For possibly an hour they sat in the dark, waiting anxiously.
“Looks as if my little plan didn’t work,” Penny remarked. “I might have known it would be too simple.”
Jerry had risen to his feet. He went to the window and listened.
“Hear anything?” Penny whispered hopefully.
“Sounds like someone coming down the path. We ought to get into our cubby-hole.”
They tiptoed to the closet and closed the door.
Within a few minutes they heard a confusion of voices and the shuffle of feet as men boarded the cruiser. Penny wondered if the group included Grant Atherwald and was greatly relieved when she heard him speak.
“I don’t see why you think I would double-cross you,” he said distinctly. “I am considering my own welfare. You promised that if the gold is found you’ll give me my freedom.”
“Sure, you’ll get it. But if you’re lying about the hiding place—”
The words were drowned out by the roar of the motor boat engine. Penny and Jerry felt the floor beneath them quiver and then gently roll. The cruiser was under way.