“That’s so! Do you suppose they set the place on fire?”
“I do—either by accident or design.”
“You don’t suppose they meant to burn us up?”
“Oh, no, they knew we could get out. But it would take time, and they wanted to detain us, so that we’d be found down there.”
“Well, we were found, and now we’re in a mess over it.”
After that both cadets looked at the sheet of paper once more.
“The writing has entirely evaporated,” said Pepper. “I can’t see a scratch.”
“Have you any idea who dropped the note?”
“Not the slightest.”
“Perhaps it was a friend who wanted us to learn what the Baxter crowd was up to.”