"We ought to do something about it, Dad," Penny said earnestly.
"Now don't get worked up over the affair. We haven't any proof that the boy is mistreated. If the local authorities aren't interested in the case, we have no call to interfere. We'd only stir up a tempest in a teapot."
"I suppose you're right," Penny admitted reluctantly. "You usually are."
"I'd forget the Crocker family if I were you. Try to enjoy your vacation."
Penny did not wish to forget about Perry. She felt that he deserved a better fate than life with a queer old man like Herman Crocker.
Later in the evening as she sat with a book, she kept thinking of the boy. She could not keep her mind on anything she read.
At nine o'clock it began to rain. The wind, steadily growing stronger, rattled the windowpanes.
"I'm afraid this will be a noisy place tonight," commented Mr. Nichols. "But I'm drowsy enough to sleep through anything."
Mrs. Masterbrook had retired soon after the dishes were washed. After getting himself a drink in the kitchen, Mr. Nichols announced that he too was going to bed.
"I'll be coming along in a few minutes," Penny said. "How about the doors? Shall I lock them?"