“It will only be for a few days, Penny. I’ll have it converted into traveler’s cheques as soon as I am ready to start west.”
“The desk doesn’t seem a safe place to me.”
“You’re the only person who knows where I keep the money, Penny. Oh, yes, I told Mrs. Hodges, but she is to be trusted. No one can steal it as long as I have the key.”
Mrs. Weems tapped a black velvet ribbon which she wore about her neck.
“I keep this on me day and night,” she declared. “No thief ever will get it way from me.”
Penny said nothing more about the matter. Instead, she launched into a highly colored account of her visit to the Celestial Temple. The housekeeper expressed disapproval, remarking that she never would have granted permission had she known in advance where the girls were going. Nevertheless, her eager questions made it evident that she was deeply interested in the demonstration which had been witnessed.
“I don’t see how you can call it trickery,” she protested. “You have no proof, Penny.”
“Never in the world will I believe that spirits can make tables do a dance, Mrs. Weems! Probably the furniture had special wiring or something of the sort.”
“You can’t say that about the table at Mrs. Hodges’, Penny.”
“No, it seemed to be just an ordinary piece of furniture,” the girl admitted reluctantly. “All the same, Al Gepper is a fraud, and I wish you wouldn’t attend his old séance tomorrow.”