“No! No! It could not have been he,” insisted the nurseryman. “Mr. Evans is a federal agent. He was sent here to try to catch the smugglers. I talked to him only last night and he now has left Rosedale.” “Mr. Piff is going away too,” remarked Vevi. “Mr. Piff!” exclaimed the nurseryman. “When did you last see him?” “Only a minute or two before we came out here in your truck. He was in a taxi cab.” “What made you think he was leaving Rosedale, Vevi?” “He said so. He said the show had failed, and he was going away. The taxi was taking him to a train.” “The show was a failure all right,” declared Mr. Van Der Lann. “But Mr. Piff has no call to go away without making a full accounting to the townspeople who contributed to his flower fund. He has run up many debts. Besides, I suspect he may be the one who took my bulbs!” “Not Mr. Piff?” echoed Miss Gordon. “How could he do such a thing?” “He has been here several times during the last few days,” the nurseryman revealed. “When he saw that his show would fail, he sought a means of making quick money. He wanted to sell my bulbs for me, but I turned him down.” “Did he know where you kept them, Peter?” asked Miss Mohr. “Yes, and he was here this morning while I was at the library. The housekeeper told me so.” “Can’t we stop him from leaving Rosedale?” Miss Gordon asked. She looked at her wristwatch, and added: “His train may have gone by this time. There is a chance, though, that we can intercept him.” “I will try,” said Mr. Van Der Lann grimly. He ran to get his truck. By this time, Connie and Sunny had run up from the canal. Jane and Rosemary, their arms laden with tulips, raced in from the fields to see what was happening. “Everyone into the truck!” ordered Mr. Van Der Lann. The Brownies scrambled in, fairly tumbling over one another in their haste. “Those bulbs represent my entire fortune,” Mr. Van Der Lann declared, starting off very fast. “I must get them back.” Rosedale had only one union station. The nurseryman drove directly there. Passengers could be seen waiting on the platform. Luggage had been piled up on a dolly-truck ready to be hauled to the train when it came in. Even as the Brownies leaped from Mr. Van Der Lann’s truck, they heard the whistle of the approaching engine. “Hurry! Hurry!” urged Vevi. “It’s coming now.” Passengers were gathering up their hand luggage. The children did not see Mr. Piff anywhere. “He must have taken an earlier train,” declared Miss Gordon anxiously. “I’m afraid we have missed him.” “I’ll look in the depot,” offered Vevi. “You don’t need to!” cried Connie excitedly. “There he comes now!” Mr. Piff had left the building and was walking directly toward the group. Suddenly he saw the Brownies with Mr. Van Der Lann, and stopped short. He turned as if to move in the opposite direction. “Wait!” called the nurseryman. Mr. Piff reluctantly obeyed the command. “Well?” he demanded. “What do you want?”