"Couldn't we sneak up to the house and peek in one of the windows?"
"We might be caught."
"True, but we'll learn nothing more here."
Debating a moment, the girls emerged from their hiding place. To reach the house they were compelled to cross an open stretch of beach. However, no one was to be seen outside the dwelling and their arrival appeared to attract no notice of anyone inside.
"How about that window at the east side?" Penny suggested.
The one she pointed out was half screened by bushes and at a level which would permit them to peer inside.
"Okay," agreed Sally, "but I'd hate to be caught at this business. The Harpers hate me and they would be mighty unpleasant if they came upon us snooping."
"What a harsh word!" chuckled Penny. "All this comes under the heading of investigation! The only difference is that Mr. Gandiss' detectives are paid and we aren't."
"If I could get the brass lantern back that would be pay enough for me," Sally returned.
Creeping to the window, the girls cautiously peeped into the house. The panes were so dirty it was hard to see inside. But they were able to distinguish three persons sitting at a living room table. Papers were spread out before them, and they were adding figures. There was no sign of the sack which had been carried into the house.
"Who are they?" Penny asked her companion.
"Joe the Sweeper, Ma Harper and her husband. Another woman is coming into the room now. But she's only a stupid houseworker Ma hires by the week."
Sally moved backwards, intending to give Penny her place at the window. Inadvertently, she stepped on a stick which broke in two with a snap. Though the sound was not loud, it apparently was heard by those inside the house.
For immediately Claude Harper shoved back his chair and started toward the window.
"What was that?" the girls heard him mutter. "I thought I heard someone outside."
"Quick! Crouch down or he'll see us!" Penny warned, pulling Sally to the ground.
Claude Harper, a sallow-faced man in dirty leather jacket, appeared at the window. To the alarm of the girls, he thrust up the sash. In plain view, should he peer down over the ledge, they held their breath.
The man, however, gazed toward the boat docks. "I don't see anyone," he reported to his companions. "I was sure I heard something--" he broke off, ending sharply: "And I did too!"
"What is it, Claude?" his wife called.
"Anyone been here this afternoon?" he demanded.
"Nary a soul until you came."
"Take a look at those shoetracks in the sand!"
Hearing the words, Penny and Sally gazed behind them. From the bush on the beach to the wall where they crouched, led a telltale trail.
"I'll go outside and look around!" Harper said to his wife. He slammed down the window.
"We're sunk!" Sally moaned. "We can't run across the beach without being seen, and we're certain to be caught here."
Keeping close to the wall, treading in firm earth which left no visible shoemarks, the girls crept around the building corner. The slamming of a door warned them that Claude Harper already was on their trail.
"Someone's been here by the window!" they heard him shout.
Frantically, the girls looked about for a place to hide. There was no shrubbery nearby, only the waterfront. Penny's desperate gaze fastened upon the rowboat tied up at the pier nearby. In the bottom lay an old canvas sail.
"Quick! The boat!" she whispered to Sally.
"We'll be caught there sure!"
"It's even more certain if we stay here. Come on, it's our only chance."
Choosing the lesser of two evils, they tiptoed across the pier. Though many of the boards were rotten and loose, their shoes fortunately made no sound.
Scrambling down into the boat, the girls jerked the canvas sail over them. Barely had they hidden themselves, than their hearts sank, for they heard heavy footsteps approaching on the pier.
