Mrs. Pyle meanwhile stood still and wrung her hands. She was certain that the big car was running wild and that a terrible accident was imminent.
Then an extraordinary thing occurred.
The dignified Mrs. Brook-White—or, rather, the lady who Mr. and Mrs. Pyle believed to be Mrs. Brook-White—turned around in her seat with a mocking laugh, and daintily blew them a farewell kiss.
Mr. Pyle could hardly believe his eyes.
To use his own words, he was “completely flabbergasted.” He pulled up with a gasp of incredulous bewilderment, and even as he did so, the car swung around a turn in the road and vanished from sight.
It was evident that Tommy Pyle was to have a much longer ride than either he or his grandparents anticipated, but where that ride would end, no one could say—except “Mrs. Brook-White,” her eminently respectable-looking chauffeur, and certain of the leading members of The Order of the Philosopher’s Stone.
CHAPTER XIII.
NICK COMES TO MEADOWVIEW.
It was quite true, as Mr. Pyle had heard, that Francis Massey had sent for Nick Carter.
He had first left the case in the hands of the local police, but when at the end of a week they had frankly confessed that they were baffled, he had wired for Nick Carter.
The detective promptly responded to the summons, and arrived at Meadowview in one of his private cars, accompanied by Chick and Captain, their police dog.