“Then you’re not annoyed at us for being carried away with the circus?” Veve asked quickly.
“It was an accident,” smiled the Brownie Scout leader. “A rather fortunate one for me as matters turned out. Otherwise, I might never have recovered my wrist watch.”
“All the same, don’t ever ride away with another circus,” interposed Connie’s mother.
Veve and Connie both assured her that they intended to be very careful in the future.
Detective Gregg had tried without success to force the pickpocket to admit he had taken Miss Gordon’s billfold as well as her watch. However, the man stubbornly refused to answer questions.
“Oh, well,” the detective said with a shrug, “it doesn’t matter one way or the other. Now that we’ve recovered and identified the watches, we have a case against you. Come along to jail.”
As Mr. Gregg started to lead the pickpocket away, he thought of an important matter.
“By the way,” he said, “I suppose you know of the reward for Pickpocket Joe’s capture. The circus offered it three months ago when he was giving us so much trouble.”
Now this indeed was news to the Brownies.
“A reward?” echoed Veve. “How much?”