I told myself on the moment that women were queer in some ways. Certainly it didn’t take much to amuse and interest them. Miss Prindle’s letter wasn’t funny to me.
I quit work at five o’clock, having sold nine boxes of soap. Tom was waiting for me at the corner of Church and Main. He had sold seven boxes. We hadn’t gone very far before Scoop overtook us.
“I had quite a talk with Deacon Pillpopper,” he told us. “He remembers the ten-ring puzzle. Says it’s worth a lot of money and that we ought to try and find it.” [[127]]
“I didn’t know,” I said, “that puzzles were valuable.”
“He seems to think,” Scoop said, “that the Matson model could be sold to some toy company for several thousand dollars.”
“Where do you suppose the puzzle went to?”
“It’s probably hid with the money.”
“Did you tell the deacon about the marked verses in the Bible?”
“Sure thing. He agrees with me that there is some connection between the ten-ring puzzle and the ‘ten and ten’ markings in the Bible. I’m to have another talk with him soon. And in the meantime he’s going to drive out to Mrs. Kelly’s house and see the Bible himself.”
I fished Miss Prindle’s letter out of my pocket, explaining to our leader how the letter had come into my possession.