"Oh! So it might be either of them," said Bets. "I do wonder which of them wore the rubber-soled shoes with those markings. Well, anyway, now we know for certain it was one of those two. Mr. Hick, you won't tell a single soul what I've told you this morning, will you?"
"Certainly not," said Mr. Hick. "A lot of people seem to have been in my garden that day I went up to town, didn't they? Wait till I get my fingers on the one who played that dirty trick on me, and burnt all my valuable papers!"
"I'd better go now," said Bets. She stood up, and put Buster down. He immediately rushed to Mr. Hick and began to sniff at his trousers in a way that Mr. Hick thoroughly disliked. He kicked Buster away and the dog yelped.
"Oh, don'tl" said Bets, dismayed. "You shouldn't kick a dog, Mr. Hick. That's cruel."
"You go now and take that dog with you," said Mr. Hick. "And my advice to you children is - don't meddle in things that concern grown-ups. Leave the police to do thefinding-out!"
"Oh, we must go on," said Bets. "After all, we are the Find-Outers!"
She went up the drive with Buster and saw the footprints once again. One row went up the drive and one row went down. How Bets wished she knew whether the prints had been made by Smellie or Peeks! She longed and longed for the others to come home. She could hardly wait to tell them her news. She wondered if they would mind her telling Mr. Hick all that she had told him. But, after all, it couldn't matter him knowing. He would do all he could to help them, Bets was sure - and he had faithfully promised not to tell any one at all.
The others came back after tea, tired and happy after a
lovely day at Burnham Beeches. Fatty presented Bets with an enormous bunch of primroses.
Bets could not wait for one moment to tell them her news. She was simply bursting with it - but just as she was in the middle of it, there came a very nasty surprise!