“He said he would stay about the valley,” Frank replied. “There is plenty of provisions there, you know, and Pat is quite long on the eats,” he added, with a laugh.
“And Jack and Jimmie will be sure to hang about the neighborhood of the caves,” Ned said. “The Chinese boy, Liu, will be able to care for them. If there is enough gasoline in the tanks, I may go back to the valley to-night.”
“You’d better get some sleep to-night,” Frank advised. “I don’t know how long it has been since you settled down for a night of it. If you keep your brain working right you’ve got to sleep.”
“I really ought to go to San Francisco,” was the astonishing reply to this advice. “I have work to do there.”
“What work?” demanded Frank.
“You see,” Ned answered, “we have done nothing yet, except discover a crime with which we are supposed to have nothing to do. We have brought a little water for the fire-fighters, but we came here for a certain purpose, and we have not made good as yet. Perhaps, when I get to Frisco, I can hunch my wits, as the baseball fans say, and report good progress.”
“I don’t understand what you mean,” Frank said.
“I am not sufficiently sure of my ground to attempt an explanation now,” Ned replied.
“Of course,” Frank said, thoughtfully, “there’s the murder case you went to Frisco about before. You might look that up again, but I can’t see where that has any bearing on this forest fire business.”
“You may be surprised,” Ned said, “when the end comes. Somehow, I have an idea that the two crimes dovetail into each other.”