Part 19 (2/2)

Penny left the hotel and ventured out into the cold. After so much cigarette smoke, the pure air was a pleasant relief. She broke off a long icicle from the doorway, and stood thoughtfully chewing at it.

”Miss Miller must be working for some dishonest outfit,” she mused. ”Her talk about getting a fur coat at cost doesn't fool me one bit. If I were in her shoes I'd be more than a little worried lest I tangled with the law.”

A remark by the actress to the effect that the Canadian border was close by had set Penny's active mind to working. It was not too fantastic to believe that Miss Miller might be employed by an unscrupulous man whose business concerned the sale of furs obtained duty free. She had even dared hope that Ralph Fergus or Harvey Maxwell might be implicated in the dishonest affair. What a break that would be for her father if only she could prove such a connection! But the actress' outright denial that either man was her employer had put an end to such pleasant speculation.

Penny bent down to pick up her skis which had been left at the side of the hotel building. As she leaned over, she noticed a small object lying on top of the snow in the square of light made from one of the windows.

It appeared to be a small piece of colored cardboard.

Curiously, Penny picked it up and carried it closer to the window. The card was green. Her pulse quickened as she turned it over. On its face were six engraved words:

”Admit Bearer Through The Green Door.”

CHAPTER 13 _AN UNKIND TRICK_

Penny all but executed a clog dance in the snow. She knew that she had picked up an admittance ticket to the Green Room of the Fergus hotel which some person had lost. With no effort upon her part she would be able to learn the answer to many of the questions which had plagued her.

”At last I'll find out what lies behind that Green Door,” she thought in high elation. ”If this isn't the most wonderful piece of luck!”

Debating a moment, Penny decided that it probably was too late to gain admittance that evening. Mrs. Downey no doubt was worried over her long absence from the lodge. She would return there, and then revisit the hotel early the next day.

Pocketing the precious ticket, Penny set off up the mountain. It was dark before she had covered half the distance, but there were stars and a half moon to guide her.

Mrs. Downey showed her relief as the girl stomped into the kitchen.

”I was beginning to worry, Penny,” she declared. ”Whatever made it take you so long?”

”I stopped at the Fergus hotel and had dinner with Miss Miller.”

”Were you able to get the newspapers?”

”Only one which I had to buy at the Fergus hotel. Mrs. Downey, it's queer about those papers. Benny Smith told me there weren't any to be had, and then a few minutes later I met the airplane pilot who told me he had brought them in the same as usual. Also, the Fergus hotel received its usual quota.”

”Well, that's odd.”

”It looks to me as if the Fergus outfit has made some arrangement with the paper boy. They may be buying up all the papers.”

”As a means of annoying me,” nodded Mrs. Downey grimly. ”It would be in line with their tactics. But what can I do?”

”I don't know,” admitted Penny. She pulled off her heavy boots and set them where they would dry. ”We haven't any proof they're doing anything like that. It's only my idea.”

The door opened and Jake came into the kitchen. He dropped an armload of wood behind the range.

”I started work on the bob-sled run this afternoon,” he remarked to Mrs.

Downey. ”Got a crew of boys coming first thing tomorrow. We ought to have her fixed up by noon.”

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