that Rudy is
mostly bluff. I doubt he would bite."

"I notice you had a different opinion when he was coming at you!"
teased Susan. "But if you're brave enough to go I suppose I'll tag
along even if we do get bit."

"I have a great curiosity to learn if Walter Crocker's car is still in
the barn," Penny confessed. "Somehow I keep feeling that there's some
mystery about that fellow's disappearance."

"If the dog is around we'll probably never get within a mile of the
barn. But come on! You'll never be satisfied until we're chewed to
bits."

The girls did not choose their usual route which led along the road.
Instead they cut through the woods, intending to approach Mr. Crocker's
place from the direction of the barn.

When Susan and Penny emerged from the trees they were on Mr. Crocker's
farm. They could see two men standing by the barn.

"There is Herman Crocker now!" exclaimed Penny as they halted. "But
who is with him?"

"It looks a little like Michael Haymond," said Susan.

"It's not Michael," Penny corrected. "Why, I do believe it's Walter
Crocker!"

"Old Herman's nephew!"

"Yes, I'm sure it is he."

"But Penny, you said he disappeared," Susan protested. "You thought
Old Herman was responsible----"

"It seems I was wrong," Penny admitted ruefully. "I may have misjudged
Herman Crocker completely. I thought he was an unscrupulous person,
but it doesn't look so much like it now."

"They're having some sort of argument," Susan observed. "I wish we
could hear what they're saying."

"Let's try to get closer. We can move behind the barn and probably
hear everything without being observed."

The two men were so engrossed in their conversation that they failed to
see the girls moving stealthily across the clearing. A moment more and
they were protected by the barn.

Penny and Susan crept as close to the men as they dared and then stood
listening. They could hear Walter Crocker speaking.

"This is the last warning I'll give you," he told the old man. "Will
you fork up the money or shall I go to the authorities?"

"Give me time," Herman replied in a whining voice. "I've already given
you all the cash I have in the bank."

"I know better," said Walter Crocker grimly. "You have plenty of money
but you're too miserly to part with it. But maybe you'd rather keep
your stolen gold and go to jail!"

"You can't send me to jail--I've done nothing wrong."

"No?" asked the other mockingly.