Penny heard the automobile halt at the curbing. The next instant a hard object crashed through the windowpane, dropping with a thud at Betty's feet. Almost by a miracle she had escaped being struck by the flying splinters of glass.
Penny sprang to her feet, rushing to the door. She caught only a fleeting glimpse of the retreating car.
Betty was staring at a piece of paper which lay upon the carpet. It had been wrapped around a small stone.
"You read it," she begged Penny. "I'm afraid."
Penny reached down and picked it up. The message had been printed on cheap brown wrapping paper. It bore the warning:
"JEROME DAVIS, THIS IS THE LAST
WARNING YOU WILL RECEIVE FROM US.
WE GIVE YOU TWENTY-FOUR HOURS TO
CHANGE YOUR MIND."
"It's a threat from the Molberg gang!" Betty declared tensely as Penny finished reading the message aloud. "Oh, I'll never feel easy again until every member of that outfit has been placed behind bars! What do you think they will do when Father defies them?"
"Probably nothing," Penny comforted. "Most anonymous notes are sent by cowards and the threats seldom carried out. At least Dad doesn't regard them very seriously. He's been threatened by the Molberg gang too."
"And have they made no attempt to harm him?" Betty asked.
"Not to my knowledge. Dad seems more than able to look after himself, and I'm certain your father knows how to protect himself too."