At the rear of the house a door slammed. Suddenly Louise called from the gate: “Penny! A woman is leaving the estate by the back way!”
Penny darted to the corner of the house. The same woman she had met earlier that day had let herself out the rear gate. Holding the skirts of her long black coat, she fairly ran across the snowy fields.
“Shall I nab her?” called Joe, eager for action.
Penny’s reply was surprisingly calm.
“No, let her go,” she decided. “While that woman is away, I’ll get into the house. I think Dad is in there alone, and I’m going to find him!”
CHAPTER
18
THROUGH THE CELLAR WINDOW
Penny returned to the front porch and rang the doorbell many times. No one came to admit her. She tested the door, finding it locked. Windows above the porch level could not be raised.
“I’ll try the back door,” she said, refusing to accept defeat.
Louise and Joe followed her to the rear of the dwelling, but remained on the outside of the fence.
As Penny had feared, the back door also was locked. She tested eight windows. Finally she found one which opened into the cellar. To her delight the sash swung inward as she pushed on it.