"Black market?" Penny asked with disapproval.

"Well, no, I wouldn't call it that," the man argued. "She had a supply of these stockings and wants to get rid of them. Nothing wrong in that. Five dollars a pair."

"Five dollars a pair!" Penny echoed, barely keeping her temper.

"If I took you there, she might let you have them for a dollar less."

Penny opened her lips to tell the black market "runner" what she thought of a person who would engage in such illegal business. Then she closed them again and did a little quick thinking. After all, it might be wise to learn where the place was and then report to the police.

"Well, I don't know," she said, pretending to hesitate. "I'd like to have a pair of silk stockings, but I haven't much money with me. Where is the place?"

"Not far from here along the river. I'll drive you there, and if you make a purchase, you needn't pay me any fare."

"All right, that's fair enough. Let's go," Penny agreed.

As they rattled along the street, she carefully memorized the cab's number, and took mental notes on the driver's appearance, intending to report him to police. No doubt he received a generous commission for bringing customers to the establishment, she reasoned.

The cab had not gone far when it began to slacken pace. Peering out, Penny was astonished to see that they were stopping in front of the Harper house, overlooking the river.

"Is this the place?" she gasped, as the driver swung open the door. "I--I don't believe I want to go in after all. I thought you were taking me to a shop."

"You can't get silk stockings anywhere else in the county," the driver said. "Not like the kind Ma Harper sells. Just go on in and tell her I brought you. She'll treat you right."

Taking Penny by the elbow, he half pulled her from the cab and started her toward the shabby, unpainted dwelling.

CHAPTER 17 _BAs.e.m.e.nT LOOT_

While the cab driver waited, Penny crossed the sagging porch and rapped on the door. Evidently the taxi's approach had been noted, for almost at once Ma Harper appeared.

She was a tall, thin woman, sallow of face, and with a hard glint to her eyes. Penny was not in the least deceived by the smile that was bestowed upon her.

"h.e.l.lo, deary," the woman greeted her, stepping aside for her to enter.

"Did Ernst bring you to buy something?"

"He spoke of silk stockings," Penny returned cautiously. "I'm not sure that I'll care to purchase them."

"Oh, you will when you see them, deary," Ma Harper declared in a chirpy tone. "Just come in and I'll show them to you."

"Aren't genuine silk stockings hard to get now?"

"I don't know of any place they can be bought except here. I was lucky to lay in a good supply before the start of the war. Only one or two pairs are left now, but I'll let you have them, deary."

"That's very kind of you," returned Penny with dry humor.

"The stockings cost me plenty," went on the woman, motioning for the girl to seat herself on a sagging davenport. "I'll have to ask five dollars a pair."

She eyed Penny speculatively to note how the figure struck her. Penny had no intention of making a purchase at any price, but to keep the conversation rolling, she pretended to be interested.

"Five dollars ain't much when you consider you can't get stockings like these anywhere else," the woman added. "Just wait here, deary, and I'll bring 'em out." She went quickly from the room.

Left alone, Penny gazed with curiosity at the crude furnishings. Curtains hung at the windows, but they had not been washed in many months. The rug also was soiled and threadbare. The main piece of furniture, a table, stood in the center of the room.

Double doors opened out upon a balcony above the river. Wandering outside, Penny could see the _River Queen_ plying its way far downstream.

Closer by, a small boat with an outboard approached.

Due to the glare of a late afternoon sun on the water, she could not at first distinguish its two occupants. The boat, however, looked familiar.

"That's the same boat Sally and I escaped in yesterday!" she thought.

"And it's coming here!"

Nearer and nearer the craft approached, until Penny could see the men's faces plainly. One was Sweeper Joe and the other, Clark Clayton, gateman at the Gandiss factory.

"If they see me here, they're certain to be suspicious!" Penny thought in panic. "They'll remember having seen me with Mr. Gandiss at the factory.

I'll skip while the skipping is good!"

She turned to find Ma Harper standing in the doorway. "Anything wrong, deary?" the woman asked in a soft purr.

"Why, no," Penny stammered. "I--I was just admiring the river view."

"You were lookin' at that boat so funny-like I thought maybe you knew the men. Sure there ain't nothing wrong?"

"Of course not!" Penny was growing decidedly uncomfortable. She tried to slip through the doorway, but Ma Harper did not move aside.

"It's getting late," Penny said, glancing at her wrist watch. "Perhaps I should come some other time to look at the stockings. Shall we say tomorrow?"

"I have the hosiery right here, deary. Beauties, ain't they?"

Ma Harper spread one of the filmy stockings over her rough, callous hand.

The silk was fine and beautiful, unquestionably pre-war and of black market origin.

"Yes, they are lovely," Penny said nervously. "But the truth is, I haven't five dollars with me. I'll have to come back later."

Ma Harper's dark eyes snapped angrily.

"Then what you been takin' my time for?" she demanded. "Say--" she accused with sudden suspicion, her gaze roving to the boat which now was close to the pier, "--you seem in a mighty big hurry to get away from here all at once!"

"Why, no, it's just that the taxi man is waiting, and it's getting late."

"What's your name anyhow?"

"Penny Parker."

"Where do you live?"

"I am a summer vacationist."