“Oh, you can see him at supper,” observed Jane lightly. “You don’t want to break up the party, do you?”
“No, of course not. No need for that at all. I’ll just run along by myself. You people take some more rides.”
“Nix,” answered Max loyally. “You’re not going home alone past these woods. If you have to go, Mary Lou, I’ll go too.”
“Oh, we might as well all go,” said Jane. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to be on time for a meal once in a while. Still, I don’t see what all the fuss is about.”
Max looked straight into Mary Louise’s eyes, a serious expression on his face.
“Mary Lou,” he asked, “you’re not doing any more detective stuff, are you? Surely last summer was enough!”
The girl laughed.
“Yes, it was plenty. Haven’t I been pretty good all fall? Never tried to listen in on any of Dad’s cases or hunt for clues!”
“I should think you’d be cured,” remarked Jane. “The whole town could burn down before I’d go through an experience like yours last summer, to discover a criminal. And if it hadn’t been for Max and Norman——”
“I owe them my life!” said Mary Louise, half seriously and half smilingly. But in her heart she felt a deep sense of gratitude to her two youthful rescuers.