“Mr. Petersen gave it to me. He said the Murrays knew he had it, and that it was to be mine for what he was pleased to call my kindness to him. He gave me the diary at the same time because it held a supposed clue to Lost Mine and Lost River, a river paved with gold.”
“I don’t wonder that Stacy accuses us of ‘holding out on him,’” chuckled Tom Gray.
“I might, and with very good reason, make the same accusation against certain persons unmentionable,” retorted Miss Briggs, which brought a laugh from her companions.
Tom Gray, in the meantime, had been running over the pages of the diary, noting every entry made by the old prospector.
“A leaf has been torn out of here. It looks as if it were lately torn out. Did you do it?” he asked, addressing Miss Briggs.
Grace explained that the leaf was torn out when the book was snatched from her hand one night, of which circumstance she had already told Tom.
“What was on it?”
“We destroyed the leaf,” spoke up Miss Briggs.
“That wasn’t what I asked you, J. Elfreda. Of course you do not have to answer if you don’t wish to. I am simply trying to get at the bottom of this affair as a guide to our immediate actions. It is very important.”
Elfreda glanced at Hamilton White. He caught the glance and, instantly comprehending, stepped back and began poking the fire and putting on fresh fuel.