The letter was written on dirty paper and in a handwriting that showed the writer to be a very ignorant person. And it was actually mailed in Dalton! The girls read it eagerly.
“If you want to knos bout Tom Moran I can tell you all you want to knos. but I got a be paid for what I knos. hes a many mils from here. but I can find him if its mad wuth my wile. So no mor at present Well wisher. p. s.—rite me at Dalton N. York, name john Smith. Ile get it from genl dlivry.”
“Now, never in the world did that red-haired young man write such a letter, Doro!” cried Tavia.
“Of course not. It is some bad person who saw the advertisement and thinks that some money is to be made out of poor Celia’s brother.”
“And this awful scrawl was written when Tom was right here in town.”
“Certainly,” agreed Dorothy.
“Yet the writer says he is ‘a many mils from here.’”
“That is why we may be sure that the person writing to me has a very bad mind and is trying to get money. I am sure Tom Moran never saw the notice in the War Cry and that he knows nothing about this letter,” repeated Dorothy.
“Dear me! to be so close on the trail of that redhead—and then to lose him,” Tavia said despairingly.
“Perhaps this person who wrote the letter knows where he is now. Yes, it looks reasonable,” said Dorothy, reflectively. “You see, believing as he does that somebody will pay money to find Tom Moran, he will likely keep in touch with Celia’s brother.”