CHAPTER 24 _SECRET OF THE LILY POOL_
The moon rode high in the heavens as the cabin cruiser let go its anchorin a cove off the Kippenberg estate. Penny who had been dozing for thepast hour in her self-imposed prison started up in alarm as Jerry nudgedher in the ribs.
"Wake up," he whispered. "We're here."
"At the estate?"
"I think so."
On the deck above their heads they could hear the men talking together.
"You'll come along with us, Atherwald," Aaron Dietz said. "Flora, youstay here and guard the boat. If you see anyone watching or actingsuspiciously, blow the whistle two short blasts."
"I don't want to stay here alone," the girl whimpered. "I'm afraid."
"You'll do as I say," the man ordered harshly. "Get started, Gus. It'stwo o'clock now. We won't have many hours before daylight."
In making her plans Penny had not once considered that the men mightleave a guard on the cruiser. With the girl posted as a lookout they werestill prisoners in the cabin.
"We have to get out of here now or never," she whispered. "What shall wedo about Flora?"
"We'll rush her and take a chance on the whistle."
They slipped out of their hiding place and crawled noiselessly up thesteep stairway. Pausing there, they watched the shadowy figure of thegirl in the bow of the boat. She was quite alone, for her companions haddisappeared into the woods.
"Now!" commanded Jerry in a whisper.
With a quick rush he and Penny were across the deck. They approachedFlora from behind and were upon her before she could turn her head. Jerrygrasped her arms while Penny clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent ascream. Although the girl fought fiercely, she was no match for twopersons.
Stripping off her sash, Penny gave it to Jerry to use as a gag. Theybound the girl's wrists and ankles, then carried her down into the cabin.
"I hate to leave her like that," said Penny as they went back on deck.
"Don't waste your sympathy," replied Jerry. "She doesn't deserve it.Anyway, we'll soon set her free. We must bring the police now."
"The nearest house with a telephone is about a half mile away."
"It won't take us long to cover the distance," Jerry said, helping herdown from the boat.
"You go alone," urged Penny. "I'll stay here and keep watch."
"I don't like to leave you."
"Go on." Penny gave him a little push. "And hurry!"
After Jerry had reluctantly left, she plunged into the trees, carefullypicking her way along the path which led to the lily pool. A shortdistance brought her to the clearing. Halting, she saw the three men andGrant Atherwald silhouetted in the bright moonlight. The latter was stillhandcuffed, guarded by Aaron Dietz who allowed his companions to do thehard labor.
Gus and Jake had broken open the door of the stone tower. The soft purrof a motor told Penny that they had started draining the pool. Shewondered what the men would do when they discovered that the tankcontained a very live alligator.
"It ought to put a crimp in their work," she chuckled. "Mr. Kippenbergcouldn't have chosen a more effective guard for his gold."
But gradually as the pool drained lower and lower, it struck Penny as oddthat the men did not notice the alligator. Belatedly, it occurred to herthat the Kippenberg gardener had probably succeeded in getting rid of themonster since her visit to the garden earlier in the day.
"Something like that _would_ happen," she thought. "Oh, well, even soJerry ought to get here with the police in ample time."
Only the waning of the moon gave indication of how swiftly the night waspassing. Penny became alarmed as she observed how fast the pool emptied.Jerry would not have as long as she had anticipated. But surely, he wouldbring help before it was too late.
Presently, one of the men shut off the motor in the stone tower, sayingwith quiet jubilance:
"There, she's empty!"
He jumped down into the tank, and almost at once uttered a cry ofdiscovery.
"Here it is, just as he said! The ring to the trap! Give us some help,Gus."
With Aaron Dietz and the bewildered bridegroom watching from above, thetwo men raised the heavy block of cement. Penny drew closer for she didnot wish to miss anything. She stood in the shadow of a tree scarcelyfifteen yards from where the men worked.
"A stairway leads down into an underground vault!" Jake cried exultantly."We've found the hiding place of the gold."
"Toss me your flashlight, Aaron," called Gus. "We'll soon have all of thetreasure out of here."
The next ten minutes brought a confused whirl of impressions. Penny'sthoughts were in turmoil. Why didn't Jerry come with the police? As soonas the men carried the burden of gold to the boat they would discoverFlora, bound and gagged. Then they would suspect that a trap had beenlaid. Oh, why didn't Jerry hurry?
Gus and Jake had descended into the underground vault. As the lightreappeared, Penny was dumbfounded to see that the men were empty handed.
"Nothing down there," Gus reported in disgust. "Nothing!"
"Then we've been tricked!" Aaron Dietz turned furiously upon hisprisoner. "You'll pay for this!"
"I thought the gold was here," answered Grant Atherwald.
"Lock him up in the vault and start the water running," advised Jakeharshly. "It's a good way to be rid of him."
The suggestion appealed to Aaron Dietz. At a nod from him, Atherwald wasseized and dragged down into the pool. He was shoved into the vault, butbefore the two men could lower the heavy cement block into place, asignal from Dietz arrested their action.
"Wait!"
In her anxiety over Grant Atherwald, Penny had moved closer to the pool.Without realizing that she was exposing herself, she stood so that hershadow fell clearly across the open space. Before she comprehended herdanger, Dietz hurled himself upon her, seizing her roughly by the arms.
Penny struggled to free herself but could not. The man's grip was likesteel.
"So you were spying!" he exclaimed harshly.
"I--I was just watching," Penny stammered. "Don't you remember me? I amthe girl who pulled you out of the river when your car went over thedrawbridge."
The man looked closely at her, and for an instant she dared hope that hewould recall her with gratitude. But his face hardened again and he saidunfeelingly:
"You know entirely too much, my little girl. This is one story you willnever write for your father's paper. Your curiosity has proven yourundoing. You share the fate of your very good friend."
With a sinking heart Penny realized by the man's words that he knew herto be the daughter of a newspaper publisher, and that he had guessed herpart in the trick played upon him.
"Down you go!" Dietz said harshly.
As he dragged her toward the pool, Penny screamed at the top of herlungs. A hand was clapped over her mouth. She bit it savagely, but herefforts to free herself were of no avail.
The men shoved her headlong down the stone stairway into the pit.
"Now scream as much as you like," Aaron Dietz hurled after her. "No onewill hear you."
The heavy stone slab dropped into place.
Penny picked herself up from the steps. Terror gripped her, and with asob she called frantically:
"Mr. Atherwald! Mr. Atherwald!"
"Here at the bottom of the steps," he answered with a groan.
"Are you hurt?"
"Only bruised. But my hands are still in cuffs."
Penny limped down the stairway and helped the man to his feet.
"We're done for now," he said. "No one will ever look for us down in thisvault. And our cries will never be heard."
"Don't give up," Penny murmured encouragingly. "We may be able to liftthe stone. Come let's try."
Mounting the stairs, they applied their shoulders to the massive door,but their best efforts did not raise it an inch.
"Listen!" cried Atherwald suddenly.
&n
bsp; They both could hear the sound of water running into the empty pool.
"In an hour's time no one will ever guess that a hidden vault liesbeneath the tank!" Atherwald groaned. "We're doomed!"
"If we can hear the water splashing above us, our voices might carry!"Penny reasoned. "Let's cry out for help. Now, together!"
They shouted over and over until their voices failed them. Then,completely discouraged, they sagged down on the stairway to rest.
"Nothing went as I planned," Penny said dismally. "I really thought thegold was hidden in this vault. If the men had found it, they would havespent hours removing the loot to their boat. Jerry would have come withthe police and everything would have been all right."
Grant Atherwald was not listening to the girl's words. He struggled tohis feet, pressing his ear against the trapdoor.
"The water has stopped running!"
"Are you sure?" Penny sprang up and stood beside him, listening.
"Yes, and I hear voices!"
With one accord, they shouted for help. Could it be imagination or didthey hear an answering cry? As they repeated their frantic call, therewas a scraping on the stone above their heads.
"Stand away," ordered a muffled voice.
Before Penny and the bridegroom could obey, the great door lifted. Adeluge of water poured in, its force nearly washing them from the steps.But in another moment the passage was clear and they stumbled up throughthe rectangular opening.
Jerry grasped Penny's hand, helping her out of the vault. One of theblue-coated policemen aided Atherwald, unfastening the handcuffs whichheld him a prisoner.
"You're all right, Penny?" the reporter asked anxiously.
"I--I feel like a drowned rat," she laughed, shaking water out of herhair. Then, with a quick change of mood she asked: "Did you get AaronDietz and his men?"
"No," Jerry answered in disgust. "When we crossed the river five minutesago, the cruiser was still there. No sign of anyone around. I brought thepolice here, and now I suppose they've made their get-away."
"Oh, Jerry, we can't let them escape! Send the police--"
"Now don't get worked up," the reporter soothed. "A squad started backjust as soon as we found out what had happened here."
"Dietz and his men must have seen the police crossing the river,"speculated Penny. "They may have hidden in the bushes, biding their time.By now they've slipped away in their boat."
"I'm afraid of it," Jerry admitted. "I traveled as fast as I could."
As one of the policemen lifted Penny out of the pool, a noise whichsounded like the back-firing of an automobile, broke the stillness of thenight. It was followed by a volley of similar sounds.
"Gunfire!" exclaimed Penny.
The policemen started at a run through the woods toward the place wherethe white cruiser had last been seen. Penny hesitated, and then took theopposite direction, coming out of the woods at a point directly oppositethe drawbridge.
Gazing far up the river she could see the white cruiser, flashes of firecoming from the cabin window as the desperadoes exchanged shots with thepolice, who were concealed in the woods.
"That boat will try to run for it in another minute," Penny thought. "Ifonly the drawbridge were down!"
Kicking off her shoes, she dived into the water, swimming diagonallyacross the river to take advantage of the swift current. Her powerfulstrokes brought her to shallow water and she waded ashore throughankle-deep mud. As she scrambled up the slippery bank, her wet clothingplastered to her body, she heard the roar of the cruiser's motor.
"They've started the engine!" she thought. "In another minute the boatwill be at the bridge. Hurry! Hurry!"
Penny could force herself to no greater effort. Breathless, she reachedthe gearhouse and groped frantically under the door. Had Thorny failed tohide the key there? No, her fingers seized upon it.
Trembling with excitement, she turned it in the lock. The door of thegearhouse swung open. Now could she remember how to lower the bridge? Anymistake would be costly, for by this time she could hear the cruiserracing down the river at full speed. If only it were light enough so thatshe could see the gears!
She pulled a lever and her heart leaped as the motor responded with apleasant purr. The power was on!
"Now to lower the bridge!" thought Penny. "But which lever is the rightone? I'm not sure."
With a prayer in her heart she grasped the one closest at hand and easedit forward. There was a grinding of gears as the tall cantilevers beganto move. They were coming down, but oh, so slowly!
"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" Penny whispered, as if her words could speed thebridge on its journey.
The white cruiser drove onward at full speed. Lower came the bridge.Penny held her breath, knowing it would be a matter of inches whether ornot the boat would clear. The man at the wheel, aware of the danger, didnot swerve from his course.
The bridge settled into place. As the crash came, Penny closed her eyes.
"_I did it! I've stopped them!_" she thought, and sagged weakly againstthe gear house.
CHAPTER 25 _VICTORY FOR PENNY_
Minutes later Penny was still leaning limply against the building when acar drove up to the bridge. Her father, Salt, and a bevy of policemen andgovernment representatives sprang out and ran to her side.
"Penny, what happened?" Mr. Parker clasped his daughter in his arms."You're soaking wet! Didn't we hear gunfire as we turned in here?"
Penny waved her hand weakly toward the river below.
"There's your story, Dad. Pictures galore. Boat smashes into dangerousdrawbridge. Police pursue and shoot it out with desperadoes, takingwhat's left of 'em into custody. I'm afraid to look."
"And what were you doing while all this was going on?" demanded herfather.
"Me? I was just waiting for the drawbridge to go down."
Mr. Parker, Salt, and the policemen he had brought to the scene, rushedto the edge of the bridge. A police boat had drawn up beside the badlylisting cruiser, and three men prisoners and a girl were being taken off.
"How bad is it?" Penny called anxiously.
"All captured alive," answered her father. "Salt, get that camera ofyours into action! Where's Jerry? He would be missing at a time likethis! What happened anyhow? Can't someone tell me?"
Penny had fully recovered the power of speech, and with a most flatteringaudience, she recounted her adventures.
"Excuse me just a minute," she interrupted herself.
Turning her back, she pulled a sodden photograph from the front of herdress and handed it to her father.
"This picture is in pretty bad shape," she said, "but it's clue numberone. You see, it's a photograph of Miss Kippenberg, and on the back iswritten, 'To Father, with all my love.' I found the picture thisafternoon in Room 381 at the Colonial Hotel."
"Then you've located Kippenberg?" one of the G men demanded.
"I have. He's been masquerading as the Kippenberg gardener, coming backhere no doubt to witness the marriage of his daughter."
"We'll arrest him right away," said the government man, turning to leave."Thanks for the tip."
"I am confident Miss Kippenberg and her mother had nothing to do withGrant Atherwald's disappearance," Penny went on. "Aaron Dietz plotted thewhole affair himself. I guess he must have learned about Kippenberg'scache of gold while he worked for the man. He believed that GrantAtherwald shared the secret and could tell where the money was hidden."
"You've located the gold, too, I suppose," Mr. Parker remarkedwhimsically.
"No, Dad, I slipped up there. I thought the gold was in a secret vaultunder the alligator pool, but I was wrong. I don't know where it is."
"We'll let the G men solve that mystery when they take Kippenberg intocustody," replied her father. "Our work is cut out for us now. We'll findJerry, talk with young Atherwald, and rout Miss Kippenberg and her motherout of bed for an exclusive interview."
"And t
his time I am sure they'll answer questions," declared Penny.
During the next hour the "story" was taken entirely from her hands.Jerry, her father and Salt, knew exactly how to gather every fact ofinterest to the readers of the _Star_. Sylvia Kippenberg, overjoyed tofind her fiance alive, posed for pictures with him, and answered allquestions save those which concerned her father.
Not until a telephone call came from the Colonial Hotel, saying that Mr.Kippenberg had been taken into custody, would either Sylvia or her motheradmit that the man had posed as the gardener.
"Very well, it is true," Mrs. Kippenberg acknowledged at last. "James hasbeen trying to avoid government men for over a year. Wishing to returnfor Sylvia's wedding, he disguised himself as a gardener. Then afterGrant's disappearance, he remained here trying to help."
"And it was your husband who managed to get rid of the alligator?" Pennyinterposed.
"Yes, we were afraid police might ask embarrassing questions. Jamesdisposed of it to a zoo late yesterday afternoon."
"And the cache of gold under the lily pool," said Mr. Parker. "Whatbecame of that?"
"There is no gold."
"None at all?"
"None."
"And there never was any?" questioned Penny incredulously. "Then why wasthe vault ever built?"
"Tell her the truth, Mother," Sylvia urged. "She deserves to know.Anyway, it can do Father no harm now."
"At one time my husband did have a considerable supply of gold," Mrs.Kippenberg admitted. "Since he could not trust a bank he constructed hisown vault under the pool and placed the alligator there as a precautionagainst prying persons."
"My father really did nothing so very wrong," Sylvia broke in. "The goldwas bought with his own money. If he chose to sell it later at a profitit was his own affair."
"Not in the opinion of the government," Mr. Parker said with a smile. "Heheld the gold illegally. So your father disposed of it?"
"Yes, he shipped it out of the country months ago. And no one will everbe able to prove anything against him."
"My husband is a very clever man," added Mrs. Kippenberg proudly.
"That remains to be seen," said Mr. Parker. "I know a number of veryclever government men, too."
Later, in dry clothing loaned to her by Miss Kippenberg, Penny motoredback to Corbin with her father, Jerry, and Salt. There they learned thatthe three prisoners had been locked up in jail, while James Kippenbergwas being questioned by government operatives. He readily admitted thathe had disguised himself as the gardener but defied anyone to prove heever had disposed of illegal gold.
Mr. Parker did not wait to learn the outcome of the interview. Instead hetelephoned the big story to DeWitt and arranged for complete coverage onevery new angle of the case. Satisfied that no more could be learned thatnight, the party sped back toward Riverview.
"Aaron Dietz and his confederates ought to get long prison sentences,"Penny remarked as they drove through the night. "But what will happen toMr. Kippenberg, Dad? Do you think he will escape punishment as his wifebelieves?"
"He'll get what is coming to him," replied Mr. Parker. "A government mantold me tonight that Kippenberg's income tax reports have been falsified.And Kippenberg knew they had evidence against him or he never would havegone into hiding. No, even if it can't be proven that he held goldillegally, he'll certainly be fined and given a year or so in prison fortax evasion."
"I hope he receives a light sentence for Sylvia's sake," said Penny.After a moment she added: "Sylvia and Grant Atherwald are going to bemarried tomorrow. They told me so."
"There's a fact we missed," declared Jerry. "Penny always is showing usup."
"Oh, I didn't prove myself so brilliant tonight," responded Penny. "WhenI was down in that vault I decided I was just plain dumb. If you hadn'thad sense enough to guess where Grant Atherwald and I were beingheld--well, Dad would have had to adopt a new daughter."
"It was easy enough to tell what had happened," said Jerry. "You had toldme you thought there was a secret vault beneath the pool. Then, too, Ifound your handkerchief floating in the bottom. The water had only beenrunning in a few minutes." He fished in his pocket and brought out a pinwhich he handed to Penny. "I also found this."
"Thanks, Jerry," said Penny. "That's Louise's cameo pin. She dropped itthe day we were on the Kippenberg estate together."
"The police gave you full credit for the capture of those men, Penny,"said her father with pride. "You yanked the drawbridge just in time totrap them."
"Salt did his share, too," mentioned Penny generously. "He went for thepolice just as soon as he realized Jerry and I had been carried away onthe cruiser."
"The only trouble was that the cops wasted too much time searching foryou down river," the photographer drawled. "We finally went back toCorbin and ran into Mr. Parker who suggested we come to the estate."
"How did you happen to be in Corbin, Dad?" asked Penny curiously.
"You might know--I was looking for you. Isn't that my usual occupation?"
"You're not provoked at me, Dad?"
"No, of course not," the publisher answered warmly. "You've all done finework tonight. This is the biggest story we've run into in over a year!We'll score a beat on the rival papers."
"Then don't you think Jerry and Salt have earned a raise?" suggestedPenny.
"Yes," agreed her father absently, "I'll take care of it tomorrow."
"And you might tack on another dollar to my allowance, Dad. I'll alsohave a small bill to present. There will be several dollars for gasoline,lunches going and coming from Corbin, two ruined dresses, a pair of tornsilk stockings, and--"
"That's enough," broke in Mr. Parker with a laugh. "If you keep onlisting your expenses, I'll be broke. You turned out to be an expensivereporter."
"It was worth it, wasn't it?" Penny demanded, placing her hands on herhips.
Her father agreed heartily. "It certainly was, Penny. The _RiverviewStar_ obtained a smashing story to scoop all the other newspapers, andI've got my elusive daughter back again safe and sound."
Penny moved closer to her father. She grasped the lapels of his coat inher slender fingers and tipped her weary but still lovely face towardhim.
"Dad, will you promise me one thing?"
"That depends on what you are after," Mr. Parker told her gravely.
"Whenever the _Riverview Star_ has a baffling mystery to be run down toearth, will you promise to call in your ace sleuth?"
"And who would that be?" demanded Mr. Parker with a puzzled frown. Thenas Penny laughed gaily, he also started to grin. "So you are the acesleuth? I guess I was a little slow in understanding. But you seem to beright. This is the third mystery you've solved. Maybe we will use you onthe next mystery."
"Thanks, Dad," said Penny. "I just hope I won't have to wait too long forthe next mystery to come along."
THE END
Transcriber's Notes
--Replaced the list of books in the series by the complete list, as in the final book, "The Cry at Midnight".
--Silently corrected a handful of palpable typos.
--Conforming to later volumes, standardized on "DeWitt" as the name of the city editor.
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