jestingly. "It may run in the family--"

Then he was conscious that he had made rather a bad "break," and he
subsided, while every one tried to talk at once to cover it up. Jack
laughed uneasily, and Cora seemed annoyed.

One thought was running through the mind of both Cora and her
brother. Who could it have been who tried to injure her in this way
by throwing suspicion on her, and what could have been their motive?

She tried to reason certain things out. She went over in detail,
while Walter was driving her car for her, every incident that she
could remember in connection with the collision and the subsequent
loss of the money.

She speculated on the actions of every one. Mary's desire to leave
the car at the post-office and not go back to her shop was odd, Cora
thought, though her employer had given Mary permission to go for a
ride with such well-paying customers as the Kimballs and the
Robinson twins. Next Cora tried to analyze Sid's actions, also those
of Ida, and she even found herself wondering at Sid's seeming
intimacy with Lem Gildy. But it all came to nothing. There was still
that unanswered question: "Who took the money from the wallet?"

That the same person did so who had placed the empty pocketbook in
the tool-box seemed evident.

Jack and Cora went together to tell Ed. Walter wanted to accompany
them, but Cora insisted that she be allowed to tell the story first.