Later in the evening when Mrs. Downey stopped to inquire how she was feeling, Penny asked her about the train service near Pine Top.
“The nearest railroad is thirty miles away,” replied the woman. “It is a very tedious journey to Pine Top unless one comes by airplane.”
“Is the plane service under the control of the Fergus-Maxwell interests?”
“Not to my knowledge,” returned Mrs. Downey, surprised by the question. “This same airline company sent planes here even before the Fergus hotel was built, but not on a regular schedule.”
Left alone once more, Penny slipped the typewritten message under her pillow and drew a long sigh. Somehow she was making no progress in any line. From whom had Ralph Fergus received the coded note, and what was its meaning?
“I’ll never learn anything lying here in bed,” she murmured gloomily. “Tomorrow I’ll get up even if it kills me.”
True to her resolve, she was downstairs in time for breakfast the next morning.
“Oh, Penny,” protested Mrs. Downey anxiously, “don’t you think you should have stayed in bed? I can tell it hurts you to walk.”
“I’ll limber up with exercise. I may take a little hike down to the village later on.”
Mrs. Downey sadly shook her head. She thought that Penny had entirely too much determination for her own good.