CHAPTER 14 _A FAMILIAR FIGURE_
Only for a moment did the girls dare remain at the door watching SamBurkholder mount the tire. Then, their curiosity satisfied, they movedquietly away. Without speaking to Mattie Williams, they returned to theparked automobile.
"Well, wasn't I right?" Louise demanded triumphantly. "What do you thinkwe should do?"
The question plagued Penny. "I don't know," she confessed. "If only wewere absolutely sure the tire was new--"
"It certainly looked new."
"Yes, but it could have had some wear. It's possible, too, that thecustomer had a legal right to buy a new tire."
"Then you don't intend to report to the police, Penny?"
"I want to talk to Salt about it first. We must move carefully, Lou. Yousee, my main objective is to learn the names of the higher-ups involvedin the tire-theft racket."
"And where does this garage fit into the picture?"
"If it fits at all, my guess is that Sam and Mattie are buying illegaltires--perhaps from the same men who stripped my car and threatened Dad."
Driving slowly toward Riverview, Penny reviewed what she had seen. Shewas convinced the information was valuable, yet she scarcely knew how touse it.
"If Salt suggests that I report to the police, that's what I'll do," shedecided.
Enroute home, Penny stopped at another garage to make arrangements tohave her stripped coupe hauled into the city.
"How about the _Icicle_?" Louise asked, thinking her chum had forgottenthe iceboat.
"It will have to stay where it is for the time being," Penny replied. "Ifit's stolen, I won't much care."
At the Sidell home, the girls separated. Thanking Louise for the use ofthe car, Penny returned afoot to the _Star_ office. Salt Sommers wasabsent on assignment, so she did not linger long. As she rounded a streetcorner on her way home, a newsboy for a rival paper blocked her path.
"Read all about it!" he shouted. "Anthony Parker Believed Kidnaped!Paper, Miss?"
Penny dropped a coin into the lad's hand and hastily scanned the frontpage. The story of her father's disappearance was a highly coloredaccount, but contained not a useful item of information. Tossing thesheet into a street paper-container, she moved on.
She was passing the Gillman Department Store when her attention was drawnto a woman who waited for a bus.
"I've seen her somewhere before," thought Penny, pausing. "Last night--"
The woman wore a small black hat and a long, old-fashioned dark coatwhich came nearly to her ankles. It was the shape of the garment and itsunusual length which struck Penny as familiar. Why, the woman resembledthe one who had fled from the cemetery!
Penny pretended to gaze into the store window. Actually she studied thewoman from every angle. She might have been forty-seven years of age andwas large-boned. Her face was heavily lined, and her long hands werecovered by a pair of cheap, black cotton gloves.
"Can it be the same woman?" thought Penny in perplexity.
A bus bearing a county placard glided up to the curb. The woman in blackwas the only passenger to board it.
"That bus goes out toward Baldiff Road and the cemetery!" Penny toldherself. "And that's where I'm going too!"
An instant before the folding doors slammed shut, she sprang aboard.Paying her fare, she sought a seat at the rear of the bus.
No sooner was the coach in motion than Penny regretted her hasty action.What could she hope to gain by pursuing the strange woman? She was notcertain enough of her identification to make a direct accusation. Countybuses ran infrequently. In all likelihood, she would find herselfstranded in the country.
Penny arose to leave the bus. Then changing her mind a second time, shesat down. Try as she would, she could not rid herself of a convictionthat the woman she followed was the same one who had visited thecemetery.
The bus made few stops in the city. Once beyond the city limits, it spedalong at a brisk speed. To Penny's satisfaction, the woman in black soonbegan to gather up her packages. She pressed a button and the bus skiddedto a stop at a crossroads.
With no show of haste, Penny followed the woman from the bus. Pretendingto enter a grocery store at the corner, she waited and watched.
Apparently the woman lived nearby, for she started off down a narrow,winding road which ran at right angles to the main highway.
"Why that's the road that runs past the Harrison place," Penny thought."Wonder if she can be going there?"
Waiting until the woman was nearly out of sight, she trudged after her.Walking was difficult for the road had not been cleared by a snow plow.Fortunately for Penny, the woman did not once glance behind her. She keptsteadily on until she came within view of the big estate house on thehill. Just before she reached the boundary fence, she cut across a field,approaching the dwelling from the rear.
Penny remained at the road, watching. The woman took a key from herpocket, unlocking a small, padlocked gate at the rear of the grounds. Shesnapped the lock shut again, and disappeared into the house.
Penny perched herself on top of an old-fashioned rail fence to think overwhat she had seen. The woman, whoever she was, obviously lived at theestate. Yet the cheap quality of her clothing suggested that she couldnot be the owner of such an expensive establishment.
"Probably a servant or caretaker," Penny reasoned. "But is she the onewho ran away last night?"
Far over the hills in a lonely grove of pines stood Oakland Cemetery. Oneither side of Baldiff Road stretched dense woods, a growth that crept tothe very boundaries of the Harrison estate. Penny instantly noted that itwould be possible for a person to flee from the cemetery to the very doorof the estate without once leaving the shelter of trees.
"Perhaps it was the same woman!" she thought. "If she lives here, itwould be logical for her to specify Oakland Cemetery as a meeting place!And escape would be easy for her, too!"
Penny slid down from the fence. It would do no good to question thewoman. Rather, if she were guilty, questions might serve to place her onthe alert. Far better, she reasoned, to bide her time.
"I'll learn everything I can about that woman," she thought. "TonightI'll watch the house."
In making her plans, Penny did not take into account Mrs. Weems'attitude. Upon reaching home late in the afternoon, she found thehousekeeper in a most discouraged mood. No favorable news had beenreceived from any source.
"I've been worried about you too, Penny," Mrs. Weems confessed. "Wheredid you go after you left the _Star_ office?"
Penny told of her trip to Mattie Williams' garage and later to theHarrison estate. In particular she described the mysterious woman she hadfollowed by bus.
"I plan to go back there tonight," she concluded. "For the first timesince Dad disappeared, I feel I may have stumbled into a valuable clue!"
Mrs. Weems looked troubled. "But Penny," she protested, "you can't go tothe estate alone!"
"I thought perhaps Louise would accompany me."
"Two girls alone at night! I can't give my consent, Penny. It's notsafe."
"But I don't wish to call the police just yet, Mrs. Weems. I've no realevidence. Will you come with me?"
The housekeeper hesitated. Naturally a timid woman, she had no desire tostir from her own fireside that night. But she knew where her duty lay.
"Yes, I'll go with you, Penny," she consented. "Shall we start soon?"
"Not until after dark. One can't expect a ghost to show up in broaddaylight."
"A ghost!" Mrs. Weems quavered. "Penny, what are you letting me in for?"
"Frankly, I don't know. Some strange things have been going on at theHarrison estate. Tonight I hope to solve part of the mystery at least."
Pressed for an explanation, Penny repeated Mose Johnson's story and toldof seeing the strange white-robed figure with her own eyes. The tale didnot add to Mrs. Weems' comfort of mind.
"We're crazy to go out there," the housekeeper p
rotested. "Must we doit?"
"I think it may be our one hope of gaining a clue which will lead toDad."
"Then I'm willing to risk it," agreed Mrs. Weems. "However, we'll driveout in a taxi. And I shall personally select the driver--a man to bedepended on in an emergency."
So excited was the housekeeper that she had difficulty in preparing theevening meal. In the end Penny took over, shooing her out of the kitchen.
"I declare I don't know why I am so nervous," Mrs. Weems shivered. "Ihaven't felt so shaky since the time I attended a seance at Osandra's."
"You saw ghosts a-plenty on that occasion," smiled Penny. "I only hope wehave as much luck tonight."
By eight o'clock everything was in readiness for the journey into thecountry. Dressing warmly and carrying an extra blanket, Penny and Mrs.Weems walked to a nearby cab station. There the housekeeper selected adriver, a burly man who looked as if he might have been anex-prizefighter.
"Sure, Ma'am," he said as Mrs. Weems questioned him, "you can depend onme to look after you."
"How are you at capturing ghosts?" inquired Penny, climbing into the cab.
The driver looked a trifle startled. "Swell!" he rejoined. "Bring on yourspook, and if he don't weigh no more than two hundred pounds, I'll nailhim!"
Penny and Mrs. Weems were satisfied that they were in good hands. Theyinstructed the man, Joe Henkell, to drive directly to the old Harrisonestate.
"By the way, do you know who owns the property?" Penny asked as the cabrolled toward the country.
"Fellow from the East," Joe flung over his shoulder. "I'm not sure. Thinkhis name is Deming--George Allan Deming. Wealthy sportsman. Has his ownplane an' everything."
"Married?"
"Couldn't tell you. The estate has been closed up this winter."
The cab soon approached the familiar grounds. Penny directed the driverto pull up some distance from the dark house.
"Switch off the headlights," she instructed. "We'll wait here. It may bea long time too, so make yourself comfortable."
Joe, taking Penny at her word, began to smoke a vile-smelling cigar whichnearly drove Mrs. Weems to distraction. After an hour had elapsed, thehousekeeper scarcely could endure the stuffy air of the cab.
"Penny, must we wait any longer?" she asked plaintively.
"Why, it's early, Mrs. Weems. I expect to stay until midnight at least."
"Midnight!" The housekeeper quietly collapsed.
Just then the cab driver turned around, touching Penny's arm. He directedher attention to the house by saying briefly: "A light just went on."
Penny and Mrs. Weems focused their attention on the upper floor of theestate. A single light could be seen burning there, but as they watchedit blinked off.
"Now if a ghost is to appear this is the time!" announced Penny. "Whydon't we get closer?"
She sprang from the cab. Mrs. Weems and the taxi driver followed withless enthusiasm. The housekeeper, quivering and shaking, clutched theman's arm as she struggled against the wind.
"Joe, you stay right beside me!" she ordered.
"Sure, Ma'am," he said soothingly. "I couldn't get away if I had a mindto."
Penny, a step ahead, held up her hand as a warning for silence. She hadseen the familiar white figure rounding a corner of the house.
"There's the ghost!" she whispered. "See! Beyond the gate!"
Joe whistled softly.
"A spook, sure's I'm alive!" he muttered.
"And you promised to nail him," reminded Penny, starting forward alongthe fence. "We'll creep a little closer. Then Joe, I shall expect you todo your stuff!"