"Chester, you are a trump!" cried Patricia, springing up excitedly. "What did you do?"
"Why, I didn't do nothin' but lay low, of course. I sure would have spilled the beans if I'd jumped out an' hollered who I was, then. I just stayed and listened to what went on. The grouchy maid said: 'You better go in. The madame will not like it.' An' the little un' said: 'Oh, Melanie, let me stay just a few moments! It is so hot in my room. I need the air.' Then the grouchy maid grunted something that sounded like French. I couldn't get on to it at all. They didn't say no more, but sat a while, an' bimeby both got up an' went in. An' soon after all the lights went out in the place, an' I knew it wasn't no use to stay longer, so I beat it back here."
"Oh, Melanie, let me stay just a few moments!"
"Chester," exclaimed Patricia, at the end of this recital, "what are we going to do?"
"Well, I got a plan," he acknowledged. "I don't know whether you'll stand for it or not, but here it is, anyway. An' I can promise you that if you go in for it, you won't come to a bit of harm. It ain't possible, the way I got it fixed, an' we may do a whole lot of good, at least as far as the little mam'selle is concerned, an' maybe something about this here Crimson Patch beside. Here's my scheme:
"I got an older brother who owns a secondhand auto an' runs it like a jitney. That's his business. But sometimes he takes a day off when I do an' we go fishin' together or somethin'. He's off to-day, same as me. An' you can trust him just the same as me. He ain't a born detective like I am, but he's honest as honest an' he knows how to hold his tongue an' ask no questions. So I ain't explainin' everything to him.
"Now I figure that it ain't healthy for you to stay all day alone around that hotel if there's anything in this 'danger' business. Not that you wouldn't be safe enough if you sit tight, but you can't tell what complicatin' thing might come up, an' you ain't got a soul around to advise you, not even me. Now suppose you come out to Hanford with me an' Ted in the auto, an' we'll hang around an' lie low an' see if we can get hold of the little mam'selle somehow an' find out what this here mess is all about, anyhow. There can't any harm possibly come to us, 'cause Ted's goin' to keep out of things an' just lie low in the auto in that patch of woods back of the house an' I got a police-whistle in my pocket, an' if anything goes wrong I'll blow it like mad an' he'll beat it back to the city an' have the police out in ten minutes. Are you game?"
For one uncertain moment Patricia wavered. Was it right for her to engage in this harebrained escapade? What would her father say? Or Mrs. Quale? Then the thought of Virginie in danger, the possibility of locating the Crimson Patch, and the sheer adventure of the thing overcame all her scruples.
"Yes, I'll go, Chester. I trust you absolutely, and I'm sure you will not let me come to harm. But suppose Father should call me up at the hotel? What will he think if they say I'm away?"