Billy Long, who straddled the piazza rail, swinging his feet, showed his teeth in a broad smile. “You read about that Halliday fellow, didn’t you?” he asked.
“Oh! the chap they say stole the money from that Albany bank?” responded Lance.
“It was securities he stole—and forged people’s names to them so as to get money,” said Laura. “The Lockwood girls’ Aunt Dora lost some money by him.”
“That is—if he did it,” said Chet, doubtfully.
“Well, the newspapers say so,” Jess observed. 47
“What if they do?” demanded Billy, belligerently. “They all said I helped burglarize that department store last summer—didn’t they? And I never did it at all.”
“No. It was another monkey,” chuckled Lance.
The others laughed, for Billy Long had gotten them into serious trouble on the occasion mentioned, and it was long enough in the past now to seem amusing. But Chet added:
“It’s a wonder to me that Norman Halliday had a chance to get hold of all those securities and forge people’s names to them. And he knew just which papers to take. Looks fishy.”
“Well, he ran away, anyhow,” Lance said.