CHAPTER 14 THE STONE TOWER
Louise Sidell was washing the breakfast dishes when Penny walked boldly in at the back door.
“Don’t you ever answer doorbells, Lou?” she demanded. “I stood around front for half an hour, ringing and ringing.”
“Why, hello, Penny. I didn’t hear you at all,” apologized Louise. “The radio is on too loud. I see you reached home last night.”
Penny picked up a towel and began to dry dishes. “Oh, yes, and did I have a day!”
“What happened after you left Andover?”
“It’s a long story, so I’ll begin at the end. Last night, coming home with Jerry we stopped at a cafe along the river. Guess whom we saw!”
“Knowing your luck, I’d say Charlie Chaplin, or maybe the Queen of England.”
“This particular cafe wasn’t quite their speed, Lou. Jerry and I saw that same boatman I told you about!”
“The fellow you saw cruising about the Kippenberg estate? What’s so remarkable about that?”
“It just happens I’ve dug up other evidence to show he may know something about Grant Atherwald’s disappearance,” Penny revealed proudly. “Jerry and I overheard a conversation. It seems this man and a companion of his are mixed up with another fellow named Aaron Dietz.”
“Which doesn’t make sense to me,” complained Louise, scrubbing hard at a sticky plate.
“Aaron Dietz was a former associate of James Kippenberg. Dad said he probably knew more about the Kippenberg financial affairs than any other person. Oh, I tell you, Jerry feels pretty sick because we didn’t follow the men last night! Dad assigned him to try to pick up the trail today. He’s chartered a motor boat and will patrol the river.”
“If you don’t mind,” said Louise patiently, “I’d like to hear the first part of the story now. Then I might know what this is all about.”
Talking as fast as she could, Penny related everything which had happened since she had taken leave of her chum at Andover.
“Which brings me to the point of my visit,” she ended her tale. “How about going out there with me this morning?”
“To the Kippenberg estate?” Louise asked eagerly.
“Yes, we may not be able to get across the river, but I mean to try.”
“You know I’m wild to visit the place, Penny!”
“How soon can you start?”
“Just as soon as these stupid dishes are done. And I ought to change my dress.”
“Wear something dark which won’t attract attention in the bushes,” advised Penny. “Now get to working on yourself while I finish the dishes.”
Louise dropped the dishcloth and hurried upstairs. When she returned ten minutes later, her chum was swishing the last of the soapsuds down the sink drain. Another five minutes and they were in Penny’s battered car, speeding toward Corbin.
The sun rode high in the sky by the time they came within view of the drawbridge. Noticing that a press car from a rival newspaper was parked at the end of the road, Penny drew up some distance away. She could see two reporters talking with the old watchman.
“Evidently, they’re having no luck in getting over to the estate,” she remarked.
“Then what about us?”
“Oh, we have our own private taxi service,” Penny chuckled. “At least I hope so.”
Taking a circuitous route so they would not be noticed by the bridgeman, the girls went down to the river’s edge. Far up the stream Penny saw the familiar rowboat drifting with the current. At her signal the small boy seized his oars and rowed toward shore.
“I was here at eight o’clock just as you said,” he declared. “That fellow up there by the bridge offered me a dollar to take him across the river. I turned him down.”
“Good,” approved Penny.
“Do you want to go across the river now?” the boy asked.
“Yes, please.” Penny stepped into the boat and made room for Louise. “Keep close to the bank until we are around the bend. Then I’ll show you where to land.”
“I guess you’re afraid someone will see you,” the boy commented.
“Not exactly afraid,” corrected Penny. “But this way will be best.”
The boat moved quietly along the high bank, well out of sight of those who stood by the drawbridge.
“The cops were here this morning,” volunteered the boy as he pulled at the oars.
“You saw them visit the estate?” Penny questioned.
“Sure, there were four of ’em. They drove up in a police car and they made old Thorndyke let the bridge down so they could go across.”
“Are the policemen at the estate now?”
“No, they left again in about an hour. What do you suppose they wanted over there?”
“Well, now, I couldn’t guess,” replied Penny. “Like as not they only wished to ask a few questions. Are the Kippenbergs at home?”
“I saw Mrs. Kippenberg drive away right after the police left.”
“And her daughter?”
“I guess she must be still there. Anyway, she wasn’t in the car.”
The boat rounded the bend, and Penny pointed out a place on the opposite shore where she wished to land.
“Shall I wait for you?” the boy asked as the girls stepped from the craft.
“Yes, but not here,” directed Penny. “You might row back to the opposite shore and keep watch from there. We ought to be ready to leave within at least an hour.”
The roof top of the Kippenberg house could be seen towering above the tall trees. But as the two girls plunged into the bushes which grew thickly along the shore they lost sight of it entirely.
“I hope,” said Louise uneasily, “that you know where you are going. It would be easy to lose one’s self in this jungle.”
“Oh, I have my directions straight. We should come out near the lily pool at any minute.”
“What do you hope to gain by coming here, Penny?” Louise inquired abruptly.
“I thought I would try to talk with Miss Kippenberg again. There’s an important question I forgot to ask her yesterday. Then I wanted to show you the estate, especially the lily pond.”
“Is there anything unusual about it?”
“I’ll let you be the judge,” Penny answered. “We’re almost there now.”
They came in a moment to a path which made walking much easier. Penny went in advance of her chum. Suddenly she halted.
“See what is ahead, Lou! I never saw that thing before.”
She stepped to one side so that Louise might see the tall stone tower which loomed up against a background of scarlet maples.
“How curious!” murmured Louise.
“This isn’t the only queer thing I’ve found on the estate.”
“What purpose could the tower have?” speculated Louise.
“Decoration, perhaps,” replied Penny, moving forward again. “Or it might have been built for a prison.”
“Listen, you have too many different theories about Grant Atherwald,” laughed Louise. “Why don’t you get one and stick to it?”
“My mind is always open to new possibilities and impressions.”
“I’ll say it is,” agreed Louise. “I suppose you think Mrs. Kippenberg is keeping young Atherwald a prisoner in yonder tower?”
“Well, no, but you must admit it would make a lovely one. So romantic.”
“Are you trying to kid me?” Louise demanded.
Penny smiled broadly as she stared up at the tower which rose perhaps twelve feet. Like every other building on the estate it had been built to resist the ages. High above her head a circular window had been cut in the wall and there was a heavy oaken door.
Reaching for the knob, Penny turned it. Then she pressed her shoulder against the door and pushed with her entire strength.
“Locked!” she announced.
“Then we won’t learn what is inside after all.”
“Yes, we will,” declared Penny. “You lift me up and I’ll peep in the window.”
“You only weigh a ton,” complained Louise.
She obligingly raised Penny up as high as she could.
“Look fast,” she panted. “What do you see?”
“Not much of anything.”
“I can’t hold you forever,” Louise said, and released her hold. “Didn’t you see anything at all?”
“Just a lot of machinery.”
“Tools, you mean?”
“No, an electric motor and something which looked like it might be a pump. Oh, I get it now!”
“Get what?” demanded Louise.
“Why, the idea of this tower. It must be used as a pump house. I wondered how the lily pool was ever drained and this must be the answer.”
“You didn’t see any prisoners chained inside?” Louise teased.
“Not one. Well, let’s be getting on to the lily pond. It must be somewhere close.”
Louise could not understand why her chum was so determined that she should see the pool. But since Penny seldom did anything without a purpose, she speculated upon what might be in store. She knew from the girl’s manner that certain facts had been withheld deliberately to make this visit the more impressive.
“Here we are,” said Penny as they came to the clearing. “What do you think of it?”
Louise was aware of a deep sense of disappointment as she gazed at the lily pool.
“I really don’t see anything so remarkable about it, Penny.”
“This was the place where I found the wedding ring. And there were footprints indicating that a struggle probably took place.”
“I read all that in the paper,” Louise said. “From the hints you’ve been passing out, I thought you brought me here to show me something mysterious.”
“Go close to the pool.”
“What for, Penny? You want to push me in?”
“Oh, you’re too suspicious! Go on and look.”
Louise went to the edge of the pool and peered down into the water.
“I don’t see anything.”
“You will in just a minute. Keep looking.”
Louise was more than half convinced that Penny meant to play some prank, but she dropped down on her knees so her eyes would be closer to the water.
“Why, I do see some large object on the floor of the tank!” she exclaimed after a moment. “What is it, Penny?”
“An alligator.”
Louise gave a smothered scream and drew back from the pool’s edge.
“I—I might have fallen in. You ought to be ashamed of yourself!”
“I only wanted you to get a nice thrill,” Penny grinned. “Pretty fellow, isn’t he?”
“I didn’t really see him,” Louise admitted.
Overcoming her fear, she again leaned over the edge of the pool but with great caution. This time she could make out the alligator’s form distinctly.
“Horrible!” she shuddered. “I wish you hadn’t brought me—”
Her words ended in a little wail as a tiny object splashed into the water directly beneath her.
“My cameo pin!” she cried. “Oh, Penny, it slipped from my dress and now it’s gone!”
