"Well, DeWitt has been digging up all the facts he can about James
Kippenberg. As it happens, the man once had a business associate named
Aaron Dietz who was dismissed because of alleged dishonesty."
"Then there must be a relationship!" Penny cried. She whirled
triumphantly to face the crestfallen reporter. "You see, Mr. Jerry
Livingston, my theory wasn't so crazy after all! Now aren't you sorry?"
CHAPTER
14
_THE STONE TOWER_
Louise Sidell was washing the breakfast dishes when Penny walked boldly
in at the back door.
"Don't you ever answer doorbells, Lou?" she demanded. "I stood around
front for half an hour, ringing and ringing."
"Why, hello, Penny. I didn't hear you at all," apologized Louise. "The
radio is on too loud. I see you reached home last night."
Penny picked up a towel and began to dry dishes. "Oh, yes, and did I have
a day!"
"What happened after you left Andover?"
"It's a long story, so I'll begin at the end. Last night, coming home
with Jerry we stopped at a cafe along the river. Guess whom we saw!"
"Knowing your luck, I'd say Charlie Chaplin, or maybe the Queen of
England."
"This particular cafe wasn't quite their speed, Lou. Jerry and I saw that
same boatman I told you about!"
"The fellow you saw cruising about the Kippenberg estate? What's so
remarkable about that?"
"It just happens I've dug up other evidence to show he may know something
about Grant Atherwald's disappearance," Penny revealed proudly. "Jerry
and I overheard a conversation. It seems this man and a companion of his
are mixed up with another fellow named Aaron Dietz."
"Which doesn't make sense to me," complained Louise, scrubbing hard at a
sticky plate.
"Aaron Dietz was a former associate of James Kippenberg. Dad said he
probably knew more about the Kippenberg financial affairs than any other
person. Oh, I tell you, Jerry feels pretty sick because we didn't follow
the men last night! Dad assigned him to try to pick up the trail today.
He's chartered a motor boat and will patrol the river."
"If you don't mind," said Louise patiently, "I'd like to hear the first
part of the story now. Then I might know what this is all about."
Talking as fast as she could, Penny related everything which had happened
since she had taken leave of her chum at Andover.
"Which brings me to the point of my visit," she ended her tale. "How
about going out there with me this morning?"
"To the Kippenberg estate?" Louise asked eagerly.
"Yes, we may not be able to get across the river, but I mean to try."
"You know I'm wild to visit the place, Penny!"
"How soon can you start?"
"Just as soon as these stupid dishes are done. And I ought to change my
dress."
"Wear something dark which won't attract attention in the bushes,"
advised Penny. "Now get to working on yourself while I finish the
dishes."
Louise dropped the dishcloth and hurried upstairs. When she returned ten
minutes later, her chum was swishing the last of the soapsuds down the
sink drain. Another five minutes and they were in Penny's battered car,
speeding toward Corbin.
The sun rode high in the sky by the time they came within view of the
drawbridge. Noticing that a press car from a rival newspaper was parked
at the end of the road, Penny drew up some distance away. She could see
two reporters talking with the old watchman.
"Evidently, they're having no luck in getting over to the estate," she
remarked.
"Then what about us?"
"Oh, we have our own private taxi service," Penny chuckled. "At least I
hope so."
Taking a circuitous route so they would not be noticed by the bridgeman,
the girls went down to the river's edge. Far up the stream Penny saw the
familiar rowboat drifting with the current. At her signal the small boy
seized his oars and rowed toward shore.
"I was here at eight o'clock just as you said," he declared. "That fellow
up there by the bridge offered me a dollar to take him across the river.
I turned him down."
"Good," approved Penny.
"Do you want to go across the river now?" the boy asked.
"Yes, please." Penny stepped into the boat and made room for Louise.
"Keep close to the bank until we are around the bend. Then I'll show you
where to land."
"I guess you're afraid someone will see you," the boy commented.
"Not exactly afraid," corrected Penny. "But this way will be best."
The boat moved quietly along the high bank, well out of sight of those
who stood by the drawbridge.
"The cops were here this morning," volunteered the boy as he pulled at
the oars.
"You saw them visit the estate?" Penny questioned.
"Sure, there were four of 'em. They drove up in a police car and they
made old Thorndyke let the bridge down so they could go across."
"Are the policemen at the estate now?"
"No, they left again in about an hour. What do you suppose they wanted
over there?"
"Well, now, I couldn't guess," replied Penny. "Like as not they only
wished to ask a few questions. Are the Kippenbergs at home?"
"I saw Mrs. Kippenberg drive away right after the police left."
"And her daughter?"
"I guess she must be still there. Anyway, she wasn't in the car."
The boat rounded the bend, and Penny pointed out a place on the opposite
shore where she wished to land.
"Shall I wait for you?" the boy asked as the girls stepped from the
craft.
"Yes, but not here," directed Penny. "You might row back to the opposite
shore and keep watch from there. We ought to be ready to leave within at
least an hour."
The roof top of the Kippenberg house could be seen towering above the
tall trees. But as the two girls plunged into the bushes which grew
thickly along the shore they lost sight of it entirely.
"I hope," said Louise uneasily, "that you know where you are going. It
would be easy to lose one's self in this jungle."
"Oh, I have my directions straight. We should come out near the lily pool
at any minute."
"What do you hope to gain by coming here, Penny?" Louise inquired
abruptly.
"I thought I would try to talk with Miss Kippenberg again. There's an
important question I forgot to ask her yesterday. Then I wanted to show
you the estate, especially the lily pond."
"Is there anything unusual about it?"
"I'll let you be the judge," Penny answered. "We're almost there now."
They came in a moment to a path which made walking much easier. Penny
went in advance of her chum. Suddenly she halted.
"See what is ahead, Lou! I never saw that thing before."
She stepped to one side so that Louise might see the tall stone tower
which loomed up against a background of scarlet maples.
"How curious!" murmured Louise.
"This isn't the only queer thing I've found on the estate."
"What purpose could the tower have?" speculated Louise.
"Decoration, perhaps," replied Penny, moving forward again. "Or it might
have been built for a prison."
"Listen, you have too many different theories about Grant Atherwald,"
laughed Louise. "Why don't you get one and stick to it?"
"My mind is always open to new possibilities and impressions."
"I'll say it is," agreed Louise. "I suppose you think Mrs. Kippenberg is
keeping young Atherwald a prisoner in yonder tower?"
"Well, no, but you must admit it would make a lovely one. So romantic."
"Are you trying to kid me?" Louise demanded.
Penny smiled broadly as she stared up at the tower which rose perhaps
twelve feet. Like every other building on the estate it had been built to
resist the ages. High above her head a circular window had been cut in
the wall and there was a heavy oaken door.
Reaching for the knob, Penny turned it. Then she pressed her shoulder
against the door and pushed with her entire strength.
"Locked!" she announced.
"Then we won't learn what is inside after all."
"Yes, we will," declared Penny. "You lift me up and I'll peep in the
window."
"You only weigh a ton," complained Louise.
She obligingly raised Penny up as high as she could.
"Look fast," she panted. "What do you see?"
"Not much of anything."
"I can't hold you forever," Louise said, and released her hold. "Didn't
you see anything at all?"
"Just a lot of machinery."
"Tools, you mean?"
"No, an electric motor and something which looked like it might be a
pump. Oh, I get it now!"
"Get what?" demanded Louise.
"Why, the idea of this tower. It must be used as a pump house. I wondered
how the lily pool was ever drained and this must be the answer."
"You didn't see any prisoners chained inside?" Louise teased.
"Not one. Well, let's be getting on to the lily pond. It must be
somewhere close."
Louise could not understand why her chum was so determined that she
should see the pool. But since Penny seldom did anything without a
purpose, she speculated upon what might be in store. She knew from the
girl's manner that certain facts had been withheld deliberately to make
this visit the more impressive.
"Here we are," said Penny as they came to the clearing. "What do you
think of it?"
Louise was aware of a deep sense of disappointment as she gazed at the
lily pool.
"I really don't see anything so remarkable about it, Penny."
"This was the place where I found the wedding ring. And there were
footprints indicating that a struggle probably took place."
"I read all that in the paper," Louise said. "From the hints you've been
passing out, I thought you brought me here to show me something
mysterious."
"Go close to the pool."
"What for, Penny? You want to push me in?"
"Oh, you're too suspicious! Go on and look."
Louise went to the edge of the pool and peered down into the water.
"I don't see anything."
"You will in just a minute. Keep looking."
Louise was more than half convinced that Penny meant to play some prank,
but she dropped down on her knees so her eyes would be closer to the
water.
"Why, I do see some large object on the floor of the tank!" she exclaimed
after a moment. "What is it, Penny?"
"An alligator."
Louise gave a smothered scream and drew back from the pool's edge.
"I--I might have fallen in. You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"
"I only wanted you to get a nice thrill," Penny grinned. "Pretty fellow,
isn't he?"
"I didn't really see him," Louise admitted.
Overcoming her fear, she again leaned over the edge of the pool but with
great caution. This time she could make out the alligator's form
distinctly.
"Horrible!" she shuddered. "I wish you hadn't brought me--"
Her words ended in a little wail as a tiny object splashed into the water
directly beneath her.
"My cameo pin!" she cried. "Oh, Penny, it slipped from my dress and now
it's gone!"
CHAPTER
15
_A CAMEO PIN_
In dismay, the two girls watched the trinket settle slowly to the bottom
of the pool.
"Oh, my beautiful pin," moaned Louise. "Aunt Lucinda gave it to me for my
birthday. I wouldn't have lost it for anything in the world."
"I guess it was my fault," Penny said self-accusingly.
"No, it wasn't. I must have been careless about fastening the clasp. When
I leaned over it slipped off. Well, it's gone, and that's that."
The cameo pin had fallen into the deepest part of the pool not far from
where the alligator lay. The girls were unable to see it plainly because
of the lily pads and plants which cluttered the water.
"If that old alligator would just behave himself we could wade in and get
it easy," Penny said.
"Fancy trying it!"
"I'm afraid he would take special delight in snapping off an arm or a
leg. And we don't dare ask anyone to help us get the pin or we'll be
ejected from the grounds as trespassers."
"We may as well forget about it, Penny. Come along, I'm sick of this
place."
"No, wait, Louise. We might be able to fish it out with a stick."
"I don't think we'd have a chance."
"Anyway, it will do no harm to try."
Penny searched the woods until she found a long stick with a curve at the
end. Lying flat on the flagstones at the edge of the pool she prodded for
the pin.
"I can touch it all right!" she cried. "I'll pull it over to the side."
"Be careful you don't tumble in," Louise warned, anxiously holding her
chum by the waist. "If you should lose your balance--"
Penny hooked the cameo pin in the curve of the stick and began raising it
inch by inch up the side of the pool.
"If I can get it up high enough reach down and snatch it," Penny advised
her chum. "Oh, shoot, there it goes!"
The pin had slipped away from the stick and settled once more on the
bottom of the pool.
"You can't get it, Penny," Louise insisted. "You're making the alligator
all excited by prodding around."
"I don't care about _him_. I'll try once more if I can locate the pin. It
seems to be hiding from me now."
The water was so disturbed that Penny could not see the pin or the bottom
of the pool. She waited several minutes for the dirt to settle and then
gazed down once more.
"There it is!" she exclaimed. "It moved over quite a ways to the right."
Louise flattened herself beside Penny. "Oh, let the pin go," she said.
"No, I think I can get it. Say, there seems to be something else on the
bottom of the pool."
"Where?"
Penny pointed, and then, as her chum still could not distinguish
anything, parted the lily pads with her stick.
"Yes, I do see something now," Louise declared. "What can it be?"
"Doesn't it look like a metal ring?" Penny asked. She had lost all
interest in the cameo pin.
"Yes, it does. Someone probably threw it into the pool."
"But it looks to me as if it's attached to the bottom of the tank,
embedded in the cement," Penny said. She bent closer to the water, trying
to see.
"Be careful," Louise warned nervously. "That alligator might come up and
snap off your nose."
Penny paid no heed.
"It is attached!" she announced in an excited voice. "Louise, do you know
what I think?"
"What?"
"It's the ring of a trapdoor!"
"A trapdoor!" Louise echoed incredulously.
"You can see for yourself that it's an iron ring."
"It does look a little like one from here," Louise admitted. "But whoever
heard of a trapdoor in a lily pool? No one but you would even think of
such a thing. It doesn't make sense."
"Does anything on this estate make sense?"
"The ring might have something to do with draining the pool," Louise said
without replying to her chum's question. "I suppose a section of the pool
could be lifted up and removed. But I'd never call it a trapdoor."
"I wish we could tell for sure what it is." Penny tried to prod the ring
with her stick but it was well beyond her reach. "Maybe the alligator has
a room down under the pool where he spends his winters!"
"You're simply filled with ideas today," Louise declared. "What about my
pin? Shall we let it go?"
Reminded of her original task, Penny set to work once more, trying to
draw the cameo to the edge of the tank. She was so deeply engrossed, that
she jumped as her chum touched her on the arm.
"Listen, Penny, I think someone is coming!"
From the path at the right they could hear approaching footsteps and the
low murmur of voices.
Penny struggled to her feet, dropping the stick.
"We mustn't be caught here," she whispered.
Taking Louise's hand, she drew the girl into the dense bushes directly
behind the pool. Scarcely had they secreted themselves when Sylvia
Kippenberg and the head gardener came into view. They seated themselves
on a rustic bench not far from where the two girls stood.
"I had to talk with you," Sylvia said to the old man. "The police came
this morning and asked so many questions. Mother put them off but they'll
be back again."
"They didn't learn about the alligator?" the gardener asked gruffly.
"No, they came here but only stayed a few minutes. I don't think they
noticed anything wrong."
"Then that's all right."
"Their investigation is only beginning," Sylvia said nervously. "Mother
and I both believe it would be wise to get rid of the alligator."
"Wise but not easy," the gardener replied.
"You'll see what you can do about it?"
"Yes. I'll try to get rid of him."
"Then I guess that's all," Sylvia said, but she made no move to leave.
She sat staring moodily at the pool.
"Anything else on your mind?" asked the gardener.
"I--I wanted to ask you something, but I scarcely know how."
The gardener waited, watching the girl's face intently.
"You never liked Grant Atherwald," she began nervously.
"Say, what are you driving at?" the man asked quickly. "You're not trying
to hint that I had anything to do with Grant Atherwald's disappearance?"
The two faced each other and Sylvia's gaze was the first to fall.
"No, no, of course not," she said.
"I don't know any more about his disappearance than you do," the man told
her angrily. "I didn't even see him on the day of the wedding."
"But he came here. The wedding ring was found near the pool. Surely you
must have heard some sound for I know you were in this part of the
garden."
"Well, I didn't," the man said sullenly. "The only persons I saw were a
newspaper photographer and a girl."
"Please don't take offense," Miss Kippenberg murmured, getting up from
the bench. "I've been terribly upset these past few days."
She walked slowly to the edge of the pool. There she stopped short,
staring down at an object which lay on the flagstones at her feet. It was
the stick which Penny had dropped only a moment before.
"What have you found?" the gardener cried.
He went quickly to her side and took the damp stick from her hand.
"Someone has been here prying around," he said in a harsh voice. "This
was used to investigate the water in the pool."
"And whoever it was must be close by even now. Otherwise the stick would
have dried out in the sun."
"You go back to the house," the man commanded. "I'll look around."
In their hideout amid the bushes, Penny and Louise gazed at each other
with chagrin. No word was spoken for even a whisper might have been
heard. With a common desire for escape, they glided with cat-like tread
toward the river.
CHAPTER
16
_GATHERING CLUES_
The girls could hear no movement behind them as they darted down the
path. They dared to hope that they had eluded the old gardener.
Then as they came within sight of the river, Louise stumbled over a vine.
Although she stifled an outcry the dull thud of her body against the
ground seemed actually to reverberate through the forest. A black crow on
the lower limb of an oak tree cawed in protest before he flew away.
Penny pulled Louise to her feet and they went on as fast as they could,
but they knew the sound had betrayed them. Now they could hear the man in
pursuit, his heavy shoes pounding on the hard, dry path.
"Run!" Penny commanded.
They reached the river bank and looked about for the boat which would
take them across. As they had feared it was on the opposite shore.
Penny gestured frantically, but the boy did not understand the need for
haste. He picked up his oars and rowed toward them at a very deliberate
pace.
"Oh, he'll never get here in time," Louise murmured fearfully. "Shall we
hide?"
"That's all we can do."
They realized then that they had waited too long. Before they could dodge
into the deeper thicket the gardener reached the clearing.
"So it's you again!" he cried wrathfully, glaring at Penny.
"Please, we didn't mean any harm. We can explain--"
"This stick is explanation enough for me!" the man shouted, waving it
above his head. "You were trying to find out about the lily pool!"
"We were only trying to get a pin which I dropped into the water," Louise
said, backing a step away.
"I don't believe you!" the man snapped. "You can't fool me! I know why
you came here, and you'll pay for your folly! You'll never take the
secret away with you!"
With a swift, animal-like spring which belied his age, the gardener
hurled himself toward the girls. He seized Penny's arm giving it a cruel
twist.
"You're coming along with me," he announced harshly.
"Let me go!" Penny cried, trying to free herself.
"You're going with me to the house. You've been altogether too prying.
Now you'll take your punishment, both of you."
The gardener might have managed Penny alone, but he was no match for two
athletic girls. As he tried to seize Louise, Penny twisted free.
Quick as a flash, she grasped the man's felt hat, jamming it down on his
head over his eyes. While he was trying to pull it off, Louise also
wriggled from his grasp.
The two girls ran to the water's edge. Their boat had drawn close to
shore. Without waiting for it to beach they waded out over their shoetops
and climbed aboard.
"Don't either of you ever come here again!" the gardener hurled after
them. "If you do--"
The rest of the threat was carried away by the wind. However, Penny could
not resist waving her hand and calling back: "Bye, bye, old timer! We'll
be seeing you!"
"What's the matter with that man anyhow?" asked the boy who rowed the
boat. "Didn't he want you on the estate?"
"On the contrary, he invited us to remain and we declined," grinned
Penny. "Just temperament, that's all. He can't make up his mind which way
he would like to have it."
Allowing the boy to puzzle over the remark, she busied herself pouring
water from her sodden shoes. The visit to the estate had not turned out
at all as she had planned. She had failed to talk with Miss Kippenberg,
and it was almost certain that from now on servants would keep a much
closer watch for intruders.
The only vital information she had gleaned resulted from overhearing the
conversation between Sylvia Kippenberg and the gardener.
"She talked with him as if they were well acquainted," mused Penny. "Miss
Kippenberg must have thought he knew more about Grant Atherwald's
disappearance than he would tell. And she seems to be afraid the Law will
ask too many questions. Otherwise, she wouldn't have suggested getting
rid of the alligator."
One additional observation Penny had made, but she decided not to speak
of it until she and Louise were alone.
The boat reached shore and the two girls stepped out on the muddy bank.
"Will you need me again?" inquired the boy.
"I may," said Penny, "and I can't tell you exactly when. Where do you
keep your boat?"
"Up the river just beyond that crooked maple tree. I hide it in the
bushes and I keep the oars inside a hollow log close by. You won't have
any trouble finding it."
Penny and Louise said goodbye to the lad and scrambled up the bank.
"I'm sure I'll not be going back to _that_ place," the latter declared
emphatically. "I just wonder what would have happened if we hadn't broken
away."
"We might have been locked up in the stone tower," Penny laughed. "Then
another one of my theories would have proven itself."
"Oh, you and your theories! You can't make me believe that gardener
didn't mean to harm us. He was a very sinister character."
"Sinister is a strong word, Lou. But I'll agree he's not any ordinary
gardener. Either he's been hired by the Kippenberg family for a very
special purpose or else he's gained their confidence and means to bend
them to his own ends."
"His own ends! Why, Penny, what do you mean? Have you learned something
you haven't told me?"
"Only this. I'm satisfied Old Peter is no gardener. He's wearing a
disguise."
"Well, what won't you think of next! You've been reading too many
detective stories, Penny Parker."
"Have I? Then there's no need to tell you--"
"Yes, there is," Louise cut in. "Your ideas are pretty imaginative, but I
like to hear them anyway."
"Considerate of you, old thing," Penny drawled in her best imitation of
an English accent. "You don't deserve to be told after that crack, but
I'll do it anyhow. When I pulled the gardener's hat down over his eyes, I
felt something slip!"
"Maybe it was his skin peeling off."
"He wore a wig," Penny said soberly. "That's why he looked so startled
when I jerked the hat."
"Did you actually see a wig?"
"No, but he must have had one on his head. I felt it give, I tell you."
"I wouldn't put anything past that fellow. But if he isn't a gardener,
then who or what is he?"
"I don't know, but I intend to do some intensive investigation."
"Just how, may I ask?"
Penny gazed speculatively toward the drawbridge, noting that the old
watchman had been deserted by the group of reporters. He sat alone, legs
crossed, his camp stool propped against the side of the gearhouse.
"Let's talk with him, Lou. He might be able to tell us something about
the different employees of the estate."
They walked over to where the old man sat, greeting him with their most
pleasant smiles.
"Good morning," said Penny.
The old man finished lighting his pipe before he deigned to notice them.
"Good morning," repeated Penny.
"Mornin'," said the watchman. He looked the two girls over appraisingly
and added: "Ain't you children a long ways off from your Ma's?"