interest in the fan, besides your father?" Shirley
questioned Bet.

"Another antique dealer might, but no one would know he had it," Bet's
eyes were bright and intense with anxiety.

"What about Peter Gruff?" cried Kit. "I never trusted that old man!
And he _was_ interested in that picture of the fan."

"But he's interested in all old things, and you heard him say that it
was a common type and had no particular value," said Shirley. "No, I
don't believe old Peter would want it that badly."

"I'm not so sure. I wasn't impressed with Peter Gruff, as you know.
I'm going to prowl around his shop and see what I can see," laughed Kit
as she grabbed her hat and coat.

"Wait a minute and we'll go down to Shirley's Shop," cried Bet. "I
can't believe such a thing of old Peter but we won't leave anything
undone."

And as soon as the girls reached the shop, Kit went over to Peter
Gruff's store. She asked to see samplers. "We'd like to have a few
for our shop," she remarked to the old man.

"No samplers!" muttered Peter. "I don't keep any. No money in
samplers."

"Let me see some pewter pitchers, then." Kit was enjoying the musty
old store with its strange collection of odds and ends, piled everyway
about the dust-laden store.

Peter Gruff didn't have any pewter pitchers.

"Then, do you happen to have any fans?" exclaimed Kit suddenly, hoping
to surprise the old man into looking guilty.

"No money in fans. I don't sell fans."

And Kit had to acknowledge that there was not the slightest change of
expression in his hard blue eyes.

But as she poked her way about the place she saw a glass case and
inside among bottles, books, old china and other objects, she saw
several fans. She edged closer to the case and glanced through the
assortment, but the fan she wanted was not there.

Of course she hardly expected to find it. If Peter had taken the fan,
he would hide it away for a while at least.

"But there is something suspicious about him. Saying he didn't have
any fans, when they were right there all the time," Kit confided to the
chums when she returned to the shop.

"It does look suspicious!" Joy cried. "Girls, I do believe we are hot
on the trail."

"I wish I could believe it!" Bet was not optimistic. "I don't believe
he did it. He's heard of the theft of the fan and acts a little
embarrassed. I do wish Dad were here!"

"I don't. I want to find that fan before he returns," announced
Shirley w