"Have we got to stand in line?" Billie whispered nervously to her father a 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-up baggage. "It would only make more confusion. And still----" He thought for a moment and then suddenly he strode off down the station and toward the guard who had been friendly the night before.
Billie could hear nothing, but she saw enough to make her heart beat faster. Mr. Bradley whispered a few words to the man who was at first inclined 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 making an impression, for suddenly the guard straightened up and began to look interested.
"I wonder what Dad's handing him," said Chet slangily in her ear.
"Look!" cried Billie, clutching his arm. "They're going to look for something--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 a wail, 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 last part of Mr. Bradley's sentence.
"If it was only a few minutes ago, he hasn't had time to get far," her father 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 guard and Mr. Bradley and their evident excitement had already attracted the attention of the line of people, and now they watched Billie curiously.
"Daddy, what do you mean?" Billie cried in a voice tense with excitement. "Is the trunk safe? Have you found it?"
"Yes. But only to lose it again," said her father, and then went on hurriedly to explain. "The guard says he saw a trunk here only a little while ago that answers our description, but now it's gone. He remembers seeing a suspicious looking man hanging around, and it's barely possible that the man may have stolen it. He also remembers seeing this fellow drive off in a Ford car just a few minutes ago."