“If she was so honest what made her run away that time when we saw her in Gibbonsville?” asked Amy, still not completely convinced. “She could have stood her ground then and given me the good five-dollar bill as well as to hand it to you later.”
“Oh, Amy, don’t you see how different that is?” Jessie cried eagerly. “When this girl saw us she had no way of knowing we were friendly!”
“As a matter of fact, we weren’t,” said Nell. “We were all inclined to be suspicious of her, thought she must be a member of some counterfeiting gang.”
“Of course! And, thinking that, she didn’t know but what we might try to have her arrested. Later when Darry found her and was so friendly she was encouraged to do what she had probably wanted to do for a long time—make good that counterfeit bill,” said Jessie, earnestly.
Again Darry gave her a grateful glance.
“Well go ahead, Darry. There is still considerable mystery to unravel. What became of the woman who gave Eileen the counterfeit bill?”
“Ah, now you come to the real point of this yarn,” said Burd. “You sure did ask a leading question that time, Amy.”
“From Eileen’s description,” Darry continued, “I thought I recognized the woman as one whom I had seen in Gibbonsville talking with some rough-looking men. I did a little sleuthing on my own account and finally trailed the woman and her companions in the direction of Forest Lodge.”
“Forest Lodge!” they cried, and instinctively glanced about at the shadows that pressed in upon them.
“Go on, Darry,” urged Jessie, eagerly. “I believe I begin to see light.”