could talk of nothing else. Penny felt that by obtaining the jade
elephant she had proven her case.
"You thought I was only jealous of Mrs. Deline," she told Louise
triumphantly as they dressed in adjoining booths. "Now what do you say?"
"That you're a genius!" Louise praised. "Mrs. Deline certainly is mixed
up in some shady business."
Once dressed, the girls wrapped the jade elephant in a handkerchief and
carried it to the hotel. Jerry was nowhere to be found, and a bellboy
told Penny that her father had gone for a walk.
"Perhaps we can work the message out ourselves," Penny suggested
hopefully. "Let's try."
In their hotel room, the girls spent an hour attempting to decipher the
strange jargon of letters appearing on the paper. At the end of that
time. Penny tossed aside her pencil in disgust.
"This is a job for an expert," she declared. "I certainly don't classify
as one."
The telephone jingled. Penny answered it and was delighted to hear
Jerry's familiar voice. He was down in the lobby and had been told that
the girls wished to see him.
"We certainly do!" Penny answered gaily. "Hold everything! We'll be with
you in a jiffy."
The elevator being entirely too slow, the girls raced down the stairs.
Breathlessly they started to tell Jerry what they had learned.
"Not here!" he said quickly. "Let's go outside where we won't be
overheard."
Once out in the open with no one close by, Jerry lent an attentive ear to
Penny's tale of their afternoon adventure. He did not have much to say in
return, but he studied the jade green elephant and the paper with deep
interest.
"You don't think it's anything?" Penny asked in disappointment.
"On the contrary, it may be something of very great importance," he
returned soberly. "I'll take this to Headquarters. We have an expert on
codes who should be able to break it in a short while."
The girls hoped that Jerry would invite them to accompany him, but he did
not do so. Instead he said:
"Penny, you were telling me that Mrs. Deline had buried a package in the
sand. Any luck in finding it?"
"Not a bit."
"You don't think that she went back there and dug it up herself?"
"We didn't see any footprints."
"How did you mark the place?"
"By a stick that someone removed."
"Not a very reliable way to take observations," Jerry remarked. "Ever try
the clock system?"
The girls looked blank.
"For example," Jerry illustrated, "imagine that the landscape is like the
face of a clock. Now what do you see on the hour of two?"
"I don't get it," Louise complained.
"Oh, I do!" laughed Penny. "A big tree!"
"That's right," agreed Jerry. "And at the hour of six?"
"Why, a signboard!" chuckled Penny. "At the hour of seven there's a big
sand dune!"
"If you picture things in your mind as if they're on the face of a clock
it's much easier to remember and keep them in proper proportion. Now,
using that same system can you recall anything more about the place where
Mrs. Deline buried the package?"
"Not very much," Penny admitted. "I didn't take notations at the time."
"Speaking of signboards, I remember one," Louise said thoughtfully. "It
was a long distance back from the beach, slightly to the right. A
cigarette advertisement."
"That's right!" agreed Penny.
"Perhaps that will help some," Jerry said. "We'll have to find the
package."
"Then you believe Mrs. Deline is an Enemy Agent?" Penny asked eagerly.
"I've thought so for quite a while now," Jerry admitted. "I didn't say it
for fear of building up your hopes. Anyhow, we've got to work quietly in
this business."
"Poor Dad," Penny murmured, "I'm afraid it will break him up to learn the
truth. Do you say I should tell him right away, Jerry?"
"Why not?" Jerry demanded, his eyes amused. "Your father may have a few
things to break to you too, Penny."
"Meaning what?"
"I'll let your father do his own talking," Jerry said, getting up from
the hotel bench. "Have to go now."
"Wait!" Penny pleaded. "You've not told us anything. Do you think Mrs.
Deline has been aiding that flier who escaped from a Canadian prison
camp?"
Jerry deliberately let the question pass. "Listen!" he said urgently. "I
may not see you girls again until after dinner. Want to help me tonight?"
"Doing what?" Penny asked.
"I want you to lead me to the place where Mrs. Deline buried that
package."
"We'll do our best."
"Then if I don't see you earlier, meet me here at nine o'clock. It should
be dark by that time."
"We'll be here," Penny promised, her eyes glowing.
At dinner that night the girls told Mr. Parker of their appointment to
meet Jerry. Penny would have explained about the package, but before she
could do so, Mrs. Deline joined the group. Mr. Parker immediately invited
her to dine with them. To the annoyance of Penny and Louise she accepted
with alacrity.
The girls fully expected that Mrs. Deline would make some reference to
the incident of the afternoon. Instead she avoided the subject, talking
of her experiences in China and the Orient. Despite their prejudice,
Penny and Louise were compelled in all honesty to acknowledge to
themselves that the widow was a brilliant, entertaining
conversationalist.
Over the coffee cups Mrs. Deline spoke casually of a play which was
showing at the local theatre. Before Penny could say a word, Mr. Parker
had suggested that he buy tickets for the night's performance.
"I'd love to go," Mrs. Deline accepted instantly.
"Good!" Mr. Parker, approved. "I'll get four tickets."
"Two," Penny corrected grimly. "Louise and I already have an
appointment."
"That's so," Mr. Parker recalled belatedly.
Mrs. Deline looked so pleased that Penny was sorely tempted to abandon
the meeting with Jerry. Only the realization that the task ahead was
vitally important, kept her silent.
At eight o'clock Mr. Parker and Mrs. Deline left the hotel for the
theatre. With an hour to kill, Penny and Louise were very restless. They
read the evening paper and watched the clock.
"Here's an interesting news item," Penny remarked, indicating a brief
story on an inner page of the paper. "It says an enemy submarine was
sighted not many miles from here--just off the coast."
"Did they get it?" Louise inquired absently.
"I guess not. The story doesn't say, except that the air patrol dropped
bombs."
"Wonder what a single sub was doing so close here?" Louise speculated.
"Oh, well, we've nothing to fear."
A clock chimed the hour of nine. On the first stroke, the girls arose and
hastened to keep their appointment with Jerry. The night was closing in
dark. Along the shore no lights were showing for the dim-out was rigidly
enforced at Sunset Beach.
"Where's Jerry?" Penny asked as they reached the bench where they had
promised to meet him. "Hope he didn't forget."
Ten minutes elapsed. Penny was examining the luminous dial of her wrist
watch when someone came striding down the gravel path.
"Hello," Jerry greeted the girls. "Sorry to have kept you waiting. All
set for adventure?"
"Lead on!" Penny laughed.
Taking each of them by an elbow, Jerry guided the girls down the deserted
beach. Twice they passed guards who merely stared and allowed them to
pass unchallenged.
"Any news about that code?" Penny questioned as they walked along.
"It's a tough one to break," Jerry replied briefly. "Experts have been
trying to take it apart ever since I left you girls this afternoon."
"Then it really is something?" Penny asked, scarcely daring to hope.
"It certainly is," Jerry replied heartily. "We're pretty sure now that
Mrs. Deline is mixed up in a bad business. But we can't act until we know
absolutely."
"This will be a horrible shock to Dad," Penny remarked. "He's at the
theatre with Mrs. Deline now."
"At least she's out of the way, so there's no chance she'll see us at
work," Jerry commented. "Think you can find the place to dig?"
Penny had marked it well in her mind, but at night everything looked
different. After some uncertainty, the girls agreed upon the dune where
the package had been buried.
"With the tide low we'll have plenty of time," Jerry said. "Well, let's
go! Was the package buried deep?"
"Not more than a foot," Penny supplied.
"Then if it's here, we'll find it. Let's block this area off and cover it
systematically."
For an hour the trio toiled. Twice one of the beach guards passed by and
Penny was surprised that he paid no heed to what they were doing.
"Orders!" Jerry chuckled. "You didn't think we could come out here and
prowl around without questions being asked? The guard was tipped off.
He'll help us by whistling if anyone comes this way."
Louise, who had been industriously digging, gave a low cry.
"Find something?" Jerry demanded.
"I'm not sure. I think so."
The next instant Louise lifted a small package from its sand tomb. Before
Jerry could warn her, she had torn apart the pasteboard cover.
"Why, it contains pencils!" she exclaimed in disgust. "Pencils!"
Jerry leaped to her side. One glance and he took the box from her.
"Those objects may look like pencils," he drawled. "But take it from me,
they're a bit more deadly."
Penny had moved close. She and Louise stared in awe at the collection.
"Bombs," Jerry explained briefly. "One of these little pencils contains
enough explosive to blow us all to Kingdom Come!"
CHAPTER
22
_UNFINISHED BUSINESS_
The cardboard box contained in addition to the pencil bombs a shiny knife
and several grooved, pear-shaped objects.
"What are those?" Louise asked curiously. "They look like hand grenades."
"That's what they are," said Jerry, lifting one from the box. "It's a
mighty useful weapon for close fighting. A strong man can throw a grenade
twenty-five to thirty-five yards and it does damage over a large area."
Penny gingerly inspected one of the grenades.
"It won't bite you," Jerry laughed. "Nor will it explode in your hand.
When you're ready to throw a grenade you hold it with the lever under
your fingers. Just before you toss it, pull the pin."
"Isn't it apt to explode while you're holding it?" Penny asked dubiously.
"Not while the lever is held. When the grenade leaves the hand, the lever
flies off. Then the fuse ignites and in about seven seconds you have your
explosion."
"Nice little gadgets," Penny said. She replaced the grenade in its box
and ran a finger over the sharp edge of the steel-bladed knife.
"Mrs. Deline evidently planted these weapons here for someone else to
use," Jerry remarked. "We'll put them back just as they were."
"Put them back!" Penny echoed. "Why, Jerry, wouldn't that be playing
right into their hands? Shouldn't we destroy these things?"
"No, it's much wiser to have the place watched."
Light dawned upon Penny. "Oh, I see!" she exclaimed. "In that way you
hope to learn Mrs. Deline's accomplices!"
"Exactly."
Jerry replaced everything in the box which he carefully buried in the
sand. Then he obliterated all freshly made footmarks.
"It may be necessary to watch this place for days," he said thoughtfully.
"And what of Mrs. Deline?" Penny asked. "Will she be allowed complete
freedom?"
"That's for my superiors to decide. It seems to me, though, that more is
to be gained by allowing her to remain at liberty than by arresting her."
"I'm all for jail myself," said Penny.
"Just be patient," Jerry smiled. "And whatever you do, don't drop a hint
to Mrs. Deline of what we suspect."
"She knows I dislike her."
"That's all right, but don't let her guess that you consider her guilty
of anything more serious than making a play for your father."
"What about Dad? Shouldn't I warn him?"
"Let me take care of that part," Jerry smiled.
"All right," Penny agreed reluctantly. "Just be sure that you don't muff
it. Remember, you're playing with my future!"
Jerry finished smoothing out the footprints in the sand and then escorted
the girls to the hotel.
"I must report to Headquarters without delay," he said, pausing at the
hotel entrance. "Don't worry about the package. We'll have the place
watched every minute."
After Jerry had gone, Penny and Louise entered the hotel.
"Is my father here yet?" Penny asked the desk clerk.
"No, Miss. And there's a message for him. As soon as he comes in he's to
call Major Gregg."
Penny repeated the name thoughtfully. "That's a new one on me," she
remarked. "Dad seems to have friends I know nothing about."
"Oh, the Major comes to the hotel frequently," the clerk returned,
smiling. "He and your father are well acquainted."
As the girls crossed the lobby to a drinking fountain, Louise said
teasingly:
"I'm afraid you've lost track of your father lately, Penny. You've been
so upset about Mrs. Deline that you've scarcely noticed anything or
anyone else."
"Dad's been holding out on me, that's evident. Wonder what he's to call
Major Gregg about?"
"Why not wait up and see?"
"Not a bad idea," Penny approved instantly. "He and Mrs. Deline should be
getting in anytime now."
"I'm not waiting up," announced Louise with a sleepy yawn. "In fact, I'm
on my way to bed this minute."
To prove her words she started for the elevator. Penny debated whether or
not to follow and finally decided to remain in the lobby.
An hour elapsed. Penny was half asleep by the time Mrs. Deline and Mr.
Parker entered the hotel together. They were chatting animatedly and
would not have seen her had she not scrambled from the wing chair.
Seeing Penny, Mrs. Deline quickly bade Mr. Parker good night and vanished
into an elevator.
"You shouldn't have waited up," Mr. Parker chided his daughter. "Why,
it's nearly midnight."
"There's an important message for you, Dad. You're to call Major Gregg."
Mr. Parker looked disconcerted. "How long ago did that call come, Penny?"
"About an hour ago. Or that's when I learned of it."
Mr. Parker went quickly to a telephone booth and was gone for some time.
When he returned his face was animated.
"Good news?" Penny asked eagerly.
"Not exactly," Mr. Parker replied, sliding into a chair beside her and
dropping his voice. "A message from Interceptor Headquarters. Monitoring
machines have traced the outlaw radio station again. The broadcast
finished about an hour ago."
"And where was the station located this time, Dad?"
"Seemingly at or near the lighthouse."
"The lighthouse!" Penny exclaimed. She was so startled that her voice
rose to a high pitch, attracting the attention of a passing bellboy.
"Not so loud, Penny," her father warned. "The strange thing was that the
broadcast seemed to come from a cave, the same as before, although the
monitoring machines charted it as being close to the lighthouse."
"The only one I know about near the Point is Crystal Cave," Penny said
thoughtfully. "Dad, maybe the broadcast did come from the lighthouse!"
"That's government property. Penny, and the man in charge is beyond
suspicion. Furthermore, the deep, echo effect couldn't come from anywhere
except a cave."
"Unless it were a sound effect, Dad."
"What's that?" Mr. Parker asked, startled. "I don't get you, Penny."
"I mean, maybe the cave set-up is just a sound effect and nothing more.
Only the other night I heard one in a radio play and it sounded as if the
actors really were in a cave. Isn't it done by an echo chamber or
something of the sort?"
"That would be possible," Mr. Parker agreed. "At Interceptor Headquarters
it was assumed that a mistake had been made in charting the location of
the station."
"Then the lighthouse hasn't been investigated?"
"Not to my knowledge."
"Well, it should be!" Penny exclaimed. "Louise and I were there today and
we saw--"
"Yes?" Mr. Parker questioned as she suddenly broke off.
"We saw a lot that didn't look right," Penny finished, deciding not to
bring Mrs. Deline's name into the discussion. "Mr. McCoy had visitors and
while they were there he kept us locked up."
"My word! Why didn't you report to the police?"
"Well, we weren't entirely sure," Penny said lamely. "The door just
closed and locked, and Mr. McCoy let on that it had a trick latch. Then
he released us, but not until after the visitors had gone."
"Did you see the persons?"
"No, we only heard their voices. We weren't able to overhear any of the
conversation."
Without explaining what he intended to do, Mr. Parker again closed
himself into a telephone booth. Not until he returned did he tell Penny
that he had called Interceptor Headquarters and that Army men had been
sent to the lighthouse to make a thorough check-up.
"Now it's late," he said briskly, "and you're overdue for bed, Penny.
Better fly up."
"Aren't you coming?"
"Not just now. I have a little unfinished business."
Penny hesitated, unwilling to go to bed when she sensed adventure in the
offing. As she groped in her mind for an excuse to remain, the doors at
the front entrance to the hotel began to spin. Jerry came hurrying into
the lobby. Seeing Penny and her father he made a straight line for them.
"The code's been broken!" he announced, addressing Penny.
"What did they learn, Jerry?" she asked eagerly.
"It's just as you thought, Penny." Jerry dropped his bombshell. "Mrs.
Deline definitely is an Enemy Agent. Apparently she was sent to Sunset
Beach to aid that escaped prisoner I told you about!"
CHAPTER
23
_NIGHT ADVENTURE_
As Jerry made the startling announcement, Penny glanced anxiously at her
father. In the excitement of the moment she had not thought how much of a
shock it might be to him to learn that Mrs. Deline was an agent employed
by a foreign country. To her astonishment, he looked neither surprised
nor dismayed.
"So you have the proof, Jerry!" Mr. Parker exclaimed. "That's fine! But
what's all this about a code? How did you stumble onto it?"
"No time for details now," Jerry answered tersely. "Penny turned the
trick--she and Louise saw Mrs. Deline bury a package in the sand."
"And Mrs. Deline brought that package from the lighthouse," Penny
interposed eagerly. "Mr. McCoy must have given it to her."
"What's the plan of action?" Mr. Parker demanded. "Army men already have
gone to the lighthouse to search that place thoroughly."
"Our job is to keep watch of the dune where the package was buried.
Naturally we have no way of knowing what time anyone will show up there.
It may be an all night wait."
"I'll be with you in a minute," Mr. Parker declared. "Just as soon as I
get an overcoat."
He started toward the elevator, then came back to the group.
"What about Mrs. Deline?" he asked. "She's here in the hotel. Went to her
room only a few minutes ago."
"She'll be placed under arrest," Jerry said. "Better call her on the
telephone and get her down here. Don't let her suspect that you think
anything is wrong."
Mr. Parker vanished into the nearest telephone booth.
"I can't understand it," Penny murmured to Jerry. "I was sure Dad was
head over heels in love with Mrs. Deline. Why, it didn't even seem to
ruffle him when he learned the truth about her."
Jerry grinned. "Maybe," he drawled, "that was because he knew all the
time."
Penny was dumbfounded. "You mean--" she stammered, "You mean that Dad's
been acting a part? Pretending to admire Mrs. Deline while actually he
didn't?"
"Something like that. You see, your Dad became interested in the outlaw
radio station and the men who operate it. By making inquiries before he
left Riverview, he obtained information that made him think Mrs. Deline
might be involved in some way. He knew she never had been in China but
spent many years in Japan. He learned also that instead of being a
newspaper correspondent, she had carried on secret work for various
governments."
"Dad knew all that! And he never let on to me!"
"He couldn't very well, Penny. If you had guessed the truth, you'd have
given it away by your manner--no matter how much you tried to act
natural."
"What a little nit-wit I've been!"
"You have not," Jerry denied warmly. "Anyone else would have acted the
same. Without knowing it, you helped your father a lot. You turned up
evidence he never could have obtained alone."
"Where do you fit into the picture, Jerry? Did Dad send for you?"
"You don't send for anyone in the Army," Jerry explained, grinning. "By
pure luck I was assigned here on a special mission. Your father learned I
was coming, so we united forces."
"Then you've both known from the first about Mrs. Deline?"
"We've had a dark brown suspicion, Penny. But no proof until tonight."
Penny drew a deep breath. Before she could ask another question, her
father came hurrying down the hotel corridor.
"Mrs. Deline's not in her room!" he reported. "She doesn't answer."
"She went upstairs only a few minutes ago," Penny recalled.
"Yes, she did, but she's not there now."
"Maybe she's asleep," Jerry said, "and failed to hear the 'phone. We'll
have to check."
Without explaining why the matter was urgent, Mr. Parker arranged with
the desk clerk to have one of the hotel maids go to Mrs. Deline's room.
While the trio waited in the upstairs corridor, the woman rapped several
times on the bedroom door, and failing to get a response, unlocked it
with her master key.
"Mrs. Deline!" she called, softly at first, then in a louder voice.
There was no answer.
The maid then snapped on the light. "Why, there's no one here!" she
cried. "The bed's not been slept in!"
"That's what I was afraid of," muttered Mr. Parker.
With Jerry and Penny, he entered the bedroom. Everything was in perfect
order. However, Mrs. Deline's suitcase was gone and all her belongings
had been removed from the closet.
"She's skipped without paying her room rent!" the maid exclaimed. "I'll
call the manager!"
Penny was peering into the waste paper basket beside the desk.
"Look!" she drew the attention of her father and Jerry. "Burned letters
and papers!"
Digging into the basket, she brought up several charred sheets of paper.
They were unreadable and crumpled in her hand.
"This was a bad break for us--Mrs. Deline getting away!" Jerry exclaimed
in disgust. "Evidently her work at Sunset Beach is finished. She's moving
on to another pasture."
"But she can't be far away," Penny reasoned. "After all, we know when she
came to her room."
"There still may be a chance to nab her," Mr. Parker said. "We'll notify
the police to guard all the roads and the airport. I'll report to Major
Gregg too."
Without awaiting the arrival of the hotel manager, the trio hastened to
the lobby. There Jerry and Mr. Parker made several telephone calls.
"Now let's be on our way up the beach," Jerry urged anxiously. "We've
killed too much time as it is."
Penny half expected that her father would refuse permission for her to go
along. To her delight he merely said:
"I suppose there's no keeping you here, Penny. Well, come with us. I
guess you've earned the right by your good work."
It was a dark night, warm but misty. No lights were showing outside the
hotel, though far up the beach the powerful lighthouse beacon cut swathes
across the black sea.
"What's the plan?" Mr. Parker asked Jerry.
"The entire coast for fifty miles is being watched. I thought just on a
chance we might keep vigil at the place where Mrs. Deline buried the
package of explosives. Someone may show up there. On the other hand,
Penny tipped off the fact that she knew where the bundle was buried."
"Mrs. Deline watched Louise and me through a spy glass," Penny recalled
ruefully. "She knew we didn't find the package though."
"That's our assignment anyhow," Jerry said. "To keep watch of that
particular place until relieved by Army men."
The Parker car was on the hotel lot close by. Getting it, the trio took
the beach road but stopped some distance from the lighthouse. Not wishing
the car to attract the attention of any passer-by, it was left parked on
a private driveway. Jerry, Penny and her father then crossed the dunes
afoot and proceeded up the beach until they came to their station.
"Think this is the place?" Penny asked skeptically.
"I know it is," Jerry replied. "Remember what I told you about taking
observations? Let's see if the package is still here?"
He began digging in one of the dunes. Almost at once he came upon the box
of explosives.
"Exactly as we left it," he reported, replacing the sand. "No one's been
here."
"I doubt anyone will come," Mr. Parker commented. "Probably afraid."
High overhead and out of sight, Penny heard the drone of planes on
coastal patrol. She stared up into the dark sky and then toward the sea.
The tide was coming in and long rolling waves washed the beach, dashed
themselves on the shoreline and retreated.