“We can’t make dates, Jane. It’s out of the question, for we don’t know what may turn up. I want to investigate the Pearsons today. That disagreeable Corinne may have had a part in the theft.... I’m sorry now that we promised the boys we’d go on that picnic.”
“That picnic’s going to be fun! You know what marvelous swimming there is down by Cooper’s woods. And don’t forget the gypsies! I love to have my fortune told.”
“Yes, that’s fun, I admit. But a whole day——”
“Oh, well, maybe we’ll solve the whole crime today! And maybe Miss Grant will let us take Elsie with us, now that she has some nice dresses.”
Mary Louise’s eyes brightened.
“That is an idea, Jane. I’ll ask Miss Grant today—as our reward for returning her money.”
The increasing heat of the day and the steepness of the climb to Dark Cedars made the girls long for that swimming pool in the amusement park, and Jane at least wished that they were going with the boys. But one glance at her chum’s determined face made her realize that such a hope was not to be fulfilled.
Both girls felt hot and sticky when they finally mounted the porch steps at Dark Cedars and pulled the old-fashioned knocker on the wooden door. It was opened almost immediately by Hannah, who evidently had been working right there in the front of the house.
The woman looked hot and disturbed, as if she had been working fast, under pressure.
“Good-morning,” said Mary Louise brightly. “May we see Miss Grant, Hannah?”