“We were asking him about the cottage and likewise about the cave,” Miss Ward admitted. “If we’re to remain here another night, we want all the information we can get.”
“I was telling ’em about the White Witch,” Bart interposed to plague the realtor.
“How many times have I told you to keep your nose out of my affairs?” Mr. Krumm demanded furiously. “You can’t keep that wagging, clacking tongue of yours still! You’ve driven away all of my tenants, one by one.”
“That’s not so, Krumm, and you know it.”
“You fill ’em up with fears about White Witches and such nonsense. I want no more of it, understand? Furthermore, I want you to keep off my property. Don’t be snooping around Calico Cave any more!”
“You can’t keep me from exploring,” Bart returned coolly. “You may own the land, but not what’s below the surface.”
“You stay out of that cave, and away from it,” Mr. Krumm repeated his order.
Bart grinned provokingly, and without making answer, drove off down the road.
“That young whippersnapper gets my blood up!” Mr. Krumm asserted after the milk wagon had vanished around a curve. “I wouldn’t have ordered him to keep off the property, only he’s become a pest.”
“I take it, you don’t consider the cave safe?” Judy inquired curiously.