“It does seem odd that she acts so secretive,” Louise commented. “I’m inclined to agree with members of the Pilgrimage Committee that her manners aren’t the best.”
“Perhaps you’ll finally decide that I am right!” Penny said triumphantly. “Take my word for it, there’s something inside the house she doesn’t want anyone to see!”
Louise started slowly toward the road, only to pause as her chum proposed that they walk to the river and call upon Truman Crocker, the stonecutter.
“You intend to tell him who stole his chicken?” Louise asked in surprise.
Penny shook her head. “No, I’ll let him discover it for himself. I want to talk to him about that big rock he hauled to the museum.”
Louise could not imagine what useful information her chum might expect to gain, but she obediently trailed Penny through the rear yard of Rose Acres, down a sloping path which led to the river.
“I hope you know the way,” she remarked dubiously as the going became more difficult, and they were forced to move slowly.
“Oh, we can’t miss the cabin. Crocker’s place is the only one near here,” Penny responded.
The trail was a narrow one, so infrequently used that bushes and vines had overgrown it in many places. Finally emerging on an open hillside, the girls were able to gaze down upon the winding river. Recent rains had swollen it to the very edges of the banks, and from a distance Truman Crocker’s shack appeared to be situated dangerously close to the water.
“Wouldn’t you think he would soon be flooded out?” Louise commented, pausing to catch her breath. “I shouldn’t care to live so near the river.”