There was a door at the rear of the store, and to this Amy ran, opening it and peering out into the littered yard. Jessie followed more slowly, for she had no desire to arouse either the curiosity or the suspicion of the sleepy-eyed storekeeper.
Back of the small cleared space that served for a back yard and which was crammed with old packing boxes and rubbish of all kinds, was a vegetable garden and beyond that, the woods. If the strange girl had fled in this direction there would be scant chance of finding her.
Disappointed, the girls turned away and Jessie stopped to buy a box of crackers and some sorry-looking candy from the man behind the counter, who seemed as if about to be shocked into wakefulness by their peculiar actions.
“There was a stairway going up from the back of that store. I saw it,” Amy said in a low tone to her chum, as they returned to their curious companions. “If that isn’t the way that girl disappeared, then I am no good as a detective.”
“We could hardly have gone up those stairs without being arrested for housebreaking,” Jessie argued reasonably, but Amy shook her head.
“I would be almost willing to risk spending a night in the county jail for the pleasure of talking to that girl again,” she said.
Nell and the three boys greeted them with curious questions when they returned and listened with interest when they told of their fruitless search for the girl who had passed the counterfeit bill.
Darry was obviously excited and upset, and asked them so many questions that Amy finally snapped out at him with:
“For goodness’ sake, Darry, we have told you all we know about four times over. Now, if you want to find out anything else, you will have to turn sleuth yourself.”
“I intend to,” retorted Darry, with decision adding, as he turned toward the store: “Excuse me for a few minutes, folks. I have a consuming curiosity to talk with the owner of this place.”