"Honest to goodness, brother mine."
Then Chet fell to work with fresh enthusiasm on the lock.
It was a stubborn old lock, and required a good deal of patience—which the girls had not—and tinkering to make it give way.
But it gave at last, and girls and boys leaned forward with sighs of pure excitement.
"Open it," cried Laura impatiently, but Billie put her hand on the lid and faced them with shining eyes.
"We'll each have just one guess," she said, "and see who comes nearest to guessing right."
"I bet it's money," cried Chet.
"That isn't fair, I was going to bet that too."
"So was I—"
"And I—"