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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Signal in the Dark, 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: Signal in the Dark
+
+Author: Mildred A. Wirt
+
+Release Date: January 4, 2011 [EBook #34850]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIGNAL IN THE DARK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Charlie Howard, and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 Signal
+                                 in the
+                                  Dark
+
+
+                                  _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, 1946, BY CUPPLES AND LEON CO.
+
+                           Signal in the Dark
+
+                          PRINTED IN U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+                               _CONTENTS_
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                            PAGE
+  1 HELP WANTED                                                       _1_
+  2 EXPLOSION!                                                       _10_
+  3 SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT                                               _18_
+  4 THE MISSING PLATES                                               _26_
+  5 SHADOW ON THE SKYLIGHT                                           _35_
+  6 BEN'S STORY                                                      _44_
+  7 MAN OVERBOARD!                                                   _52_
+  8 A SWINGING CHAIN                                                 _61_
+  9 THE METAL DISC                                                   _69_
+  10 COUNTRY SKIES                                                   _79_
+  11 A FAMILIAR CAR                                                  _87_
+  12 THE PROFESSOR'S HELPER                                          _96_
+  13 BEHIND OFFICE DOORS                                            _104_
+  14 A NOTE FROM BEN                                                _112_
+  15 THE DEMONSTRATION                                              _120_
+  16 SUSPICION                                                      _128_
+  17 MAJOR BRYAN                                                    _137_
+  18 A SECOND TEST                                                  _144_
+  19 THE LANTERN SIGNAL                                             _153_
+  20 A CROOK EXPOSED                                                _161_
+  21 IN SEARCH OF WEBB                                              _170_
+  22 SALT'S MISSING CAMERA                                          _178_
+  23 ESCAPE BY NIGHT                                                _184_
+  24 A RAID ON THE _Snark_                                          _192_
+  25 PICTURE PROOF                                                  _200_
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   1
+                             _HELP WANTED_
+
+
+"The situation is getting worse instead of better, Penny. Three of our
+reporters are sick, and we're trying to run the paper with only a third
+of our normal editorial staff." Anthony Parker, publisher of the
+_Riverview Star_, whirled around in the swivel chair to face his daughter
+who sat opposite him in the private office of the newspaper. "Frankly,
+I'm up against it," he added gloomily.
+
+Penny, a slim girl with deep, intelligent blue eyes, uncurled herself
+from the window ledge. Carefully, she dusted her brown wool skirt which
+had picked up a cobweb and streaks of dirt.
+
+"You could use a janitor around here too," she hinted teasingly. "How
+about hiring me?"
+
+"As queen of the dustmop brigade?"
+
+"As a reporter," Penny corrected. "I'm serious, Dad. You're desperate for
+employes. I'm desperate for spending money. I have three weeks school
+vacation coming up, so why not strike a bargain?"
+
+"The paper needs experienced workers, Penny."
+
+"Precisely."
+
+"You're a very good writer," Mr. Parker admitted. "In fact, in months
+past you turned in some of the best feature stories the _Star_ ever
+printed. But always they were special assignments. We must have a
+reporter who can work a daily, eight-hour grind and be depended upon to
+handle routine stories with speed, accuracy and efficiency."
+
+"And you think I am not what the doctor ordered?"
+
+"I think," corrected Mr. Parker, "that you would blow your pretty little
+top by the end of the second day. For instance, it's not easy nor
+pleasant to write obituaries. Yet it must be done, and accurately. On
+this paper, a new reporter is expected to do rewrites and other tedious
+work. You wouldn't like it, Penny."
+
+"I'd take it neatly in my stride, Dad. Why not try me and see?"
+
+Mr. Parker shook his head and began to read the three-star edition of the
+paper, its ink still damp from the press.
+
+"Give me one sound, logical reason for turning me down," Penny persisted.
+
+"Very well. You are my daughter. Our editors might feel that they were
+compelled to treat you with special consideration--give you the best
+assignments--handle you with kid gloves."
+
+"You could take care of that matter easily enough."
+
+"If they took my instructions seriously, you might not like it," the
+newspaper owner warned. "A reporter learns hard and bitter lessons. Mr.
+DeWitt, for instance, is a fine editor--our best, but he has a temper
+and--"
+
+The frosted glass door swung open and an elderly, slightly bald man in
+shirt sleeves slouched in. Seeing Penny, he would have retreated, had not
+Mr. Parker called him back.
+
+"What's on your mind, DeWitt?"
+
+"Trouble," growled the editor. "That no-good, addle-brained boy we hired
+as night police reporter, just blew up! Said it was too confining to sit
+in a police station all night waiting for something to happen! So he gets
+himself a job in a canning factory! Now we're another employee short."
+
+"Dad, let me take over the night police job!" Penny pleaded.
+
+Both her father and Mr. DeWitt smiled as if suffering from intense pain.
+"Penny," Mr. Parker explained gently. "Night police work isn't suitable
+for a girl. Furthermore, it is one of the most undesirable jobs on a
+paper."
+
+"But I want to work somewhere, and you're so stubborn!"
+
+Mr. DeWitt studied Penny with concentrated interest. Hope flickered in
+his eyes. Turning abruptly to Mr. Parker he asked: "Why not, Chief? We
+could use her on the desk for rewrite. We're mighty hard up, and that's a
+fact."
+
+"What about the personnel problem?" Mr. Parker frowned. "How would the
+staff take it?"
+
+"Some of the reporters might not like it," Mr. DeWitt admitted, "but
+who's running this paper anyhow?"
+
+"I often wonder," sighed Mr. Parker.
+
+Detecting signs of a weakening, Penny appealed to Mr. DeWitt. "Wouldn't I
+be a help to you if I were on the staff?" she urged.
+
+"Why, sure," he agreed cautiously.
+
+"There, you see, Dad! Mr. DeWitt wants me!"
+
+"Penny, it's a personnel problem," her father explained with growing
+impatience. "The other reporters might not consider you a welcome
+addition to the staff. You would expect favors."
+
+"I never would!"
+
+"We need her," said Mr. DeWitt significantly. "We really do."
+
+With two against him, Mr. Parker suddenly gave in.
+
+"All right," he agreed. "Penny, we'll put you on as a cub reporter. That
+means you'll start as a beginner with a beginner's salary and do routine
+work until you've proved your merit. You'll expect no special
+consideration. Is that understood?"
+
+"Perfectly!" Grinning from ear to ear, Penny would have agreed to
+anything.
+
+"Furthermore, if the work gets you down, I won't have you coming to me
+asking for a change."
+
+"I'll never darken your office door, Dad. Just one question. How much
+money does a beginner get?"
+
+"Twenty-five dollars."
+
+Penny's face was a blank.
+
+"It will be more than you are worth the first few weeks," Mr. Parker
+said.
+
+"I'll take it," Penny declared hastily. "When do I start?"
+
+"Right now," decided her father. "DeWitt, introduce her to the staff, and
+put her to work."
+
+Feeling highly elated but a trifle self-conscious, Penny followed Editor
+DeWitt past the photography studio and the A.P. wire room to the main
+newsroom where reporters were tapping at their typewriters.
+
+"Gang," said Mr. DeWitt in an all inclusive introduction. "This is Penny
+Parker. She'll be working here for a few weeks."
+
+Heads lifted and appraising eyes focused upon her. Nearly everyone nodded
+and smiled, but one girl who sat at the far end of a long typewriter
+table regarded her with an intent, almost hostile stare. And as luck
+would have it, Mr. DeWitt assigned Penny to the typewriter adjoining
+hers.
+
+"This is Elda Hunt," he introduced her. "Show Penny the ropes, will you?"
+
+The girl, a blonde, with heavily-rouged cheeks, patted the rigid rolls of
+her hair into place. Staring at Mr. DeWitt, she answered not a word.
+
+"I'll have a lot to learn," Penny said, trying to make friendly
+conversation.
+
+Elda shrugged. "You're the publisher's daughter, aren't you?" she
+inquired.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then I don't think you'll have too hard a time," the girl drawled.
+
+Penny started to reply, but thought better of it. Seating herself beside
+Elda, she unhooded the typewriter, rolled a sheet of copy paper into it,
+and experimented with the keys.
+
+The main newsroom was a confusion of sound. Although work was being
+handled with dispatch, there was an air of tension, for press time on the
+five-star edition was drawing close. Telephones were ringing, and Editor
+DeWitt, who sat at the head of the big rectangular desk, tersely assigned
+reporters to take the incoming calls. Not far from Penny's ear, the
+police shortwave radio blared. Copy boys ran to and fro.
+
+Benny Jewell, the assistant editor, tossed her a handful of typewritten
+sheets.
+
+"Take these handouts and make 'em into shorts," he instructed briefly.
+
+"Handouts?" Penny asked in bewilderment. "Shorts?"
+
+"Cut the stories to a paragraph or two each."
+
+"Oh," said Penny, catching on. "You want me to rewrite them."
+
+At her elbow, Elda openly snickered.
+
+Color stained Penny's cheeks, but she quietly read the first sheet, which
+was an account of a meeting to be held the following week. Picking out
+the most important facts, she boiled the story down to two short
+paragraphs, and dropped the finished copy into the editor's wire basket.
+
+Only then did Elda speak. "You're supposed to make two carbons of every
+story you write," she said pityingly.
+
+The girl might have told her sooner, Penny thought. However, she thanked
+her politely, and finding carbon paper, rewrote the story. In her
+nervousness she inserted one of the carbons upside down, ruining the
+impression. As she removed the sheets from the machine, she saw what she
+had done. Elda saw too, and smiled in a superior way.
+
+"She dislikes me intensely," Penny thought. "I wonder why? I've not done
+a thing to her."
+
+Aware that she had wasted paper and valuable time, Penny recopied the
+story a third time and turned it in to the editor. After that, she
+rewrote the additional stories with fairly good speed. By watching other
+reporters she learned that the carbon copies were speared on spindles
+which at intervals a copy boy collected and carried away.
+
+A telephone rang, and this time, Mr. DeWitt, looking straight at Penny,
+said: "An obituary. Will you take it?"
+
+She went to the phone and copied down the facts carefully, knowing that
+while death notices were routine, they were of vital interest to readers
+of the paper. Any mistake of fact could prove serious.
+
+Returning to her typewriter, she wrote the item. But after she had turned
+it in, Mr. DeWitt called her to his desk. He was pleasant but firm.
+
+"What day are services to be held?" he asked. "Who are the survivors?
+Where did the woman die? Furthermore, we never use the word 'Funeral
+Home'. Instead, we say 'mortuary'."
+
+Penny telephoned for more information, and finally after rewriting the
+notice twice more, succeeded in getting it past Mr. DeWitt. But as he
+tossed the story to a copy reader, she saw that he had pencilled several
+changes.
+
+"There's more to writing routine stories than I thought," she reflected.
+"I'll really have to dig in unless I want to disgrace Dad."
+
+Penny was given another obituary to write which proved nearly as
+difficult as the first. Hopelessly discouraged, she started for the rest
+room to get a drink and wash her hands.
+
+As she entered the lounge, voices reached her ears, and instantly she
+realized that Elda Hunt was talking to another girl reporter about her.
+
+"The publisher's daughter!" she heard her say scathingly. "As if we
+aren't having a hard enough time here, without having to coddle her
+along!"
+
+"I didn't think she seemed so bad," the other replied. "She'll catch on."
+
+"She'll be promoted over all our heads if that's what you mean!" Elda
+retorted bitterly. "I know for a fact, she's starting at fifty a week,
+and no experience! If you ask me, it's unfair! We should walk out of
+here, and see how those fine editors would like that!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   2
+                              _EXPLOSION!_
+
+
+Penny's first thought was to accost the two girls and correct the
+misstatements. But sober reflection convinced her she could make no
+graver mistake. Far better, she reasoned, to ignore the entire matter.
+
+She quickly washed her hands, purposely making enough noise to draw
+attention to her presence. Elda and her friend became silent. A moment
+later, coming through the inner door of the powder room, they saw her,
+but offered no comment. Penny hastily returned to the newsroom.
+
+For the remainder of the day she worked with deep concentration, only
+dimly aware of what went on about her. Seemingly there were endless
+numbers of obituaries to write. Telephones rang constantly. Work was
+never finished, for as soon as one edition was off the press, another was
+in the making.
+
+Now and then Penny caught herself glancing toward an empty desk at the
+far corner of the room. Jerry Livingston had sat there until a year ago
+when he had been granted a leave of absence to join the Army Air Force.
+Unquestionably the _Star's_ most talented reporter, he had been Penny's
+best friend.
+
+"I wish Jerry were here," she thought wistfully. "But if he were, he'd
+tell me to buckle down and not let this job lick me! Dad warned me it
+would be hard, monotonous work."
+
+Penny worked with renewed energy. After awhile she began to feel that she
+was making definite progress. Mr. Jewell, the assistant editor, made
+fewer corrections as he read over her copy, and now and then she actually
+saw him nod approvingly. Once when she turned in a rewritten
+"hand-out"--a publicity story which had been sent to the paper in
+unusable form--he praised her for giving it a fresh touch.
+
+"Good lead," he commented. "You're coming along all right."
+
+Elda heard the praise and her eyes snapped angrily. At her typewriter,
+she slammed the carriage. No one noticed except Penny. A moment later,
+Mr. DeWitt called Elda to his desk, saying severely:
+
+"Watch the spelling of names, Elda. This is the third one we've checked
+you on today. Don't you ever consult the city directory?"
+
+"Of course I do!" Elda was indignant.
+
+"Well, watch it," Mr. DeWitt said again. "We must have accuracy."
+
+With a swish of skirts, Elda went back to her desk. Her face was as dark
+as a thunder cloud. Deliberately she dawdled over her next piece of copy.
+After she had turned it in, she returned to the editor's desk to take it
+from the wire basket and make additional corrections.
+
+"Just being extra careful of names," she said arrogantly as the assistant
+editor shot her a quick, inquiring glance.
+
+Thinking no more of the incident, Penny kept on with her own work. She
+took special care with names, even looking up in the city directory those
+of which she was almost certain. When she turned in a piece of copy, she
+was satisfied that not a name or fact was inaccurate.
+
+Late in the afternoon, she noticed that Mr. DeWitt and Mr. Jewell
+appeared displeased about a story they had found in the Five Star edition
+of the paper. After reading it, they talked together, and then sorted
+through a roll of discarded copy, evidently searching for the original.
+Finally, Mr. DeWitt called:
+
+"Miss Parker!"
+
+Wondering what she had done wrong, Penny went quickly to his desk.
+
+"You wrote this story?" he asked, jabbing a pencil at one of the printed
+obituaries.
+
+"Why, yes," Penny acknowledged. "Is anything wrong with it?"
+
+"Only that you've buried the wrong man," DeWitt said sarcastically.
+"Where did you get that name?"
+
+Penny felt actually sick, and her skin prickled with heat. She stared at
+the story in print. It said that John Gorman had died that morning in
+Mercy Hospital.
+
+"The man who died was John Borman," DeWitt said grimly. "It happens that
+John Gorman is one of the city's most prominent industrialists. We've
+made the correction, but it was too late to catch two-thirds of the
+papers."
+
+Penny stared again at the name, her mind working slowly.
+
+"But Mr. DeWitt," she protested. "I don't think I wrote it that way. I
+knew the correct name was Borman. I'm sure that was how I turned it in."
+
+"Maybe you hit a wrong letter on the typewriter," the editor said less
+severely. "That's why one always should read over a story after it's
+written."
+
+"But I did that too," Penny said, and then bit her lip, because she
+realized she was arguing about the matter.
+
+"We'll look at the carbons," decided Mr. DeWitt.
+
+They had been taken from the spindles by copy boys, but the editor
+ordered the entire day's work returned to his desk. Pawing through the
+sheets, he came to the one Penny had written. Swiftly he compared it with
+the original copy.
+
+"You're right!" he exclaimed in amazement. "The carbons show you wrote
+the name John Borman, not Gorman."
+
+"I knew I did!"
+
+"But the copy that was turned into the basket said John Gorman. Didn't
+you change it on the first sheet?"
+
+"Indeed I didn't, Mr. DeWitt."
+
+Scowling, the editor compared the two copies. Obviously on the original
+sheet, a neat erasure had been made, and a typewritten letter _G_ had
+been substituted for _B_.
+
+"There's something funny about this," Mr. DeWitt said. "Mighty funny!"
+His gaze roved about the typewriter table, focusing for an instant upon
+Elda who had been listening intently to the conversation. "Never mind,"
+he added to Penny. "We'll look into this."
+
+Later, she saw him showing the copy sheets to the assistant editor.
+Seemingly, the two men were deeply puzzled as to how the error had been
+made. Penny had her own opinion.
+
+"Elda did it," she thought resentfully. "I'll wager she removed the sheet
+from the wire basket when she pretended to be making a correction on her
+own story!"
+
+Having no proof, Penny wisely kept her thoughts to herself. But she knew
+that in the future she must take double precautions to guard against
+other tricks to discredit her.
+
+At the end of the day, the newsroom rapidly emptied. One by one,
+reporters covered their typewriters and left the building. A few of the
+girls remained, among them, Penny and Elda. Editor DeWitt was putting on
+his hat when the telephone rang.
+
+Absently he reached for it and then straightened to alert attention.
+Grabbing a sheet of copy paper, he scrawled a few words. Eyes focused
+upon him, for instinctively everyone knew that something important had
+happened.
+
+DeWitt hung up the receiver, his eyes staring into space for an instant.
+Then he seized the telephone again and called the composing room.
+
+"Hold the paper!" he ordered tersely. "We're making over the front page!"
+
+The news was electrifying, for only a story of the greatest importance
+would bring an order to stop the thundering presses once they had started
+to roll.
+
+Calling the photography room, DeWitt demanded: "Is Salt Sommers still
+there? Tell him to grab his camera and get over to the Conway Steel Plant
+in double-quick time! There's been a big explosion! They think it's
+sabotage!"
+
+The editor's harassed gaze then wandered over the little group of
+remaining reporters. Elda pushed toward the desk.
+
+"You want me to go over there, Chief?" she demanded eagerly.
+
+DeWitt did not appear to hear her. Seizing the telephone once more, he
+tried without success to get two of the men reporters who had left the
+office only a few minutes earlier.
+
+Slamming down the receiver, his gloomy gaze focused upon Elda for an
+instant. But he passed her by.
+
+"Miss Parker!"
+
+Penny was beside him in a flash.
+
+"Ride with Salt Sommers to the Conway Plant!" he ordered tersely. "Two
+men have been reported killed in the explosion! Get everything you can
+and hold on until relieved!"
+
+Seizing hat and purse, Penny made a dash for the stairway. No need for
+DeWitt to tell her that this was a big story! Because all the other
+reporters except Elda were gone, she had been given the assignment! But
+could she make good?
+
+"This is my chance!" she thought jubilantly. "DeWitt probably thinks I'll
+fold up, but I'll prove to him I can get the facts as well as one of his
+seasoned reporters."
+
+Penny was well acquainted with Salt Sommers, who next to Jerry Livingston
+was her best friend. Reaching the ground floor, she saw his battered car
+starting away from the curb.
+
+"Salt!" she shouted. "Wait!"
+
+The photographer halted and swung open the car door. She slid in beside
+him.
+
+"What are you doing here, Penny?" he demanded, shifting gears.
+
+"I'm your little assistant," Penny broke the news gently. "I just started
+to work on the paper."
+
+"And DeWitt assigned you to this story?"
+
+"He couldn't help himself. Nearly everyone else had left the office."
+
+The car whirled around a corner and raced through a traffic light just as
+it turned amber. Suddenly from far away, there came a dull explosion
+which rocked the pavement. Salt and Penny stared at each other with alert
+comprehension.
+
+"That was at the Conway Plant!" the photographer exclaimed, pushing his
+foot hard on the gas pedal. "Penny, we've got a real assignment ahead of
+us!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   3
+                          _SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT_
+
+
+Darkness shrouded the streets as the press car careened toward the
+outskirts of the city where the Conway Steel Plant was situated. Rattling
+over the river bridge, Salt and Penny caught their first glimpse of the
+factory.
+
+Flames were shooting high into the sky from one of the buildings, and
+employes poured in panic through the main gate. No policemen were yet in
+evidence, nor had the fire department arrived.
+
+Pulling up at the curb, Salt seized his camera and stuffed a handful of
+flashbulbs into his pockets. Grabbing Penny's elbow, he steered her
+toward the gate. To get through the barrier, they fought their way past
+the outsurging, panic-stricken tide of fleeing employes.
+
+"Scared?" Salt asked as they paused to stare at the shooting flames.
+
+"A little," Penny admitted truthfully. "Will there be any more
+explosions?"
+
+"That's the chance we're taking. DeWitt shouldn't have sent you on this
+assignment!"
+
+"He couldn't know there would be other explosions," Penny replied.
+"Besides, someone had to cover the story, and no one else was there. I
+can handle it."
+
+"I think you can too," said Salt quietly. "But you'll have to work alone.
+My job is to take pictures."
+
+"I'll meet you at the car," Penny threw over her shoulder as she left
+him.
+
+Scarcely knowing how or where to begin, she ran toward the burning
+building. One of the smaller storage structures of the factory, it was
+not connected with the main office. The larger building remained intact.
+Workmen with an inadequate hose were making a frantic effort to keep the
+flames from spreading to the other structures.
+
+Penny ran up to one of the men, plucking at his sleeve to command
+attention.
+
+"What set off the explosion?" she shouted in his ear.
+
+"Don't know," he replied above the roar of the flames.
+
+"Anyone killed?"
+
+"Two workmen. They're over there." The man waved his hand vaguely toward
+another building.
+
+Unable to gain more information, Penny ran toward the nearby structure.
+The wind, she noted, was carrying flames in the opposite direction.
+Unless there were further explosions, danger of the fire spreading was
+not great.
+
+Entering the building, she met several men who appeared to be officials
+of the company.
+
+"I'm looking for Mr. Conway!" she accosted them. "Is he here?"
+
+"Who are you?" one of the men asked bluntly.
+
+"I'm Penny Parker from the _Star_."
+
+"My name is Conway. What do you want to know?"
+
+"How many killed and injured?"
+
+"Two killed. Three or four injured. Perhaps more. We don't know yet."
+
+Penny asked for names which were given her. But when she inquired how the
+explosion had occurred, Mr. Conway suddenly became uncommunicative.
+
+"I have no statement to make," he said curtly. "We don't know what caused
+the trouble."
+
+As if fearing that Penny would ask questions he did not wish to answer,
+the factory owner eluded her and disappeared into the darkness.
+
+Running back to the burning building, Penny caught a glimpse of Salt
+taking a picture. From another workman she sought to glean additional
+details of the disaster.
+
+"I was in the foundry when the first blast went off!" he revealed. "Just
+a minute before the explosion, I seen a man in a light overcoat and a
+dark hat, run from the building."
+
+"Who was he?"
+
+"No one I ever saw workin' at this plant. But I'll warrant, he touched
+off that explosion!"
+
+"Then you think he was a saboteur?"
+
+"Sure."
+
+Penny did not place too much stock in the story, but as she wandered
+about among the excited employes, she heard others saying that they too
+had seen the strange man running from the building. No one knew his name
+nor could they provide an accurate description.
+
+Sirens screamed, proclaiming the arrival of fire engines. As the ladders
+went up, and streams of water began to play on the blazing structure,
+Salt snapped several more pictures. His hat was gone, and his face had
+become streaked with soot.
+
+"I got some good shots!" he told Penny enthusiastically as he sought her
+at the fringe of the crowd. "What luck you having?"
+
+Penny told him everything she had learned.
+
+"We'll talk with the Fire Chief and then let's head for a telephone and
+call the office," Salt declared.
+
+As they started toward the fire lines, a strange sound accosted their
+ears. Hearing it, Salt stopped short to listen. From the gates outside
+the factory came the rumbling murmur of an angry crowd.
+
+"A mob must be forming!" Salt exclaimed. "Something's up!"
+
+He started for the gate with Penny hard at his heels.
+
+At first they could not see what had caused the commotion. But as the
+group of angry employes swept nearer the gate, a man in a light overcoat
+who apparently was fleeing for his life, leaped into a car which waited
+at the curb.
+
+"Quick!" Penny cried. "Take a picture!"
+
+Salt already had his camera into position. As the car started up, the
+flash bulb went off.
+
+"Got it!" Salt exclaimed triumphantly.
+
+Penny tried to note the license number of the automobile, but the plate
+was so covered with mud she could not read a single figure. The car
+whirled around a corner and was lost to view.
+
+"Salt, that man may have been the one who set off the explosion!" Penny
+cried. "The mob is of that opinion at least!"
+
+Angry employes now were bearing directly toward Penny and Salt. Suddenly
+a woman in the crowd pointed toward the photographer, shouting: "There he
+is! Get him!"
+
+Dismayed, Penny saw then that Salt wore a light overcoat which bore a
+striking resemblance to the garment of the fleeing stranger. Their builds
+too were somewhat similar, for both were thin and angular. In the
+darkness, the mob had failed to see the car roll away, and had mistaken
+Salt for the saboteur.
+
+"Let's get out of here!" Salt muttered. "One thing you can't do is argue
+with a mob!"
+
+He and Penny started in the opposite direction, only to be faced by a
+smaller group of workmen who had swarmed from another factory gate.
+Escape was cut off.
+
+"Tell them we're from the _Star_!" Penny urged, but as she beheld the
+angry faces, she realized how futile were her words.
+
+"They'll wreck my equipment before I can explain anything!" Salt said
+swiftly. He thrust the camera into her hands. "Here, take this and try to
+keep it safe! And these plates!"
+
+Empty-handed, Salt turned to face the mob. Not knowing what to do, Penny
+tried to cut across the street. But the crowd evidently had taken her for
+a companion of the saboteur, and was determined she should not escape.
+
+"Don't let her get away!" shouted a woman in slacks, her voice shrill
+with excitement. "Get her!"
+
+A car was coming slowly down the street. Its driver, a woman, was
+watching the flaming building, and had rolled down the window glass to
+see better. The window of the rear seat also was halfway down.
+
+As the women of the mob bore down upon Penny, she acted impulsively to
+save Salt's camera and the precious plates. Without thinking of the
+ultimate consequence, she tossed them through the open rear window onto
+the back seat of the moving car.
+
+The driver, her attention focused upon the blazing factory, apparently
+did not observe the act, for she continued slowly on down the street.
+
+"D F 3005," Penny noted the license number. "If only I can remember!"
+
+The factory women were upon the girl, seizing her roughly by the
+shoulders and shouting accusations. Penny's jacket was ripped as she
+jerked free.
+
+"I'm a reporter for the _Star_!" she cried desperately. "Sent here to
+cover the story!"
+
+The words made not the slightest impression upon the women. But before
+they could lay hands upon her again, she fled across the street. The
+women did not pursue her, for just then two police cars rolled up to the
+curb.
+
+Penny, greatly relieved, ran to summon help.
+
+"Quick!" she urged the policemen. "That crazy mob has mistaken a reporter
+for one of the saboteurs who escaped in a car!"
+
+With drawn clubs, the policemen battled their way through the crowd.
+Already Salt had been roughly handled. But arrival of the police saved
+him from further mistreatment, and fearful of arrest, the mob began to
+scatter. In another moment the photographer was free, although a bit
+battered. His coat had been torn to shreds, one eye had been blackened,
+and blood trickled from a cut on his lower lip.
+
+"Are you all right?" he asked anxiously as Penny rushed to him.
+
+"Oh, yes! But you're a sight, Salt. They half killed you!"
+
+"I'm okay," Salt insisted. "The important thing is we've got a whale of a
+story, and we saved the camera and pictures."
+
+A stricken look came over Penny's face.
+
+"Salt--" she stammered. "Your camera--"
+
+"It was smashed?"
+
+"No, I tossed it into a car, but the car went on down the street. How
+we'll ever find it again I don't know!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   4
+                          _THE MISSING PLATES_
+
+
+Salt did not criticise Penny when he learned exactly what had happened.
+
+"I'd rather lose a dozen pictures than have my camera smashed," he
+declared to cheer her. "Anyway, we may be able to trace the car and get
+everything back. Remember the license number?"
+
+"D F 3005," Penny said promptly, and wrote it down lest she forget.
+
+"Let's call the license bureau and get the owner's name," the
+photographer proposed, steering her toward a corner drugstore. "Gosh,
+it's late!" he added, noticing a clock in a store window. "And they're
+holding the paper for our story and pictures!"
+
+"I certainly messed everything up," Penny said dismally. "At the moment,
+it seemed the thing to do. When those women started for me, I thought it
+was the only way to save the camera."
+
+"Don't worry about it," Salt comforted. "I'll get the camera back."
+
+"But how will we catch the edition with your pictures?"
+
+"That's a horse of a different color," Salt admitted ruefully. "Anyway,
+it's my funeral. I'll tell DeWitt something."
+
+"I'll tell him myself," Penny said firmly. "I lost the pictures, and I
+expect to take responsibility for it."
+
+"Let's not worry ahead. Maybe we can trace that car if we have luck."
+
+Entering the drugstore, Penny immediately telephoned Editor DeWitt at the
+_Star_, reporting all the facts she had picked up.
+
+"Okay, that's fine," he praised. "One of our men reporters, Art Bailey,
+is on his way out there now. He'll take over. Tell Salt Sommers to get in
+here fast with his pictures!"
+
+"He'll call you in just a minute or two," Penny said weakly.
+
+From another phone, Salt had been in touch with the license bureau. As
+Penny left the booth to join him, she saw by the look of his face that he
+had had no luck.
+
+"Couldn't you get the name of the owner?" she asked.
+
+"It's worse than that, Penny. The license was made out to a man by the
+name of A. B. Bettenridge. He lives at Silbus City."
+
+"Silbus City! At the far end of the state!"
+
+"That's the size of it."
+
+"But how did the car happen to be in Riverview?"
+
+"The man or his wife probably is visiting relatives here, or possibly
+just passing through the city."
+
+"And there's no way to trace them," Penny said, aghast. "Oh, Salt, I've
+not only lost your pictures, but your camera as well!"
+
+"Cheer up," Salt said brusquely. "It's not that bad. We're sunk on the
+pictures, that's sure. But unless the people are dishonest, I'll get the
+camera again. I'll write a letter to Silbus City, or if necessary, go
+there myself."
+
+Penny had little to say as she rode back to the _Star_ office with the
+photographer. Editor DeWitt was not in the newsroom when they returned,
+but they found him in the composing room, shouting at the printers who
+were "making up the paper" to include the explosion story.
+
+Seeing Penny and Salt, he whirled around to face them. "Get any good
+pictures?" he demanded.
+
+"We lost all of 'em," Salt confessed, his face long.
+
+"You what?"
+
+"Lost the pictures. The mob tore into us, and we were lucky to get back
+alive."
+
+DeWitt's stony gaze fastened briefly upon Salt's scratched face and torn
+clothing, "One of the biggest stories of the year, and you lose the
+pictures!" he commented.
+
+"It was my fault," Penny broke in. "I tossed the camera and plates into a
+passing car. I was trying to save them, but it didn't work out that way."
+
+DeWitt's eyebrows jerked upward and he listened without comment as Penny
+told the story. Then he said grimly: "That's fine! That's just dandy!"
+and stalked out of the composing room.
+
+Penny gazed despairingly at Salt.
+
+"If you hadn't told him it was your fault, he'd have taken it okay," Salt
+sighed. "Oh, well, it was the only thing to do. Anyway, there's one
+consolation. He can't fire you."
+
+"I wish he would. Salt, I feel worse than a worm."
+
+"Oh, buck up, Penny! Things like this happen. One has to learn to take
+the breaks."
+
+"Nothing like this ever happened before--I'm sure of that," Penny said
+dismally. "What ought I to do, Salt?"
+
+"Not a thing," he assured her. "Just show up for work tomorrow the same
+as ever and don't think any more about it. I'll get the camera back, and
+by tomorrow DeWitt will have forgotten everything."
+
+"You're very optimistic," Penny returned. "Very optimistic indeed."
+
+Not wishing to return through the newsroom, she slipped down the back
+stairs and took a bus home. The Parker house stood on a knoll high above
+the winding river and was situated in a lovely district of Riverview.
+Only a few blocks away lived Louise Sidell, who was Penny's closest
+friend.
+
+Reluctant to face her father, Penny lingered for a while in the dark
+garden, snipping a few roses. But presently a kitchen window flew up, and
+Mrs. Maude Weems, the family housekeeper called impatiently:
+
+"Penny Parker, is that you prowling around out there? We had our dinner
+three hours ago. Will you please come in and explain what kept you so
+long?"
+
+Penny drew a deep sigh and went in out of the night. Mrs. Weems stared at
+her in dismay as she entered the kitchen.
+
+"Why, what have you done to yourself!" she exclaimed.
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"You look dreadful! Your hair isn't combed--your face is dirty--and your
+clothes! Why, they smell of smoke!"
+
+"Didn't Dad tell you I started to work for the _Star_ today?" Penny
+inquired innocently.
+
+"The very idea of you coming home three hours late, and looking as if you
+had gone through the rollers of my washing machine! I'll tell your father
+a thing or two!"
+
+Mrs. Weems had cared for Penny since the death of Mrs. Parker many years
+before. Although employed as a housekeeper, salary was no consideration,
+and she loved the girl as her own child. Penny and Mr. Parker regarded
+Mrs. Weems almost as a member of the family.
+
+"Where is Dad?" Penny asked uneasily.
+
+"In the study."
+
+"Let's not disturb him now, Mrs. Weems. I'll just have a bite to eat and
+slip off to bed."
+
+"So you don't want to see your father?" the housekeeper demanded alertly.
+"Why, may I ask? Is there more to this little escapade than meets the
+eye?"
+
+"Maybe," Penny admitted. Then she added earnestly: "Believe me, Mrs.
+Weems, I've had a wretched day. Tomorrow I'll tell you everything.
+Tonight I just want to get a hot bath and go to bed."
+
+Mrs. Weems instantly became solicitous. "You poor thing," she murmured
+sympathetically. "I'll get you some hot food right away."
+
+Without asking another question, the housekeeper scurried about the
+kitchen, preparing supper. When it was set before her, Penny discovered
+she was not as hungry as she had thought. But because Mrs. Weems was
+watching her anxiously, she ate as much as she could.
+
+After she had finished, she started upstairs. In passing her father's
+study, she saw his eyes upon her. Before she could move on up the steps,
+he came to the doorway, noting her disheveled appearance.
+
+"A hard day at the office?" he inquired evenly.
+
+Penny could not know how much her father already had learned, but from
+the twinkle of his eyes she suspected that DeWitt had telephoned him the
+details of her disgrace.
+
+"Oh, just a little overtime work," she flung carelessly over her
+shoulder. "See you in the morning."
+
+Penny took a hot bath and climbed into bed. Then she climbed out again
+and carefully set the clock alarm for eight o'clock. Snuggling down once
+more, she went almost instantly to sleep.
+
+It seemed that she scarcely had closed her eyes when the alarm jangled in
+her ear. Drowsily, Penny reached and turned it off. She rolled over to go
+to sleep again, then suddenly realized she was a working woman and leaped
+from bed.
+
+She dressed hurriedly and joined her father at the breakfast table. He
+had two papers spread before him, the _Star_, and its rival, the _Daily
+Times_. Penny knew from her father's expression that he had been
+comparing the explosion stories of the two papers, and was not pleased.
+
+"Any news this morning?" she inquired a bit too innocently.
+
+Her father shot back a quick, quizzical look, but gave no further
+indication that he suspected she might have had any connection with the
+Conway Steel Plant story.
+
+"Oh, they did a little dynamiting last night," he replied, shoving the
+papers toward her. "The _Times_ had very good pictures."
+
+Penny scanned the front pages. The story in the _Star_ was well written,
+with her own facts used, and a great many more supplied by other
+reporters. But in comparison to the _Times_, the story seemed colorless.
+Pictures, she realized, made the difference. The _Times_ had published
+two of them which half covered the page.
+
+"Can't see how DeWitt slipped up," Mr. Parker said, shaking his head
+sadly. "He should have sent one of our photographers out there."
+
+"Dad--"
+
+Mr. Parker, who had finished his breakfast, hastily shoved back his
+chair. "Well, I must be getting to the office," he said. "Don't be late,
+Penny."
+
+"Dad, about that story last night--"
+
+"No time now," he interposed. "On a newspaper, yesterday's stories are
+best forgotten."
+
+Penny understood then that her father already knew all the details of her
+downfall. Relieved that there was no need to explain, she grinned and
+hurriedly ate her breakfast.
+
+Because her father had taken the car and gone on, she was compelled to
+battle the crowd on the bus. The trip took longer than she had expected.
+Determined not to be late for work, she ran most of the way from the bus
+stop to the office. By the time she had climbed the stairs to the
+newsroom, she was almost breathless.
+
+As she came hurriedly through the swinging door, Elda Hunt, cool and
+serene, looked up from her typewriter.
+
+"Why the rush?" she drawled, but in a voice which carried clearly to
+everyone in the room. "Are you going to another fire?"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   5
+                        _SHADOW ON THE SKYLIGHT_
+
+
+Ignoring the thrust, Penny hung up her hat and coat and went to work.
+Neither Editor DeWitt nor his assistant, Mr. Jewell, made any reference
+to the explosion story of the previous day.
+
+Another reporter had written the "follow-up" on it which Penny read with
+interest. Cause of the explosion, responsible for more than $40,000
+damages, had not yet been determined. However, Fire Chief Schirr had
+stated that there was evidence the explosion had not been accidental.
+Several witnesses had reported seeing a man in light overcoat flee from
+the building only a few minutes before the disaster.
+
+"He must have been the fellow who leaped into that waiting car and
+escaped!" Penny thought. "And to think, Salt's picture might actually be
+evidence in the case, if I hadn't thrown it away!"
+
+She was staring glumly at the story when DeWitt motioned for her to take
+a telephone call. It was another obituary.
+
+"After muffing a good story, I'll probably be assigned to these things
+for the rest of my time on the paper," Penny thought as she mechanically
+scribbled notes.
+
+All morning the obituaries kept coming in, and then there were the
+hospitals to call for accident reports, and the weather bureau. After
+lunch, a reporter was needed to interview a famous actress who had
+arrived in Riverview for a personal appearance. It was just the story
+Penny wanted to try. She knew she could do it well, for in months past,
+she frequently had contributed special feature stories to the paper.
+
+Mr. DeWitt's gaze focused upon her for an instant, but he passed her by.
+
+"Elda," he said, and she went quickly to his desk to receive
+instructions.
+
+Elda was gone a long while on the assignment. When she returned in the
+afternoon, she spent nearly two hours typing the interview. Several times
+Editor DeWitt glanced impatiently at her, and finally he said: "Let's
+have a start on that story, Elda. You've been fussing with it long
+enough."
+
+She gave it to him. As Mr. DeWitt read, he used his pencil to mark out
+large blocks of what had been written. But as he gave the story to a copy
+reader who would write the headline, he said: "Give her a byline."
+
+Elda heard and grinned from ear to ear. A byline meant that a caption
+directly under the headline would proclaim: "By Elda Hunt."
+
+Penny, who also heard, could not know that Mr. DeWitt had granted the
+byline only because it was customary with a personal interview story. She
+felt even more depressed than before.
+
+"See if you can find a picture of this actress in the photography room,"
+DeWitt instructed Elda. "Salt Sommers took one this morning, but it
+hasn't come up yet."
+
+With a swishing of skirts, for she now was in a fine mood, Elda
+disappeared down the corridor. Fifteen minutes elapsed. Penny, busy
+writing hand-outs and obituaries, had forgotten about her entirely, until
+Mr. DeWitt summoned her to his desk.
+
+"See if you can find out what became of Elda," he said in exasperation.
+"Tell her we'd like to have that picture for today's paper."
+
+Penny went quickly toward the photography room. The door was closed. As
+she opened it, she was startled half out of her wits by hearing a shrill
+scream. The cry unmistakably came from an inner room of the photography
+studio and was Elda's voice. At the same instant, a gust of cool air
+struck Penny's face.
+
+"Elda!" she called in alarm.
+
+"Here," came the girl's muffled voice from the inner room.
+
+Fearing the worst, Penny darted through the doorway. Elda had collapsed
+in a chair, her face white with terror. Wordlessly, she pointed toward
+the ceiling.
+
+Penny gazed up but could see nothing amiss. Warm sunshine was pouring
+through the closed skylight which covered half the ceiling area.
+
+"What ails you, Elda?" she asked. "Why did you scream?"
+
+"The skylight!"
+
+"What about the skylight?" Penny demanded with increasing impatience. "I
+can't see anything wrong with it."
+
+"Only a moment ago I saw a shadow there," Elda whispered in awe.
+
+"A shadow!" Penny was tempted to laugh. "What sort of shadow?"
+
+"I--I can't describe it. But it must have been a human shadow. I think a
+man was crouching there."
+
+"Nonsense, you must have imagined it."
+
+"But I didn't," Elda insisted indignantly. "I saw it just before you
+opened the door."
+
+"Did the skylight open?"
+
+"Not that I saw."
+
+Recalling the cool gust of wind that had struck her face, Penny took
+thought. Was it possible that Elda actually had seen someone crouching on
+the skylight? However, the idea seemed fantastic. She could think of no
+reason why any person would hide on the roof above the photography room.
+
+"Oh, snap out of it, Elda," she said carelessly. "Even if you did see a
+shadow, what of it?"
+
+"It was a man, I tell you!"
+
+"A workman perhaps. Mr. DeWitt sent me to tell you he was in a hurry for
+that picture."
+
+"Oh, tell Mr. DeWitt to jump in an ink well!" Elda retorted angrily.
+"He's always in a hurry."
+
+"You haven't been watching a shadow all this time, I judge," Penny
+commented.
+
+"Of course not. I went downstairs to get a candy bar."
+
+With a sigh, Elda pulled herself from the chair. She really did look as
+if she had undergone a bad fright, Penny observed. Feeling a trifle sorry
+for the girl, she helped her find the photograph, and they started with
+it to the newsroom.
+
+"I'd not say anything about the shadow if I were you, Elda," Penny
+remarked.
+
+"Why not, pray?"
+
+"Well, it sounds rather silly."
+
+"Oh, so I'm silly, am I?"
+
+"I didn't say that, Elda. I said the idea of a shadow on the skylight
+struck me that way. Of course, if you want to be teased about it, why
+tell everyone."
+
+"At least I didn't make a mess of an important story," Elda retorted,
+tossing her head.
+
+"Elda, why do you dislike me?" Penny demanded suddenly.
+
+The question was so unexpected that it threw the girl off guard. "Did I
+say I did?" she countered.
+
+"It's obvious that you do."
+
+"I'll tell you what I dislike," Elda said sharply. "The rest of us here
+have to work for our promotions. You'll get yours without even turning a
+hair--just because you're Mr. Parker's one and only daughter."
+
+"But that's not true, Elda. I'm expected to earn my way the same as you.
+I'm working at a beginner's salary."
+
+"You can't expect me to believe that!"
+
+"Was it because you thought I was making more money than you, that you
+changed the name on the Borman obituary?"
+
+Elda stopped short. She tried to register indignation, but instead, only
+looked frightened. Penny was certain of her guilt.
+
+"I haven't told Mr. DeWitt, and I don't intend to," she said quietly.
+"But I'm warning you! If anything like that happens again, you'll answer
+for it!"
+
+"Well, of all the nerve!" Elda exploded, but her voice lacked fire. "Of
+all the nerve!"
+
+Penny deliberately walked away from her.
+
+The day dragged on. At five-thirty Penny covered her typewriter and
+telephoned Mrs. Weems.
+
+"I'll be late coming home tonight," she said apologetically. "I thought I
+might get dinner downtown and perhaps go to a show."
+
+"Another hard day?" the housekeeper asked sympathetically.
+
+"Much easier than yesterday," Penny said, making her voice sound
+cheerful. "Don't worry about me. I'll be home no later than nine."
+
+Though she would not have confessed it even to herself, Penny was
+reluctant to meet her father at dinner time. He might not ask questions,
+but his all-knowing, all-seeing eyes would read her secrets. At a glance
+he could tell that newspaper work was not going well for her, and that
+she disliked it.
+
+"I certainly won't give him an opportunity to even think, 'I told you
+so,'" she reflected. "Even if it kills me, I'll stick here, and I'll
+pretend to like it too!"
+
+Because it was too early to dine, Penny walked aimlessly toward the
+river. She paused at a dock to watch two boys fishing, and then sauntered
+on toward the passenger wharves.
+
+A young man in an unpressed suit, and shoes badly in need of a shine,
+leaned against one of the freight buildings. Seeing Penny, he pulled his
+hat low over his eyes, and became engrossed in lighting a cigarette.
+
+She would have passed him by without a second glance, save that he
+deliberately turned his back to shield his face. The hunch of his
+shoulders struck her as strangely familiar.
+
+Involuntarily, she exclaimed: "Ben! Ben Bartell!"
+
+He turned then and she saw that she had not been mistaken. The young man
+indeed was a former reporter for the _Riverview Mirror_, a news magazine
+published weekly. Ben had not shaved that day, and he looked years older
+than when she last had seen him.
+
+"Hello, Penny," he said uncomfortably.
+
+"Ben, what has happened to you?" she asked. "Why were you trying to avoid
+me?"
+
+Ben did not reply for a moment. Then he said quietly: "Why should I want
+to see any of my old friends now? Just look at me and you have your
+answer."
+
+"Why, Ben! You were one of the best reporters the _Mirror_ ever had!"
+
+"_Were_ is right," returned Ben with a grim smile. "Haven't worked there
+for six months now. The truth is, I'm down and out."
+
+"Why, that's ridiculous, Ben! Nearly every paper in town needs a good
+man."
+
+"They don't need me."
+
+"Ben, you sound so bitter! What has happened to you?"
+
+"It's a long story, sister, and not for your dainty little ears."
+
+Penny now was deeply troubled, for she had known Ben well and liked him.
+
+"Ben, you must tell me," she urged, taking his arm. "We're going into a
+restaurant, and while we have dinner together, you must explain why you
+left the _Mirror_."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   6
+                             _BEN'S STORY_
+
+
+Ben held back.
+
+"Thanks," he said uncomfortably, "but I think I ought to be moving on."
+
+"Have you had your dinner?" Penny asked.
+
+"Not yet."
+
+"Then do come with me, Ben. Or don't you want to tell me what happened at
+the _Mirror_?"
+
+"It's not that, Penny. The truth is--well--"
+
+"You haven't the price of a dinner?" Penny supplied. "Is that it, Ben?"
+
+"I'm practically broke," he acknowledged ruefully. "Sounds screwy in a
+day and age like this, but I'm not strong enough for factory work. Was
+rejected from the Army on account of my health. Tomorrow I guess I'll
+take a desk job somewhere, but I've held off, not wanting to get stuck on
+it."
+
+"You're a newspaper man, Ben. Reporting is all you've ever done, isn't
+it?"
+
+"Yes, but I'm finished now. Can't get a job anywhere." The young man
+started to move away, but Penny caught his arm again.
+
+"Ben, you _are_ having dinner with me," she insisted. "I have plenty of
+money, and this is my treat. I really want to talk to you."
+
+"I can't let you pay for my dinner," Ben protested, though with less
+vigor.
+
+"Silly! You can take me somewhere as soon as you get your job."
+
+"Well, if you put it that way," Ben agreed, falling willingly into step.
+"There's a place here on the waterfront that serves good meals, but it's
+not stylish."
+
+"All the better. Lead on, Ben."
+
+He took her to a small, crowded little restaurant only a block away. In
+the front window, a revolving spit upon which were impaled several
+roasting chickens, captured all eyes. Ben's glands began to work as he
+watched the birds browning over the charcoal.
+
+"Ben, how long has it been since you've had a real meal?" Penny asked,
+picking up the menu.
+
+"Oh, a week. I've mostly kept going on pancakes. But it's my own funeral.
+I could have had jobs of a sort if I had been willing to take them."
+
+Penny gave her order to the waitress, taking double what she really
+wanted so that her companion would not feel backward about placing a
+similar order. Then she said:
+
+"Ben, you remarked awhile ago that you can't get a newspaper job
+anywhere."
+
+"That's true. I'm blacklisted."
+
+"Did you try my father's paper, the _Star_?"
+
+"I did. I couldn't even get past his secretary."
+
+"That's not like Dad," Penny said with troubled eyes. "Did you really do
+something dreadful?"
+
+"It was Jason Cordell who put the bee on me."
+
+"Jason Cordell?" Penny repeated thoughtfully. "He's the editor of the
+_Mirror_, and has an office in the building adjoining the _Star_."
+
+"Right. Well, he fired me."
+
+"Lots of reporters are discharged, Ben, but they aren't necessarily
+blacklisted."
+
+Ben squirmed uncomfortably in his chair.
+
+"You needn't tell me if you don't wish," Penny said kindly. "I don't mean
+to pry into your personal affairs. I only thought that I might be able to
+help you."
+
+"I want to tell you, Penny. I really do. But I don't dare reveal some of
+the facts, because I haven't sufficient proof. I'll tell you this much. I
+stumbled into a story--a big one--and it discredited Jason Cordell."
+
+"You didn't publish it?"
+
+"Naturally not." Ben laughed shortly. "I doubt if any newspaper would
+touch it with a ten-foot pole. Cordell is supposed to be one of our
+substantial, respectable citizens."
+
+"Actually?"
+
+"He's as dishonorable as they come."
+
+Knowing that Ben was bitter because of his discharge, Penny discredited
+some of the remarks, but she waited expectantly for him to continue. A
+waitress brought the dinner, and for awhile, as the reporter ate
+ravenously, he had little to say.
+
+"You'll have to excuse me," he finally apologized. "I haven't tasted such
+fine food in a year! Now what is it you want to know, Penny? I'm in a
+mood to tell almost anything."
+
+"What was this scandal you uncovered about Mr. Cordell?"
+
+"That's the one thing I can't reveal, but it concerned the owner of the
+Conway Steel Plant. They're bitter enemies you know."
+
+Penny had not known, and the information interested her greatly.
+
+"Did you talk it over with Mr. Cordell?" she asked.
+
+"That was the mistake I made." Ben slowly stirred his coffee. "Cordell
+didn't have much to say, but the next thing I knew, I was out of a job
+and on the street."
+
+"Are you sure that was why he discharged you?"
+
+"What else?"
+
+Penny hesitated, not wishing to hurt Ben's feelings. There were several
+things she had heard about him--that he was undependable and that he
+drank heavily.
+
+"Most of the things you've been told about me aren't true," Ben said
+quietly, reading her thoughts. "Jason Cordell started a lot of stories
+intended to discredit me. He told editors that I had walked off a job and
+left an important story uncovered. He pictured me as a drunkard and a
+trouble maker."
+
+"I'll talk to my father," Penny promised. "As short as the _Star_ is of
+employes, I'm sure there must be a place for you."
+
+"You're swell," Ben said feelingly. "But I'm not asking for charity. I'll
+get along."
+
+Refusing to talk longer about himself, he told Penny of amusing
+happenings along the waterfront. After dessert had been finished, she
+slipped a bill into his hand, and they left the restaurant.
+
+Outside, the streets were dark, for in this section of the city, lights
+were few and far between. Ben offered to escort Penny back to the _Star_
+office or wherever she wished to go.
+
+"This isn't too safe a part of the city for a girl," he declared.
+"Especially after night."
+
+"All the same, to me the waterfront is the most fascinating part of
+Riverview," Penny declared. "You seem to know this part of town well,
+Ben."
+
+"I should. I've lived here for the past six months."
+
+"You have a room?"
+
+"I'll show you where I live," Ben offered. "Wait until we reach the next
+corner."
+
+They walked on along the river docks, passing warehouses and vessels tied
+up at the wharves. Twice they passed guards who gazed at them with intent
+scrutiny. However, Ben was recognized, and with a friendly salute, the
+men allowed him to pass unchallenged.
+
+"The waterfront is strictly guarded now," the reporter told Penny. "Even
+so, plenty goes on here that shouldn't."
+
+"Meaning?"
+
+Ben did not answer for they had reached the corner. Beyond, on a vacant
+lot which Penny suspected might also be a dumping ground, stood three or
+four dilapidated shacks.
+
+"See the third one," Ben indicated. "Well, that's my little mansion."
+
+"Oh, Ben!"
+
+"It's not bad inside. A little cold when the wind blows through the
+chinks, but otherwise, fairly comfortable."
+
+"Ben, haven't you any friends or relatives?"
+
+"Not here. I thought I had a few friends, but they dropped me like a hot
+potato when I ran into trouble."
+
+"This is no life for you, Ben. I'll certainly talk to my father
+tomorrow."
+
+Ben smiled and said nothing. From his silence, Penny gathered that he had
+no faith she would be able to do anything for him.
+
+They walked on, and as they approached a small freighter tied up at the
+wharf, Ben pointed it out.
+
+"That's the _Snark_," he informed her.
+
+The name meant nothing to Penny. "Who owns her?" she inquired carelessly.
+
+"I wish I knew, Penny. There's plenty goes on aboard that vessel, but
+it's strictly hush-hush. I have my suspicions that--"
+
+Ben suddenly broke off, for several men had appeared on the deck of the
+_Snark_. The vessel was some distance away, and in the darkness only
+shadowy forms were visible.
+
+Seizing Penny's arm, Ben pulled her flat against a warehouse.
+
+Amazed by his action, she started to protest. Then she understood. Aboard
+the _Snark_ there was some sort of disturbance or disagreement. The men,
+although speaking in low, almost inaudible tones, were arguing. Penny
+caught only one phrase: "Heave him overboard!"
+
+"Ben, what's happening there?" she whispered anxiously.
+
+"Don't know!" he answered. "But nothing good."
+
+"Where are the guards?"
+
+"Probably at the far end of their beats."
+
+Aboard the _Snark_, there was a brief scuffle, as someone was dragged
+across the deck to the rail.
+
+"That'll teach you!" they heard one of the men mutter.
+
+Then the helpless victim was raised and dropped over the rail. Shrieking
+in terror, he fell with a great splash into the inky waters. Frantically,
+he began to struggle.
+
+"Those fiends!" Penny cried. "They deliberately threw the man overboard,
+and he can't swim!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   7
+                            _MAN OVERBOARD!_
+
+
+Penny and Ben ran to the edge of the dock, peering into the dark, oily
+waters. On the deck of the _Snark_ there was a murmur of voices, then
+silence.
+
+Casting a quick glance upward, Penny was angered to see that the men who
+had been standing there had vanished into a cabin or companionway.
+Obviously, they had no intention of trying to aid the unfortunate man.
+
+"There he is!" Ben exclaimed, suddenly catching another glimpse of the
+bobbing head. "About done in too!"
+
+Kicking off his shoes and stripping off his coat, the reporter dived from
+the dock. He struck the water with an awkward splash, but Penny was
+relieved to see that he really could swim well. He struck out for the
+drowning man, but before he could reach him, the fellow slipped quietly
+beneath the surface.
+
+Close by were two barges lashed together, and the current would take a
+body in that direction. Ben jack-knifed and went down into the inky
+waters in a surface dive. Unable to find the man, he came up, filled his
+lungs in a noisy gulp, and went down again. He was under such a long time
+that Penny became frantic with anxiety.
+
+She decided to turn in an alarm for the city rescue squad. But before she
+could act, Ben surfaced again, and this time she saw that he held the
+other man by the hair.
+
+As Ben slowly towed the fellow toward the dock, Penny realized that she
+must find some way to get them both out of the river. She could expect no
+help from anyone aboard the _Snark_. Gazing upward again, she thought she
+saw a man watching her from the vessel's bow, but as her gaze focused
+upon him, he retreated into deeper shadow, beyond view.
+
+No guards were anywhere near, and the entire waterfront seemed deserted.
+Penny's eyes fastened upon a rope which hung loosely over a dock post. It
+was long enough to serve her purpose, and finding it unattached, she
+hurled one end toward Ben.
+
+He caught it on the second try and made a loop fast about the body of the
+man he towed. Penny then pulled them both to the dock.
+
+"You can't haul us up," Ben instructed from below. "Just hold on, and I
+think I can get out of here by myself."
+
+He swam off in the darkness and was lost to view. Penny clung desperately
+to the rope, knowing that if she relaxed for an instant, the man, already
+half drowned, would submerge for good. Her arms began to ache. It seemed
+to her she could not hold on another instant.
+
+Then Ben, his clothes plastered to his thin body, came running across the
+planks.
+
+Without a word he seized the rope, and together they raised the man to
+the dock. In the darkness Penny saw only that he was slender, and in
+civilian clothes.
+
+Stretching him out on the dock boards, they prepared to give artificial
+resuscitation. But it was unnecessary. For at the first pressure on his
+back, the man rolled over and muttered: "Cut it out. I'm okay."
+
+Then he lay still, exhausted, but breathing evenly.
+
+"You were lucky to get him, Ben," Penny said as she knelt beside the
+stranger. "If the current had carried him beneath those barges, he never
+would have been taken out alive."
+
+"I had to dive deep," Ben admitted. "Found him plastered right against
+the side of the first barge. Yeah, I was lucky, and so is he."
+
+The man stirred again, and sat up. Penny tried to support him, but he
+moved away, revealing that he wanted no help.
+
+"Who pushed you overboard?" Ben asked.
+
+The man stared at him and did not answer.
+
+Observing that Ben was shivering from cold, and that the stranger too was
+severely chilled, Penny proposed calling either the rescue squad or an
+ambulance.
+
+"Not on your life," muttered the rescued man, trying to get up. "I'm
+okay, and I'm getting out of here."
+
+With Ben's help, he managed to struggle to his feet, but they buckled
+under him when he tried to walk.
+
+The man looked surprised.
+
+"We'll have to call the rescue squad," Penny decided firmly.
+
+"I have a better idea," Ben supplied. "We can take him to my shack."
+
+Penny thought that the man should have hospital treatment. However, he
+sided with Ben, insisting he could walk to the nearby shack.
+
+"I'm okay," he repeated again. "All I need is some dry clothes."
+
+Supported on either side, the man managed to walk to the shack. Ben
+unlatched the door and hastily lighting an oil lamp, helped the fellow to
+the bed where he collapsed.
+
+"Ben, I think we should have a doctor--" Penny began again, but Ben
+silenced her with a quick look.
+
+Drawing her to the door he whispered: "Let him have his way. He's not
+badly off, and he has reason for not wanting anyone to know what
+happened. If we call the rescue squad or a doctor, he'll have to answer
+to a lot of questions."
+
+"There are some things I'd like to know myself."
+
+"We'll get the answers if we're patient. Now stay outside for a minute or
+two until I can get his clothes changed, and into dry ones myself."
+
+Penny stepped outside the shack. A chill wind blew from the direction of
+the river, but with its freshness was blended the disagreeable odor of
+factory smoke, fish houses and dumpings of refuse.
+
+"Poor Ben!" she thought. "He never should be living in such a place as
+this! No matter what he's done, he deserves another chance."
+
+Exactly what she believed about the reporter, Penny could not have said.
+His courageous act had aroused her deep admiration. On the other hand,
+she was aware that his story regarding Jason Cordell might have been
+highly colored to cover his own shortcomings.
+
+Within a few minutes Ben opened the door to let her in again. The
+stranger had been put to bed in a pair of the reporter's pajamas which
+were much too small for him. In the dim light from the oil lamp, she saw
+that he had a large, square-shaped face, with a tiny scar above his right
+eye. It was not a pleasant face. Gazing at him, Penny felt a tiny chill
+pass over her.
+
+Ben also had changed his clothes. He busied himself starting a fire in
+the rusty old stove, and once he had a feeble blaze, hung up all the
+garments to dry.
+
+The room was so barren that Penny tried not to give an appearance of
+noticing. There was only a table, one chair, the sagging bed, and a shelf
+with a few cracked dishes.
+
+"I'll get along with him all right," Ben said, obviously expecting Penny
+to leave.
+
+She refused to take the hint. Instead she said: "This man will either
+have to go to a hospital or stay here all night. He's in no condition to
+walk anywhere."
+
+"He can have my bed tonight," Ben said. "I'll manage."
+
+The stranger's intent eyes fastened first upon Penny and then Ben. But
+not a word of gratitude did he speak.
+
+"You'll need more blankets and food," Penny said, thinking aloud. "I can
+get them from Mrs. Weems."
+
+"Please don't bother," Ben said stiffly. "We'll get along."
+
+Though rebuffed, Penny went over to the bedside. Instantly she saw a
+bruise on the stranger's forehead and a sizeable swollen place.
+
+"Why, he must have struck his head!" she exclaimed, then corrected
+herself. "But he didn't strike anything that we saw. Ben, he must have
+been slugged while aboard the _Snark_!"
+
+The stranger turned so that he looked directly into the girl's clear blue
+eyes. "Nuts!" he said emphatically.
+
+"Our guest doesn't seem to care to discuss the little affair," Ben
+commented dryly. "I wonder why? He escaped drowning by only a few
+breaths."
+
+"Listen," said the stranger, hitching up on an elbow. "You fished me out
+of the water, but that don't give you no right to put me through the
+third degree. My business is my business--see!"
+
+"Who are you?" demanded Penny.
+
+She thought he would refuse to answer, but after a moment he said curtly:
+"James Webster."
+
+Both Penny and Ben were certain that the man had given a fictitious name.
+
+"You work aboard the _Snark_?" Ben resumed the questioning.
+
+"No."
+
+"Then what were you doing there?"
+
+"And why were you pushed overboard?" Penny demanded as the man failed to
+answer the first question.
+
+"I wasn't pushed," he said sullenly.
+
+"Then how did you get into the water?" Penny pursued the subject
+ruthlessly.
+
+"I tripped and fell."
+
+Penny and Ben looked at each other, and the latter shrugged, indicating
+that it would do no good to question the man. Determined to keep the
+truth from them, he would tell only lies.
+
+"You can't expect us to believe that," Penny said coldly. "We happened to
+see you when you went overboard. There was a scuffle. Then the men who
+threw you in, disappeared. For the life of me, I can't see why you would
+wish to protect them."
+
+"There are a lot of things you can't see, sister," he retorted. "Now will
+you go away, and let me sleep?"
+
+"Better go," Ben urged in a low tone. "Anyone as savage as this egg,
+doesn't need a doctor. I'll let him stay here tonight, then send him on
+his way tomorrow morning."
+
+"You really think that is best?"
+
+"Yes, I do, Penny. We could call the police, but how far would we get?
+This bird would deny he was pushed off the boat, and we would look silly.
+We couldn't prove a thing."
+
+"I suppose you're right," Penny sighed. "Well, I hope everything goes
+well tonight."
+
+Moving to the door, she paused there, for some reason reluctant to leave.
+
+"I'll take you home," Ben offered.
+
+"No, stay here," Penny said firmly. "I'm not afraid to go alone. I only
+hope you get along all right with your guest."
+
+Ben followed her outside the shack.
+
+"Don't worry," he said, once beyond hearing of the stranger. "This fellow
+is a tough hombre, but I know how to handle him. If he tries to get
+rough, I'll heave him out."
+
+"I never saw such ingratitude, Ben. After you risked your life to save
+him--"
+
+"He's just a dock rat," the reporter said carelessly.
+
+"Even so, why should he refuse to answer questions?"
+
+"Obviously, he's mixed up in some mess and doesn't dare talk, Penny. I've
+always had my suspicions about the _Snark_ and her owners."
+
+"What do you mean, Ben?"
+
+Before the reporter could answer, there came a thumping from inside the
+shack. Welcoming the interruption, Ben turned quickly to re-enter.
+
+"Can't tell you now," he said hurriedly. "We'll talk some other time. So
+long, and don't worry about anything."
+
+Firmly, he closed the door.
+
+Penny stood there a moment until satisfied that there was no further
+disturbance inside the shack. Then with a puzzled shake of her head, she
+crossed the vacant lot to the docks.
+
+"Those men aboard the _Snark_ should be arrested," she thought
+indignantly. "I wish I could learn more about them."
+
+She stood for a moment lost in deep reflection. Then with sudden
+decision, she turned and walked toward the _Snark_.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   8
+                           _A SWINGING CHAIN_
+
+
+Approaching the _Snark_, Penny saw several men moving about on the
+unlighted decks. But as she drew nearer, their forms melted into the
+darkness. When she reached the dock, the vessel appeared deserted.
+
+Yet, peering upward at the towering vessel, the girl had a feeling that
+she was being watched. She was satisfied that the rescue of the man who
+called himself James Webster had been observed. She was equally certain
+that those aboard the _Snark_ were aware of her presence now.
+
+"Ahoy, the _Snark_!" she called impulsively.
+
+There was no answer from aboard the tied-up vessel, but footsteps pounded
+down the dock. Penny whirled around to find herself the target for a
+flashlight. Momentarily blinded, she could see nothing. Then, the light
+shifted away from her face, and she recognized a wharf guard.
+
+"What you doing here?" he demanded gruffly.
+
+Though tempted to tell the entire story, Penny held her tongue. "Just
+looking," she mumbled.
+
+"Didn't I hear you call out?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Know anyone aboard the _Snark?_"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then move along," the guard ordered curtly.
+
+Penny did not argue. Slipping quietly away, she sought a brightly lighted
+street which led toward the newspaper office. Midway there, she stopped
+at a corner drugstore to call home and inquire for her father. Mrs. Weems
+told her that so far as she knew Mr. Parker had returned to the _Star_
+office to do a little extra work.
+
+"Then I'll catch him there," Penny declared.
+
+"Is anything wrong?" the housekeeper inquired anxiously.
+
+"Just something in connection with a news story," Penny reassured her.
+"I'll be home soon."
+
+Hanging up the receiver before the housekeeper could ask any more
+questions, she walked swiftly on to the _Star_ building. The front door
+was locked, but Penny had her own key. Letting herself in through the
+darkened advertising room, she climbed the stairs to the news floor.
+
+A few members of the Sunday staff were working at their desks, but
+otherwise the room was deserted. Typewriters, like hooded ghosts, stood
+in rigid ranks.
+
+Pausing to chat for a moment with the Sunday editor, Penny asked if her
+father were in the building.
+
+"He was in his office a few minutes ago," the man replied. "I don't know
+if he left or not."
+
+Going on through the long newsroom, Penny saw that her father's office
+was dark. The door remained locked.
+
+Disappointed, she started to turn back when she noticed a light burning
+in the photography room. At this hour she knew no one would be working
+there, unless Salt Sommers or one of the other photographers had decided
+to develop and print a few of his own pictures.
+
+"Dad, are you there?" she called.
+
+No one answered, but Penny heard a scurry of footsteps.
+
+"Salt!" she called, thinking it must be one of the photographers.
+
+Again there was no reply, but a gust of wind came suddenly down the
+corridor. The door of the photography room slammed shut.
+
+Startled, Penny decided to investigate. She pushed open the door. The
+light was on, but no one was in the room.
+
+"Salt!" she called again, thinking that the photographer might be in the
+darkroom.
+
+He did not reply. As she started forward to investigate, the swinging
+chain of the skylight drew her attention. The glass panels were closed
+and there was no breeze in the room. Yet the brass chain swung back and
+forth as if it had been agitated only a moment before.
+
+"Queer!" thought Penny, staring upward. "Could anyone have come in here
+through that skylight?"
+
+The idea seemed fantastic. She could think of no reason why anyone should
+seek such a difficult means of entering the newspaper office. To her
+knowledge, nothing of great value was kept in the photography rooms.
+
+Yet, the fact remained that the light was on, the chain was swaying back
+and forth, and a door had slammed as if from a gust of wind.
+
+Studying the skylight with keen interest, Penny decided that it would be
+possible and not too difficult for a person on the roof to raise the
+glass panels, and by means of the chain, drop down to the floor. But
+could a prowler reverse the process?
+
+Penny would have dismissed the feat as impossible, had not her gaze
+focused upon an old filing cabinet which stood against the wall, almost
+directly beneath the skylight. Inspecting it, she was disturbed to find
+imprints of a man's shoe on its top surface.
+
+"Someone was in here!" Penny thought. "To get out, he climbed up on this
+cabinet!"
+
+The brass handles of the cabinet drawers offered convenient steps. As she
+tried them, the cabinet nearly toppled over, but she reached the top
+without catastrophe. By standing on tiptoe, her head and shoulders would
+just pass through the skylight.
+
+Pulling the brass chain, she opened it, and peered out onto the dark
+roof. No one was in sight. In the adjoining building, lights burned in a
+number of offices.
+
+Suddenly the door of the photography room opened. Startled, Penny ducked
+down so fast that she bumped her head.
+
+"Well, for Pete's sake!" exclaimed a familiar voice. "What are you doing
+up there?"
+
+Penny was relieved to recognize Salt. She closed the skylight and dropped
+lightly to the floor.
+
+"Looking for termites?" the photographer asked.
+
+"Two legged ones! Salt, someone has been prowling about in here! Whoever
+he was, he came in through this skylight."
+
+"What makes you think so, kitten?" Salt looked mildly amused and not in
+the least convinced.
+
+Penny told him what had happened and showed him the footprints on the
+filing cabinet. Only then did the photographer take her seriously.
+
+"Well, this is something!" he exclaimed. "But who would sneak in here and
+for what reason?"
+
+"Do you have anything valuable in the darkroom?"
+
+"Only our cameras. Let's see if they're missing."
+
+Striding across the room, Salt flung open the door of the inner darkroom,
+and snapped on a light. One glance assured him that the cameras remained
+untouched. But several old films were scattered on the floor. Picking
+them up, he examined them briefly, and tossed them into a paper basket.
+
+"Someone has been here all right," he said softly. "But what was the
+fellow after?"
+
+"Films perhaps."
+
+"We haven't anything of value here, Penny. If we get a good picture we
+use it right away."
+
+Methodically, Salt examined the room, but could find nothing missing.
+
+"Perhaps the person, whoever he was, didn't get what he was after," Penny
+speculated. "I'm inclined to think this isn't his first visit here."
+
+Questioned by Salt, she revealed Elda Hunt's recent experience in the
+photography room.
+
+"That dizzy dame!" he dismissed the subject. "She wouldn't know whether
+she saw anything or not."
+
+"Something frightened her," Penny insisted. "It may have been this same
+man trying to get in. Can't the skylight be locked?"
+
+"Why, I suppose so," Salt agreed. "The only trouble is that this room
+gets pretty stuffy in the daytime. We need the fresh air."
+
+"At least it should be locked when no one is here."
+
+"I'll see that it is," Salt promised. "But it's not likely the prowler
+will come back again--especially as you nearly caught him."
+
+It was growing late. Convinced that her father had left the _Star_
+building, Penny decided to take a bus home. As she turned to leave, she
+asked Salt carelessly:
+
+"By the way, did you know Ben Bartell?"
+
+"Fairly well," he returned. "Why?"
+
+"Oh, I met him tonight. He's had a run of hard luck."
+
+"So I hear."
+
+"Salt, what did Ben do, that caused him to be blacklisted with all the
+newspapers?"
+
+"Well, for one thing, he socked an editor on the jaw."
+
+"Jason Cordell of the _Mirror_?"
+
+"Yes, they got into a fight of some sort. Ben was discharged, and he
+didn't take it very well."
+
+"Was he a hard drinker?"
+
+"Ben? Not that I ever heard. I used to think he was a pretty fair
+reporter, but he made enemies."
+
+Penny nodded, and without explaining why the information interested her,
+bade Salt goodnight. Leaving the _Star_ building by the back stairway,
+she walked slowly toward the bus stop.
+
+As she reached the corner, she heard the scream of a police car siren.
+Down the street came the ambulance, pulling up only a short distance
+away. Observing that a crowd had gathered, Penny quickened her step to
+see who had been injured.
+
+Pushing her way through the throng of curious pedestrians, she saw a
+heavy-set man lying unconscious on the pavement. Policemen were lifting
+him onto a stretcher.
+
+"What happened?" Penny asked the man nearest her.
+
+"Just a drunk," he said with a shrug. "The fellow was weaving all over
+the street, and finally collapsed. A storekeeper called the ambulance
+crew."
+
+Penny nodded and started to move away. Just then, the ambulance men
+pushed past her, and she caught a clear glimpse of the man on the
+stretcher. She recognized him as Edward McClusky, a deep water diver for
+the Evirude Salvage Company. She knew too that under no circumstances did
+he ever touch intoxicating liquors.
+
+"Wait!" she exclaimed to the startled ambulance crew. "I know that man!
+Where are you taking him?"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   9
+                            _THE METAL DISC_
+
+
+"We're taking this man to the lockup," the policemen told Penny. "He'll
+be okay as soon as he sobers up."
+
+"But he's not drunk," she protested earnestly. "Edward McClusky is a
+diver for the Evirude Salvage Co. Whatever ails him must be serious!"
+
+The policeman stared at Penny and then down at the unconscious man on the
+stretcher. "A deep sea diver!" he exclaimed. "Well, that's different!"
+
+Deftly he loosened the man's collar, and at once his hand encountered a
+small disc of metal fastened on a string about his neck. He bent down to
+read what was engraved on it.
+
+"Edward McClusky, 125 West Newell street," he repeated aloud. "In case of
+illness or unconsciousness, rush this man with all speed to the nearest
+decompression lock."
+
+"You see!" cried Penny. "He's had an attack of the bends!"
+
+"You're right!" exclaimed the policeman. He consulted his companions.
+"Where is the nearest decompression chamber?"
+
+"Aboard the _Yarmouth_ in the harbor."
+
+"Then we'll rush him there." The policeman turned again to Penny. "You
+say you know this man and his family?"
+
+"Not well, but they live only a few blocks from us."
+
+"Then ride along in the ambulance," the policeman suggested.
+
+Penny rode in front with the driver, who during the speedy dash to the
+river, questioned her regarding her knowledge of the unconscious man.
+
+"I don't know much about him," she confessed. "Mrs. Weems, our
+housekeeper, is acquainted with his wife. I've heard her say that Mr.
+McClusky is subject to the bends. Once on an important diving job he
+stayed under water too long and wasn't properly put through a
+decompression lock when he came out. He is supposed to have regular
+check-ups from a doctor, but he is careless about it."
+
+"Being careless this time might have cost him his life," the driver
+replied. "When a fellow is in his condition, he'll pass out quick if he
+isn't rushed to a lock. A night in jail would have finished him."
+
+"Will he be all right now?"
+
+"Can't tell," was the answer. "Even if he does come out of it, he may be
+paralyzed for life."
+
+"Do you know what causes bends?" Penny inquired curiously.
+
+"Nitrogen forms in bubbles in the blood stream," the driver answered, and
+drew up at the waterfront.
+
+Penny followed the stretcher aboard the _Yarmouth_. In the emergency of
+offering quick treatment to McClusky, no one heeded her. The man was
+rushed into the air lock and placed on a long wooden bench.
+
+A doctor went into the chamber with him, signaling for the pressure to be
+turned on. Bends could be cured, Penny knew, only by reproducing the deep
+water conditions under which the man previously had worked. Pressure
+would be raised, and then reduced by stages.
+
+"How long will it take?" she asked a man who controlled the pressure
+gauges.
+
+"Ordinarily only about twenty minutes," he replied. "But it will take at
+least two hours with this fellow."
+
+"Will he come out of it all right?"
+
+"Probably," was the answer. "Too soon to tell yet."
+
+To wait two hours was out of the question for Penny. After discussing the
+matter with police, she agreed to notify Mrs. McClusky of her husband's
+difficulty. Glad to be rid of the duty, they dropped her off at the house
+on West Newell street.
+
+Mrs. McClusky, a stout, red-faced woman with two small children clinging
+to her skirts, seemed stunned by the news.
+
+"Oh, I knew this would happen!" she cried. "Ed has been so careless
+lately. Thank heavens, he was taken to the decompression chamber instead
+of the police station! A good friend of Ed's lost his life because no one
+understood what was wrong with him."
+
+Penny called a taxicab for Mrs. McClusky while she excitedly bundled up
+the children.
+
+"Bless you, for letting me know and for helping Ed," the woman murmured
+gratefully as she climbed into the cab. "Will you tell me your name?"
+
+"Oh, I'm just a reporter at the _Star_," Penny returned carelessly. "I do
+hope your husband suffers no ill effects."
+
+The taxi rattled away. With a tired sigh, Penny hastened on home. Lights
+burned downstairs, and both her father and Mrs. Weems had waited up for
+her.
+
+"Now don't ask me where I've been," the girl pleaded, as she tossed her
+hat into a chair and collapsed on the sofa. "What a night! I've had
+enough adventures to fill a book."
+
+Despite her admonition, both Mrs. Weems and her father plied her with
+questions. Penny told them about the deep sea diver and then worked back
+to the story of what had happened in the photography room.
+
+"Are you certain anyone came through the skylight?" her father asked
+dubiously. "It doesn't sound convincing to me."
+
+"Footprints don't lie, Dad. They were on top of the cabinet."
+
+"The janitor may have stood on it to fix a light bulb or something."
+
+Penny became slightly nettled. "I'm sure someone was sneaking around in
+that room tonight!" she declared flatly. "And it wasn't the janitor
+either!"
+
+"I'll order the skylight kept locked except during office hours," Mr.
+Parker declared, yawning. "Any further adventures?"
+
+"Plenty," Penny said, "but they'll keep until morning. There's just one
+thing I want to ask you. Are you in need of a good male reporter?"
+
+Mr. Parker came instantly to life. "Just lead me to him," he said. "I'm
+desperate."
+
+"Then why not hire Ben Bartell?"
+
+Mr. Parker's face lost all animation. "I couldn't do that," he commented.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"He's not the type of reporter I want on my paper."
+
+"Exactly what do you mean?"
+
+"Oh, Penny, I don't like to go into all this with you. Ben has a bad
+reputation. He's hot tempered and unreliable."
+
+"Because he got into a fist fight with Jason Cordell?"
+
+"Yes, and he foments trouble among employes. I have enough problems
+without adding him to the list."
+
+"Ben didn't strike me as a trouble maker. Who told you about him?"
+
+"Why, I don't remember--Jason Cordell, I suppose."
+
+"That's just the point!" Penny cried. "Cordell hated him because Ben
+gained damaging evidence against him! Then to protect himself, Cordell
+told lies about Ben and got all of Riverview's publishers to blacklist
+him!"
+
+"What gave you that idea, Penny?"
+
+"I talked to Ben tonight."
+
+"It strikes me he filled you with hot air," the newspaper owner commented
+dryly. "Penny, you must learn not to believe everything you hear."
+
+"Then you'll not consider hiring Ben?"
+
+"Afraid not," her father declined. "I've no special liking for Jason
+Cordell, who always impressed me as a stubborn, unscrupulous fellow, but
+I certainly can't employ Ben without more evidence in his favor than you
+have presented."
+
+"There is more," said Penny, "but I'm too tired to tell you tonight."
+
+She went wearily to bed, and though she slept hard, still felt tired when
+the alarm went off the next morning. Hastening through breakfast, she
+rode with her father to the office, and en route related to him how Ben
+had rescued the stranger from the river.
+
+"Commendable," nodded her father, "but it still doesn't prove he isn't a
+trouble maker."
+
+"Oh, Dad, I think you're being unfair to him."
+
+"And I think you have been unduly influenced," Mr. Parker returned.
+"However, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll have Mr. DeWitt investigate
+the young man. If his findings are good, we'll give him another chance."
+
+"Oh, Dad! That's grand!" Penny cried, squeezing his arm.
+
+At the office, Penny found a letter tucked behind the roller of her
+typewriter. Although addressed to her, it had been sent to the _Star_.
+Instantly she knew the reason, for it was from Jerry Livingston, who had
+worked for the paper many years.
+
+Eagerly, she ripped open the envelope and read the message. Jerry, in an
+Army camp in the west, expected to pilot a big bomber to Hawaii within
+the next few weeks. "Best regards to the newspaper gang," he concluded.
+
+"Any news from Jerry?" inquired Mr. DeWitt, who had recognized the
+handwriting.
+
+Penny gave him the letter to read.
+
+"Let's tack it on the bulletin board," the editor suggested. "Jerry has a
+lot of friends here."
+
+Penny allowed him to keep the letter and thought no more of it. Soon she
+became absorbed in the morning's work. There were obituaries to write as
+usual, but now and then Mr. DeWitt gave her a more interesting task.
+Seemingly he had forgotten about her unfortunate experience at the fire.
+
+But Penny had not forgotten. It troubled her that Salt's camera remained
+missing. When he came to the desk to drop a handful of finished pictures,
+she asked him what he had learned.
+
+"Haven't been able to trace the car yet," he answered. "But we'll locate
+it eventually. Don't worry about it, Penny."
+
+The morning wore on. She saw Elda Hunt read Jerry's letter on the
+bulletin board, and later giggle and laugh as she talked with other girls
+in the office.
+
+"That little witch said something uncomplimentary about me!" Penny
+thought. "If I weren't the publisher's daughter, I certainly would tangle
+with her! Maybe I will yet!"
+
+At twelve o'clock, she put on her hat, intending to go to lunch. As she
+turned toward the wooden barrier gate, she saw that the receptionist was
+talking to a male visitor.
+
+"I don't know the name of the girl," she heard him say distinctly, "but
+she saved my life. I know she works on the _Star_ and I want to thank
+her."
+
+He turned then and saw her. "Why, she looks like the one my wife
+described!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Mr. McClusky!" Penny greeted him, extending her hand. "I'm so glad
+you're up and around today. How do you feel?"
+
+"Fine!" he boomed in a voice which carried to every desk in the room.
+"Thanks to you. Aren't you the girl who saved my life?"
+
+"I asked the police to take you to the _Yarmouth_ if that's what you
+mean," Penny said self-consciously. "As for saving your life--"
+
+"You certainly did, and the doc will say the same thing. Another ten
+minutes and I'd have been too far gone to have pulled out of it. Now I'll
+be okay--at least unless I have another attack of bends."
+
+"I'm very glad you're feeling better," Penny said, edging away. She was
+painfully conscious that all of the reporters were listening to the
+conversation. All noise in the office had ceased.
+
+"If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know!" the diver
+offered heartily.
+
+"Sometime when I need a good waterfront story, I may call on you," Penny
+said jokingly.
+
+"If I can give you a tip on anything, I sure will," he promised. "I know
+every inch of the river, and most of the folks that live along 'er."
+
+"Have you heard of a boat called the _Snark_?" Penny asked impulsively.
+
+McClusky's expression changed. He lowered his voice. "Sure, I know the
+_Snark_," he nodded soberly. "And here's a little tip. If you want a
+story--a good hot one with plenty o' trouble hooked up to it, then just
+go hunting around her berth. Maybe sometime I can help you."
+
+With a friendly nod, he was gone.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   10
+                            _COUNTRY SKIES_
+
+
+No more was said to Penny about her unfortunate experience at the Conway
+Steel Plant explosion, but she considered herself responsible for Salt's
+lost camera. Although the plates no longer would have picture value from
+the newspaper standpoint, she thought that they might provide a clue to
+the identity of the man who had escaped by automobile.
+
+Police had been unsuccessful in apprehending any of the persons
+responsible for the explosion, and the story had died out of the
+newspapers.
+
+After working for a week at the _Star_, Penny was tired in body and worn
+in mind. However, she was beginning to enjoy the routine. To receive her
+first hard-earned pay check gave her a real thrill of pleasure.
+
+Louise Sidell, a school girl friend who lived near the Parker home, asked
+Penny how she planned to spend the money.
+
+"I think I'll have the check framed," Penny laughed.
+
+She and Louise were sitting on the front steps of the Parker home,
+watching a chattering squirrel on the lawn. It was a warm, sunny day with
+scarcely a cloud coasting around in the azure sky.
+
+"Wish we could have a picnic or go to the country," Louise commented
+wistfully.
+
+"Why not?" Penny asked, getting up. "I intended to drive to the
+waterfront this morning and see how Ben Bartell is making out. Then we
+could go out into the country from there."
+
+"Who is Ben Bartell?" Louise inquired with interest.
+
+Penny related her experience near the _Snark_, telling of the stranger
+who had been given shelter by the newspaper reporter.
+
+"Ben probably has learned all about him by this time," she added. "Shall
+we stop there?"
+
+"Let's," agreed Louise enthusiastically.
+
+Dressed in comfortable slacks, the chums prepared sandwiches, and then,
+in Penny's battered old car, drove to the waterfront.
+
+"I haven't much gasoline, so we can't go far," she warned as they parked
+not far from the vacant lot where Ben's shack stood. "Wonder if anyone
+will be here?"
+
+Walking across the lot which was strewn with tin cans and rocks, they
+tapped lightly on the sagging door of the shack. Almost at once it was
+opened by Ben who looked even less cheerful than when Penny last had seen
+him.
+
+"Well, how is your patient this morning?" she inquired brightly.
+
+"He's gone," replied Ben flatly. "My watch with him!"
+
+"Your watch!"
+
+Ben nodded glumly. "That's the thanks a fellow gets! I saved his life,
+took him in and gave him my bed. Then he repays me by stealing my watch
+and my only good sweater. It makes me sick!"
+
+"Oh, Ben, that is a shame! You didn't learn who the man was?"
+
+"He wouldn't put out a thing. All I know is that his first name was
+Webb."
+
+"Did you try to find him at the _Snark_?" Penny questioned.
+
+"Sure, but there they just raise their eyebrows, and say they never heard
+of such a person. So far as anyone aboard that tub is concerned, no one
+ever fell into the brink either!"
+
+"Ben, why not report to police?"
+
+"I considered it, but what good would it do?" Ben shrugged. "The watch is
+gone. That's all I care about."
+
+"But those men aboard the _Snark_ must be criminals! We know they pushed
+Webb off the boat."
+
+"Probably had good reason for doing it too," Ben growled. "But we can't
+prove anything--no use to try."
+
+"Ben, you're just discouraged."
+
+"Who wouldn't be? I had planned on pawning that watch. It would have kept
+me going for a couple of weeks at least. I'd join the Army, only they've
+turned me down three times already."
+
+Penny and Louise had not expected to stay long, but with the reporter in
+such a black mood, they thought they should do something to restore his
+spirits. Entering the dingy little shack, Penny talked cheerfully of her
+newspaper experiences, and told him that she had spoken to her father
+about adding him to the editorial staff.
+
+"What'd he say?" the reporter demanded quickly.
+
+"He promised to look into the matter."
+
+"Which means he doesn't want me."
+
+"Not necessarily. My father takes his time in arriving at a decision. But
+it always is a just one."
+
+"Well, thanks anyhow," Ben said gloomily. "I appreciate how you've tried
+to help, Penny. It's just no use. Maybe I'll pull out of here and go to
+another city where I'm not known."
+
+"Don't do that," Penny pleaded. "Sit tight for a few days, and something
+will break. I'm sure of it."
+
+Knowing that Ben was too proud to take money, she did not offer any. But
+before leaving, she gave him a generous supply of their picnic food, and
+invited him to ride along into the country.
+
+"No, thanks," he declined. "I would only spoil the fun. I'm in no mood
+today for anything except grouching."
+
+The visit, brief as it was, tended to depress the girls. However, once
+they were speeding along the country road, their spirits began to revive.
+By the time they had reached a little town just beyond the state line,
+they had forgotten Ben and his troubles.
+
+"Let's stop somewhere near Blue Hole Lake," Penny proposed. "This
+locality is as pretty as we'll find anywhere. Besides, I haven't much
+gasoline."
+
+"Suits me," agreed Louise, amiable as always.
+
+Finding a grove within view of the tiny lake, they spread out their
+picnic lunch. Afterwards, they stretched flat on their backs beneath the
+trees and relaxed.
+
+"It's getting late," Penny finally remarked regretfully. "Time we're
+starting home."
+
+"I want a drink of water first," Louise declared. "Pass me the thermos,
+will you please?"
+
+"It's empty." Penny uncorked the bottle and held it upside down. "But we
+can stop at a farmhouse. I see one just up the road."
+
+Returning to the car, they drove a few hundred yards down the highway,
+pulling up near a large two-story frame house which bore a sign in the
+front yard: "Tourist rooms."
+
+In response to their knock on the side door, a pleasant, tired-faced
+woman of mid-fifty came to admit them.
+
+"I'm full up," she said, assuming that they wished to rent a room. "My
+last suite was taken by the professor and his wife."
+
+Penny explained that all they wanted was a drink of water.
+
+"Goodness, just help yourselves at the well!" the woman exclaimed. "Wait,
+I'll fetch a clean glass."
+
+The deep well, which operated with a chain and a crank, was situated in a
+vine-covered summer house only a few yards away. The farm woman, who said
+her name was Mrs. Herman Leonard, showed them how to operate it. The
+water, coming from deep in the earth, was cool and sweet.
+
+"It must keep you quite busy, running a tourist home," Penny said to make
+conversation.
+
+"Indeed, it does," sighed the woman. "Most of my roomers aren't so bad,
+but this last couple runs me ragged. They seem to expect hotel service."
+
+"The professor and his wife?"
+
+"Yes, Professor and Mrs. Bettenridge."
+
+"Bettenridge," Penny repeated alertly. "I've heard that name before. Does
+the professor come from Silbus City?"
+
+"He never said. But he's an inventor, and he brought his invention with
+him."
+
+"What sort of invention is it?"
+
+"A light ray machine which explodes mines on land or sea. The affair is
+very complicated."
+
+At Penny's expression of doubt, Mrs. Leonard added: "It really works too!
+The first night the professor came here, he exploded a mine out in the
+lake. Such a splash as it made! I saw it with my own eyes! The professor
+expects to sell it to the Army or Navy for a lot of money."
+
+"If it will do all he claims, why hasn't the government taken it over
+before this?"
+
+"Oh, it takes a long while to complete negotiations," Mrs. Leonard
+replied. "The professor is expecting an officer here tomorrow to witness
+another demonstration."
+
+"Where is the machine kept? In your house?"
+
+"Oh, dear no! The professor has it in a little shack down by the lake.
+You can see the place from here."
+
+Mrs. Leonard led the girls a short distance from the summer house,
+pointing through the trees to a knoll at the edge of Blue Hole Lake.
+
+"The professor and his wife went down there a few minutes ago," she
+revealed. "Why don't you ask them to show you the invention? They might
+do it."
+
+"I doubt if we have time."
+
+"Oh, let's take time," Louise urged. "It sounds so interesting, Penny."
+
+Thus urged, Penny agreed, and with her chum, walked down the hill toward
+the lake.
+
+"It sounds fishy to me," she declared skeptically. "Probably this
+professor is just a crack-pot who thinks he has a wonderful invention,
+but hasn't."
+
+"Mrs. Leonard said she saw a successful demonstration."
+
+"I know, Lou. But how could a light ray machine explode mines that were
+under water? Why, if it could be done, military warfare would be
+revolutionized!"
+
+"Unbelievable changes are coming every day."
+
+"This one certainly is unbelievable! I'll take no stock in it unless I
+see the machine work with my own eyes!"
+
+Approaching the shack, the girls saw no one. The door was closed. And it
+was locked, Penny discovered, upon testing it.
+
+"No one here," she said in disappointment.
+
+"They must be around somewhere," Louise declared, unwilling to give up.
+"Maybe that car belongs to them."
+
+A sedan stood in a weed-grown lane not far away. Penny, turning to gaze
+carelessly at it, suddenly became excited.
+
+"Lou, this trip has been worth while!" she cried. "Look at the license
+number of that auto! It's D F 3005!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   11
+                            _A FAMILIAR CAR_
+
+
+Louise gazed again at the automobile parked in the lane and at its
+mud-splattered license number.
+
+"D F 3005," she read aloud. "What about it, Penny?"
+
+"Why, that is the number of the car that went off with Salt Sommers'
+camera and plates the night of the big explosion," her chum explained
+excitedly.
+
+"You're sure it's the same auto?"
+
+"It certainly looks like it. Now I remember! Salt traced the license to
+an owner named Bettenridge!"
+
+Hopeful of recovering the lost property, Penny, with Louise close at her
+side, tramped through the high grass to the deserted lane. Apparently the
+car owner had not gone far, for the doors had not been locked.
+
+Penny climbed boldly in. A glance assured her that the camera or plates
+were not on the back seat where they had been tossed. As Penny ran her
+hands beneath the cushions, Louise plucked nervously at her skirt.
+
+"Someone is coming, Penny! A man and a woman! They're heading straight
+toward this car."
+
+"All the better," declared Penny, undisturbed. "If they own the car, we
+may be able to learn what became of Salt's property."
+
+The man, middle-aged, was tall and thin and wore rimless glasses. He
+walked with a very slight limp. His wife, a striking brunette, who
+appeared many years his junior, might have been attractive had she not
+resorted to exaggerated make-up.
+
+"Good afternoon," the professor said, eyeing the girls sharply. "My car
+seems to interest you."
+
+"I was searching for something I thought might be on the back seat,"
+Penny explained.
+
+"Indeed? I'm afraid I don't understand."
+
+"I was looking for a camera and plates."
+
+"I regret I still fail to follow you," the man said stiffly. "Why should
+our car contain a camera? My wife and I take no interest in photography."
+
+"Aren't you Professor Bettenridge?"
+
+"I am."
+
+Penny gazed again at the car. "This must be the automobile," she said,
+deeply troubled. "On the night of the Conway Steel Plant explosion, I
+tossed a camera and photographic plates into the back seat to prevent
+them being destroyed by a mob."
+
+"Not this car," said the professor with quiet finality. "I have not been
+in Riverview for nearly a month."
+
+"A woman who resembled your wife was driving the car."
+
+"Are you accusing me of stealing a camera?" the woman demanded angrily.
+
+"Oh, no! Certainly not! I just thought--" Penny became confused and
+finished: "The camera was expensive and didn't belong to me."
+
+"I know nothing about the matter! You certainly have your nerve accusing
+me!"
+
+"Come, come," said the professor, giving his wife a significant, warning
+glance. "There is no need for disagreement. The young ladies are quite
+welcome to search the car."
+
+"We've already looked," Penny admitted. "The camera isn't there."
+
+"Isn't it possible you were mistaken in the automobile?"
+
+"I may have jotted down a wrong license number," Penny acknowledged
+reluctantly. "I'm sorry."
+
+She turned to leave.
+
+"That's quite all right," the professor assured her, his tone now
+becoming more friendly. "Do you girls live near here?"
+
+"In Riverview," Louise supplied eagerly. "We drove over for a picnic.
+Mrs. Leonard told us about your light ray machine!"
+
+"Indeed." Professor Bettenridge looked none too pleased.
+
+"She said you might be willing to show it to us."
+
+"Mrs. Leonard displays a remarkable interest in our affairs," Mrs.
+Bettenridge commented sarcastically.
+
+Again her husband shot her a warning glance.
+
+"My dear, it is only natural that she should be interested in such an
+amazing machine as ours," he said. "I see no reason why the young ladies
+should not view it."
+
+"Oh, may we?" Louise cried eagerly.
+
+Although his wife scowled with displeasure, the professor bade the girls
+follow him to the nearby shack. The door was padlocked and he opened it
+with a key.
+
+Inside, the room was bare of furniture. There were a few boxes and a
+large table upon which rested a sizeable object covered with canvas.
+
+"My secret ray machine is expected to revolutionize warfare," the
+professor said proudly. "Behold the product of fifteen years of faithful
+work!"
+
+Dramatically he jerked aside the canvas cover, revealing a complicated
+mechanism of convex and concave mirrors which rotated on their bases. In
+the center of the machine was a small crystal ball.
+
+"How does it operate?" Louise asked, deeply impressed.
+
+"I am afraid a technical explanation would be too involved for you to
+understand. Briefly, a musical note produced on the crystal globe, is
+carried by ultra violet ray to the scene of the mine. The vibration will
+cause any unstable substance such as melinite to explode."
+
+"And you claim you actually can explode mines with this machine?" Penny
+asked.
+
+"I not only claim it, I have demonstrated the machine's powers,"
+Professor Bettenridge replied. "How I do it, of course, is my own
+secret."
+
+"Will you explode a mine for us now?" Louise questioned eagerly.
+
+Professor Bettenridge looked mildly amused. "My dear young lady," he
+said. "Do you realize that mines are very expensive? I have been able to
+obtain only a few, and naturally I must save them for official tests."
+
+"Of course," stammered Louise. "I hadn't thought of that."
+
+"Besides, the demonstrations have a certain element of danger," the
+professor resumed. "I never give one without my assistant."
+
+Penny, who had been studying the machine with increasing interest,
+remarked that a story about it might make an interesting feature for the
+_Star_. To her surprise, the professor did not seem to favor the idea.
+
+"You are employed by a newspaper?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes, the _Star_."
+
+"I must ask you to say nothing about this matter," the professor
+directed. "Under no circumstance could I permit a story to be written
+about my work."
+
+"But why?"
+
+"Publicity at this time might rob me of an opportunity to sell the
+machine. A very prominent man, James Johnson, is now considering its
+purchase."
+
+"But I thought you were expecting to sell your invention to the
+government," Penny said, puzzled.
+
+Professor Bettenridge bit his lip. Obviously, he was beginning to share
+his wife's annoyance at the girls.
+
+"I regret I can't tell you all the details of my negotiations," he said.
+"My wife and I are very tired, so if you will excuse us--"
+
+"Certainly," said Penny, taking the hint. "Louise and I must be on our
+way to Riverview."
+
+They started to leave, but before they could reach the door, someone
+tapped lightly on it. Professor Bettenridge and his wife exchanged a
+quick glance which Penny could not fathom. For a fleeting instant, she
+thought they both looked frightened.
+
+Then the professor went to the door and opened it. A little man in a
+derby hat and with an apologetic manner stood on the threshold.
+
+"Mr. Johnson!" exclaimed the professor, extending his hand. "My wife and
+I did not expect you until tomorrow."
+
+"I came a little sooner than I planned," the newcomer admitted. "A
+business conference I had expected to attend was postponed until
+tomorrow. Naturally, that has upset my schedule. I had hoped you might
+consent to a demonstration of your machine tonight."
+
+"Tonight?" The professor seemed caught off guard. "But that is
+impossible!"
+
+"Impossible?" inquired Mr. Johnson. "Why?"
+
+"For one thing, my assistant is not here."
+
+"Can't you get in touch with him?"
+
+"I doubt it. Besides, I have another engagement." The professor hesitated
+and added: "Officials of the Navy have invited me to confer with them
+tonight at the Gables Hotel in Riverview. I rather expect them to make me
+a very attractive offer for my invention."
+
+"But you promised me first option on it!" Mr. Johnson protested. "If
+necessary, I can wait for the demonstration tomorrow night, though it
+will greatly inconvenience me."
+
+"Tomorrow at eight o'clock," the professor nodded. "If you should care to
+put up a small sum of money as a guarantee of your intentions, I promise
+to make no final deal with the Navy until after that time."
+
+"Why, yes," Mr. Johnson agreed, taking out his check book. "Any amount
+you say."
+
+Feeling themselves no longer welcome by the Bettenridges, Penny and
+Louise slipped quietly away. As they climbed the hill they could hear the
+professor and Mr. Johnson discussing the amount to be paid.
+
+"It's a graft, if you ask me," Penny declared. "Poor Mr. Johnson seems
+hypnotized."
+
+"I wish we could see that test tomorrow night!"
+
+"So do I. In fact, I'd be willing to bet the machine won't work."
+
+"What makes you think so?"
+
+"Just my doubting nature, I suppose. No, there's more to it than that,
+Lou. Didn't you notice how startled the Bettenridges were when their star
+customer appeared?"
+
+"They did look a bit upset."
+
+"And the professor refused to give a demonstration tonight, although
+obviously it would have been to his advantage."
+
+"He explained he had an engagement with Navy men."
+
+"Which I suspect was all a made-up story. No, Lou, there must be another
+reason why the professor was unwilling to give the demonstration. He
+probably knows his machine won't work."
+
+"You're convinced he's a fraud."
+
+"Yes, I am," Penny said. "Furthermore, I believe he knows what became of
+Salt's camera."
+
+"We can't prove anything."
+
+"No, but if he would steal a camera he might also take to swindle in a
+big way."
+
+"There's nothing we can do unless we want to report him to the police."
+
+"I have a little idea," Penny confessed. "As soon as we reach Riverview I
+propose to check the Gables Hotel and learn if any Navy men have
+registered there. By talking to them, we may get at the truth."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   12
+                        _THE PROFESSOR'S HELPER_
+
+
+Climbing the hill, Penny and Louise sought their parked car. The day had
+been an interesting one, replete with surprises, and yet another surprise
+was in store.
+
+As they were ready to drive away, a man came slowly down the road, cut
+across the Leonard yard and vanished down a path which led toward Blue
+Hole Lake.
+
+"See that fellow!" Penny exclaimed.
+
+"Why, yes," agreed Louise, surprised by her chum's tense manner. "What
+about him?"
+
+"I'm sure he's Webb!"
+
+"Webb?"
+
+"The man who was pushed off the _Snark_ and who stole Ben's watch!"
+
+"What would he be doing here?"
+
+"That's exactly what I want to learn! I'd like to get Ben's watch back
+for him!" Quickly Penny pushed open the car door and jumped out.
+
+"What are you going to do, Penny?" Louise asked anxiously.
+
+"Follow that man and learn for certain who he is!"
+
+"But it's late," Louise protested. "Besides, he looks like an unpleasant
+sort of individual."
+
+Penny paid no heed, but started off in pursuit of the stranger. He had
+already disappeared among the trees and was well on his way toward the
+lake. Not wishing to be deserted, Louise quickly followed her chum.
+
+"He's going to the professor's shack!" Penny observed a moment later.
+
+"Perhaps he is another prospective buyer of the secret ray machine,"
+Louise speculated. "Business seems to be rushing today."
+
+Penny was not convinced. "I'm sure it is Webb," she declared. "If we can
+force him to admit his identity, we may get Ben's watch back."
+
+Not wishing to attract attention, the girls paused behind a large rock on
+the hillside. From there they could watch the man without being seen.
+
+He walked directly to the shack and tapped on the door. In a moment it
+was opened by the professor, who looked anything but pleased to see the
+new arrival. Closing the door behind him as if fearful that Mr. Johnson
+would hear, he stepped out of doors.
+
+The girls were too far away to overhear the conversation, but they saw
+the two men talk earnestly together for a moment. Then the man they
+believed to be Webb, walked on down the hill toward the lake's edge.
+Professor Bettenridge reentered the shack.
+
+"Now what?" inquired Louise, straightening up from a cramped position
+behind the rock.
+
+"Let's follow Webb. I have a hunch he may be the assistant Professor
+Bettenridge told Mr. Johnson about."
+
+"But the man wasn't expected here until tomorrow."
+
+"Which may or may not have been true, Lou. There's more to this deal than
+meets the eye. Let's see what we can learn."
+
+Already the man had disappeared from view, so the girls walked swiftly
+after him. Reaching the lake's edge, they saw him striding along the
+sandy beach. Apparently he had no suspicion that he was being trailed,
+for he did not glance backward.
+
+Presently the girls noticed another shack which had been erected in a
+clump of trees a few yards back from the beach. It was much smaller than
+the other little house, a mere box-like structure with a flat, low roof.
+
+Walking directly toward it, the man unfastened a padlock and went inside.
+He closed the door behind him.
+
+"Now what is he doing in there?" Penny fretted, as minutes elapsed and
+the man remained inside the building. "Listen!"
+
+Both girls could hear a peculiar grinding sound as if from machinery
+turning inside the shack. The building was windowless, so it was
+impossible to see what was going on.
+
+"This is maddening!" Penny muttered with increasing impatience. "I
+wonder--?" She broke off, and gazed thoughtfully at the flat roof of the
+shack.
+
+"Lou, how is that building lighted?" she demanded.
+
+"From here it looks as if there might be double panels of glass in the
+roof--a make-shift skylight."
+
+"Lou, if we could get up there, we might be able to see what is going
+on!"
+
+"And get caught too!"
+
+"Not if we're careful. We can climb that tree which brushes against it,
+and perhaps see from there."
+
+"What if we should be caught?"
+
+"We'll decide that part when the time comes," Penny chuckled. "This
+should be fun."
+
+Circling the shack, they climbed into the low-hanging boughs of a giant,
+scraggly maple tree. Inch by inch lest they make a sound which would
+betray them, they climbed out on the heavy branches.
+
+"Penny, we're taking an awful chance," her chum murmured nervously. "If
+that man should look up--"
+
+"He won't," Penny whispered confidently. "He's too busy with whatever
+he's doing."
+
+Lying flat on the branch, she could look directly through the glass. In
+the room below she saw at least four large, oval-shaped mines without
+detonators, made of steel.
+
+Evidently the man had finished whatever work had brought him to the
+shack, for he laid aside a tool, and then went out the door, carefully
+locking it behind him again.
+
+"We were too late," Penny whispered in disgust after the man was a safe
+distance down the beach. "I wish I knew why he came here! One thing is
+certain, he's mixed up with Professor Bettenridge on this secret ray
+invention."
+
+"Do you still believe the man is the one who was pushed off the _Snark_?"
+
+"Yes, I do, and that part we can learn!" Realizing that much valuable
+time was being wasted, Penny slid down from the tree, snagging a stocking
+in the process. She helped Louise to reach the ground.
+
+"What's the plan now?" her chum asked.
+
+"Webb evidently is returning either to Professor Bettenridge's shack or
+to town. Let's overtake him and I'll ask a few questions. After helping
+fish him out of the river, I certainly have the right."
+
+The man walked directly toward the shack which contained the secret ray
+apparatus, but when he drew close, paused and whistled twice as if in
+signal. No response came from within the cabin. Seemingly the man
+expected none, for he turned and selected a trail which led toward the
+road.
+
+At that moment, the shack door opened. Professor Bettenridge, his wife,
+and Mr. Johnson came out together, chatting pleasantly. Without paying
+the slightest heed to Webb, they walked toward the farmhouse.
+
+"What do you make of all that?" Louise asked in perplexity.
+
+"I'm not sure," Penny admitted. "But I have a suspicion the professor
+doesn't want Mr. Johnson to know Webb is here today. He might insist on a
+test of the secret ray machine."
+
+"Why all the mystery? Professor Bettenridge certainly can't expect to
+sell the invention unless he can give a successful demonstration."
+
+"I suspect that may be the point, Lou. Things aren't properly set for a
+successful test today. Tomorrow night may be a different story."
+
+"But if the machine is as good as the professor claims, it should explode
+mines as well one time as another."
+
+"It should," Penny agreed, "but whether or not it does, is a horse of a
+different color. My guess is that the professor is a fraud, and that Webb
+helps him in his scheme."
+
+The man believed to be Webb walked so rapidly that the girls realized
+they would lose sight of him unless they hastened on. Cutting across a
+field, they were able to get ahead of him.
+
+"Yes, it's Webb," Penny whispered as they waited for the man to approach.
+"I'm certain."
+
+Not until he was quite close did the man see the girls. Momentarily
+startled at recognizing Penny, he ignored her, and would have passed
+without a word.
+
+"Webb!" she exclaimed. "Don't you remember me?"
+
+The man halted, gazing at her with ice-cold, unfriendly eyes.
+
+"Webb ain't my name," he said gruffly. "I never saw you before."
+
+"You may not remember. I helped pull you out of the river after you had
+fallen from the deck of the _Snark_."
+
+"Are you coo-coo?" the man demanded. "I don't know what you're talking
+about."
+
+"I think you do," Penny said, losing patience. "You stayed with Ben
+Bartell at his shack by the river. For saving your life, you repaid him
+by stealing his watch!"
+
+"Say, young lady, better be careful what you're sayin'!" the man snapped.
+"No one can accuse me of being a thief!"
+
+"I want Ben's watch."
+
+The man started on down the road, but Louise and Penny stood their
+ground, blocking his way.
+
+"I want the watch!" Penny repeated firmly. "If you won't give it up, I'll
+report you to the police."
+
+"Oh, you will, eh?" The man whirled toward her, his face convulsed with
+anger. "You'll get no watch from me, but here's something to teach you to
+mind your own business!"
+
+With a cruel laugh, he pushed her so hard that she sprawled backwards
+into the ditch.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   13
+                         _BEHIND OFFICE DOORS_
+
+
+"Are you hurt, Penny?" Rushing to her chum, Louise helped her out of the
+ditch where she had fallen.
+
+"No!" Angrily, Penny brushed dust from her slacks. "But I'm as mad as a
+hornet! If that man thinks he can push me around--"
+
+Already Webb was well down the road, walking at a leisurely but arrogant
+pace.
+
+"Forget it, forget it," Louise soothed. "We'd get no place picking a
+quarrel with a man like that. Anyway, you more or less accused him of
+thievery."
+
+"And a thief is exactly what he is!" Penny retorted. "There isn't a doubt
+in my mind that he's the one who stole Ben's watch!"
+
+"Then the thing for us to do is report him to the police. We'll get
+nowhere talking to him ourselves."
+
+"We'll stop in town--I think the place is called Newhall--and notify the
+sheriff," Penny decided. "I certainly shall ask for the man's arrest."
+
+Returning to the car, she turned it around, and they drove toward the
+town, less than a half mile away. Soon they approached Webb who was
+walking at the side of the pavement. Deliberately, he ignored them as
+they passed.
+
+At Newhall, the girls found the sheriff, and rather excitedly, poured out
+their story. Although the official took a few notes, he seemed somewhat
+bored by it all.
+
+"You don't know the last name of the man," he recited. "You think he may
+be employed by Professor Bettenridge, but you are not sure. You believe
+he may be a thief, but you are not positive of that either."
+
+"One thing I am sure of!" Penny exclaimed. "He pushed me into a ditch. So
+at least he's guilty of that!"
+
+"Are you willing to sign charges and appear against the man?"
+
+"You mean I would have to come back here later on?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+Penny's enthusiasm waned. "Maybe I couldn't get here," she said, thinking
+of her newspaper work. "Oh, well, let it go."
+
+"I'll keep an eye on the man anyhow," the sheriff promised. "Think you
+have the situation sized up wrong though. We've already investigated
+Professor Bettenridge. He has fine credentials, and his invention seems
+to have merit."
+
+"You believe it actually will explode mines?" Penny asked incredulously.
+
+"I saw it done. Fact is, Professor Bettenridge invited me to the first
+demonstration he gave at the lake."
+
+"What happened?" Louise questioned eagerly.
+
+"A mine was dumped into the lake. Then the professor exploded it with his
+machine. I didn't understand how it was done, but I saw the flames shoot
+up when it went off. It was the real thing."
+
+Decidedly let-down, Penny and Louise took leave of the sheriff and drove
+to Riverview. But as they passed through the downtown section, Penny
+suddenly stopped in front of the Gables Hotel.
+
+"I suppose I'm silly," she acknowledged, "but I still doubt the honesty
+of Professor Bettenridge. Just for the fun of it, I intend to run in here
+and learn if those Navy officials are registered."
+
+Leaving her chum in the car, Penny was gone nearly fifteen minutes. When
+she returned, her face had taken on animation, so Louise knew she had
+interesting news.
+
+"Just as I thought!" Penny exclaimed, sliding behind the steering wheel.
+"Not a Navy officer registered in the hotel, and none expected! So how
+could Professor Bettenridge have an appointment here tonight? He merely
+told Mr. Johnson that to impress him."
+
+"It does look that way. Still, it's possible the officers might have
+registered at another hotel."
+
+"Possible but hardly probable. Lou, I believe Professor Bettenridge is a
+crook. I wish we could witness that demonstration of his tomorrow night!"
+
+"I'll never be able to go," Louise said regretfully. "I'm playing in a
+recital--worse luck."
+
+"I might get Salt to ride over with me," Penny thought aloud. "Well,
+we'll see."
+
+The following morning she took time from her work to seek the
+photographer. He was in the darkroom, but the door was open. As she
+stepped inside, he whirled around, his face startled.
+
+"Oh, it's you!" he chuckled in relief.
+
+"Why, Salt!" Penny teased. "You acted as if you thought I might be a
+holdup man. Why so jumpy?"
+
+"Was I?" the photographer asked, his tone queer.
+
+"You certainly were. Anything wrong?"
+
+"This place was entered again last night," Salt said reluctantly. "I
+can't figure it out."
+
+"Anything taken?"
+
+"Not a thing so far as I can discover. That's the strange part of it. But
+the films were disturbed, as if someone had searched through them."
+
+"How did the person get in?"
+
+"Apparently through the skylight. It was ordered locked, but it got hot
+in here yesterday. One of the boys opened it up, and then forgot to snap
+the lock."
+
+"Did you search the roof?"
+
+"Yes, we found footprints leading to a hall window of the next building.
+That was as far as they could be traced."
+
+"Do you suppose it could be anyone from the adjoining building, Salt?"
+
+"Not necessarily. The person may have entered it from the street. We know
+he stepped out onto the roof from the hall window rather than from one of
+the office rooms."
+
+Before returning to the newsroom, Penny told Salt about yesterday's
+adventure in the country.
+
+"I sure would like a chance to go there with you tonight," he declared
+promptly. "Maybe we can get my camera back, even if those birds deny
+having seen it."
+
+The morning passed slowly, and Penny found it difficult to keep her mind
+on her work. Elda, however, no longer bothered her. With more important
+problems to worry about, Penny was not the least bit wounded by the
+little slurring remarks the girl made.
+
+At noon she lunched on a sandwich and chocolate at a corner drugstore
+close to the _Star_ building. With half an hour to spend, she suddenly
+was struck by an idea.
+
+"Why don't I talk to Jason Cordell, the _Mirror_ editor, about Ben?" she
+thought. "Perhaps their difficulties are based on misunderstanding."
+
+Crossing the street to the _Mirror_ building, she found Mr. Cordell's
+office on the third floor. There, a secretary asked her to wait a few
+minutes.
+
+Apparently an argument was in progress within the inner room, for she
+heard angry voices. Then a door slammed. Presently, Penny was told that
+she might go in.
+
+Mr. Cordell sat at his desk, a scowl on his face. He was busy writing and
+barely glanced up as she entered. Finally he looked straight at her,
+demanding: "Well?" in a tone which sapped Penny's courage.
+
+She wished she might retreat, but it now was too late.
+
+"I--I am Miss Parker," she stammered. "My father is publisher of the
+_Star_."
+
+"Oh, yes, yes indeed," the editor now became more friendly, and Penny
+took heart.
+
+"I came to talk to you about one of your former employes--Ben Bartell."
+
+A mask-like expression came over Mr. Cordell's face. He waited for Penny
+to continue.
+
+"You discharged Ben, I believe. He's had a very hard time ever since."
+
+"Indeed? Is he a friend of yours?"
+
+"In a way. I feel sorry for him and I want to find newspaper work for
+him."
+
+"Then why doesn't your father give him a job on the _Star_?"
+
+Penny was prepared for the question. "I think my father would if he were
+assured that Ben had done nothing so very dishonorable. That's why I came
+to you. Why was he discharged?"
+
+"Unfortunately, I can't reply to that question. Nor can I assure you that
+Ben was discharged on a trivial offense. The opposite is true."
+
+"But what did he do?"
+
+Mr. Cordell arose. "I am sorry, I can't discuss it, Miss Parker. If you
+will excuse me for saying so, I think the matter really is not your
+concern. My advice would be to leave Ben Bartell entirely alone. He sent
+you here, I suppose?"
+
+"Indeed, he didn't."
+
+"Where is Ben now?"
+
+"Living in a shack on the waterfront. Because you blacklisted him, he has
+been unable to get a newspaper job anywhere."
+
+Mr. Cordell's smile was hard and triumphant. Penny knew then that she had
+made a grave error in thinking she might appeal to the man's sympathies.
+Obviously, he was highly pleased to learn of Ben's difficulties.
+
+"I am sorry I can't help you," the editor said coldly. "Do drop in again
+sometime."
+
+He opened the door for her, a pointed hint that she was to go.
+
+As she stepped out into the outer waiting room, a man who evidently
+expected to see the editor, arose. He had entered the outer office only a
+few minutes before, and this was the first time that Penny had seen him.
+Upon recognizing him, she stopped short, for it was Webb.
+
+"You can go in now, Mr. Nelson," the secretary told Webb.
+
+Bestowing a sneering smile upon her, he entered the private office.
+
+Then the door closed.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   14
+                           _A NOTE FROM BEN_
+
+
+After Webb had gone into Mr. Cordell's office, Penny debated her next
+action. Could Webb and Cordell be friends? Or was this merely a business
+call? In any case, the two men were obviously of such different type and
+personality that she failed to understand what basis there might be for a
+friendship.
+
+Deciding she could accomplish nothing by waiting and questioning Mr.
+Cordell, she left the office. As she passed down the corridor, an open
+window at its far end, drew her attention.
+
+Pausing for an instant, she glanced out upon the rooftop of the
+_Riverview Star_ building. The tin flooring, only a few feet below the
+level of the sill, easily could be reached by anyone climbing through the
+window.
+
+Tempted to take a short cut to the office, Penny impulsively stepped
+through the opening. From the rooftop she could see the city spread out
+below in rigid pattern, and to the eastward, the winding river.
+
+Crossing the dusty floor to the skylight above the _Star_ photography
+room, Penny peered curiously down. No one was visible below.
+
+"I wonder if a person really could get through that skylight," she
+speculated. "It would be quite a feat, but I believe it could be done."
+
+A star athlete in high school, Penny felt a challenge. Giving no thought
+to her clothes, she squeezed through the narrow opening and snagged her
+sweater. As she freed herself, she noticed a tiny bit of blue cloth that
+had impaled itself on the nail.
+
+The cloth was not from Penny's garments, and looked as if it might have
+been torn from a man's wool suit. Freeing it from the nail, she slipped
+it into her pocket for later examination.
+
+Now, with her feet dangling into space, she considered how she was to get
+down into the room below. No longer was it possible to swing from the
+opening to the top of a filing cabinet, for Salt had carefully moved the
+heavy case to the far side of the room.
+
+Seizing the skylight chain, Penny swung downward. The tiny brass rings
+cut into her hands and half-way down, she was forced to let go, dropping
+to the floor with a loud thump.
+
+From the inner photography room came a terrified scream. Elda Hunt, her
+face white with fear, appeared in the doorway.
+
+"You!" she exclaimed, recovering from the shock of Penny's unexpected
+entry.
+
+"Now take it easy, Elda," Penny advised, brushing dirt from her sweater.
+"I was only experimenting."
+
+"Experimenting!"
+
+"I wanted to see if it would be possible for a person to get into this
+room through the skylight. It is possible!"
+
+"You don't say!" Elda commented sarcastically. "I'll bet you were the one
+who pulled that stunt in the first place!"
+
+"How ridiculous!" Penny was irritated. Not wishing to discuss the matter,
+she turned and walked out of the photography room.
+
+In the corridor she met Salt Sommers who stopped her to ask when they
+were to visit Professor Bettenridge in the country.
+
+"Eight o'clock tonight, if you're willing to go," Penny said eagerly. "I
+very much want to see the professor demonstrate his ray machine for Mr.
+Johnson."
+
+"And I want to find out what became of my camera," Salt added grimly. "Is
+it a date?"
+
+Penny nodded.
+
+"Then suppose we start right after dinner. Can you meet me here at seven
+o'clock?"
+
+"Let's make it a little earlier," Penny suggested. "I have a hunch that
+by getting there before the start of the demonstration we may learn
+more."
+
+"Okay," agreed Salt. "Make it six-thirty."
+
+Having over-stayed her lunch hour, Penny quickly washed her grimy hands
+and returned to her desk. As she sat down at the typewriter, she noticed
+a sealed letter thrust behind the roller. Addressed to her, the writing
+was in a bold scrawl she did not recognize.
+
+Curiously, she scanned the message. It was written on cheap tablet paper
+and had been signed with Ben Bartell's name.
+
+"See me if you can," was all it said. "I have a little information about
+the _Snark_."
+
+Tucking the note into her pocketbook, Penny began to plan how she could
+visit Ben that day. She would not be off until five o'clock, and she had
+promised to meet Salt at six-thirty. If she were to get any dinner and
+see Ben at the waterfront, it would mean fast stepping.
+
+Only by an effort of will could Penny keep her mind on the work before
+her. There were rewrites to do, and an interesting feature. At
+four-thirty with two stories yet to be done, she became panicky that she
+could not finish on time. But by really digging in, she completed the
+stories exactly on the dot of five, and with a tired sigh of relief,
+dropped them into Editor DeWitt's wire copy basket.
+
+"You're just like a trained race horse, Penny," he said jokingly. "But
+your work is okay. You're improving."
+
+Penny brightened at the praise, for Editor DeWitt was not given to
+complimentary words as a rule. Hurriedly washing carbon paper stains from
+her hands, she caught a bus which took her within a block of Ben's shack.
+
+Smoke curled from the chimney, and as she thumped on the sagging door,
+she detected the odor of cooking bacon.
+
+"Come in, come in!" Ben greeted her heartily. "You're just in time to
+share my supper. You got my note?"
+
+"Yes, I did, Ben. What's up?"
+
+Without answering, the former reporter stepped aside for her to enter.
+The room was much cleaner than when Penny last had visited it. Ben looked
+better too. Although his clothes remained unpressed, his hair had been
+cut, and there was a brightness to his eyes which she instantly noted.
+
+"You've found work?" she surmised.
+
+"Odd jobs," Ben answered briefly. "After talking to you I made up my mind
+I'd better snap out of it. If I can't find newspaper work, I'll try
+something else."
+
+"I was thinking--" Penny sat down in a rickety chair, "--couldn't you do
+free lance work? Write stories for newspapers out of town?"
+
+"Without a typewriter? I put mine in hock months ago, and it finally was
+sold for charges."
+
+"I have a typewriter at home, Ben. I'll lend it to you."
+
+Ben's face brightened, but he hesitated. "I've sure been lost without a
+machine," he declared. "But I hate to take yours. You know what happened
+to my watch. This shack isn't safe. Anyone might come in here and steal
+it."
+
+"It's only an old typewriter, Ben. I'm willing to take a chance. I'll see
+that you get the machine within a day or so."
+
+The former reporter stepped to the stove to turn the bacon. He kept his
+face averted as he said: "Penny, you've been a real friend--the only one.
+That day when you met me--well, I didn't give a darn. I was only one step
+from walking off a dock."
+
+"Don't say such things, Ben!" Penny warned. "You've had a run of hard
+luck, but it's changing now. Suppose you tell me what you learned about
+the _Snark_."
+
+"Nothing too startling, so don't get your hopes up," Ben grinned.
+
+He set out two cracked plates on the battered table, two cups for coffee,
+and then dished up the bacon and a few fried potatoes. It was a meagre
+supper, but not for the world would Penny have offended Ben by refusing
+to share it.
+
+"Now tell me about the _Snark_," she urged again, as Ben poured the
+coffee.
+
+"I've been watching the boat at night, Penny. Queer things go on there."
+
+"We suspected that after seeing Webb pitched overboard."
+
+"I've seen a lot of men come and go from that vessel," Ben resumed. "It's
+a cinch they couldn't all be employed on her, because the _Snark_ has
+been out of service for months."
+
+"What do you make of it?"
+
+"Oh, the _Snark_ is being used as a meeting place--that's obvious. Just
+for the fun of it, I sneaked aboard last night."
+
+"What did you learn, Ben?"
+
+"The men were having a confab in one of the cabins. I couldn't hear much,
+but enough to gather that they are afraid Webb will talk to the police."
+
+"About what, Ben?"
+
+"Didn't learn that part. I aim to keep tab on the place for a while."
+
+Penny told of seeing Webb that afternoon and also of his association with
+Professor Bettenridge.
+
+"A secret ray machine, my eye!" Ben exploded. "You may be sure it's a
+fake if Webb has anything to do with it! Penny, this is no business for
+you to be mixed up in. Webb is a dock rat and as surly an egg as I ever
+met. You ought to give him a wide berth."
+
+"I'll certainly be careful," Penny promised, arising. "Sorry to leave you
+with the dishes, Ben, but I must run or I'll be late for another
+appointment."
+
+She really hated to go, for she saw that her companionship had made the
+young man more cheerful. Ben walked with her through the waterfront
+district, and then reluctantly said goodbye.
+
+Hastening along the shadowy street, Penny noticed the large electric sign
+on top of the Gables Hotel.
+
+Impulsively, she stopped at the hotel.
+
+"That Navy official Professor Bettenridge spoke of may have arrived," she
+thought. "Just to make certain, I'll inquire again."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   15
+                          _THE DEMONSTRATION_
+
+
+Penny was due to meet Salt Sommers in ten minutes, but if she were late,
+she knew he would not leave without her.
+
+Entering the crowded hotel, she waited her turn at the desk and then
+inquired if any Navy officers had registered.
+
+"Not to my knowledge," the clerk replied, consulting the register. "No,
+we've not had a Navy man in for at least a week."
+
+"Any Army officers?"
+
+"The last was a sergeant who checked out two weeks ago. Most of our
+guests rent on a monthly basis. We have only a few rooms for transient
+guests."
+
+"Can you tell me if a Professor Bettenridge has called here in the last
+few days?"
+
+"Not while I've been at the desk."
+
+The information convinced Penny she had not misjudged the professor. She
+now was satisfied he never had arranged with Navy officers to inspect his
+ray machine. Instead, he had misinformed Mr. Johnson, no doubt hoping to
+impress him that others were interested in the invention.
+
+Quickly leaving the hotel, Penny hastened on to the news office. As she
+passed near the loading platform, Salt hailed her from a car parked
+there.
+
+"Here I am," he called.
+
+Penny slid into the front seat beside him, apologizing for being late.
+
+"That's okay," returned Salt, shifting into gear. "But we haven't much
+time unless we hurry. You know the way, don't you?"
+
+"I do by daylight. And I think I can find the farmhouse, even if it
+should get dark before we reach there."
+
+Salt was a fast and very skillful driver. He chose the less frequented
+streets and soon they were in the open. They made excellent time,
+reaching their destination just as it began to grow dark.
+
+"How shall we explain to the professor?" Penny inquired dubiously as the
+photographer parked the car under an oak tree along the highway. "He may
+think it strange that I returned."
+
+"Let him," said Salt, unconcerned. "I'm here to get my camera."
+
+"Don't go at him too hard," Penny pleaded. "After all, there is a chance
+I was mistaken about the license number. In my excitement the night of
+the explosion, I may have remembered a wrong figure."
+
+"That's so," Salt acknowledged gloomily. "Well, we'll see."
+
+"Why not pretend we're here to get a feature story for the _Star_?" Penny
+suggested impulsively. "That way, I could ask him all the questions I
+like about the secret ray machine."
+
+"Any way you want to do it," Salt agreed amiably.
+
+He locked the car and they walked to the farmhouse. Learning that the
+professor and his wife were at the lake, they trudged down the lane.
+
+"Wait!" Penny suddenly warned in a whisper.
+
+Clutching Salt's arm, she drew him into the shadow of a tree. At first he
+could not understand the need for caution. Then as Penny pointed, he saw
+a hunched figure with a lighted lantern, walking along the lake shore
+away from the cabin where Professor Bettenridge's ray machine was kept.
+
+"There goes Webb now!" Penny whispered. "He's evidently going to the
+shack where the mines are stored."
+
+"What's he carrying?" Salt inquired.
+
+Although too far away to see plainly, they thought that he had a small
+satchel tucked under his arm. As he drew closer they discerned that it
+was leather, and apparently used as a container for a long
+cylinder-shaped object.
+
+Passing a short distance away, the man did not see Salt or Penny. They
+watched until they saw the red glow of his lantern vanish over a hillock.
+
+"That's the foot-path to the shack where the mines are stored," Penny
+commented. "I wonder what's inside the satchel?"
+
+"Shall we try to find out?"
+
+"Let's talk to Professor Bettenridge first," Penny proposed, going down
+the lane.
+
+The door of the cabin stood slightly ajar. Inside the lighted room were
+the professor, his wife, Mr. Johnson, and several other persons Penny had
+never seen before. However, she took them to be town residents who had
+heard of the test and were eager to see it.
+
+"Well, professor," they heard Mr. Johnson say jovially. "We're all here,
+so why not go ahead? Show us what the machine will do."
+
+"All in good time, all in good time," the professor rejoined. "You must
+give my assistant an opportunity to drop the mine into the lake. He will
+signal us by lantern when he is ready."
+
+Penny tapped on the door. The professor whirled around, decidedly
+startled. Then, observing Salt and Penny, he abruptly came over to speak
+to them.
+
+"Well?" he asked in a tone which was not friendly.
+
+"We came to see the demonstration," Penny said brightly.
+
+"Glad to have you," the professor replied, though without cordiality.
+
+"We want to write a feature story about your machine too," Penny
+continued. "For the newspaper."
+
+The request displeased the professor. Scowling, he said curtly:
+
+"I am sorry, but there must be no publicity at this time--orders of the
+Navy, you know."
+
+"The Navy is interested in buying your machine?" Penny asked, hoping to
+lead him on.
+
+"The deal is concluded except for my signature," the professor said,
+darting a quick glance at Mr. Johnson. "I should have signed at once, but
+I promised Mr. Johnson first chance to buy the machine."
+
+"I suppose the Navy men are in town now?" Penny inquired.
+
+"In Riverview."
+
+"At the Gables Hotel?" Penny pursued the subject.
+
+The professor looked at her sharply, for the first time suspecting that
+she was inducing him to reveal far too much.
+
+Without answering, he turned his back, and began to talk to Mr. Johnson
+about technical details of the machine.
+
+"I am convinced it is a wonderful invention," the latter declared. "But
+before I invest $200,000, I must be absolutely certain that it will do
+everything you claim."
+
+"You shall not be disappointed," reassured the professor. "Only be
+patient for a few minutes, and you will witness a demonstration that will
+convince you beyond a shadow of a doubt."
+
+Ignored by the professor and his wife, Penny and Salt did not enter the
+cabin. Instead, they walked a short distance away to discuss their next
+move.
+
+"The demonstration won't start for a few minutes," the photographer said.
+"Suppose we ankle down to the lake and find out what Webb is doing."
+
+Proceeding down the path which led around the lake shore, they soon
+sighted the man's glowing lantern. He had set it down on the ground while
+he trundled out one of the heavy mines from the shack. As they watched
+from a distance, he loaded it into a boat, picked up the lantern, and
+slowly rowed out into the lake.
+
+"Apparently he's going to drop it overboard for the test," Salt said.
+"While he's out there, let's take a look in the shack."
+
+He tried the door. It was locked.
+
+"I don't know how it's done, but I'm sure those mines are doctored in
+some way," Penny declared. "Louise and I saw Webb working on one when we
+were here yesterday, but what he did I couldn't guess."
+
+"We'll learn nothing here," Salt said. "Let's go back to the cabin and
+see how the professor pulls off the demonstration. Apparently he has Mr.
+Johnson two-thirds convinced already."
+
+"Whatever you do, don't get into an argument with the professor about
+your camera until after the test," Penny pleaded as they started up the
+slope again. "I want to watch the demonstration. If you accuse him of
+deliberately keeping the camera, he may throw us out."
+
+"Okay, I'll wait," Salt promised.
+
+Reaching the cabin, the pair became instantly aware of a tenseness in the
+attitude of the professor and his wife. Although they did not tell the
+newcomers they were unwelcome, it was evident by their expressions that
+they distrusted Penny and Salt.
+
+Professor Bettenridge stood behind his machine, explaining its many parts
+to the awed spectators. Penny could make nothing of the technical jargon.
+
+"The demonstration will soon start," the professor declared, looking at
+his watch. "I will turn on the motors now, as they must heat for several
+minutes."
+
+He turned several switches and the room was filled with a low humming
+sound. Two tiny lights buried deep in the complicated mechanism began to
+glow a cherry red. The professor bent low over the machine, frowning
+thoughtfully. He adjusted three of the concave mirrors, and switched on
+another motor.
+
+Despite a dubious attitude, Penny found herself becoming deeply
+impressed. Was it possible, she wondered, that she had misjudged the
+professor and his machine? She dismissed the thought. The mine never
+would explode unless it had been tampered with--she was certain of that.
+
+"Watch closely now," the professor directed. "At any moment my assistant
+will signal with his lantern that he has dropped the mine and is safely
+away from the area."
+
+The professor's wife had gone to the doorway. Tensely she watched the
+lake. Minutes passed. Then from out on the water, there came a moving
+circle of red--the signal from Webb.
+
+"Now!" exclaimed the professor's wife.
+
+Everyone in the little cabin held his breath. Dramatically, Professor
+Bettenridge took a metal tuning fork and struck it sharply against the
+crystal ball in the center of his machine.
+
+"It will take a moment for the sound to reach the lake," he said softly.
+"But only a moment. Watch closely."
+
+All persons in the room crowded to the door and the windows. Suddenly a
+huge burst of flame appeared on the lake, fanning out on the surface of
+the water. A moment later came the dull boom of a terrific explosion.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   16
+                              _SUSPICION_
+
+
+Everyone who witnessed the spectacular demonstration was awed by the
+sight of the flames rising above the lake. As they died away, Professor
+Bettenridge, strutting a bit, walked back to his machine and covered it
+with the canvas hood.
+
+"Now are you satisfied?" he inquired triumphantly. "Is there anyone here
+who doubts the remarkable possibilities of my invention?"
+
+"It was a fine demonstration! Magnificent!" approved Mr. Johnson, fairly
+beside himself with excitement. "I am convinced of the machine's worth
+and if we can agree upon terms I will write you a check tonight."
+
+Professor Bettenridge's expression did not change, but the brief glance
+he flashed his wife was not lost upon Penny or Salt.
+
+"You understand, of course," he said smoothly, "that the Navy probably
+will insist upon ultimate purchase of the machine even if I relinquish
+ownership?"
+
+"Certainly," agreed Mr. Johnson. "I should expect to make such a sale.
+The machine would have no practical use except in warfare."
+
+Penny was tempted to ask the man if he considered it patriotic to try to
+obtain control of a machine in the hope of selling it to the government
+at a high profit to himself. But she wisely remained silent.
+
+Salt, however, had a few pointed remarks to offer.
+
+"How come," he observed, "that if this invention is so remarkable, the
+Navy hasn't already snapped it up?"
+
+Professor Bettenridge froze him with a glance. "Young man," he said
+cuttingly, "you evidently do not understand how government business is
+conducted. Negotiations take months to complete. My wife and I need cash,
+so for that reason, we are willing to sell the machine quickly."
+
+"Yesterday I understood you to say that Navy men were ready to complete
+the deal," Penny interposed innocently. "Did they change their minds?"
+
+"Certainly not!" Professor Bettenridge's dark eyes flashed, and only by
+great effort did he maintain control of his temper. "You understand that
+while their recommendation would eventually be acted upon, a sale still
+would take many months to complete."
+
+"Will your machine explode mines on land as well as in the water?" Salt
+inquired.
+
+"Of course!"
+
+"Then why not give us a land demonstration?"
+
+"Us!" the professor mocked, his patience at an end. "Young man, you were
+not invited here, and I might add that your presence irritates me! Are
+you in any way associated with Mr. Johnson?"
+
+"I am not."
+
+"Then kindly do not inject yourself into our negotiations."
+
+"The young man raises an interesting point," Mr. Johnson interposed,
+frowning thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should have a land demonstration
+before I pay over the money."
+
+"So you doubt my honesty?" the professor demanded.
+
+"Not at all. It's only that I must be very careful before I purchase such
+an expensive machine. I must satisfy myself that it will do everything
+you claim for it."
+
+"You have just witnessed a successful demonstration. What more do you
+ask?"
+
+"A successful water test," Salt remarked softly, "does not necessarily
+mean a successful land test."
+
+"I think we should have a land test," Mr. Johnson decided. "If you
+convince me that the machine will work equally well under such
+circumstances, I will write the check instantly."
+
+"A land test is impossible," the professor said stiffly.
+
+"But why?" inquired Mr. Johnson.
+
+"The dangers are too great. Windows would be smashed for many miles
+around. Authorities would not permit such a test. Only with the greater
+difficulty did I obtain permission to discharge the mines under water."
+
+"I had not thought of that," Mr. Johnson acknowledged. He hesitated, and
+it was evident that in another moment he would decide to purchase the
+machine without further tests.
+
+"Mr. Johnson, I suppose you have witnessed tests made with your own
+mines," Penny interposed. "Or have they all been made with those supplied
+by the professor?"
+
+The remark infuriated Mr. and Mrs. Bettenridge, as she had expected it
+would.
+
+"You and this young man are trying to discredit my machine!" he exclaimed
+wrathfully. "Please leave."
+
+"Why, certainly," agreed Penny, but made no move to depart.
+
+Seeds of suspicion already had been implanted in Mr. Johnson's mind.
+
+"The young lady is right," he said. "I should request a test on a mine
+which I provide myself."
+
+"Ridiculous!" snapped the professor. "The machine will work equally well
+on any mine."
+
+"Then surely you should not object to one further test?"
+
+"The delay is unnecessary."
+
+"I am certain I can provide a mine within two days," insisted Mr.
+Johnson. "Suppose we set the next test for Thursday night at this same
+hour?"
+
+Thus trapped, Professor Bettenridge could not refuse without losing the
+sale. Scowling, he gave in.
+
+"Very well. But this will be the final demonstration. If you are not
+satisfied Thursday night, the deal is off."
+
+"Agreed," said Mr. Johnson.
+
+Bowing to the Bettenridges, he departed. Others who had witnessed the
+demonstration began to melt away. Only Salt and Penny remained.
+
+Professor Bettenridge closed the door so that the conversation would not
+be overheard. Then he turned angrily to the pair.
+
+"Now what's your little game?" he demanded. "You deliberately tried to
+queer my sale? Why?"
+
+"Mr. Johnson seems like such an innocent little rabbit, maybe we thought
+he ought to be protected," Salt drawled.
+
+"Protected! Why, he's being given the opportunity of a lifetime! How much
+is it worth to you to keep out of my affairs?"
+
+"Not a cent," Salt retorted. "We don't want any part of your deal. But
+there's something I did come here for--my camera."
+
+"I've already told the young lady I know nothing about it. If you were
+stupid enough to throw it into a passing automobile, then you deserve to
+lose it. Now get out!"
+
+Salt was tempted to argue the matter, but Penny took his arm, pulling him
+toward the door. The professor slammed it hard behind them as they went
+out into the night.
+
+"That fellow is a crook!" Salt exploded. "I'll bet a cookie he has my
+camera too!"
+
+"Well, we can't prove it," Penny sighed. "After all, we did act in a
+high-handed way. We may have queered his sale to Mr. Johnson."
+
+"A good thing if we have."
+
+"But we have no proof the machine is a fake. With our own eyes we saw the
+mine explode. Of course, we think Webb tampered with it in some fashion,
+but we're not certain of that either."
+
+"The proof of the pudding will come Thursday night when and if the old
+boy explodes Mr. Johnson's mine."
+
+"He's just clever enough to do it, too," Penny said gloomily.
+
+The couple had walked only a short distance up the lane when they were
+startled to hear a shrill whistle in the darkness. It came from the
+beach.
+
+Halting, they waited. In a moment the sound was repeated. Then to their
+surprise, came an answering whistle from inside Professor Bettenridge's
+cabin.
+
+"That must be Webb," Salt whispered, observing a shadowy form
+approaching. "The whistle evidently is a signal to make certain the coast
+is clear."
+
+As they watched, the hunched figure emerged from the darkness, was
+silhouetted momentarily in the light which came from the cabin, then
+disappeared inside.
+
+"I wish we knew what they were talking about in there," Penny said. "It
+might clear up some of the mystery."
+
+"Why not see what we can learn?" proposed Salt. "It's safe enough."
+
+Taking care to walk softly, the pair stole back to the cabin. Crouching
+by the window, they could hear a low murmur of voices inside. At first it
+was difficult to catch the trend of the conversation, but gradually
+Professor Bettenridge's voice grew louder.
+
+"I don't like it any better than you do," Salt and Penny heard him say,
+"but that's the way it is. If we're to finish the deal, we've got to
+explode one of Johnson's mines Thursday night. The question is, can we do
+it?"
+
+"Depends on the type of mine," Webb replied gruffly. "How soon can we
+have it ahead of the test?"
+
+"I'll insist that he deliver it here at least by afternoon. Will that
+give you time enough?"
+
+"Sure, it won't take more than a half hour to fix 'er for the test,
+providing it can be done. But I ain't makin' no promises until I see the
+mine."
+
+"It's a chance we have to take," Professor Bettenridge said. "The deal
+would have gone through tonight if it hadn't been for a couple of young
+newspaper fools who came nosing around here. They may make us trouble
+Thursday night too."
+
+"I ain't aimin' to get mixed with the police," Webb said uneasily. "If
+this deal don't go through Thursday night, I'm quitting. We're in a
+mighty risky business."
+
+"But we stand to make at least $200,000," the professor reminded him.
+"You'll get a third cut. If Johnson holds off Thursday night, I'll drop
+to $100,000. The thing we've got to do is to pull off that test okay and
+clear out."
+
+Penny and Salt had heard enough to be certain that the men with whom they
+were dealing were crooks of the first rank. Slipping noiselessly away,
+they trudged to the car.
+
+"Now what do we do?" Penny questioned. "Notify the police?"
+
+"We could," Salt debated, "but so far, it's only our word against
+Professor Bettenridge's. He'd probably convince the police he was only a
+crack-pot inventor who thought he had a wonderful machine. They might let
+him go."
+
+"Any other ideas?"
+
+"A slick trick would be to fix that mine so it won't explode. That
+automatically would cause complications and probably delay the deal with
+Mr. Johnson."
+
+"Just how do you propose to fix Mr. Johnson's mine?" Penny inquired. "It
+would take some doing."
+
+"The mines are all kept in that shack on the beach?"
+
+"Yes, Louise and I saw Webb working on one of them there. Evidently it
+was the one the professor exploded tonight."
+
+"He must have doctored it in some special way. Probably an untampered
+mine won't explode."
+
+"He'll fix Mr. Johnson's mine the same way, and then the test will appear
+successful."
+
+Salt nodded gloomily. He was lost in thought for several minutes, and
+then he grinned.
+
+"Maybe I have an idea!"
+
+"What is it, Salt?"
+
+The photographer switched on the car ignition. "Wait until Thursday
+night," he replied. "Can you get away from the office early?"
+
+"Well, I really shouldn't--"
+
+"I'll take care of that part," Salt said briskly. "Just sit tight, Penny.
+You and I will have some fun out of this affair yet, and maybe we'll save
+Mr. Johnson a tidy sum of money."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   17
+                             _MAJOR BRYAN_
+
+
+It was nearly midnight by the time Penny reached home. Mrs. Weems had
+gone to bed, but a light still burned in the study where Mr. Parker was
+working on a speech he expected to deliver the following day before the
+Chamber of Commerce.
+
+"Well, I'm glad you finally decided to come home," he remarked severely.
+"Since my little daughter became Tillie the Toiler, she seems to have
+developed independent hours."
+
+"Wait until you hear where I've been," Penny said, sinking into an easy
+chair beside his desk. "Dad, you won't blame me for staying out late when
+I tell you what I saw and heard."
+
+Eagerly she related all that had occurred, and was pleased to note that
+the story interested her father.
+
+"Tell me more about Professor Bettenridge," he urged. "Describe him."
+
+"He looks very scholarly, but his language doesn't fit the part," Penny
+recalled. "He's tall and thin and his nose is very pointed. Middle aged,
+which might mean forty-five or maybe fifty. That's about all I noticed
+except that he has a quick way of darting his eyes about. And he wears
+glasses."
+
+"From your description, he sounds like the same person I heard about this
+afternoon," Mr. Parker commented.
+
+"Someone told you of his experiments at the lake?"
+
+"Quite the contrary. An Army officer, Major Alfred Bryan called at my
+office this afternoon, seeking information about a man who may be
+Professor Bettenridge."
+
+"Was he interested in buying the machine for the Army, Dad?"
+
+Mr. Parker dipped his pen in ink, wrote a few lines, and then looked up
+again. "No, Major Bryan was sent here to trace a man who has several
+charges against him. At one time he impersonated an officer and in recent
+months has been swindling persons by various schemes. He pretends to sell
+Army or Navy surplus war goods."
+
+"That doesn't sound like Professor Bettenridge, Dad."
+
+"Perhaps not, but from your description it could be the same man. This
+secret ray machine business sounds phoney to me. Most crooks try more
+than one game--the mine exploding trick may be his latest scheme to
+fleece gullible victims."
+
+"Do you think we should report the professor to the police, Dad?"
+
+"It might be a better idea to send Major Bryan to see him," Mr. Parker
+returned thoughtfully. "If the professor should prove to be the man he's
+after, then the Army would take over."
+
+"Where is Major Bryan now, Dad?"
+
+"He didn't mention the name of his hotel, because at the time he called
+at my office, I had no thought I could assist him in any way. However, he
+expected to stay in Riverview several days. It shouldn't be so hard to
+trace him. I'll get busy tomorrow."
+
+Tired from her adventures of the night, Penny soon went to bed. The next
+day Mr. DeWitt gave her several interesting assignments, and when one of
+the stories appeared in the final edition of the _Star_, it bore a neat
+little "By Penny Parker," under the headline.
+
+"Getting on in the world, I see," Elda Hunt observed sarcastically.
+
+Not even the unkind remark could dull Penny's pleasure. She had earned
+her way on the newspaper by hard, routine work. The by-line meant that
+she had turned in an excellent well-written story. Elda, whose writing
+lacked crispness and originality, only once had seen her own name appear
+in the _Star_. Penny felt a trifle sorry for her.
+
+"There's no fairness around here," Elda complained in a whine. "I've
+worked over a year. What do I have to show for it? Not even a raise."
+
+Penny did not try to tell the girl it was her own fault, that her
+attitude toward her work was entirely wrong. Elda must learn for herself.
+
+Not until Wednesday did Penny have a chance to ask her father if he had
+traced Major Bryan.
+
+"To tell you the truth, the matter slipped my mind," he confessed
+ruefully. "I've had one conference after another all day long. Tomorrow
+I'll certainly try to find him."
+
+Penny reminded him of his promise on the following day. Mr. Parker, after
+telephoning several places, found the major registered at the St. Regis
+Hotel, not far from the Parker home. However, the army officer had left
+for the day, and was not expected to return before nightfall.
+
+"Oh, dear," fretted Penny, "that may be too late. If Professor
+Bettenridge is successful in his demonstration tonight, he may rake in
+Mr. Johnson's money and skip town before the major even sees him."
+
+"It's unlikely the professor will leave without cashing the check, Penny.
+And banks will not be open until nine o'clock tomorrow."
+
+"I'd feel safer to have police take over," Penny sighed. "If only we
+could prove charges against Bettenridge!"
+
+"He hasn't swindled anyone yet," her father reminded her. "Learn what you
+can tonight, and if the sale goes through, we'll then turn him over to
+the police."
+
+"It may be too late then."
+
+"I think not," smiled her father. "You always were a little impatient,
+Penny."
+
+Eagerly Penny awaited the arrival of evening and another adventure at
+Blue Hole Lake. She and Salt arranged to leave the office at four
+o'clock, hoping to reach the farmhouse early enough to observe what
+preparations Webb made for exploding Mr. Johnson's mine.
+
+But at three, Salt was sent on an important assignment.
+
+"I'll get back as soon as I can," he promised Penny, pausing beside her
+desk. "I may be a little late, but we'll still make it."
+
+"I'll be right here waiting," Penny grinned.
+
+At ten minutes past four Salt returned. Thinking he might have pictures
+to develop before he would be free to leave, Penny did not rush him by
+going back to the photography room right away. When she had typed her
+last story of the day and brought it to the editor's desk for inspection,
+she gathered up her purse and hat.
+
+"Leaving early, aren't you?" Elda inquired in a loud voice so that
+everyone would notice.
+
+"That's right," Penny replied, without explaining her special mission.
+
+Not wishing to leave the city without ample funds, she first went
+downstairs to cash a pay check at the company treasurer's window. He gave
+her the crisp five dollar bills, joking with her about skipping town with
+so much money.
+
+Penny tucked the bills into her purse and was turning to go back upstairs
+again, when through the window she saw a man coming down the alley from
+the rear of the _Star_ building. Recognizing him as Mr. McClusky, the
+deep sea diver she had assisted, she darted to the window and rapped to
+attract his attention.
+
+Not hearing her, he walked hurriedly on, and was lost in the crowd of the
+street.
+
+"Wonder what he was doing here?" she thought as she slowly climbed the
+stairs. "Perhaps he came to see me. But in that case, he probably would
+have come up the front way."
+
+Dismissing the matter from her mind, she sought Salt in the photography
+room. The outside gallery was empty, though the photographer's hat and
+coat hung on a hook by the window.
+
+"Salt!" she called, thinking he must be in the darkroom.
+
+No one answered. Nevertheless, a strange feeling Penny could not have
+explained, took possession of her. She sensed a presence somewhere near
+as if she were being watched.
+
+Nervously Penny stepped to the door of the darkroom. She tapped lightly
+on it, but there was no answer.
+
+Suddenly fearful, she jerked open the door and groped for a light. As the
+tiny room blazed with illumination, she uttered a startled gasp.
+
+Almost at her feet, cheek against the floor, lay Salt Sommers.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   18
+                            _A SECOND TEST_
+
+
+As Penny knelt beside Salt, he stirred slightly and raised a hand to his
+head. She saw then that there was a tiny break in the skin which also was
+slightly discolored. Either the photographer had fallen or he had been
+slugged.
+
+Before she could go for help, he sat up, staring at her in a bewildered
+manner. Penny assisted him to a chair, and dampening a handkerchief with
+water from the tap above the developer trays, applied it to his forehead.
+
+"What happened?" she inquired anxiously when Salt seemed able to speak.
+
+"Slugged," he answered in disgust.
+
+"By whom?"
+
+"Don't know. The fellow must have been in the darkroom when I came here
+to develop my films. Fact is, I thought I heard someone moving around. I
+stepped to the door to see, and bing! That's the last I knew."
+
+"Has anything been taken, I wonder?" Switching on another light, Penny
+glanced over the room. The drawer of a filing cabinet where old films,
+and plates were kept, remained open.
+
+"Someone may have been looking in there!" she commented. "Salt, whoever
+he is, he must be searching for a film he is afraid we'll publish in the
+paper."
+
+"Maybe so," Salt agreed, holding a hand to his throbbing forehead. "But I
+don't know of any picture we have that would damage anyone."
+
+Penny stepped to the doorway of the darkroom. In the larger room, the
+skylight remained closed. It was impossible to tell if anyone had entered
+the building in that way.
+
+Some distance down the hall was a seldom-used stairway which led to the
+roof. Finding a door opening into it, Penny climbed the steps to look
+about. The rooftop was deserted, but in the building directly across from
+the _Star_, a corridor window remained open.
+
+"How easy it would be for a man to step out onto the roof from there,"
+she thought. "If the skylight or the stairway door were unlocked, he
+easily could enter the _Star_ photography room without being seen."
+
+Across the way, in the adjoining building, a man stood at an office
+window, watching Penny curiously. Sun glared on the panes so his face was
+distorted. But from the location of the window, she felt certain it was
+Mr. Cordell.
+
+After a moment, Penny turned and went back down the stairs. The exit at
+its base was barred by a door with a rusty key in the lock.
+
+Passing through, Penny locked it, and slipped the key into her purse.
+
+"That should stop our prowler for a few days," she thought.
+
+In the photography room again, she checked the skylight, and finding it
+locked, was convinced that this time the mysterious visitor had entered
+the building by means of the stairs. She knew the door was usually kept
+locked, but undoubtedly the janitor had been careless.
+
+By this time Salt was feeling much better. While Penny waited, he
+explained to the editor why the photos would not be ready until morning,
+then declared he was ready to start for Blue Hole Lake.
+
+"Do you really feel like going?" Penny asked dubiously.
+
+"Sure thing," the photographer insisted. "It takes more than a little tap
+on the head to put me out of running."
+
+Salt walked a trifle unsteadily as they went down the back stairs
+together, but once they were in the press car, he seemed his usual jovial
+self.
+
+"Now tell me about that plan of yours for tonight," Penny urged as they
+jounced along the country road.
+
+"It's not much of a plan," the photographer confessed ruefully. "First,
+we've got to learn exactly what Webb does to those mines to make them
+explode. Then somehow we'll have to undo the work to cause the
+demonstration to turn out a flop."
+
+"It sounds like a big order," Penny sighed. "We'll need plenty of luck to
+carry it out. Especially as we're arriving rather late."
+
+Having no intention of announcing their presence, the pair drew up about
+a quarter of a mile from the lake, parking in a side road.
+
+Shadows were casting long arms over the ground as they started hurriedly
+across the fields toward the beach. They had covered two thirds of the
+distance when Penny suddenly caught Salt's arm, pointing toward the lake.
+
+"Look!" she exclaimed. "There they are now!"
+
+Out on the lake a barge-type boat was being steered toward the beach near
+the shack where Professor Bettenridge stored the mines. The watching
+couple recognized three persons aboard the craft, the professor, Mr.
+Johnson and Webb. The barge also bore a large mine, similar in type to
+those Penny had seen inside the shack.
+
+"That must be the mine Mr. Johnson is supplying for the test tonight,"
+she whispered.
+
+Hand in hand, Penny and Salt crept closer to the shore. The boat grated
+on the sand and Webb, with the professor helping him, carried the heavy
+mine toward the building.
+
+"If the mine is to be exploded tonight, wouldn't it be easier to leave it
+on the barge ready to drop into the lake?" Penny commented. "Webb and the
+professor must have a special reason for hauling it ashore."
+
+"I think you have something there," Salt observed. "Obviously, they're
+going to doctor it in some way. We'll see what happens."
+
+Webb unlocked the door of the shack and the two men carried the mine
+inside. Creeping still closer to the building, Salt and Penny heard Mr.
+Johnson say:
+
+"Just a minute. I see you have other mines stored here. How am I to be
+sure that the one exploded will be the mine I have provided?"
+
+"You may mark it if you wish," the professor replied. "In fact, we prefer
+that you do, so there can be no possible doubt in your mind. Take this
+pocket knife and scratch your initials on the covering of the mine. Then
+tonight, before it is dumped in the lake, you may check again to see
+there has been no substitution."
+
+"You understand, I don't distrust you," Mr. Johnson said, ill at ease.
+"But so much money is at stake--"
+
+"I understand your attitude perfectly," the professor replied. "Certainly
+you are entitled to take every precaution."
+
+A silence ensued, and Penny and Salt assumed that Mr. Johnson was
+scratching his initials on the mine.
+
+"Now suppose we have dinner at the village inn," the professor presently
+suggested. "Then we will have the demonstration."
+
+"Must we wait so long before setting off the mine?" Mr. Johnson inquired.
+
+"Yes, village authorities gave permission for the test to be held at nine
+o'clock," the professor explained. "My own preference would be to get it
+over immediately, but I dare not disobey their orders."
+
+Mr. Johnson made no reply, and a few minutes later, the three men walked
+away. No sooner had they disappeared up the lake than Penny and Salt came
+out of hiding from among the trees.
+
+"You have to hand it to Professor Bettenridge," commented the
+photographer with grudging praise. "He's a smooth talker. I'll bet a
+frosted cookie the test could be held at one time as well as another so
+far as the village authorities are concerned. He has a special reason for
+wanting it at nine o'clock."
+
+"Probably to give Webb time enough to work on the mine or exchange them,"
+Penny said, and then frowned thoughtfully. "But what if the machine
+actually should work? After all, the professor agreed to explode Mr.
+Johnson's mine, and apparently he's marked it with his initials. It won't
+be easy to substitute another one now."
+
+"All the same, if I'm any good at guessing, it will be done. Now what
+shall we do until nine o'clock? Grab ourselves something to eat?"
+
+Penny was about to suggest that they drive to a village cafe, when she
+noticed Webb returning alone from up the beach. Barely did the pair have
+time to duck out of sight behind a boulder before he approached.
+
+Walking directly to the shack, he unlocked the door, and entered.
+
+"Now this must be where the hocus-pocus begins!" Salt whispered. "We've
+got to find out what he does to that mine."
+
+"Louise and I climbed up in that tree the other day and looked through
+the glass in the top."
+
+"Then that's the trick for us! Come on!"
+
+Making no sound, the pair climbed the tree close beside the shack.
+Noiselessly, they inched their way toward the skylight, and lying flat,
+peered down into the dark interior.
+
+Webb had lighted a lantern which he hung on a wall nail. Unaware that he
+was being watched, he squatted in front of the mine which bore Mr.
+Johnson's initials, studying it thoughtfully.
+
+Muttering to himself, he next took a powerful ratchet drill, and for a
+long time worked with it on the mine, boring a tiny but deep hole.
+
+"I'm getting stiff in this position," Penny whispered. "What is he doing,
+Salt?"
+
+"Don't know," the photographer admitted, puzzled. "Apparently, he's
+doctoring Mr. Johnson's mine so it will explode tonight, but I'm not
+smart enough to figure how the trick will be accomplished."
+
+By now it was so dark that the pair in the tree no longer feared they
+would be seen. Keeping perfectly still, they watched the work in the room
+below.
+
+"It's clear why Professor Bettenridge set nine o'clock for the
+demonstration," Salt whispered. "Webb needed all this time to get the
+mine ready."
+
+"And that's why they brought it here instead of dumping it into the
+lake," Penny added. "But how can they make the mine explode at exactly
+the right moment?"
+
+After Webb had worked for a while longer, he arose and stretched his
+cramped muscles. Going to a cupboard, he removed a white powder from a
+glass tube, and carefully inserted it in the hole he had just made in the
+mine. As a final act, he sealed the tiny hole with another material, and
+polished the surface so that the place did not show.
+
+"Slick work!" Salt commented. "By the time he's through, no one ever
+could tell the mine has been touched! Certainly not that thick-skulled
+Johnson."
+
+Apparently satisfied with his work, Webb put away his tools, made a final
+inspection of the mine, and then left the shack. After carefully locking
+the door, he disappeared into the night.
+
+"Now what's our move?" Penny asked as she and Salt finally slid down from
+their uncomfortable perch. "Shall we tell Mr. Johnson what we just saw?"
+
+"We could, but he might not believe us. Penny, I have a better idea! If
+we can get inside the shack--"
+
+"But it's locked!"
+
+"The skylight may be open." Salt climbed up on the roof to investigate,
+but to his disappointment, the roof window was tightly fastened from
+inside.
+
+"We could smash the glass," Penny suggested dubiously.
+
+Salt shook his head. "That would give the whole thing away. No, I think
+we can get inside another way, but we'll have to work fast! Now that Webb
+has the mine ready for the demonstration, the professor and Mr. Johnson
+may show up here at any minute."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   19
+                          _THE LANTERN SIGNAL_
+
+
+Salt explained that he intended to pick the lock of the shack door.
+
+"When I worked the police beat, a detective taught me this trick," he
+explained. "You keep watch while I work."
+
+Now that Webb had disappeared no one was to be seen near the beach. To
+Penny's relief, not a person appeared, and Salt, working swiftly, soon
+had the door open.
+
+To make certain they would not be taken unawares, Salt relocked the door
+on the inside. Groping about, he found the lantern Webb had left behind,
+and lighted it.
+
+Three mines lay on the floor. "Which is the right one?" Penny asked.
+"They all look alike!"
+
+"Mr. Johnson's initials must be on the one Webb tampered with."
+
+Salt turned over one of the mines, inspecting it.
+
+"That thing might go off any minute," Penny said, edging away. "Do be
+careful, Salt."
+
+Salt chuckled. "If it should go off, we'd never know what hit us," he
+said. "This is the one Webb tampered with all right. Penny, how are you
+at forging?"
+
+"Forging?" she repeated, not understanding what he meant.
+
+"Can you duplicate Mr. Johnson's initials on another mine?"
+
+"Oh, I don't think so. Not so it would look the same."
+
+"Sure, you can," Salt said, thrusting his pocket knife into her hand. "It
+will be dark and no one will look too carefully."
+
+"But why do you want me to do it? You mean to substitute Mr. Johnson's
+mine for one of the others?"
+
+"That's the ticket," chuckled the photographer. "Maybe my guess is wrong,
+but I have a sneaking suspicion if we use one of the professor's own
+mines, it will fail to explode."
+
+"The mine has to be doctored with that powder we saw Webb use!"
+
+"That's my theory, Penny."
+
+"But maybe the other mines have already been treated."
+
+"That's a possibility," Salt admitted thoughtfully. "No way of telling
+that, because the hole would be covered so skillfully. We'll have to take
+a chance on it."
+
+While Salt held the lantern, Penny scratched Mr. Johnson's initials on
+the metal covering of the mine. Skilled in art, she was able to copy them
+fairly well.
+
+"They don't look exactly the same," Salt said, comparing the two, "but
+they're good enough to get by unless Mr. Johnson becomes very critical."
+
+Quickly they moved the two mines, placing Mr. Johnson's well to the back
+of the room, and leaving the substitute exactly where the other had been.
+
+"Well, that job is done," Salt chuckled. "Unless I miss my guess--"
+
+He broke off, startled to hear a murmur of voices from a short distance
+down the beach. Quick as a flash he blew out the lantern and hung it in
+its accustomed place on the wall nail.
+
+"Salt! Those men are coming!" Penny whispered fearfully. "We're trapped
+here!"
+
+It was too late to slip out the door, for already the men were very
+close, and unmistakably, one of the voices was that of Professor
+Bettenridge.
+
+The only available hiding place was a storage closet. Barely in time,
+Salt and Penny squeezed into it, closing the door and flattening
+themselves against the wall.
+
+The door of the shack swung open to admit the professor, Webb, and Mr.
+Johnson.
+
+"Dark as pitch in here," Webb muttered. "Wait and I'll light the
+lantern."
+
+In a moment the yellow glow illuminated the dingy little room.
+
+"Which is my mine?" Mr. Johnson asked. "They all look alike."
+
+"And for all practical purposes they are exactly alike," said the
+professor smoothly. "So far as my machine is concerned, it makes not a
+particle of difference. Webb, which is the mine that Mr. Johnson
+supplied?"
+
+"Here it is," the assistant said, tapping the one Salt and Penny had
+substituted. "See your initials, Mr. Johnson?"
+
+"Yes, yes," agreed the man.
+
+Inside the closet, Penny and Salt breathed easier.
+
+"Let's get on with the demonstration," the professor urged with sudden
+impatience. "Load the mine onto the boat, Webb. Go out to the center of
+the lake. Then when you have dropped it, give the usual signal."
+
+"When everything is okay, I'll wave my lantern three times," Webb agreed.
+
+The mine was trundled out and the shack became dark. However, Salt and
+Penny did not dare come out of hiding until they heard Webb start the
+motor of the boat.
+
+"The coast is clear," the photographer then reported, peering out a crack
+of the outer door. "Webb has gone, and the professor and Mr. Johnson are
+walking up to the cabin."
+
+From the beach, Penny and Salt watched the boat moving slowly across the
+water. Presently the craft stopped, and the mine was heaved overboard.
+The pair waited, but there was no signal from Webb. Nor did his boat move
+away from the locality where the mine had been dropped.
+
+"Why doesn't he wave the lantern?" Penny fretted.
+
+"He's waiting deliberately, and for a purpose," Salt declared. "Why not
+amble up the hill and watch the professor perform?"
+
+"Not a bad idea," agreed Penny.
+
+Walking rapidly, they arrived at the cabin quite breathless. As they
+tapped lightly on the door, Professor Bettenridge appeared visibly
+startled. He stiffened to alert, guarded attention, but relaxed slightly
+as his wife admitted the pair.
+
+"Oh, it's you two again," he said none too pleasantly. "You are just in
+time to witness my final demonstration. We are waiting now for my
+assistant's signal."
+
+"It seems to take a long while," Mr. Johnson commented, glancing at his
+watch.
+
+"Webb may have had trouble getting the mine overboard," the professor
+soothed. "Besides, he has to move out of the danger zone."
+
+Penny and Salt looked at each other but said nothing. They were certain
+that Webb had been in no haste to return to shore.
+
+"What are you two smirking about?" the professor demanded irritably. "I
+suppose you think my machine won't work?"
+
+"I'll be surprised if it does," Salt agreed, unruffled.
+
+Mrs. Bettenridge, who stood at the window, suddenly cried: "There is the
+signal!"
+
+Professor Bettenridge snapped on a switch and the ray machine began to
+hum. He turned on another motor and lights began to glow. Then he struck
+the crystal ball, producing a musical vibration.
+
+Assuming a confident pose, he waited.
+
+Nothing happened.
+
+As the seconds ticked by and still there was no explosion, the professor
+began to wilt. He gazed desperately at his wife who looked as dismayed as
+he.
+
+"My dear, something seems to be wrong. Are you sure you saw the signal?
+Perhaps Webb has not yet dropped the mine."
+
+"I saw the signal. The lantern was waved three times."
+
+The professor made several adjustments on his machine, and again struck
+the musical note. But there was no explosion. Enjoying his discomfiture,
+Salt and Penny grinned from ear to ear.
+
+"You did something to the machine!" the professor accused them furiously.
+"You came here and tampered!"
+
+"We've not been near this place tonight until a moment ago," Penny
+retorted. "The truth is, you weren't able to explode Mr. Johnson's mine!"
+
+"That's not so!" The professor's face now was red with anger. "Something
+has gone wrong, but that doesn't prove my machine is a failure. We'll
+have another test."
+
+"I'm not sure that I shall be interested," Mr. Johnson said quietly.
+"I've been thinking the matter over and there are so many hazards--"
+
+"I'll make you an especially good offer," the professor declared,
+flipping the canvas cover over his machine. "Furthermore, we will have
+the test tonight. I guarantee to explode the mine before you leave here."
+
+"But the mine I supplied is at the bottom of the lake and it failed to go
+off," Mr. Johnson said.
+
+"First, we will talk to Webb and learn exactly what happened," the
+professor said, taking him by the arm. "I know there is a logical
+explanation for the failure."
+
+Glaring at Penny and Salt, he shooed everyone out of the cabin, locking
+the door.
+
+"My dear," he said to his wife, giving her a significant look, "take Mr.
+Johnson to the house while I find Webb. I'll be with you in just a
+minute."
+
+The professor went hurriedly down the beach while Mrs. Bettenridge and
+Mr. Johnson walked slowly toward the rooming house. Penny and Salt
+remained beside the cabin until everyone was beyond hearing.
+
+"Well, our trick worked," Salt chuckled, "but if we aren't careful, the
+professor will pull off a successful test yet and ruin all our plans."
+
+"He and Webb are certain to examine the mines and discover the one with
+Mr. Johnson's initials still in the shack. Then they may convince Mr.
+Johnson there was a mix-up, and go ahead with another test which will be
+successful."
+
+"We've got to do something," Salt muttered. "But what?"
+
+"I know!" Penny exclaimed. "I'll telephone Dad and have him come here
+right away with Major Bryan!"
+
+"Good!" approved Salt. "I'll stay here and hold the fort while you
+telephone. Tell your father to step on the gas, because we've got to move
+fast to queer Professor Bettenridge's game."
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   20
+                           _A CROOK EXPOSED_
+
+
+Eager to carry out Salt Sommers' bidding, Penny ran up the hill in search
+of a telephone. She considered using the one at the house where Professor
+and Mrs. Bettenridge roomed, but decided against it, fearing that the
+conversation might be overheard or reported to them by the farm woman.
+
+Hastening on, she saw a light farther down the road, and recalled having
+noticed a house there. Five minutes later, completely winded, she pounded
+on the door. A man in shirtsleeves, the evening newspaper in his hand,
+answered her knock.
+
+"Please, may I use your telephone?" Penny gasped.
+
+"Why, sure," he agreed, stepping aside for her to enter. "Anything
+wrong?"
+
+Penny knew better than to mention what was happening at the lake. "I want
+to telephone my father in Riverview," she explained.
+
+"The phone is in the other room," the man said, switching on a light.
+
+Placing the call, Penny waited impatiently for it to be put through. She
+was uncertain whether her father would be at home. If she failed to reach
+him, then the only other thing was to notify the sheriff.
+
+"Here is your party. Go ahead, please," came the long distance operator's
+voice. The next moment Penny heard her father's clear tones at the other
+end of the line.
+
+"Dad, I'm at Blue Hole Lake with Salt," she explained hurriedly. "Can you
+drive here right away?"
+
+"I suppose so," he answered, knowing from her voice that something
+serious was wrong. "What's up?"
+
+"We've learned plenty about Professor Bettenridge, Dad. Unless something
+is done quickly, he may sell his fake machine to Mr. Johnson."
+
+"But what can _I_ do about it?" the publisher asked.
+
+"Can you get hold of the Major and bring him with you?" Penny pleaded.
+"Professor Bettenridge may be the man he's after!"
+
+"Maybe I can reach him!" Mr. Parker agreed. "If I have luck I'll be out
+there within twenty or thirty minutes. I'll come as fast as I can."
+
+Before hanging up the receiver, Penny gave her father detailed
+instructions for reaching the lake and told him where to park. Leaving a
+dollar bill to pay for the call, she then hastened back to find Salt.
+
+The photographer was nowhere near the cabin and she was afraid to call
+his name lest she be overheard by the Bettenridges.
+
+As she stood in the shadow of the building, she heard voices from the
+beach. Someone with a lighted lantern was coming up the trail, and soon
+she distinguished two figures--Professor Bettenridge and Webb.
+
+"That's the story you'll have to tell Johnson," she heard the professor
+say. "Tell him that somehow you got the two mines mixed up as you were
+loading them onto the boat and dumped one that was never meant to
+explode."
+
+"But he saw us load the mine."
+
+"It was dark and he may not be sure. Anyway, the mine with Johnson's
+initials is still in the shack. We'll show it to him."
+
+"What bothers me is how did the mistake happen?" Webb muttered. "I know
+the mine I loaded on the boat had Johnson's initials. It should have gone
+off."
+
+"Someone is onto our game, and tampered with the mines. It may have been
+a trick of that newspaper pair."
+
+"In that case, we're in a dangerous spot. We ought to clear out while the
+clearing is good. If the authorities get onto what we're doing--"
+
+"They won't--at least not tonight," the professor said confidently. "The
+sheriff is as dumb as they come, and is convinced I am a genius second
+only to Thomas Edison. We'll have to pull off a successful test tonight
+with Johnson's mine, collect what we can, and clear out."
+
+"Okay," Webb agreed, "but this is my last job. The game is too dangerous.
+I served one stretch in the pen and I don't look forward to another."
+
+"If we can explode Johnson's mine tonight, we'll collect the money and be
+away from here as soon as we cash the check. Can you pull off the job
+without any blunder?"
+
+"Sure I can unless someone tampers with the mine! This time I'll make
+sure they don't!"
+
+"Okay," the professor agreed. "Now I want you to talk to Johnson. Put up
+a good story, and get him to look at the mine that has his initials on
+it. If he refuses, we're licked, but it's worth a final try."
+
+"I'd like to find the guy who broke into the shack!" Webb muttered.
+
+"We may have time for that later. Just now our most important job is to
+convince Johnson we have something to sell."
+
+The two men now were very close. Penny flattened herself against the
+building wall, fearful of being seen. The light from their lantern
+illuminated her for an instant, but the men were so absorbed in their
+discussion, they failed to see her. Going on up the hillside path, they
+vanished into the farmhouse.
+
+What had become of Salt, Penny did not know. Thinking he might have gone
+down to the lake, she walked rapidly in that direction. As she approached
+the shack where the mines were stored, she heard a low whistle.
+
+"Is that you, Salt?" she called softly.
+
+He came from behind a clump of bushes to join her. Quickly they compared
+notes. Salt had overheard no conversation, but he had watched Professor
+Bettenridge and Webb as they reexamined the mines in the shack.
+
+"They're onto our game, and it won't work twice," he said. "We've got to
+delay the test, but how?"
+
+"Maybe we could cut the boat loose!"
+
+"A capital idea!" Salt approved, chuckling. "Penny, you really have a
+brain!"
+
+As they scurried over the stones to the water's edge, Penny suddenly
+stopped short.
+
+"Listen!" she commanded.
+
+"I didn't hear anything," Salt said.
+
+"An automobile stopped by the roadside. I'm sure of it. Maybe it's my
+father!"
+
+"He couldn't have reached here so soon."
+
+"You don't know Dad," Penny chuckled. "He drives like the wind. It
+certainly sounded like the engine of our car."
+
+"Let's have a look before we cut the boat loose," Salt said, slipping a
+knife back into his pocket.
+
+"I'll go," Penny offered. "You wait here."
+
+Before Salt could stop her, she darted away into the darkness. Crawling
+under a barbed wire fence, she took a short cut to the road. Even before
+she saw the car, she heard a voice which she recognized as her father's.
+
+"Dad!" she called softly.
+
+He was with another man whom Penny hoped was Major Bryan. As the two came
+toward the fence, she saw that it was indeed the Army officer.
+
+"Dad, how did you get here so quickly?" she greeted him. "Salt and I
+didn't expect you for at least another twenty minutes."
+
+"I was lucky enough to get hold of Major Bryan right away," Mr. Parker
+answered, climbing over the fence. "Now I hope you haven't brought us on
+a wild chase, Penny. What's up?"
+
+"Come with me and I'll show you," she offered. "That's easier than
+explaining everything."
+
+Major Bryan, a well-built man of early middle age, asked Penny several
+questions about Professor Bettenridge as the three walked hurriedly
+toward the lake.
+
+"From your description, he seems to be the man I'm after," he declared
+grimly. "If he's the same person, his real name is Claude Arkwright and
+he's wanted for impersonating an officer and on various other charges. He
+pulled a big job in New York three months ago, then vanished."
+
+Salt was waiting at the lake. "What's our move?" he asked, after relating
+everything that had occurred that night. "Shall we cut the boat loose?"
+
+"First, let me examine those mines," the major requested. "Can we get
+into the shack?"
+
+"I can pick the lock, but it takes time," Salt offered.
+
+"We'll break it," the major decided. "Those men may return here at any
+minute, so there's no time to lose."
+
+The door was forced open and Penny was placed on guard to watch the
+hillside for Webb or anyone in the professor's party.
+
+There was no light in the shack, but both Mr. Parker and the major had
+brought flashlights. Salt pointed out the mine which had been doctored by
+Webb. Carefully, the Army officer examined it.
+
+"I can't tell much by looking at it for the work has been cleverly
+concealed," he admitted. "But from what you've told me, I am quite
+certain how the mine is made to explode."
+
+"How is it done?" Salt demanded.
+
+"After the hole is made, a chemical--probably sodium--is inserted. Then
+another substance which melts slowly in water is used to seal up the
+opening."
+
+"Then that explains why Webb delayed so long in giving the signal after
+the mine had been dropped into the water!" Penny exclaimed from the
+doorway. "He was waiting for the substance to melt!"
+
+"Exactly," agreed the major. "If my theory is correct, only the action of
+water is required to explode this mine. The professor's machine, of
+course, has nothing whatsoever to do with it."
+
+"Why don't we explode the mine now?" Penny suddenly proposed. "That would
+put an end to the professor's little scheme."
+
+"It might also prevent us from arresting him," the major said. He debated
+a moment. Then he exclaimed: "It's worth trying! We'll load the mine on
+the boat and dump 'er in the lake!"
+
+The men would not permit Penny to help with the dangerous work. Carefully
+they transported the mine to the boat. Salt was about to start the motor,
+but the major stopped him.
+
+"No, we don't want the sound of the engine to give us away," he said.
+"We'll row out into the lake."
+
+Penny was eager to accompany the men, but they would not hear of it. To
+her disappointment, she was compelled to remain on the beach.
+
+Sitting down on the sand, she nervously watched until the boat faded into
+the black of the night. Presently, she heard a splash which told her that
+the mine had been lowered overboard. Anxiously, she waited for the boat
+to return.
+
+"Why don't they come?" she thought, straining to hear the sound of oars.
+"If the explosion should go off while they're still out there--"
+
+Then she heard the boat coming and breathed in relief. Soon the craft
+grated on sand, and the three men leaped out.
+
+"Perhaps my theory is wrong," the major commented, as they all huddled
+together, waiting. "The mine should have gone off by this time."
+
+Several minutes elapsed and still nothing happened. And then, as the
+group became convinced their plan had failed, there came a terrific
+explosion which sent flame and water high above the lake's surface.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   21
+                          _IN SEARCH OF WEBB_
+
+
+"Beautiful! Beautiful!" chuckled the major as the flames began to die
+away. "That proves our theory. No machine is required to set off the
+mines--only the action of water."
+
+"Professor Bettenridge must have heard the explosion!" Penny exclaimed,
+fairly beside herself with excitement. "What will happen now?"
+
+"If human nature runs true to form, he will soon come here to
+investigate," the major predicted.
+
+The four stepped back into the dense growth of trees to wait. Within five
+minutes they observed two shadowy figures scurrying down the path toward
+the shack where the mines were stored. As they came closer, Penny
+recognized the professor and his wife.
+
+"And someone is following them," she discerned. "It looks like Mr.
+Johnson."
+
+Professor Bettenridge and his wife now were near the trees. Their voices,
+though low, carried to those in hiding.
+
+"That stupid lout, Webb!" the professor muttered. "He has ruined
+everything now by setting off the mine too soon."
+
+"But how could it have been Webb?" his wife protested. "He was at the
+farmhouse only five minutes ago. He wouldn't have had time."
+
+"Then it was someone else--" Professor Bettenridge paused, and cast a
+quick alert glance about the lake shore. He noted that the boat was tied,
+but that the door of the shack was wide open.
+
+"We've been exposed!" he muttered. "Our game is up, and we've got to get
+away from here before the authorities arrest us."
+
+"But what about Johnson?" his wife demanded, glancing over her shoulder
+at the man who was following them down the hillside path.
+
+"We can do nothing now. He had begun to catch on even before tonight, and
+this explosion finishes everything. Don't even stop to pack your clothes.
+We'll get our car and clear out."
+
+"Webb?"
+
+"He'll have to look out for himself. We're traveling alone and traveling
+fast."
+
+Those in hiding suddenly stepped forth from the trees, blocking the path.
+Major Bryan moved directly in front of the professor, flashing a light
+into his face.
+
+"Good evening, Claude Arkwright," he said distinctly.
+
+The professor was startled, but recovered poise quickly. "You are
+mistaken," he said in a cold voice. "My name is Bettenridge."
+
+"No doubt that is what you call yourself now. You are wanted by the
+Federal government for impersonating an officer."
+
+"Ridiculous!"
+
+"May I see your draft card?" the major requested curtly.
+
+"Sorry, I haven't it with me. It is in my room."
+
+"Then we will go there."
+
+Nettled, Professor Bettenridge could think of no further excuse. Glancing
+significantly at his wife, he said: "My dear, will you go to the house
+and get the card for our inquisitors?"
+
+"We will all go," corrected the major. "Your wife may be wanted as your
+accomplice in this latest secret ray machine fleece. We prefer that she
+does not escape."
+
+"You are very trusting," sneered the professor.
+
+By this time, Mr. Johnson had reached the hillside. Puffing from having
+hurried so fast, he gazed in bewilderment at the little group.
+
+"What does this mean?" he inquired. "What caused the mine to explode?"
+
+"It was set off by being dropped in the lake," explained the major.
+
+"You mean the explosion was not touched off by Professor Bettenridge's
+invention?"
+
+"The machine had nothing whatsoever to do with it," Penny explained.
+"Professor Bettenridge and his accomplice, Webb Nelson, have been
+doctoring the mines with a powder and an outer shield which dissolves in
+water. They hoped to sell the worthless machine to you before you
+discovered the truth."
+
+The information stunned Mr. Johnson, but recovering, he turned furiously
+upon Professor Bettenridge.
+
+"You cheap trickster!" he shouted. "I'll have you arrested for this!"
+
+"Have you given the man any money?" Mr. Parker inquired.
+
+"A thousand dollars for an option on the machine. The rest was to have
+been paid tonight."
+
+"You're lucky to get off so easily," Mr. Parker said. "It's possible too,
+that we can get part of your deposit back."
+
+"You can't hold me on any trumped-up charge," Professor Bettenridge said
+angrily. "You have no warrant."
+
+He started away, but was brought up short as he felt the major's revolver
+pressing against his ribs.
+
+"This will hold you, I think," said the Army man coolly. "Now lead the
+way up the hill to the other cabin. I want to see your remarkable
+invention."
+
+With his wife clinging to his arm, the professor marched stiffly ahead of
+the group. He unlocked the cabin door and all went inside.
+
+Jerking off the canvas which covered the secret ray machine, Major Bryan
+inspected it briefly.
+
+"A worthless contraption!" he said contemptuously. "Utterly useless!"
+
+"Where did you meet Webb Nelson?" Penny asked the professor. "And where
+is he now?"
+
+"You'll have to find him for yourself," sneered the professor. "If he has
+the sense I think, he's probably miles away from here by now."
+
+Determined that the man should not escape, Penny, Salt and Mr. Parker
+started for the farmhouse, leaving the major and Mr. Johnson to question
+the professor. As they rapped on the screen door, Mrs. Leonard came to
+let them in.
+
+"What is going on here tonight, may I ask?" she demanded irritably.
+"People banging in and out of the house at all hours! Explosions! I
+declare, I wish I never had rented a room to that crazy professor and his
+wife!"
+
+"Is Webb Nelson here?" Mr. Parker asked.
+
+"The professor's helper? Why, no, right after the explosion he came,
+gathered a bag of things from the professor's room, and went off down the
+road."
+
+"In a car?"
+
+"He was afoot when he left here. Is anything wrong?"
+
+"Considerable. Professor Bettenridge has just been exposed as an
+impostor. Webb must have realized the jig was up when he heard the mine
+go off."
+
+"The professor an impostor!" Mrs. Leonard exclaimed. "Well, of all
+things!"
+
+"Which way did Webb go?" Mr. Parker asked.
+
+"Down the road toward town when I last saw him."
+
+"Maybe we can catch him!" Mr. Parker cried.
+
+"If he didn't get a lift," Salt added.
+
+All piled into the Parker car which had been left a short distance down
+the road. But in the drive to Newhall, the man was not sighted. Nor did
+inquiry in the town reveal anyone who had seen him.
+
+"Undoubtedly he expected to be followed, and cut across the fields or
+took a side road," Mr. Parker declared. "We'll have to depend upon the
+authorities to pick him up now."
+
+Stopping at the sheriff's office, warrants for the man's arrest were
+sworn out, and the party then returned to Mrs. Leonard's. Professor
+Bettenridge and his wife had been brought to the farmhouse by Major Bryan
+who proposed to hold them there pending the arrival of federal
+authorities from Riverview.
+
+"There's one thing I want to know," Penny whispered to her father. "How
+did Professor Bettenridge meet Webb? Perhaps he can explain the man's
+connection with the _Snark_."
+
+The question was put to the professor who replied briefly that he knew
+nothing whatsoever about Webb Nelson.
+
+"I met him only two weeks ago," he said. "He claimed to be an expert at
+handling explosives, so I hired him."
+
+No one believed the professor was telling the truth. However, it was
+useless to question him further. Determined not to implicate himself, his
+wife, or his helper, he spoke as seldom as possible.
+
+"The man has a room here," Mr. Parker suggested. "Suppose we see what we
+can find."
+
+Mrs. Leonard led the way upstairs. The professor's room was locked, but
+she opened it with a master key.
+
+Two suitcases had been packed as if for a hasty departure and everything
+was in disorder. All garments had been removed from the closets. The
+scrap basket was filled with torn letters which Mr. Parker promptly
+gathered together and placed in an envelope for future piecing together.
+
+In one of the suitcases he found several newspaper clippings. One bore a
+picture of the professor, but the name beneath it was Claude Arkwright,
+and the story related that he was wanted in connection with a $10,000
+hoax.
+
+"Bettenridge is our man all right," the publisher declared. "We made no
+mistake in holding him for the sheriff."
+
+Penny had been searching the larger of the two suitcases which seemed to
+contain only clothing. But as she reached the lower layer, she suddenly
+gave a jubilant cry.
+
+"Salt! Dad!" she exclaimed. "It's here! See what I've found!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   22
+                        _SALT'S MISSING CAMERA_
+
+
+From the suitcase, Penny lifted Salt's camera. With a cry of pleasure, he
+snatched it from her hand and eagerly examined it.
+
+"Is it damaged in any way?" Penny asked.
+
+"It doesn't seem to be. So the professor had it all the time just as we
+thought!"
+
+"And here are the plates I tossed into the car the night of the
+explosion!" Penny added, burrowing deeper into the pile of clothing.
+"They're probably ruined by now."
+
+"Maybe not," said Salt, examining them. "The professor may have thought
+they were unexposed plates and kept them for use later on."
+
+"Anyway, it was crooked of him to try to keep the camera," Penny
+declared. "Though I suppose such a small theft doesn't amount to much in
+comparison to the trick he nearly played on Mr. Johnson."
+
+"It matters to me," the photographer chuckled. "Am I glad to get this
+camera back! The plates won't do us any good now they are outdated, but
+I'll take them along anyhow. I'm curious to see if they would have shown
+anything of significance."
+
+"By all means develop them," urged Mr. Parker. "Anything else in the
+suitcase?"
+
+In a pocket of the case Penny found several letters from Mr. Johnson
+which she gave to her father. Knowing they would be valuable in
+establishing a case of attempted fraud against the professor, he kept
+them.
+
+"I wish Webb Nelson hadn't managed to escape," Penny remarked as the trio
+went downstairs again. "He must have started for Newhall, perhaps to
+catch a train."
+
+"Any due at this time?" her father asked thoughtfully.
+
+"I wouldn't know."
+
+"Tell you what," Mr. Parker proposed. "We can do nothing more here. We
+may as well drive to the village again and press an inquiry for Webb."
+
+Once more the car with Salt as driver careened over the bumpy country
+road to Newhall. They reached the town without sighting anyone who
+resembled the professor's helper.
+
+"Drive to the station," Mr. Parker instructed Salt. "There's an outside
+chance Webb went there."
+
+The depot was a drab little red building, deserted except for a
+sleepy-eyed station agent who told them there was no passenger train
+scheduled to leave Newhall before six o'clock the next morning.
+
+"Any freight trains?" Mr. Parker inquired.
+
+"A couple are overdue," the agent said. "No. 32 from the east, and No.
+20, also westbound. No. 20's just coming into the block."
+
+Although it seemed unlikely Webb would take a freight train out of town,
+Mr. Parker, Salt and Penny, decided to wait for it to come in. They went
+outside, standing in the shadow of the station.
+
+"No sign of anyone around," Salt declared, looking carefully about. "We
+may as well go back to the lake."
+
+"Let's wait," Penny urged.
+
+No. 20 rumbled into the station, stirring up a whirlwind of dust and
+cinders. A trainman with a lantern over his arm, came into the station to
+get his orders from the agent. He chatted a moment, then went out again,
+swinging aboard one of the cars. A moment later, the train began to move.
+
+"Shall we go?" Mr. Parker said impatiently.
+
+Penny buttoned her coat as she stepped beyond the protection of the
+building, for the night air was cold and penetrated her thin clothing.
+Treading along behind her father and Salt to the car, she started to
+climb in, when her attention riveted upon a lone figure some distance
+from the railroad station. A man, who resembled Webb Nelson in build, had
+emerged from behind a tool shed, and stood close to the tracks watching
+the slowly moving freight.
+
+Then he ran along beside the train and suddenly leaped into one of the
+empty box cars.
+
+"Dad! Salt!" she exclaimed. "I just saw someone leap into one of those
+cars! I'm sure it was Webb!"
+
+"Where?" demanded her father. "Which car?"
+
+"The yellow one. Oh, he'll get away unless we can have him arrested at
+the next town!"
+
+"He won't escape if I can stop him!" Salt muttered.
+
+Racing across the platform, he waited for the car Penny had indicated.
+Although the train was moving faster now, he leaped and swung himself to
+a sitting position in the open doorway.
+
+"Look out! Look out!" Penny screamed in warning.
+
+Behind Salt, the man who had taken refuge in the car, moved stealthily
+toward him, obviously intending to push him off the train. But the
+photographer knew what to expect and was prepared.
+
+He whirled suddenly and scrambled to his feet. His attacker caught him
+slightly off balance, and they went down together, rolling over and over
+on the straw littered floor.
+
+Worried for Salt, Penny and Mr. Parker ran along beside the train. The
+publisher tried to leap aboard to help the photographer, but lacking the
+younger man's athletic prowess, he could not make it. Already winded, he
+began to fall behind.
+
+Penny kept on and managed to grasp the doorway of the car, but she
+instantly realized she could not swing herself through the opening. The
+train now was moving rapidly and gaining speed each moment.
+
+Inside the box car, the two men were rolling over and over, each fighting
+desperately to gain the advantage. Penny could not see what was
+happening. Forced by the speed of the train, she let go her hold. Her
+feet were swept from beneath her, and she stumbled and fell along the
+right of way.
+
+Before she could scramble to her feet, her father had caught up with her.
+
+"Are you hurt?" he asked anxiously.
+
+Penny's knees were skinned but the injury was so trifling she did not
+speak of it. Her one concern was for Salt.
+
+"Oh, Dad," she said, grasping his arm nervously. "What are we going to
+do? That brute may kill him!"
+
+Mr. Parker shared Penny's concern, but he said calmly: "There's only one
+thing we can do now. We'll have the station agent send a wire to the next
+station. Police will meet the train and take Webb into custody."
+
+"He may not be on the train by the time it reaches the next town! Oh,
+Dad, Salt may be half killed before then!"
+
+Penny and her father stared after the departing freight. The engineer
+whistled for a high trestle spanning a narrow river, and the train began
+to rumble over it.
+
+Suddenly Penny stiffened into alert attention. In the doorway of the open
+boxcar, she could see the two struggling men. Mr. Parker, too, became
+tense.
+
+As they watched fearfully, one of the men was pushed from the car. He
+rolled over and over down a steep embankment toward the creek bed.
+
+The other man, poised in the doorway an instant, then just before the car
+reached the trestle, leaped.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   23
+                           _ESCAPE BY NIGHT_
+
+
+Fearful for Salt, Penny and her father ran down the tracks toward the
+railroad trestle. Scrambling and sliding down the slippery embankment,
+they saw Salt lying in a heap near the edge of the creek.
+
+Webb, his ankle injured, was trying to hobble toward a corn field just
+beyond the railroad right of way.
+
+"Get him! Don't let him escape!" Salt cried, raising himself to his
+knees.
+
+Although alarmed for the photographer who appeared to have been injured
+by his leap, Penny and her father pursued Webb. Handicapped as he was
+with an injured ankle, they overtook him by the barbed wire fence.
+
+Already badly battered from the fight, and bruised as a result of his
+fall from the train, the man put up only a brief struggle as Mr. Parker
+pinned him to the ground.
+
+"Quick!" the publisher directed Penny. "See what you can do for Salt. He
+may be badly injured."
+
+The photographer, however, had struggled to his feet. He stood
+unsteadily, staring down at his torn clothing.
+
+"Are you all right?" Penny asked anxiously, running to his side.
+
+"Yes, I'm okay," he said, gingerly touching a bruised jaw. "Boy! Is that
+lad a scrapper? Did you see me push him out of the boxcar?"
+
+"We certainly did, and we were frightened half to death! We thought you
+would be killed."
+
+Hobbling over to the fence, Salt confronted his assailant. Webb's face
+was a sorry sight. His nose was crimson, both eyes were blackened and his
+lip was bleeding.
+
+"You may as well come along without making any more trouble," Mr. Parker
+told him grimly. "Professor Bettenridge has been taken into custody, and
+the entire fraud has been exposed."
+
+"I figured that out when I heard the mine go off," the man returned
+sullenly. "Okay, you got me, but I was only carrying out orders. I worked
+for Professor Bettenridge, but any deals he made were his business, not
+mine."
+
+"That remains to be seen," replied Mr. Parker. "We'll let you talk to the
+sheriff. Move along, and no monkey business."
+
+Having no weapon, Salt and the publisher walked on either side of the
+prisoner, while Penny brought up the rear.
+
+"You don't need to hang onto me," he complained bitterly. "I ain't going
+to try to escape."
+
+"We're sure you won't," returned Salt, "because we'll be watching you
+every step of the way."
+
+At first, as the four tramped down the tracks toward the station, the
+prisoner showed no disposition to talk. But gradually his curiosity
+gained the better of him. He sought information about Professor
+Bettenridge's arrest, and then tried to build up a story that would
+convince his captors he had only been an employee hired on a weekly
+basis.
+
+"I suppose you know nothing about the _Snark_ either," Penny observed
+bitterly. "After Ben Bartell and I pulled you out of the river, you
+repaid us by stealing his watch."
+
+To her astonishment, the man reached in his pocket and gave her the
+timepiece.
+
+"Here," he said gruffly, "give it back to him. I won't need it where I'm
+going."
+
+"Why did you take the watch when it didn't belong to you?" Penny pursued
+the subject. "Especially after Ben risked his life to pull you out of the
+river."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," the man answered impatiently. "I needed a watch, so I
+took it. Quit askin' so many questions."
+
+"Why were you pushed off the _Snark_?" Penny demanded, refusing to
+abandon the subject.
+
+She did not expect Webb to answer the question as he had refused to
+explain at the time of his rescue. To her surprise, he replied grimly:
+
+"They tried to get rid of me. We had a disagreement over a job they
+wanted me to pull."
+
+"What job was that?" Mr. Parker interposed.
+
+"Dynamiting the Conway Steel Plant."
+
+The words produced a powerful effect upon the publisher, Salt, and Penny.
+At their stunned silence, Webb added hastily:
+
+"You understand, I didn't do it. They got sore because I refused to pull
+the job."
+
+"Why, that doesn't make sense," Penny protested. "Evidently, you are
+mixed up on your dates, because the Conway Plant explosion took place
+before the night we rescued you from the water."
+
+"Sure, I know," the man muttered, trying to cover his slip of tongue.
+"They were afraid I'd squawk to the police and that was why they pitched
+me overboard."
+
+"Who pulled the job?" Salt asked.
+
+"I don't know. Someone was hired to set off the explosion."
+
+Webb's story was accepted but not believed. Penny knew from previous
+experience that the man was more inclined to tell a lie than the truth.
+Convinced that he might have been implicated in the explosion, she
+suddenly recalled his visit to the office of Jason Cordell. Could his
+call there have any hidden significance?
+
+"You're a friend of Mr. Cordell's, aren't you?" she inquired abruptly.
+
+The question caught Webb off guard. He gave her a quick look but answered
+in an indifferent way: "Never heard of him."
+
+"I'm certain I saw you in his office," Penny insisted.
+
+Realizing that his loose talk was building up trouble for himself, Webb
+would say no more. At the sheriff's office, he repeated practically the
+same story, insisting that he had been hired by Professor Bettenridge on
+a wage basis, and that he was in no way implicated in the plot to defraud
+Mr. Johnson.
+
+"Your story doesn't hang together," Mr. Parker said severely. "Naturally
+you knew that the professor's machine was worthless?"
+
+"Not at first," Webb whined. "He only told me he wanted a mine exploded
+at a certain time. It was only by chance that I learned he intended to
+cheat Mr. Johnson."
+
+"Considering the conversations I overheard between you and the professor,
+that is a little hard to believe," Penny contributed.
+
+"It might go a little easier with you, if you come through with the
+truth," a deputy sheriff in charge of the office, added. "Anything you
+want to say before we lock you up?"
+
+Webb hesitated a long while, and then in a subdued voice said: "Okay, I
+may as well tell you. Sure, I knew the professor and his wife were
+crooks. They offered me a split on the profits if Johnson bought the
+secret ray machine."
+
+"Where did you obtain your mines?" Salt asked curiously.
+
+"I don't know," Webb answered, and for once spoke the truth. "Professor
+Bettenridge had a friend hooked up in a munitions plant who supplied him
+with a few which were defective."
+
+"Now tell us the truth about the _Snark_," Penny insisted. "You said
+those men were mixed up in the dynamiting of the Conway Steel Plant. Was
+that one of the professor's jobs?"
+
+"No, he had nothing to do with it."
+
+"His car was in the vicinity of the plant on the night of the explosion."
+
+"It was just accident then," Webb maintained. "He had nothing to do with
+it."
+
+"Then you do know the persons involved?"
+
+"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," Webb said sullenly. "Why not go
+to the _Snark_ and get information first hand if you want it."
+
+It was evident the man would reveal no more, so the deputy sheriff locked
+him up. Within a few minutes Professor Bettenridge and his wife were
+brought in, and although they indignantly demanded release, they too were
+placed in jail cells.
+
+Mr. Johnson who had accompanied Major Bryan to the sheriff's office,
+seemed rather stunned by the events which had transpired. He shook
+Penny's hand and could not praise her enough for exposing the professor's
+trickery.
+
+"What a fool I was," he acknowledged. "His smooth talk hypnotized me.
+Why, I might have paid a large sum of money to him, if it hadn't been for
+you. Now I shall prosecute charges vigorously."
+
+The wealthy man tried to press money upon both Penny and Salt, who
+smilingly refused to accept it. They assured him that knowing the
+professor's trick had failed was ample reward.
+
+By the time Penny, her father and Salt finally reached the Parker home it
+was nearly midnight. Somewhat to their surprise, Mrs. Weems was still
+waiting up.
+
+"I'm so glad you came!" she exclaimed, before they could explain what had
+happened. "Nearly an hour ago someone telephoned, asking for Penny. I
+think the message may be important."
+
+"Who was it?" Penny asked.
+
+"A man named Edward McClusky."
+
+"The river diver!" Penny exclaimed. "What did he want, Mrs. Weems?"
+
+"At first he wouldn't tell me, saying he had to talk to you personally.
+However, I finally persuaded him to trust me with the message. He said:
+'Tell Miss Parker that her friend Ben Bartell went aboard the _Snark_
+last night and hasn't been seen since.'"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   24
+                         _A RAID ON THE_ SNARK
+
+
+"Oh, why didn't Mr. McClusky call the police instead?" Penny cried
+anxiously. "Ben may be in serious trouble!" Turning to her father she
+added: "Dad, we must go there right away!"
+
+"To the _Snark_?" Mr. Parker frowned and reached for the telephone. "The
+matter is one for the police, Penny. I'll call the night inspector."
+
+Contacting the police station, the publisher explained why he believed it
+advisable to search the _Snark_. He was assured that a squad would be
+sent there at once to investigate.
+
+"We've had other complaints about that vessel," the inspector said. "So
+far we've not been able to find anything out of the way."
+
+Having notified the police, Mr. Parker felt that his duty was done, but
+not Penny.
+
+"Dad, can't we go there too?" she pleaded. "Ben is in trouble and we may
+be able to help him."
+
+"I don't see what we could do, Penny. Besides, you know how I feel about
+Ben."
+
+"And you're dead wrong. You've done him a dreadful injustice. Tonight may
+prove it."
+
+Mr. Parker wavered, then suddenly gave in. "All right, get your heavy
+coat," he instructed. "It will be cold along the waterfront."
+
+Penny raced for the warm garment and joined her father and Salt as they
+were backing the press car out of the driveway.
+
+"The _Snark_ is tied up at Pier 23," Penny directed. "Straight down this
+street and turn at Jackson."
+
+The car reached the docks, parking alongside a dark warehouse. There was
+no sign of the police. A short distance away, the _Snark_ with only dim
+deck lights showing, and no one in view, tugged at her heavy ropes.
+
+"We'll wait for the police," Mr. Parker decided.
+
+Within five minutes, two cars glided noiselessly up to the pier and a
+dozen men in uniform leaped out. Captain Bricker, in charge of the squad,
+strode to the _Snark_ and called loudly: "Ahoy, there!"
+
+No one answered.
+
+"Ahoy, the _Snark_!" he shouted again.
+
+Still receiving no answer, he ordered his men aboard. Single file, they
+crawled cautiously up a ladder to the dark deck.
+
+"Anyone aboard?" the captain called once more.
+
+Salt, Mr. Parker and Penny, eager for first hand information, followed
+the policemen up the ladder.
+
+"My men will search the vessel," Captain Bricker told them, "but no one
+appears to be aboard. Everything seems in order."
+
+Spreading out over the ship, the policemen returned one by one to report
+they could find nothing amiss. Not even a watchman was aboard.
+
+"This seems to be a wild-goose chase, Captain," Mr. Parker apologized.
+"Sorry to have bothered you. We considered our information reliable."
+
+The policemen began to leave. Penny, lingering on deck until the last,
+was being helped onto the ladder by Captain Bricker, when they both heard
+a sound below decks.
+
+"What was that?" the officer muttered, listening alertly.
+
+"It sounded like someone thumping on a wall," Penny cried. "There it is
+again!"
+
+The noise was not repeated a third time, but Captain Bricker had heard
+enough to make him believe that someone remained below. Drawing his
+revolver, and warning Penny to keep back, he started down the dark
+companionway.
+
+At a safe distance, Penny trailed him. His bright flashlight beam cut
+paths of light over the walls as he tried the doors.
+
+"Anyone here?" he shouted.
+
+A thumping noise came from a room on the right. Guided by the sound,
+Captain Bricker tried the door. It was locked.
+
+A powerfully built man, the officer hurled his weight against the door,
+and the lock gave way. Keeping back, lest he become a target for a
+bullet, he kicked the door open. The room was empty! But, the flashlight
+beam caught the outline of a trapdoor in the floor. The officer flung it
+open. Below, in the hold, lay a man gagged and bound hand and foot.
+
+Following the police officer into the room, Penny uttered a little cry as
+she recognized Ben Bartell. Blinking owlishly in the light which had been
+focused upon him, he was a deplorable sight. His face was bruised, his
+hair matted with blood, and one eye was swollen almost shut.
+
+"Oh, Ben! What have they done to you?" Penny gasped in horror.
+
+Captain Bricker cut the young man free, and pulled the gag from his
+mouth. He helped Ben into a chair and then went to another cabin for
+water.
+
+"Who did this to you?" Penny asked, rubbing the reporter's hands to
+restore circulation.
+
+He seemed too exhausted to reply so she did not urge him to speak. The
+captain brought water which Ben drank thirstily.
+
+"He's evidently been tied up several hours," the officer commented.
+
+"Since last night," Ben whispered, moistening his cracked lips.
+
+"How did you get aboard?"
+
+"I sneaked on when no one was looking--wanted to see what I could learn."
+
+"Who were the men that tied you up?"
+
+"Don't know. But before they caught me, I heard plenty. The men on this
+boat are mixed up in the dynamiting of the Conway Steel Plant."
+
+Penny nodded, for this information correlated with what she already had
+learned.
+
+"Was Webb Nelson involved in the plot?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"He set off the dynamite according to what I overheard last night," Ben
+revealed. "But he got into a fight with the gang over his pay for the
+job. He tried to shake them down for a big sum, threatening to spill
+everything to the police if they didn't cough up. It ended up in a fight,
+and Webb was pushed overboard."
+
+"Then we pulled him out of the river," Penny supplied. "But he refused to
+tell us a thing."
+
+"He knew better than to spill the story because he would have implicated
+himself. And the gang aboard this boat had no fear either, because they
+figured he was only pulling a bluff."
+
+"But who was behind the plot?" Penny asked, puzzled. "What did the men
+hope to gain by dynamiting the plant?"
+
+"They did it on orders from a man higher up--a man who personally hates
+the owner of the Conway Steel Plant."
+
+"Then it was a grudge matter?" Captain Bricker inquired dubiously.
+
+"Not entirely," Ben returned. "Labor troubles are mixed up in it. This
+man, who represents a minor faction, has been trying to gain control over
+the employes without much success. By planning a series of accidents
+similar to the dynamiting, he thought he might bring the management
+around to his way of thinking."
+
+"Who is the leader?" Penny demanded impatiently.
+
+Ben hesitated. "I hate to say," he confessed, "because I'm not absolutely
+certain. In the conversation I overheard before I was caught, he wasn't
+mentioned by name. But by putting two and two together, I have a fairly
+good idea."
+
+"Guessing won't do in this business," said Captain Bricker.
+
+"I know that," admitted Ben. "But here is one bit of fact I gained. The
+big boss was at the factory on the night of the explosion. In fact, he
+was nearly caught, and a photographer snapped a picture of him as he
+fled."
+
+"You're sure of that?" Penny demanded excitedly.
+
+"Yes, I heard the men talking about it. The boss has been worried for
+fear that picture will show up and convict him."
+
+"Now I'm beginning to understand," Penny murmured. "It explains why the
+_Star_ photography room was broken into several times. Someone was after
+those plates which weren't there!"
+
+"What became of the pictures?" Captain Bricker asked. "They'll prove
+valuable evidence."
+
+"Why, Salt Sommers has the camera and plates in the press car. Of course,
+we don't know what the plates will show until they're developed."
+
+"We must have them at once," the captain said. He turned again to Ben.
+"Now did you know any of the men who attacked you?"
+
+"Not a one. But I can give you a fairly good description of most of them.
+They're waterfront riff-raff."
+
+"In that case some of them may have their pictures in our files," the
+captain said. "I'll issue orders to round up all loiterers in this
+neighborhood. You should be able to identify most of them in a police
+line-up."
+
+"I'm sure I can."
+
+"Now about the higher-up, who engineered the scheme. You said you had an
+idea who he is."
+
+"That's right," agreed Ben. "The men spoke of him as a publisher. I don't
+like to accuse him outright, because I'll be suspected of trying to get
+even with a man I hate."
+
+Light came swiftly to Penny. Into her mind leaped many facts hitherto
+puzzling, but which now seemed suddenly clear. The open skylight--the
+building adjoining the _Star_--Webb Nelson's call upon the editor of the
+_Mirror_.
+
+"Ben, you don't need to accuse anyone!" she cried. "I'll do it myself.
+The man is Jason Cordell, and I think we can prove it too!"
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER
+                                   25
+                            _PICTURE PROOF_
+
+
+"Yes, Jason Cordell is the man responsible," Ben agreed soberly. "I can't
+prove it, but in my own mind I'm sure."
+
+"You used to work for him, didn't you?" the police captain inquired, the
+inflection of his voice implying that he thought the former reporter
+might be prejudiced.
+
+"I was fired," Ben admitted readily. "Cordell let me go and blacklisted
+me everywhere to prevent me from exposing him. He wanted to discredit me,
+so that anything I might say would carry no weight."
+
+"Why were you really discharged, Ben?" Penny asked. "What did you learn
+about Mr. Cordell?"
+
+"That he had pulled off no end of crooked deals and that he was mixed up
+with this outlaw labor group. Over a period of three or four years,
+Cordell has made a mint of money, and not from his paper either!"
+
+"We'll question Cordell tonight," Captain Bricker promised. "The trick
+now is to get you to the station for first aid treatment. Then we'll want
+you to look through the police morgue and identify the pictures of as
+many of the _Snark's_ crew as you can."
+
+The officer turned to Penny. "As for those undeveloped plates, can you
+get them right away?"
+
+"I think so," Penny returned. While Captain Bricker helped Ben up the
+companionway, she ran ahead to find her father and Salt and tell them of
+the latest developments.
+
+The two were waiting in the press car. But when Mr. Parker learned how
+significant the pictures of the Conway Plant explosion might prove to be,
+he surprised Penny by declining to turn them over immediately to the
+police.
+
+"We may want those plates for the _Star_," he declared. "If the police
+once get their hands on them, it might be a job to get them back again in
+time to be of any use to us."
+
+"But Jason Cordell's arrest may depend upon them," Penny protested.
+
+"We'll have the plates developed, and let police see them," Mr. Parker
+decided. "But the plates must remain in our hands. Come on, let's go!"
+
+At a nod from the publisher, Salt started the press car, and without
+being instructed, headed for the _Star_ building.
+
+"How long will it take you to develop those plates?" Mr. Parker asked the
+photographer.
+
+"Ten minutes."
+
+"Good!" approved the publisher. "If they reveal anything, we'll telephone
+the police station at once."
+
+As the car coasted to a standstill alongside the _Star_ building, Penny's
+gaze roved to the darkened offices next door. All of the floors save one
+were without light. But in the suite occupied by the _Mirror_, a man
+plainly could be seen moving to and fro.
+
+"There is Jason Cordell now!" she drew attention to him. "Why do you
+suppose he's at his office so late tonight?"
+
+"There's no crime in that," replied Mr. Parker. "He may be guilty as Ben
+says, but I'll not believe it until I have the proof."
+
+Letting themselves into the newspaper building, the three went up the
+back stairs to the photography studio. Salt immediately set about
+developing the plates.
+
+"Something is coming up all right!" he declared jubilantly, as he rocked
+the developer tray back and forth.
+
+In a few minutes, Salt had washed the plates and was able to examine them
+beneath the red light. One was blurred and revealed little. But the other
+plainly showed a man fleeing toward a waiting car.
+
+"Why, the man is Webb Nelson!" Penny exclaimed, recognizing him.
+
+"But notice the driver of the car," Salt said. "It's Jason Cordell! Ben
+was right."
+
+"Then the man is guilty!" Penny cried. "Oh, Dad, I was certain of it!"
+
+Mr. Parker scanned the plate carefully to ascertain there was no possible
+mistake.
+
+"Yes, it's Jason Cordell," he agreed. "The truth is hard to believe. Why,
+I lunched with him only yesterday--"
+
+"Dad, he's a criminal no matter how respectable he has acted."
+
+"You're right," acknowledged Mr. Parker. "I'll notify the police at once
+and have him picked up for questioning."
+
+Transmitting the important information to police headquarters, Mr. Parker
+talked with Captain Bricker who promised to take personal charge of the
+matter. As the publisher hung up the receiver, he was startled to have
+Penny grasp his arm. Excitedly, she pointed out the window.
+
+"Now what?" he asked, failing to understand.
+
+"The light just went off in Mr. Cordell's office! He's leaving!"
+
+"Then we'll stop him," her father decided. "Salt, you stay here and rush
+that plate through! I'll detain Cordell by one means or another until the
+police arrive!"
+
+With Penny close beside him, he ran down the back stairs to the street.
+Breathlessly they arrived at the next building. The elevator was not
+running, but they could hear someone coming down the stairway. Then Jason
+Cordell, a brief case tucked under his arm, came into view. He stopped
+short upon seeing Mr. Parker and his daughter.
+
+"Working late?" Mr. Parker inquired pleasantly.
+
+"That's right," agreed the other. He would have walked on, but the
+publisher barred the exit.
+
+"By the way, I met a friend of yours tonight," Mr. Parker said, stalling
+for time.
+
+"That so? Who was he?"
+
+"Webb Nelson."
+
+Mr. Cordell's face did not change expression, but his eyes narrowed
+guardedly.
+
+"Not a friend of mine," he corrected carelessly.
+
+"But I've seen him in your office," Penny said.
+
+Mr. Cordell looked her straight in the eyes and smiled as if in
+amusement. "That may be," he admitted, "but all who come to my office are
+not my friends."
+
+He tried to pass again, but Mr. Parker stood his ground. "Say, what is
+this?" Mr. Cordell demanded, suddenly suspicious.
+
+"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you a few questions about your friend Webb
+Nelson. Suppose we go back to your office."
+
+"Suppose we don't," Cordell retorted. "I'm tired and I'm going home. If
+you want to see me, come around tomorrow during business hours."
+
+"Which may be too late."
+
+"I don't know what you're talking about," the _Mirror_ editor blustered.
+"Furthermore, I'm not interested. Get out of my way."
+
+Instead, Mr. Parker grasped him firmly by the arm. Cordell tried to jerk
+free, and in so doing, dropped his brief case, which Penny promptly
+seized.
+
+"Give that to me!" the man shouted furiously.
+
+Penny smiled, for through the plate glass window she had observed the
+approach of a police car. Another moment and uniformed men were swarming
+about Mr. Cordell.
+
+"What is the meaning of this?" the man demanded angrily. "I'll report you
+all to the Safety Director who is my friend!"
+
+"You'll report to him all right," agreed Captain Bricker. "Now come along
+quietly. If you can answer a few questions satisfactorily, you'll be
+allowed to return home."
+
+"What do you want to know?" Cordell asked sullenly.
+
+"Where were you on the night of the 16th?"
+
+"Now how should I know?" the man retorted sarcastically. "I can't
+remember that far back. But probably I was home in bed."
+
+"You're wanted in connection with the Conway dynamiting," the officer
+informed him.
+
+Mr. Cordell snorted with anger. "Of all the ridiculous charges! I know
+nothing about the affair."
+
+Out of the door burst Salt Sommers. He was without a hat, but he carried
+a picture, still wet, in the palm of his hand.
+
+"So you know nothing about the dynamiting," he mimicked. "Well,
+gentlemen, take a look at this!"
+
+Mr. Cordell and the policemen gathered about him, studying the
+photograph. Plainly it showed Webb Nelson fleeing toward a car driven by
+the _Mirror_ editor.
+
+"What does this prove?" the man blustered. "I admit the car is mine. I
+was driving past the plant at the time of the explosion. This fellow,
+Nelson, leaped into my auto and ordered me to drive on."
+
+"A moment ago you claimed you weren't even near the Conway Plant," Penny
+tripped him. "You knew Webb Nelson very well. Furthermore, you entered
+the _Star_ offices several times trying to get your hands on this
+picture!"
+
+"Ridiculous!"
+
+"At least once when you found the stairway door locked, you went in
+through the skylight," Penny accused.
+
+"Of all the crazy ideas!" The editor laughed jeeringly. "Imagine me
+crawling through a skylight!"
+
+"I notice your coat has a torn place," Penny said, taking a scrap of blue
+wool from her purse. "This, I believe, is a perfect match."
+
+Mr. Cordell gazed at the wool and shrugged. "All right," he admitted
+coolly. "I did crawl through the skylight twice to see if I could find
+the picture. I knew this fool photographer had snapped a picture of me,
+and I feared I might be falsely accused."
+
+"Then you knew Nelson was mixed up in the dynamiting?" Captain Bricker
+questioned.
+
+"I wasn't certain," Mr. Cordell said in confusion. "The reason I didn't
+report to the police was that I was afraid of being involved. After that
+night, Webb Nelson tried to blackmail me. Because of my position, I dared
+have no publicity."
+
+The _Mirror_ editor's explanation carried a certain amount of conviction,
+and Penny was dismayed to hear Captain Bricker assure him that if a
+mistake had been made he would be granted freedom immediately after he
+had talked to the police chief.
+
+"I shall accompany you without protest," the _Mirror_ editor returned
+stiffly. "Later I shall file charges against those who have tried to
+damage my character."
+
+Captain Bricker asked Salt for the picture which he intended to take to
+police headquarters.
+
+"May I see it a moment?" Penny requested.
+
+He gave the picture to her. She studied it and her face brightened.
+"Captain Bricker, look at this!" she exclaimed, pointing to an object in
+the car which barely was noticeable.
+
+Everyone gathered about Penny, peering at the photograph. On the rear
+seat of the car driven by Mr. Cordell was a box which plainly bore the
+printing: "Salvage Company--Explosives."
+
+"Ed McClusky who works for the Salvage Company, told me that dynamite had
+been stolen from his firm," Penny declared. "And here it is in Mr.
+Cordell's automobile! Apparently, he wasn't just driving by the plant at
+the time of the explosion! This picture proves why he was there!"
+
+"Right you are, young lady," chuckled Captain Bricker. "You've pinned the
+goods on him for fair." Prodding the _Mirror_ editor with his stick, he
+ordered curtly: "Get along, you! This puts a different face on it. You'll
+be spending the rest of the night in the Safety building."
+
+After Mr. Cordell, still protesting his innocence, had been taken away,
+Penny, her father, and Salt returned to the deserted newspaper building.
+
+"Will Cordell manage to get free?" she asked anxiously.
+
+"Not a chance of it," Mr. Parker answered. "That picture tags him right.
+With Ed McClusky and Ben to testify against him, he's the same as
+convicted now."
+
+"Speaking of Ben, what's to be done about him, Dad?"
+
+"We'll give him a job here. He's had unfair treatment, but we'll make it
+up to him. However, we'll have to let one employee go."
+
+"Not me?" Penny asked anxiously.
+
+"No," her father laughed. "It's your friend, Elda Hunt. Her attitude
+isn't right. We've tried to give her a chance, but over and over she has
+demonstrated that she isn't cut out to be a newspaper woman."
+
+"She'll probably blame me for her discharge," Penny sighed. "Not that it
+matters. I ceased worrying about Elda a long while ago."
+
+"She'll have no difficulty getting work elsewhere, and I hope she'll be
+better adjusted."
+
+"How about the story of Mr. Cordell's arrest? And the picture?" Penny
+inquired. "Will the _Star_ print them tomorrow?"
+
+"On the front page of our first edition," Mr. Parker chuckled. "Salt
+didn't turn over the plate to the police, so we're all set. By morning,
+the story should be bigger and better than ever. By then, the guilt will
+be well pinned on Cordell, and some of the _Snark_ gang may have been
+rounded up."
+
+Curious to learn the very latest details, Salt called the police station.
+He was told that Ben Bartell had identified several of the _Snark's_ crew
+from police pictures, and it was expected all would be arrested within
+twenty-four hours.
+
+"Not a bad night's work," Mr. Parker chuckled, as he snapped off the
+photography room lights. "Everything locked?"
+
+"How about the skylight?" asked Penny.
+
+"Open again," reported Salt as he checked it. "It's just no use trying to
+get folks to cooperate around here. Too many fresh air fiends."
+
+"Let it stay unlocked," Mr. Parker directed carelessly. "With our prowler
+safely behind bars, we've no further cause for worry." He looked at his
+watch. "Now, even though it is late, suppose we go and celebrate?"
+
+"Oh, fine!" cried Penny. "And why not stop at the Safety building and ask
+Ben Bartell to go with us? I want to tell him about his new job."
+
+"So do I," agreed her father heartily. "Where shall we go?"
+
+Penny linked arms with Salt and her father, skipping as she piloted them
+down the dark hall.
+
+"Just a quiet place where they serve big juicy steaks," she decided. "If
+I know Ben, that's what he would like best of all."
+
+
+
+
+                          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.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Signal in the Dark, by Mildred A. Wirt
+
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