David McCall stepped nearer and uttered a sudden exclamation of surprise.
“Gosh!” he said solemnly.
“Recognize them, McCall?” inquired Frazier.
“I sure do. They’re Cliff Hunter’s. Nobody else around here can afford to pay a dollar a pack. Look—they’re monogrammed!”
Mary Louise glanced apprehensively at Cliff. He was holding the cards in his hand, nodding his assent.
“Sure they’re mine. The kids must have swiped them—or maybe I lost them and they found ’em. I myself haven’t been up here to Smiths’ once this summer before tonight.”
“Sez—you!” muttered David McCall under his breath. But not too low for Mary Louise to hear him and be genuinely frightened!
CHAPTER IX
The Arrest
When the girls came home from the fire that night they found Mrs. Gay and Freckles both awake and dressed. The boy was pleading with his mother to be allowed to go to the Smiths’.
“The fire’s out,” announced Jane, sinking wearily into the swing on the porch. “Mary Lou passed out for a few minutes, too.”