ey Cron were not the mysterious
agent who had visited Mrs. Dillon the previous afternoon, then the
caller must have been the elderly gentleman with the black leather
brief case. Recalling that she still had the license number of the
man's car, Penny thought that it might be well to show it to her father
and ask him to trace the owner for her. Mr. Nichols would soon be
coming home for it was nearly dinner time.

Penny searched in her purse but the notebook was not there.

"Mrs. Gallup, have you seen a little green paper-covered book anywhere
in the house?" she inquired anxiously.

"I saw it in your room this morning," the housekeeper informed. "I
think it was on the dresser."

"Oh, yes, I remember now, that was where I left it!" Penny laughed in
relief.

She raced up the stairs two at a time, forgetting that she had ever
been tired. To her delight the little book was lying just where she
had dropped it.

She caught it up, rereading the notations which she had made the
previous day. Hearing her father's car on the driveway, she slipped
the notebook into her pocket and turned to leave. As she crossed to
the door, her eye chanced to rove toward the desk. She stared in blank
amazement.

The Black Imp was gone.

CHAPTER XVII

"Private--Keep Out"

Penny's cry of alarm brought Mrs. Gallup hurrying up the stairs.

"What is the matter?" the housekeeper asked anxiously.

"The Black Imp is gone!" Penny exclaimed. "Did you do anything with
it?"

"Why, no. It was on the desk the last time I saw it."

"It isn't there now. Someone has stolen it!"

"Nonsense!" Mrs. Gallup said impatiently. "Who would want that little
statue? If a thief entered the house he would take things of greater
value than that. You must have put it in a different place and
forgotten about it."

"Oh, but I didn't, Mrs. Gallup. The Imp was on the desk this morning
when I left the house."

"Well, I've not seen it." The housekeeper began to open bureau
drawers, for despite Penny's words she was not entirely convinced that
the girl had left the statue on the desk. Penny often misplaced
cherished possessions only to spend an unhappy hour trying to recall
where she had deposited them.

"It's no use to search, Mrs. Gallup," she wailed disconsolately. "The
Black Imp is gone and will never be found."

"But no one has been in the house all day."

"The window is open," Penny observed. "I know I closed it this morning
befor