ire!"

"I guess she's just tired from the long walk to town," Penny replied.
However, she watched Mrs. Masterbrook closely, and was inclined to
agree that something had gone amiss. The housekeeper looked worried.

"Aren't you feeling well, Mrs. Masterbrook?" she inquired kindly.

"Of course I'm feeling well," the woman snapped.

After supper that night Michael Haymond left the house, but Penny did
not know whether or not he went to call upon Herman Crocker. She went
to bed about ten, and heard the young man return to the cottage shortly
after that hour. By eleven o'clock everyone had gone to bed.

Penny went off to sleep soon after her head touched the pillow. It was
hours later that she awoke to hear the kitchen clock chiming three
o'clock.

In the hallway a board creaked.

Penny sat up and listened. She was certain that someone was tiptoeing
down the hall. For a moment she was frightened. Then she crept out of
bed and flung open the door.

At the end of the hall she saw the figure of a man. He fled before she
could speak or make an outcry. Penny heard the outside door slam shut.
She hurried to a window and was in time to see someone running swiftly
toward the woods.

"Dad!" she screamed excitedly. "Wake up! Wake up!" And to emphasize
her words, Penny ran to her father's bedroom and pounded on the door
with her clenched fist.

CHAPTER XI

Aid from Michael

"What's the matter, Penny?" cried Mr. Nichols as he opened the door of
his room. "Are you having nightmares?"

"Dad, someone broke into the cottage!" she told him tensely. "When I
stepped out into the hall he ran away. I saw him disappear into the
woods."

By this time the detective was thoroughly awake.

"Are you sure, Penny?"

"Of course I am! I didn't imagine it this time and it wasn't someone
after a drink either!"

"Let me get dressed," said her father. "Then I'll look around."

Penny ran back to her own room. She was amazed that Mrs. Masterbrook
and Michael had not been aroused. In the next room she could hear the
housekeeper snoring contentedly. There seemed no reason to awaken her.

Penny quickly dressed and was ready first.

"We'll take a look around the place," Mr. Nichols said, "but it's
probably too late to catch the prowler."

"Yes, he'll be a long way from here by this time," Penny agreed.

Armed with a flashlight, they slipped outside and after making a tour
of the house walked as far as the edge o