another behind his back. The other reason is that Ripley isn't
worth talking about, anyway."

"Now, what are you doing?" demanded Belle.

"Oh, well," Dave replied, "Ripley knows my opinion of him pretty well.
But what are you doing this afternoon?"

"We're going shopping," Laura informed the boys as the quartette
left the soda fountain. "Do you care to go around with us and
look at the displays in the stores?"

"That's about all shopping means, isn't it?" smiled Dick. "Just
going around and looking at things?"

"Then if you don't care to come with us-----" pouted Miss Bentley.

"Stop---please do, I beg of you," Dick hastily added. "Of course
we want to go."

The two chums put in a very pleasant hour wandering about through
the stores with the High School girls. Laura and Belle _did_
make some small purchases of materials out of which they intended
to make gifts for the approaching holiday.

As they came out of the last store they moved toward the corner,
the girls intending to take a car to pay a little visit to an
aunt of Laura's before the afternoon was over.

Dick saw something in one of the windows at the corner and signed