Without tools, Penny could not hope to break into the locked room. There was only one thing to do. She must get away from the house, and bring the police!
Starting up the stairs, she stopped short. An outside door had slammed. In the room above she heard footsteps, but no voices.
Frightened, Penny remained motionless on the basement stairs. She could hear Ma Harper tramping about, evidently in search of her, for the woman muttered angrily to herself.
"I don't dare stay here," the girl thought. "I'll have to make a dash for it."
Penny reasoned that in reentering the house, Ma Harper probably had left the front door unlocked. What had become of the two men she did not know, but she would have to take a chance on their whereabouts.
Noiselessly, she crept up the stairs to the kitchen door, opening it a tiny crack. Though she could not see Ma, footsteps told her that the woman had stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the river.
"This will be as good a chance as I may get," she reasoned.
The door squeaked as she opened it wide enough to slip through. Unnerved by the sound, Penny moved swiftly across the kitchen to the living room.
"So there you are!" cried Ma Harper from the balcony.
Penny threw caution to the winds. Darting across the room, she jerked at the outside door. It opened, but on the porch, facing her, stood Sweeper Joe and Clark Clayton!
