“He was going to show the bonds to somebody, he said. He went off in too great a hurry to do that. And did he take the book because the contents might be valuable and he was afraid to leave it behind him?”
“I never did hear of such a funny mix-up,” concluded Agnes, still in her own mind. “And Ruth acts so strangely about it, too. She looked at the book first. Can it be possible that she thinks that old play money is real? Suppose some of it is good—just some of it?”
Agnes had begun to worry herself now about the old album and its contents. The mystery of it quite overshadowed in her mind the matter of the missing baby.
CHAPTER XII—MISS PEPPERILL’S DISASTER
The baby came first, after all, for Joe Eldred almost immediately exclaimed:
“Say, Aggie! isn’t that Billy Quirk’s wagon right ahead?”
“Oh, yes! Oh, yes, Joe!” Agnes agreed. “He hasn’t got so far, after all.”
“Do you believe he’s got the kid?” demanded Joe, in doubt. “Look here! The back of the wagon’s full of clothes baskets. Why! if the kid’s there, he’s buried!”
“Oh, don’t!” cried Agnes. “Don’t say such a thing, Joe!”
The boy had slowed down while speaking, and instantly Agnes was out of the car and had run ahead.