mrs. Weems and obtain information about her cousin.
+The painting which appeared so miraculously during the seance was merely
+a copy of this! Even so, how was it painted so quickly?"
+
+Forgetting the picture for a moment, Penny picked up several newspaper
+clippings which were fastened together with a rubber band. All had been
+taken from the obituary column and concerned the death of well-to-do
+Riverview persons.
+
+"Al Gepper and his pals are ghouls!" Penny told herself. "They prey upon
+the relatives of persons who have died, realizing that at such a time it
+will be much easier to interest them in trying to communicate with the
+departed!"
+
+Lifting a tray from the suitcase, her attention focused upon a small red
+booklet. As she turned rapidly through it, a folded sheet of paper fell
+to the floor.
+
+Examining it, Penny saw a long list of names, together with pertinent
+information about each person. Not only was the address and financial
+standing of the individual given, but the deceased relatives in each
+family and other facts of a personal nature. The list had been
+mimeographed.
+
+"This must be a 'sucker' list!" thought Penny. "No wonder it's easy for a
+medium to find victims and tell them astonishing facts."
+
+Thrusting the paper into her pocket, she turned her attention to the
+wardrobe closet. Al Gepper's clothes hung in orderly rows from the
+hangers. Behind them, half hidden from view, was a small box.
+
+Pulling it to the window, Penny examined the contents. There were many
+bottles filled with chemicals, the names of which were unfamiliar. She
+noted a bottle of varnish, another of zinc white, and some photographic
+paper in a sealed envelope.
+
+A glance satisfying her, she replaced the box and next turned her
+attention to the cabinet behind the large circular table. Here she was
+richly rewarded as her gaze fell upon a banjo.
+
+"The same one which played during Mrs. Weems' seance!" she thought. "We
+were able to see it in the dark because it's covered with luminous paint.
+But what made it rise into the air, and how could it play without the aid
+of human hands?"
+
+Penny examined the instrument closely. She chuckled as she discovered a
+tiny phonograph with a record built into its back side. As she pressed a
+control lever, it began a stringed version of "Down Upon the Swanee
+River."
+
+Quickly turning it off, she inspected other objects in the cabinet. At
+once she found a rod which could be extended to a height of five feet.
+
+"That's how the banjo was raised!" she reasoned. "And by use of this rod
+it would be easy to make a ghost appear to float high overhead. This
+luminous material must have been used."
+
+Penny picked up a filmy robe, shaking out the many folds. While it was
+clear to her that Al Gepper had employed the garment to materialize the
+so-called spirit of Cousin David, she could only guess how he had made it
+enlarge from a mere spot to a full sized figure.
+
+"He must have wadded the cloth in his hand, and held it above his head,"
+she mused. "Then he could have slowly shaken it out until it covered his
+entire body. Thus the figure would appear to grow in size."
+
+In one corner of the cabinet Penny came upon a luminous slate.
+
+"This was used for Cousin David's message," she thought. "Al probably had
+an assistant who wrote on it and thrust it through the curtain."
+
+While many questions remained unanswered, Penny had obtained sufficient
+evidence to indicate that Al Gepper was only a clever trickster. Greatly
+elated, she decided to hasten to the _Star_ office to report her
+findings.
+
+Noticing that she had neglected to return the two suitcases to their
+former places, Penny pushed them under the bed again. As she
+straightened, a door slammed on the lower floor.
+
+For an instant she hoped that it was Mrs. Hodges or her husband who had
+come home. Then she heard footsteps on the stairs, and their rapidity
+warned her that they could belong only to a young person.
+
+Frantically, she gazed about the room. The cabinet seemed to offer the
+safest hiding place. Slipping into it, she pulled the black curtain
+across the opening.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   21
+                        _STARTLING INFORMATION_
+
+
+Scarcely had Penny hidden herself when Al Gepper entered the room. With
+him was the hook-nosed young man known as Slippery.
+
+"I tell you, Al," the latter was saying, "this town is getting too hot
+for comfort. We've got to blow."
+
+"It was that Parker girl who queered everything," muttered Gepper. "How
+could I know that her father was a newspaper publisher? He's stirred up
+folks with his editorials."
+
+"You never should have let her in here. We had a swell set-up, but now we
+can expect a raid any day."
+
+"I tell you I thought she was just a smart-aleck kid, a friend of the
+Hodges'. Didn't learn until yesterday who she was."
+
+"We've got to blow, Al. Sade's threatening to make trouble, too. She
+thinks we're holding out on the others."
+
+"We have picked up a little extra coin now and then."
+
+"Sure, Al, but we've always been the brains of the outfit. We take most
+of the risk, plan all the big jobs, so why shouldn't we have more?"
+
+"It's time we cut loose from 'em, Slippery."
+
+"Now you're talking! But we can't pull out until the Henley job comes
+off. I've had a tip that the house is likely to be deserted tonight.
+Let's make the haul and then skip."
+
+"Okay," agreed Gepper. "I have some suckers coming for a seance at eight.
+I'll get rid of them in quick time, and be waiting. So long, Slippery."
+
+A door slammed, telling Penny that the hook-nosed man had left. She was
+somewhat stunned by what she had overheard, believing that the Henley who
+had been mentioned must be her father's chief advertiser.
+
+Nervously she waited inside the cabinet, wishing that she might take her
+information to the police. To her intense annoyance, Al Gepper did not
+leave the room even for a moment.
+
+Instead he threw himself on the bed and read a tabloid newspaper. After
+an hour, he arose and began to prepare his supper on an electric grill.
+
+Penny shifted from one position to another, growing more impatient. Every
+time the man came toward the cabinet her heart beat a trifle faster. She
+was quite sure the Hodges had not yet returned home, and should Al Gepper
+discover her, he would not treat her kindly.
+
+The medium finished his supper and stacked the dishes in the closet
+without washing them. Then he started to get ready for the night's
+seance.
+
+Peeping from between the cracks of the curtain, Penny saw him seat
+himself before the easel. With painstaking care he painted a picture of a
+woman, using a photograph as a model. After a coating of varnish had been
+applied, he allowed it to dry and afterwards covered the entire picture
+with zinc white. The original painting was entirely hidden.
+
+Penny knew that hours had elapsed. The room gradually darkened, and Al
+Gepper turned on the lights.
+
+"Oh, dear, I must get out of here soon!" the girl thought desperately.
+"But if I make a break for it he'll be sure to see me. That will ruin all
+my plans."
+
+Eight o'clock came. Al Gepper put on his coat, combed his hair and was
+alertly waiting when the doorbell rang. However, instead of descending
+the stairs he shouted an invitation for the visitors to come up.
+
+Two women in their early forties were ushered into the seance chamber, to
+be followed almost immediately by an elderly man.
+
+"We will start at once if you please," said Al Gepper brusquely. "I have
+another engagement tonight. However, before the seance is undertaken I
+must ask that each of you pay the required fee, five dollars."
+
+The money was paid, and the three persons seated themselves at the table.
+Gepper switched off the lights.
+
+The seance began in much the same manner as the one Penny had attended.
+The medium called upon the spirit of a woman named Flora to appear.
+
+"Now concentrate hard--everyone," he instructed. "Flora, where are you?
+Can you not show yourself that we may know it is truly your spirit which
+communicates with us?"
+
+From the cabinet, so close to Al Gepper that she could have touched his
+hand, Penny was able to see his every move. Yet so swift was his next
+action, that she barely discerned it.
+
+Taking a wet sponge from his pocket he wiped it across the painting
+previously prepared. The picture immediately became visible to the
+audience as Gepper focused his flashlight on the canvas.
+
+"That wasn't the way he made Mrs. Weems' picture appear," thought Penny.
+"The fellow must have a great repertoire of tricks!"
+
+The seance had become so interesting that she no longer thought of
+escape. Nevertheless, she came to a sudden realization of her precarious
+position as she heard the medium say that he would next endeavor to
+persuade the Spirit of Flora to take actual shape. With a shock it dawned
+upon her that in another moment the man would enter the cabinet to make
+use of the luminous gauze robe and other paraphernalia.
+
+Knowing that she could not hide from him, Penny decided upon a bold break
+for freedom. Dropping the ghostly robe over her face and shoulders, she
+pulled aside the dark curtain and flitted into the room.
+
+Her dramatic entrance brought gasps of astonishment from the persons who
+sat at the circular table. The medium, as dumbfounded as his audience
+muttered: "What the dickens!" and pushed back his chair, his legs rasping
+on the floor.
+
+Penny did not linger, but darted past the group and groped for the door.
+In the darkness she could not immediately find it. Her shining robe, on
+the other hand, made her an easy target for Al Gepper.
+
+Angrily the medium strode across the room, seizing her arm. She jerked
+away, but he grasped a fold of the robe. It tore and was left behind.
+
+At that critical instant, Penny's hand encountered the door. She swung it
+open, and bounded down the stairway.
+
+In the seance chamber a light went on, then the hallway became
+brilliantly illuminated. But by that time the girl was in the dining
+room.
+
+She could hear Al Gepper clattering down the steps, intent upon capturing
+her. Penny was determined that he should never learn her identity.
+
+Letting herself out of the house by way of the kitchen door, she decided
+that if she attempted to cross the yard, the medium certainly would
+recognize her. The woodpile offered a hiding place and she crouched
+behind it.
+
+Scarcely had she secreted herself, when Al Gepper ran into the yard. He
+glanced about carefully and circled the house twice.
+
+Finally, convinced that the "ghost" had escaped he came back to the
+porch. His customers, greatly agitated by what had occurred, were
+demanding explanations.
+
+"Someone played a prank," Gepper explained briefly. "It will be
+impossible to resume the seance for the spirits are offended. You will
+leave, please."
+
+The customers departed and the medium locked himself in the house. He did
+not bother to lower the upstairs hall blind, and Penny caught occasional
+glimpses of him as he moved to and fro.
+
+"He's packing to leave!" she observed. "Unless I act in double-quick
+time, he'll skip town! I must notify Dad and the police without an
+instant's delay!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   22
+                           _SCALING THE WALL_
+
+
+The nearest drugstore with a public telephone was two blocks away. Penny
+ran the distance, and slipping into the booth, she dialed the _Star_
+office. Informed by the building switchboard operator that neither her
+father nor DeWitt was available, she inquired for Jerry Livingston, and
+to her relief was connected with him.
+
+"Listen, Jerry, this is Penny!" she began excitedly. "I haven't time to
+explain, but the lid is blowing off the fake spiritualist story! Rush the
+police out to the Hodges' cottage and demand Al Gepper's arrest! Send
+another squad or some private detectives to Mr. Henley's home."
+
+"Henley!" Jerry exclaimed. "Say, have you gone loco?"
+
+"I'm not making any mistakes," Penny replied tersely. "If you act quickly
+we may prevent a robbery. I'm on my way there now to warn Mr. Henley! Oh,
+yes, try to find Dad or DeWitt and warn them a big story is breaking!"
+
+"Penny, what's this all about?" the reporter demanded. "I can't go to the
+police unless I know what I am doing."
+
+"You must, Jerry. I have plenty of evidence against Gepper and his crowd,
+but unless you take the police to the Hodges' in the next fifteen minutes
+it will be too late!"
+
+Without giving Jerry opportunity to delay her with other questions, Penny
+hung up the receiver. Hastening to the street, she gazed frantically
+about for a taxi. None was to be had.
+
+"I'll get to the Henley place quicker in Lena than by waiting for a cab
+to come along," she thought.
+
+The battered old car had been parked a short distance from the Hodges'
+cottage. Hurrying there, Penny jumped into the ancient vehicle and
+started the motor. As usual it made a loud clatter, but she did not
+suspect that the sound carried far up the street. Nor did she guess that
+Al Gepper stood at the darkened window of his room, watching her.
+
+Penny drove as fast as she could to the Henley home in the southern
+section of Riverview. Lights blazed from the downstairs windows.
+
+Abandoning her car in the driveway, she rang the doorbell. After a long
+wait, a maid appeared.
+
+"Is Mr. Henley here?" Penny asked breathlessly. "Or Mrs. Henley? It's
+most important that I talk with them at once."
+
+"Mrs. Henley has been at the seashore for a month," the maid replied in
+an agitated voice. "Mr. Henley is somewhere downtown. I've been trying to
+get him, but the telephone wire has been cut!"
+
+"The house hasn't been robbed?"
+
+"Mrs. Henley's jewelry has been taken! I don't know what else."
+
+"When did it happen?" Penny asked.
+
+"It must have been during the last half hour. I went to the corner store
+for a book of stamps. When I came back five minutes ago I discovered what
+had occurred. I ought to call the police, but I am afraid to do it until
+I've talked with my employer."
+
+"The police already have been notified," said Penny. "They'll be here any
+minute."
+
+"But how did you know--?" the maid began in astonishment.
+
+Penny had turned away. She was convinced that the burglary had been
+committed by Slippery. Perhaps, by this time he had fled town, but she
+did not believe he would leave without his pal, Al Gepper.
+
+Climbing into the car again, Penny debated. It was reasonable to suppose
+that, having accomplished the burglary, Slippery would return to the
+Hodges' cottage to meet the medium.
+
+"If he does, the police should be on hand to seize him," she thought. "At
+least, he and Al will be held for questioning. But there's one place I
+forgot to cover--the Celestial Temple."
+
+Like a flash came the recollection that Slippery had been deeply
+interested in something which was guarded in the bell tower. Was it not
+possible that he might return there before leaving Riverview?
+
+Shifting gears, Penny turned the car and headed for Butternut Lane.
+Anxiously, she glanced at the gasoline gauge. It registered less than a
+gallon of fuel and she had used her last dime in the telephone booth.
+
+"If I coast on all the downgrades I should just make it," she estimated.
+
+In starting for the Celestial Temple Penny was acting upon a "hunch."
+However, it disturbed her that the Henley burglary had been accomplished,
+and she was afraid she might again be wasting precious time. Now that it
+was too late, she wondered if it would not have been wiser to remain at
+the Hodges' cottage until the police arrived.
+
+"I only hope that end of the affair isn't bungled," she thought. "I'll
+never get over it if Al and Slippery both escape."
+
+Penny had reached the entrance to Butternut Lane. Parking at the side of
+the road, she continued afoot toward the Celestial Temple.
+
+From a distance the building appeared dark. However, as she drew closer
+she could distinguish a dim light. Inside the Temple, a stout man wearing
+a hat sat with his chair tilted against the door of the bell tower room.
+
+"He must be the guard," thought Penny. "Probably the one they call Pete."
+
+Suddenly she paused, retreating into a clump of elder bushes near the
+walk. From the direction of the cemetery a figure emerged. At first, all
+that Penny could distinguish was a man carrying a suitcase. As he drew
+closer, her pulse quickened. Unmistakably, it was Slippery.
+
+Without passing the bushes where the girl had taken refuge, the man
+walked on toward the Temple. Presently he halted. Glancing carefully
+about to assure himself that he was unobserved, he shoved his suitcase
+into the tall weeds which lined the walk. Then he moved to one of the
+Temple windows, peering into the gloomy interior.
+
+"Now what?" thought Penny, watching alertly. "This should prove
+interesting."
+
+Slippery remained beneath the window a minute or two. Instead of entering
+the Temple, he presently returned to the high weeds, stooping to remove
+some object from his suitcase. Hiding it under his coat, he circled the
+building and approached the side adjoining the cemetery.
+
+Thoroughly mystified, Penny cautiously followed, taking care that her
+body cast no shadow which would attract Slippery's attention.
+
+The man seemed deeply engrossed in the task he had set for himself. From
+his coat he took a collapsible rod which he extended to the approximate
+length of a fish pole. To its end he attached a trailing silken ladder.
+
+Deftly the man raised the ladder until two metal hooks bit into a
+projection of the bell tower. He tested the ropes to make certain they
+would bear his weight then, with the agility of a cat, mounted the silken
+rungs. Penny saw him disappear into the bell tower.
+
+"Now why did he climb up there?" she asked herself. "He must be after
+something hidden in the belfry."
+
+Penny knew that she was a long distance from police aid, but it was
+unthinkable that Slippery should be allowed to escape. Impulsively, she
+moved from her hiding place to the base of the tower.
+
+Grasping the silken ladder, she gave it a quick jerk which dislodged the
+two iron hooks. Down it tumbled into her arms, leaving the man trapped in
+the turret.
+
+"He'll never dare call for help when he discovers what has happened,"
+reasoned Penny. "If he does, the guard, Pete, will have something to
+say!"
+
+Rolling the ladder into a small bundle, she started across the clearing,
+intending to seek the nearest telephone. With no thought of lurking
+danger, she brushed past a clump of bushes. A hand reached out and
+grasped her arm.
+
+Penny screamed in terror and tried to break free. The hand help her in a
+grip of steel.
+
+As she struggled, her captor emerged from the shelter of leaves. It was
+Al Gepper.
+
+"I thought I might find you here, my little one," he said grimly. "You
+have had your fun. Now you must pay, and the entertainment shall be
+mine!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   23
+                       _A PRISONER IN THE BELFRY_
+
+
+Penny tried to scream, only to have Al Gepper clamp his hand over her
+mouth.
+
+"None of that!" he said harshly. "Behave yourself or you'll get rough
+treatment."
+
+Inside the Temple, lights suddenly were turned on, for the brief struggle
+had been heard by Pete. The squat, stupid-faced man appeared in the
+doorway of the building, peering down the lane.
+
+"Who's there?" he demanded suspiciously.
+
+Al Gepper uttered an angry word beneath his breath. It was not to his
+liking that Pete should be drawn into the affair. However, he could not
+avoid detection.
+
+"It's Al!" he called softly. "This girl broke up my seance tonight, and I
+trailed her here. She was prowling around the bell tower."
+
+As he spoke, he dragged Penny toward the Temple entrance. His words
+convinced her that he had not observed her remove the silken ladder from
+the belfry wall, nor was he aware that Slippery was a prisoner in the
+tower.
+
+"Let's have a look at her," said Pete. He flashed a light directly into
+Penny's face.
+
+"She's the Parker girl--daughter of the publisher," informed Al.
+
+"Yeah," commented Pete. "I saw her at one of our meetings. Another girl
+was with her. How much has she learned?"
+
+"Enough to get us all run out of town. The question is, what shall we do
+with her?"
+
+"Bring her inside, and we'll talk it over," said Pete. "Maybe we ought to
+call a meeting."
+
+"No," replied Al Gepper impatiently, shoving Penny through the doorway.
+"We can take care of this ourselves."
+
+The door was locked from the inside. Al pushed Penny into a chair on the
+front platform.
+
+"Now sit there," he ordered. "One peep out of you and we'll tie you up
+and tape your mouth. Understand?"
+
+"_Oui, oui, Monsieur_," said Penny, mockingly.
+
+The two men stepped a few paces away and began to whisper together. Pete
+seemed to protest at Al's proposals.
+
+Penny watched them uneasily, speculating upon their final decision.
+Whatever it was, she would never be given an opportunity to report to the
+police until it was too late to apprehend members of the Temple.
+
+"I was stupid not to realize that Gepper might trail me," she told
+herself. "If only I had used an ounce of caution, I might have brought
+about the capture of the entire gang. Not to mention a grand scoop for
+Dad's paper."
+
+Penny slumped lower in her chair. Her own predicament concerned her far
+less than the knowledge that she had bungled a golden opportunity.
+
+Speculatively, her gaze shifted toward the bell tower room. The door was
+closed and she believed that it must be locked. There was no sound from
+the belfry, adding to her conviction that the man imprisoned there was
+fearful of attracting attention to his plight.
+
+Al Gepper and Pete came toward her. With no explanation, the medium
+seized her arm and ordered her to walk toward the exit.
+
+"Where are you taking me?" Penny asked.
+
+"Never mind. You'll find out in good time."
+
+"Wait!" exclaimed Penny, bracing her legs and refusing to be pushed. "If
+you'll let me go, I'll tell you something very much worth your while."
+
+Deliberately, she allowed the silken ladder to slip from beneath her
+coat. The men would not have heeded her words, but the familiar object
+served its purpose.
+
+"Where did you get that ladder?" demanded Al Gepper.
+
+"So you would like to know what became of your friend, Slippery?"
+responded Penny evenly. "You'll be surprised when I tell you that he has
+double-crossed you both!"
+
+"You're lying," accused Gepper.
+
+Penny shrugged and did not speak.
+
+"What were you going to say?" Gepper prodded in a moment. "Out with it!
+How did you get Slippery's ladder?"
+
+"It fell into my hands, literally and figuratively."
+
+"Stalling for time will get you nowhere," snapped Gepper, losing
+patience. "If you know anything about Slippery spill it fast or you'll
+not have another chance."
+
+"Your friend tried to double-cross you," declared Penny. She decided to
+make a shrewd guess. "Tonight, after he robbed the Henley home he came
+here intending to loot the bell tower."
+
+"Why, the dirty sneak!" exclaimed Pete.
+
+"Weren't you here on guard all evening?" Gepper demanded, turning to him.
+
+"Sure, I was. I never set foot outside the building."
+
+"Slippery wasn't here?"
+
+"Haven't seen him since yesterday morning."
+
+"Then the girl is lying!"
+
+"Oh, no, the girl isn't," refuted Penny. "If you care for proof you'll
+find it in the tower."
+
+"Proof?"
+
+"I mean Slippery. He's hiding in the belfry now, hoping you'll not
+discover him there. You see, he scaled the wall by means of this silk
+ladder. I removed the ladder, and I assume he's still up there."
+
+"Why, the low-down skunk!" Pete exclaimed wrathfully. "So he planned to
+rob us! I'll get him!"
+
+Leaving Al to watch Penny, the guard ran to the tower room door and
+unlocked it. Stealthily he crept up the iron stairway which led to the
+belfry.
+
+Suddenly those below heard a cry of rage, followed by the sound of
+scuffling. Al Gepper listened tensely, yet made no move to join the
+fight. He remained standing between Penny and the outside door.
+
+"You were right," he admitted in a stunned voice. "Slippery's up there.
+He meant to get all the swag for himself."
+
+The fight increased in intensity as the two men struggled on the belfry
+steps. Over and over they rolled, first one delivering a hard blow, and
+then the other. Still locked, they finally toppled to the floor, but even
+then Al Gepper remained a bystander.
+
+Penny was less concerned with the fight than with thoughts of escape. She
+had hoped that Al, too, would join the battle. Apparently, he was taking
+no chance of letting her get away.
+
+She considered attempting a sudden break for freedom, but immediately
+abandoned it. The outside door had been locked by Pete. Before she could
+turn the key, Al would be upon her. As for the windows, none were open.
+While they might not be locked, it was out of the question to reach one
+quickly enough.
+
+Penny's gaze roved to the tower room once more, and the struggling men.
+High above their heads she saw something which previously had not drawn
+her attention. It was a loop of rope, hanging from the belfry.
+
+"Why, that must be attached to the old church bell!" thought Penny. "If
+only I could reach it, I might be able to bring help here."
+
+However, the rope dangled high overhead. Even if she were able to reach
+the room leading to the tower, there was nothing upon which she could
+stand to grasp the loop. Obviously the rope had been cut short years
+before to prevent anyone from ringing the bell.
+
+Penny glanced toward Al Gepper. The medium's gaze was upon the two
+struggling men, not her. A golden opportunity presented itself, if only
+she had the wits to make use of it.
+
+Almost at the girl's feet lay the tangle of silken ladder. As she stared
+at it, a sudden idea took possession of her. The iron hooks would serve
+her purpose, but dared she try it? If she failed--and the chances were
+against her--punishment would be certain.
+
+Yet, if she did nothing and merely waited, it was likely that Al Gepper
+and his pals never would be brought to justice. She must take the chance,
+no matter how great the personal risk.
+
+For a moment Penny remained inactive, planning what she must do. If she
+made a single mistake, fumbled at the critical instant, everything would
+be lost. Above all, her aim must be accurate. If she missed the loop--
+
+Slippery and Pete were beginning to tire, their blows becoming futile and
+ineffective. Further delay in executing her plan only increased the
+danger. She must act now or never.
+
+Her mind made up, Penny no longer hesitated. With a quick movement she
+seized the silken ladder and darted to the doorway of the bell tower.
+
+"Hey!" shouted Al Gepper, starting after her.
+
+Penny slammed the door in his face. Taking careful aim, she hurled the
+silken ladder upward. One of the iron hooks caught in the loop of the
+rope. She jerked on it, and to her joy, the bell began to ring.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   24
+                            _THE WOODEN BOX_
+
+
+Penny pulled the rope again and again, causing the huge bell to sway back
+and forth violently. It rang many times before Al Gepper succeeded in
+opening the tower room door.
+
+His face was crimson with fury when he seized the girl, hurling her away
+from the rope. With one quick toss he released the hooks of the silken
+ladder, stuffing the soft strands beneath his coat. The bell made a final
+clang and became silent.
+
+Penny retreated against the wall, anticipating severe punishment for her
+act. However, Al and his companions were more concerned with thoughts of
+escape than with her.
+
+"We've got to get out of here," muttered Al. "Come on!"
+
+The two men on the floor had ceased their struggles. Painfully they
+regained their feet. In this sudden emergency they had forgotten their
+differences.
+
+"What shall we do about the box in the tower?" Pete demanded, nursing a
+swollen eye.
+
+"Leave it here," returned Al. "We can't save anything now. The police are
+apt to swoop down on us any minute."
+
+Turning, he fled to the street. Pete and Slippery hesitated, then
+followed. Penny heard a key turn in the lock. Even before she tested the
+door she knew she had been imprisoned in the tower room.
+
+"They've escaped after all," she thought dismally. "But I may have saved
+some of the loot. I'll take a look."
+
+Quickly she climbed the iron stairs to the belfry. From the turret she
+obtained a perfect view of the entire Lane. Al Gepper was running down
+the street, while Pete and Slippery had turned toward the cemetery.
+
+There were no other persons in the vicinity, Penny thought at first
+glance. Then her heart leaped as she saw three men entering the Lane at
+its junction with the main street. They, too, were running.
+
+"They must have heard the bell!" she told herself. "Oh, if only I can
+make them understand what has happened!"
+
+Her best means of attracting attention was by ringing the bell. She
+pushed against it and was rewarded by a deafening clang.
+
+The men stopped short, staring toward the belfry. Penny cupped her hands
+and shouted. Her words did not carry plainly, but the newcomers seemed to
+gain an inkling of what was amiss, for they wheeled and began to pursue
+the two who had taken refuge in the cemetery.
+
+From her high perch, Penny saw Al Gepper nearing the end of the Lane,
+unobserved by all save herself. Tapping the bell again, she called:
+
+"Get him, too! At the end of the street!"
+
+One of the pursuers halted, turning toward the tower. In the moonlight
+Penny saw his face and recognized Jerry Livingston. He was close enough
+now to hear her voice.
+
+"It's Al Gepper!" she shouted. "Don't let him escape!"
+
+The reporter turned, but as he started off in the new direction, both he
+and Penny saw the fleeing man climbing into Leaping Lena. With a grinding
+of gears, he drove away. Jerry stopped, thinking that he never could
+overtake the car.
+
+"Keep after him, Jerry!" encouraged Penny. "The gas tank is almost empty.
+He can't possibly go more than three or four blocks!"
+
+As the reporter again took up the chase, she began tolling the bell once
+more, determined to arouse everyone within a mile of the Temple.
+
+Her energy was rewarded, for in another minute she heard the familiar
+wail of a siren. A police cruiser swerved alongside the tower, stopping
+with a lurch.
+
+"What's the idea of ringing that bell?" demanded an officer, leaping to
+the ground.
+
+Tersely Penny explained the situation. The two policemen took a short-cut
+through a vacant lot, circling the cemetery. Darkness swallowed them, but
+presently there came a muffled command to halt, followed by a revolver
+shot.
+
+So excited was Penny that she nearly tumbled from the bell tower.
+Recovering her balance, she sat on the stone ledge, trying to remain
+calm. Her nerves were jumpy and on edge.
+
+"If only Jerry captures Al Gepper--that's all I ask!" she breathed.
+
+As the minutes elapsed, it occurred to her that she had not yet searched
+for the loot which she believed to be hidden in the belfry. With questing
+fingers she groped beneath the ledge. For a short distance she felt
+nothing. Then she encountered a long wooden box.
+
+Before she could open it, she heard shouts from the direction of the
+cemetery. Four men, two of them police officers, were marching Slippery
+and Pete toward the Temple. As they came nearer she received another
+pleasant surprise. The two who had aided in the capture were her father
+and Salt Sommers, a photographer for the _Star_.
+
+"Dad!" shouted Penny. "Can you get me down from this pigeon roost?"
+
+Mr. Parker, separating from the others, came to the foot of the bell
+tower.
+
+"So it was you who sounded the alarm!" he exclaimed. "I might have known!
+How did you get up there?"
+
+"I'm locked in. Dad, send the police to help Jerry. He's after Al Gepper
+who rode off in my car."
+
+The police cruiser was dispatched, leaving one officer to guard the two
+prisoners. Mr. Parker unlocked the door of the tower room, releasing his
+daughter.
+
+"You're all right?" he asked anxiously.
+
+"Of course. Here's a little present for you." Penny thrust the wooden box
+into his hands.
+
+"What's this?"
+
+"I don't know yet. I found it hidden in the belfry."
+
+"Penny, if you fell into a river you would come up with a chest of gold!"
+exclaimed the publisher admiringly.
+
+"Open it quick, Dad."
+
+Mr. Parker required no urging. The box was locked but he pried off the
+cover hinges, exposing the contents.
+
+"A real treasure!" exclaimed Penny.
+
+The box contained several bracelets, one of them set with rubies and
+diamonds, countless rings, four watches, and several strings of matched
+pearls.
+
+"Stolen loot!" ejaculated the publisher.
+
+"And what a collection!" chuckled Penny as she examined the separate
+pieces. "There's enough plunder here to start a jewelry store."
+
+"Likewise sufficient evidence to put this Celestial Temple gang out of
+circulation for a long, long time," added her father.
+
+"I learned a lot tonight, Dad. Wait until I tell you!"
+
+"A scoop for the _Star_?"
+
+"You'll be able to use your largest, blackest headlines."
+
+Penny began to tell her story, interrupting only when Slippery and Pete
+were brought into the building handcuffed together. Starting again, she
+made her charges, accusing Slippery not only of having committed the
+Henley burglary, but also of having robbed the Kohls and many prominent
+Riverview families.
+
+After inspecting the jewelry found in the wooden box, one of the police
+officers definitely identified several of the pieces as stolen goods. He
+expressed an opinion that the jewelry had been hidden in the belfry
+because it was too "hot" to be disposed of by fences.
+
+"The organization members had an agreement by which all shared in the
+loot," added Penny. "That caused trouble. Al Gepper and Slippery thought
+they were taking most of the risk without sufficient return. So they
+pulled a few extra jobs of their own."
+
+Before she could reveal more, the police car was heard outside the
+Temple. From the window Penny saw that Jerry and the policeman were
+returning with Al Gepper who had been handcuffed.
+
+"They've caught him!" she cried jubilantly.
+
+The prisoner was brought into the Temple to be identified. He had been
+captured when Leaping Lena had stalled for lack of gasoline.
+
+As Gepper was searched, the silken ladder, and various small objects were
+removed from his coat. Penny noticed two tiny rubber suction cups no
+larger than dimes, and immediately made up her mind that later she would
+try to obtain them. She was quite certain she knew their purpose.
+
+Penny told her story and learned, in turn, that after she had telephoned
+Jerry, he had traced her father, and with the police both had hastened to
+the Hodges' cottage. Arriving there, they discovered that Gepper had
+fled. Jerry, Mr. Parker, and Salt Sommers had immediately proceeded to
+the Celestial Temple.
+
+"It was lucky you rang that bell, Penny," chuckled Jerry. "If you hadn't,
+we never would have arrived here in time."
+
+"It was lucky, too, that Mr. Gepper tried to escape in Lena," she
+laughed. "I guess my old rattle-trap has redeemed itself."
+
+One of the officers picked up the silken ladder, examining it with
+critical interest. He agreed that it had undoubtedly been used in many
+mysterious burglaries committed during the past month.
+
+"It's obvious that Slippery approached the houses on the 'blind' side,
+and scaled the wall after hooking his ladder into a window ledge," Penny
+remarked. "I suppose he reasoned that second-story windows nearly always
+are left unlocked. But how did he learn the houses were deserted? By
+telephoning?"
+
+"That would be my opinion," nodded the policeman. "If someone answered,
+he could hang up. Otherwise, he would be fairly sure the house was
+empty."
+
+"One night at the theatre I saw a man who resembled Slippery noting down
+the license number of the Kohl car. But the house was robbed within a few
+hours after that. How could he have obtained the name and address?"
+
+"Easily. There are 'information fences' who supply such data to fellow
+members of the underworld. It is also possible that Slippery previously
+had watched the Kohl house, obtained the car license number, and then
+watched for it later at the theatre."
+
+Jerry already had supplied police with the name of the fence whose
+establishment Slippery had visited earlier in the day. Later, a raid
+staged there brought to light much loot taken from various Riverview
+homes.
+
+However, for the moment, police were most interested in gaining complete
+information which could be used in rounding up all members of the
+Celestial Temple Society who had not fled the city.
+
+Searching Slippery they found, not only jewelry stolen from the Henley
+residence, but a booklet containing many names and telephone numbers.
+
+"Sadie Beardsell," Penny read. "She's one of the members, I am sure."
+
+Lest Mr. and Mrs. Hodges might also be arrested, she explained that the
+old couple had been an innocent dupe of Al Gepper. Turning to the medium
+she said:
+
+"I think I know how you accomplished most of your tricks. Of course, you
+were the one who sent Mrs. Hodges a letter with six dollars. Undoubtedly,
+you had it mailed by an accomplice from New York at exactly the hour you
+specified. Then at that same hour you slipped up to the Hodges' cottage,
+and rapped six times on the bedroom wall."
+
+"You seem to have everything figured out," Al Gepper responded
+sarcastically. "Clever girl!"
+
+"I saw how you made the spirit painting tonight at the seance," resumed
+Penny. "May I ask if that same method was used in regard to Mrs. Weem's
+picture of Cousin David?"
+
+She did not dream that the medium would answer her question. With a shrug
+which implied that the entire matter was very boring, he replied:
+
+"No, the picture was painted with a solution of sulphocyanid of potassium
+and other chemicals, invisible until brought out with a re-agent. During
+the seance, an assistant sprayed the back of the canvas with an atomizer,
+bringing out the colors one by one."
+
+"And how was the paint made to appear wet?"
+
+"Poppy oil."
+
+"One more question, Mr. Gepper. I never could understand how you were
+able to raise the kitchen table at Mrs. Hodges' cottage."
+
+"No?" Al Gepper smiled mockingly. "I assure you I had nothing to do with
+that demonstration. It was a true spirit manifestation."
+
+"I'll never believe that," declared Penny.
+
+"Then figure it out for yourself," replied the medium. "You are such a
+very brilliant child."
+
+Before the prisoners were led to the police car, Salt Sommers set up his
+camera and took a number of flashlight pictures for the _Star_.
+
+"How about it, Mr. Parker?" inquired Jerry eagerly. "Are we putting out
+an extra?"
+
+"We are," said the publisher crisply. "This is the big break I've been
+hoping we would get! We should beat the _Record_ on the story by at least
+a half hour."
+
+The three men hurriedly left the Celestial Temple, with Penny trailing
+behind them. At the main street intersection they finally obtained a
+taxicab.
+
+"To the _Star_ office," Mr. Parker ordered. "An extra dollar if you step
+on it."
+
+"How about my pictures?" Salt Sommers asked, as the cab rocked around a
+corner. "They ought to be dandies."
+
+"Rush them through as soon as we get to the office," Mr. Parker
+instructed. "If they're any good we'll run 'em on page one. Jerry, you
+handle the story--play it for all it's worth."
+
+Jerry glanced at Penny who sat very still between her father and Salt.
+Their eyes met.
+
+"Chief," he said, "there's a sort of fraternity among reporters--an
+unwritten rule that we never chisel on each other's work."
+
+"What's that?" Mr. Parker asked, startled. "I don't get it."
+
+Then his glance fell upon his daughter, and he smiled.
+
+"Oh, so it's that way! You think Penny should write the story?"
+
+"I do, Chief. It's hers from the ground floor up."
+
+"Please, Dad, may I?" Penny pleaded.
+
+The cab rolled up to the _Star_ office, stopping with a jerk. Mr. Parker
+swung open the door, helping her alight.
+
+"The story is yours, Penny," he said. "That is, if you can crack it out
+fast enough to make the extra."
+
+"I'll do it or die in the attempt."
+
+"Keep to the facts and write terse, simple English--" Mr. Parker began,
+but Penny did not wait to hear his instructions.
+
+With a triumphant laugh, she ran ahead into the _Star_ office. Her entry
+into the newsroom was both dramatic and noisy.
+
+"Big scoop, Mr. DeWitt," she called cheerily. "Start the old print
+factory running full blast!"
+
+Dropping into a chair behind the nearest typewriter, she began to write.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   25
+                                _EXTRA!_
+
+
+Penny stood at the window of her father's office, listening to the
+newsboys crying their wares on the street.
+
+"_Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Police Capture Three in Raid on
+Celestial Temple! Extra! Extra!_"
+
+Mr. Parker rocked back in his swivel chair, smiling at his daughter.
+
+"Your story was first-class, Penny," he said. "Thanks to you we scooped
+the _Record_. Tired?"
+
+"I do feel rather washed out," Penny admitted. "Writing at high speed
+with a deadline jabbing you in the back is worse than facing a gang of
+crooks. But it was exciting."
+
+"You turned in a good story," her father praised again. "In fact, you may
+as well take credit for breaking up that outfit of fake spiritualists."
+
+"So far the police have only captured Al Gepper, Slippery and Pete.
+There's not much evidence against the others."
+
+"True, but rest assured those who aren't rounded up will leave Riverview.
+The backbone of the organization has been smashed."
+
+Penny sank wearily into a chair, picking up a copy of the _Star_ which
+lay on her father's desk. Two-inch, black headlines proclaimed the
+capture, and opening from the banner was her own story tagged with a
+credit line: _by Penelope Parker_. Salt Sommer's photographs had made the
+front page, too, and there was a brief contribution by Jerry telling of
+Al Gepper's attempted flight in Leaping Lena.
+
+"Dad, you must admit that it was a stroke of genius when I bought back
+that old car," remarked Penny. "Why, if it hadn't been for Lena, Al
+Gepper surely would have escaped."
+
+"That and the fact you always run your cars on an empty tank," responded
+Mr. Parker. "I suppose you foresaw the future when you made your
+brilliant purchase?"
+
+"Not exactly. It was just a feeling I had--the same sort of hunch which
+came to me when I found the silken ladder at Kano's Curio Shop. If I
+depended upon a mere brain to solve mysteries, why I'd be no better than
+the police."
+
+"Your modesty overwhelms me," chuckled her father. "I'm thankful my other
+reporters aren't guided by their instincts. Otherwise I might have a
+scoop a day."
+
+"There's one thing which annoys me," Penny said, frowning.
+
+"And what is that?"
+
+"Two of Al Gepper's tricks haven't been explained. How was he able to
+raise a table and read a message in a sealed envelope?"
+
+"I was talking to the Chief of Police about that letter trick only this
+morning, Penny. Magicians often employ it. Wasn't the message written on
+a pad of paper before it was placed in the envelope?"
+
+"Yes, it was."
+
+"Then very likely Gepper read the message from the pad. He could have
+placed carbon paper beneath the second or third sheets. Possibly he
+resorted to a thin covering of paraffin wax which would be less
+noticeable."
+
+"Now that I recall it, he did glance at the pad! How would you guess he
+lifted the table?"
+
+"Were his hands held high above it, Penny?"
+
+"Only an inch or two. However, he never touched the table. I was able to
+see that."
+
+"Could he have used sharp, steel pins held between his fingers?"
+
+"I doubt it. But I think I know what he may have used! Did you notice two
+small suction cups which were taken from his pockets by the police?"
+
+"Well, no, I didn't, Penny."
+
+"The longer I mull over it, the more I'm convinced he used them to raise
+the table. They could be held between the fingers and wouldn't be
+observed in a darkened room. Dad, if I can get those rubber cups from the
+police, I'll have some fun!"
+
+The telephone rang. It was Mrs. Weems calling to ask if Penny were safe.
+Mr. Parker replied in the affirmative and handed the receiver to his
+daughter.
+
+"Penny, I just read your story in the paper," the housekeeper scolded.
+"You never should have pitted yourself against those dangerous men! I
+declare, you need someone to watch you every minute."
+
+"I need you," said Penny. "And so does Dad. Why not promise to stay with
+us instead of going away on a trip?"
+
+"Of course, I'll remain," came Mrs. Weems' surprising answer. "I made up
+my mind to that two days ago. You and your father never could take care
+of yourselves."
+
+"What will you do with your inheritance, Mrs. Weems?"
+
+"I hope your father will invest it for me," replied the housekeeper
+meekly. "One thing I know. No medium will tell me what to do with it."
+
+The hour was late. Penny felt relieved when her father locked his desk in
+preparation for leaving the office.
+
+They walked through the newsroom, down the stairway to the street. A
+middle-aged man in a brown suit and derby hat alighted from a taxi,
+pausing as he saw them.
+
+"Mr. Parker!" he called. "May I speak with you?"
+
+The publisher turned, recognizing him. "Mr. Henley!" he exclaimed.
+
+"I have just come from the police station," the advertiser said in an
+agitated voice. "I was told that your daughter is responsible for the
+capture of the men who robbed our home tonight."
+
+"Yes, Penny managed to have a rather busy evening," smiled Mr. Parker. "I
+hope you suffered no loss."
+
+"Everything was recovered, thanks to your daughter. Miss Parker, I
+realize I never can properly express my appreciation."
+
+"I was sorry I couldn't prevent the burglary," replied Penny stiffly. "As
+it turned out, the capture of the crooks was mostly due to luck."
+
+"You are too modest," protested Mr. Henley. "I've talked with the police,
+you know. I am truly grateful."
+
+The man hesitated, evidently wishing to say more, yet scarcely knowing
+how to shape his words. Penny and her father started to move away.
+
+"Oh, about that contract we were discussing today," the advertiser said
+quickly.
+
+"Yes?" Mr. Parker paused.
+
+"I've been thinking it over. I acted too hastily in deciding to cancel."
+
+"Mr. Henley, please do not feel that you are under obligation," said the
+publisher quietly. "Even though Penny accidentally did you a favor--"
+
+"It's not that," Mr. Henley interrupted. "The _Star_ is a good paper."
+
+"The best in Riverview," said Penny softly.
+
+"Yes, it is!" Mr. Henley declared with sudden emphasis. "I tell you,
+Parker, I was irritated because of a trivial mistake in my firm's copy.
+I've cooled off now. Suppose we talk over the matter tomorrow at lunch."
+
+"Very well," agreed Mr. Parker. "The Commodore Hotel at one."
+
+Bowing to Penny, Mr. Henley retreated into a waiting taxi and drove away.
+
+"How do you like that, Dad?" Penny inquired after a moment's silence.
+
+"I like it," answered Mr. Parker. "The _Star_ could have limped along
+without Mr. Henley. But the going would have been tough."
+
+"He'll renew the old contract?"
+
+"Oh, yes, and probably give us a better one. Stealing Mr. Henley's words,
+I am truly grateful."
+
+Penny gazed at her father with twinkling eyes.
+
+"Are those idle words, Dad? Or are you willing to back them in a material
+way?"
+
+"I might," grinned Mr. Parker. "Present your bill."
+
+"Well, Dad, I've discovered to my sorrow that I can't support two cars on
+my present allowance. I need a generous raise."
+
+"You could get rid of Lena."
+
+"Why, Dad! After her noble work tonight!"
+
+"No, I suppose not," sighed Mr. Parker. "You've earned an increase, and I
+may as well grant it."
+
+"Retroactive to the time I started working on the story," added Penny. "I
+figure if you pay back allowance, I'll be solvent once more!"
+
+"You drive a hard bargain," chuckled the publisher. "But I'll agree."
+
+Arm in arm, they started on down the street. Rounding a corner of the
+_Star_ building they abruptly paused before the plate-glass window to
+watch a long, unbroken sheet of white paper feed through the thundering
+press. Freshly inked newspapers, cut and folded, slid out one upon the
+other to be borne away for distribution.
+
+"It's modern magic, isn't it, Dad?" Penny said reflectively as the great
+machine pounded in steady rhythm.
+
+"Yes, Penny," her father agreed. "And for this edition, at least, you
+were the master magician!"
+
+                                THE END
+
+
+
+
+                          Transcriber's Notes
+
+
+--Replaced the list of books in the series by the complete list, as in
+  the final book, "The Cry at Midnight".
+
+--Silently corrected a handful of palpable typos.
+
+--Conforming to later volumes, standardized on "DeWitt" as the name of
+  the city editor.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Clue of the Silken Ladder, by Mildred A. Wirt
+
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