“He may come this way,” she remarked hopefully. “If he does, perhaps we can flag him down. Otherwise, I’ll call the forest ranger headquarters in the village.”
Breakfast finished, Judy and Ardeth cleared the table and made a fast and furious attack upon the dishes. As they rushed about, stacking china neatly in the cupboards, they kept an attentive ear trained on the cellar area. The only sounds came from out-of-doors.
“If Miss Ward hadn’t backed up your story about that flute player, I’d have accused you of dreaming it up,” Ardeth declared. “Just my luck to have missed out on the fun.”
“It was scarey, rather than fun,” Judy answered. “For Aunt Mattie’s sake, I hope our basement friend doesn’t strike any more sour notes.”
Hanging up the dish towels to dry, the two girls joined Miss Ward and Virginia who were watching the highway for a glimpse of either the station wagon or the milk truck.
“There it comes!” Virginia suddenly cried, spying the vehicle driven by Bart Ranieau.
All the Scouts rushed to the main highway to flag down the milk wagon.
“Hi!” Bart greeted the girls as he halted the delivery wagon at the side of the road. “I see you’ve moved in. Need milk or butter this morning?”
“We can use two quarts of milk,” Miss Ward returned. “But we stopped you for another reason.”
“It’s about Pete,” Ardeth said tensely. “He lost himself in the cave last night. Judy and I called to him, but he wouldn’t come out. He kept going deeper and deeper in the hole.”