“He must have slipped around past us and gotten out of the back door when Ruth and I were going to Luke,” said Neale.
Luke was found not to be badly hurt. He had received only a glancing blow on the side of the head with a wooden club. Had the full force of the blow fallen, serious consequences might have resulted. But, as it was, the blow had little more than a temporary stunning effect.
“Though I expect you’ll have a fierce headache in the morning,” prophesied Neale.
“If it isn’t anything worse than that I ought to be thankful,” Luke remarked.
“Tell us all about it,” suggested Hal.
But before this there had been the suggestion on the part of the girls that the police be sent for, and an effort had been made to communicate with police headquarters. However, the telephone seemed to be out of order, only a strange crackling and buzzing sound resulting when the receiver was taken down. Then Luke had said:
“Don’t call in the police!”
“Why not?” asked Hal.
“Because it will only bring unpleasant notoriety to the Corner House. Let’s solve this mystery ourselves.”
“It’s a mystery all right!” declared Neale.