"Oh, it wouldn't do any harm," replied the detective carelessly. "But on a night like this there's no chance anyone will visit us——"
Mr. Nichols' voice trailed slowly away. As if in contradiction to his words, there came a sharp rap on the door.
CHAPTER VI
The Attic Door
"It seems that you are wrong, Dad," commented Penny dryly. "Already we have a visitor."
Mr. Nichols went to the door and flung it open. The light revealed a bedraggled young man who might have been in his early twenties. He was not very well dressed and his clothes were rain soaked. Penny and her father regarded the stranger a trifle suspiciously until he spoke.
"I beg your pardon," the young man said apologetically, "but I am looking for the Herman Crocker place. Would you be kind enough to direct me?"
"Why, certainly," replied the detective. "Come in out of the rain, won't you?"
"Thanks, but my shoes are covered with mud."