“No! No!” came the sharp answer.
“Then unlock the door,” Penny urged.
“Key gone,” the old woman mumbled.
“Can’t you find it? Don’t you know where your master keeps them?”
There was no answer, but the girls heard the old woman scurry away.
“Has she gone to find a key, or has she just gone?” Louise sighed. “Father Benedict probably still is in the basement with Winkey, so we can expect no help from that quarter.”
Impatiently, Penny glanced at her wrist watch. Actually, they had been locked in the room less than twenty minutes, but it seemed three times that long.
“It’s useless!” Louise said, seating herself by the fire again. “We’re trapped here until Father Benedict gets around to letting us out!”
At the door, Penny’s keen ears detected sound. Again the pad, pad of footsteps!
“Old Julia’s coming back!” she exclaimed. “Maybe she’s not as stupid as we thought!”