“The nearest house with a telephone is about a half mile away.”
“It won’t take us long to cover the distance,” Jerry said, helping her down from the boat.
“You go alone,” urged Penny. “I’ll stay here and keep watch.”
“I don’t like to leave you.”
“Go on.” Penny gave him a little push. “And hurry!”
After Jerry had reluctantly left, she plunged into the trees, carefully picking her way along the path which led to the lily pool. A short distance brought her to the clearing. Halting, she saw the three men and Grant Atherwald silhouetted in the bright moonlight. The latter was still handcuffed, guarded by Aaron Dietz who allowed his companions to do the hard labor.
Gus and Jake had broken open the door of the stone tower. The soft purr of a motor told Penny that they had started draining the pool. She wondered what the men would do when they discovered that the tank contained a very live alligator.
“It ought to put a crimp in their work,” she chuckled. “Mr. Kippenberg couldn’t have chosen a more effective guard for his gold.”
But gradually as the pool drained lower and lower, it struck Penny as odd that the men did not notice the alligator. Belatedly, it occurred to her that the Kippenberg gardener had probably succeeded in getting rid of the monster since her visit to the garden earlier in the day.
“Something like that would happen,” she thought. “Oh, well, even so Jerry ought to get here with the police in ample time.”