there's always the possibility I might be wrong."
"The probability, you mean," corrected Louise.
Penny retied her shoes and glanced toward the hotel. Far up the beach she
saw Mrs. Deline, and the widow was walking slowly toward the sand dunes.
"Duck!" Penny ordered, rolling over one of the high ridges. "We don't
want her to see us here. She'll suspect what we've been up to."
Louise crouched behind the dune with her chum, though she complained that
she felt silly doing it. Apparently, Mrs. Deline had not seen the girls.
She came steadily on.
Drawing close, she peered directly at the dune where the girls had taken
refuge. For a second they feared that she had seen them. But she passed
on without another glance.
"It looks to me as though she's on her way to the lighthouse again,"
Penny remarked after Mrs. Deline was far down the beach. "Wonder why she
goes there so often?"
"I thought visitors weren't allowed."
"According to the rules they're not."
From behind the dune, the girls kept watch of the widow. Presently they
saw her climb the steps of the lighthouse and disappear into the
interior.
"Well, that settles it!" Penny exclaimed indignantly.
"Settles what?" Louise straightened up, brushing sand from her skirt.
"If Mrs. Deline can get into that lighthouse, so can I. We'll make an
issue of it!"
"Not today," said Louise dubiously.
"Right now!" Penny corrected, starting down the beach. "That lighthouse
is government property, and as citizens we have certain rights. Let's
assert them and see what happens!"
CHAPTER
18
_INSIDE THE LIGHTHOUSE_
Unchallenged, Penny and Louise reached the base of the lighthouse. But as
they slowly climbed the iron stairs, their courage fast slipped away.
"What will we say to the keeper?" Louise faltered. "I've even forgotten
his name."
"I haven't," said Penny. "It's Jim McCoy. If Mrs. Deline is allowed
inside the tower, shouldn't we have the same privileges?"
"She's a personal friend."
"That should make no difference," Penny argued. "This is government
property."
"Let's not do it," Louise pleaded, holding back.
Having proceeded so far. Penny was in no mood to retreat. Quickly, lest
she too lose her courage, she rapped hard on the tower door.
Minutes elapsed. Then the heavy oak door swung back and Jim McCoy, the
burly keeper, peered out at the girls. His bushy brows drew together in
an angry scowl.
"You here again!" he exclaimed.
"Yes," said Penny, making the word crisp and firm.
"I'll have to report you if you keep pestering me," the keeper scolded.
"How many times have I told you no visitors are allowed?"
"But you don't treat everyone the same!" Penny remonstrated. "Mrs. Deline
just came here."
"Mrs. Deline? Who's she?"
"Why, a woman who stays at the hotel. She came through this door not five
minutes ago!"
"You must have imagined it. I've had no visitors."
Penny's silence said more plainly than words that she did not believe the
keeper.
"So you think I'm lying, eh?" he demanded unpleasantly. "Okay, come in
and see for yourselves. I'm breaking a rule to invite you into the tower,
but maybe then you'll be satisfied and quite bothering me. We have work
to do here, you know."
The keeper stepped aside so that the girls might enter.
"My living quarters," he said curtly. "You see, I have no visitors."
Decidedly ill at ease, the girls gazed about the little circular room.
The walls were lined with built-in cupboards. Nearly all of the furniture
had been made with a view to conserving space. As Mr. McCoy had said,
there were no visitors--no evidence that Mrs. Deline ever had been there.
"Are you satisfied?" the keeper demanded unpleasantly.
"But we were sure Mrs. Deline came here," Penny stammered.
"There's been no one today except early this morning when a government
inspector paid me a visit."
Penny did not believe the man but she deemed it wise to appear to do so.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I guess we have made nuisances of
ourselves."
"That's all right," the keeper said in a less unfriendly tone. "Kids are
kids. Now that you're here, look around a bit."
"Oh, thank you," Louise replied gratefully. "I've always wanted to see
the inside of a lighthouse."
"I have some work to do," Mr. McCoy announced. "The light's not been
operating right and I'm trying to get the mechanism adjusted. I'll be
back."
He went out, allowing the door to slam hard.
The girls surveyed their surroundings with keen interest. On a table near
the window there was a shortwave radio. A circular couch occupied another
curving corner of the room.
"What became of Mrs. Deline?" Penny whispered. "She certainly came here."
"Of course she did! We saw her plain as day!"
"She must be somewhere in the tower. Probably there's a room above this
one."
Penny tiptoed to the door and tried to open it. To her surprise and
chagrin, it would not budge.
"My Great Aunt!" she whispered. "We're locked in!"
"Maybe the door's just stuck." Louise strode across the room to help
Penny. Both of them tried without success to open it.
"Let's shout and pound!" Louise suggested.
"No, wait! I think we've been locked in here on purpose."
"Oh, Penny!"
"Now don't get nervous. The keeper's no fool. He'll have to let us out."
"But why would he lock us in?"
"Because he's provoked at us for one reason, Lou. Another, something's
going on here that he doesn't want us to know about. He and Mrs. Deline
may be having a tete-a-tete in the room above."
"Then let's listen. Maybe we can overhear their conversation."
Penny nodded and fell silent. Though the girls listened for a long while,
no sound reached their ears.
"This is a nice situation!" Louise fumed. "I think the door locked
itself. We ought to shout for help."
"Goose, a door doesn't lock itself."
"This one might have a trick catch."
"It was Mr. Jim McCoy who accomplished the trick," Penny said. "Listen!
Someone's coming now."
Plainly the girls could hear footsteps on the iron balcony outside the
door. A moment later they were able to distinguish a murmur of men's
voices. The footsteps moved on and a moment later they heard a door close
overhead.
"Another visitor!" Penny announced. "Did you hear what was said, Lou?"
"Couldn't make out a word."
"Nor could I. But that voice sounded familiar. I'm sure I've heard it
somewhere."
"I had the same feeling, Penny."
The girls listened intently, hoping to overhear conversation on the floor
above. However, the walls of the lighthouse were so thick that not a word
reached them. Now and then they thought they heard Mrs. Deline's high
pitched voice.
"Louise, it's just come to me!" Penny whispered a moment later. "I
believe Mr. McCoy's visitor may be George Emory!"
"The voice did sound a little like his. But why would he come here?"
"Maybe we've under-rated George Emory. Why, all this time he may have
been trying to get information from us."
"He did ask us quite a few questions, particularly about your father."
"And he seemed to know a lot about that outlaw radio station, Lou. Maybe
he tried to throw us off the track by suggesting that we watch old Jake
Skagway."
"We certainly fell for it, Penny."
"We did, if you assume that George Emory is upstairs having a conference
with Mrs. Deline and the lighthouse keeper. But we're not sure."
"No, we're not, Penny. One easily can be mistaken in voices."
Determined to hear more, Penny cautiously climbed up on the radio table,
so that her head and ear were close to the ceiling.
"Can you make out anything?" Louise whispered.
Penny shook her head in disgust. After a few minutes she dropped lightly
down from the table.
"Walls are too thick," she announced. "I could hear three voices though.
Two were men and the other, a woman."
"Then Mrs. Deline must be here. The keeper lied about that part."
Presently the girls heard footsteps again on the iron stairway. They
moved to the window, hoping to see whomever was descending from the room
above. However, the little round aperture was so situated that it gave a
view of only one side of the Point. They could not see the stairway nor
the stretch of beach leading to the hotel.
"We're certainly learning a lot!" Louise said crossly. "I've had enough
of this. Let's shout for help."
"All right," Penny agreed. "We may as well find out whether or not we're
prisoners."
Crossing to the heavy oak door, she pounded hard on the panels. Almost at
once the girls heard someone coming.
"Don't let on what we suspect," Penny warned her companion.
The next moment the door swung open to admit the keeper of the light.
CHAPTER
19
_A LOCKED DOOR_
"I was gone a little longer than I meant to be," Jim McCoy apologized as
he came into the room. "Did I keep you waiting?"
"We probably wouldn't have waited if you hadn't locked the door!" Louise
said sharply.
The keeper's eyebrows lifted and he looked slightly amused. "Locked in?"
he echoed.
"Yes, we couldn't get the door open."
"Oh, it sticks sometimes. Been intending to fix it for several days. If
you had pushed hard it would have opened."
"We certainly pushed hard enough," Penny said dryly. She was more than
ever certain that the lighthouse keeper had unlocked the door only a
moment before entering. Clearly, he had meant to prevent Louise and her
from seeing and hearing what went on in the room above.
"Come along," the keeper invited. "I'll show you the tower."
"No thank you," Penny replied coldly. "We've spent so much time here that
we'll have to be getting back to the hotel."
"As you like." The keeper shrugged, and looked relieved by the decision.
Jim McCoy stepped away from the door, and the girls hastened down the
iron stairway. No one was in sight on the beach. Whoever had visited the
lighthouse during the time they were imprisoned, had disappeared.
When they were well down the beach, Louise and Penny slackened their
pace. Glancing back they saw that the keeper of the light still stood on
the tiny iron balcony watching them.
"That man gives me the creeps," Louise remarked. "Did you believe what he
said about the door sticking?"
"I did not," Penny returned with emphasis. "I think he locked us in on
purpose, probably because he was expecting visitors and didn't want us to
see too much."
"As it turned out we didn't learn a thing."
"We have no proof of anything," Penny admitted slowly. "Nevertheless,
we're pretty sure Mrs. Deline visited the tower."
"George Emory too."
"That part is pure guess," Penny said, "so we don't dare consider it too
seriously. Did you ever see Mrs. Deline with George Emory?"
"Why, no. But then, we've not been at the hotel long."
"Let's find Jerry or Dad," Penny said abruptly. "We ought to report to
them."
Returning to the hotel, the girls looked in vain for Mr. Parker. The
publisher was not in his room nor anywhere in the lobby. Jerry apparently
had not returned from Intercept Headquarters.
"There's Mrs. Deline," Louise whispered, jerking her head toward a
high-backed chair not far from the elevator.
The widow was reading a newspaper. If she saw the girls she paid no
attention to them.
"Let's talk to her and see what we can learn," Louise suggested.
Penny had another thought. "No," she vetoed the suggestion. "Mrs. Deline
would be more likely to learn things from us. That woman is clever."
Just then Mrs. Deline arose, picked up her purse, and went out the front
door of the hotel. On their way to the elevator. Penny and Louise noticed
that the woman carelessly had left a handkerchief and her room key lying
on the chair.
"I'll turn them in at the desk," Louise said, picking up the articles.
"Wait, Lou!"
Louise glanced at her chum in surprise.
"I have an idea!" Penny revealed, lowering her voice. "Are you game to
try something risky?"
"Well, I don't know."
"This chance is tailor-made for us!" Penny went on. "Mrs. Deline simply
handed her room key over to us. Let's use our opportunity."
"Enter her room?" Louise asked, shocked.
"Why not? FBI agents think nothing of examining the belongings of a
suspected person."
"But we're not FBI agents, Penny. I don't want to do it without asking
Jerry."
"By that time it will be too late. It's now or never."
"Mrs. Deline might catch us in the act."
"That's a chance we'll have to take." Penny, in possession of the room
key, walked to the front door of the hotel. She was reassured to see that
Mrs. Deline had seated herself on a bench some distance from the veranda.
"The coast's clear," Penny reported, coming back to Louise. "What do you
say?"
"Well, I suppose so," Louise consented nervously.
An elevator shot the girls up to the fourth floor. To locate Mrs.
Deline's room required but a moment, and the halls fortunately were
deserted. Penny fitted the key into the lock and pushed open the door.
"We'll have to work fast," she said, closing it behind them again.
The room was in perfect order. Only a few toilet articles had been set
out on the dresser. Mrs. Deline's suitcase was only half unpacked.
"It looks to me as if the widow is holding herself ready to fly at a
moment's notice," Penny commented. "Otherwise, why didn't she unpack
everything?"
"What do you expect to find here?" Louise asked nervously. "Let's get it
over with fast, Penny."
"Start with the bureau drawers," Penny instructed. "Search for any
papers, letters or the sort. I'll go through the suitcase."
Carefully the girls began examining Mrs. Deline's personal belongings.
Almost at once Louise reported that the bureau contained nothing of
interest. Penny, however, had more luck. She came upon a pearl-handled
revolver buried beneath a pile of silk underclothing.
"Jeepers!" she whispered, touching the weapon gingerly. "Now will you
believe me when I say that the widow isn't the sweet little girl she'd
have us believe!"
Louise's eyes had opened wide at sight of the revolver.
"And here's that white suit she wore!" Penny cried, lifting out a folded
garment from the suitcase. "Look, Lou!"
From the skirt of the suit had been cut a neat, square hole.
"Well, of all things!" Louise exclaimed. "What's the meaning of that?"
"Mrs. Deline wrote something on the skirt--don't you remember? Probably
she used a pen with invisible ink."
"But why on her skirt, Penny?"
"She'd just been to the lighthouse. Perhaps she learned something there
and she wanted to write it down before she forgot. Possibly she didn't
have any paper. Then when she got back here, she either destroyed the
message, or sent it to someone."
"Well, I don't know," Louise said doubtfully. "It's all so fantastic. I
wouldn't believe a bit of it except for this revolver. Having it doesn't
look so good."
"And don't forget the green elephant charm," Penny reminded her. "I wish
we could find it here."
"Not a chance. Mrs. Deline always wears it around her neck. She had it on
today. I noticed."
Time fast was elapsing and the girls were worried lest someone discover
them in the room. Hastily they replaced everything as they had found it,
and relocking the door, stepped out into the hall.
"What's our next move?" Louise asked as they buzzed for a down-going
elevator.
"To tell Jerry and Dad, of course. But before that, there's one thing I
wish we could do, Lou. It would give everything we have to report a more
substantial basis."
"What's that, Penny?"
"Why don't we get our hands on the jade green elephant? I've a hunch that
it contains something important--perhaps evidence that would crack the
case wide open."
"And just how do you propose that we acquire the charm?" Louise asked
sarcastically. "Are we to waylay Mrs. Deline and take it by force?"
"Afraid that wouldn't do."
"There's no other way to get it. Mrs. Deline wears that charm as if it
were her skin. I've never seen her without it."
The elevator was coming down so Penny spoke hurriedly.
"There is a way," she said softly, "if only it will work. Think we could
get Mrs. Deline to go bathing in the surf with us?"
"And ruin that lovely hair-do? Don't be silly."
"All the same, it's worth trying," Penny urged. "Let's go to our room now
and get our bathing suits."
"I don't see any point in it."
"You will," Penny laughed, entering the elevator. "If my little plan
works we'll have keen sport and maybe do our country a good turn!"
CHAPTER
20
_NYMPHS OF THE SEA_
"How you expect to get Mrs. Deline to go swimming with us is beyond me!"
Louise opined as she and Penny left the hotel, their bathing suits
swinging over their arms. "It's none too warm today. She dislikes us both
intensely. Furthermore, she never swims."
"Any other reasons?" Penny asked cheerfully.
"That should be enough."
"Just wait and watch," Penny chuckled. "I just hope she doesn't suspect
we've been prowling in her room. If she got wise to that she'd report us
to the hotel management."
Before leaving the hotel the girls had taken care to drop the room key in
the chair where Mrs. Deline had left it. They were confident that no one
had seen them take the key or enter the room.
The widow remained as the girls last had seen her. She was sitting on a
bench facing the sea, her gaze fixed on the deep blue line of the
horizon. As the girls passed beside her, she looked up, frowning
slightly.
"We're on our way to the bath house," said Penny, her tone implying that
the matter was one of great importance.
"Really?" Mrs. Deline's voice barely was polite.
"Wouldn't you like to come with us?" Louise invited cordially.
The invitation took Mrs. Deline by surprise. "No, thank you," she
declined. "I can't swim."
"We'll teach you," offered Penny.
"You're too kind. I don't care for the water. I particularly detest cold
water."
"The air is warming up," Penny tried to encourage her. "Why not try it
with us?"
"Nothing could induce me."
Louise nodded grimly, as much as to say that she had known how it would
be. Penny would not give up. She decided to adopt drastic measures.
"No, I didn't suppose you would go into the water," she said. "You're
probably afraid you'll get salt water on that lovely skin of yours, or
muss up your hair."
"Oh!" gasped Mrs. Deline. "The very idea!"
"Isn't that the reason?" Penny pursued ruthlessly. "You have to protect
your beauty?"
"No, it's not the reason!" Mrs. Deline snapped. "If I had a bathing suit,
I'd show you!"
"You can use mine," Penny said promptly. "Louise has an extra one she'll
let me have."
Mrs. Deline looked trapped and angry. She sprang to her feet.
"All right, I'll go swimming!" she announced. "If I catch pneumonia I
suppose you'll be satisfied!"
"Oh, you'll love the water once you're in," Penny said sweetly. "The bath
house is this way."
Mrs. Deline spent so long getting into the borrowed suit that the girls
began to fear she had outwitted them. But just as they were ready to give
up, the woman came out of the dressing room. Penny's suit was a size too
small for her so that she looked as if she had been poured into it. Her
legs were skinny, her hips bulged. She still wore the elephant charm.
"Don't I wish Dad could see her now!" Penny muttered. "What a
disillusionment!"
Ignoring the girls, Mrs. Deline walked stiffly toward the surf. A wave
rolled in, wetting her to the knees. Mrs. Deline shrieked and backed
away.
"It's freezing!" she complained.
"You have to get wet all at once," Penny instructed kindly. "This way."
She seized Mrs. Deline's hand and pulled her toward the deeper water.
"Let me go!" Mrs. Deline protested, trying to shake free. "Stop it!"
Penny held fast to her hand. A big roller broke over their heads. Mrs.
Deline sputtered and choked and struggled.
"Oh, this is dreadful!" she whimpered.
"You have to watch for the waves and jump just as they strike you," Penny
laughed. "Now!"
She leaped, but the widow mistimed the roller. It struck her a resounding
whack on her shoulders and head.
"Oh! Oh!" she moaned.
"Here comes another!" warned Louise. "A big one too!"
Mrs. Deline broke away from Penny. She started to run for shore. The big
roller overtook her, sweeping her from her feet.
This was the opportunity that Penny awaited. Pretending that she too had
lost her balance, she allowed the tide to carry her straight into Mrs.
Deline. For an instant they both were beneath the surface of the water.
Penny worked fast. Clutching Mrs. Deline as if in terror, she yanked hard
at the slender chain that held the green elephant charm. It snapped and
the jade piece came off into her hands. Deftly she thrust the charm into
the front of her bathing suit. Then she popped up above the water,
winking at Louise.
Mrs. Deline scrambled to her feet, clutching at the broken chain.
"See what you've done!" she accused Penny. "You pulled it apart. My
beautiful charm has fallen into the water!"
"Let me help you look for it," Louise offered, darting forward.
As the pair were groping about on the sandy floor, another wave rolled
in. Penny neglected to warn Mrs. Deline. It struck her from behind,
toppling her over on her face. Her cap slipped awry and she swallowed
salt water.
"Oh, I can't stand any more of this!" she spluttered. "It was cruel of
you to get me to come into the surf! Now I've lost my charm, and it was
all your fault, Penny Parker."
"I'll buy you another ornament," the girl offered. Seeing Mrs. Deline's
distress she felt a bit ashamed of herself.
"Another ornament!" the widow mocked. "I don't want another! I want the
one I've lost. It's of vital importance to me to keep it."
Mrs. Deline made another futile search for the charm.
"It's been washed away," she cried. "I'll never find it now!"
Glaring furiously at Penny, she turned and fled to the bath house.
"Did she really lose the charm?" Louise demanded the moment the girls
were alone. "Or did you get it, Penny?"
Penny answered by producing the green elephant charm from the front of
her bathing suit where she had hidden it.
"Easy as taking candy from a babe," she chuckled. "My, but was she
hopping mad!"
"You may not be laughing if your father hears about this," Louise warned.
"He's apt to look at matters from a different angle than we do."
Penny skipped through the shallow water and sat down on the beach well
beyond the reach of the waves. Louise flopped beside her. Eagerly they
examined the jade green trinket.
"Looks like any ordinary charm to me," Louise remarked. "No special
carving."
"It should open," Penny said. "The first night when Mrs. Deline and I
shared a room, I was sure I saw her close it."
Louise turned the charm over and pried at it with a hairpin.
"It does have a back lid!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Penny, I think it's
going to open!"
"I'll say magic words while you work," Penny laughed. "Furthermore, I'll
keep watch of the bath house. We don't want Mrs. Deline to pop out here
and see us."
Louise pried again at the lid of the charm. It gave suddenly.
Inside the tiny cavity was a folded piece of paper. While Louise stared
in delighted awe, Penny gained possession. With nervous haste she
unfolded the paper. She gazed at it a moment and her face fell.
"Why, I can't make anything of the writing!" she declared in
disappointment. "The words don't make sense."
"Just a mess of letters," Louise agreed, peering over her shoulder.
The girls were decidedly let-down for they had gone to much trouble and
risk to obtain the jade ornament. But Penny's disappointment did not last
long. As she stared at the paper, its significance dawned upon her.
"Why, this is important, Lou!" she cried. "Maybe we've stumbled into
something big!"
"How do you mean?"
"Don't you see?" Penny demanded triumphantly. "The letters, of this
message must comprise a secret code! If only we can break it down we may
learn all we need to know about Mrs. Deline and her strange friends!"
CHAPTER
21
_THE CARDBOARD BOX_
While Penny and Louise were puzzling over the strange writing found
inside the jade charm, Mrs. Deline appeared in the doorway of the bath
house. Barely in time to escape detection, the girls hid the tiny
elephant and the paper in the sand.
Mrs. Deline crossed the beach to speak to the girls. Her hair was damp
and stringy, her face pinched and blue from cold.
"Here's your suit!" she snapped, slapping the wet garment into the sand
at Penny's feet. "I hope you enjoyed the swim! I'm sure I didn't."
Turning her back, the widow marched to the hotel.
The moment Mrs. Deline had disappeared into the white brick building,
Penny dug the jade elephant and paper from the sand.
"Let's get dressed," she urged Louise. "We've no time to waste."