ut he denied the charge."

"Walter might have been lying, but he acted sincere," Penny said
slowly. "Anyway, when I looked in the trunk--that was after Herman had
visited the cottage--a package of letters was still there. However, I
doubt that it was the right packet or Herman would have taken it with
him."

"Yet you told me that when you went to the attic the second time, the
letters were gone," Susan reminded her chum.

"That is right. If the letters wouldn't stand as damaging evidence
against Herman I don't see who would want them."

"Mightn't it have been that man who tried to break into your cottage at
night?"

"It could have been all right," Penny admitted, "but I didn't hear the
fellow in the attic. I was under the impression that he had just
entered the cottage when I awoke."

"It seems to me that there is a great deal which isn't explained."

"The part about the letters is still a deep mystery," Penny
acknowledged. "But we do know that Old Herman cheated his nephew out
of a fortune, and that fate has caught up with him at last."

"I suppose the old man deserves everything he gets," Susan commented.
"I don't like him a bit, but for that matter there's something about
Walter Crocker that gives me the creeps too. He has such a snakey
look!"

The girls emerged from the woods close to the Nichols' cottage.
Observing that an automobile stood by the fence, they both halted.

"Why, that is Walter Crocker's car!" Susan exclaimed in an undertone.

"He must have driven straight over here from Herman's place," Penny
added. "Now what do you suppose he wants?"

The girls walked slowly on. As they drew near the automobile, Walter
Crocker alighted and tipped his hat politely.

"How do you do, Miss Nichols," he said with a forced smile. "I'm not
sure if you remember me or not."

"I remember you perfectly," replied Penny, hiding her uneasiness.

She was afraid that the man might have seen Susan and herself peeping
through the window of the barn.

"I feel very grateful for the ride which you and your father gave me
some nights ago," said Walter Crocker. "I must apologize for running
off the way I did without thanking you. I was in such a hurry to reach
my uncle's home."

Penny and Susan drew a breath of relief. They were glad that the man
did not intend to question them concerning their latest actions.

"Oh, that was quite all right," Penny replied. "We assumed that you
had gone on to Mr. Crock