Jo Ann drove very slowly past the pottery woman’s house, but there was no sign of any kind of car to be seen. As the pottery was still there, she knew the men were yet to come. She drove on a short distance, then turned into a rough road circling into the village. To Peggy’s disapproval she turned again a few minutes later into the side road leading past the woman’s house.
Almost simultaneously Jo Ann and Florence caught sight of the old car parked beside the house. “The smugglers’ car!” they both gasped.
“Turn as fast as you can and get away from here,” ordered Peggy.
Instead of obeying her command Jo Ann drew the car to the side of the road and stopped. “You stay in the car, Peggy, while Florence and I see if we can find out anything.”
“Oh, do be careful!”
With Peggy’s last words in their minds Jo Ann and Florence approached the shack cautiously, coming up close to the back of the house, where they halted. Though they could not see the smugglers and the woman except by peeping around the corner of the shack, they could hear them talking.
“They’re trying to make her come down on the price, aren’t they?” Jo Ann whispered.
“Yes; trying to force her down to a mere fraction of what the ollas are worth.” An angry glint came into Florence’s blue eyes. “I feel like marching right out and telling her not to——” She stopped whispering to listen to the woman’s plaintive reply that she needed the money for food for her children.
Jo Ann caught the woman’s words and their meaning. “Come on, let’s see if we can’t persuade or bluff them into giving more money.”
Without hesitating, Florence stepped out, and together the two marched on around to where the men and the woman were standing.