“Are you still there, pet?”
“I’m frozen into one big icicle!” Penny retorted. “Get me out of here.”
Instructing her chum to lower the bucket, Penny fastened the silken ladder to the handle. Louise hauled it up, and again hooked the irons to the ledge of the well.
Stiffly, Penny climbed toward the surface. She had nearly reached the top when the beam of light chanced to play across a section of brick which hitherto had escaped her notice. Halting, she traced with her finger a rectangular pattern on the wall.
“That’s not an ordinary crack!” she thought. “It might be an old opening which has been bricked up!”
“Are you coming?” Louise called impatiently.
“I am,” said Penny, emerging from the well. “And don’t you dare say that this night has been a failure. I’ve just made a most astounding discovery!”
CHAPTER
15
OLD BOTTLES
Penny’s startling appearance rather than her words made the deepest impression upon Louise. The girl’s shoes and stockings were wet, her clothing was smeared with green slime, and strings of moss clung to her hair.
“You look like Father Neptune emerging from the briny deep,” she chuckled.