"I assure you number 29 is very much occupied," replied Penny. "Unlock
it, please."
The woman hesitated, and finally inserted the key in the lock.
"Thank you," said Penny as she heard the latch click. "No, keep the two
dollars. You are welcome to it."
She waited until the maid had gone on down the hall before letting
herself into the dark room. Groping for the electric switch, she turned
it on.
"Mr. Jasko, you know me," she whispered as the old man blinked and stared
at her almost stupidly. "I'm going to get you out of here."
She jerked the gag from his mouth, and unfastened the cords which bound
his wrists.
"We don't dare go through the hotel lest we be seen," she told him. "I
think we may be able to get out by means of the fire escape. If luck is
only with us--"
Making certain that the coast was clear, Penny led the old man down the
hall to a room which she knew would be opposite the fire escape. She was
afraid it would be locked, but to her intense relief it had not been
secured.
Only a minute was required to cross the room, raise the window and help
Peter Jasko through it.
"I can't come with you," she said. "I have something else to do. Now
listen closely. I want you to go to Pine Top as fast as you can and bring
the sheriff or the police or whoever it is that would have authority to
arrest Fergus and Maxwell."
"I aim to do that on my own account," the old man muttered. "I've got a
debt to square with them."
"We both have," said Penny. "Now this is what I want you to do. If I'm
not in evidence when you get back, bring the police to the Green Room."
"Where's that?"
"It's on this same floor. You go down the hall to the left, enter an
unmarked door into another corridor, and finally through a green door
which may be guarded. If necessary, force an entrance."
"I don't know what it's all about," the old man muttered. "But I'll do as
you say."
"And hurry!" Penny urged.
She watched anxiously from the window until Peter Jasko had reached the
bottom of the fire escape in safety. He ran across the yard, gaining the
roadway without having been observed.
Returning once more to the main corridor, Penny glanced anxiously up and
down. Hearing someone moving about at the far end of the hall, she went
to investigate, certain that it was the cleaning woman putting away her
mops and broom.
"You ain't locked out again?" the maid asked as she saw Penny standing
beside her.
"No, but I have another request. How would you like to earn some more
money?"
"How?" inquired the woman with quick interest.
"Do you have an extra costume?"
"Costume?"
"Dress, I mean. Like one you're wearing."
"Not here." As the maid spoke she divested herself of an old pair of
shoes, and setting them back against the closet wall, slipped on a pair
of much better looking ones. "I'm changing my clothes now to go home."
"I'll give you another two dollars if you'll lend me the outfit for the
evening."
"Is it for a party?" the maid asked.
"A masquerade," said Penny. "I want to play a little joke on some
acquaintances of mine."
She waved another bill before the woman's eyes, and the temptation of
making easy money was too great to resist.
"All right, I'll do it," the maid agreed. "Just wait outside until I get
my clothes changed."
Penny waited, watching the halls anxiously lest she be observed by
someone who would recognize her. Soon the maid stepped from the closet,
and handed over a bundle of clothing.
"And here is your money," said Penny. "Don't mention to anyone what we've
done--at least not until tomorrow."
"Don't worry, Miss, I won't," replied the woman grimly. "I might lose my
job if they caught me."
After the maid had gone away, Penny slipped into the closet and quickly
changed into the costume. Pulling off her cap, she rumpled her hair and
rubbed a streak of dirt across her face. The shoes were a trifle too
large for her, and their size, together with the painful ankle, made her
walk in a dragging fashion.
Snatching up a feather duster, she went hurriedly down the hall toward
the corridor which led to the Green Room. As always, the guard sat in his
chair by the door. But this time Penny had high hopes of gaining
entrance.
Boldly, she walked over to him and said: "Good evening. I was sent to
tell you you're wanted in the office by Mr. Maxwell."
"Now?" he inquired in surprise.
"Yes, right away."
"Someone ought to stay here."
"I'll wait until you get back."
"Don't let anyone inside unless they have passes," the guard instructed.
Penny barely could hide her excitement. It had been almost too easy! At
last she was to penetrate beyond the Green Door! And if she found what
she expected, the entire mystery would be cleared up. She would gain
evidence against Ralph Fergus and Harvey Maxwell which would make her
case iron-clad.
From within the room, Penny could hear the low murmur of voices. She
waited until the guard had disappeared, and then, summoning her courage,
opened the green door and stepped inside.
Penny found herself in an elegantly furnished salon, its chairs,
davenports, carpet and draperies decorated in soft shades of green and
ivory. A little dark-haired man she had never seen before, who spoke with
an artificial French accent, stood talking with three women who were
trying on fur coats. A fourth woman, Maxine Miller, sat in a chair, her
back turned to Penny.
"Now Henri, I want you to give my friends a good price on their coats,"
she was saying in a chirpy voice.
"_Oui_" he agreed, bobbing his head up and down. "We say one hundred and
ninety-two dollars for zis beautiful sealskin coat. I make you a special
price only because you are friends of Mademoiselle Miller."
The opening of the outside door had drawn Henri's attention briefly to
Penny. As she busied herself dusting, he paid her no heed, and Maxine
Miller did not give the girl a second glance.
Penny wandered slowly about the room, noting the long mirrors and the
tall cases crowded with racks of sealskin coats.
"These are smuggled furs," she thought. "This Green Room is the sales
salon, and Henri must be an employee of Ralph Fergus and Harvey Maxwell.
I believe I know how they get the furs over the Canadian border, too,
without paying duty!"
Satisfied that she could learn no more by lingering, Penny turned down
the long corridor leading to the door which opened on the main hallway.
She knew that the guard would soon discover he had been tricked and
expose her. And while she had been inside the salon less than five
minutes, already she had waited a moment too long.
As she opened the door she saw Harvey Maxwell and the guard coming down
the corridor toward her. Retreat was out of the question.
"There she is now!" said the guard, accusingly. "She told me you wanted
me in the office."
Harvey Maxwell walked angrily toward Penny.
"What was the big idea?" he began, only to stop short. "Oh, so it's
_you_? My dear little girl, I am very much afraid, you have over-played
your hand this time!"
CHAPTER
24
_HENRI'S SALON_
Penny sought to push past the two men, but Harvey Maxwell caught her
roughly by the arm.
"Unfortunately, my dear Miss Parker, you have observed certain things
which you may not understand," he said. "Lest you misinterpret them, and
are inclined to run to your father with fantastic tales, you must be
detained here. Now I have a great distaste for violence. I trust it will
not be necessary to use force now."
"Let me go," Penny cried, trying to jerk away.
"Take her, Frank," instructed the hotel man. "For the time being put her
in the tunnel room. I'll be down as soon as I talk with Ralph."
Before Penny could scream, a hand was clapped over her mouth. The guard,
Frank, held her in a firm grip from which she could not free herself.
"Get going!" he commanded.
But Penny braced her feet and stood perfectly still. From the outside
corridor she had heard a low rumble of voices. Then Ralph Fergus spoke
above the others, in an exasperated, harassed tone:
"This old man is crazy, I tell you! We never kept him a prisoner in our
hotel. We have a Green Room, to be sure, but it is rented out to a man
named Henri Croix who is in the fur business."
Penny's pulse quickened. Peter Jasko had carried out her order and had
brought the police!
Harvey Maxwell and the guard well comprehended their danger. With a quick
jerk of his head the hotel man indicated a closet where Penny could be
secreted. As the two men tried to pull her to it, she sunk her teeth into
Frank's hand. His hold over her mouth relaxed for an instant, but that
instant was enough. She screamed at the top of her lungs.
The outside door swung open. Led by Peter Jasko, the sheriff and several
deputies filed into the corridor. Ralph Fergus did not follow, and Penny
saw him trying to slip away.
"Don't let that man escape!" she cried. "Arrest him!"
Peter Jasko himself overtook Fergus and brought him back.
"I've got a score to settle with you," he muttered. "You ain't a good
enough talker to get out of this."
"Gentlemen--" It was Harvey Maxwell who spoke, and his tone was
irritated. "What is the meaning of this intrusion?"
"We've had a complaint," said the sheriff. "Jasko here says you kept him
a prisoner in the hotel, trying to make him sign a paper."
"The old fellow is right in a way," replied Mr. Maxwell. "Not about the
paper. We did detain him here for his own good, and he managed to get
away. I regret to say he went completely out of his mind, became violent,
threatened our guests, and it was necessary to hold him until the doctor
could arrive. We've already sent for Doctor Corbin."
"That's just what I was telling them," added Ralph Fergus.
"Now let me speak my piece," said Penny. "Peter Jasko was held a prisoner
here because Fergus and Maxwell wanted him to sign a paper leasing his
ski slopes to the hotel. That was only one of their many little stunts.
Fergus and Maxwell are the heads of a gigantic fur smuggling business,
and they use their hotels merely as a legitimate front."
"Your proof?" demanded Harvey Maxwell sarcastically. "The real truth is
that I am suing this girl's father for libel. He sent her here to try to
dig up something against me. She's using every excuse she can find to
involve me in affairs about which I know nothing."
"If you want proof, I'll furnish it," said Penny. "Just step into the
Green Room where Henri Croix, a phony Frenchman, is engaged in selling
fur coats to three ladies."
"There's no crime in that," declared Ralph Fergus angrily. "Mr. Croix
pays the hotel three hundred dollars a month for the use of this wing. So
far as we know his business is legitimate. If for any reason we learn it
is not, we will be the first to ask for an investigation."
"Not quite the first," smiled Penny, "for I've already made the request.
To go on with my proof, it might be well to investigate Room 27 on this
same floor."
"Room 27 is given over to our teletype service," interrupted Maxwell.
"Our guests like to get the stock reports, you know, and that is why we
have the machines."
"In Room 27 you will find a storage vault for furs," Penny went on,
thoroughly enjoying herself. "A panel revolves, opening the way to a
secret stair which leads down into the basement of the hotel. I'm not
certain about the rest--"
"No?" demanded Maxwell ironically.
"There are additional storage vaults in the basement," Penny resumed. "A
man is down there guarding what appears to be a tunnel. Tell me, is this
hotel close to the old silver mine?"
"About a quarter of a mile from the entrance," replied the sheriff. "Some
of the tunnels might come right up to the hotel grounds."
"I understand the hotel bought out the mine, and I believe they may be
making use of the old tunnels. At least, the place will bear an
investigation. Oh, yes, this paper came off one of the teletype
machines."
Penny took the torn sheet from her pocket and gave it to the sheriff.
"I can't read it," he said, frowning.
"Code," explained Penny. "If I had a typewriter I could figure it out.
Suppose we go to Room 27 now. I'm positive you'll learn that my story is
not as fantastic as it seems."
Leaving Peter Jasko and two deputies to guard Fergus and Maxwell and to
see that no one left the Green Room, Penny led the sheriff and four other
armed men down the hall. In her excitement she failed to observe Francine
Sellberg standing by the elevator, watching intently.
"Here are the teletype machines," Penny indicated, pausing beside them.
"Now let me have that message. I think I can read it."
Studying the keyboard of the teletype for a moment, she wrote out her
translation beneath the jumbled line of printing. It read:
"Train Arrives approximately 11:25."
"What does that mean?" the sheriff inquired. "We have no trains at Pine
Top."
"We'll see," chuckled Penny.
She showed the men the vault filled with furs, and pressed the spring
which opened the wall panel.
"Be careful in descending the stairway," she warned. "I know they have
one guard down there and possibly others."
Sheriff Clausson and his men went ahead of Penny. The guard, taken
completely by surprise, was captured without a shot being fired.
"Now what have we here?" the sheriff inquired, peering into the dimly
lighted tunnel.
As far as one could see stretched a narrow, rusted track with an extra
rail.
"A miniature electric railway!" exclaimed the sheriff.
"How far is it from here to the border?" inquired Penny thoughtfully.
"Not more than a mile."
"I've been told Harvey Maxwell has a hotel located in Canada."
"Yeah," nodded the sheriff, following her thought. "We've known for years
that furs were being smuggled, but we never once suspected the outfit was
located here at Pine Top. And no wonder. This scheme is clever, so
elaborate a fellow never would think of it. The underground railroad,
complete with drainage pumps, storage rooms and electric lights, crosses
the border and connects with the Canadian hotel. Fergus and Maxwell buy
furs cheap and send them here without paying duty."
"And teletype communication is maintained just as it is on a real
railroad," added Penny. "Fergus and Maxwell must have bought up the old
mine just so they could make use of the tunnels. And they wanted to get
rid of Mrs. Downey's Inn so there would be no possible danger of a leak.
How large do you suppose the smuggling ring is, Mr. Clausson?"
"Large enough. Likely it will take weeks to get all of the guilty persons
rounded up. But I'm satisfied we have the main persons."
"If I interpreted the code message right, a fur train should be coming in
about eleven-thirty."
"My men will be waiting," the sheriff said grimly. "I'll get busy now and
tip off the Canadian authorities, so they can close in on the gang from
the other end of the line."
"What about Fergus and Maxwell?" asked Penny. "There's no chance they can
trump up a story and get free?"
"Not a chance," returned the sheriff gruffly. "You've done your work, and
now I'll do mine."