CHAPTER 9 _A FALLEN TREE_
"Speak up!" Peter Fenestra commanded again as the girls stared at him inblank astonishment. "Why are you trying to get into my cave?"
"Listen to that wind!" cried Penny, recovering the power of speech. Shepointed toward the sky.
"A tornado!" exclaimed Fenestra in a stunned voice.
"And it's coming this way," added Louise. "Let us down into the cave!"
Instead of stepping aside, the man came up the stone steps. Slamming thedoor of the cave, he padlocked it.
"Quick! Into the house!" he ordered.
"We'll be much safer underground," argued Penny. "That twister easily canlift a building from its foundation."
"Do as I say!" commanded Peter Fenestra harshly. "The cave is half filledwith water. You can't go down there."
Deserting the girls, he ran toward the house. Mystified by the old man'sactions, Penny and Louise followed, overtaking him as he reached theporch.
"Get inside!" he ordered.
The girls scurried through the door and he closed it behind them. Barelyhad they reached shelter when the wind struck the house in full force,fairly shaking it to its foundation. Windows rattled, a tree bough camecrashing down on the porch, the air was filled with flying debris.
As a hard object shattered a pane of glass, Penny and Louise heard aterrified scream from the kitchen. A moment later a girl ran into theroom. She stopped short as she saw Penny and Louise. They also stared,for it was Tillie Fellows.
"Stop that silly screeching!" Fenestra ordered sharply. "The center ofthe storm is passing to the south. Now get back to your work!"
"Yes, sir," Tillie mumbled.
Still gazing at Penny and Louise, she slowly retreated. However, as PeterFenestra went to the window, turning his back, she made strange signs tothe girls which they were unable to understand. Obviously she did notwish them to speak to her for she raised a finger to her lips, indicativeof silence.
A gate was wrenched from its hinges and carried across the yard. Fromacross the road came the crash of an uprooted tree. With a stifled screamTillie fled to the kitchen.
"That stupid girl drives me crazy," Fenestra muttered. "I don't know whyI ever hired her."
"You can't blame her for being frightened," declared Louise quickly."This is a dreadful storm."
"The worst is over now," said Fenestra. "You'll be able to go in a fewminutes."
Penny and Louise glanced at each other. Peter Fenestra's remark made itvery clear that he did not wish them to linger after the storm hadpassed. Without inviting them to sit down, he nervously went from windowto window, watching the clouds.
Rain began to fall. At first it came in a heavy downpour, then slackenedsomewhat. The wind no longer tore at the doors.
"You'll be able to go any time now," said Fenestra. "I can let you havean umbrella."
"It's still rather bad," answered Penny. "If you don't mind, I believewe'll wait a few minutes longer."
The decision displeased the man. Frowning, he turned to gaze at the girlssomewhat critically.
"Who sent you here?" he demanded. "Why did you come?"
His manner was so suspicious that Penny sensed it was no time to revealthe real purpose of the visit. Instead she said:
"My father has a cottage along the river. We were returning from therewhen the storm broke."
Her explanation seemed to satisfy the man. He shrugged and fell to pacingthe floor restlessly.
The rain presently ceased. Penny and Louise felt that they no longercould delay their departure. Saying good-bye to Fenestra, they left thehouse.
Rounding a corner of the building, they were startled to hear a light tapon the window. Glancing up, they saw Tillie Fellow's face pressed againstthe pane.
"She's signaling for us to wait," observed Penny. "I guess she wants totalk with us."
The girls stepped into the doorway of a woodshed. In a moment Tillieslipped from the house, a coat thrown over her head.
"I hope old Fenestra doesn't see me," she greeted the girls nervously."Let's get out of sight."
Penny and Louise followed her into the woodshed, closing the door.
"How long have you worked here?" the latter inquired curiously.
"Ever since I met you girls on the boat. I answered an advertisement thenext morning and got this job."
"Do you like it?" asked Penny. "I imagine farm work is hard."
"The work is easy enough. But I hate the place! That's why I wanted totalk with you. Do you know of anyone who needs a girl? I'll work for verysmall wages."
"I don't know of anyone at the moment," responded Penny.
"I can't stay here much longer," Tillie said, a note of desperation inher voice. "Mr. Fenestra is so overbearing and mean! He can't bear noiseeither. If I as much as rattle a dish he berates me."
"Does he pay you a decent wage?" inquired Louise.
"Ten dollars a week. I can't complain on that score. But there'ssomething about him--I can't explain--it gives me the creeps."
"Fenestra is a peculiar type," admitted Penny. "He didn't act veryfriendly toward Louise and me. By the way, why does he keep the stormcellar padlocked?"
"That's something I wish you would tell _me_."
"He wouldn't allow us to enter it even when the storm was coming."
"Fenestra always keeps the cave padlocked," revealed Tillie. "He goesthere every day, too. Sometimes he spends hours beneath ground. It ratherfrightens me."
"What do you think he does there?"
"I don't know. Once I asked him about the cave and he flew into a violentrage. He said if he ever caught me near it he would discharge me."
"He told us that the cave was half filled with water."
"I don't believe that," said Tillie. "He has something hidden downthere."
"Haven't you any idea what it is?"
"No, and I don't care very much," returned Tillie. "All I want to do isget away from this place. If you hear of a job anywhere will you let meknow?"
"Of course," promised Penny. "Mrs. Weems, our housekeeper, may know of avacancy. If she does, I'll telephone."
"We haven't a telephone. Mr. Fenestra had it taken out because theringing of the bell made him jumpy. He said the neighbors always listenedto his conversations, too. He's very suspicious of everyone."
"Then I can run out in the car," said Penny. "I don't blame you for notliking this place. I shouldn't either."
"Thanks for everything," replied Tillie gratefully. "You've been awfullygood to me. I must run back now or old Fenestra will ask me a millionquestions."
Hastily saying good-bye, she darted away. Walking slowly toward the road,Penny and Louise discussed Peter Fenestra's strange actions. They wereinclined to agree with Tillie that he had hidden something of valuebeneath ground.
Across the road from the farmhouse a giant elm tree had been uprooted.They saw overturned chicken houses, fences laid flat, tangles oftelephone and electric wires.
"Even more damage must have been done farther down the river," remarkedPenny anxiously. "I hope our new cottage hasn't blown away."
"Shall we go there and see?"
"I wish we could."
For several hundred yards the girls followed the road, then once morethey cut across the fields toward the winding river. As they approachedthe Parker property their misgivings increased. All along the waterfront, trees had been toppled and split. In sections there were widepaths cut as if by a scythe.
"The cottage is still there!" Penny cried as they presently ascended tohigher ground. "I can see it."
"Several trees are down," observed Louise. "One has fallen across theporch."
"A beautiful birch, too," murmured Penny. "Anchor Joe will have a jobclearing it away."
Approaching the cottage, the girls saw no glimpse of the workman. Pennycalled his name several times.
"I wonder where he went?" she murmured.
The girls rounded the corner of the cottage. As their eyes fell upon thegiant birch which had demolished the porch railing, they were startled tosee a slight movement among the leaves. A hand lay limp against thetrunk.
"Anchor Joe!" gasped Penny in horror. "He's pinned beneath the tree!"
The Secret Pact Page 10