Part 8 (1/2)

”My friend thought the usher had made a mistake, and there was a mix-up for a while. Then the usher got the other couple's coupons and they were the same number as ours. They called the manager, and he said our tickets were counterfeit.

”First my friend wouldn't believe it, but the manager showed by the other tickets taken in that ours were different. The print was the same, and so was the color of the pasteboard, but it was stiffer than the regular tickets. There was no way out of it. We had been cheated, and so had some other people who had bought tickets from those fellows. There was quite a disturbance.”

”It's too bad!” exclaimed Cora. ”Then you didn't see the opera after all?”

”Oh, sure I did!” exclaimed Miss Magin. ”My friend wouldn't see me disappointed. He bought other tickets, though they weren't as good as the ones I had-or thought I had.”

”And they really were counterfeit?” repeated Bess.

”Yes, but cleverly done. It was only the quality of the paper, or pasteboard, that showed,” went on the tea room manager. ”If we had gotten there first we might have had our seats without any trouble, though of course when the folks came in that had the real tickets it would have been found out, I s'pose.”

”And you say others also bought the bogus tickets?” Cora asked.

”Yes, quite a few. Got them from the same fellows, too, who told the same story about being hard up for cash, and wanting to sell the tickets they'd purchased.”

”Were they the same young men?” asked Belle.

”The descriptions were the same as the two who were here, and who must have taken your auto, Miss Kimball. When I found out our tickets were worthless I told the manager about your car, though of course he had heard of it from reading the paper. Oh! I just wish I could have them arrested!”

”So do I,” agreed Cora.

”Could they find out where the tickets were printed?” asked Bess.

”Not just by looking at them,” answered Miss Magin. ”The bogus ones looked for all the world like the real ones, even to the company's name that was printed on them. But the opera house manager kept those my friend and I turned in and said he'd make an investigation. Say! I felt pretty cheap when it turned out I'd bought bogus tickets with my friend's money.”

”Oh! you couldn't help it,” Cora said, her chums murmuring their agreement.

”Well, I meant all right,” Miss Magin went on, ”but I cost my friend more than if I hadn't a' been so soft-hearted wanting to help out those fellows who told a hard-luck story.”

”They'll be caught some day,” declared Bess. ”Printing bogus theatrical tickets isn't easily done. Care has to be used, and sooner or later those fellows will be arrested.”

”The sooner the better,” said Cora. ”I want my car back.”

The girls and the manager talked for some little time longer about the happenings of the night before. Presently a man alighted from a taxicab, or rather, one of the town's few jitney cars, and entered the tea room.

He looked rather sharply at our friends-at least so Cora thought-and, taking a seat at a table not far away, ordered a cup of coffee and a sandwich.

He spoke casually to the waitress, and as Miss Magin, as was her custom, walked up to see if the service was satisfactory, he spoke also to her pleasantly, and she replied.

”Was it one of the young ladies here who recently purchased some bogus theatre tickets?” the man asked, after some casual remarks.

”I hope you haven't any more to sell!” retorted the manager, a bit sharply.

”No. I am a detective sent out by the agency which prints theatre tickets for many shows. This isn't the first time we have had trouble, and I want, if possible, to get on the track of the persons responsible.

Do you mind telling me all you can of this?”

Of course Miss Magin was only too glad to do so, and, incidentally, she mentioned the loss of Cora's automobile. Naturally that brought our friends into the conversation, and the detective, who introduced himself as Mr. Boswell, went over to the girls' table. He spoke of having been for some time unsuccessfully on the trail of the bogus ticket sellers.

”Taking automobiles is a new line for their activities, though,” said Mr. Boswell. ”This may make it easier to catch them.”