“I cannot carry out that deal I arranged with you, because I have had the misfortune to lose five hundred dollars and I shall have to—­”

There the paper, evidently part of a letter to someone, was torn off.  There were no other words.

“Girls!” cried Betty, “look—­see!  This letter!  That man may be the one whose money we found!  He has written about it—­as nearly as I can recall, the writing is like that in the note pinned to the five hundred dollars.  Oh, we must find that tramp!”

“He wasn’t a tramp!” exclaimed Grace.

“No, I don’t believe he was, either,” admitted Betty.  “That’s what he meant when he spoke of his disguise, and looking for something.  He’s hunting for his five hundred dollars.  Oh, dear! which way did he go?”

“Toward Middleville,” returned Amy.

“Then we must hurry up and catch him.  We can explain that we have his money.”

“But are you sure it is his?” asked Mollie.

“This looks like it,” said Betty, holding out the torn letter.

“But some one else might have lost five hundred dollars,” protested Grace.

“Come on, we’ll find him, and ask him about it, anyhow,” suggested Betty.  “Middleville is on our way.  Oh, to think how things may turn out!  Hurry, girls!”

They hastily gathered up their belongings and walked on, talking of their latest adventure.

“He was real nice looking,” said Mollie.

“And quite polite,” added Amy.

“And do you think he may be traveling around like a tramp, searching for that bill?” asked Grace.

“It’s possible,” declared Betty:  “Perhaps he couldn’t help looking like a tramp, because if he has lost all his money he can’t afford any other clothes.  Oh, I do hope we find him!”

But it was a vain hope.  They did not see the man along the road, and inquiries of several persons they met gave no trace.  Nor had he reached Middleville, as far as could be learned.  If he had, no one had noticed him.

“Oh, dear!” sighed Betty, when they had exhausted all possibilities, “I did hope that money mystery was going to be solved.  Now it’s as far off as ever.  But I’ll keep this torn piece of letter for evidence.  Poor fellow!  He may have built great hopes on that five hundred dollar bill—­then to lose it!”

They went to the house of Amy’s cousin in Middleville.  There they spent an enjoyable evening, meeting some friends who had been invited in.  Amy said nothing about the disclosure to her of the strange incident in her life.  Probably, she reflected, her relative already knew it.

Morning saw them on the move again, with Broxton, where a married sister of Grace lived, as their objective point.  The day was cloudy, but it did not seem that it would rain, at least before night.

And even the frown of the weather did not detract from the happiness of the chums.  They laughed and talked as they walked on, making merry by the way.