"It"s no use," said Jack.
"Oh, let"s try a little longer," begged Cora.
"Well, if he dropped it before he got here, or after he left, we might as well make the entire trip to New City, and then reverse and go to Chelton," went on Jack. "And we can"t look over every inch of all the distance."
"We can drive along slowly," was Cora"s idea. "The wallet is so large that it could easily be seen. It"s too bad we haven"t Sid and Ida along to help hunt for it. And the Robinson girls, and Mary. The more eyes, the better. I"ll go on to New City, if you"ll make a search on the road from here to Chelton, Jack."
"Oh, I don"t know as it would do any good."
"It won"t do any harm," said Walter. "That is, if Cora isn"t too tired."
"Oh, I should love to go. I can"t get enough of my new car. Will you come, Walter?"
"Of course."
"Then, Jack, you go back to Chelton and keep a lookout on both sides of the road."
"Hard to do that with one pair of eyes," was her brother"s reply.
"I wish I had some one to ride with me. But go ahead; I"ll do the best I can."
"It would be a good plan," a.s.sented Cora, "to have a person with you. If you could pick up some one--"
"Or run across somebody," added Jack with a grin.
"No, Jack, I"m serious. Don"t joke. Even a stranger would do. Some man--"
"Here comes a man now!" exclaimed Walter as an individual came in sight around a bend in the road. The man was not very well dressed.
"I don"t like his looks," said Jack in a low voice. "He seems like a tramp."
"I don"t blame you for not liking his looks," interrupted Walter.
"That"s Lem Gildy."
"The man we saw talking to Sid when he ran his auto into the blacksmith shop?" asked Cora.
Walter nodded.
"Humph!" mused Jack. "I don"t exactly fancy telling Lem Gildy about a pocketbook containing twenty thousand dollars lying alongside the road. He might not admit that he saw it if he happened to spy it while with me, and later on he might come back and pick it up."
"Well, don"t tell him what you"re looking for," suggested Cora with ready wit. "Just say it"s--er--a--er--"
"Say it"s a lady"s pocketbook," put in Walter, "and then he"ll know it"s got everything in it but money. That"s playing a safety with a vengeance."
"Oh, so that"s your opinion of us, is it?" asked Cora quickly. "But, after all, Jack, I think it"s the best plan to ask him to ride back with you, and have him watch one side of the road. Of course, he"s rather dirty--I mean his clothes--and it"s not nice to sit alongside of him, but--"
"Oh, I don"t mind clean dirt," interrupted Jack. "It"s only garden soil on Lem"s clothes. He does odd jobs, you know."
"Not very often," added Walter. "But go ahead, Jack. He"s coming nearer. I don"t believe you can do better than ask him to ride back to Chelton with you. Needn"t be too specific about what"s in the pocketbook. But two pairs of eyes are better than one, you know."
"All right," a.s.sented Jack. "Here goes."
Lem Gildy was shuffling along the road. He was a particularly unprepossessing man, with a reddish growth of whiskers which he never seemed to take the trouble to shave off, and they stuck out like so many bristles in a half-worn toothbrush.
His teeth were yellow, and his habit of chewing tobacco was not to be commended. In short, he was a "shiftless" character, and nice persons had very little to do with him.
"h.e.l.lo, Lem!" called Jack pleasantly.
"h.e.l.lo," was the rather surly answer, and Lem shot a suspicious glance at Jack. It was not often that the young and wealthy Jack Kimball condescended to speak to Lem Gildy, and Lem realized it.
"Want a ride?" went on Jack, trying to make his voice sound natural.
"Don"t look as if you was goin" my way," replied Lem with a grin.
Then he turned his gaze on Cora, and the beautiful girl could not repress a shudder as she felt the bold glance of the man.
"Oh, I"m going to turn around," declared Jack. "I"m going back to Chelton. That"s where you"re headed for, I take it?"
"Sure. That"s where I"m goin", and I"m tired, too. I"ve had a long walk this mornin", and--"
"Are you working in the blacksmith shop?" asked Walter quietly.
"No. What made you think that?" asked Lem quickly. "If you think--"
Then he stopped suddenly. An indignant look, that Lem had a.s.sumed, faded from his face. "No, I wasn"t workin" there," he went on.
"I--er--I just stopped in to see about gettin" a piece of iron."
"Well, do you want to ride back with me?" asked Jack, who wondered at Walter"s question.
"That"s what I do, if you"re goin" my way."
"Yes, I"ll turn around in a minute. Go ahead, Cora and Walter. Get back as soon as you can."
Jack cranked up his car, got in, and, running in a half circle, steered it to where Lem was standing.
"I ain"t much in the habit of ridin" in these here kind of wagons,"
remarked Lem with a smirk. "I hope nothin" happens t" us."
"I guess nothing will. But, Lem, I"m not going to give you a ride for nothing," said Jack.
The man drew back suspiciously. He had expected something like this, his manner seemed to say.
"I ain"t got any money," he whined.
"No, it"s not money," went on Jack. "I only want you to help me look for something."
"Look for Suthin"?"
"Yes; along the road."
"What"s the matter? Lose part of your autymobil?"