"Why, it's all right, I think. I don't see that there will be any danger if you stay with me."
Bet ran for her horse. "Come on, girls, let's go!"
The group divided into two sections. The judge and the girls and Tommy went under Kie Wicks' leadership. Tommy was very contemptuous at the idea of help from Kie, but he followed without any remarks, deciding that the man needed watching. And that job would be his!
Instead of being offended at the arrival of a searching party, Ramon Salazar seemed to welcome them and even his wife acted as if she had been expecting a visit.
"Take a look around, folks," said Kie Wicks as he himself opened a door and looked into a bed room, littered with mattresses and soiled blankets.
"He ain't here," said Kie. "I didn't more than half think he was. But you never can be sure unless you take a look."
Bet caught a quick glance of understanding between the two men, but in the next second decided that it was a glance of approval.
"They're up to some mischief," whispered Kit in Shirley's ear. "I don't trust that Kie Wicks and he is altogether too sugary today to suit me. But don't say a word to Bet. She will flare up and then we won't be able to watch him."
Shirley agreed with Kit, who knew Kie Wicks better than the others.
Tommy was watching the two men, his nerves keyed up and every sense alert to the slightest movement of the men. He had noted the quick look between Kie and the Mexican and felt sure that it was a danger signal. It conveyed a message. Not for a second did the boy doubt that Kie and Ramon knew where the professor was.