“Not a cent,” Salt retorted. “We don’t want any part of your deal. But there’s something I did come here for—my camera.”
“I’ve already told the young lady I know nothing about it. If you were stupid enough to throw it into a passing automobile, then you deserve to lose it. Now get out!”
Salt was tempted to argue the matter, but Penny took his arm, pulling him toward the door. The professor slammed it hard behind them as they went out into the night.
“That fellow is a crook!” Salt exploded. “I’ll bet a cookie he has my camera too!”
“Well, we can’t prove it,” Penny sighed. “After all, we did act in a high-handed way. We may have queered his sale to Mr. Johnson.”
“A good thing if we have.”
“But we have no proof the machine is a fake. With our own eyes we saw the mine explode. Of course, we think Webb tampered with it in some fashion, but we’re not certain of that either.”
“The proof of the pudding will come Thursday night when and if the old boy explodes Mr. Johnson’s mine.”
“He’s just clever enough to do it, too,” Penny said gloomily.
The couple had walked only a short distance up the lane when they were startled to hear a shrill whistle in the darkness. It came from the beach.