Linda blushed.
“He is a nice young man, don’t you think so, Dot?”
“Of course I do. But poor Ralph! How jealous he’d be, if he only knew!”
“Ralph will be furious because I didn’t wire to him to help us out. But after all, he’s only a personal friend, and of course his assertions about my innocence wouldn’t carry much weight.”
“We’re agreed, then,” said Dot, as she began to dress for dinner, “that the tabu subjects are Von Goss, movies, Sprague, and your double. At five dollars apiece!”
Linda laughed, but she felt much better. Trust Dot to find some fun in every situation, no matter how unpleasant or dangerous it seemed. They were able to get seats at a very good play, and in the excitement of the mystery involved, they forgot all about their own troubles, and had no need to worry about the forfeit.
It was lucky indeed that they were able to enjoy their evening, for the next morning held a most unpleasant surprise for them. They had gone for a walk after breakfast and returned to the hotel about eleven o’clock, hoping for some word from Mr. Eckert.
The telephone rang and Linda picked it up gaily, expecting it to be the message. But it proved to be a message of a very different sort a summons from a police-court in Los Angeles!
“The officer wants you to come downstairs immediately, Miss Carlton,” the operator told her.
“I’m going too,” announced Dot, following her companion into the elevator.