ng?"

"It was an oversight, of course. Mrs. Dillon will be sorry I know to
have missed you. Your names--"

"It will be some time before we can come back I fear," Penny
interrupted quickly. "And we did so want to see the picture. I don't
suppose you could show it to us?"

"I am afraid not. I don't even know what picture she meant."

"Oh, the one hanging in the library," Penny informed. "It would only
take us a minute to look at it."

"Why, I guess I could show you that picture."

Forgetting that she had neglected to learn the names of the callers,
the maid led them to the library. The girls pretended to study the
ugly painting which hung over the mantel.

"Is this Mrs. Dillon's last purchase?" Penny inquired.

"It's the only picture she's bought recently."

The girls shrewdly concluded that the maid was unaware of the hidden
panel and were at a loss to know how they could manage to view the
Rembrandt.

"I could study a beautiful painting for hours and hours," Amy remarked,
sinking down into a chair opposite the mantel.

"So could I," Penny agreed, gazing with a rapt expression at the
hideous picture. As an apparent afterthought she turned to the maid
who stood waiting. "If you don't mind, we'll just sit here for a few
minutes and admire it."

"Certainly, Miss. If you'll excuse me I'll go on with my dusting."

The instant the maid had gone from the library, Penny pulled on the
silken rope and the hidden panel was revealed. She jerked aside the
velvet curtain to disclose the Rembrandt.

"You'll have to make a quick examination," she warned. "That maid may
come back any minute."

Amy studied the painting critically. When she did not speak, Penny
impatiently asked for her opinion.

"I believe it's merely a copy of the original, although a rather clever
copy. Rembrandt was very skillful in his method of handling light and
shade--in this picture it is all lost."

"Then I was right!" Penny cried triumphantly.

"My opinion may not be right, Penny. If I could see the painting in a
better light--"

With an anxious glance toward the library door, Penny hastened to the
window and pulled aside the heavy draperies. A beam of sunlight fell
across the picture.

"Yes, I'm sure it's a fake," Amy decided firmly. "If Mrs. Dillon
bought this for the original Rembrandt she was cheated."

"Well, she deserved to be. She shouldn't have tried to buy stolen
property."

"Let me look on the underside o