“Why? Because he idolizes you. Because he thinks you are his guardian angel. Don’t you know the girls even said your father was going to adopt him?”
“Cara Burke!” That left Babs speechless.
“Yes, indeed they did,” Cara repeated. “And it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Can you believe that Dud asked Dad if we couldn’t take him? Dud is just crazy about the youngster. And maybe you didn’t know that Dud took him and his old bike and the oil can all the way over to Breakintake to have a real photograph made. He declared he was going to send it to some news syndicate——”
“For gracious sake!” exclaimed Babs. “He didn’t!”
“He did, too. You don’t know what a hustler my brother is,” wound up Cara, proudly.
“Well,” gasped Babs, brightening at all this good news, “I guess I do know how smart Dud is, Cara. Didn’t I spend hours racing around in his good little car when I should have been doing other things at your house party?”
“You certainly did,” laughed Cara. They were cheered up considerably now.
“And just imagine the girls thinking that we, Dad and I, could take Nicky,” Babs went on. “They evidently don’t know how poor we are,” she said, as if glad to say it, as if she feared giving Cara a false impression of her own humble circumstances.
“Poor! indeed! You’re rich in a lot of things, Babs,” spoke up Cara. “And if you wanted to take Nicky you would soon find out what a real help he could be.”
“I wish I had taken him—last night,” declared Babs, tossing her head to one side so far that her hair came tumbling down like a curtain over one eye. “But it’s too late to make wishes; what we have got to do is to make plans. You see, Cara, it would be so much better if we could get hold of Nicky right away, because Miss Davis’ twin sister Tillie is away. If we could find him, somehow I feel we would find the Santa Maria.”