Behind
the Green
Door

By
MILDRED A. WIRT

Author of
MILDRED A. WIRT MYSTERY STORIES
TRAILER STORIES FOR GIRLS

Illustrated

CUPPLES AND LEON COMPANY
Publishers
NEW YORK

PENNY PARKER
MYSTERY STORIES

Large 12 mo. Cloth Illustrated

TALE OF THE WITCH DOLL
THE VANISHING HOUSEBOAT
DANGER AT THE DRAWBRIDGE
BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR
CLUE OF THE SILKEN LADDER
THE SECRET PACT
THE CLOCK STRIKES THIRTEEN
THE WISHING WELL
SABOTEURS ON THE RIVER
GHOST BEYOND THE GATE
HOOFBEATS ON THE TURNPIKE
VOICE FROM THE CAVE
GUILT OF THE BRASS THIEVES
SIGNAL IN THE DARK
WHISPERING WALLS
SWAMP ISLAND
THE CRY AT MIDNIGHT

COPYRIGHT, 1940, BY CUPPLES AND LEON CO.

Behind the Green Door

PRINTED IN U. S. A.

PENNY’S TRAILING BODY, ACTING AS A BRAKE, SLOWED DOWN THE SLED.
“Behind the Green Door” ([See Page 124])

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE [1 TROUBLE FOR MR. PARKER] 1 [2 A RIVAL REPORTER] 12 [3 TRAVELING COMPANIONS] 21 [4 PINE TOP MOUNTAIN] 30 [5 OVER THE BARBED WIRE] 38 [6 PENNY TRESPASSES] 47 [7 THE GREEN DOOR] 55 [8 A CODED MESSAGE] 63 [9 A CALL FOR HELP] 72 [10 LOCKED IN THE CABIN] 79 [11 A NEWSPAPER MYSTERY] 89 [12 THE GREEN CARD] 97 [13 AN UNKIND TRICK] 105 [14 A BROKEN ROD] 115 [15 IN THE TOOL HOUSE] 123 [16 A PUZZLING SOLUTION] 129 [17 STRANGE SOUNDS] 138 [18 QUESTIONS AND CLUES] 146 [19 PETER JASKO SERVES NOTICE] 152 [20 VISITORS] 162 [21 OLD PETER’S DISAPPEARANCE] 173 [22 THE SECRET STAIRS] 182 [23 RESCUE] 189 [24 HENRI’S SALON] 197 [25 SCOOP!] 206

CHAPTER
1
TROUBLE FOR MR. PARKER

“Watch me coming down the mountain, Mrs. Weems! This one is a honey! An open christiana turn with no brakes dragging!”

Penny Parker, clad in a new black and red snowsuit, twisted her agile young body sideways, causing the small rug upon which she stood to skip across the polished floor of the living room. She wriggled her slim hips again, and it slipped in the opposite direction toward Mrs. Weems who was watching from the kitchen doorway.

“Coming down the mountain, my eye!” exclaimed the housekeeper, laughing despite herself. “You’ll be coming down on your head if you don’t stop those antics. I declare, you’ve acted like a crazy person ever since your father rashly agreed to take you to Pine Top for the skiing.”

“I have to break in my new suit and limber up my muscles somehow,” said Penny defensively. “One can’t practice outdoors when there’s no snow. Now watch this one, Mrs. Weems. It’s called a telemark.”

“You’ll reduce that rug to shreds before you’re through,” sighed the housekeeper. “Can’t you think of anything else to do?”

“Yes,” agreed Penny cheerfully, “but it wouldn’t be half as much fun. How do you like my suit?” She darted across the room to preen before the full length mirror.

A red-billed cap pulled at a jaunty angle over her blond curls, Penny made a striking figure in the well tailored suit of dark wool. Her eyes sparkled with the joy of youth and it was easy for her to smile. She was an only child, the daughter of Anthony Parker, editor and publisher of the Riverview Star, and her mother had died when she was very young.

“It looks like a good, practical suit,” conceded the housekeeper.

Penny made a wry face. “Is that the best you can say for it? Louise Sidell and I shopped all over Riverview to get the snappiest number out, and then you call it practical.”

“Oh, you know you look cute in it,” laughed Mrs. Weems. “So what’s the use of telling you?”

Before Penny could reply the telephone rang and the housekeeper went to answer it. She returned to the living room a moment later to say that Penny’s father was in need of free taxi service home from the office.

“Tell him I’ll be down after him in two shakes of a kitten’s tail!” Penny called, making for the stairway.

She took the steps two at a time and had climbed halfway out of the snowsuit by the time she reached the bedroom. A well aimed kick landed the garment on the bed, and then because it was very new and very choice she took time to straighten it out. Seizing a dress blindly from the closet, she wriggled into it and ran downstairs again.

“Some more skiing equipment may come while I’m gone,” she shouted to Mrs. Weems who was in the kitchen. “I bought a new pair of skis, a couple of poles, three different kinds of wax and a pair of red mittens.”

“Why didn’t you order the store sent out and be done with it?” responded the housekeeper dryly.

Penny pulled on her heavy coat and hurried to the garage where two cars stood side by side. One was a shining black sedan of the latest model, the other, a battered, unwashed vehicle whose reputation was as discouraging as its appearance. “Leaping Lena,” as Penny called her car, had an annoying habit of running up repair bills, and then repaying its long suffering owner by refusing to start on cold winter days.

“Lena, you get to stay in your cozy nest this time,” Penny remarked, climbing into her father’s sedan. “Dad can’t stand your rattle and bounce.”

The powerful engine started with a blast. While Mrs. Weems watched anxiously from the kitchen window, Penny shot the car out backwards, wheeling it around the curve of the driveway with speed and ease. She liked to handle her father’s automobile, and since he did not enjoy driving, she frequently called at the newspaper office to take him home.

The Star building occupied a block in the downtown section of Riverview. Penny parked the car beside the loading dock at the rear, and took an elevator to the editorial rooms. Nearly all of the desks were deserted at this late hour of the afternoon. But Jerry Livingston, one of the best reporters on the paper, was still pecking out copy on a noisy typewriter.

“Hi, Penny!” he observed, grinning as she brushed past his desk. “Have you caught any more witch dolls?”

“Not for the front page,” she flung back at him. “My newspaper career is likely to remain in a state of status quo for the next two weeks. Dad and I are heading for Pine Top to dazzle the natives with our particular brand of skiing. Don’t you envy us?”

“I certainly would, if you were going.”

“If!” exclaimed Penny indignantly. “Of course we’re going! We leave Thursday by plane. Dad needs a vacation and this time I know he won’t try to wiggle out of it at the last minute.”

“Well, I hope not,” replied Jerry in a skeptical voice. “Your father needs a good rest, Penny. But I have a sneaking notion you’re in for a disappointment again.”

“What makes you say that, Jerry? Dad promised me faithfully—”

“Sure, I know,” he nodded, “but there have been developments.”

“An important story?”

“No, it’s more serious than that. But you talk with him. I may have the wrong slant on the situation.”

Not without misgiving, Penny went on to her father’s private office and tapped on the door.

“Come in,” he called in a gruff voice, and as she entered, waved her into a chair. “You arrived a little sooner than I expected, Penny. Mind waiting a few minutes?”

“Not at all.”

Studying her father’s lean, tired-looking face, Penny decided that something was wrong. He seemed unusually worried and nervous.

“A hard day, Dad?” she asked.

Mr. Parker finished straightening a sheaf of papers before he glanced up.

“Yes, I hadn’t intended to tell you until later, but I may as well. I’m afraid our trip is off—at least as far as I’m concerned.”

“Oh, Dad!”

“It’s a big disappointment, Penny. The truth is, I’m in a spot of trouble.”

“Isn’t that the usual condition of a newspaper publisher?”

“Yes,” he smiled, “but there are different degrees of trouble, and this is the worst possible. The Star has been sued for libel, a matter of fifty odd thousand.”

“Fifty thousand!” gasped Penny. “But of course you’ll win the suit!”

“I’m not at all sure of it.” Anthony Parker spoke grimly. “My lawyer tells me that Harvey Maxwell has a strong case against the paper.”

“Harvey Maxwell?” repeated Penny thoughtfully. “Isn’t he the man who owns the Riverview Hotel?”

“Yes, and a chain of other hotels and lodges throughout the country. Harvey Maxwell is a rather well known sportsman. He lives lavishly, travels a great deal, and in general is a hard, shrewd business man.”

“He’s made a large amount of money from his hotels, hasn’t he?”

“Maxwell acquired a fortune from some source, but I’ve always had a doubt that it came from the hotel business.”

“Why is he suing the Star for libel, Dad?”

“Early this fall, while I was out of town for a day DeWitt let a story slip through which should have been killed. It was an interview with a football player named Bill Morcrum who was quoted as saying that he had been approached by Maxwell who offered him a bribe to throw an important game.”

“What would be the reason behind that?”

“Maxwell is thought by those in the know to have a finger in nearly every dishonest sports scheme ever pulled off in this town. He places heavy wagers, and seldom comes out on the losing end. But the story never should have been published.”

“It was true though?”

“I’m satisfied it was,” replied Mr. Parker. “However, it always is dangerous to make insinuations against a man.”

“Can’t the story be proven? I should think with the football player’s testimony you would have a good case.”

“That’s the trouble, Penny. This boy, Bill Morcrum, now claims he never made any such accusation against Maxwell. He says the reporter misquoted him and twisted his statements.”

“Who covered the story, Dad?”

“A man named Glower, a very reliable reporter. He swears he made no mistake, and I am inclined to believe him.”

“Then why did the football player change his story?”

“I have no proof, but it’s a fairly shrewd guess that he was approached by Maxwell a second time. Either he was threatened or offered a bribe which was large enough to sway him.”

“With both Maxwell and the football player standing together, it does rather put you on the spot,” Penny acknowledged. “What are you going to do?”

“We’ll fight the case, of course, but unless we can prove that our story was accurate, we’re almost sure to lose. I’ve asked Bill Morcrum to come to my office this afternoon, and he promised he would. He’s overdue now.”

Anthony Parker glanced at his watch and scowled. Getting up from the swivel chair he began to pace to and fro across the room.

A buzzer on his desk gave three sharp, staccato signals.

“Morcrum must be here now!” the editor exclaimed in relief. “I’ll want to see him alone.”

Penny arose to leave. As she went out the doorway she met the receptionist, accompanied by an awkward, oversized youth who shuffled his feet in walking. He grinned at her in a sheepish way and entered the private office.

While Penny waited, she entertained herself by reading all the comic strips she could find in the out-of-town exchange papers. In the adjoining room she could hear the rhythmical thumping, clicking sound of the Star’s teletype machines. She wandered aimlessly into the room to read the copy just as the machines typed it out, a story from Washington, one from Chicago, another from Los Angeles. It was fascinating to watch the print appear like magic upon the long rolls of copy paper.

Presently, the teletype attendant, young Billy Stevens, came dashing into the room.

“Oh, hello, Miss Parker,” he said with a bashful grin.

“Hello, Billy,” Penny answered cordially. She studied the keyboard of the sending teletype machine, running her fingers over the letters. “I wish I could work this thing,” she said.

“There’s nothing to it if you can run a typewriter,” answered Billy. “Just a minute, I’ll throw it off the line on to the test position. Then you can try it.”

At first Penny’s copy was badly garbled, but under Billy’s enthusiastic coaching she was soon doing accurate work.

“Say, this is fun!” she declared. “I’m coming in again one of these days and practice. Thanks a lot, Billy!”

As Penny went back into the editorial room she saw the Morcrum boy leaving her father’s office. His head was downcast and his face was flushed to the ears. Obviously, he had not had a comfortable time with Mr. Parker.

The moment the boy had vanished, Penny hurried into her father’s office to learn the outcome of the interview.

“No luck,” reported Mr. Parker, reaching for his hat and overcoat.

“He wouldn’t change his story?”

“No. He seemed like a fairly decent sort of boy, but he kept insisting he had been misquoted. I couldn’t get anywhere with him. He’ll testify for Maxwell when the case comes to trial.”

Mr. Parker put on his overcoat and hat, and opened the door for Penny. As they left the building he told her more about the interview.

“I asked the boy point-blank if he hadn’t been hired by Maxwell. Naturally, he denied it, but he acted rather alarmed. Oh, I’m satisfied he’s either been bought off or threatened.”

“When does the case come to trial?”

“The last of next month, unless we gain a delay.”

“That gives you quite a bit of time. Don’t you think you could take two weeks off anyhow, Dad? We both planned upon having such a wonderful time at Mrs. Downey’s place.”

Penny and her father had been invited to spend the Christmas holidays at Pine Top, a winter resort which attracted many Riverview persons. They especially had looked forward to the trip since they were to have been the house guests of Mrs. Christopher Downey, an old friend of Mr. Parker’s who operated a skiing lodge on the slopes of the mountain overlooking Silver Valley.

“There’s not much chance of my getting away,” Mr. Parker replied regretfully. “That is, not unless important evidence falls into my hands, or I am able to make a deal with Maxwell.”

“A deal?”

“If he would make reasonable demands I might be willing to settle out of court.”

Penny gazed at her father in blank amazement.

“And admit you were in the wrong when you’re certain you weren’t?”

“Any good general will make a strategic retreat if the situation calls for it. It might be more sensible to settle out of court than to lose the case. Maxwell has me in a tight place and knows it.”

“Then why don’t you see him? He might be fairly reasonable.”

“I suppose I could stop at the Riverview Hotel on our way home,” Mr. Parker said, frowning thoughtfully. “There’s an outside chance Maxwell may come to terms. Drop me off there, Penny.”

While the car threaded its way in and out of dense traffic, the editor remained in a deep study. Penny had never seen him look so worried. Her own disappointment was keen, yet she realized that far more than a vacation trip was at stake. Fifty thousand dollars represented a large sum of money! If Maxwell won his suit it might even mean the loss of the Riverview Star.

Sensing his daughter’s alarm, Mr. Parker reached out to pat her knee.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “we’re not licked yet, Penny! And if there’s any way to arrange it, you shall have your trip to Pine Top just as we planned.”

CHAPTER
2
A RIVAL REPORTER

Penny presently edged the sedan into a parking space across the street from the Riverview Hotel. As she switched off the ignition her father said:

“Better come along with me and wait in the lobby. It’s cold out here.”

Penny followed her father into the building. The hotel was an elegant one with many services available for guests. She noticed a florist shop, a candy store, a dry cleaning establishment, and even a small brokerage office opening off the lobby.

“Oh, yes,” said Mr. Parker as Penny called his attention to the brokerage. “Maxwell hasn’t overlooked anything. The hotel has a special leased wire which I’ve been told gives him a direct connection with his other places.”

Walking over to the desk, Mr. Parker mentioned his name and asked the clerk if he might see Harvey Maxwell.

“Mr. Maxwell is not here,” replied the man with an insolent air.

“When will he be at the hotel?”

“Mr. Maxwell has left the city on business. He does not expect to return until the end of next month.”

Mr. Parker could not hide his annoyance.

“Let me have his address then,” he said in a resigned voice. “I’ll write him.”

The clerk shook his head. “I have been instructed not to give you Mr. Maxwell’s address. If you wish to deal with him you will have to see his lawyer, Gorman S. Railey.”

“So Maxwell was expecting me to come here to make a deal with him?” demanded Mr. Parker. “Well, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll make a deal all right, but it will be in court. Good day!”

Angrily, the newspaper man strode from the lobby. Penny hurried to keep pace with him.

“That settles it,” he said tersely as they climbed into the sedan again. “This libel suit will be a fight to the finish. And maybe my finish at that!”

“Oh, Dad, I’m sure you’ll win. But it’s a pity all this had to come up just when you had planned a fine vacation. Mrs. Downey will be disappointed, too.”

“Yes, she will, Penny. And there’s Mrs. Weems to be thought about. I promised her a two weeks’ trip while we were gone.”

They drove in silence for a few blocks. As the car passed the Sidell residence, Penny’s father said thoughtfully:

“I suppose I could send you out to Pine Top alone, Penny. Or perhaps you might be able to induce your chum, Louise, to go along. Would you like that?”

“It would be more fun if you went also.”

“That’s out of the picture now. If everything goes well I might be able to join you for Christmas weekend.”

“I’m not sure Louise could go,” said Penny doubtfully. “But I can find out right away.”

After dinner that night, she lost no time in running over to the Sidell home. At first Louise was thrown into a state of ecstasy at the thought of making a trip to Pine Top and then her face became gloomy.

“I would love it, Penny! But it’s practically a waste of words to ask Mother. We’re going to my grandmother’s farm in Vermont for the holidays, and I’ll have to tag along.”

Since grade school days the two girls had been inseparable friends. Between them there was perfect understanding and they made an excellent pair, for Louise exerted a subduing effect upon the more impulsive, excitable Penny.

Inactivity bored Penny, and wherever she went she usually managed to start things moving. When nothing better offered, she tried her hand at writing newspaper stories for her father’s paper. Several of these reportorial experiences had satisfied even Penny’s deep craving for excitement.

Three truly “big” stories had rolled from her typewriter through the thundering presses of the Riverview Star: Tale of the Witch Doll, The Vanishing Houseboat, and Danger at the Drawbridge. Even now, months after her last astonishing adventure, friends liked to tease her about a humorous encounter with a certain Mr. Kippenberg’s alligator.

“Pine Top won’t be any fun without you, Lou,” Penny complained.

“Oh, yes it will,” contradicted her chum. “I know you’ll manage to stir up plenty of excitement. You’ll probably pull a mysterious Eskimo out of a snow bank or save Santa Claus from being kidnaped! That’s the way you operate.”

“Pine Top is an out of the way place, close to the Canadian border. All one can do there is eat, sleep, and ski.”

“You mean, that’s all one is supposed to do,” corrected Louise with a laugh. “But you’ll run into some big story or else you’re slipping!”

“There isn’t a newspaper within fifty miles. No railroad either. The only way in and out of the valley is by airplane, and bob-sled, of course.”

“That may cramp your style a little, but I doubt it,” declared Louise. “I do wish I could go along.”

The girls talked with Mrs. Sidell, but as they both had expected, it was not practical for Louise to make the trip.

“I’ll come to the airport to see you off on your plane,” Louise promised as Penny left the house. “You’re starting Thursday, aren’t you?”

“Yes, at ten-thirty unless there’s bad weather. But I’ll see you again before that.”

All the next day Penny packed furiously. Mr. Parker was unusually busy at the office, but he bought his daughter’s ticket and made all arrangements for the trip to Pine Top. Since Mrs. Weems also planned to leave Riverview the following day, the house was in a constant state of turmoil.

“I feel sorry for Dad being left here alone,” remarked Penny. “He’ll never make his bed, and he’ll probably exist on strong coffee and those wretched raw beef sandwiches they serve at the beanery across from the Star office.”

“I ought to give up my vacation,” declared Mrs. Weems. “It seems selfish of me not to stay here.”

Mr. Parker would not hear of such an arrangement, and so plans moved forward just as if his own trip had not been postponed.

“Dad, you’ll honestly try to come to Pine Top for Christmas?” Penny pleaded.

“I’ll do my best,” he promised soberly. “I have a hunch that Harvey Maxwell may still be in town, despite what we were told at the hotel. I intend to busy myself making a complete investigation of the man.”

“If I could help, I’d be tickled to stay, Dad.”

“There’s nothing you can do, Penny. Just go out there and have a nice vacation.”

Mr. Parker had not intended to go to the office Thursday morning until after Penny’s plane had departed, but at breakfast time a call came from DeWitt, the city editor, urging his presence at once. Before leaving, he gave his daughter her ticket and travelers checks.

“Now I expect to be at the airport to see you off,” he promised. “Until then, good-bye.”

Mr. Parker kissed Penny and hastened away. Later, Louise Sidell came to the house. Soon after ten o’clock the girls took leave of Mrs. Weems, taxiing to the airport.

“I don’t see Dad anywhere,” Penny remarked as the cabman unloaded her luggage. “He’ll probably come dashing up just as the plane takes off.”

The girls entered the waiting room and learned that the plane was “on time.” Curiously, they glanced at the other passengers. Two travelers Penny immediately tagged as business men. But she was rather interested in a plump, over-painted woman whose nervous manner suggested that she might be making her first airplane trip.

While Penny’s luggage was being weighed, two men entered the waiting room. One was a lean, sharp-faced individual suffering from a bad cold. The other, struck Penny as being vaguely familiar. He was a stout man, expensively dressed, and had a surly, condescending way of speaking to his companion.

“Who are those men?” Penny whispered to Louise. “Do you know them?”

Louise shook her head.

“That one fellow looks like someone I’ve seen,” Penny went on thoughtfully. “Maybe I saw his picture in a newspaper, but I can’t place him.”

The two men went up to the desk and the portly one addressed the clerk curtly:

“You have our reservations for Pine Top?”

“Yes, sir. Just sign your name here.” The clerk pushed forward paper and a pen.

Paying for the tickets from a large roll of greenbacks, the two men went over to the opposite side of the waiting room and sat down. Penny glanced anxiously at the clock. It was twenty minutes past ten.

A uniformed messenger boy entered the room, letting in a blast of cold air as he opened the door. He went over to the desk and the clerk pointed out the two girls.

“Now what?” said Penny in a low voice. “Maybe my trip is called off!”

The message was for her, from her father. But it was less serious than she had expected. Because an important story had “broken” it would be impossible for him to leave the office. He wished her a pleasant trip west and again promised he would bend every effort toward visiting Pine Top for Christmas.

Penny folded the message and slipped it into her purse.

“Dad won’t be able to see me off,” she explained to her chum. “I was afraid when DeWitt called him this morning he would be held up.”

Before Louise could reply the outside door opened once more, and a girl of perhaps twenty-two who walked with a long, masculine gait, came in out of the cold. Penny sat up a bit straighter in her chair.

“Do you see what I see?” she whispered.

“Who is she?” inquired Louise curiously.

“The one and only Francine Sellberg.”

“Which means nothing to me.”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t seen her by-line in the Riverview Record! Francine would die of mortification.”

“Is she a reporter?”

“She covers special assignments. And she is pretty good,” Penny added honestly. “But not quite as good as she believes.”

“Wonder what she’s doing here?”

“I was asking myself that same question.”

As the two girls watched, they saw Francine’s cool gaze sweep the waiting room. She did not immediately notice Penny and Louise whose backs were partly turned to her. Her eyes rested for an instant upon the two men who previously had bought tickets to Pine Top, and a flicker of satisfaction showed upon her face.

Moving directly to the desk she spoke to the ticket agent in a low voice, yet loudly enough for Penny and Louise to hear.

“Is it still possible to make a reservation for Pine Top?”

“Yes, we have one seat left on the plane.”

“I’ll take it,” said Francine.

Penny nudged Louise and whispered in her ear: “Did you hear that?”

“I certainly did. Why do you suppose she’s going to Pine Top? For the skiing?”

“Unless I’m all tangled in a knot, she’s after a big story for the Record. And I just wonder if those two mysterious-looking gentlemen aren’t the reason for her trip!”

CHAPTER
3
TRAVELING COMPANIONS

Francine Sellberg paid for her ticket and turned so that her gaze fell squarely upon Penny and Louise. Abruptly, she crossed over to where they sat.

“Hello, girls,” she greeted them breezily. “What brings you to the airport?”

As always, the young woman reporter’s manner was brusque and business-like. Without meaning to offend, she gave others an impression of regarding them with an air of condescension.

“I came to see Penny off,” answered Louise before her chum could speak.

“Oh, are you taking this plane?” inquired Francine, staring at Penny with quickening interest.

“I am if it ever gets here.”

“Traveling alone?”

“All by my lonesome,” Penny admitted cheerfully.

“You’re probably only going a short ways?”

“Oh, quite a distance,” returned Penny. She did not like the way Francine was quizzing her.

“Penny is going to Pine Top for the skiing,” declared Louise, never guessing that her chum preferred to withhold the information.

“Pine Top!” The smile left Francine’s face and her eyes roved swiftly toward the two men who sat at the opposite side of the room.

“We are to be traveling companions, I believe,” remarked Penny innocently.

Francine’s attention came back to the younger girl. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“So you’re going out to Pine Top for the skiing,” she said softly.

“And you?” countered Penny.

“Oh, certainly for the skiing,” retorted Francine, mockery in her voice.

“Nice of the Record to give you a vacation.”

By this time the silver-winged transport had wheeled into position on the apron, and passengers were beginning to leave the waiting room. The two men who had attracted Penny’s attention, arose and without appearing to notice the three girls, went outside.

“You don’t deceive me one bit, Penny Parker,” said Francine with a quick change of attitude. “I know very well why you are going to Pine Top, and it’s for the same reason I am!”

“You seem to have divined all my secrets, even when I don’t know them myself,” responded Penny. “Suppose you tell me why I am going to Pine Top mountain?”

“It’s perfectly obvious that your father sent you, But I am afraid he over-estimates your journalistic powers if he thinks you have had enough experience to handle a difficult assignment of this sort. I’ll warn you right now, Penny, don’t come to me for help. On this job we’re rivals. And I won’t tolerate any bungling or interference upon your part!”

“Nice to know just where we stand,” replied Penny evenly. “Then there will be no misunderstanding or tears later on.”

“Exactly. And mind you don’t give any tip-off as to who I am!”

“You mean you don’t care to have those two gentlemen who were here a moment ago know that you are a reporter for the Record.”

“Naturally.”

“And who are these men of mystery?”

“As if you don’t know!” Francine made an impatient gesture. “Oh, why pose, Penny? This innocent act doesn’t go over worth a cent.”

Louise broke indignantly into the conversation. “Penny isn’t posing! It’s true she is going to Pine Top for the skiing and not to get a story. Isn’t it?”

“Yes,” acknowledged Penny unwillingly. She was sorry that her chum had put an end to the little game with Francine.

The reporter stared at the two girls, scarcely knowing whether or not to believe them.

“Why not break down and tell me the identity of our two fellow passengers?” suggested Penny.

“So you really don’t know their names?” Francine flashed a triumphant smile. “Fancy that! Well, you’ve proven such a clever little reporter in the past, I’ll allow you to figure it out for yourself. See you in Pine Top.”

Turning away, the young woman went back to the desk to speak once more with the ticket man.

“Doesn’t she simply drip conceit!” Louise whispered in disgust. “Did I make a mistake in letting her know that you weren’t on an assignment?”

“It doesn’t matter, Lou. Shall we be going out to the plane before I miss it?”

The huge streamliner stood warming up on the ribbon of cement, long tongues of flame leaping from the exhausts. Nearly all of the passengers already had taken their seats in the warm, cozy cabin.

“Good-bye, Lou,” Penny said, shaking her chum’s hand.

“Good-bye. Have a nice time. And don’t let that know-it-all Francine get ahead of you!”

“Not if I can help it,” laughed Penny.

Francine had left the waiting room and was walking with a brisk step toward the plane. Not wishing to be the last person aboard, Penny stepped quickly into the cabin. All but two seats were taken. One was at the far end of the plane, the other directly behind the two strange men.

Penny slid into the latter chair just as Francine came into the cabin. As she went down the aisle to take the only remaining seat, the reporter shot the younger girl an irritated glance.

“She thinks I took this place just to spite her!” thought Penny. “How silly!”

The stewardess, trim in her blue-green uniform, had closed the heavy metal door. The plane began to move down the ramp, away from the station’s canopied entrance. Penny leaned close to the window and waved a last good-bye to Louise.

As the speed of the engines was increased, the plane raced faster and faster over the smooth runway. A take-off was not especially thrilling to Penny who often had made flights with her father. She shook her head when the stewardess offered her cotton for her ears, but accepted a magazine.

Penny flipped carelessly through the pages. Finding no story worth reading, she turned her attention to her fellow passengers. Beside her, on the right, sat the over-painted woman, her hands gripping the arm rests so hard that her knuckles showed white.

“We—we’re in the air now, aren’t we?” she asked nervously, meeting Penny’s gaze. “I do hope I’m not going to be sick.”

“I am sure you won’t be,” replied Penny. “The air is very quiet today.”

“They tell me flying over the mountains in winter time is dangerous.”

“Not in good weather with a skilful pilot. I am sure we will be in no danger.”

“Just the same I never would have taken a plane if it hadn’t been the only way of reaching Pine Top.”

Penny turned to regard her companion with new interest. The woman was in her early forties, though she had attempted by the lavish use of make-up to appear younger. Her hair was a bleached yellow, dry and brittle from too frequent permanent waving. Her shoes were slightly scuffed, and a tight-fitting black crepe dress, while expensive, was shiny from long use.

“Oh, are you traveling to Pine Top, too?” inquired Penny. “Half the passengers on this plane must be heading for there.”

“Is that where you are going?”

“Yes,” nodded Penny. “I plan to visit an old friend who has an Inn on the mountain side, and try a little skiing.”

“This is strictly a business trip with me,” confided the woman. She had relaxed now that the transport was flying at an even keel. “I am going there to see Mr. Balantine—David Balantine. You’ve heard of him, of course.”

Penny shook her head.

“My dear, everyone in the East is familiar with his name. Mr. Balantine has a large chain of theatres throughout the country. He produces his own shows, too. I hope to get a leading part in a new production which will soon be cast.”

“Oh, I see,” murmured Penny. “You are an actress?”

“I’ve been on the stage since I was twelve years old,” the woman answered proudly. “You must have seen my name on the billboards. I am Miss Miller. Maxine Miller.”

“I should like to see one of your plays,” Penny responded politely.

“The truth is I’ve been ‘at liberty’ for the past year or two,” the actress admitted with an embarrassed laugh. “‘At liberty’ is a word we show people use when we’re temporarily out of work. The movies have practically ruined the stage.”

“Yes, I know.”

“For several weeks I have been trying to get an interview with Mr. Balantine. His secretaries would not make an appointment for me. Then quite by luck I learned that he planned to spend two weeks at Pine Top. I thought if I could meet him out there in his more relaxed moments, he might give me a role in the new production.”

“Isn’t it a rather long chance to take?” questioned Penny. “To go so far just in the hope of seeing this man?”

“Yes, but I like long chances. And I’ve tried every other way to meet him. If I win the part I’ll be well repaid for my time and money.”

“And if you fail?”

Maxine Miller shrugged. “The bread line, perhaps, or burlesque which would be worse. If I stay at Pine Top more than a few days I’ll never have money enough to get back here. They tell me Pine Top is high-priced.”

“I don’t know about that,” answered Penny.

As the plane winged its way in a northwesterly direction, the actress kept the conversational ball rolling at an exhausting pace. She told Penny all about herself, her trials and triumphs on the stage. As first, it was fairly interesting, but as Miss Miller repeated herself, the girl became increasingly bored. She shrewdly guessed that the actress never had been the outstanding stage success she visioned herself.

Penny paid more than ordinary attention to the two men who sat in front of her. However, Miss Miller kept her so busy answering questions that she could not have overheard their talk, even if she had made an effort to do so.

Therefore, when the plane made a brief stop, she was astonished to have Francine sidle over to her as she sat on a high stool at the lunch stand, and say in a cutting tone:

“Well, did you find out everything you wanted to know? I saw you listening hard enough.”

“Eavesdropping isn’t my method,” replied Penny indignantly. “It’s stupid and is employed only by trash fiction writers and possibly Record reporters.”

“Say, are you suggesting—?”

“Yes,” interrupted Penny wearily. “Now please go find yourself a roost!”

Francine ignored the empty stools beside Penny and went to the far side of the lunch room. A moment later the two men, who had caused the young woman reporter such concern, entered and sat down at a counter near Penny, ordering sandwiches and coffee.

Rather ironically, the girl could not avoid hearing their conversation, and almost their first words gave her an unpleasant shock.

“Don’t worry, Ralph,” said the stout one. “Nothing stands in our way now.”

“You’re not forgetting Mrs. Downey’s place?”

“We’ll soon take care of her,” the other boasted. “That’s why I’m going out to Pine Top with you, Ralph. I’ll show you how these little affairs are handled.”

CHAPTER
4
PINE TOP MOUNTAIN

Penny was startled by the remarks of the two men because she felt certain that the Mrs. Downey under discussion must be the woman at whose inn she would spend a two weeks’ vacation. Was it possible that a plot was being hatched against her father’s friend? And what did Francine know about it?

She glanced quickly toward the young woman reporter who was doing battle with a tough steak which threatened to leap off her plate whenever she tried to cut it. Apparently, Francine had not heard any part of the conversation.

Being only human, Penny decided that despite her recent comments, she could not be expected to abandon a perfectly good sandwich in the interests of theoretical honor. She remained at her post and waited for the men to reveal more.

Unobligingly, they began to talk of the weather and politics. Penny finished her sandwich, and sliding down from the stool wandered outdoors.

“I wish I knew who those men are,” she thought. “Francine could tell me if she weren’t so horrid.”

Penny waited until the last possible minute before boarding the plane. As she stepped inside the cabin she was surprised to see that Francine had taken the chair beside Maxine Miller, very coolly moving Penny’s belongings to the seat at the back of the airliner.

“Did you two decide to change places?” inquired the stewardess as Penny hesitated beside the empty chair.

“I didn’t decide. It just seems to be an accomplished fact.”

The stewardess went down the aisle and touched Francine’s arm. “Usually the passengers keep their same seats throughout the journey,” she said with a pleasant smile. “Would you mind?”

Francine did mind for she had cut her lunch short in the hope of obtaining the coveted chair, but she could not refuse to move. Frowning, she went back to her former place.

Actually, Penny was not particular where she sat. There was no practical advantage in being directly behind the two strangers, for their voices were seldom audible above the roar of the plane. On the other hand, Miss Miller talked loudly and with scarcely a halt for breath. Penny was rather relieved when an early stop for dinner enabled her to gain a slight respite.

With flying conditions still favorable, the second half of the journey was begun. Penny curled up in her clean, comfortable bed, and the gentle rocking of the plane soon lulled her to sleep. She did not awaken until morning when the stewardess came to warn her they soon would be at their destination. Penny dressed speedily, and enjoyed a delicious breakfast brought to her on a tray. She had just finished when Francine staggered down the aisle, eyes bloodshot, her straight black hair looking as if it had never been combed.

“Will I be glad to get off this plane!” she moaned. “What a night!”

“I didn’t notice anything wrong with it,” said Penny. “I take it you didn’t sleep well.”

“Sleep? I never closed my eyes all night, not with this roller-coaster sliding down one mountain and up another. I thought every minute we were going to crash.”

Maxine Miller likewise seemed to have spent an uncomfortable night, for her face was haggard and worn. She looked five years older and her make-up was smeared.

“Tell me, do I look too dreadful?” she asked Penny anxiously. “I want to appear my best when I meet Mr. Balantine.”

“You’ll have time to rest up before you see him,” the girl replied kindly.

“How long before we reach Pine Top?”

“We should be approaching there now.” Penny studied the terrain below with deep interest, noting mountain ranges and beautiful snowy valleys.

At last the plane circled and swept down on a small landing field which had been cleared of snow. Passengers began to pour from the cabin, grateful that the long journey was finally at an end.

“I hope I see you again,” said Penny, extending her hand to Miss Miller. “And the best of luck with Mr. Balantine.”

Eagerly, she gathered together her possessions and stepped out of the plane into blinding sunlight. The air was crisp and cold, but there was a quality to it which made her take long, deep breaths. Beyond the landing field stood a tall row of pine trees, each topped with a layer of snow like the white icing of a cake. From somewhere far away she could hear the merry jingle of sleigh bells.

“So this is Pine Top!” thought Penny. “It’s as pretty as a Christmas card!”

A small group of persons were at the field to meet the plane. Catching sight of a short, sober-looking little woman who was bundled in furs, Penny hastened toward her.

“Mrs. Downey!” she cried.

“Penny, my dear! How glad I am to see you!” The woman clasped her firmly, planting a kiss on either cheek. “But your father shouldn’t have disappointed me. Why didn’t he come along?”

“He wanted to, but he’s up to his eyebrows in trouble. A man is suing him for libel.”

“Oh, that is bad,” murmured Mrs. Downey. “I know what legal trouble means because I’ve had an unpleasant taste of it myself lately. But come, let’s get your luggage and be starting up the mountain.”