“That one fellow looks like someone I’ve seen,” Penny went on thoughtfully. “Maybe I saw his picture in a newspaper, but I can’t place him.”
The two men went up to the desk and the portly one addressed the clerk curtly:
“You have our reservations for Pine Top?”
“Yes, sir. Just sign your name here.” The clerk pushed forward paper and a pen.
Paying for the tickets from a large roll of greenbacks, the two men went over to the opposite side of the waiting room and sat down. Penny glanced anxiously at the clock. It was twenty minutes past ten.
A uniformed messenger boy entered the room, letting in a blast of cold air as he opened the door. He went over to the desk and the clerk pointed out the two girls.
“Now what?” said Penny in a low voice. “Maybe my trip is called off!”
The message was for her, from her father. But it was less serious than she had expected. Because an important story had “broken” it would be impossible for him to leave the office. He wished her a pleasant trip west and again promised he would bend every effort toward visiting Pine Top for Christmas.
Penny folded the message and slipped it into her purse.
“Dad won’t be able to see me off,” she explained to her chum. “I was afraid when DeWitt called him this morning he would be held up.”