“I’ve had enough of wells!”
“Penny, you don’t mean it!” Louise grinned. “After discovering those loose bricks, you’ll just forget about them?”
“Why not?” Penny demanded wildly. “Dad won’t let me leave the house at night any more without a six thousand page report on where I am going. If I so much as mention Mrs. Marborough’s well, he’ll clap on a double punishment.”
“You can manage it somehow,” Louise declared with confidence. “I’ll meet you tomorrow night about eight-thirty.”
“Maybe,” Penny said gloomily.
Throughout the day she tried to win favor with both Mrs. Weems and her father by doing small things to please them. When the housekeeper came home from church, dinner awaited her. Penny insisted upon doing the dishes. She straightened the kitchen, she brought her father his bedroom slippers, and refrained from turning on the radio while he was reading. The schedule was a trying one for her, but she kept it up faithfully all day Sunday and until after dinner on Monday. Then came the denouement upon which she pinned her hopes.
“Dad,” she said demurely, leaning on the chair arm and stroking his hair, “with your kind permission I should like to absent myself from the house for a few minutes.”
“Where do you plan to go?” he asked, trying to act stern.
Penny was prepared for the question. From her pocket she whisked a lengthy typewritten paper, handsomely decorated with a diagram.
“What’s this?” Mr. Parker asked, his lips twitching slightly.