“Look under the seat,” Grove said.
We got up from the back seat and lifted it and Pee-wee poked his head around underneath and groped with his hands.
“Is he there?” Brent asked him.
“Who?” Pee-wee hollered.
“The soda clerk from Bennett’s,” Brent said.
“No, but the mystery grows deeper,” Pee-wee shouted. “Give me the flashlight—quick. There’s some buried treasure here! Look! Here are some spoons. Here’s a silver thing like they have hot chocolate in! He put them here—look! I knew he was a villain!”
Grove and I, who were in the back part of the machine, looked into the space under the seat, and good night, as sure as anything, there was a silver bowl and some spoons in a box all lined with plush. The flashlight made them all bright Just as I was looking, Pee-wee opened a big plush box and there was a gold watch and a dandy long pearl necklace and a lot of other things.
“Now, what have you got to say?” he shouted in my face.
Brent looked around, kind of laughing, but he didn’t bother to stop the car. I guess he was too anxious to get to Utica.
“What do you think it means?” Pee-wee said, in a kind of whisper. “We’d better wait for them to catch up, hey?”