CHAPTER 17 VISITORS NOT PERMITTED

Penny stood before the mirror in the hotel room and struggled to coax a little curl into her damp hair. She and Louise had spent two hours splashing in the surf that morning. The salt water had tightened their skins and produced discouraging results with their tresses.

“This place does have it over a forest camp,” Penny said, gazing about the comfortably furnished room she shared with Louise. Her father’s room was three doors down the hall. “A shower bath, no meals to cook, no dishes to wash, and the sea at one’s elbow.”

“I like it better,” replied Louise. She had curled up kitten fashion on the bed and was making deep inroads into a box of chocolates. “So far though, we’ve not done much fancy sleuthing.”

“We’ve only been here a few hours. Where do you suppose Mrs. Deline keeps herself?”

“In her room no doubt. Why do you worry about her so much, Penny?”

Penny twisted a few ringlets over her finger and abandoned the project as hopeless. “Lou, you know all the prize answers without asking me,” she said. “I’ve told you a dozen times why I distrust that woman.”

“Doesn’t it all simmer down to one thing? You’re jealous as a green-eyed cat!”

“Maybe I do dislike her,” Penny grinned. “On second thought, I’m sure of it! But facts are facts and have nothing to do with my personal feelings. In the first place, didn’t she get Dad to bring her with us to Sunset Beach?”

“But what does that prove? She has no car of her own and the trains are so crowded.”

“I think she knew that Dad was coming here to try to dig up a story about the outlaw radio station,” Penny went on, unruffled. “She’s probably pumped him of information.”

“Your father knows how to look after himself.”

“That’s what he thinks!” Penny muttered. “I wouldn’t place any wagers on it myself. Why, he’s been as blind as a bat.”

“I’m afraid you see enough for two or three people,” Louise chuckled.

“I told you, didn’t I, how that vampire tried to steal our car while we were on our way here?”

“Two or three times, darling.”

“Well, it would bear repeating. I think she intended to meet someone that night—perhaps the same person who was hiding in the woods!”

Louise, methodically eating chocolates, mulled over the possibility.

“Jerry told us that an escaped flier from a Canadian prison camp may be hiding somewhere near here,” Penny resumed, wandering to the window. “Perhaps Mrs. Deline is trying to help him!”

“You have a new theory every minute,” Louise yawned. “Why not think up one and stick to it?”

Penny did not answer for at that moment she observed Jerry Livingston leaving the veranda of the hotel.

“Come on, Lou!” she cried, jerking her chum off the bed. “I want to see Jerry before he escapes!”

“Talk about Mrs. Deline pursuing your defenseless father!” Louise protested as she was pulled down the hall to the elevator. “Her tactics at least are more subtle than yours!”

“This is different,” Penny retorted shamelessly. “Jerry and I are old friends.”

Swinging through the revolving doors of the hotel, the girls raced after Jerry. Breathless from running, they finally overtook him far down the boardwalk.

“Why, hello,” he greeted them with a broad smile. “I hear you’ve moved into the hotel.”

“Lock, stock and barrel,” Penny laughed. “We want to be in the thick of things. Any news about the radio station?”

“Nothing I can report, I’m on my way now to Intercept Headquarters.”

“Did you see Dad this morning?”

“Only for a few minutes. He’s doing a little special work for me.”

“At least I’m glad it’s for you and not Mrs. Deline,” Penny said stiffly. “Jerry, there are some things you should know about that woman.”

“Suppose you unburden your heart,” Jerry invited, seating himself on a sand dune. “I have about ten minutes to listen.”

“Don’t encourage her,” sighed Louise. “She’s slightly cracked on the subject, you know.”

“Nevertheless, Penny has ideas at times,” Jerry paid her tribute. “Shoot!”

Talking like a whirlwind, Penny delved deeply into the subject of Mrs. Deline. She repeated how the widow had buried a package in the sand, but it was not until the episode of the cabin was described that Jerry really seemed interested.

“Penny, at first I didn’t take your Mrs. Deline talk very seriously,” he admitted. “Perhaps you have something after all!”

“I’m sure of it, Jerry!”

“Have you reported to the park rangers?”

“Dad may have seen them, I’m not sure. We left camp in a big rush.”

“Then I’ll take care of that, Penny. We’ll have the park searched again and try to find that fellow!”

“Then you do believe he’s the escaped flier!” Penny exclaimed.

“Probably not,” was Jerry’s discouraging reply. “Nevertheless, we can’t afford to overlook any possibility.”

“What about the package in the sand?”

“You remember where it was buried?”

“Approximately.”

“I’ll not have time to go with you now,” Jerry said, looking at his wrist watch.

“Louise and I haven’t much to do this morning. We’ll be glad to search.”

“Go ahead,” Jerry urged. “If you fail then I can take over. The important thing is not to tip off your hand. Don’t let anyone suspect what you’re about.”

Penny and Louise nodded soberly. They felt rather important to have been assigned a definite task.

“Report to me as soon as you find that package,” Jerry urged as he started on. “It may contain something of vital importance. It may not. We’ll withhold judgment until we have the facts.”

Left to themselves, the girls lost not a moment in hastening to the section of beach where Mrs. Deline had been seen to bury the package.

“Now just where was it?” Penny asked, gazing about the deserted dunes. “What became of our marker?”

“We left a stick to show the exact spot.”

“Not a sign of it now. What wretched luck!”

Though the girls knew the general locality where the package had been buried, all of the dunes looked discouragingly alike. Not a footprint remained to guide them.

“I’ll bet a cent Mrs. Deline came back here and removed that stick!” Penny declared. “Maybe she dug up the package too!”

“Anyone could have taken the stick. Why do you think she did it?”

“Because she watched us digging for the package. Well, let’s look for it anyhow.”

With none too much enthusiasm, the girls set to work. The tide was much lower than upon their last visit and the shoreline did not look the same. Nor could they agree within forty feet of the right place to dig.

“You try one dune, and I’ll work on another,” Penny offered as a compromise.

An hour of unavailing work found the pair too discouraged to keep on digging.

“If this is the right place, Mrs. Deline or someone has removed the package,” Penny declared, sinking back on her heels.

“We may as well give up,” Louise added wearily.

Penny slid down the dune and emptied sand from her shoes.

“There should be an easy way to beat Mrs. Deline at her own little game,” she remarked thoughtfully. “For instance, why does she always wear that jade green charm?”

“Because she likes it I’d imagine.”

“But wouldn’t you think she’d take it off at night?”

“Perhaps she does, Penny.”

“Not the night I was with her. I distinctly gained the impression that there was something about it she was afraid I’d see.”

“A message contained inside?”

“That’s been my theory from the first, Lou. Now if only we could lay our hands on the charm—”

“Finding the package would be a lot easier. We can’t waylay the woman and take the jade elephant by force. Or can we?”

“No,” Penny agreed reluctantly, “I don’t think Dad would like that. And there’s always the possibility I might be wrong.”

“The probability, you mean,” corrected Louise.

Penny retied her shoes and glanced toward the hotel. Far up the beach she saw Mrs. Deline, and the widow was walking slowly toward the sand dunes.

“Duck!” Penny ordered, rolling over one of the high ridges. “We don’t want her to see us here. She’ll suspect what we’ve been up to.”

Louise crouched behind the dune with her chum, though she complained that she felt silly doing it. Apparently, Mrs. Deline had not seen the girls. She came steadily on.

Drawing close, she peered directly at the dune where the girls had taken refuge. For a second they feared that she had seen them. But she passed on without another glance.

“It looks to me as though she’s on her way to the lighthouse again,” Penny remarked after Mrs. Deline was far down the beach. “Wonder why she goes there so often?”

“I thought visitors weren’t allowed.”

“According to the rules they’re not.”

From behind the dune, the girls kept watch of the widow. Presently they saw her climb the steps of the lighthouse and disappear into the interior.

“Well, that settles it!” Penny exclaimed indignantly.

“Settles what?” Louise straightened up, brushing sand from her skirt.

“If Mrs. Deline can get into that lighthouse, so can I. We’ll make an issue of it!”

“Not today,” said Louise dubiously.

“Right now!” Penny corrected, starting down the beach. “That lighthouse is government property, and as citizens we have certain rights. Let’s assert them and see what happens!”