“But you fired a second time,” Marjorie said excitedly. “We were terrified for fear one of you had been hurt.”
“That’s right,” Jimmy said. “Say, Phil, how about giving us a play by play description of what happened. I missed all the fun, remember?”
Phil frowned. “We want to look around some more. We just came back to be sure the rest of you were okay.”
“We’re perfectly all right,” Penny said. “Go ahead with your search.” She smiled. “As long as Jimmy stays with us we’re perfectly safe.”
“I want to know what happened,” Jimmy complained. “Give, Phil.”
“Well,” Phil said patiently, “from the minute that man disappeared into the shrubbery, he slipped from one tree to another like an Indian, then doubled around toward the lake.”
“It certainly sounds as though he knows his way around here,” Marjorie put in.
Phil nodded. “Pat fired the second shot when we saw him trying to get away in one of our boats. Although Pat fired into the air, it scared the living daylights out of him, I guess. He jumped from the boat and made for the woods below us.” Phil grinned. “I’ll bet he’s still running. He may think we’re mighty poor shots, but at least he knows we’re armed. I doubt if he ever comes back on our property again.”
“But who could it have been?” Penny asked. “A tramp wouldn’t know his way around our grounds.”
“If anyone should ask me,” Pat said, “I’d say it was one of those crazy villagers after the so-called buried treasure. I’ll bet the news is all over town already that we found the old well near the shed.”