"And you should have seen my lunch!" returned Linda. "We forgot to carry anything, but fortunately Susie had left beans and coffee on the island."
"Is that all you had?"
Linda nodded, and gave her order to the waiter.
"I'd certainly like to know where Susie is now," she remarked, after she had satisfied the sharpest pangs of hunger with an iced fruit-cup.
"Yes, so would I," agreed Dot. "Her disappearance will make it a lot harder to trace that other thief.... Do you really expect to do anything about hunting him, Linda?"
"Indeed I do! Tomorrow's only the twenty-seventh, and I don't have to report to Atlanta until July first. I'm going to use those four days."
"But what could you possibly do?" inquired Dot. "How would you know where to go—without even a suggestion from Susie?"
"I have a theory," explained the other girl. "Wait till I eat some of this beef-steak, and I'll tell you about it."
"I'm crazy to hear it, because I'll be with you all the time. Mother said I must start back home the first of July—the day you go to Atlanta. I have my ticket bought."
For a few moments Linda ate her dinner in silence, enjoying every mouthful as only a hungry person can. Then, lowering her voice so that there was no danger of being overheard, she told her chum her plan.