CHAPTER 10 COUNTRY SKIES

No more was said to Penny about her unfortunate experience at the Conway Steel Plant explosion, but she considered herself responsible for Salt’s lost camera. Although the plates no longer would have picture value from the newspaper standpoint, she thought that they might provide a clue to the identity of the man who had escaped by automobile.

Police had been unsuccessful in apprehending any of the persons responsible for the explosion, and the story had died out of the newspapers.

After working for a week at the Star, Penny was tired in body and worn in mind. However, she was beginning to enjoy the routine. To receive her first hard-earned pay check gave her a real thrill of pleasure.

Louise Sidell, a school girl friend who lived near the Parker home, asked Penny how she planned to spend the money.

“I think I’ll have the check framed,” Penny laughed.

She and Louise were sitting on the front steps of the Parker home, watching a chattering squirrel on the lawn. It was a warm, sunny day with scarcely a cloud coasting around in the azure sky.

“Wish we could have a picnic or go to the country,” Louise commented wistfully.

“Why not?” Penny asked, getting up. “I intended to drive to the waterfront this morning and see how Ben Bartell is making out. Then we could go out into the country from there.”

“Who is Ben Bartell?” Louise inquired with interest.

Penny related her experience near the Snark, telling of the stranger who had been given shelter by the newspaper reporter.

“Ben probably has learned all about him by this time,” she added. “Shall we stop there?”

“Let’s,” agreed Louise enthusiastically.

Dressed in comfortable slacks, the chums prepared sandwiches, and then, in Penny’s battered old car, drove to the waterfront.

“I haven’t much gasoline, so we can’t go far,” she warned as they parked not far from the vacant lot where Ben’s shack stood. “Wonder if anyone will be here?”

Walking across the lot which was strewn with tin cans and rocks, they tapped lightly on the sagging door of the shack. Almost at once it was opened by Ben who looked even less cheerful than when Penny last had seen him.

“Well, how is your patient this morning?” she inquired brightly.

“He’s gone,” replied Ben flatly. “My watch with him!”

“Your watch!”

Ben nodded glumly. “That’s the thanks a fellow gets! I saved his life, took him in and gave him my bed. Then he repays me by stealing my watch and my only good sweater. It makes me sick!”

“Oh, Ben, that is a shame! You didn’t learn who the man was?”

“He wouldn’t put out a thing. All I know is that his first name was Webb.”

“Did you try to find him at the Snark?” Penny questioned.

“Sure, but there they just raise their eyebrows, and say they never heard of such a person. So far as anyone aboard that tub is concerned, no one ever fell into the brink either!”

“Ben, why not report to police?”

“I considered it, but what good would it do?” Ben shrugged. “The watch is gone. That’s all I care about.”

“But those men aboard the Snark must be criminals! We know they pushed Webb off the boat.”

“Probably had good reason for doing it too,” Ben growled. “But we can’t prove anything—no use to try.”

“Ben, you’re just discouraged.”

“Who wouldn’t be? I had planned on pawning that watch. It would have kept me going for a couple of weeks at least. I’d join the Army, only they’ve turned me down three times already.”

Penny and Louise had not expected to stay long, but with the reporter in such a black mood, they thought they should do something to restore his spirits. Entering the dingy little shack, Penny talked cheerfully of her newspaper experiences, and told him that she had spoken to her father about adding him to the editorial staff.

“What’d he say?” the reporter demanded quickly.

“He promised to look into the matter.”

“Which means he doesn’t want me.”

“Not necessarily. My father takes his time in arriving at a decision. But it always is a just one.”

“Well, thanks anyhow,” Ben said gloomily. “I appreciate how you’ve tried to help, Penny. It’s just no use. Maybe I’ll pull out of here and go to another city where I’m not known.”

“Don’t do that,” Penny pleaded. “Sit tight for a few days, and something will break. I’m sure of it.”

Knowing that Ben was too proud to take money, she did not offer any. But before leaving, she gave him a generous supply of their picnic food, and invited him to ride along into the country.

“No, thanks,” he declined. “I would only spoil the fun. I’m in no mood today for anything except grouching.”

The visit, brief as it was, tended to depress the girls. However, once they were speeding along the country road, their spirits began to revive. By the time they had reached a little town just beyond the state line, they had forgotten Ben and his troubles.

“Let’s stop somewhere near Blue Hole Lake,” Penny proposed. “This locality is as pretty as we’ll find anywhere. Besides, I haven’t much gasoline.”

“Suits me,” agreed Louise, amiable as always.

Finding a grove within view of the tiny lake, they spread out their picnic lunch. Afterwards, they stretched flat on their backs beneath the trees and relaxed.

“It’s getting late,” Penny finally remarked regretfully. “Time we’re starting home.”

“I want a drink of water first,” Louise declared. “Pass me the thermos, will you please?”

“It’s empty.” Penny uncorked the bottle and held it upside down. “But we can stop at a farmhouse. I see one just up the road.”

Returning to the car, they drove a few hundred yards down the highway, pulling up near a large two-story frame house which bore a sign in the front yard: “Tourist rooms.”

In response to their knock on the side door, a pleasant, tired-faced woman of mid-fifty came to admit them.

“I’m full up,” she said, assuming that they wished to rent a room. “My last suite was taken by the professor and his wife.”

Penny explained that all they wanted was a drink of water.

“Goodness, just help yourselves at the well!” the woman exclaimed. “Wait, I’ll fetch a clean glass.”

The deep well, which operated with a chain and a crank, was situated in a vine-covered summer house only a few yards away. The farm woman, who said her name was Mrs. Herman Leonard, showed them how to operate it. The water, coming from deep in the earth, was cool and sweet.

“It must keep you quite busy, running a tourist home,” Penny said to make conversation.

“Indeed, it does,” sighed the woman. “Most of my roomers aren’t so bad, but this last couple runs me ragged. They seem to expect hotel service.”

“The professor and his wife?”

“Yes, Professor and Mrs. Bettenridge.”

“Bettenridge,” Penny repeated alertly. “I’ve heard that name before. Does the professor come from Silbus City?”

“He never said. But he’s an inventor, and he brought his invention with him.”

“What sort of invention is it?”

“A light ray machine which explodes mines on land or sea. The affair is very complicated.”

At Penny’s expression of doubt, Mrs. Leonard added: “It really works too! The first night the professor came here, he exploded a mine out in the lake. Such a splash as it made! I saw it with my own eyes! The professor expects to sell it to the Army or Navy for a lot of money.”

“If it will do all he claims, why hasn’t the government taken it over before this?”

“Oh, it takes a long while to complete negotiations,” Mrs. Leonard replied. “The professor is expecting an officer here tomorrow to witness another demonstration.”

“Where is the machine kept? In your house?”

“Oh, dear no! The professor has it in a little shack down by the lake. You can see the place from here.”

Mrs. Leonard led the girls a short distance from the summer house, pointing through the trees to a knoll at the edge of Blue Hole Lake.

“The professor and his wife went down there a few minutes ago,” she revealed. “Why don’t you ask them to show you the invention? They might do it.”

“I doubt if we have time.”

“Oh, let’s take time,” Louise urged. “It sounds so interesting, Penny.”

Thus urged, Penny agreed, and with her chum, walked down the hill toward the lake.

“It sounds fishy to me,” she declared skeptically. “Probably this professor is just a crack-pot who thinks he has a wonderful invention, but hasn’t.”

“Mrs. Leonard said she saw a successful demonstration.”

“I know, Lou. But how could a light ray machine explode mines that were under water? Why, if it could be done, military warfare would be revolutionized!”

“Unbelievable changes are coming every day.”

“This one certainly is unbelievable! I’ll take no stock in it unless I see the machine work with my own eyes!”

Approaching the shack, the girls saw no one. The door was closed. And it was locked, Penny discovered, upon testing it.

“No one here,” she said in disappointment.

“They must be around somewhere,” Louise declared, unwilling to give up. “Maybe that car belongs to them.”

A sedan stood in a weed-grown lane not far away. Penny, turning to gaze carelessly at it, suddenly became excited.

“Lou, this trip has been worth while!” she cried. “Look at the license number of that auto! It’s D F 3005!”