CHAPTER III
RECOVERED TREASURE
To her great surprise Billie found that not only her father but the boyswere up and had for the past half hour been busily engaged in eating abreakfast prepared for them by the rosy and good-natured farmer's wife.
They greeted the unexpected apparition of Billie with enthusiasm, andtheir impromptu hostess turned cheerfully back to the frying pan to fryanother egg for the new arrival.
"I bet I know why you got up," said Ferd, his mouth full of biscuit andjam. "Come on over, Billie, and after you've daintily pecked at somefood we're all going to look for your trunk."
"But I'm not hungry," protested Billie, as Teddy dragged a chair up tothe table for her. "Don't you think we'd better get started right away?"
"Not before you've had some breakfast," said her father, and so shehurriedly ate--it might be said "gobbled," if it were not sounladylike--the breakfast that Mrs. Jenkins placed before her.
If it had not been for the real cause of her excitement the boys mighthave found amusing her effort to gulp down her whole breakfast in thetime one usually takes to drink a cup of coffee. As it was, theysympathized, and once when she choked and became painfully red in theface, Ferd gravely handed her a glass of water and Teddy gallantlyoffered to pat her on the back.
When, contrary to everybody's expectations, the meal came to an endwithout any further mishap, Billie crumpled her napkin into a ball andthrew it on the table.
"I won't eat another bite for anybody," she said, adding, as she startedfor the hall: "I'll put on my hat and be right with you."
In the bedroom she found that Laura and Violet had turned over for a napand she stood for half a minute looking down at them reflectively and alittle scornfully.
"Go ahead--sleep," she said under her breath. "It isn't your fivethousand dollars." This was hardly fair, seeing that that five thousanddollars meant almost as much to Laura and Violet as to Billie herself inthe happiness it would bring.
With one last disgusted look she fled from the room and joined the boysand Mr. Bradley in the hall. Mrs. Jenkins had directed them to thestation, and, anxious to waste no further time, they set off at once.
"Daddy, do you suppose we'll find it?" asked Billie, her breath comingfast. "There were a good many trunks destroyed in the baggage car,weren't there?"
"It was hard to tell the extent of the damage," said Mr. Bradley,anxious to reassure her, yet afraid to raise her hopes too high."However," he said, quickening his step a little, "there's the stationright before us, so we ought to find out before long."
Early as they were, there was already a line of people on the ricketystation platform and Billie was seized with a fresh spasm of dismay.
"Goodness! they couldn't possibly have saved trunks enough to go round,"she cried, and Teddy, though he was feeling very anxious himself,laughed at her.
"There were two baggage cars, both loaded, you know," he reminded her."And one of them wasn't touched by the fire. We'll hope yours was inthat one."
"Oh, Teddy, you're such a comfort!" she cried, and squeezed his armgratefully, at which Teddy flushed happily.
"Have we got to stand in line?" Billie whispered nervously to her fathera minute later. "I know I can't stand still and behave myself, Daddy.Couldn't we go up and have a look around?"
"That wouldn't do any good," said her father, glancing at the piled-upbaggage. "It would only make more confusion. And still----" He thoughtfor a moment and then suddenly he strode off down the station and towardthe guard who had been friendly the night before.
Billie could hear nothing, but she saw enough to make her heart beatfaster. Mr. Bradley whispered a few words to the man who was at firstinclined to be impatient and made a quick gesture as if to wave Mr.Bradley back to his place in the line.
However, Billie could see that whatever her father was saying was makingan impression, for suddenly the guard straightened up and began to lookinterested.
"I wonder what Dad's handing him," said Chet slangily in her ear.
"Look!" cried Billie, clutching his arm. "They're going to look forsomething--probably our trunk. No, they're not. Look how excited he is!And Daddy, too! Oh, Chet, what in the world----" the last words were awail, and Chet squeezed her hand warningly.
"Come on, let's find out," he said. "It looks as if something was up."
The four young people came within earshot just in time to hear the lastpart of Mr. Bradley's sentence.
"If it was only a few minutes ago, he hasn't had time to get far," herfather was saying with a grim light in his eyes.
Billie could stand the suspense no longer, and she rushed forward,grasping her father's arm. The earnest conversation between the guardand Mr. Bradley and their evident excitement had already attracted theattention of the line of people, and now they watched Billie curiously.
"Daddy, what do you mean?" Billie cried in a voice tense withexcitement. "Is the trunk safe? Have you found it?"
"Yes. But only to lose it again," said her father, and then went onhurriedly to explain. "The guard says he saw a trunk here only a littlewhile ago that answers our description, but now it's gone. He remembersseeing a suspicious looking man hanging around, and it's barely possiblethat the man may have stolen it. He also remembers seeing this fellowdrive off in a Ford car just a few minutes ago."
"O-oh!" cried Billie incredulously. "The trunk has been stolen!" Thenshe whirled around and faced the guard. "Are you sure it was our trunk?Could you describe it?"
"Yes," the guard answered, excited himself by this time. "I took specialnotice of it because it was so odd and shabby."
"That trunk was worth five thousand dollars!" wailed Billie, therebycausing another ripple of surprise among the onlookers. Then she turnedpleadingly to her father.
"Daddy, we must find the trunk, we must!" she cried. "Just think what itmeans." She was on the verge of tears, and her father came suddenly to adecision. He turned quickly to the guard.
"Is it possible to get a machine around here--a fast one?" he asked.
"I don't know. But here's the man who keeps the livery stable."
Suddenly a well-dressed man, who had been watching the proceedings withlively interest, stepped forward and addressed Mr. Bradley courteously.
"I have my car here," he said, adding with a smile of pride: "And she'sguaranteed to overtake anything that runs on four wheels. She's at yourdisposal, if you can run her. My man went on an errand."
"That's kind of you, sir," cried Mr. Bradley heartily. "If you will showme----"
"I'll say so," said the stranger boyishly, and led the way around thestation to a car which, even in this minute of excitement, the boys eyeddelightedly.
"I'll drive," announced Teddy; and before any one could have interferedif they had wanted to, he had jumped into the driver's seat and hadthrown in the clutch. Teddy was young, but he knew all about cars.
Mr. Bradley took the seat beside him and the two boys and Billiescrambled into the tonneau. Mr. Bradley motioned to the owner of thecar.
"Will you come?" he asked, but the man shook his head.
"No, thanks," he answered, "I'd rather stay here and watch for someother missing baggage. Good luck!" and he waved to them as the big carglided forward under Teddy's touch and shot around a turn in the road.
The wind roared in Billie's ears and whipped little strands of hairacross her eyes, but she pushed them back impatiently and fixed her eyesupon the flying ribbon of road ahead.
"Faster, Teddy, faster!" she kept urging until even that youngscatterbrain began to wonder at her.
"Can't be done, Billie!" he yelled back finally. "We're going aboutsixty now, and if we meet anything on the road, we'll have a smash-up."
"Be careful, Teddy," cautioned Mr. Bradley. "We don't want an accident."
"Oh, but we've got to catch that thief!" wailed Billie, hoping each timethey rounded a bend in the road to see their quarry just ahead. "He mayhave got too much of a start----"
"Don't worry
," Teddy shouted back. "No start will help a flivver againsta car like this. Say, but she's a beauty! Just listen to that engine!"But Billie was in no mood to listen to anything except the jingle ofqueer old coins in a shabby old trunk. Then suddenly there came a yellfrom Teddy and an exclamation from Mr. Bradley.
"There he is!" cried Teddy, leaning down over the wheel as though hewould force even more speed out of the flying car. "See him, Billie?Didn't I tell you a flivver didn't have a chance?"
Even as Teddy spoke, the man in the machine ahead of them looked back.Then abruptly, and to the great surprise of Billie and the boys, hestopped his car and began groping wildly in the bottom of it forsomething.
Then, while every second brought them nearer, the man did an astonishingthing. He lifted a small object, which Billie excitedly recognized asthe trunk, and with an effort succeeded in getting it over the side ofthe car.
Then he dropped it in the road and turned for a swift moment to look athis pursuers before he started his car again. It was only a moment, butthose in the car behind were near enough to get a good look at his face.
It was a repulsive face topped with a mass of vivid red hair. But whatthe boys and Billie most noticed was his unusually wide, loose-lippedmouth.
So busy was Teddy in looking at the thief that, if it had not been forBillie, he would surely have run over the precious trunk in the road.
She stood up waving her arms excitedly.
"Teddy, look out! If you run over my trunk----" and Teddy swerved sosuddenly that she was nearly thrown from the car. However, Chet caughther and put her safely back in the seat; and in another minute Teddy hadbrought the big car to a sliding standstill.
They tumbled to the roadside, and Billie, rushing over to the trunk,sank to her knees regardless of three inches of dust in the road, andencircled the shabby old thing with her arms.
And Teddy, watching her, said with a grin:
"Gosh! who wouldn't be a trunk?"