The Secret Pact Part 39

Above the roar of flames, Penny tersely disclosed how the man had compelled her to take refuge in the inner office room. Jerry also heard the story, and when she had finished, he said to Mr. Parker:

"Chief, let me take a couple of policemen and nail that fellow! Maybe we can arrest him at the farm before he makes a get-away."

"Go ahead," urged Mr. Parker.

"I'm going along," declared Penny, and darted away before her father could stop her.

Twenty minutes later, with a police cruiser dispatched to Fenestra's place, she and Jerry drove there in Mr. Parker's car. Parking some distance down the road, they walked cautiously toward the farmhouse which loomed dark against the sky. No lights burned in the windows. The grounds appeared deserted.

"Looks as if Fenestra isn't here," observed Jerry. "No use waiting for the police."

Boldly going to the front door he pounded on it, ordering in a loud voice: "Open up!"

"He's not here," said Penny after a moment. "Unless perhaps he's hiding."

"The place looks deserted to me."

Penny glanced toward the storm cave, remembering that she had the key to the padlock in her pocket. Jerry read her thought, and followed as she went quickly toward the mound.

"It's locked," he said, indicating the padlock.

"Here's the key." Eagerly Penny offered it to Jerry. "I'm sure this must be the one."

The reporter gave her a flashlight to hold while he tried to fit the key into the lock.

"It's no go, Penny."

"But I was so sure, Jerry." She stooped to examine the padlock. "Well, no wonder! It's been changed."

"Then we're out of luck until the police get here."

"Isn't there any way we can open it ourselves?"

"Maybe I can break it."

"There should be tools in the barn, Jerry."

"I'll see what I can find."

Leaving Penny, the reporter disappeared in the direction of the barn.

Extinguis.h.i.+ng the flashlight, she patiently waited.

Suddenly she was startled to hear running footsteps. Barely had she crouched behind the storm cave before a man emerged from among the pine trees adjoining the road. It was Peter Fenestra and he was breathing hard.

Straight toward the cave he ran. Pausing at the slanting door, he peered quickly about, and then fumbled with the padlock. In desperate haste he jerked it loose, swung back the hinged door, and descended the stone steps.

Penny waited a moment, then crept to the entrance.

Fenestra had not taken time to lower the door behind him. A light shone from an underground room at one side of the main pa.s.sageway, and she could hear the man's heavy boots scuffing on a cement floor.

Penny considered going after Jerry and decided against it. Fenestra's frantic haste suggested that he might not linger long in the cave. What could he be doing beneath ground?

With Jerry so near, she felt that it would not be too dangerous to investigate. Warily she tiptoed down the steps.

A low, rounding doorway opened from the descending pa.s.sage. Peering into the dimly lighted room, Penny did not immediately see Peter Fenestra.

Instead her gaze roved about the walls of what appeared to be a workshop.

Tools were neatly arranged over a bench, while a cupboard of shelves contained miscellaneous mechanical parts.

At the far end of the cave stood an urn-like contrivance which the girl took to be an electric furnace. An armored cable ran from it to a heavy wall switch having two blades and a sizable wooden handle. Plainly it was designed to carry a very heavy current.

Peter Fenestra came from behind the furnace. Penny saw him throw the switch. Almost immediately she heard a low hissing sound from the interior of the metal oven. Slowly the furnace heated, and soon glowed weirdly.

As she pondered what the man could be intending to do, she heard a slight sound at the stairway entrance. Thinking that Jerry had returned, she started up the steps. Not one figure but three loomed in the doorway!

Penny flattened herself against the dirt wall. But she could not avoid being seen. A flashlight beam focused upon her, and the next instant a revolver muzzle bit into her side.

"Keep quiet!" she was ordered in a whisper. "You won't be hurt!"

Penny stared into the grim face of Anchor Joe. Behind him came John Munn, and a man she had never seen before. In a flash she knew why they were there--to avenge themselves upon Peter Fenestra.

Quietly as the men had moved, they had been heard in the next room.

"Who's there?" Fenestra called sharply.

John Munn and Anchor Joe stepped into the rectangle of light, their revolvers trained upon the man.

"Just three of your old pals, Otto," drawled Anchor Joe. "Reach!"

"Listen, Joe, you got me all wrong," Peter Fenestra whined. "I can explain why I kept the gold. I'll give it all to you if that's what you want. I'll do anything--don't shoot."

"Shootin' would be too good for you," retorted Anchor Joe. "We got other plans." His face was dark with rage.

"Sure, we know how to deal with a traitor," added John Munn, deftly whisking a revolver from Fenestra's hip pocket. "You thought you could hide from us. You thought by changing your name, and coming to this out-of-the-way town you could fool us. Why, you dirty rat, you even thought you could get by with pus.h.i.+ng me off a bridge!"

"Your greed kept you here," taunted Anchor Joe. "You couldn't bear to leave any of those gold bars behind."

"You thought you'd melt down the last of 'em tonight and skip," added John Munn. "You're goin' on a long trip all right, but with us!"

A pair of steel cuffs were slipped over Fenestra's wrists. Speedily, the sailors searched the cave, gathering up several bags of what Penny a.s.sumed to be gold.

"How about this bar?" John Munn asked his companions. "Can we handle it?"

"Too heavy," answered Anchor Joe. "With Moyer hot on our trail, we've got to travel light. Get going and I'll follow."

Munn and his companion marched Peter Fenestra from the cave. Taking a cord from his pocket, Anchor Joe bound Penny's hands and feet.

"I'm tying 'em loose," he said. "And I'll leave the cave door open. After we're gone you can yell for help."