_CONTENTS_
CHAPTER PAGE
1 TROUBLE FOR MR. PARKER _1_
2 A RIVAL REPORTER _12_
3 TRAVELING COMPANIONS _21_
4 PINE TOP MOUNTAIN _30_
5 OVER THE BARBED WIRE _38_
6 PENNY TRESPASSES _47_
7 THE GREEN DOOR _55_
8 A CODED MESSAGE _63_
9 A CALL FOR HELP _72_
10 LOCKED IN THE CABIN _79_
11 A NEWSPAPER MYSTERY _89_
12 THE GREEN CARD _97_
13 AN UNKIND TRICK _105_
14 A BROKEN ROD _115_
15 IN THE TOOL HOUSE _123_
16 A PUZZLING SOLUTION _129_
17 STRANGE SOUNDS _138_
18 QUESTIONS AND CLUES _146_
19 PETER JASKO SERVES NOTICE _152_
20 VISITORS _162_
21 OLD PETER'S DISAPPEARANCE _173_
22 THE SECRET STAIRS _182_
23 RESCUE _189_
24 HENRI'S SALON _197_
25 SCOOP! _206_
CHAPTER
1
_TROUBLE FOR MR. PARKER_
"Watch me coming down the mountain, Mrs. Weems! This one is a honey! An
open christiana turn with no brakes dragging!"
Penny Parker, clad in a new black and red snowsuit, twisted her agile
young body sideways, causing the small rug upon which she stood to skip
across the polished floor of the living room. She wriggled her slim hips
again, and it slipped in the opposite direction toward Mrs. Weems who was
watching from the kitchen doorway.
"Coming down the mountain, my eye!" exclaimed the housekeeper, laughing
despite herself. "You'll be coming down on your head if you don't stop
those antics. I declare, you've acted like a crazy person ever since your
father rashly agreed to take you to Pine Top for the skiing."
"I have to break in my new suit and limber up my muscles somehow," said
Penny defensively. "One can't practice outdoors when there's no snow. Now
watch this one, Mrs. Weems. It's called a telemark."
"You'll reduce that rug to shreds before you're through," sighed the
housekeeper. "Can't you think of anything else to do?"
"Yes," agreed Penny cheerfully, "but it wouldn't be half as much fun. How
do you like my suit?" She darted across the room to preen before the full
length mirror.
A red-billed cap pulled at a jaunty angle over her blond curls, Penny
made a striking figure in the well tailored suit of dark wool. Her eyes
sparkled with the joy of youth and it was easy for her to smile. She was
an only child, the daughter of Anthony Parker, editor and publisher of
the _Riverview Star_, and her mother had died when she was very young.
"It looks like a good, practical suit," conceded the housekeeper.
Penny made a wry face. "Is that the best you can say for it? Louise
Sidell and I shopped all over Riverview to get the snappiest number out,
and then you call it _practical_."
"Oh, you know you look cute in it," laughed Mrs. Weems. "So what's the
use of telling you?"
Before Penny could reply the telephone rang and the housekeeper went to
answer it. She returned to the living room a moment later to say that
Penny's father was in need of free taxi service home from the office.
"Tell him I'll be down after him in two shakes of a kitten's tail!" Penny
called, making for the stairway.
She took the steps two at a time and had climbed halfway out of the
snowsuit by the time she reached the bedroom. A well aimed kick landed
the garment on the bed, and then because it was very new and very choice
she took time to straighten it out. Seizing a dress blindly from the
closet, she wriggled into it and ran downstairs again.
"Some more skiing equipment may come while I'm gone," she shouted to Mrs.
Weems who was in the kitchen. "I bought a new pair of skis, a couple of
poles, three different kinds of wax and a pair of red mittens."
"Why didn't you order the store sent out and be done with it?" responded
the housekeeper dryly.
Penny pulled on her heavy coat and hurried to the garage where two cars
stood side by side. One was a shining black sedan of the latest model,
the other, a battered, unwashed vehicle whose reputation was as
discouraging as its appearance. "Leaping Lena," as Penny called her car,
had an annoying habit of running up repair bills, and then repaying its
long suffering owner by refusing to start on cold winter days.
"Lena, you get to stay in your cozy nest this time," Penny remarked,
climbing into her father's sedan. "Dad can't stand your rattle and
bounce."
The powerful engine started with a blast. While Mrs. Weems watched
anxiously from the kitchen window, Penny shot the car out backwards,
wheeling it around the curve of the driveway with speed and ease. She
liked to handle her father's automobile, and since he did not enjoy
driving, she frequently called at the newspaper office to take him home.
The _Star_ building occupied a block in the downtown section of
Riverview. Penny parked the car beside the loading dock at the rear, and
took an elevator to the editorial rooms. Nearly all of the desks were
deserted at this late hour of the afternoon. But Jerry Livingston, one of
the best reporters on the paper, was still pecking out copy on a noisy
typewriter.
"Hi, Penny!" he observed, grinning as she brushed past his desk. "Have
you caught any more witch dolls?"
"Not for the front page," she flung back at him. "My newspaper career is
likely to remain in a state of _status quo_ for the next two weeks. Dad
and I are heading for Pine Top to dazzle the natives with our particular
brand of skiing. Don't you envy us?"
"I certainly would, if you were going."
"If!" exclaimed Penny indignantly. "Of course we're going! We leave
Thursday by plane. Dad needs a vacation and this time I know he won't try
to wiggle out of it at the last minute."
"Well, I hope not," replied Jerry in a skeptical voice. "Your father
needs a good rest, Penny. But I have a sneaking notion you're in for a
disappointment again."
"What makes you say that, Jerry? Dad promised me faithfully--"
"Sure, I know," he nodded, "but there have been developments."
"An important story?"
"No, it's more serious than that. But you talk with him. I may have the
wrong slant on the situation."
Not without misgiving, Penny went on to her father's private office and
tapped on the door.
"Come in," he called in a gruff voice, and as she entered, waved her into
a chair. "You arrived a little sooner than I expected, Penny. Mind
waiting a few minutes?"
"Not at all."
Studying her father's lean, tired-looking face, Penny decided that
something _was_ wrong. He seemed unusually worried and nervous.
"A hard day, Dad?" she asked.
Mr. Parker finished straightening a sheaf of papers before he glanced up.
"Yes, I hadn't intended to tell you until later, but I may as well. I'm
afraid our trip is off--at least as far as I'm concerned."
"Oh, Dad!"
"It's a big disappointment, Penny. The truth is, I'm in a spot of
trouble."
"Isn't that the usual condition of a newspaper publisher?"
"Yes," he smiled, "but there are different degrees of trouble, and this
is the worst possible. The _Star_ has been sued for libel, a matter of
fifty odd thousand."
"Fifty thousand!" gasped Penny. "But of course you'll win the suit!"
"I'm not at all sure of it." Anthony Parker spoke grimly. "My lawyer
tells me that Harvey Maxwell has a strong case against the paper."
"Harvey Maxwell?" repeated Penny thoughtfully. "Isn't he the man who owns
the Riverview Hotel?"
"Yes, and a chain of other hotels and lodges throughout the country.
Harvey Maxwell is a rather well known sportsman. He lives lavishly,
travels a great deal, and in general is a hard, shrewd business man."
"He's made a large amount of money from his hotels, hasn't he?"
"Maxwell acquired a fortune from some source, but I've always had a doubt
that it came from the hotel business."
"Why is he suing the _Star_ for libel, Dad?"
"Early this fall, while I was out of town for a day DeWitt let a story
slip through which should have been killed. It was an interview with a
football player named Bill Morcrum who was quoted as saying that he had
been approached by Maxwell who offered him a bribe to throw an important
game."
"What would be the reason behind that?"
"Maxwell is thought by those in the know to have a finger in nearly every
dishonest sports scheme ever pulled off in this town. He places heavy
wagers, and seldom comes out on the losing end. But the story never
should have been published."
"It was true though?"
"I'm satisfied it was," replied Mr. Parker. "However, it always is
dangerous to make insinuations against a man."
"Can't the story be proven? I should think with the football player's
testimony you would have a good case."
"That's the trouble, Penny. This boy, Bill Morcrum, now claims he never
made any such accusation against Maxwell. He says the reporter misquoted
him and twisted his statements."
"Who covered the story, Dad?"
"A man named Glower, a very reliable reporter. He swears he made no
mistake, and I am inclined to believe him."
"Then why did the football player change his story?"
"I have no proof, but it's a fairly shrewd guess that he was approached
by Maxwell a second time. Either he was threatened or offered a bribe
which was large enough to sway him."
"With both Maxwell and the football player standing together, it does
rather put you on the spot," Penny acknowledged. "What are you going to
do?"
"We'll fight the case, of course, but unless we can prove that our story
was accurate, we're almost sure to lose. I've asked Bill Morcrum to come
to my office this afternoon, and he promised he would. He's overdue now."
Anthony Parker glanced at his watch and scowled. Getting up from the
swivel chair he began to pace to and fro across the room.
A buzzer on his desk gave three sharp, staccato signals.
"Morcrum must be here now!" the editor exclaimed in relief. "I'll want to
see him alone."
Penny arose to leave. As she went out the doorway she met the
receptionist, accompanied by an awkward, oversized youth who shuffled his
feet in walking. He grinned at her in a sheepish way and entered the
private office.
While Penny waited, she entertained herself by reading all the comic
strips she could find in the out-of-town exchange papers. In the
adjoining room she could hear the rhythmical thumping, clicking sound of
the _Star's_ teletype machines. She wandered aimlessly into the room to
read the copy just as the machines typed it out, a story from Washington,
one from Chicago, another from Los Angeles. It was fascinating to watch
the print appear like magic upon the long rolls of copy paper.
Presently, the teletype attendant, young Billy Stevens, came dashing into
the room.
"Oh, hello, Miss Parker," he said with a bashful grin.
"Hello, Billy," Penny answered cordially. She studied the keyboard of the
sending teletype machine, running her fingers over the letters. "I wish I
could work this thing," she said.
"There's nothing to it if you can run a typewriter," answered Billy.
"Just a minute, I'll throw it off the line on to the test position. Then
you can try it."
At first Penny's copy was badly garbled, but under Billy's enthusiastic
coaching she was soon doing accurate work.
"Say, this is fun!" she declared. "I'm coming in again one of these days
and practice. Thanks a lot, Billy!"
As Penny went back into the editorial room she saw the Morcrum boy
leaving her father's office. His head was downcast and his face was
flushed to the ears. Obviously, he had not had a comfortable time with
Mr. Parker.
The moment the boy had vanished, Penny hurried into her father's office
to learn the outcome of the interview.
"No luck," reported Mr. Parker, reaching for his hat and overcoat.
"He wouldn't change his story?"
"No. He seemed like a fairly decent sort of boy, but he kept insisting he
had been misquoted. I couldn't get anywhere with him. He'll testify for
Maxwell when the case comes to trial."
Mr. Parker put on his overcoat and hat, and opened the door for Penny. As
they left the building he told her more about the interview.
"I asked the boy point-blank if he hadn't been hired by Maxwell.
Naturally, he denied it, but he acted rather alarmed. Oh, I'm satisfied
he's either been bought off or threatened."
"When does the case come to trial?"
"The last of next month, unless we gain a delay."
"That gives you quite a bit of time. Don't you think you could take two
weeks off anyhow, Dad? We both planned upon having such a wonderful time
at Mrs. Downey's place."
Penny and her father had been invited to spend the Christmas holidays at
Pine Top, a winter resort which attracted many Riverview persons. They
especially had looked forward to the trip since they were to have been
the house guests of Mrs. Christopher Downey, an old friend of Mr.
Parker's who operated a skiing lodge on the slopes of the mountain
overlooking Silver Valley.
"There's not much chance of my getting away," Mr. Parker replied
regretfully. "That is, not unless important evidence falls into my hands,
or I am able to make a deal with Maxwell."
"A deal?"
"If he would make reasonable demands I might be willing to settle out of
court."
Penny gazed at her father in blank amazement.
"And admit you were in the wrong when you're certain you weren't?"
"Any good general will make a strategic retreat if the situation calls
for it. It might be more sensible to settle out of court than to lose the
case. Maxwell has me in a tight place and knows it."
"Then why don't you see him? He might be fairly reasonable."
"I suppose I could stop at the Riverview Hotel on our way home," Mr.
Parker said, frowning thoughtfully. "There's an outside chance Maxwell
may come to terms. Drop me off there, Penny."
While the car threaded its way in and out of dense traffic, the editor
remained in a deep study. Penny had never seen him look so worried. Her
own disappointment was keen, yet she realized that far more than a
vacation trip was at stake. Fifty thousand dollars represented a large
sum of money! If Maxwell won his suit it might even mean the loss of the
_Riverview Star_.
Sensing his daughter's alarm, Mr. Parker reached out to pat her knee.
"Don't worry," he said, "we're not licked yet, Penny! And if there's any
way to arrange it, you shall have your trip to Pine Top just as we
planned."
CHAPTER
2
_A RIVAL REPORTER_
Penny presently edged the sedan into a parking space across the street
from the Riverview Hotel. As she switched off the ignition her father
said:
"Better come along with me and wait in the lobby. It's cold out here."
Penny followed her father into the building. The hotel was an elegant one
with many services available for guests. She noticed a florist shop, a
candy store, a dry cleaning establishment, and even a small brokerage
office opening off the lobby.
"Oh, yes," said Mr. Parker as Penny called his attention to the
brokerage. "Maxwell hasn't overlooked anything. The hotel has a special
leased wire which I've been told gives him a direct connection with his
other places."
Walking over to the desk, Mr. Parker mentioned his name and asked the
clerk if he might see Harvey Maxwell.
"Mr. Maxwell is not here," replied the man with an insolent air.
"When will he be at the hotel?"
"Mr. Maxwell has left the city on business. He does not expect to return
until the end of next month."
Mr. Parker could not hide his annoyance.
"Let me have his address then," he said in a resigned voice. "I'll write
him."
The clerk shook his head. "I have been instructed not to give you Mr.
Maxwell's address. If you wish to deal with him you will have to see his
lawyer, Gorman S. Railey."
"So Maxwell was expecting me to come here to make a deal with him?"
demanded Mr. Parker. "Well, I've changed my mind. I'll make a deal all
right, but it will be in court. Good day!"
Angrily, the newspaper man strode from the lobby. Penny hurried to keep
pace with him.
"That settles it," he said tersely as they climbed into the sedan again.
"This libel suit will be a fight to the finish. And maybe my finish at
that!"
"Oh, Dad, I'm sure you'll win. But it's a pity all this had to come up
just when you had planned a fine vacation. Mrs. Downey will be
disappointed, too."
"Yes, she will, Penny. And there's Mrs. Weems to be thought about. I
promised her a two weeks' trip while we were gone."
They drove in silence for a few blocks. As the car passed the Sidell
residence, Penny's father said thoughtfully:
"I suppose I could send you out to Pine Top alone, Penny. Or perhaps you
might be able to induce your chum, Louise, to go along. Would you like
that?"
"It would be more fun if you went also."
"That's out of the picture now. If everything goes well I might be able
to join you for Christmas weekend."
"I'm not sure Louise could go," said Penny doubtfully. "But I can find
out right away."
After dinner that night, she lost no time in running over to the Sidell
home. At first Louise was thrown into a state of ecstasy at the thought
of making a trip to Pine Top and then her face became gloomy.
"I would love it, Penny! But it's practically a waste of words to ask
Mother. We're going to my grandmother's farm in Vermont for the holidays,
and I'll have to tag along."
Since grade school days the two girls had been inseparable friends.
Between them there was perfect understanding and they made an excellent
pair, for Louise exerted a subduing effect upon the more impulsive,
excitable Penny.
Inactivity bored Penny, and wherever she went she usually managed to
start things moving. When nothing better offered, she tried her hand at
writing newspaper stories for her father's paper. Several of these
reportorial experiences had satisfied even Penny's deep craving for
excitement.
Three truly "big" stories had rolled from her typewriter through the
thundering presses of the _Riverview Star_: Tale of the Witch Doll, The
Vanishing Houseboat, and Danger at the Drawbridge. Even now, months after
her last astonishing adventure, friends liked to tease her about a
humorous encounter with a certain Mr. Kippenberg's alligator.
"Pine Top won't be any fun without you, Lou," Penny complained.
"Oh, yes it will," contradicted her chum. "I know you'll manage to stir
up plenty of excitement. You'll probably pull a mysterious Eskimo out of
a snow bank or save Santa Claus from being kidnaped! That's the way you
operate."
"Pine Top is an out of the way place, close to the Canadian border. All
one can do there is eat, sleep, and ski."
"You mean, that's all one is supposed to do," corrected Louise with a
laugh. "But you'll run into some big story or else you're slipping!"
"There isn't a newspaper within fifty miles. No railroad either. The only
way in and out of the valley is by airplane, and bob-sled, of course."
"That may cramp your style a little, but I doubt it," declared Louise. "I
do wish I could go along."
The girls talked with Mrs. Sidell, but as they both had expected, it was
not practical for Louise to make the trip.
"I'll come to the airport to see you off on your plane," Louise promised
as Penny left the house. "You're starting Thursday, aren't you?"
"Yes, at ten-thirty unless there's bad weather. But I'll see you again
before that."
All the next day Penny packed furiously. Mr. Parker was unusually busy at
the office, but he bought his daughter's ticket and made all arrangements
for the trip to Pine Top. Since Mrs. Weems also planned to leave
Riverview the following day, the house was in a constant state of
turmoil.
"I feel sorry for Dad being left here alone," remarked Penny. "He'll
never make his bed, and he'll probably exist on strong coffee and those
wretched raw beef sandwiches they serve at the beanery across from the
_Star_ office."
"I ought to give up my vacation," declared Mrs. Weems. "It seems selfish
of me not to stay here."
Mr. Parker would not hear of such an arrangement, and so plans moved
forward just as if his own trip had not been postponed.
"Dad, you'll honestly try to come to Pine Top for Christmas?" Penny
pleaded.
"I'll do my best," he promised soberly. "I have a hunch that Harvey
Maxwell may still be in town, despite what we were told at the hotel. I
intend to busy myself making a complete investigation of the man."
"If I could help, I'd be tickled to stay, Dad."
"There's nothing you can do, Penny. Just go out there and have a nice
vacation."
Mr. Parker had not intended to go to the office Thursday morning until
after Penny's plane had departed, but at breakfast time a call came from
DeWitt, the city editor, urging his presence at once. Before leaving, he
gave his daughter her ticket and travelers checks.
"Now I expect to be at the airport to see you off," he promised. "Until
then, good-bye."
Mr. Parker kissed Penny and hastened away. Later, Louise Sidell came to
the house. Soon after ten o'clock the girls took leave of Mrs. Weems,
taxiing to the airport.
"I don't see Dad anywhere," Penny remarked as the cabman unloaded her
luggage. "He'll probably come dashing up just as the plane takes off."
The girls entered the waiting room and learned that the plane was "on
time." Curiously, they glanced at the other passengers. Two travelers
Penny immediately tagged as business men. But she was rather interested
in a plump, over-painted woman whose nervous manner suggested that she
might be making her first airplane trip.
While Penny's luggage was being weighed, two men entered the waiting
room. One was a lean, sharp-faced individual suffering from a bad cold.
The other, struck Penny as being vaguely familiar. He was a stout man,
expensively dressed, and had a surly, condescending way of speaking to
his companion.
"Who are those men?" Penny whispered to Louise. "Do you know them?"
Louise shook her head.
"That one fellow looks like someone I've seen," Penny went on
thoughtfully. "Maybe I saw his picture in a newspaper, but I can't place
him."
The two men went up to the desk and the portly one addressed the clerk
curtly:
"You have our reservations for Pine Top?"
"Yes, sir. Just sign your name here." The clerk pushed forward paper and
a pen.
Paying for the tickets from a large roll of greenbacks, the two men went
over to the opposite side of the waiting room and sat down. Penny glanced
anxiously at the clock. It was twenty minutes past ten.
A uniformed messenger boy entered the room, letting in a blast of cold
air as he opened the door. He went over to the desk and the clerk pointed
out the two girls.
"Now what?" said Penny in a low voice. "Maybe my trip is called off!"
The message was for her, from her father. But it was less serious than
she had expected. Because an important story had "broken" it would be
impossible for him to leave the office. He wished her a pleasant trip
west and again promised he would bend every effort toward visiting Pine
Top for Christmas.
Penny folded the message and slipped it into her purse.
"Dad won't be able to see me off," she explained to her chum. "I was
afraid when DeWitt called him this morning he would be held up."
Before Louise could reply the outside door opened once more, and a girl
of perhaps twenty-two who walked with a long, masculine gait, came in out
of the cold. Penny sat up a bit straighter in her chair.
"Do you see what I see?" she whispered.
"Who is she?" inquired Louise curiously.
"The one and only Francine Sellberg."
"Which means nothing to me."
"Don't tell me you haven't seen her by-line in the _Riverview Record_!
Francine would die of mortification."
"Is she a reporter?"
"She covers special assignments. And she is pretty good," Penny added
honestly. "But not quite as good as she believes."
"Wonder what she's doing here?"
"I was asking myself that same question."
As the two girls watched, they saw Francine's cool gaze sweep the waiting
room. She did not immediately notice Penny and Louise whose backs were
partly turned to her. Her eyes rested for an instant upon the two men who
previously had bought tickets to Pine Top, and a flicker of satisfaction
showed upon her face.
Moving directly to the desk she spoke to the ticket agent in a low voice,
yet loudly enough for Penny and Louise to hear.
"Is it still possible to make a reservation for Pine Top?"
"Yes, we have one seat left on the plane."
"I'll take it," said Francine.