“I think,” replied Mr. Baxter, “that the girl had better meet Higby to-morrow and pretend to fall in with his plans. I will be on hand and hear all he says. In the conversation that goes on between them, Higby may say something that reveals her innocence and his guilt in that Roxbury affair.
“She can arrange to let him into the house at night, which is evidently the part he wants her to play in the theft. We’ll be waiting for him when he comes, and we’ll give Mr. Higby the surprise of his life.”
CHAPTER XXX
BROUGHT TOGETHER
The plan met with the hearty approbation of the girls, and they accepted it, subject to the approval of the boys.
And when the latter reached Kill Kare and learned what was afoot, they agreed to it enthusiastically. They all felt toward Higby as they would toward a particularly noxious reptile. And this latest attempt to make the victim of his falsehoods a criminal brought their feeling of detestation to the highest pitch.
“Oh, won’t it do me good to get a whack at him!” gloated Jack.
“He’ll be as safe with me as if he were on a battlefield,” remarked Walter.
“We’ll fix him!” declared Paul.
Nina had been told that Mr. Baxter had overheard the conversation with Higby, but had been given no hint that the detective was looking for her to restore her to her home.
At the appointed time on the following day, she met Higby, whose face lighted up with an evil smile as he saw her appear.