ared amiss.

"My imagination is running riot tonight," she thought in disgust.
"There's no one here."

She started toward the stairway, but paused, unable to rid herself of
the conviction that all was not as it should be. Then her light
chanced to focus for an instant upon an old trunk in one corner of the
room. Beside it in a crumpled heap lay an old rug.

From her father Penny had learned to be an unusually keen observer.
She was positive that upon her last visit to the storeroom, the carpet
had covered the trunk, protecting it from dust.

Summoning her courage, she cautiously approached the trunk. She paused
to listen again. Distinctly, she could hear the sound of soft
breathing.

Suddenly she flung back the lid. A man cowered inside.

"Don't make a move," Penny warned coolly, blinding him with the light.
Protected as she was by the darkness, he could not know that she had no
weapon.

"Don't shoot!" he pleaded, stepping from the trunk with hands held
above his head.

It was then that Penny observed that her prisoner was a mere boy. He
did not appear to be more than a year or two older than herself.

"March down the stairs in front of me and don't try any tricks," she
ordered, trying to keep her voice steady.

She had grown a little frightened at her own daring. It appeared
reasonable to suppose that the youth she had captured was the same
crook whom the police had warned her against and yet the boy seemed too
young to be a hardened criminal.

Penny decided upon a bold move.

"Susan, stand guard at the outside door," she directed.

As her chum took the position, Penny reached up and switched on the
garage light.

"I have no weapon," she admitted, knowing that the youth had perceived
the fact instantly. "But it will do you no good to try to escape for
the police are combing the neighborhood."

Her words had the desired effect. Blinking in the unexpected glare of
the light, the young fugitive shrank back against the wall, his face
twisted by fear.

"Do they suspect I'm here?" he questioned. "Have they surrounded the
district?"

"I talked with an officer only a few minutes ago," Penny answered
truthfully. "He advised me that our property was being watched."

She was studying the boy with increasing interest. He was exceedingly
well dressed and while his garments were in need of pressing they
fitted him perfectly, disclosing a fine physique. He had broad
shoulders and powerful muscles