while," she thought quickly.

No sooner had this plan entered her mind than she hurried to Florence's side, whispered a few words, and waited only long enough to catch her emphatic "All right," then rushed back to the pottery booth as fast as she could zigzag her way through the crowded passageways.

When she caught sight of the stalwart figure again, she gave a sigh of relief and hastened over toward him.

As she drew near, the man shot a piercing glance at her, then a gleam of unmistakable recognition shone in his keen gray eyes.

"He hasn't forgotten me," she thought. "That makes it easier."

She began speaking in a low voice: "You're trying to catch a band of smugglers, aren't you?"

The man gave an involuntary start but controlled his features. "What makes you think that?" he countered.

"From what I overheard you say in the hotel--I didn't mean to eavesdrop--and from a bit of information I got from--" she started to say "from a coast guard" but changed to--"from somebody else."

"Was that somebody else a smuggler?" he asked in a carefully light tone.

"No--no." There was a hint of impatience in Jo Ann's voice. He was trying to throw her off the track. She'd go straight to the point now. "I've accidentally run across some information about some smugglers that may help you," she said.

An alert expression replaced the half smile on the man's face as he asked, "What is that you think you've discovered?"

Quickly Jo Ann recounted her and Florence's discovery of the hidden car with the pottery and the baskets near the border, the smugglers' conversation, and their seeing them again at the village, ending with, "I'm sure that must've been gold in that jar I lifted. It was so very heavy.""It looks as if you've discovered one set of them," he said thoughtfully. "They're only two of a large gang, though. The ringleaders stay on the other side."

"Was it the ringleaders you'd been pursuing in Texas?" she asked, low-voiced.

He nodded. "Dangerous men they are. If we can catch them we can break up the gang. I'm going to keep an eye open for cars loaded with baskets and pottery. If I can follow them to the border I may be able to catch the leaders. Tell me exactly where you discovered 

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