The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (212 page)

“In Riverview,” Louise supplied eagerly. “We drove over for a picnic. Mrs. Leonard told us about your light ray machine!”

“Indeed.” Professor Bettenridge looked none too pleased.

“She said you might be willing to show it to us.”

“Mrs. Leonard displays a remarkable interest in our affairs,” Mrs. Bettenridge commented sarcastically.

Again her husband shot her a warning glance.

“My dear, it is only natural that she should be interested in such an amazing machine as ours,” he said. “I see no reason why the young ladies should not view it.”

“Oh, may we?” Louise cried eagerly.

Although his wife scowled with displeasure, the professor bade the girls follow him to the nearby shack. The door was padlocked and he opened it with a key.

Inside, the room was bare of furniture. There were a few boxes and a large table upon which rested a sizeable object covered with canvas.

“My secret ray machine is expected to revolutionize warfare,” the professor said proudly. “Behold the product of fifteen years of faithful work!”

Dramatically he jerked aside the canvas cover, revealing a complicated mechanism of convex and concave mirrors which rotated on their bases. In the center of the machine was a small crystal ball.

“How does it operate?” Louise asked, deeply impressed.

“I am afraid a technical explanation would be too involved for you to understand. Briefly, a musical note produced on the crystal globe, is carried by ultra violet ray to the scene of the mine. The vibration will cause any unstable substance such as melinite to explode.”

“And you claim you actually can explode mines with this machine?” Penny asked.

“I not only claim it, I have demonstrated the machine’s powers,” Professor Bettenridge replied. “How I do it, of course, is my own secret.”

“Will you explode a mine for us now?” Louise questioned eagerly.

Professor Bettenridge looked mildly amused. “My dear young lady,” he said. “Do you realize that mines are very expensive? I have been able to obtain only a few, and naturally I must save them for official tests.”

“Of course,” stammered Louise. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Besides, the demonstrations have a certain element of danger,” the professor resumed. “I never give one without my assistant.”

Penny, who had been studying the machine with increasing interest, remarked that a story about it might make an interesting feature for the
Star
. To her surprise, the professor did not seem to favor the idea.

“You are employed by a newspaper?” he inquired.

“Yes, the
Star
.”

“I must ask you to say nothing about this matter,” the professor directed. “Under no circumstance could I permit a story to be written about my work.”

“But why?”

“Publicity at this time might rob me of an opportunity to sell the machine. A very prominent man, James Johnson, is now considering its purchase.”

“But I thought you were expecting to sell your invention to the government,” Penny said, puzzled.

Professor Bettenridge bit his lip. Obviously, he was beginning to share his wife’s annoyance at the girls.

“I regret I can’t tell you all the details of my negotiations,” he said. “My wife and I are very tired, so if you will excuse us—”

“Certainly,” said Penny, taking the hint. “Louise and I must be on our way to Riverview.”

They started to leave, but before they could reach the door, someone tapped lightly on it. Professor Bettenridge and his wife exchanged a quick glance which Penny could not fathom. For a fleeting instant, she thought they both looked frightened.

Then the professor went to the door and opened it. A little man in a derby hat and with an apologetic manner stood on the threshold.

“Mr. Johnson!” exclaimed the professor, extending his hand. “My wife and I did not expect you until tomorrow.”

“I came a little sooner than I planned,” the newcomer admitted. “A business conference I had expected to attend was postponed until tomorrow. Naturally, that has upset my schedule. I had hoped you might consent to a demonstration of your machine tonight.”

“Tonight?” The professor seemed caught off guard. “But that is impossible!”

“Impossible?” inquired Mr. Johnson. “Why?”

“For one thing, my assistant is not here.”

“Can’t you get in touch with him?”

“I doubt it. Besides, I have another engagement.”The professor hesitated and added: “Officials of the Navy have invited me to confer with them tonight at the Gables Hotel in Riverview. I rather expect them to make me a very attractive offer for my invention.”

“But you promised me first option on it!” Mr. Johnson protested. “If necessary, I can wait for the demonstration tomorrow night, though it will greatly inconvenience me.”

“Tomorrow at eight o’clock,” the professor nodded. “If you should care to put up a small sum of money as a guarantee of your intentions, I promise to make no final deal with the Navy until after that time.”

“Why, yes,” Mr. Johnson agreed, taking out his check book. “Any amount you say.”

Feeling themselves no longer welcome by the Bettenridges, Penny and Louise slipped quietly away. As they climbed the hill they could hear the professor and Mr. Johnson discussing the amount to be paid.

“It’s a graft, if you ask me,” Penny declared. “Poor Mr. Johnson seems hypnotized.”

“I wish we could see that test tomorrow night!”

“So do I. In fact, I’d be willing to bet the machine won’t work.”

“What makes you think so?”

“Just my doubting nature, I suppose. No, there’s more to it than that, Lou. Didn’t you notice how startled the Bettenridges were when their star customer appeared?”

“They did look a bit upset.”

“And the professor refused to give a demonstration tonight, although obviously it would have been to his advantage.”

“He explained he had an engagement with Navy men.”

“Which I suspect was all a made-up story. No, Lou, there must be another reason why the professor was unwilling to give the demonstration. He probably knows his machine won’t work.”

“You’re convinced he’s a fraud.”

“Yes, I am,” Penny said. “Furthermore, I believe he knows what became of Salt’s camera.”

“We can’t prove anything.”

“No, but if he would steal a camera he might also take to swindle in a big way.”

“There’s nothing we can do unless we want to report him to the police.”

“I have a little idea,” Penny confessed. “As soon as we reach Riverview I propose to check the Gables Hotel and learn if any Navy men have registered there. By talking to them, we may get at the truth.”

CHAPTER 12

THE PROFESSOR’S HELPER

Climbing the hill, Penny and Louise sought their parked car. The day had been an interesting one, replete with surprises, and yet another surprise was in store.

As they were ready to drive away, a man came slowly down the road, cut across the Leonard yard and vanished down a path which led toward Blue Hole Lake.

“See that fellow!” Penny exclaimed.

“Why, yes,” agreed Louise, surprised by her chum’s tense manner. “What about him?”

“I’m sure he’s Webb!”

“Webb?”

“The man who was pushed off the
Snark
and who stole Ben’s watch!”

“What would he be doing here?”

“That’s exactly what I want to learn! I’d like to get Ben’s watch back for him!” Quickly Penny pushed open the car door and jumped out.

“What are you going to do, Penny?” Louise asked anxiously.

“Follow that man and learn for certain who he is!”

“But it’s late,” Louise protested. “Besides, he looks like an unpleasant sort of individual.”

Penny paid no heed, but started off in pursuit of the stranger. He had already disappeared among the trees and was well on his way toward the lake. Not wishing to be deserted, Louise quickly followed her chum.

“He’s going to the professor’s shack!” Penny observed a moment later.

“Perhaps he is another prospective buyer of the secret ray machine,” Louise speculated. “Business seems to be rushing today.”

Penny was not convinced. “I’m sure it is Webb,” she declared. “If we can force him to admit his identity, we may get Ben’s watch back.”

Not wishing to attract attention, the girls paused behind a large rock on the hillside. From there they could watch the man without being seen.

He walked directly to the shack and tapped on the door. In a moment it was opened by the professor, who looked anything but pleased to see the new arrival. Closing the door behind him as if fearful that Mr. Johnson would hear, he stepped out of doors.

The girls were too far away to overhear the conversation, but they saw the two men talk earnestly together for a moment. Then the man they believed to be Webb, walked on down the hill toward the lake’s edge. Professor Bettenridge reentered the shack.

“Now what?” inquired Louise, straightening up from a cramped position behind the rock.

“Let’s follow Webb. I have a hunch he may be the assistant Professor Bettenridge told Mr. Johnson about.”

“But the man wasn’t expected here until tomorrow.”

“Which may or may not have been true, Lou. There’s more to this deal than meets the eye. Let’s see what we can learn.”

Already the man had disappeared from view, so the girls walked swiftly after him. Reaching the lake’s edge, they saw him striding along the sandy beach. Apparently he had no suspicion that he was being trailed, for he did not glance backward.

Presently the girls noticed another shack which had been erected in a clump of trees a few yards back from the beach. It was much smaller than the other little house, a mere box-like structure with a flat, low roof.

Walking directly toward it, the man unfastened a padlock and went inside. He closed the door behind him.

“Now what is he doing in there?” Penny fretted, as minutes elapsed and the man remained inside the building. “Listen!”

Both girls could hear a peculiar grinding sound as if from machinery turning inside the shack. The building was windowless, so it was impossible to see what was going on.

“This is maddening!” Penny muttered with increasing impatience. “I wonder—?” She broke off, and gazed thoughtfully at the flat roof of the shack.

“Lou, how is that building lighted?” she demanded.

“From here it looks as if there might be double panels of glass in the roof—a make-shift skylight.”

“Lou, if we could get up there, we might be able to see what is going on!”

“And get caught too!”

“Not if we’re careful. We can climb that tree which brushes against it, and perhaps see from there.”

“What if we should be caught?”

“We’ll decide that part when the time comes,”Penny chuckled. “This should be fun.”

Circling the shack, they climbed into the low-hanging boughs of a giant, scraggly maple tree. Inch by inch lest they make a sound which would betray them, they climbed out on the heavy branches.

“Penny, we’re taking an awful chance,” her chum murmured nervously. “If that man should look up—”

“He won’t,” Penny whispered confidently. “He’s too busy with whatever he’s doing.”

Lying flat on the branch, she could look directly through the glass. In the room below she saw at least four large, oval-shaped mines without detonators, made of steel.

Evidently the man had finished whatever work had brought him to the shack, for he laid aside a tool, and then went out the door, carefully locking it behind him again.

“We were too late,” Penny whispered in disgust after the man was a safe distance down the beach. “I wish I knew why he came here! One thing is certain, he’s mixed up with Professor Bettenridge on this secret ray invention.”

“Do you still believe the man is the one who was pushed off the
Snark
?”

“Yes, I do, and that part we can learn!” Realizing that much valuable time was being wasted, Penny slid down from the tree, snagging a stocking in the process. She helped Louise to reach the ground.

“What’s the plan now?” her chum asked.

“Webb evidently is returning either to Professor Bettenridge’s shack or to town. Let’s overtake him and I’ll ask a few questions. After helping fish him out of the river, I certainly have the right.”

The man walked directly toward the shack which contained the secret ray apparatus, but when he drew close, paused and whistled twice as if in signal. No response came from within the cabin. Seemingly the man expected none, for he turned and selected a trail which led toward the road.

At that moment, the shack door opened. Professor Bettenridge, his wife, and Mr. Johnson came out together, chatting pleasantly. Without paying the slightest heed to Webb, they walked toward the farmhouse.