“Winkey already has turned the dogs loose!” she thought in dismay. “I haven’t a chance to get out of here quickly!”
Switching on her flashlight for an instant, Penny looked at her wristwatch. In astonishment, she saw that it was only twenty minutes after nine. She had assumed the hour to be much later, so many events had transpired since her arrival at the monastery.
“If only I could let the Star office know of my predicament!” she thought. “Mr. DeWitt won’t even wonder what’s become of me before ten o’clock. By that time Father Benedict and Winkey will be miles from here!”
The main gate of the monastery had been closed and locked. Penny reasoned that even if she were able to get out of the building, the dogs would be upon her before she could scale the high boundary fence, and make her escape.
As she hesitated at the window, debating whether or not to smash the glass and take a chance, she heard the roar of an automobile motor.
For a moment she was hopeful a car was coming down the road. Then, with a sinking heart she realized that it was Winkey bringing the big black automobile from the front of the house to the rear exit.
“The minute he and Father Benedict get their thieving hands on the sapphire, they’ll leave here!” she reasoned. “Oh, why can’t I think of some way to stop them?”
Penny had left her own car parked on the road not far from the monastery. She was hopeful that should her father or anyone from the newspaper office seek her, they would see the car and deduct that she was somewhere inside the ancient building.
“But no one will come until it’s too late,” she thought. “Mrs. Weems probably went to bed early and didn’t tell Dad I came here. Mr. DeWitt won’t think about it until nearly deadline time at the Star.”
Outside, the hounds kept roaming the grounds. Penny had never seen such vicious looking animals.