CHAPTER 11 A FAMILIAR CAR

Louise gazed again at the automobile parked in the lane and at its mud-splattered license number.

“D F 3005,” she read aloud. “What about it, Penny?”

“Why, that is the number of the car that went off with Salt Sommers’ camera and plates the night of the big explosion,” her chum explained excitedly.

“You’re sure it’s the same auto?”

“It certainly looks like it. Now I remember! Salt traced the license to an owner named Bettenridge!”

Hopeful of recovering the lost property, Penny, with Louise close at her side, tramped through the high grass to the deserted lane. Apparently the car owner had not gone far, for the doors had not been locked.

Penny climbed boldly in. A glance assured her that the camera or plates were not on the back seat where they had been tossed. As Penny ran her hands beneath the cushions, Louise plucked nervously at her skirt.

“Someone is coming, Penny! A man and a woman! They’re heading straight toward this car.”

“All the better,” declared Penny, undisturbed. “If they own the car, we may be able to learn what became of Salt’s property.”

The man, middle-aged, was tall and thin and wore rimless glasses. He walked with a very slight limp. His wife, a striking brunette, who appeared many years his junior, might have been attractive had she not resorted to exaggerated make-up.

“Good afternoon,” the professor said, eyeing the girls sharply. “My car seems to interest you.”

“I was searching for something I thought might be on the back seat,” Penny explained.

“Indeed? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“I was looking for a camera and plates.”

“I regret I still fail to follow you,” the man said stiffly. “Why should our car contain a camera? My wife and I take no interest in photography.”

“Aren’t you Professor Bettenridge?”

“I am.”

Penny gazed again at the car. “This must be the automobile,” she said, deeply troubled. “On the night of the Conway Steel Plant explosion, I tossed a camera and photographic plates into the back seat to prevent them being destroyed by a mob.”

“Not this car,” said the professor with quiet finality. “I have not been in Riverview for nearly a month.”

“A woman who resembled your wife was driving the car.”

“Are you accusing me of stealing a camera?” the woman demanded angrily.

“Oh, no! Certainly not! I just thought—” Penny became confused and finished: “The camera was expensive and didn’t belong to me.”

“I know nothing about the matter! You certainly have your nerve accusing me!”

“Come, come,” said the professor, giving his wife a significant, warning glance. “There is no need for disagreement. The young ladies are quite welcome to search the car.”

“We’ve already looked,” Penny admitted. “The camera isn’t there.”

“Isn’t it possible you were mistaken in the automobile?”

“I may have jotted down a wrong license number,” Penny acknowledged reluctantly. “I’m sorry.”

She turned to leave.

“That’s quite all right,” the professor assured her, his tone now becoming more friendly. “Do you girls live near here?”

“In Riverview,” Louise supplied eagerly. “We drove over for a picnic. Mrs. Leonard told us about your light ray machine!”

“Indeed.” Professor Bettenridge looked none too pleased.

“She said you might be willing to show it to us.”

“Mrs. Leonard displays a remarkable interest in our affairs,” Mrs. Bettenridge commented sarcastically.

Again her husband shot her a warning glance.

“My dear, it is only natural that she should be interested in such an amazing machine as ours,” he said. “I see no reason why the young ladies should not view it.”

“Oh, may we?” Louise cried eagerly.

Although his wife scowled with displeasure, the professor bade the girls follow him to the nearby shack. The door was padlocked and he opened it with a key.

Inside, the room was bare of furniture. There were a few boxes and a large table upon which rested a sizeable object covered with canvas.

“My secret ray machine is expected to revolutionize warfare,” the professor said proudly. “Behold the product of fifteen years of faithful work!”

Dramatically he jerked aside the canvas cover, revealing a complicated mechanism of convex and concave mirrors which rotated on their bases. In the center of the machine was a small crystal ball.

“How does it operate?” Louise asked, deeply impressed.

“I am afraid a technical explanation would be too involved for you to understand. Briefly, a musical note produced on the crystal globe, is carried by ultra violet ray to the scene of the mine. The vibration will cause any unstable substance such as melinite to explode.”

“And you claim you actually can explode mines with this machine?” Penny asked.

“I not only claim it, I have demonstrated the machine’s powers,” Professor Bettenridge replied. “How I do it, of course, is my own secret.”

“Will you explode a mine for us now?” Louise questioned eagerly.

Professor Bettenridge looked mildly amused. “My dear young lady,” he said. “Do you realize that mines are very expensive? I have been able to obtain only a few, and naturally I must save them for official tests.”

“Of course,” stammered Louise. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Besides, the demonstrations have a certain element of danger,” the professor resumed. “I never give one without my assistant.”

Penny, who had been studying the machine with increasing interest, remarked that a story about it might make an interesting feature for the Star. To her surprise, the professor did not seem to favor the idea.

“You are employed by a newspaper?” he inquired.

“Yes, the Star.”

“I must ask you to say nothing about this matter,” the professor directed. “Under no circumstance could I permit a story to be written about my work.”

“But why?”

“Publicity at this time might rob me of an opportunity to sell the machine. A very prominent man, James Johnson, is now considering its purchase.”

“But I thought you were expecting to sell your invention to the government,” Penny said, puzzled.

Professor Bettenridge bit his lip. Obviously, he was beginning to share his wife’s annoyance at the girls.

“I regret I can’t tell you all the details of my negotiations,” he said. “My wife and I are very tired, so if you will excuse us—”

“Certainly,” said Penny, taking the hint. “Louise and I must be on our way to Riverview.”

They started to leave, but before they could reach the door, someone tapped lightly on it. Professor Bettenridge and his wife exchanged a quick glance which Penny could not fathom. For a fleeting instant, she thought they both looked frightened.

Then the professor went to the door and opened it. A little man in a derby hat and with an apologetic manner stood on the threshold.

“Mr. Johnson!” exclaimed the professor, extending his hand. “My wife and I did not expect you until tomorrow.”

“I came a little sooner than I planned,” the newcomer admitted. “A business conference I had expected to attend was postponed until tomorrow. Naturally, that has upset my schedule. I had hoped you might consent to a demonstration of your machine tonight.”

“Tonight?” The professor seemed caught off guard. “But that is impossible!”

“Impossible?” inquired Mr. Johnson. “Why?”

“For one thing, my assistant is not here.”

“Can’t you get in touch with him?”

“I doubt it. Besides, I have another engagement.” The professor hesitated and added: “Officials of the Navy have invited me to confer with them tonight at the Gables Hotel in Riverview. I rather expect them to make me a very attractive offer for my invention.”

“But you promised me first option on it!” Mr. Johnson protested. “If necessary, I can wait for the demonstration tomorrow night, though it will greatly inconvenience me.”

“Tomorrow at eight o’clock,” the professor nodded. “If you should care to put up a small sum of money as a guarantee of your intentions, I promise to make no final deal with the Navy until after that time.”

“Why, yes,” Mr. Johnson agreed, taking out his check book. “Any amount you say.”

Feeling themselves no longer welcome by the Bettenridges, Penny and Louise slipped quietly away. As they climbed the hill they could hear the professor and Mr. Johnson discussing the amount to be paid.

“It’s a graft, if you ask me,” Penny declared. “Poor Mr. Johnson seems hypnotized.”

“I wish we could see that test tomorrow night!”

“So do I. In fact, I’d be willing to bet the machine won’t work.”

“What makes you think so?”

“Just my doubting nature, I suppose. No, there’s more to it than that, Lou. Didn’t you notice how startled the Bettenridges were when their star customer appeared?”

“They did look a bit upset.”

“And the professor refused to give a demonstration tonight, although obviously it would have been to his advantage.”

“He explained he had an engagement with Navy men.”

“Which I suspect was all a made-up story. No, Lou, there must be another reason why the professor was unwilling to give the demonstration. He probably knows his machine won’t work.”

“You’re convinced he’s a fraud.”

“Yes, I am,” Penny said. “Furthermore, I believe he knows what became of Salt’s camera.”

“We can’t prove anything.”

“No, but if he would steal a camera he might also take to swindle in a big way.”

“There’s nothing we can do unless we want to report him to the police.”

“I have a little idea,” Penny confessed. “As soon as we reach Riverview I propose to check the Gables Hotel and learn if any Navy men have registered there. By talking to them, we may get at the truth.”