“Can’t we stop him from leaving Rosedale?” Miss Gordon asked. She looked at her wristwatch, and added:
“His train may have gone by this time. There is a chance, though, that we can intercept him.”
“I will try,” said Mr. Van Der Lann grimly.
He ran to get his truck. By this time, Connie and Sunny had run up from the canal. Jane and Rosemary, their arms laden with tulips, raced in from the fields to see what was happening.
“Everyone into the truck!” ordered Mr. Van Der Lann.
The Brownies scrambled in, fairly tumbling over one another in their haste.
“Those bulbs represent my entire fortune,” Mr. Van Der Lann declared, starting off very fast. “I must get them back.”
Rosedale had only one union station. The nurseryman drove directly there. Passengers could be seen waiting on the platform. Luggage had been piled up on a dolly-truck ready to be hauled to the train when it came in.
Even as the Brownies leaped from Mr. Van Der Lann’s truck, they heard the whistle of the approaching engine.
“Hurry! Hurry!” urged Vevi. “It’s coming now.”