I still think that had she taken sufficient time she could have located this second clew easily and without the trouble that ensued. But finding herself last when she is so generally first had irritated her, and she was also annoyed at Miss Watkins, it having been arranged that the last car was to take her back into town.
“Mr. Ostermaier said the clew’s in town anyhow. And he didn’t think the last car would have much chance, either,” she said.
“Who laughs last laughs best,” said Tish grimly, and started off at a frightful speed. Miss Watkins lost her hat within the first mile or two, but we could not pause, as a motorcycle policeman was now following close behind us. Owing to Tish’s strategy, however, for when he attempted to come up on the right of us she swerved in that direction and vice versa, we finally escaped him, an unusually sharp swerve of hers having caught him off guard, so to speak, and upset him.
Just when or where we lost Miss Watkins herself I have no idea. Aggie had again dozed off, and when we reached the town and slowed up, Miss Watkins was gone. She herself does not know, as she seems to have wandered for some time in a dazed condition before reaching home.
But to the hunt.
I still think our mistake was a natural one. One would think that the pass sentence, “Prevention is better than cure, ting-a-ling,” certainly indicated either a pharmacy or a medical man and a doorbell, and as Tish said, a fire box was most likely a wood box. There being only two doctors in the town, we went first to Doctor Burt’s, but he had already retired and spoke to us from an upper window.
“We want to examine your wood box,” Tish called.
“Wood box?” he said, in a stupefied voice. “What do you want wood for? A splint?”
“We’re hunting treasure,” said Tish sharply. “‘Prevention is better than cure, ting-a-ling.’”
The doctor closed the window violently; and although we rang for some time, he did not appear again.