Peggy laughed at this exaggerated speech, and Florence remarked smilingly, “Well, by all means let’s get out and explore the country this afternoon. I’m fed up with staying inside, too.”
“To tell you the truth,” Peggy put in, “I’ve been rather glad to stay inside. Ever since I heard about that smuggler’s hanging around here, the house looks good to me.”
“Oh, he’s gone away by now, surely,” Jo Ann answered. “José says no one else has said a word about having seen a stranger around, and in a small camp like this a stranger surely couldn’t escape being noticed. I feel sure he’s gone back to join the other man. If that man returns for the pottery the same time that he did last week, he’ll be back at the village Friday. I’ve got to get word to the mystery man what day they’re starting for the border.”
“The woman promised me to save some of the pottery for me, but I want to select the best designs from the entire lot before she sells any of them,” Florence put in.
“That means we’ll have to go and get the pottery before those men come,” Jo Ann remarked. “That suits me to a T. You’ve already written to your friend in St. Louis that you’re sending the pottery in a few days, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that settles it. We’ll go to the village to get the pottery Thursday morning and take it to the city and ship it from there. That’ll give me a fine chance to find out from the woman when the smugglers’re coming and to see the mystery man and tell him when to look out for them.”
“I see where you’re headed for more trouble,” Peggy spoke up. “You’d better keep your fingers out of this whole affair. You’re too adventuresome.”
Jo Ann half smiled. “Oh, skip it—the lecture, I mean. Let’s get the horses and go for a ride now.”
“There’s one thing I’d like better than to go for a long ride, and that’s to go through the mine,” Florence said. “Mr. Eldridge promised me he’d take us through it while I’m here this time. When he comes in to lunch, let’s beg him to take us down into it this afternoon.”