enny added. "Those strange-looking double doors with the iron rings
pull up, and beneath them is a stone stairway which leads into the
cellar. Be careful, for it's easy to fall. I took a tumble myself
this afternoon when I was prowling around."

Mr. Nichols groped his way to the door and disappeared into the night.
A few minutes later Penny saw the beam of his flashlight playing over
the lawn. Then the cellar doors were thrown back and the light
vanished.

"You'd not catch me going down into that dark, damp hole at night!"
Mrs. Masterbrook said in a low voice.

"Why not?" asked Penny. "Isn't it just as dark here?"

"Something might happen. If you knew what I do about this place----"

"What do you mean?" questioned Penny quickly.

"Oh, I don't tell everything I know," the housekeeper retorted.

Penny felt certain that the woman was trying to plague her, but
nevertheless she was greatly relieved when her father returned to the
kitchen.

"It was only a blown fuse after all," he reported. "But I can't find
any extra ones."

"I'll telephone Mr. Crocker!" Penny announced. "He's our landlord and
he ought to work at the job."

"I'll bet a cent you don't get any," the detective rejoined.

After a lengthy telephone conversation, Penny faced her father
triumphantly.

"You lose your cent," she laughed. "Mr. Crocker was provoked, but he
promised to come right over with a new fuse."

Twenty minutes later an ancient automobile was heard laboring up Knob
Hill. Mr. Crocker came up the walk, carrying a lighted lantern.

"Seems like you folks are having a lot of trouble here," he said
crossly as Mr. Nichols met him at the door.

"We're sorry to trouble you," replied the detective. "If the cottage
had been better equipped----"

"I'll put in the fuse for you to be sure it's good," Mr. Crocker
interrupted.

He and Mr. Nichols went down into the cellar together. From the
doorway of the kitchen Penny noticed that someone was sitting in Mr.
Crocker's car.

"Is that you, Perry?" she called softly.

There was no answer, so she walked down to the car. Mr. Crocker's
grandson sat hunched down in the front seat.

"Aren't you going to say hello to me?" asked Penny. "I do believe
you're shy."

"I'm not shy," replied the little boy quickly. "But my grandpa says
he'll whip me if I talk with you."

Penny was silent for a moment.

"Of course I don't wish you to get into trouble, Perry," she said
quietly, "but