“There goes Jack again!” she observed, glancing at her father. “To the Harpers’, no doubt.”
The light of the boat became visible and Sally followed it with her eyes as it slowly chugged upstream.
“I was right!” she exclaimed a moment later.
Penny’s curiosity was aroused, for she knew that Jack absented himself from home nearly every night, and that his actions were a cause of worry to his parents. “Who are the Harpers?” she inquired.
“Oh! they live across the river where you see those red and blue lights,” Sally said, pointing beyond the railing. “The house stands on stilts over the water, and is a meeting place for the scum of the city!”
“Sally!” her father reproved.
“Well, it’s the truth! Ma Harper and her no-account husband, Claude, run an outdoor dance pavilion, but their income is derived from other sources too. Black market sales, for instance.”
“Sally, your tongue is rattling like a chain!”
“Pop, you know very well the Harpers are trash.”
“Nevertheless, don’t make statements you can’t prove.”