She tried to assume her usual cheerful manner when she entered the house, but the girls noticed at once that she was pale and anxious.
“What’s the matter, Nina?” asked Bess. “You’re as white as though you’d seen a ghost?”
“I hope you haven’t run across any of the gypsies!” exclaimed Cora, in quick apprehension.
“Nothing like that,” Nina asserted.
“Nor Higby?” asked Belle.
Nina faltered, and at this the others jumped to their feet in great excitement.
“Do you mean to say that that cur is lurking around here yet?” demanded Cora.
Nina broke down then, and told them all the details of her meeting with Higby.
The girls were aghast at the plan to rob the house.
“He’s getting along fast,” remarked Belle bitterly. “He’s graduating from the sneak thief to the burglar class.”