An hour elapsed and still the girl could not sleep. As she stirred restlessly, she heard Mrs. Lear’s bedroom door softly creak. In the hallway boards began to tremble. Penny stiffened, listening. Distinctly, she could hear someone tiptoeing past her door to the stairway.
“That must be Mrs. Lear,” she thought. “But what can she be doing up at this time of night?”
The question did not long remain unanswered. Boards squeaked steadily as the old lady descended the stairs. A little silence. Then Penny heard two long rings and a short one.
“Mrs. Lear is calling someone on the old-fashioned party-line telephone!” she identified the sound.
Mrs. Lear’s squeaky voice carried clearly up the stairway through the half open bedroom door.
“That you, Silas?” Penny heard her say. “Well, those gals got here, just as you said they would! First off they asked me about the Headless Horseman.”
A slight pause followed before Mrs. Lear added: “Don’t you worry none, Silas. Just count on me! They’ll handle soft as kittens!”
And as she ended the telephone conversation, the old lady broke into cackling laughter.
CHAPTER
8
A RICH MAN’S TROUBLES
Rain was drumming on the roof when Penny awakened the next morning. Yawning sleepily, she sat up in bed. Beside her, Louise, curled into a tight ball, slumbered undisturbed. But not for long. Penny tickled an exposed foot until she opened her eyes.