about it. I heard him as distinctly as I do you now." "What on earth made him say that, do you suppose, Jo?" Florence asked curiously. "That's what I'd like to know." "What can that man be--a gangster?" Without waiting for an answer Peggy added, shuddering, "The idea of that man's being right across the hall from us gives me the creeps." She flew back to the door to see if she had locked it. "I believe he must be a detective; I feel sure he wasn't a gangster," Jo Ann said quickly. "He didn't look like one." "You saw him!" both girls exclaimed together. "Yes, he came out of his door suddenly and caught me standing there listening. I hadn't any business eavesdropping--but I just couldn't help it. I wanted to know why he thought he was going to lose his life." "Did you hear him say anything else?" queried Peggy in a whisper, glancing back toward the door as if she thought the man might be doing some eavesdropping himself. "Not very much. Evidently he was talking to someone over the phone. I couldn't hear anyone answering. He said that he'd lost the trail because he'd been delayed on account of two flat tires." "Lost the trail!" Florence repeated. "That sounds as if he's a detective, sure enough. Whom do you suppose he was after?" "That's hard to say. I'd have to use my imagination to answer that." "You've certainly run into a real mystery this time," put in Peggy, now thoroughly convinced that Jo Ann's tale was not fiction. "You ought to have thought up some kind of a solution by----" A sharp knock at the door broke into Peggy's sentence, and all three girls gave little surprised jumps and stared at the door without saying a word. The next instant Miss Prudence's voice called out crisply, "Girls!" "Oh, it's just Miss Prudence!" Peggy exclaimed in relief. "I thought maybe that man...." She left her sentence unfinished and ran to the door. Jo Ann's face reddened guiltily. She had forgotten entirely about dressing and telling the girls to hurry. As soon as Miss Prudence stepped inside and saw that the
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