"Yes, he shipped it out of the country months ago. And no one will ever be able to prove anything against him."

"My husband is a very clever man," added Mrs. Kippenberg proudly.

"That remains to be seen," said Mr. Parker. "I know a number of very clever government men, too."

Later, in dry clothing loaned to her by Miss Kippenberg, Penny motored back to Corbin with her father, Jerry, and Salt. There they learned that the three prisoners had been locked up in jail, while James Kippenberg was being questioned by government operatives. He readily admitted that he had disguised himself as the gardener but defied anyone to prove he ever had disposed of illegal gold.

Mr. Parker did not wait to learn the outcome of the interview. Instead he telephoned the big story to DeWitt and arranged for complete coverage on every new angle of the case. Satisfied that no more could be learned that night, the party sped back toward Riverview.

"Aaron Dietz and his confederates ought to get long prison sentences,"

Penny remarked as they drove through the night. "But what will happen to Mr. Kippenberg, Dad? Do you think he will escape punishment as his wife believes?"

"He'll get what is coming to him," replied Mr. Parker. "A government man told me tonight that Kippenberg's income tax reports have been falsified.

And Kippenberg knew they had evidence against him or he never would have gone into hiding. No, even if it can't be proven that he held gold illegally, he'll certainly be fined and given a year or so in prison for tax evasion."

"I hope he receives a light sentence for Sylvia's sake," said Penny.

After a moment she added: "Sylvia and Grant Atherwald are going to be married tomorrow. They told me so."

"There's a fact we missed," declared Jerry. "Penny always is showing us up."

"Oh, I didn't prove myself so brilliant tonight," responded Penny. "When I was down in that vault I decided I was just plain dumb. If you hadn't had sense enough to guess where Grant Atherwald and I were being held--well, Dad would have had to adopt a new daughter."

"It was easy enough to tell what had happened," said Jerry. "You had told me you thought there was a secret vault beneath the pool. Then, too, I found your handkerchief floating in the bottom. The water had only been running in a few minutes." He fished in his pocket and brought out a pin which he handed to Penny. "I also found this."

"Thanks, Jerry," said Penny. "That's Louise's cameo pin. She dropped it the day we were on the Kippenberg estate together."

"The police gave you full credit for the capture of those men, Penny,"

said her father with pride. "You yanked the drawbridge just in time to trap them."

"Salt did his share, too," mentioned Penny generously. "He went for the police just as soon as he realized Jerry and I had been carried away on the cruiser."

"The only trouble was that the cops wasted too much time searching for you down river," the photographer drawled. "We finally went back to Corbin and ran into Mr. Parker who suggested we come to the estate."

"How did you happen to be in Corbin, Dad?" asked Penny curiously.

"You might know--I was looking for you. Isn't that my usual occupation?"

"You're not provoked at me, Dad?"

"No, of course not," the publisher answered warmly. "You've all done fine work tonight. This is the biggest story we've run into in over a year!

We'll score a beat on the rival papers."

"Then don't you think Jerry and Salt have earned a raise?" suggested Penny.

"Yes," agreed her father absently, "I'll take care of it tomorrow."

"And you might tack on another dollar to my allowance, Dad. I'll also have a small bill to present. There will be several dollars for gasoline, lunches going and coming from Corbin, two ruined dresses, a pair of torn silk stockings, and--"

"That's enough," broke in Mr. Parker with a laugh. "If you keep on listing your expenses, I'll be broke. You turned out to be an expensive reporter."

"It was worth it, wasn't it?" Penny demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

Her father agreed heartily. "It certainly was, Penny. The _Riverview Star_ obtained a smashing story to scoop all the other newspapers, and I've got my elusive daughter back again safe and sound."

Penny moved closer to her father. She grasped the lapels of his coat in her slender fingers and tipped her weary but still lovely face toward him.

"Dad, will you promise me one thing?"

"That depends on what you are after," Mr. Parker told her gravely.

"Whenever the _Riverview Star_ has a baffling mystery to be run down to earth, will you promise to call in your ace sleuth?"

"And who would that be?" demanded Mr. Parker with a puzzled frown. Then as Penny laughed gaily, he also started to grin. "So you are the ace sleuth? I guess I was a little slow in understanding. But you seem to be right. This is the third mystery you've solved. Maybe we will use you on the next mystery."

"Thanks, Dad," said Penny. "I just hope I won't have to wait too long for the next mystery to come along."

THE END