CHAPTER 14 _NIGHT ADVENTURE_
The night, dark and misty, was entirely suitable for the purpose to whichthe two girls had dedicated it. Dinner over, Penny obtained the uniquesilken ladder from an attic trunk. Compressing it into a smallbrief-case, she sauntered through the living room.
"Aren't you becoming quite studious of late?" Mr. Parker inquired, notingthe brief-case tucked under her arm. "Off to the library again?"
"Over to Louise's house," Penny corrected vaguely. "From that point onthere's no guarantee."
"You'll be home early?"
"I hope so," Penny answered earnestly. "If for any reason I fail toappear, don't search in any of the obvious places."
Leaving her father to ponder over the remark, she hastily quitted thehouse. A clock chimed nine o'clock as she reached the Sidell house, and amoment later her chum joined her in the yard.
"I had trouble getting away," Louise reported. "Mother asked a thousandquestions."
"Did you bring the flashlight?"
"Yes, here it is. My, but it's a dark night!"
"All the better for our purpose," Penny said cheerfully.
A single light burned in the kitchen window of the Marborough house asthe girls presently approached it. The garden was shrouded in damp, wispymist and the unkempt grounds never had appeared more desolate.
"Penny, must we go through with this?" Louise asked, rapidly losingenthusiasm for the venture.
"I'll admit the idea doesn't look quite as attractive as it did thisafternoon," her chum replied. "All the same, I'm going through with it!"
"What can you hope to find down in that well?"
Penny did not answer. Walking ahead of Louise, she noiselessly crossedthe yard to the old wishing well. Flashing her light into the circularinterior, her courage nearly failed her. However, she gave no indicationof it to her companion.
"Better be careful of that light," Louise warned. "That is, unless youwant Mrs. Marborough to come out and catch us."
Penny switched off the flashlight and thereafter worked in darkness.Taking the silken ladder from its case, she fastened the two iron hooksover the stone ledge. Next, she lowered the ladder into the well,listening until she heard a faint splash in the water below.
"Now you stay here and keep watch," she instructed briskly. "I'll be downand back again before you know it!"
"The ladder may break," Louise said pessimistically, seating herself onthe stone ledge of the well. "Silk deteriorates with age, and thosebraided strands never did look strong."
"They once held one of Riverview's most notorious apartment-houseburglars," Penny returned with forced cheerfulness. She climbed over theledge, gazing down into the dark well. "It's safe enough--I hope."
"In case you slip and fall, just what am I to do?"
"That's your problem," Penny chuckled. "Now hand me the flashlight. I'mon my way."
Despite their banter, both girls were tense and worried. By daylight, adescent into the well had seemed to Penny an amusing stunt; but now asshe cautiously descended into the damp, circular pit, she felt that foronce in her life she had ventured too far.
"What do you see?" Louise called softly from above. "Anything?"
Reminded of the work before her, Penny clung with one hand to the swayingladder, while with the other she directed the flashlight beam about thecircular walls. The sides were cracked in many places and covered with aslimy green moss.
"What do you see, Penny?" Louise called again. "Are any of the bricksloose?"
"Not that I can discover," Penny answered, and her voice echoed weirdly.Intrigued by the sound she tried an experimental yodel. "Why, it's justlike a cave scene on the radio!"
"In case you've forgotten, you're in a well," Louise said severely."Furthermore, if you don't work fast, Mrs. Marborough will come outhere!"
"I have to have a little relaxation," Penny grumbled.
Descending deeper into the well, she resumed her task of examining thewalls. There were no loose bricks, nothing to indicate that anything everhad been hidden in the cavern. Reaching the last rung without realizingit, she stepped not into space, but water.
Surprisingly her foot struck a solid foundation.
Hastily pulling herself back on the ladder, Penny shouted the informationto her chum.
"Lou, the water isn't more than a foot and a half deep! There's an oldboot or something of the sort floating around. You don't catch medrinking any more of this water. No sir!"
There was no reply from above.
"Louise!" Penny called, flashing her light upward.
"Quiet!" came the whispered response. "I think someone is coming!"
"Mrs. Marborough?" Penny gasped, thoroughly alarmed.
"No! Two men! They're turning in at the gate!"
Penny began to climb the silken ladder with frantic haste.
"You never can get out without them seeing you!" Louise hissed. "I'mducking out!"
"Don't you dare!"
"They'll see me if I don't. Stay where you are Penny, and I'll come backafter they go. Oh, the ladder! It's sure to give you away!"
In the emergency, Penny's mind worked with rapidity. Lowering herselfinto the well several rungs, she deliberately stepped into the water. Toher relief it came just below her knees.
"Quick! Pull up the ladder!" she instructed.
The two men were so close that Louise dared not obey. Instead she loosedthe iron hooks and dropped the ladder into the well. Penny barely wasable to catch it and prevent a loud splash.
"Of all the tricks--" she muttered, but Louise did not hear. She had fledinto a clump of bushes.
Penny huddled against the slimy wall, listening intently. Thinking thatshe heard footsteps, she switched out the flashlight.
"This is the place all right," a masculine voice said. "Wonder if the oldlady is at home?"
"There's a light showing."
The voices faded away, and Penny drew a deep sigh of relief. Impatientlyshe waited for Louise to come to her aid. After several minutes sherealized why her chum delayed, for she again heard voices.
"The old lady must be inside the house. Funny she wouldn't come to thedoor. They say she's a queer one though."
To Penny's discomfort, the two men paused by the wishing well.
"Want a drink?" she heard one ask.
The voices seemed faintly familiar to Penny and suddenly it dawned uponher that the two men were Mr. Coaten and his Texas friend. However, shecould think of no reason why they should call upon Mrs. Marborough. Herreflection came to an abrupt end, as the well bucket splashed into thewater beside her.
Suppressing a giggle, she groped for the old boot which floated nearby.Dropping it into the bucket, she watched as it was raised to the surface.A moment later she heard an exclamation of wrath from above.
"See what I've drawn up!" one of the men muttered. "These old wells mustbe filled with filth!"
Penny hoped that the strangers would immediately depart, but instead theyloitered by the well, talking.
"We've been wasting entirely too much time in this," remarked the manwhom she took to be Mr. Coaten. "Suppose we were to offer Ted a hundreddollars to sign the paper. Would he do it?"
"I think he might, but the girl is the one who'll make trouble. She'sshrewd."
"We'll get around her somehow," the other said gruffly. "This thing can'tdrag on forever. I have work waiting for me in Texas."
The voices gradually died away and Penny heard no more. However, from thesnatch of conversation, she was convinced that Rhoda's suspicionsregarding the Texas strangers had been well founded. But what had broughtthe two men to Riverview?
"If Rhoda or Ted own property, I could understand why it would bedesirable to adopt them," she thought. "As it is, the thing doesn't makesense."
To keep from freezing, Penny gingerly waded around and around in thewell. It seemed ages before Louise thrust her head over the ledge andcalled so
ftly:
"Are you still there, pet?"
"I'm frozen into one big icicle!" Penny retorted. "Get me out of here."
Instructing her chum to lower the bucket, Penny fastened the silkenladder to the handle. Louise hauled it up, and again hooked the irons tothe ledge of the well.
Stiffly, Penny climbed toward the surface. She had nearly reached the topwhen the beam of light chanced to play across a section of brick whichhitherto had escaped her notice. Halting, she traced with her finger arectangular pattern on the wall.
"That's not an ordinary crack!" she thought. "It might be an old openingwhich has been bricked up!"
"Are you coming?" Louise called impatiently.
"I am," said Penny, emerging from the well. "And don't you dare say thatthis night has been a failure. I've just made a most astoundingdiscovery!"