“Did she really lose the charm?” Louise demanded the moment the girls were alone. “Or did you get it, Penny?”
Penny answered by producing the green elephant charm from the front of her bathing suit where she had hidden it.
“Easy as taking candy from a babe,” she chuckled. “My, but was she hopping mad!”
“You may not be laughing if your father hears about this,” Louise warned. “He’s apt to look at matters from a different angle than we do.”
Penny skipped through the shallow water and sat down on the beach well beyond the reach of the waves. Louise flopped beside her. Eagerly they examined the jade green trinket.
“Looks like any ordinary charm to me,” Louise remarked. “No special carving.”
“It should open,” Penny said. “The first night when Mrs. Deline and I shared a room, I was sure I saw her close it.”
Louise turned the charm over and pried at it with a hairpin.
“It does have a back lid!” she exclaimed excitedly. “Penny, I think it’s going to open!”
“I’ll say magic words while you work,” Penny laughed. “Furthermore, I’ll keep watch of the bath house. We don’t want Mrs. Deline to pop out here and see us.”