Part 26 (1/2)

CHAPTER 17 _MAJOR BRYAN_

It was nearly midnight by the time Penny reached home. Mrs. Weems had gone to bed, but a light still burned in the study where Mr. Parker was working on a speech he expected to deliver the following day before the Chamber of Commerce.

”Well, I'm glad you finally decided to come home,” he remarked severely.

”Since my little daughter became Tillie the Toiler, she seems to have developed independent hours.”

”Wait until you hear where I've been,” Penny said, sinking into an easy chair beside his desk. ”Dad, you won't blame me for staying out late when I tell you what I saw and heard.”

Eagerly she related all that had occurred, and was pleased to note that the story interested her father.

”Tell me more about Professor Bettenridge,” he urged. ”Describe him.”

”He looks very scholarly, but his language doesn't fit the part,” Penny recalled. ”He's tall and thin and his nose is very pointed. Middle aged, which might mean forty-five or maybe fifty. That's about all I noticed except that he has a quick way of darting his eyes about. And he wears gla.s.ses.”

”From your description, he sounds like the same person I heard about this afternoon,” Mr. Parker commented.

”Someone told you of his experiments at the lake?”

”Quite the contrary. An Army officer, Major Alfred Bryan called at my office this afternoon, seeking information about a man who may be Professor Bettenridge.”

”Was he interested in buying the machine for the Army, Dad?”

Mr. Parker dipped his pen in ink, wrote a few lines, and then looked up again. ”No, Major Bryan was sent here to trace a man who has several charges against him. At one time he impersonated an officer and in recent months has been swindling persons by various schemes. He pretends to sell Army or Navy surplus war goods.”

”That doesn't sound like Professor Bettenridge, Dad.”

”Perhaps not, but from your description it could be the same man. This secret ray machine business sounds phoney to me. Most crooks try more than one game--the mine exploding trick may be his latest scheme to fleece gullible victims.”

”Do you think we should report the professor to the police, Dad?”

”It might be a better idea to send Major Bryan to see him,” Mr. Parker returned thoughtfully. ”If the professor should prove to be the man he's after, then the Army would take over.”

”Where is Major Bryan now, Dad?”

”He didn't mention the name of his hotel, because at the time he called at my office, I had no thought I could a.s.sist him in any way. However, he expected to stay in Riverview several days. It shouldn't be so hard to trace him. I'll get busy tomorrow.”

Tired from her adventures of the night, Penny soon went to bed. The next day Mr. DeWitt gave her several interesting a.s.signments, and when one of the stories appeared in the final edition of the _Star_, it bore a neat little ”By Penny Parker,” under the headline.

”Getting on in the world, I see,” Elda Hunt observed sarcastically.

Not even the unkind remark could dull Penny's pleasure. She had earned her way on the newspaper by hard, routine work. The by-line meant that she had turned in an excellent well-written story. Elda, whose writing lacked crispness and originality, only once had seen her own name appear in the _Star_. Penny felt a trifle sorry for her.

”There's no fairness around here,” Elda complained in a whine. ”I've worked over a year. What do I have to show for it? Not even a raise.”

Penny did not try to tell the girl it was her own fault, that her att.i.tude toward her work was entirely wrong. Elda must learn for herself.

Not until Wednesday did Penny have a chance to ask her father if he had traced Major Bryan.