“Camp Surprise ahoy!” called Walter as he ran the car as near as he could to the bungalow. “Girls, where are you? We’ve got great news! We’ve solved the mystery!”
There was no answer to the hail, and Paul looked at his chum rather apprehensively as they alighted.
“They don’t seem to be here,” he said.
“They must be,” Walter argued. “There’s Mrs. Floyd. We’ll ask her.”
“Why, aren’t the girls in the bungalow?” asked the chaperon, wonderingly. “I have been away a little while, and just got back. They were here when I left.”
A quick search through the bungalow failed, of course, to disclose the presence of Cora and her chums. The entrance to the secret passage was still open, but Walter, running down the steps, reported that the girls were not there, and that the blocking door was closed.
“But we’ll soon have it open,” he said. “We have permission from Mr. Haight to tear down the obstruction.”
“Where is Mr. Kimball?” asked Mr. Floyd, who had been summoned by his wife from a bungalow not far away, where he was making some repairs.
“He’s up in the cave, keeping watch on the counterfeiters,” said Paul. “It’s a great story!”
Thereupon he and Walter gave a short account of the movements of themselves and Jack up to the present.