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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville, by Edith Van
+Dyne
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville
+
+Author: Edith Van Dyne
+
+Release Date: December 1, 2003  [eBook #10359]
+
+Language: English
+
+Chatacter set encoding: US-ASCII
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUNT JANE'S NIECES AT MILLVILLE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Afra Ullah, Ginny Brewer, and Project Gutenberg
+Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+AUNT JANE'S NIECES AT MILLVILLE
+
+BY
+
+EDITH VAN DYNE
+
+1908
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF CHAPTERS
+
+    I UNCLE JOHN'S FARM
+   II THE AGENT
+  III _MILLVILLE HEARS EXCITING NEWS_
+   IV ETHEL MAKES PREPARATION
+    V THE ARRIVAL OF THE NABOBS
+   VI PEGGY PRESENTS HIS BILL
+  VII LOUISE SCENTS A MYSTERY
+ VIII THE LITTLE SCHOOL-MA'AM
+   IX THE "LIVES OF THE SAINTS"
+    X THE MYSTERY DEEPENS
+   XI THREE AMATEUR DETECTIVES
+  XII THE BAITING OF PEGGY McNUTT
+ XIII BOB WEST, HARDWARE DEALER
+  XIV THE MAJOR IS PUZZLED
+   XV THE MAN IN HIDING
+  XVI A MATTER OF SPECULATION
+ XVII JOE TELLS OF "THE GREAT TROUBLE"
+XVIII THE LOCKED CUPBOARD
+  XIX THE COURT'N' OF SKIM CLARK
+   XX A LOST CAUSE
+  XXI THE TRAP IS SET
+ XXII CAUGHT!
+XXIII MR. WEST EXPLAINS
+ XXIV PEGGY HAS REVENGE
+  XXV GOOD NEWS AT LAST
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+UNCLE JOHN'S FARM.
+
+"How did I happen to own a farm?" asked Uncle John, interrupting his
+soup long enough to fix an inquiring glance upon Major Doyle, who
+sat opposite.
+
+"By virtue of circumstance, my dear sir," replied the Major, composedly.
+"It's a part of my duty, in attending to those affairs you won't look
+afther yourself, to lend certain sums of your money to needy and
+ambitious young men who want a start in life."
+
+"Oh, Uncle! Do you do that?" exclaimed Miss Patricia Doyle, who sat
+between her uncle and father and kept an active eye upon both.
+
+"So the Major says," answered Uncle John, dryly.
+
+"And it's true," asserted the other. "He's assisted three or four score
+young men to start in business in the last year, to my certain
+knowledge, by lending them sums ranging from one to three thousand
+dollars. And it's the most wasteful and extravagant charity I ever
+heard of."
+
+"But I'm so glad!" cried Patsy, clapping her hands with a delighted
+gesture. "It's a splendid way to do good--to help young men to get a
+start in life. Without capital, you know, many a young fellow would
+never get his foot on the first round of the ladder."
+
+"And many will never get it there in any event," declared the Major,
+with a shake of his grizzled head. "More than half the rascals that John
+helps go to the dogs entirely, and hang us up for all they've borrowed."
+
+"I told you to help _deserving_ young men," remarked Uncle John, with a
+scowl at his brother-in-law.
+
+"And how can I tell whether they're desarving or not?" retorted Major
+Doyle, fiercely. "Do ye want me to become a sleuth, or engage detectives
+to track the objects of your erroneous philanthropy? I just have to form
+a judgment an' take me chances; and whin a poor devil goes wrong I
+charge your account with the loss."
+
+"But some of them must succeed," ventured Patsy, in a conciliatory tone.
+
+"Some do," said John Merrick; "and that repays me for all my trouble."
+
+"All _your_ throuble, sir?" queried the Major; "you mane all _my_
+throuble--well, and your money. And a heap of throuble that confounded
+farm has cost me, with one thing and another."
+
+"What of it?" retorted the little round faced millionaire, leaning back
+in his chair and staring fixedly at the other. "That's what I employ
+you for."
+
+"Now, now, gentlemen!" cried Patsy, earnestly. "I'll have no business
+conversation at the table. You know my rules well enough."
+
+"This isn't business," asserted the Major.
+
+"Of course not," agreed Uncle John, mildly. "No one has any business
+owning a farm. How did it happen. Major?"
+
+The old soldier had already forgotten his grievance. He quarreled
+persistently with his wealthy employer and brother-in-law--whom he
+fairly adored--to prevent the possibility (as he often confided to
+Patsy) of his falling down and worshiping him. John Merrick was a
+multi-millionaire, to be sure; but there were palliating circumstances
+that almost excused him. He had been so busily occupied in industry that
+he never noticed how his wealth was piling up until he discovered it by
+accident. Then he promptly retired, "to give the other fellows a
+chance," and he now devoted his life to simple acts of charity and the
+welfare and entertainment of his three nieces. He had rescued Major
+Doyle and his daughter from a lowly condition and placed the former in
+the great banking house of Isham, Marvin & Company, where John Merrick's
+vast interests were protected and his income wisely managed. He had
+given Patsy this cosy little apartment house at 3708 Willing Square and
+made his home with her, from which circumstance she had come to be
+recognized as his favorite niece.
+
+John Merrick was sixty years old. He was short, stout and chubby-faced,
+with snow-white hair, mild blue eyes and an invariably cheery smile.
+Simple in his tastes, modest and retiring, lacking the education and
+refinements of polite society, but shrewd and experienced in the affairs
+of the world, the little man found his greatest enjoyment in the family
+circle that he had been instrumental in founding. Being no longer
+absorbed in business, he had come to detest its every detail, and so
+allowed his bankers to care for his fortune and his brother-in-law to
+disburse his income, while he himself strove to enjoy life in a shy and
+boyish fashion that was as unusual in a man of his wealth as it was
+admirable. He had never married.
+
+Patricia was the apple of Uncle John's eye, and the one goddess
+enshrined in her doting father's heart. Glancing at her, as she sat here
+at table in her plain muslin gown, a stranger would be tempted to wonder
+why. She was red-haired, freckled as a robin's egg, pug-nosed and
+wide-mouthed. But her blue eyes were beautiful, and they sparkled with a
+combination of saucy mischief and kindly consideration for others that
+lent her face an indescribable charm.
+
+Everyone loved Patsy Doyle, and people would gaze longer at her
+smiling-lips and dancing eyes than upon many a more handsome but less
+attractive face. She was nearly seventeen years old, not very tall, and
+her form, to speak charitably, was more neat than slender.
+
+"A while ago," said the Major, resuming the conversation as he carved
+the roast, "a young fellow came to me who had invented a new sort of
+pump to inflate rubber tires. He wanted capital to patent the pump and
+put it on the market. The thing looked pretty good, John; so I lent him
+a thousand of your money."
+
+"Quite right," returned Uncle John, nodding.
+
+"But pretty soon he came back with a sad tale. He was in a bad fix.
+Another fellow was contesting his patent and fighting hard to head him
+off. It would take a lot of money to fight back--three thousand, at
+least. But he was decent about it, after all. His father had left him a
+little farm at Millville. He couldn't say what it was worth, but there
+were sixty acres and some good buildings, and he would deed it to you as
+security if you would let him have three thousand more."
+
+"So you took the farm and gave him the money?"
+
+"I did, sir. Perhaps I am to blame; but I liked the young fellow's
+looks. He was clean-cut and frank, and believed in his pump. I did more.
+At the climax of the struggle I gave another thousand, making five
+thousand in all."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"It's gone, John; and you've got the farm. The other fellows were too
+clever for my young friend, Joseph Wegg, and knocked out his patent."
+
+"I'm so sorry!" said Patsy, sympathetically.
+
+The Major coughed.
+
+"It's not an unusual tale, my dear; especially when John advances the
+money," he replied.
+
+"What became of the young man?" asked the girl.
+
+"He's a competent chauffeur, and so he went to work driving an
+automobile."
+
+"Where is Millville?" inquired Uncle John, thoughtfully.
+
+"Somewhere at the north of the State, I believe."
+
+"Have you investigated the farm at all?"
+
+"I looked up a real estate dealer living at Millville, and wrote him
+about the Wegg farm. He said if any one wanted the place very badly it
+might sell for three thousand dollars."
+
+"Humph!"
+
+"But his best information was to the effect that no one wanted it at
+all."
+
+Patsy laughed.
+
+"Poor Uncle John!" she said.
+
+The little man, however, was serious. For a time he ate with great
+deliberation and revolved an interesting thought in his mind.
+
+"Years ago." said he, "I lived in a country town; and I love the smell
+of the meadows and the hum of the bees in the orchards. Any orchards at
+my farm, Major?"
+
+"Don't know, sir."
+
+"Pretty soon," continued Uncle John, "it's going to be dreadfully hot in
+New York, and we'll have to get away."
+
+"Seashore's the place," remarked the Major. "Atlantic City, or
+Swampscott, or--"
+
+"Rubbish!" growled the other man, impatiently. "The girls and I have
+just come from Europe. We've had enough sea to last us all _this_
+season, at least. What we pine for is country life--pure milk, apple
+trees and new mown hay."
+
+"We, Uncle?" said Patsy.
+
+"Yes, my dear. A couple of months on the farm will do all of my nieces
+good. Beth is still with Louise, you know, and they must find the city
+deadly dull, just now. The farm's the thing. And the Major can run up to
+see us for a couple of weeks in the hot weather, and we'll all have a
+glorious, lazy time."
+
+"And we can take Mary along to do the cooking," suggested Patsy,
+entering into the idea enthusiastically.
+
+"And eat in our shirt-sleeves!" said Uncle John, with a glowing face.
+
+"And have a cow and some pigs!" cried the girl.
+
+"Pah!" said the Major, scornfully. "You talk as if it were a real farm,
+instead of a place no one would have as a gift."
+
+Uncle John looked sober again.
+
+"Anyone live on the place, Major?" he inquired.
+
+"I believe not. It's gone to ruin and decay the last few years."
+
+"But it could be put into shape?"
+
+"Perhaps so; at an expense that will add to your loss."
+
+"Never mind that."
+
+"If you want farm life, why don't you rent a respectable farm?" demanded
+the Major.
+
+"No; this is my farm. I own it, and it's my bounded duty to live on it,"
+said Uncle John, stubbornly. "Write to that real estate fellow at
+Millville tomorrow and tell him to have the place fixed up and put into
+ship-shape order as quickly as possible. Tell him to buy some cows and
+pigs and chickens, and hire a man to look after them. Also a horse and
+buggy, some saddle horses----"
+
+"Go slow, John. Don't leave such a job to a country real estate dealer.
+If I remember right the fellow wrote like a blacksmith. If you want
+horses and rigs, let Hutchinson send you down the right sort, with an
+experienced groom and stable hands. But I'm not sure there will be a
+place to put them."
+
+"Oh, Uncle!" exclaimed Patsy; "don't let us have all those luxuries. Let
+us live a simple life on the farm, and not degrade its charms by adding
+city fixin's. The cow and the chickens are all right, but let's cut out
+the horses until we get there. Don't you know, dear, that a big
+establishment means lots of servants, and servants mean worry and
+strife? I want to let down the bars for the cow when she moos, and milk
+her myself."
+
+"It takes a skilled mechanic to milk a cow," objected the Major.
+
+"But Patsy's right!" cried her uncle, with conviction. "We don't want
+any frills at all. Just tell your man, Major, to put the place into good
+living condition."
+
+"Patrichia," softly remarked the Major, with an admiring glance at his
+small daughter, "has more sinse in her frizzled head than both of us put
+together."
+
+"If she hadn't more than you," retorted Uncle John, with a grin, "I'd
+put a candle inside her noodle and call her a Jack-Lantern."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE AGENT.
+
+The Major hunted up the real estate dealer's former letter as soon as he
+reached his office next morning. The printed letter-head, somewhat
+blurred, because too much ink had been used, read as follows:
+
+  Marshall McMahon McNutt,
+  Real Estate Dealer & Horses to Pasture
+  by the week or month.
+
+  Also Plymouth Rock Hens & Road Commissioner
+  Agent for Radley's Lives of the Saints
+  Insurance and Watermelons My Specialty
+
+  Millville, Mount County, N.Y.
+
+The Major shook his head doubtfully as he read the above announcement;
+but Mr. McNutt was the only known person to whom he could appeal to
+carry out John Merrick's orders. So he dictated the following letter:
+
+
+_Dear Sir_:
+
+_Mr. John Merrick, the present owner of the Wegg farm at Millville,
+desires to spend his summer vacation on the premises, and therefore
+requests you to have the house and grounds put in first-class shape as
+soon as possible, and to notify me directly the work is done. Have the
+house thoroughly cleaned, the grass mowed around it and the barns and
+outbuildings repaired wherever it may be necessary. You are also
+instructed to procure for Mr. Merrick's use a good Jersey cow, some pigs
+and a dozen or so barnyard fowls. As several ladies will accompany the
+owner and reside with him on the place, he would like you to report what
+necessary furniture, if any, will be required for their comfort. Send
+your bill to me and it will receive prompt attention_.
+
+After several days this reply came:
+
+_Mister Doyle you must be crazy as a loon. Send me fifty cold dollars as
+an evvidence of good fayth and I wull see what can be done. Old Hucks is
+livin on the place yit do you want him to git out or what? Yours fer a
+square deal Marshall McMahon McNutt_.
+
+"John," said the Major, exhibiting this letter, "you're on the wrong
+tack. The man is justified in thinking we're crazy. Give up this idea
+and think of something else to bother me."
+
+But the new proprietor of the Wegg farm was obdurate. During the past
+week he had indulged in sundry sly purchases, which had been shipped, in
+his name to Chazy Junction, the nearest railway station to Millville.
+Therefore, the "die had been cast," as far as Mr. Merrick was concerned,
+for the purchases were by this time at the farm, awaiting him, and he
+could not back out without sacrificing them. They included a set of
+gardening tools, several hammocks, croquet and tennis sets, and a
+remarkable collection of fishing tackle, which the sporting-goods man
+had declared fitted to catch anything that swam, from a whale to a
+minnow. Also, Uncle John decided to dress the part of a rural gentleman,
+and ordered his tailor to prepare a corduroy fishing costume, a suit of
+white flannel, one of khaki, and some old-fashioned blue jean overalls,
+with apron front, which, when made to order by the obliging tailor, cost
+about eighteen dollars a suit. To forego the farm meant to forego all
+these luxuries, and Mr. Merrick was unequal to the sacrifice. Why, only
+that same morning he had bought a charming cottage piano and shipped it
+to the Junction for Patsy's use. That seemed to settle the matter
+definitely. To be balked of his summer vacation on his own farm was a
+thing Mr. Merrick would not countenance for a moment.
+
+"Give me that letter, Major," he said; "I'll run this enterprise
+myself."
+
+The Major resigned with a sigh of relief.
+
+Uncle John promptly sent the real estate agent a draft for five hundred
+dollars, with instructions to get the farm in shape for occupancy at the
+earliest possible day.
+
+"If Old Hucks is a farm hand and a bachelor," he wrote, "let him stay
+till I come and look him over. If he's a married man and has a family,
+chuck him out at once. I'm sure you are a man of good taste and
+judgment. Look over the furniture in the house and telegraph me what
+condition it is in. Everything about the place must be made cozy and
+comfortable, but I wish to avoid an appearance of vulgarity or
+extravagance."
+
+The answer to this was a characteristic telegram:
+
+_Furniture on the bum, like everything else. Will do the best I can.
+McNutt_.
+
+Uncle John did not display this discouraging report to Patsy or her
+father. A little thought on the matter decided him to rectify the
+deficiencies, in so far as it lay in his power. He visited a large
+establishment making a specialty of "furnishing homes complete," and
+ordered a new kitchen outfit, including a modern range, a mission style
+outfit for a dining-room, dainty summer furniture for the five chambers
+to be occupied by his three nieces, the Major and himself, and a variety
+of lawn benches, chairs, etc.
+
+"Look after the details," he said to the dealer. "Don't neglect anything
+that is pretty or useful."
+
+"I won't, sir," replied the man, who knew his customer was "the great
+John Merrick," who could furnish a city "complete," if he wished to, and
+not count the cost.
+
+Everything was to be shipped in haste to the Junction, and Uncle John
+wrote McNutt to have it delivered promptly to the farm and put in order.
+
+"As soon as things are in shape," he wrote, "wire me to that effect and
+I'll come down. But don't let any grass grow under your feet. I'm a man
+who requires prompt service."
+
+The days were already getting uncomfortably warm, and the little man was
+nervously anxious to see his farm. So were the nieces, for that matter,
+who were always interested in the things that interested their eccentric
+uncle. Besides Patricia Doyle, whom we have already introduced, these
+nieces were Miss Louise Merrick, who had just celebrated her eighteenth
+birthday, and Miss Elizabeth--or "Beth"--De Graf, now well past fifteen.
+Beth lived in a small town in Ohio, but was then visiting her city
+cousin Louise, so that both girls were not only available but eager to
+accompany Uncle John to his new domain and assist him to enjoy his
+summer outing.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MILLVILLE HEARS EXCITING NEWS.
+
+Millville is rather difficult to locate on the map, for the railroads
+found it impossible to run a line there, _Chazy_ Junction, the nearest
+station, is several miles away, and the wagon road ascends the foothills
+every step of the distance. Finally you pass between Mount Parnassus
+(whoever named it that?) and Little Bill Hill and find yourself on an
+almost level plateau some four miles in diameter, with a placid lake in
+the center and a fringe of tall pines around the edge. At the South,
+where tower the northern sentries of the Adirondacks, a stream called
+Little Bill Creek comes splashing and dashing over the rocks to force
+its way noisily into the lake. When it emerges again it is humble and
+sedate, and flows smoothly to Hooker's Falls, from whence it soon joins
+a tributary that leads it to far away Champlain.
+
+Millville is built where the Little Bill rushes into the lake. The old
+mill, with its race and sluice-gates, still grinds wearily the scanty
+dole of grain fed into its hoppers and Silas Caldwell takes his toll and
+earns his modest living just as his father did before him and "Little
+Bill" Thompson did before him.
+
+Above the mill a rickety wooden bridge spans the stream, for here the
+highway from Chary Junction reaches the village of Millville and passes
+the wooden structures grouped on either side its main street on the way
+to Thompson's Crossing, nine miles farther along. The town boasts
+exactly eleven buildings, not counting the mill, which, being on the
+other side of the Little Bill, can hardly be called a part of Millville
+proper. Cotting's Store contains the postoffice and telephone booth, and
+is naturally the central point of interest. Seth Davis' blacksmith shop
+comes next; Widow Clark's Emporium for the sale of candy, stationery and
+cigars adjoins that; McNutt's office and dwelling combined is next, and
+then Thorne's Livery and Feed Stables. You must understand they are not
+set close together, but each has a little ground of its own. On the
+other side of the street is the hardware store, with farm machinery
+occupying the broad platform before it, and then the Millville House, a
+two-storied "hotel" with a shed-like wing for the billiard-room and card
+tables. Nib Corkins' drug store, jewelry store and music store combined
+(with sewing machines for a "side line"), is the last of the "business
+establishments," and the other three buildings are dwellings occupied by
+Sam Cotting, Seth Davis and Nick Thorne.
+
+Dick Pearson's farm house is scarcely a quarter of a mile up the
+highway, but it isn't in Millville, for all that. There's a cross lane
+just beyond Pearson's, leading east and west, and a mile to westward is
+the Wegg Farm, in the wildest part of the foothills.
+
+It is a poor farming country around Millville. Strangers often wonder
+how the little shops of the town earn a living for their proprietors;
+but it doesn't require a great deal to enable these simple folk to live.
+The tourist seldom penetrates these inaccessible foothills; the roads
+are too rough and primitive for automobiles; so Millville is shamefully
+neglected, and civilization halted there some half a century ago.
+
+However, there was a genuine sensation in store for this isolated
+hamlet, and it was the more welcome because anything in the way of a
+sensation had for many years avoided the neighborhood.
+
+Marshall McMahon McNutt, or, as he was more familiarly called by those
+few who respected him most highly, "Marsh" McNutt (and sundry other
+appellations by those who respected him not at all), became the
+recipient of a letter from New York announcing the intention of a
+certain John Merrick, the new owner of the Wegg Farm, to spend the
+summer on the place. McNutt was an undersized man of about forty, with a
+beardless face, scraggly buff-colored hair, and eyes that were big,
+light blue and remarkably protruding. The stare of those eyes was
+impenetrable, because observers found it embarrassing to look at them.
+"Mac's" friends had a trick of looking away when they spoke to him, but
+children gazed fascinated at the expressionless blue eyeballs and
+regarded their owner with awe.
+
+The "real estate agent" was considered an enterprising man by his
+neighbors and a "poor stick" by his wife. He had gone to school at
+Thompson's Crossing in his younger days; had a call to preach, but
+failed because he "couldn't get religion"; inherited a farm from his
+uncle and married Sam Cotting's sister, whose tongue and temper were so
+sharp that everyone marveled at the man's temerity in acquiring them.
+Finally he had lost one foot in a mowing machine, and the accident
+destroyed his further usefulness to the extent of inducing him to
+abandon the farm and move into town. Here he endeavored to find
+something to do to eke out his meagre income; so he raised "thoroughbred
+Plymouth Rocks," selling eggs for hatching to the farmers; doctored sick
+horses and pastured them in the lot back of his barn, the rear end of
+which was devoted to "watermelons in season"; sold subscription books to
+farmers who came to the mill or the village store; was elected "road
+commissioner" and bossed the neighbors when they had to work out their
+poll-tax, and turned his hand to any other affairs that offered a
+penny's recompense. The "real estate business" was what Seth Davis
+labeled "a blobbering bluff," for no property had changed hands in the
+neighborhood in a score of years, except the lot back of the mill, which
+was traded for a yoke of oxen, and the Wegg farm, which had been sold
+without the agent's knowledge or consent.
+
+The only surprising thing about the sale of the Wegg farm was that
+anyone would buy it. Captain Wegg had died three years before, and his
+son Joe wandered south to Albany, worked his way through a technical
+school and then disappeared in the mazes of New York. So the homestead
+seemed abandoned altogether, except for the Huckses.
+
+When Captain Wegg died Old Hucks, his hired man, and Hucks' blind wife
+Nora were the only dependents on the place, and the ancient couple had
+naturally remained there when Joe scorned his inheritance and ran away.
+After the sale they had no authority to remain but were under no
+compulsion to move out, so they clung to their old quarters.
+
+When McNutt was handed his letter by the postmaster and storekeeper he
+stared at its contents in a bewildered way that roused the loungers to
+amused laughter.
+
+"What's up, Peggy?" called Nick Thorne from his seat on the counter.
+"Somebody gone off'n me hooks an' left ye a fortun'?"
+
+"Peggy" was one of McNutt's most popular nicknames, acquired because he
+wore a short length of pine where his absent foot should have been.
+
+"Not quite," was the agent's slow reply; "but here's the blamedest
+funniest communicate a man ever got! It's from some critter that knows
+the man what bought the Wegg farm."
+
+"Let's hear it," remarked Cotting, the store-keeper, a fat individual
+with a bald head, who was counting matches from a shelf into the public
+match-box. He allowed "the boys" just twenty free matches a day.
+
+So the agent read the letter in an uncertain halting voice, and when he
+had finished it the little group stared at one another for a time in
+thoughtful silence.
+
+"Wall, I'll be plunked," finally exclaimed the blacksmith. "Looks like
+the feller's rich, don't it?"
+
+"Ef he's rich, what the tarnation blazes is he comin' here for?"
+demanded Nib Corkins, the dandy of the town. "I was over t' Huntingdon
+las' year, 'n' seen how the rich folks live. Boys, this h'ain't no place
+for a man with money."
+
+"That depends," responded Cotting, gravely. "I'm sure we'd all be better
+off if we had a few real bloods here to squander their substance."
+
+"Well, here's a perposal to squander, all right," said McNutt. "But the
+question is, Does he know what he's runnin' up agin', and what it'll
+cost to do all the idiotic things as he says?"
+
+"Prob'ly not," answered the storekeeper.
+
+"It's the best built farm house 'round thest parts," announced the
+miller, who had been silent until now. "Old Wegg were a sea-cap'n once,
+an' rich. He dumped a lot o' money inter that place, an' never got it
+out agin', nuther."
+
+"'Course not. Sixty acres o' cobble-stone don't pay much divvydends,
+that I ever hearn tell on," replied Seth.
+
+"There's some good fruit, though," continued Caldwell, "an' the berries
+allus paid the taxes an' left a little besides. Ol' Hucks gits along
+all right."
+
+"Jest lives, 'n' that's all."
+
+"Well, thet's enough," said the miller. "It's about all any of us do,
+ain't it?"
+
+"Do ye take it this 'ere Merrick's goin' to farm, er what?" asked Nib,
+speculatively.
+
+"I take it he's plumb crazy," retorted the agent, rubbing the fringe of
+hair behind his ears. "One thing's certain boys, I don't do nuthin'
+foolish till I see the color of his money."
+
+"Make him send you ten dollars in advance," suggested Seth.
+
+"Make him send fifty," amended the store-keeper. "You can't buy a cow,
+an' pigs, an' chickens, an' make repairs on much less."
+
+"By jinks, I will!" cried McNutt, slapping his leg for emphasis. "I'll
+strike him fer a cool fifty, an' if the feller don't pay he kin go to
+blazes. Them's my sentiments, boys, an' I'll stand by 'em!"
+
+The others regarded him admiringly, so the energetic little man stumped
+away to indite his characteristic letter to Major Doyle.
+
+If the first communication had startled the little village, the second
+fairly plunged it into a panic of excitement. Peggy's hand trembled as
+he held out the five hundred dollar draft and glared from it to his
+cronies with a white face.
+
+"Suff'rin' Jehu!" gasped Nick Thorne. "Is it good?"
+
+The paper was passed reverently around, and examined with a succession
+of dubious head-shakes.
+
+"Send for Bob West," suggested Cotting. "He's seen more o' that sort o'
+money than any of us."
+
+The widow Clarke's boy, who was present, ran breathlessly to fetch the
+hardware dealer, who answered the summons when he learned that Peggy
+McNutt had received a "check" for five hundred dollars.
+
+West was a tall, lean man with shrewd eyes covered by horn spectacles
+and a stubby gray mustache. He was the potentate of the town and reputed
+to be worth, at a conservative estimate, in the neighborhood of ten
+thousand dollars--"er more, fer that matter; fer Bob ain't tellin' his
+business to nobody." Hardware and implements were acknowledged to be
+paying merchandise, and West lent money on farm mortgages, besides. He
+was a quiet man, had a good library in his comfortable rooms over the
+store, and took the only New York paper that found its way into
+Millville. After a glance at the remittance he said:
+
+"It's a draft on Isham, Marvin & Company, the New York bankers. Good as
+gold, McNutt. Where did you get it?"
+
+"A lunitic named John Merrick, him that's bought the Cap'n Wegg farm,
+sent it on. Here's his letter, Bob."
+
+The hardware dealer read it carefully and gave a low whistle.
+
+"There may be more than one John Merrick," he said, thoughtfully. "But
+I've heard of one who is many times a millionaire and a power in the
+financial world. What will you do for him, McNutt, to expend this money
+properly?"
+
+"Bless't if I know!" answered the man, his eyes bulging with a helpless
+look. "What 'n thunder _kin_ I do, Bob?"
+
+West smiled.
+
+"I don't wish to interfere in business matters," said he, "but it is
+plainly evident that the new owner wishes the farm house put into such
+shape that it will be comfortable for a man accustomed to modern
+luxuries. You don't know much about such things, Mac, and Mr. Merrick
+has made a blunder in employing your services in such a delicate matter.
+But do the best you can. Ride across to the Wegg place and look it over.
+Then get Taft, the carpenter, to fix up whatever is necessary. I'll sell
+you the lumber and nails, and you've got more money than you can
+probably use. Telegraph Mr. Merrick frankly how you find things; but
+remember the report must not be based upon your own mode of life but
+upon that of a man of wealth and refinement. Especially he must be
+posted about the condition of the furniture, which I can guess is
+ill-suited to his needs."
+
+"How 'bout Hucks?" asked the agent.
+
+They all hung eagerly on West's reply, for Old Hucks was a general
+favorite. The fact that the old retainer of the Weggs had a blind wife
+to whom he was tenderly devoted made the proposition of his leaving the
+farm one of intense interest. Old Hucks and his patient wife had not
+been so much "hired help" as a part of the Wegg establishment, and it
+was doubtful if they had ever received any wages. It was certain that
+Hucks had not a dollar in the world at the present time, and if turned
+out of their old home the ancient couple must either starve or go to the
+poorhouse.
+
+"Say nothing further about Old Hucks or his wife to Mr. Merrick,"
+advised West, gravely. "When the owner comes he will need servants, and
+Hucks is a very capable old fellow. Let that problem rest until the time
+comes for solution. If the old folks are to be turned out, make John
+Merrick do it; it will put the responsibility on his shoulders."
+
+"By dum, yer right, Bob!" exclaimed McNutt. slapping the counter with
+his usual impulsiveness. "I'll do the best I kin for the rich man, an'
+let the poor man alone."
+
+After an examination of the farm house and other buildings (which seemed
+in his eyes almost palatial), and a conference with Alonzo Taft, the
+carpenter, the agent began to feel that his task was going to prove an
+easy one. He purchased a fine Jersey cow of Will Johnson, sold his own
+flock of Plymouth Rocks at a high price to Mr. Merrick, and hired Ned
+Long to work around the yard and help Hucks mow the grass and "clean up"
+generally.
+
+But now his real trouble and bewilderment began. A carload of new
+furniture and "fixin's" was sidetracked at the junction, and McNutt was
+ordered to get it unloaded and carted to the farm without delay. There
+were four hay-rack loads of the "truck," altogether, and when it was all
+dumped into the big empty barn at the Wegg farm the poor agent had no
+idea what to do with it.
+
+"See here," said Nick Thorne, who had done the hauling, "you've got to
+let a woman inter this deal, Peggy."
+
+"That's what my wife says, gum-twist her."
+
+"Keep yer ol' woman out'n it. She'd spile a rotten apple."
+
+"Who then, Nick?"
+
+"Why, school-teacher's the right one, I guess. They've got a vacation
+now, an' likely she'll come over here an' put things to rights. Peggy,
+that air new furniture's the rambunctionest stuff thet ever come inter
+these parts, an' it'll make the ol' house bloom like a rose in Spring.
+But folks like us hain't got no call to tech it. You fetch
+school-teacher."
+
+Peggy sighed. He was keeping track of his time and charging John Merrick
+at the rate of two dollars a day, being firmly resolved to "make hay
+while the sun was shining" and absorb as much of the money placed in his
+hands as possible. To let "school-teacher" into this deal and be obliged
+to pay her wages was an undesirable thing to do; yet he reflected that
+it might be wise to adopt Nick Thorne's suggestion.
+
+So next morning he drove the liveryman's sorrel mare out to Thompson's
+Crossing, where the brick school-house stood on one corner and Will
+Thompson's residence on another. A mile away could be seen the spires of
+the little church at Hooker's Falls.
+
+McNutt hitched his horse to Thompson's post, walked up the neat pebbled
+path and knocked at the door.
+
+"Ethel in?" he asked of the sad-faced woman who, after some delay,
+answered his summons.
+
+"She's in the garden, weedin'."
+
+"I'll go 'round," said the agent.
+
+The garden was a bower of roses. Among them stood a slender girl in a
+checked gingham, tying vines to a trellis.
+
+"Morn'n', Ethel," said the visitor.
+
+The girl smiled at him. She was not very pretty, because her face was
+long and wan, and her nose a bit one-sided. But her golden hair sparkled
+in the sun like a mass of spun gold, and the smile was winning in its
+unconscious sweetness. Surely, such attractions were enough for a mere
+country girl.
+
+Ethel Thompson had, however, another claim to distinction. She had been
+"eddicated," as her neighbors acknowledged in awed tones, and "took a
+diploma from a college school at Troy." Young as she was, Ethel had
+taught school for two years, and might have a life tenure if she cared
+to retain the position. As he looked at her neat gown and noted the
+grace and ease of her movements the agent acknowledged that he had
+really "come to the right shop" to untangle his perplexing difficulties.
+
+"New folks is comin' to the Cap'n Wegg farm," he announced, as a
+beginning.
+
+She turned and looked at him queerly.
+
+"Has Joe sold the place?" she asked.
+
+"Near a year ago. Some fool rich man has bought it and is comin' down
+here to spend his summer vacation, he says. Here, read his letters.
+They'll explain it better 'n I can."
+
+Her hand trembled a little as she took the letters McNutt pulled from
+his pocket. Then she sat upon a bench and read them all through. By that
+time she had regained her composure.
+
+"The gentleman is somewhat eccentric," she remarked; "but he will make
+no mistake in coming to this delightful place, if he wishes quiet
+and rest."
+
+"Don't know what he's after, I'm sure," replied the man. "But he's sent
+down enough furniture an' truck to stock a hotel, an' I want to know ef
+you'll go over an' put it in the rooms, an' straighten things out."
+
+"Me!"
+
+"Why, yes. You've lived in cities some, an' know how citified things go.
+Con-twist it, Ethel, there's things in the bunch that neither I ner Nick
+Thorne ever hearn tell of, much less knowin' what they're used for."
+
+The girl laughed.
+
+"When are the folks coming?" she asked.
+
+"When I git things in shape. They've sent some money down to pay fer
+what's done, so you won't have to work fer nuthin'."
+
+"I will, though," responded the girl, in a cheery tone. "It will delight
+me to handle pretty things. Are Nora and Tom still there?"
+
+"Oh, yes. I had orders to turn the Huckses out, ye see; but I didn't do
+it."
+
+"I'm glad of that," she returned, brightly "Perhaps we may arrange it so
+they can stay. Old Nora's a dear."
+
+"But she's blind."
+
+"She knows every inch of the Wegg house, and does her work more
+thoroughly than many who can see. When do you want me, Peggy?"
+
+"Soon's you kin come."
+
+"Then I'll be over tomorrow morning."
+
+At that moment a wild roar, like that of a beast, came from the house.
+The sad faced woman ran down a passage; a door slammed, and then all was
+quiet again.
+
+McNutt hitched uneasily from the wooden foot to the good one.
+
+"How's ol' Will?" he enquired, in a low voice.
+
+"Grandfather's about as usual," replied the girl, with trained
+composure.
+
+"Still crazy as a bedbug?"
+
+"At times he becomes a bit violent; but those attacks never last long."
+
+"Don't s'pose I could see him?" ventured the agent, still in hesitating
+tones.
+
+"Oh, no; he has seen no visitor since Captain Wegg died."
+
+"Well, good-bye, Ethel. See you at the farm in the mornin'."
+
+The girl sat for a long time after McNutt had driven away, seemingly
+lost in revery.
+
+"Poor Joe!" she sighed, at last. "Poor, foolish Joe. I wonder what has
+become of him?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+ETHEL MAKES PREPARATION.
+
+The Wegg homestead stood near the edge of a thin forest of pines through
+which Little Bill Creek wound noisily on its way to the lake. At the
+left was a slope on which grew a neglected orchard of apple and pear
+trees, their trunks rough and gnarled by the struggle to outlive many
+severe winters. There was a rude, rocky lane in front, separated from
+the yard by a fence of split pine rails, but the ground surrounding the
+house was rich enough to grow a profusion of June grass.
+
+The farm was of very little value. Back of the yard was a fairly good
+berry patch, but aside from that some two acres of corn and a small
+strip of timothy represented all that was fertile of the sixty acres the
+place contained.
+
+But the house itself was the most imposing dwelling for many miles
+around. Just why that silent old sea-dog, Jonas Wegg, had come into this
+secluded wilderness to locate was a problem the Millville people had
+never yet solved. Certainly it was with no idea of successfully farming
+the land he had acquired, for half of it was stony and half covered by
+pine forest. But the house he constructed was the wonder of the
+country-side in its day. It was a big, two-story building, the lower
+half being "jest cobblestones," as the neighbors sneeringly remarked,
+while the upper half was "decent pine lumber." The lower floor of this
+main building consisted of a single room with a great cobble-stone
+fireplace in the center of the rear wall and narrow, prison-like windows
+at the front and sides. There was a small porch in front, with a great
+entrance door of carved dark wood of a foreign look, which the Captain
+had brought from some port in Massachusetts. A stair in one corner of
+the big living room led to the second story, where four large
+bed-chambers were arranged. These had once been plastered and papered,
+but the wall-paper had all faded into dull, neutral tints and in one of
+the rooms a big patch of plaster had fallen away from the ceiling,
+showing the bare lath. Only one of the upstairs rooms had ever been
+furnished, and it now contained a corded wooden bedstead, a cheap pine
+table and one broken-legged chair. Indeed, the main building, which I
+have briefly described, had not been in use for many years. Sometimes,
+when Captain Wegg was alive, he would build a log fire in the great
+fireplace on a winter's evening and sit before it in silent mood until
+far into the night. And once, when his young wife had first occupied the
+new house, the big room had acquired a fairly cosy and comfortable
+appearance. But it had always been sparsely furnished, and most of the
+decadent furniture that now littered it was useless and unlovely.
+
+The big wooden lean-to at the back, and the right wing, were at this
+time the only really habitable parts of the mansion. The lean-to had an
+entrance from the living room, but Old Hucks and Nora his wife used the
+back door entirely. It consisted of a large and cheerful kitchen and two
+rooms off it, one used as a store room and the other as a sleeping
+chamber for the aged couple.
+
+The right wing was also constructed of cobble-stone, and had formerly
+been Captain Wegg's own chamber. After his death his only child, Joe,
+then a boy of sixteen, had taken possession of his father's room; but
+after a day or two he had suddenly quitted the house where he was born
+and plunged into the great outside world--to seek his fortune, it was
+said. Decidedly there was no future for the boy here; in the cities
+lurks opportunity.
+
+When Ethel Thompson arrived in the early morning that followed her
+interview with McNutt she rode her pony through the gap in the rail
+fence, across the June grass, and around to the back door. On a bench
+beside the pump an old woman sat shelling peas. Her form was thin but
+erect and her hair snowy white. She moved with alertness, and as the
+girl dismounted and approached her she raised her head and turned a
+pleasant face with deep-set, sightless gray eyes upon her visitor.
+
+"Good morning, Ethel, dear," she said. "I knew the pony's whinney.
+You're up early today."
+
+"Good morning, Nora," responded the schoolteacher, advancing to kiss the
+withered cheek. "Are you pretty well?"
+
+"In body, dear. In mind both Tom 'n' me's pretty bad. I s'pose we
+couldn't 'a 'spected to stay here in peace forever; but the blow's come
+suddin-like, an' it hurts us."
+
+"Where is Tom?"
+
+"In the barn, lookin' over all the won'erful things the rich nabob has
+sent here. He says most things has strips o' wood nailed over 'em; but
+some hasn't; an' Tom looks 'em over keerful an' then tells me 'bout 'em.
+He's gone to take another look at a won'erful new cook-stove, so's he
+kin describe it to me right pertickler."
+
+"Is he worried, Nora?"
+
+"We's both worried, Ethel. Our time's come, an' no mistake. Peggy McNutt
+says as he had real orders to turn Hucks out if he was a married man;
+an' there's no disclaimin' he's married, is there? Peggy's a kind man,
+an' tol' us to keep stayin' 'til the nabobs arrove. Then I guess we'll
+git our walkin'-papers, mighty quick."
+
+"I'm not sure of that," said the girl, thoughtfully. "They must be
+hard-hearted, indeed, to turn you out into the world; and you are both
+capable people, and would serve the city folks faithfully and well."
+
+"It's my eyes," replied the other, in a simple, matter-of-fact tone.
+"Hucks might wait on the nabobs all right, but they won't tol'rate a
+blind woman a minute, I'm sure. An' Hucks 'd ruther be with me in the
+poor-house than to let me go alone."
+
+"Right y' air, Nora girl!" cried a merry voice, and as the blind woman
+looked up with a smile Ethel turned around to face "Old Hucks."
+
+A tall man, but much bent at the shoulders and limping in one leg from
+an old hurt aggravated by rheumatism. His form was as gnarled as the
+tree-trunks in the apple-orchard, and twisted almost as fantastically.
+But the head, uplifted from the stooped shoulders and held a little to
+one side, was remarkable enough to attract attention. It had scanty
+white locks and a fringe of white whiskers under the chin, and these
+framed a smiling face and features that were extremely winning in
+expression. No one could remember ever seeing Old Hucks when he was not
+smiling, and the expression was neither set nor inane, but so cheery and
+bright that you were tempted to smile with him, without knowing why. For
+dress he wore a much patched pair of woolen trousers and a "hickory"
+shirt of faded blue, with rough top boots and a dilapidated straw hat
+that looked as if it might have outlived several generations.
+
+As Ethel greeted the man she looked him over carefully and sighed at the
+result; for certainly, as far as personal appearances went, he seemed as
+unlikely a person to serve a "nabob" as could well be imagined. But the
+girl knew Thomas' good points, and remembering them, took courage.
+
+"If the worst comes," she said, brightly, "you are both to come to us to
+live. I've arranged all that with grandmother, you know. But I'm not
+much afraid of your being obliged to leave here. From all accounts this
+Mr. Merrick is a generous and free-hearted man, and I've discovered that
+strangers are not likely to be fearsome when you come to know them. The
+unknown always makes us childishly nervous, you see, and then we forget
+it's wrong to borrow trouble."
+
+"True's gospil," said Old Hucks. "To know my Nora is to love her.
+Ev'body loves Nora. An' the good Lord He's took'n care o' us so long, it
+seems like a sort o' sacrelidge to feel that all thet pretty furn'ture
+in the barn spells on'y poor-house to us. Eh, Ethel?"
+
+McNutt arrived just then, with big Ned Long, Lon Taft the carpenter, and
+Widow Clark, that lady having agreed to "help with the cleanin'." She
+didn't usually "work out," but was impelled to this task as much through
+curiosity to see the new furniture as from desire to secure the wages.
+
+At once the crowd invaded the living room, and after a glance around
+Ethel ordered every bit of the furniture, with the exception of two
+antique but comfortable horse-hair sofas, carried away to the barn and
+stored in the loft. It did not take long to clear the big room, and then
+the Widow Clark swept out and began to scrub the floor and woodwork,
+while school-teacher took her men into the right wing and made another
+clearing of its traps.
+
+This room interested the girl very much. In it Joe was born and frail
+Mrs. Wegg and her silent husband had both passed away. It had two broad
+French windows with sash doors opening on to a little porch of its own
+which was covered thickly with honeysuckle vines. A cupboard was built
+into a niche of the thick cobble-stone wall, but it was locked and the
+key was missing.
+
+Upstairs the girl had the rubbish removed for the first time in a
+generation. The corded bedstead in the north room was sent to join its
+fellows in the barn loft, and Ned Long swept everything clean in
+readiness for the scrubbers.
+
+Then, while Widow Clark and Nora cleaned industriously--for the blind
+woman insisted on helping and did almost as much work as her
+companion--the "men folks" proceeded to the barn and under the
+school-teacher's directions uncrated the new furniture and opened the
+bales of rugs and matting. Lon Taft was building new steps to the front
+porch, but Old Hucks and Ned and McNutt reverently unpacked the "truck"
+and set each piece carefully aside. How they marveled at the enameled
+beds and colored wicker furniture, the easy chairs for lounging, the
+dainty dressers and all the innumerable pretty things discovered in
+boxes, bales and barrels, you may well imagine. Even Ethel was amazed
+and delighted at the thoughtfulness of the dealer in including
+everything that might be useful or ornamental in a summer home.
+
+The next few days were indeed busy ones, for the girl entered
+enthusiastically upon her task to transform the old house, and with the
+material John Merrick had so amply provided she succeeded admirably. The
+little maid was country bred, but having seen glimpses of city life and
+possessing much native good taste, she arranged the rooms so charmingly
+that they would admit of scant improvement. The big living room must
+serve as a dining room as well as parlor; but so spacious was it that
+such an arrangement proved easy. No especial furniture for the living
+room had been provided, but by stealing a few chairs and odd pieces from
+the ample supply provided for the bedrooms, adding the two quaint sofas
+and the upright piano and spreading the rugs in an artistic fashion,
+Ethel managed to make the "parlor part" of the room appear very cosy.
+The dining corner had a round table and high-backed chairs finished in
+weathered oak, and when all was in order the effect was not
+inharmonious. Some inspiration had induced Mr. Merrick to send down a
+batch of eighteen framed pictures, procured at a bargain but from a
+reliable dealer. He thought they might "help out," and Ethel knew they
+would, for the walls of the old house were quite bare of ornament. She
+made them go as far as possible, and Old Hucks, by this time thoroughly
+bewildered, hung them where she dictated and made laughable attempts to
+describe the subjects to blind Nora.
+
+A telegram, telephoned over from the junction, announced the proposed
+arrival of the party on Thursday morning, and the school-teacher was
+sure that everything would be in readiness at that time. The paint on
+Lon's repairs would be dry, the grass in the front yard was closely
+cropped, and the little bed of flowers between the corn-crib and the
+wood-shed was blooming finely. The cow was in the stable, the pigs in
+the shed, and the Plymouth Rocks strutted over the yard with an absurd
+assumption of pride.
+
+Wednesday Ethel took Old Hucks over to Millville and bought for him from
+Sam Cotting a new suit of dark gray "store clothes," together with
+shirts, shoes and underwear. She made McNutt pay the bill with John
+Merrick's money, agreeing to explain the case to "the nabob" herself,
+and back up the agent in the unauthorized expenditure. Nora had a new
+gingham dress, too, which the girl had herself provided, and on Thursday
+morning Ethel was at the Wegg farm bright and early to see the old
+couple properly attired to receive their new master. She also put a last
+touch to the pretty furniture and placed vases of her own roses and
+sweet peas here and there, to render the place homelike and to welcome
+the expected arrivals.
+
+"If they don't like it," said the girl, smiling, "they're rather hard to
+please."
+
+"They're sure to like it, dear," answered old Nora, touching with
+sensitive fingers the flowers, the books and the opened piano. "If they
+don't, they're heretics an' sinners, an' there's no good in 'em
+whatever."
+
+Then the little school-teacher bade good-bye to Hucks and his wife, told
+them to keep brave hearts, and rode her pony cross-lots to
+Thompson's Crossing.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE ARRIVAL OF THE NABOBS.
+
+"Well," said Uncle John, looking out of the car window, "we're nearly
+there."
+
+He didn't look the millionaire, or nabob, or anything else but a modest
+little man full of joy at getting into the country. His clothing was not
+distinctive of wealth, his hands were hard and roughened by years of
+toil, and his necktie had a plebeian trick of sliding under his left
+ear. Uncle John was just a plain, simple, good-hearted fellow before he
+acquired riches, and the possession of millions had in no way altered
+his nature.
+
+The three nieces and himself were the only passengers in the coach,
+aside from rosy-cheeked Mary, Patricia's cook. Finding that the road did
+not run a sleeper to Chazy Junction, Mr. Merrick had ordered one
+attached to the train for his especial use; but he did not allow even
+Patsy to suspect this extravagance.
+
+"It seems to me," observed Beth, as she peered out while the train
+puffed up the steep grade, "as if we'd arrived at the heart of a
+wilderness, where farms are likely to be as scarce as Egyptian temples."
+
+"The truth is," replied her uncle, with a cheerful smile, "that none of
+us has an idea where we're going, or what that farm of mine looks like.
+We're explorers, like Stanley in mid-Africa. That's the beauty of this
+excursion."
+
+"I'm glad I didn't bring any party dresses," said dainty Louise, shaking
+her blonde head with a doubting expression toward the rock
+covered hills.
+
+"Why, you might need them for hay-rides," remarked Patsy, with a laugh;
+"that is, if any hay grows in this land of quarries."
+
+The train stopped with a jerk, started with another jerk, and stopped
+again with a third that made them catch their breaths and hold fast to
+the seats.
+
+"Chazy Junction, seh," said the colored porter, entering in haste to
+seize their bags.
+
+They alighted on a small wooden platform and their hand baggage was
+deposited beside them. Their trunks were being tumbled off a car
+far ahead.
+
+Then the whistle screamed, the train gave a jerk and proceeded on its
+way, and Uncle John, his nieces and their maid, found themselves
+confronting a solitary man in shirtsleeves, who yawned languidly, thrust
+his hands in his pockets and stared at the strangers unmoved.
+
+It was six o'clock. The July sun was set in a clear sky, but the air was
+cool and pleasant. Uncle John glanced around with the eye of a practiced
+traveler. Back of the station was a huddle of frame buildings set in a
+hollow. The station-tender was the only person in sight.
+
+"Isn't there a carriage to meet us?" asked Louise, in a slightly frigid
+tone.
+
+"Seems not," replied her uncle. Then he addressed the native. "Can you
+tell us, sir, where Millville is?" he asked.
+
+"Sev'n mile up the road."
+
+"Thank you kindly. Is there any carriage to be had?"
+
+The man smiled sardonically.
+
+"Kerridges," he said, "don't grow in these parts. I take it you be the
+party fer the Wegg farm."
+
+"You're right," said Mr. Merrick. "I'm glad we are getting acquainted.
+Folks all well?"
+
+"Pretty fair."
+
+"Now, sir, we want some breakfast, to begin with, and then some way to
+get to my farm."
+
+"Peggy orter 'a' looked after you," remarked the man, eyeing the dainty
+gowns of the young ladies reflectively.
+
+"Who's Peggy?"
+
+"That's McNutt, the man you hired to do things."
+
+"Ah, yes; he surely ought to have sent some sort of a team to meet us,"
+agreed Uncle John. "What's that group of houses yonder?"
+
+"Thet's the Junction."
+
+"Any hotel?"
+
+"Sure."
+
+"And a livery stable?"
+
+"'Course there is."
+
+"Then we'll get along," said Uncle John, assuming a sudden brisk manner.
+"Just keep your eye on our baggage till we get back, my good fellow.
+There are no people to interfere with it, but some bears or tigers might
+come out of the hills and eat it up. Now, girls, away we go!"
+
+Uncle John's nieces were not so greatly dismayed at this experience as
+might have been expected. They had recently accompanied their erratic
+relative on a European trip and had learned to be patient under
+difficulties.
+
+A quarter of a mile down the dusty road they came to the hotel, a
+dismal, unclean looking place that smelled of stale beer. Uncle John
+routed out the proprietor.
+
+"Folks up?" he inquired.
+
+"Long ago," said the man.
+
+"Get us some boiled eggs, bread and butter and plenty of fresh
+milk--right away," ordered Mr. Merrick. "The quicker it comes the more
+I'll pay you. Bring a table out here on the porch and we'll eat in the
+open air. Where's the livery stable--eh? Oh, I see. Now, step lively, my
+man, and your fortune's made. I'll add a quarter of a dollar for every
+five minutes you save us in time."
+
+The fellow stared, then woke up with a start and disappeared within.
+
+"By gum, I'll bet a hen it's thet air nabob!" he muttered.
+
+Leaving his girls and Mary to sit on the wooden benches of the porch
+Uncle John crossed the road to the livery stable, where he discovered a
+man and a boy engaged in cleaning the half dozen sorry looking nags the
+establishment contained. A three-seated democrat wagon was engaged to
+carry the party to the Wegg farm at Millville, and a rickety lumber
+wagon would take the baggage. The liveryman recognized his customer as
+soon as the Wegg farm was mentioned, and determined to "do the city guy
+up brown."
+
+"Road's bad an' up hill, an' my time's vallyble," he said in a surly
+voice. "I'll hev to charge ye three dollars."
+
+"For what?" asked Uncle John, quietly.
+
+"Fer the two teams to Millville."
+
+"Get them harnessed right away, load up the baggage, and have the
+democrat at the hotel in twenty minutes. Here's five dollars, and if
+you'll look pleasant you may keep the change."
+
+"Blame my thick skull!" muttered the livery-man, as he watched the
+little man depart. "What a cussed fool I were not to say four dollars
+instead o' three!"
+
+But he called to his boy to hurry up, and in the stipulated time the
+teams were ready.
+
+Uncle John and his nieces were just finishing their eggs, which were
+fresh and delicious. The milk was also a revelation. Through the windows
+of the hotel several frowsy looking women and an open mouthed boy were
+staring hard at the unconscious city folk.
+
+Even Louise was in a mood for laughter as they mounted to the high seats
+of the democrat. The glorious air, the clear sunshine and a satisfactory
+if simple breakfast had put them all in a good humor with the world.
+
+They stopped at the station for their hand baggage, and saw that the
+trunks were properly loaded on the lumber wagon. Then, slowly, they
+started to mount the long hill that began its incline just across
+the tracks.
+
+"Sure this is the way?" inquired Uncle John, perched beside the driver.
+
+"I were horned here," answered the man, conclusively.
+
+"That seems to settle it. Pretty big hill, that one ahead of us."
+
+"It's the Little Bill. When we cross it, we're at Millville."
+
+Seven miles of desolate country could not dampen the spirits of the
+girls. Secretly each one was confident that Uncle John's unknown farm
+would prove to be impossible, and that in a day or so at the latest they
+would retrace their steps. But in the meantime the adventure was novel
+and interesting, and they were prepared to accept the inevitable with
+all graciousness.
+
+When, after the long climb up the hill, they saw the quaint mill and the
+town lying just across rushing Little Bill Creek; when from their
+elevation they beheld the placid lake half hidden by its stately pines
+and gazed up the rugged and picturesque foot-hills to the great
+mountains beyond, then indeed they drew in deep breaths and began, as
+Patsy exclaimed, to be "glad they came."
+
+"That Millville?" asked Uncle John, eagerly.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And which of those houses belongs to the Wegg farm?"
+
+"Ye can't see the Wegg house from here; the pines hide it," said the
+man, urging his horses into a trot as they approached the bridge.
+
+"Pretty good farm?" inquired Uncle John, hopefully.
+
+"Worst in the county," was the disconcerting reply. "Half rocks an' half
+trees. Ol' Cap'n Wegg wasn't no farmer. He were a sea-cap'n; so it's no
+wonder he got took in when he bought the place."
+
+Uncle John sighed.
+
+"I've just bought it myself," he observed.
+
+"There's a ol' addige," said the man, grinning, "'bout a fool an' his
+money. The house is a hunker; but w'at's the use of a house without
+a farm?"
+
+"What is a 'hunker,' please?" inquired Louise, curiously.
+
+The liveryman ventured no reply, perhaps because he was guiding his
+horses over the rickety bridge.
+
+"Want to stop at the village?" he asked.
+
+"No; drive on to the farm."
+
+The scene was so rude and at the same time so picturesque that it
+impressed them all very agreeably. Perhaps they were the more delighted
+because they had expected nothing admirable in this all but forsaken
+spot. They did not notice the people who stared after them as they
+rattled through the village, or they would have seen Uncle John's
+"agent" in front of his office, his round eyes fairly bulging from
+his head.
+
+It had never occurred to McNutt to be at the Junction to welcome his
+patron. He had followed his instructions and set Mr. Merrick's house in
+order, and there he considered that his duty ended. He would, of course,
+call on the nabob, presently, and render an account of the money he
+had received.
+
+Sam Cotting, the store-keeper, gazed after the livery team with a sour
+countenance, he resented the fact that five big-boxes of groceries had
+been forwarded from the city to the Wegg farm. "What'n thunder's the use
+havin' city folks here, ef they don't buy nothin'?" he asked the boys;
+and they agreed it was no use at all.
+
+Proceeding at a smart trot the horses came to the Pearson farm, where
+they turned into the Jane at the left and straightway subsided to a slow
+walk, the wheels bumping and jolting over the stony way.
+
+"What's this?" exclaimed Uncle John, who had narrowly escaped biting his
+tongue through and through. "Why did you turn down here?"
+
+"It's the road," returned the driver, with a chuckle; "it's the
+cobble-stone lane to yer farm, an' the farm's 'bout the same sort o'
+land as the lane."
+
+For a few moments the passengers maintained a dismal silence.
+
+"The country's lovely," said Patsy, glancing at the panorama as they
+mounted a slight elevation.
+
+"Are you sure, Uncle, that there is a house, or any place of refuge, on
+your farm?" asked Louise, in a mischievous tone.
+
+"Why, there's a rumor of a house, and the rumor says it's a hunker,"
+replied Mr. Merrick, in a voice that betrayed a slight uneasiness.
+
+"Doubtless the house matches the farm," said Beth, calmly. "I imagine it
+has two rooms and a leaky roof. But never mind, girls. This has been a
+pleasant trip, and we can seek shelter elsewhere if the worst comes to
+the worst."
+
+"I guess the worst has come a'ready," observed the driver; "for the
+house is by odds the best part o' the Wegg farm. It's big enough fer a
+hotel, an' cost a lot o' money in its day. Seems like the lunatics all
+crowd to thet place--fust ol' Cap'n Wegg wasted of his substance on it,
+an' now----"
+
+He paused, perhaps fearing he might become personal in his remarks, and
+Uncle John coughed while the girls shrieked with laughter.
+
+Expecting nothing, they were amazed when they passed the orchard and the
+group of pines that had concealed the house and suddenly drew up beside
+the old-fashioned stile built into the rail fence. Every eye was
+instantly upon the quaint, roomy mansion, the grassy sward extending
+between it and the road, and the cosy and home-like setting of the
+outbuildings.
+
+"Here's Wegg's," said the liveryman.
+
+"Oh, Uncle," cried Beth; "how lovely!"
+
+Louise's pretty face was wreathed with smiles. Patsy drew in a long
+breath and scrambled out of the high seat.
+
+On the corner of the front porch stood Nora, arrayed in her neat gray
+gown and a cap. Her face was composed, but she felt herself trembling
+a little.
+
+Old Hucks came slowly down the steps to greet the company. Never in his
+memory had his dress been so immaculate. The queer old fellow seemed to
+appreciate this as he raised his smiling face from the stooped shoulders
+and poised it on one side like a sparrow.
+
+"Welcome home, sir," he said to Uncle John. "I'm Hucks, sir; Thomas
+Hucks," and without more words he proceeded to remove the satchels from
+the wagon.
+
+"Ah, yes," returned Mr. Merrick, cheered by the welcome and the smile of
+the old man. "I'd forgotten about you, but I'm glad you're here."
+
+"And that is my wife Nora, on the porch. She's the housekeeper, sir."
+And then, lowering his voice so that only the girls and Uncle John could
+hear, he added simply: "She's blind."
+
+Patsy walked straight up to the eager, pathetic figure of the woman and
+took her hand in a warm clasp.
+
+"I'm Patricia, Nora," she said, "and I'm sure we shall be friends."
+
+Beth followed her cousin's lead.
+
+"And I am Beth, Nora. Will you remember me?"
+
+"Surely, miss; by your voice," returned the old woman, beaming
+delightedly at these evidences of kindliness.
+
+"Here is another, Nora," said their cousin, in gentle tones. "I am
+Louise."
+
+"Three young and pretty girls, Nora; and as good as they are pretty,"
+announced Uncle John, proudly. "Will you show us in, Thomas, or will
+your wife?"
+
+"Nora will take the young ladies to their rooms, sir."
+
+"Not now, Uncle!" they all protested, in nearly identical words; and
+Louise added: "Let us drink in the delights of this pretty picture
+before we shut ourselves up in the stuffy rooms. I hope they've
+been aired."
+
+Patsy ran to a chicken-coop on the side lawn, where a fussy hen was
+calling to her children that strangers had arrived. Beth exclaimed at
+the honeysuckle vines and Louise sank into a rustic chair with a sigh
+of content.
+
+"I'm so glad you brought us here. Uncle," she said. "What a surprise it
+is to find the place so pretty!"
+
+They could hear the rush of the Little Bill in the wood behind them and
+a soft breeze stirred the pines and wafted their fragrance to the
+nostrils of the new arrivals. Uncle John squatted on the shady steps and
+fairly beamed upon the rustic scene spread out before him. Patsy had now
+thrown aside her hat and jacket and lay outstretched upon the cool
+grass, while the chickens eyed her with evident suspicion. Beth was
+picking a bouquet of honeysuckles, just because they were so sweet
+and homely.
+
+"I'm almost sure I sent some hammocks and a croquet set," remarked Uncle
+John.
+
+"They're here, sir," said Old Hucks, who had watched each one with his
+persistent smile and now stood awaiting his new master's commands. "But
+we didn't know jest where ye wanted 'em put."
+
+Mary came out. She had taken off her things and donned her white apron.
+
+"The house is quite wonderful, Mr. Merrick," she said. "There is
+everything we can possibly need, and all as neat as wax."
+
+The report stirred the girls to explore. They all trooped into the big
+living room and were at once captivated by its charm. Nora led them
+upstairs to their chambers, finding the way as unerringly as if she
+possessed perfect vision, and here a new chorus of delight was evoked.
+
+"The blue room is mine!" cried Louise.
+
+"Mine is the pink room," said Beth.
+
+"And I choose the white room," declared Patsy. "The Major's is just
+next, and it will please him because it is all green and gold. But where
+will Uncle John room?"
+
+"The master will use the right wing," said old Nora, who had listened
+with real pleasure to the exclamations of delight. "It were Cap'n Wegg's
+room, ye know, an' we've fitted it all new."
+
+Indeed, Uncle John was at that moment inspecting his apartment, and he
+sighed contentedly as he congratulated himself upon his foresight in
+sending down the furnishings on the chance of their being needed. They
+had effected a complete transformation of the old house.
+
+But who had arranged everything? Surely the perfect taste and dainty
+touch evidenced everywhere was not to be attributed to blind Nora. The
+little man was thoughtful as he turned to Old Hucks.
+
+"Who did it, Thomas?" he asked.
+
+"Miss Ethel, sir; the school-ma'am."
+
+"Oh. A city girl?"
+
+"No, sir. Crazy Will Thompson's granddaughter. She lives 'bout nine mile
+away."
+
+"Is she here now?"
+
+"Went home this mornin', sir. It were a great pleasure to her, she said,
+an' she hoped as how you'd like everything, an' be happy here."
+
+Undo John nodded.
+
+"We must call on that girl," he remarked. "We owe her a good deal, I
+imagine, and she's entitled to our grateful thanks."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+PEGGY PRESENTS HIS BILL.
+
+Millville waited in agonized suspense for three days for tangible
+evidence that "the nabob was in their midst," as Nib Corkins poetically
+expressed it; but the city folks seemed glued to the farm and no one of
+them had yet appeared in the village. As a matter of fact, Patsy and
+Uncle John were enthusiastically fishing in the Little Bill, far up in
+the pine woods, and having "the time of their lives" in spite of their
+scant success in capturing trout. Old Hucks could go out before
+breakfast and bring in an ample supply of speckled beauties for Mary to
+fry; but Uncle John's splendid outfit seemed scorned by the finny folk,
+and after getting her dress torn in sundry places and a hook in the
+fleshy part of her arm Patsy learned to seek shelter behind a tree
+whenever her uncle cast his fly. But they reveled in the woods, and
+would lie on the bank for hours listening to the murmur of the brook and
+the songs of the birds.
+
+The temper of the other two girls was different. Beth De Graf had
+brought along an archery outfit, and she set up her target on the ample
+green the day following her arrival. Here she practiced persistently,
+shooting at sixty yards with much skill. But occasionally, when Louise
+tired of her novel and her cushions in the hammock, the two girls would
+play tennis or croquet together--Beth invariably winning.
+
+Such delightful laziness could brook no interference for the first days
+of their arrival, and it was not until Peggy McNutt ventured over on
+Monday morning for a settlement with Mr. Merrick that any from the
+little world around them dared intrude upon the dwellers at the
+Wegg farm.
+
+Although the agent had been late in starting from Millville and Nick
+Thorne's sorrel mare had walked every step of the way, Peggy was obliged
+to wait in the yard a good half hour for the "nabob" to finish his
+breakfast. During that time he tried to decide which of the two
+statements of accounts that he had prepared he was most justified in
+presenting. He had learned from the liveryman at the Junction that Mr.
+Merrick had paid five dollars for a trip that was usually made for two,
+and also that the extravagant man had paid seventy-five cents more to
+Lucky Todd, the hotel keeper, than his bill came to. The knowledge of
+such reckless expenditures had fortified little McNutt in "marking up"
+the account of the money he had received, and instead of charging two
+dollars a day for his own services, as he had at first intended, he put
+them down at three dollars a day--and made the days stretch as much as
+possible. Also he charged a round commission on the wages of Lon Taft
+and Ned Long, and doubled the liveryman's bill for hauling the goods
+over from the Junction. Ethel Thompson had refused to accept any payment
+for what she had done, but Peggy bravely charged it up at good round
+figures. When the bill was made out and figured up it left him a
+magnificent surplus for his private account; but at the last his heart
+failed him, and he made out another bill more modest in its extortions.
+He had brought them both along, though, one in each pocket, vacillating
+between them as he thought first of the Merrick millions and then of the
+righteous anger he might incur. By the time Uncle John came out to him,
+smiling and cordial, he had not thoroughly made up his mind which
+account to present.
+
+"I must thank you for carrying out my orders so intelligently," began
+the millionaire. "Without your assistance I might have found things in
+bad shape, I fear."
+
+McNutt was reassured. The nabob would stand for bill No. 1, without a
+doubt.
+
+"I tried fer to do my best, sir," he said.
+
+"And you did very well," was the reply. "I hope you kept your
+expenditures well within bounds?"
+
+The agent's heart sank at the question and the shrewd, alert look that
+accompanied it. Even millionaires do not allow themselves to be
+swindled, if they can help it. Bill No. 2 would be stiff enough; he
+might even have to knock a few dollars off from that.
+
+"Most things is high in Millville," he faltered, "an' wages has gone up
+jest terr'ble. The boys don't seem to wanter do nuthin' without
+big pay."
+
+"That is the case everywhere," responded Mr. Merrick, thoughtfully; "and
+between us, McNutt, I'm glad wages are better in these prosperous times.
+The man who works by the day should be well paid, for he has to pay well
+for his living. Adequately paid labor is the foundation of all
+prosperity."
+
+Peggy smiled cheerfully. He was glad he had had the forethought to bring
+Bill No. 1 along with him.
+
+"Hosses is high, too," he remarked, complacently, "an' lumber an' nails
+is up. As fer the live-stock I bought fer ye, I found I had to pay like
+sixty for it."
+
+"I suppose they overcharged you because a city man wanted the animals.
+But of course you would not allow me to be robbed."
+
+"Oh, 'course not, Mr. Merrick!"
+
+"And that nag in the stable is a sorry old beast."
+
+Peggy was in despair. Why in the world hadn't he charged for "the
+beast"? As it was now too late to add it to the bill he replied,
+grudgingly:
+
+"The hoss you mention belongs to the place, sir. It went with the farm,
+'long o' Old Hucks an' Nora."
+
+"I'm glad you reminded me of those people," said Uncle John, seriously.
+"Tell me their history."
+
+Louise sauntered from the house, at this juncture, and sank gracefully
+upon the grass at her uncle's feet. She carried a book, but did not
+open it.
+
+"Ain't much to tell, sir, 'bout them folks," replied the agent. "Cap'n
+Wegg brung the Huckses with him when he settled here. Wegg were a
+sea-cap'n, ye see, an' when he retired he Wanted to git as far from the
+sea's he could."
+
+"That was strange. A sailor usually loves to be near salt water all his
+days," observed Uncle John.
+
+"Wall, Wegg he were diff'rent. He come here when I were a boy, bringin'
+a sad-faced young woman an' Ol' Hucks an' Nora. I s'pose Hucks were a
+sailor, too, though he never says nuthin' 'bout that. The Cap'n bought
+this no'count farm an' had this house built on it--a proceedin' that, ef
+I do say it, struck ev'rybody as cur'ous."
+
+"It _was_ curious," agreed Mr. Merrick.
+
+"But the cur'ous'est thing was thet he didn't make no 'tempt at farmin'.
+Folks said he had money to burn, fer he loaded it into this fool house
+an' then sot down an' smoked all day an' looked glum. Ol' Hucks planted
+the berry patch an' looked arter the orchard an' the stock; but Cap'n
+Wegg on'y smoked an' sulked. People at Millville was glad to leave him
+alone, an' the on'y friend he ever had were crazy Will Thompson."
+
+"Crazy?"
+
+"As a loon." The agent hitched uneasily on the lawn bench, where he was
+seated, and then continued, hastily: "But thet ain't neither here ner
+there. A baby was born arter a time, an' while he was young the
+sad-faced mother sickened an' died. Cap'n Wegg give her a decent fun'ral
+an' went right on smokin' his pipe an' sulkin', same as ever. Then
+he--he--died," rather lamely, "an' Joe--thet's the boy--bein' then about
+sixteen, dug out 'n' run away. We hain't seen him sense."
+
+"Nice boy?" asked Uncle John.
+
+"Joe were pretty well liked here, though he had a bit o' his dad's
+sulkiness. He 'n' Ethel Thompson--crazy Will's gran'daughter--seemed
+like to make up together; but even she don't know what drav him
+off--'nless it were the Cap'n's suddint death--ner where he went to."
+
+Uncle John seemed thoughtful, but asked no more questions, and McNutt
+appeared to be relieved that he refrained. But the bill ought to be
+forthcoming now, and the agent gave a guilty start as his
+patron remarked:
+
+"I want to settle with you for what you have done. I'm willing to pay a
+liberal price, you understand, but I won't submit to being robbed
+outrageously by you or any of your Millville people."
+
+This was said so sternly that it sent McNutt into an ague of terror. He
+fumbled for the smallest bill, tremblingly placed it in Mr. Merrick's
+hand, and then with a thrill of despair realized he had presented the
+dreadful No. 1!
+
+"It's--it's--a--'count of what I spent out," he stammered.
+
+Uncle John ran his eye over the bill.
+
+"What are Plymouth Rocks?" he demanded.
+
+"He--hens, sir."
+
+"Hens at a dollar apiece?"
+
+"Thoroughbreds, sir. Extry fine stock. I raised 'em myself."
+
+"H-m. You've charged them twice."
+
+"Eh?"
+
+"Here's an item: 'Twelve Plymouth Rocks, twelve dollars;' and farther
+down: 'Twelve Plymouth Rocks, eighteen dollars.'"
+
+"Oh, yes; o' course. Ye see, I sold you a dozen first, of the dollar
+kind. Then I thought as how, bein' fine young birds, you'd be tempted
+fer to eat 'em, an' a dozen don't go fur on the table. So I up an' sold
+ye another dozen, extry ol' stock an' remarkable high-bred, fer a
+dollar-an'-a-half each. Which is dirt cheap because they's too old to
+eat an' jest right fer layers."
+
+"Are they here?"
+
+"Every one of 'em."
+
+"Very good. I'm glad to have them. The cow seems reasonably priced, for
+a Jersey."
+
+"It is. Jest extror'nary!" exclaimed Peggy, reassured.
+
+"And your people have all done work of an unusual character in a
+painstaking manner. I am very much pleased. There seems to be a hundred
+and forty dollars my due, remaining from the five hundred I sent you."
+
+"Here it is, sir," responded McNutt, taking the money from his
+pocket-book. In another place he had more money, which he had intended
+to pay if the smaller bill had been presented.
+
+Uncle John took the money.
+
+"You are an honest fellow, McNutt," said he. "I hadn't expected a dollar
+back, for folks usually take advantage of a stranger if he gives them
+half a chance. So I thank you for your honesty as well as for your
+services. Good morning."
+
+The agent was thoroughly ashamed of himself. To be "sech a duffer" as to
+return that money, when by means of a little strategy he might have kept
+it, made him feel both humiliated and indignant. A hundred and forty
+dollars; When would he have a chance to get such a windfall again? Pah!
+he was a fool--to copy his identical thoughts: "a gol dum
+blithering idjit!"
+
+All the way home he reflected dismally upon his lack of business
+foresight, and strove to plan ways to get money "out'n thet easy mark."
+
+"Didn't the man rob you, Uncle?" asked Louise, when the agent had
+disappeared.
+
+"Yes, dear; but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing I
+realized it."
+
+"That was what I thought. By the way, that Wegg history seems both
+romantic and unusual," she said, musingly. "Don't you scent some mystery
+in what the man said of it?"
+
+"Mystery!" cried Uncle John. "Lordy, no, Louise. You've been readin' too
+many novels. Romances don't grow in parts like these."
+
+"But I think this is where they are most likely to grow, Uncle,"
+persisted the girl, "just consider. A retired sea captain hides inland,
+with no companions but a grinning sailor and his blind housekeeper
+--except his pale wife, of course; and she is described as sad and
+unhappy. Who was she, do you think?"
+
+"I don't think," said Uncle John, smiling and patting the fair check of
+his niece. "And it don't matter who she was."
+
+"I'm sure it does. It is the key to the whole mystery. Even her baby
+could not cheer the poor thing's broken heart. Even the fine house the
+Captain built failed to interest her. She pined away and died, and----"
+
+"And that finished the romance, Louise."
+
+"Oh, no; that added to its interest. The boy grew up in this dismal
+place and brooded on his mother's wrongs. His stern, sulky old father
+died suddenly. Was he murdered?" in a low voice; "did the son revenge
+his mother's wrongs?"
+
+"Figglepiff, Louise! You're getting theatric--and so early in the
+morning, too! Want to saddle my new farm with a murder, do you? Well,
+it's rubbish. Joe Wegg ran away from here to get busy in the world.
+Major Doyle helped him with my money, in exchange for this farm, which
+the boy was sensible to get rid of--although I'm glad it's now mine. The
+Major liked Joe Wegg, and says he's a clean-cut, fine young feller. He's
+an inventor, too, even if an unlucky one, and I've no doubt he'll make
+his way in the world and become a good citizen."
+
+With these words Uncle John arose and sauntered around to the barn, to
+look at the litter of new pigs that just then served to interest and
+amuse him. The girl remained seated upon the grass, her hands clasped
+over her knee and a look of deep retrospection upon her face.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+LOUISE SCENTS A MYSTERY.
+
+Louise Merrick was the eldest of Uncle John's nieces, having just passed
+her eighteenth birthday. In the city she was devoted to the requirements
+of fashionable society and--urged thereto by her worldly-minded
+mother--led a mere butterfly existence. Her two cousins frankly agreed
+that Louise was shallow, insincere and inclined to be affected; but of
+the three girls she displayed the most equable and pleasant disposition
+and under the most trying circumstances was composed and charming in
+manner. For this reason she was an agreeable companion, and men usually
+admired her graceful figure and her piquant, pretty face with its crown
+of fluffy blonde hair and winning expression. There was a rumor that she
+was engaged to be married to Arthur Weldon, a young man of position in
+the city; but Uncle John ignored the possibility of losing one of his
+cherished nieces and declared that Louise was still too young to think
+of marriage.
+
+When away from her frivolous mother and the inconsequent home
+environments the girl was more unaffected and natural in her ways, and
+her faults were doubtless more the result of education than of
+natural tendency.
+
+One thing was indisputable, however: Louise Merrick was a clever girl,
+possessing a quick intellect and a keen insight into the character of
+others. Her apparent shallowness was a blind of the same character as
+her assumed graciousness, and while she would have been more lovable
+without any pretence or sham she could not have been Louise Merrick and
+allow others to read her as she actually was. Patsy and Beth thought
+they knew her, and admired or liked rather than loved their cousin.
+Uncle John thought he knew her, too, and was very proud of his eldest
+niece in spite of some discovered qualities that were not wholly
+admirable.
+
+An extensive course of light literature, not void of "detective
+stories," had at this moment primed Louise with its influence to the
+extent of inducing her to scent a mystery in the history of Captain
+Wegg. The plain folks around Millville might speculate listlessly upon
+the "queer doin's" at the farm, and never get anywhere near the truth.
+Indeed, the strange occurrences she had just heard were nearly forgotten
+in the community, and soon would be forgotten altogether--unless the
+quick ear of a young girl had caught the clue so long ignored.
+
+At first she scarcely appreciated the importance of the undertaking. It
+occurred to her that an effort to read to the bottom of the sea
+captain's romance would be a charming diversion while she resided at
+Millville, and in undertaking the task she laughingly accused herself of
+becoming an amateur detective--an occupation that promised to be
+thrilling and delightful.
+
+Warned, however, by the rebuff she had met with from Uncle John, the
+girl decided not to confide either her suspicions or her proposed
+investigation to anyone for the present, but to keep her own counsel
+until she could surprise them all with the denouement or required
+assistance to complete her work.
+
+Inspired by the cleverness and fascination of this idea, Louise set to
+work to tabulate the information she had received thus far, noting the;
+element of mystery each fact evolved. First, Captain Wegg must have been
+a rich man in order to build this house, maintain two servants and live
+for years in comfort without any income from his barren farm lands. What
+became of his money after his death? Why was his only son obliged to fly
+to the cities in order to obtain a livelihood? Secondly, the Captain, a
+surly and silent man, had brought hither--perhaps by force--a young
+woman as his wife who was so unhappy that she pined away and died. Who
+was this woman? What had rendered her so unhappy and despairing?
+
+Thirdly, the Captain's only friend had been a crazy man named Will
+Thompson. Was he crazy before the Captain's death, or had he become
+crazed at that time, some terrible tragedy unhinging his mind?
+
+Fourthly, the granddaughter of Thompson, Ethel, and the son of Captain
+Wegg had been in love with each other, and people expected they would
+marry in time. But at his father's sudden death the boy fled and left
+his sweetheart without a word. Why--unless something had occurred that
+rendered their marriage impossible?
+
+In the fifth place there was Old Hucks and his blind wife to be
+considered. What did they know about their old master's secret history?
+What tragic memories lurked beneath the man's perpetual smile and the
+woman's composed and sightless face?
+
+Surely there was enough here to excite the curiosity and warrant an
+effort to untangle the mystery. And as instruments to the end there were
+several people available who could be of use to her; McNutt, the agent,
+who evidently knew more than he had cared to tell; Old Hucks and his
+wife and Ethel Thompson, the school-teacher. There might be others, but
+one or another of these four must know the truth, and it would be her
+pleasant duty to obtain a full disclosure. So she was anxious to begin
+her investigations at once.
+
+When her uncle returned from his visit to the pigs Louise said to him:
+
+"I've been thinking, dear, that we ought to call upon that young lady
+who arranged our rooms, and thank her for her kindness."
+
+"That's true," he replied.
+
+"Can't we drive over to Thompson's this morning, Uncle?"
+
+"Beth and Patsy have planned a tramp to the lake, and a row after
+water-lilies."
+
+"Then let us make our call together. We can invite the girl to come here
+and spend a day with us, when Patsy and Beth will be able to meet her."
+
+"That's a good idea, Louise. I was wondering what I'd do this morning.
+Tell Old Hucks to get the nag harnessed."
+
+The girl ran eagerly upon her errand. Old Hucks seemed surprised, and a
+curious expression showed for an instant through his smile. But he
+turned without a word to harness the horse.
+
+Louise stood watching him.
+
+"Your fingers are quite nimble, Thomas, considering the fact that you
+were once a sailor," she said.
+
+"But sailors have to be nimble, miss," he returned, buckling a strap
+unmoved. "Who tol' ye I were once a sea-farin' man?"
+
+"I guessed it."
+
+As he appeared indisposed to say more on the subject she asked: "Did you
+sail with Captain Wegg?"
+
+"Partly, miss. Dan's already now. Don't jerk the bit, fer his mouth's
+tender an' it makes him balky. Ef he balks jest let him rest a time, an'
+then speak to him. Dan ain't vicious; he's jest ornery."
+
+She climbed into the dilapidated old buggy and took the reins. Dan
+groaned and ambled slowly around to where Uncle John stood awaiting
+his niece.
+
+"Let me drive, Uncle," she said; "I understand Dan."
+
+"Well, I don't," returned Uncle John, in his whimsical way, as he
+mounted to the seat beside her. "I don't understand how he's happened to
+live since the landing of Columbus, or what he's good for, or why
+someone don't knock him on the head."
+
+Dan turned his long, lean face as if to give the speaker a reproachful
+look; then he groaned again, leaned forward, and drew the buggy slowly
+into the stony lane.
+
+"Do you know where the Thompsons live?" inquired Uncle John.
+
+"No. Whoa, Dan!"
+
+That was the best thing the nag did. He knew how to whoa.
+
+"Thomas!" called Uncle John, turning in his seat; and at the summons Old
+Hucks came from the barn and approached them. "How do you get to Miss
+Thompson's place?"
+
+"Miss Ethel's?" Another fleeting expression of surprise.
+
+"Yes; we're going over to thank her for her kindness to us."
+
+"I--I'm 'most sure as she'll be here soon to call, sir. And--perhaps you
+oughtn't to--to go to--Thompson's," stammered Hucks, glancing up at them
+with his bright, elusive smile.
+
+"Well, we're going, anyhow," growled Mr. Merrick.
+
+"Then turn left at the main road an' keep straight ahead to Thompson's.
+Ye can't miss it, sir. Brick schoolhouse on the other corner."
+
+"Thank you, Thomas. Drive on, Louise."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE LITTLE SCHOOL-MA'AM.
+
+Dan balked only twice on the journey, but even this moderate rebellion
+so annoyed Uncle John that he declared he would walk back rather than
+ride behind this "mulish antiquity" again.
+
+When they came to the Thompson dwelling it at first sight seemed
+deserted. A knock on the front door failed to produce any response.
+
+"Perhaps they're away from home," suggested Louise.
+
+"There's a path around to the back," said Uncle John. "Let's explore in
+that direction."
+
+They made their way leisurely toward the rear and had almost passed the
+house, when a deep roar broke the stillness. It was succeeded by
+another, and another, like the bellowing of a mad bull, and the
+intruders stopped short and Louise clung to her uncle in sudden panic.
+
+"Be still, Will! Stop, I say--stop!"
+
+A sharp crack, as of a lash, accompanied the words, and a moan or two
+was followed by absolute silence.
+
+Uncle John and Louise looked at one another with startled eyes.
+
+"He must be worse," said the old gentleman, mopping his forehead with a
+handkerchief.
+
+With one accord they started softly to retrace their steps when a new
+sound halted them again. It was a clear, fresh young voice singing a
+plaintive ditty in a nonchalant, careless tone.
+
+"That's Ethel, I'm sure," exclaimed Louise, grasping her uncle's arm.
+
+"Well, what shall we do?" he demanded.
+
+"Mr.--the crazy man seems quiet now," she whispered. "Let us find the
+girl, if we can."
+
+So again they traversed the path and this time came to the pretty garden
+behind the house. Ethel was tending a flower bed. She wore her gingham
+dress and a sunbonnet, and, kneeling in the path, stretched out her slim
+brown arm to uproot the weeds. But the crunching of the gravel aroused
+her attention, and, observing her visitors, she sprang up and hastened
+toward them.
+
+Louise introduced her uncle and herself in her most pleasant and
+gracious way, and the school teacher led them to a garden bench and
+begged them to be seated.
+
+"The day is lovely," she said, "and I always find my garden more
+cheerful than the house. Grandfather's illness makes the house
+unpleasant for strangers, too."
+
+Louise was surprised at this frank reference, and Uncle John coughed to
+hide his embarrassment.
+
+"I--I hope the invalid is--is improving," he said, doubtful whether he
+should say anything on the delicate subject or not.
+
+"He is always the same, sir," was the quiet response. "I suppose they
+have told you that grandfather is a madman? Our great trouble is well
+known in this neighborhood."
+
+"He is not dangerous. I suppose?" hazarded Uncle John, remembering the
+brutal bellowing.
+
+"Oh, not at all. He is fully paralyzed from his waist down, poor
+grandfather, and can do no harm to anyone. But often his outbreaks are
+unpleasant to listen to," continued the girl, deprecatingly, as if
+suddenly conscious that they had overheard the recent uproar.
+
+"Has he been--this way--for long?" inquired Louise.
+
+"His mind has been erratic and unbalanced since I can remember,"
+answered Ethel, calmly, "but he first became violent at the time Captain
+Wegg died, some three years ago. Grandfather was very fond of the
+Captain, and happened to be with him at the time of his sudden death.
+The shock drove him mad."
+
+"Was he paralyzed before that time?" asked Louise, earnestly.
+
+"No; but the paralysis followed almost immediately. The doctor says that
+a blood vessel which burst in the brain is responsible for both
+afflictions."
+
+The pause that followed was growing awkward when Uncle John said, with
+an evident effort to change the subject:
+
+"This is a fine old homestead."
+
+"It is, indeed," responded Ethel, brightly, "and it enjoys the
+distinction of being one of the first houses built in the foothills. My
+great-grandfather was really the first settler in these parts and
+originally located his cabin where the mill now stands. 'Little Bill
+Thompson,' he was called, for he was a small, wiry man--very different
+from grandfather, who in his prime was a powerful man of over six feet.
+Little Bill Hill and Little Bill Creek were named after this pioneer
+great-grandsire, who was quite successful raising flocks of sheep on the
+plateau. Before he died he built this house, preferring the location to
+his first one."
+
+"The garden is beautiful," said Louise, enthusiastically. "And do you
+teach in the little brick school-house across the way?"
+
+"Yes. Grandfather built it years ago, without dreaming I would ever
+teach there. Now the county supports the school and pays me my salary."
+
+"How long have you taught?"
+
+"For two years. It is necessary, now that grandfather is disabled. He
+has a small income remaining, however, and with what I earn we get along
+very nicely."
+
+"It was very good of you to assist in getting our house ready for us,"
+said Louise. "We might have found things in sorry condition but for your
+kindness."
+
+"Oh, I enjoyed the work, I assure you," replied Ethel. "As it is my
+vacation, it was a real pleasure to me to have something to do. But I
+fear my arrangement of your pretty furniture was very ungraceful."
+
+"We haven't altered a single thing," declared Louise. "You must have
+found it a tedious task, unpacking and getting everything in shape."
+
+"Tom and Nora were good help, because they are fond of me and seem to
+understand my wishes; and Peggy McNutt brought me some men to do the
+lifting and rough work," explained Ethel.
+
+"Have you known Hucks and his wife long?" asked Uncle John.
+
+"Since I can remember, sir. They came here many years ago, with Captain
+Wegg."
+
+"And has Thomas always smiled?" Louise inquired.
+
+"Always," was the laughing reply. "It's an odd expression--isn't it?--to
+dwell forever on a man's face. But Tom is never angry, or hurt or
+excited by anything, so there is no reason he should not smile. At the
+time of Captain Wegg's death and poor grandfather's terrible affliction,
+Old Hucks kept right on smiling, the same as ever; and perhaps his
+pleasant face helped to cheer us all."
+
+Louise drew a long breath.
+
+"Then the smile is a mask," she said, "and is assumed to conceal the
+man's real feelings."
+
+"I do not think so," Ethel answered, thoughtfully. "The smile is
+habitual, and dominates any other expression his features might be
+capable of; but that it is assumed I do not believe. Thomas is a
+simple-minded, honest-hearted old fellow, and to face the world
+smilingly is a part of his religion. I am sure he has nothing to
+conceal, and his devotion to his blind wife is very beautiful."
+
+"But Nora--how long has she been blind?"
+
+"Perhaps all her life; I cannot tell how long. Yet it is wonderful how
+perfectly she finds her way without the aid of sight. Captain Wegg used
+to say she was the best housekeeper he ever knew."
+
+"Did not his wife keep house for him, when she was alive?"
+
+"I do not remember her."
+
+"They say she was most unhappy."
+
+Ethel dropped her eyes and did not reply.
+
+"How about Cap'n Wegg?" asked Uncle John. "Did you like him? You see,
+we're mighty curious about the family, because we've acquired their old
+home, and are bound to be interested in the people that used to
+live there."
+
+"That is natural," remarked the little school teacher, with a sigh.
+"Captain Wegg was always kind to me; but the neighbors as a rule thought
+him moody and bad-tempered." After a pause she added: "He was not as
+kind to his son as to me. But I think his life was an unhappy one, and
+we have no right to reprove his memory too severely for his faults."
+
+"What made him unhappy?" asked Louise, quickly.
+
+Ethel smiled into her eager face.
+
+"No one has solved that problem, they say. The Captain was as silent as
+he was morose."
+
+The detective instinct was alive in Louise. She hazarded a startling
+query:
+
+"Who killed Captain Wegg?" she demanded, suddenly.
+
+Another smile preceded the reply.
+
+"A dreadful foe called heart disease. But come; let me show you my
+garden. There are no such roses as these for miles around."
+
+Louise was confident she had made progress. Ethel had admitted several
+things that lent countenance to the suspicions already aroused; but
+perhaps this simple country girl had never imagined the tragedy that had
+been enacted at her very door.
+
+She cordially urged Ethel Thompson to spend a day with them at the farm,
+and Uncle John, who was pleased with the modesty and frankness of the
+fair-haired little school teacher, earnestly seconded the invitation.
+
+Then he thought of going home, and the thought reminded him of Dan.
+
+"Do you know," he inquired, "where I could buy a decent horse?"
+
+The girl looked thoughtful a moment; then glanced up with a bright
+smile.
+
+"Will you buy one off me?" she asked.
+
+"Willingly, my dear, if you've an animal to sell."
+
+"It's--it's our Joe. He was grandfather's favorite colt when his trouble
+came upon him. We have no use for him now, for I always ride or drive my
+pony. And grandmother says he's eating his head off to no purpose; so
+we'd like to sell him. If you will come to the barn I'll introduce
+you to him."
+
+Joe proved on inspection to be an excellent horse, if appearances were
+to be trusted, and Ethel assured Mr. Merrick that the steed was both
+gentle and intelligent.
+
+"Do you use that surrey?" inquired Uncle John, pointing to a neat
+vehicle that seemed to be nearly new.
+
+"Very seldom, sir. Grandmother would like to sell it with the horse."
+
+"It's exactly what I need," declared Mr. Merrick. "How much for Joe and
+his harness, and the surrey?"
+
+"I'll go and ask what grandmother wants."
+
+She returned after a few minutes, stating a figure that made Uncle John
+lift his brows with a comical expression.
+
+"A hundred dollars! Do you take me for a brigand, little girl? I know
+what horses are worth, for I've bought plenty of 'em. Your Joe seems
+sound as a dollar, and he's just in his prime. A hundred and fifty is
+dirt cheap for him, and the surrey will be worth at least seventy-five.
+Put in the harness at twenty-five, and I'll give you two-fifty for the
+outfit, and not a cent more or less. Eh?"
+
+"No, indeed," said Ethel. "We could not get more than a hundred dollars
+from anyone else around here."
+
+"Because your neighbors are countrymen, and can't afford a proper
+investment. So when they buy at all they only give about half what a
+thing is actually worth. But I'll be honest with you. The price I offer
+is a good deal less than I'd have to pay in the city--Hutchinson would
+charge me five hundred, at least--and I need just what you've got to
+sell. What do you say, Miss Ethel?"
+
+"The price is one hundred dollars, Mr. Merrick."
+
+"I won't pay it. Let me talk with your grandmother."
+
+"She does not see anyone, sir."
+
+Louise looked up sharply, scenting another clue.
+
+"Isn't she well, dear?" she asked in smooth tones.
+
+"She looks after grandfather, and helps Aunt Lucy with the housework."
+
+"Well, come, Louise; we'll go home," said Uncle John, sadly. "I'd hoped
+to be able to drive this fine fellow back, but Dan'll have to groan an'
+balk all the way to the farm."
+
+Ethel smiled.
+
+"Better buy at my price, Mr. Merrick," she suggested.
+
+"Tell you what I'll do," he said, pausing. "I'll split the difference.
+Take two hundred and well call it a bargain."
+
+"But I cannot do that, sir."
+
+"It will help pay you for the hard work of fixing up the house," he
+rejoined, pleadingly. "Your bill wasn't half enough."
+
+"My bill?" wonderingly.
+
+"The one I paid McNutt for your services."
+
+"I made no charge, sir. I could not accept anything for a bit of
+assistance to a neighbor."
+
+"Oh! Then McNutt got it, did he?"
+
+"I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Merrick. I told Peggy I would not accept
+payment."
+
+"H-m. Never mind. We're not going to quarrel, little neighbor. May I
+hitch Joe to the surrey?"
+
+"If you like. I'll help you."
+
+Uncle John led Joe from his stall and together they harnessed the horse
+to the surrey. The girl knew better than the man how to buckle the
+straps properly, while Louise stood by helplessly and watched the
+performance.
+
+Then Uncle John went for old Dan, whom he led, rickety buggy and all,
+into the Thompson stable.
+
+"I'll send Hucks over to get him, although we might as well knock him in
+the head," he said as he unharnessed the ancient steed. "Now then,
+Louise, hop in."
+
+"You'll be sure to come over Thursday, for the day, Miss Thompson?"
+asked Louise, taking Joe's reins from her uncle's hands.
+
+"I'll not forget such a delightful engagement, be sure."
+
+Uncle John had his pocketbook out, and now he wadded up some bills and
+thrust them into the little school teacher's hand.
+
+"Drive ahead, Louise," he called. "Good morning, my dear. See you on
+Thursday."
+
+As the vehicle rolled out of the yard and turned into the highway, Ethel
+unrolled the bills with trembling fingers.
+
+"If he has dared--!" she began, but paused abruptly with a smile of
+content.
+
+The rich man had given her exactly one hundred dollars.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS.
+
+On Wednesday afternoon McNutt drove the sad-eyed sorrel mare over to the
+Wegg farm again. He had been racking his brain for a way to get more
+money out of the nabob, for the idea had become a veritable passion with
+him and now occupied all his thoughts.
+
+That very morning an inspiration had come to him. Among other
+occupations he had at one time adopted that of a book-agent, and by dint
+of persistent energy had sold numerous copies of "Radford's Lives of the
+Saints" to the surrounding farmers. They had cost him ninety cents a
+copy and he had sold them at three dollars each, netting a fine profit
+in return for his labor. The books were printed upon cheap paper,
+fearfully illustrated with blurred cuts, but the covers were bound in
+bright red with gold lettering. Through misunderstandings three of these
+copies had come back to him, the subscribers refusing to accept them;
+and so thorough had been his canvassing that there remained no other
+available customers for the saintly works. So Peggy had kept them on a
+shelf in his "office" for several years, and now, when his eye chanced
+to light upon them, he gave a snort of triumph and pounced upon them
+eagerly. Mr. Merrick was a newcomer. Without doubt he could be induced
+to buy a copy of Radford's Lives.
+
+An hour later McNutt was on his mission, the three copies, which had
+been carefully dusted, reclining on the buggy seat beside him. Arrived
+at the Wegg farm, he drove up to the stile and alighted.
+
+Louise was reading in the hammock, and merely glanced at the little man,
+who solemnly stumped around to the back door with the three red volumes
+tucked underneath his arm. He had brought them all along to make his
+errand "look like business."
+
+"Where's the nabob?" he asked blind Nora.
+
+"What's that, Mr. McNutt?" she inquired, as if puzzled. She knew his
+voice, as she did that of nearly everyone with whom she had ever been
+brought in contact.
+
+"Why, the nabob; the boss; Mr. Merrick."
+
+"Oh. He's in the barn with Tom, I guess."
+
+McNutt entered the barn. Uncle John was seated upon an overturned pail
+watching Old Hucks oil Joe's harness. The agent approached him with a
+deferential bow.
+
+"Sir," said he, "you'll 'scuse my comin' agin so soon to be a-botherin';
+but I hev here three copies of Radford's famis wucks on the Lives o' the
+Saints, in a edishun dee looks----"
+
+"A what?"
+
+"A edishun dee looks, which means extry fine. It's a great book an'
+they's all out'n print 'cept these three, which I hain't no doubt many
+folks would be glad to give their weight in gold fer, an' some over."
+
+"Stand out of the light, McNutt."
+
+The agent shifted his position.
+
+"Them books, sir----"
+
+"Oh, take 'em away."
+
+"What!"
+
+"I don't read novels."
+
+McNutt scratched his head, perplexed at the rebuff. His "dee looks"
+speech had usually resulted in a sale. An idea flashed across his
+brain--perhaps evolved by the scratching.
+
+"The young lady, sir--"
+
+"Oh, the girls are loaded with books," growled the nabob.
+
+The agent became desperate.
+
+"But the young lady in the hammick, sir, as I jest now left, says to
+tell ye she wants one o' these books mighty bad, an' hopes you'll buy it
+for her eddificationing."
+
+"Oh; she does, eh?"
+
+"Mighty bad, sir."
+
+Uncle John watched Thomas polish a buckle.
+
+"Is it a moral work?" he asked.
+
+"Nuthin' could be moraler, sir. All 'bout the lives o'--"
+
+"How much is it?"
+
+"Comes pretty high, sir. Three dollars. But it's--"
+
+"Here. Take your money and get out. You're interrupting me."
+
+"Very sorry, sir. Much obleeged, sir. Where'll I leave the book?"
+
+"Throw it in the manger."
+
+McNutt selected a volume that had a broken corner and laid it carefully
+on the edge of the oat-bin. Then he put his money in his pocket and
+turned away.
+
+"Morn'n' to ye, Mr. Merrick."
+
+"Stop a bit," said Uncle John, suddenly.
+
+The agent stopped.
+
+"I believe I paid you ten dollars for Miss Ethel Thompson's services. Is
+that correct?"
+
+"Ye--yes, Mr. Merrick."
+
+McNutt's heart was in his shoes and he looked guiltily at his accuser,
+the pale blue eyes bulging fearfully.
+
+"Very well; see that she gets it."
+
+"Of course, Mr. Merrick."
+
+"And at once. You may go."
+
+McNutt stumped from the barn. He felt that a dreadful catastrophe had
+overtaken him. Scarcely could he restrain the impulse to sob aloud. Ten
+dollars!--Ten dollars gone to the dogs as the result of his visit to the
+nabob that morning! To lose ten dollars in order to gain three was very
+bad business policy. McNutt reflected bitterly that he would have been
+better off had he stayed at home. He ought to have been contented with
+what he had already made, and the severe manner the nabob had used in
+addressing him told the agent plainly that he need not expect further
+pickings from this source.
+
+In the midst of his despair the comforting thought that Ethel would
+surely refuse the money came to sustain him; so he recovered somewhat
+his former spirits. As he turned the corner of the house he observed
+Louise still reading in the hammock.
+
+In some ways McNutt was a genius. He did not neglect opportunities.
+
+"Here's my las' chance at these idjits," he muttered, "an' I'll learn
+thet nabob what it costs, to make Marsh McNutt stand out'n his light."
+
+Then he hastened over to the hammock.
+
+"'Scuse me, miss," said he, in his most ingratiating voice. "Is yer
+uncle 'round anywheres?"
+
+"Isn't he in the barn?" asked the girl, looking up.
+
+"Can't find him, high ner low. But he ordered a book of me t'other
+day--'Radford's Lives o' the Saints'--an' perhaps you'll take it an' pay
+me the money, so's I kin go home."
+
+Louise gazed at the man musingly. He was one of the people she intended
+to pump for information concerning the mystery of Captain Wegg, and she
+must be gracious to him in order to win his good-will and induce him to
+speak freely. With this thought in mind she drew out her purse
+and asked:
+
+"How much were you to be paid for the book?"
+
+"Three dollars, miss."
+
+"Here is the money, then. Tell me--your name is McNutt, isn't it?--how
+long have you lived in this place?"
+
+"All my life, miss. Thank 'e, miss. Good day to ye, miss."
+
+He placed the book in the hammock beside her.
+
+"Don't go, please." said the girl. "I'd like you to tell me something
+about Captain Wegg, and of his poor wife who died, and--"
+
+"Nuther time, miss, I'll be glad to. Ye'll find me in my orfice, any
+time. Jest now I'm in the dumdest hurry ye ever knew. Good day to ye,
+miss," he repeated, and stumped quickly to the buggy awaiting him. Next
+moment he had seized the reins and was urging the sorrel mare along the
+stony lane at her best pace.
+
+Louise was both astonished and disappointed, but after a little thought
+she looked after the departing agent with a shrewd smile.
+
+"He's afraid to talk," she murmured, "and that only confirms my
+suspicions that he knows more than he cares to tell."
+
+Meantime McNutt was doing his best to get away from the premises before
+the discovery was made that he had sold two "Lives of the Saints" to one
+family. That there might be future consequences to follow his deception
+never occurred to him; only the immediate necessity for escape
+occupied his mind.
+
+Nor were his fears altogether groundless. Turning his head from time to
+time for a glance behind, he had seen Mr. Merrick come from the barn
+with a red book in his hand and approach the hammock, whereupon the
+young lady arose and exhibited a second book. Then they both dropped the
+books and ran into the lane and began shouting for him to stop--the
+man's voice sounding especially indignant and imperative.
+
+But McNutt chose to be deaf. He did not look around again, and was
+congratulating himself that he would soon be out of earshot when a
+sudden apparition ahead caused the mare to halt abruptly. It also caused
+the cold chills to run down the agent's back. Beth and Patsy had stepped
+into the lane from a field, being on their way home from their
+daily walk.
+
+"They're calling to you, sir," said Patsy to the agent. "Didn't you hear
+them?"
+
+"I--I'm a little deaf, miss," stammered McNutt, who recognized the young
+ladies as Mr. Merrick's nieces.
+
+"I think they wish you to go back," remarked Beth, thoughtfully watching
+the frantic waves of Uncle John's chubby arms and Louise's energetic
+beckonings. They were too far off to be heard plainly, but their actions
+might surely be understood.
+
+McNutt with reluctance looked over his shoulder, and a second shudder
+went through him.
+
+"I hain't got time to go back," he said, as an inspiration came to him;
+"but I guess you kin do jest as well. This book here," picking up the
+last of the three from the seat, "I offered to sell yer uncle fer five
+dollars; but he wanted it fer four. I ain't no haggler, you understan',
+so I jest driv away. Now Mr. Merrick has changed his mind an' is willin'
+to give five fer it; but there ain't nuthin' small about me. Ef you
+gals'll jest give me the four dollars ye kin take the book to yer uncle,
+with my compliments; an' I won't hev t' go back. I'm in a
+drea'ful hurry."
+
+Patsy laughed at the little man's excited manner.
+
+"Fortunately I have some money with me," she said; "but you may as well
+take the five dollars, for unless Uncle had been willing to pay it he
+would not have called you back."
+
+"I think so, myself, miss," he rejoined, taking the money and handing
+her the volume.
+
+Uncle John and Louise, glaring at the distant group, saw the third red
+book change hands, and in answer to their renewed cries and gestures
+Patsy waved the "Lives of the Saints" at them reassuringly and came on
+at a brisk walk, followed by Beth.
+
+McNutt slapped the sorrel with the ends of the reins so energetically
+that the mare broke into a trot, and before the girls had come within
+speaking distance of their uncle, the agent was well out of sight and
+exulting in the possession of eleven dollars to pay for his morning's
+work. Even if Ethel accepted that ten, he reflected, he would still be a
+dollar ahead. But he was sure she would tell him to keep it; and he'd
+"jest like to see thet air nabob git a penny back agin."
+
+Meantime Uncle John's wrath, which was always an effervescent quality
+with the little gentleman, had changed to wonder when he saw his nieces
+approaching with the third red-and-gold book. Louise was leaning against
+the rail fence and laughing hysterically, and suddenly a merry smile
+appeared and spread over her uncle's round face as he said:
+
+"Did you ever hear of such an audacious swindle in all your born days?"
+
+"What will you do, Uncle?" asked the girl, wiping the tears of merriment
+from her eyes. "Have the man arrested?"
+
+"Of course not, my dear. It's worth the money just to learn what talents
+the fellow possesses. Tell me, Patsy," he continued, as the other nieces
+joined them, "what did you pay for your book?"
+
+"Five dollars. Uncle. He said--"
+
+"Never mind what he said, my dear. It's all right. I wanted it to add to
+my collection. So far I've got three 'Lives of the Saints'--and I'm
+thankful they're not cats, or there'd be nine lives for me to
+accumulate."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE MYSTERY DEEPENS.
+
+Ethel Thompson came over the next day, as she had promised, and the
+sweet-faced, gentle school-mistress won the hearts of Uncle John's three
+nieces without an effort. She was the eldest of them all, but her
+retired country life had kept her fresh and natural, and Ethel seemed no
+more mature than the younger girls except in a certain gravity that
+early responsibility had thrust upon her.
+
+Together the four laughing, light-hearted maids wandered through the
+pines, where the little school-ma'am showed them many pretty nooks and
+mossy banks that the others had not yet discovered. By following an
+unsuspected path, they cut across the wooded hills to the waterfall,
+where Little Bill Creek made a plunge of twenty feet into a rocky basin
+below. In spite of the bubbles, the water here showed clear as crystal,
+and the girls admiringly christened it the "Champagne Cup." They shed
+their shoes and stockings and waded in the pool, enjoying the sport with
+shrieks of merry laughter--more because they were happy than that there
+was anything to laugh at.
+
+Afterward they traced the stream down to a lovely glade a half mile
+above Millville, where Ethel informed them the annual Sunday-school
+picnic was always held, and then trailed across the rocky plateau to the
+farm. By the time they reached home their appetites were well sharpened
+for Mary's excellent luncheon, and the afternoon was devoted to rest
+under the shady pines that grew beside the house.
+
+It was now, when they felt thoroughly acquainted and at ease in one
+another's society, that the girls indulged in talks concerning events in
+their past, and Ethel was greatly interested in the nieces' recital of
+their recent trip abroad with Uncle John. They also spoke frankly of
+their old life together at Elmhurst, where Aunt Jane, who was Uncle
+John's sister, had congregated her three nieces for the purpose of
+choosing from among them one to inherit her vast estates. It seemed no
+source of regret to any of them that a boy, Kenneth Forbes, had finally
+succeeded to Aunt Jane's property, and this may be explained by the fact
+that Uncle John had at that interesting juncture appeared to take charge
+of the nieces. It was quite evident that the eccentric but kindly old
+fellow had succeeded in making these three girls as happy as their
+dispositions would allow them to be.
+
+After the most interesting phases of their personal history had been
+discussed, the nieces began, perhaps unconsciously, to draw from Ethel
+her own story. It was simple enough, and derived its interest mainly
+from the fact that it concerned their new friend. Her parents had both
+passed away while she was young, and Ethel had always lived with her
+father's father, big Will Thompson, a man reputed very well-to-do for
+this section, and an energetic farmer from his youth.
+
+Old Will had always been accused of being unsociable and considering
+himself above the neighboring farmers; and it was true that Bob West,
+the implement dealer, was his only associate before Captain Wegg
+arrived. A casual acquaintance with the Millville people might easily
+explain this.
+
+With the advent of the Weggs, however, a strong friendship seemed to
+spring up between the retired sea captain and the bluff, erratic old
+farmer, which lasted until the fatal day when one died and the other
+became a paralytic and a maniac.
+
+"We have always thought," said Ethel, "that the shock of the Captain's
+death unsettled my grandfather's mind. They had been sitting quietly in
+Captain Wegg's room one evening, as they were accustomed to do, when
+there was a sudden fall and a cry. Thomas ran in at once, and found
+grandfather raving over the Captain's dead body. The old seaman had
+heart disease, it seems, and had often declared he would die suddenly.
+It was a great blow to us all, but especially to Joe."
+
+Her voice softened at this last remark, and Patsy exclaimed,
+impulsively:
+
+"Tell us about Joe Wegg. Did you like him?"
+
+"Yes," said Ethel, simply; "we were naturally thrown much together in
+our childhood, and became staunch friends. Grandpa often took me with
+him on his visits to the Weggs, and sometimes, but not often, the
+Captain would bring Joe to see us. He was a quiet, thoughtful boy; much
+like his mother, I imagine; but for some reason he had conceived an
+intense dislike for his father and an open hatred for this part of the
+country, where he was born. Aside from these morbid notions, Joe was
+healthy-minded and frank and genuine. Had he been educated in any other
+atmosphere than the gloomy one of the Wegg household I am sure Joe's
+character would have been wholly admirable, and I have never blamed the
+boy much for his peculiarities. Captain Wegg would not permit him to go
+to school, but himself attended to such instructions as Joe could
+acquire at home, and this was so meager and the boy so ambitious that I
+think it was one cause of his discontent. I remember, when I was sent to
+school at Troy, that Joe sobbed for days because he could not have the
+same advantages. He used to tell me wonderful stories of what he would
+accomplish if he could only get out into the world.
+
+"When he implored his father to let him go away, Captain Wegg used to
+assure Joe that he would some day be rich, and there was no need of his
+preparing himself for either a business or a profession; but that did
+not satisfy Joe's ambition, as you may imagine. And, when the end came,
+scarcely a dollar of money could be found among the Captain's
+possessions, and no other property than this farm; so it is evident he
+deceived his son for some selfish purpose.
+
+"Joe was at last free, and the only thing I reproach him for is going
+away without a word to me or any of his friends. I heard, indirectly, of
+his working his way through a technical school, for he was always crazy
+about mechanics, and then he went to New York and I lost all further
+trace of him."
+
+"What do you suppose became of Captain Wegg's money?" asked Louise.
+
+"I've no idea. It is a singular thing that most of my grandfather's
+savings disappeared at the same time. On account of his mental condition
+he can never tell us what became of his little fortune; but luckily the
+returns from the farm, which we rent on shares, and my own salary as
+teacher of the district school, enable us to live quite comfortably,
+although we must be economical."
+
+"Why, it's really a romance!" cried Patsy, who had listened eagerly.
+
+"There are many romances in real life," added Beth, in her
+undemonstrative way.
+
+Louise said nothing, but her heart was throbbing with excitement
+engendered by the tale, which so strongly corroborated the suspicions
+she had begun to entertain. When Ethel had gone home Louise still
+deliberated upon this fascinating mystery, and her resolve grew to force
+some sort of an explanation from the smiling lips of Old Hucks. For the
+sole available witness of that fatal night's tragedy, when one strong
+man died and another was driven mad, was Thomas Hucks. The old servitor
+was also in a position to know much of the causes leading up to the
+catastrophe, he having been the confidential retainer of Captain Wegg
+for many years. Hucks must speak; but the girl was wise enough to
+realize that he would not do so unless urged by coaxing or forced by
+strategy. There was doubtless good reason why the old man had remained
+silent for three years. Her plan was to win his confidence. Interest him
+in Joe's welfare, and then the truth must come out.
+
+The frankly related story of Ethel had supplied Louise with the motive
+for the crime, for that a crime had been committed she was now doubly
+sure. Captain Wegg had money; old Will Thompson had money; both were
+well-to-do men. In a retired country district, where there were no
+banks, it was reasonable to suppose they kept large sums of money on
+hand, and the knowledge of this fact had tempted some one to a dreadful
+deed. Captain Wegg had been killed and old Thompson perhaps injured by a
+blow upon the head from which he had never recovered. Any suspicion the
+fair young detective may have entertained that Thompson himself had
+killed his friend was eradicated by the fact that he had been robbed at
+the same time.
+
+Louise had originally undertaken her investigation through curiosity and
+a desire to amuse herself by unveiling the mystery. Now she began to
+reflect that she was an instrument of justice, for a discovery of the
+truth might restore a fortune to poor Joe Wegg, now struggling with the
+world, and put sweet Ethel Thompson in a position where the necessity
+for her to teach school would be abolished. This thought added a strong
+impulse to her determination to succeed.
+
+Sunday afternoon the girl took blind Nora for a long drive through the
+country, taking pains to explain to her all the points of interest they
+came to, and delighting the old woman with her bright chatter. Louise
+had been kind to Nora from the beginning, and her soft, sympathetic
+voice had quite won the poor creature's heart.
+
+On the way home, in the delightful summer twilight, the girl dexterously
+led the conversation toward Nora's past history.
+
+"Was Thomas a sailor when you married him?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, miss. He were bos'n on Cap'n Wegg's schooner the 'Lively Kate,'
+an' I were livin' with Miss Mary, as come to be Mrs. Wegg arterward."
+
+"Oh, I see. And were you blind then, Nora?"
+
+"No, miss. I went blind arter our great trouble come to us."
+
+"Trouble? Oh, I'm so sorry, dear. What was it?"
+
+The old woman was silent for a time. Then she said:
+
+"I'd better not mention it, I guess. Thomas likes to forgit, an' when I
+gets cryin' an' nervous he knows I've been thinkin' 'bout the
+old trouble."
+
+Louise was disappointed, but changed the subject adroitly.
+
+"And Miss Mary, who was afterward Mrs. Wegg. Did you love her, Nora?"
+
+"Indeed I did, child."
+
+"What was she like?"
+
+"She were gentle, an' sweet, an' the mos' beautiful creetur in
+all--in--in the place where we lived. An' her fambily was that proud an'
+aristocratic thet no one could tech 'em with a ten-foot pole."
+
+"I see. Did she love Captain Wegg?"
+
+"Nat'rally, sense she married of him, an' fit all her fambily to do it.
+An' the Cap'n were thet proud o' her thet he thought the world lay in
+her sweet eyes."
+
+"Oh. I had an idea he didn't treat her well," remarked the girl,
+soberly.
+
+"That's wrong," declared Nora, promptly. "Arter the trouble come--fer it
+come to the Weggs as well as to Tom an' me--the Cap'n sort o' lost heart
+to see his Mary cry day arter day an' never be comforted. He were hard
+hit himself, ye see, an' that made it a gloomy house, an' no mistake."
+
+"Do you mean after you moved here, to the farm?"
+
+"Yes, deary."
+
+"I hear Captain Wegg was very fond of Ethel's grandfather," continued
+Louise, trying to find an opening to penetrate old Nora's reserve.
+
+"They was good friends always," was the brief reply.
+
+"Did they ever quarrel, Nora?"
+
+"Never that I knows of."
+
+"And what do you suppose became of their money?" asked the girl.
+
+"I don't know, child. Air we gettin' near home?"
+
+"We are quite near, now. I wish you would open your heart to me, and
+tell me about that great trouble, Nora. I might be able to comfort you
+in some way."
+
+The blind woman shook her head.
+
+"There's no comfort but in forgettin'," she said; "an' the way to forgit
+ain't to talk about it."
+
+The unsatisfactory result of this conversation did not discourage
+Louise, although she was sorry to meet with no better success. Gradually
+she was learning the inside history of the Weggs. When she discovered
+what that "great trouble" had been she would secure an important clue in
+the mystery, she was sure. Nora might some time be induced to speak more
+freely, and it was possible she might get the desired information from
+Old Hucks. She would try, anyway.
+
+A dozen theories might be constructed to account for this "great
+trouble." The one that Louise finally favored was that Captain Wegg had
+been guilty of some crime on the high seas in which his boatswain, Old
+Hucks, was likewise implicated. They were obliged to abandon the sea and
+fly to some out-of-the-way corner inland, where they could be safely
+hidden and their whereabouts never discovered. It was the knowledge of
+this crime, she conjectured, that had ruined sweet Mrs. Wegg's life and
+made her weep day after day until her guilty husband became surly and
+silent and unsociable.
+
+Louise now began to cultivate Thomas, but her progress was slow. Patsy
+seemed to be the old man's favorite, and for some reason he became glum
+and uncommunicative whenever Louise was around. The girl suspected that
+Nora had told her husband of the recent conversation, in spite of her
+assertion that she wished to avoid all reference to their great trouble.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THREE AMATEUR DETECTIVES.
+
+Puzzling her brain what to do next, Louise suddenly decided to confide
+her secret to her two cousins. Not that she considered them capable of a
+greater success than she could herself accomplish, but they might prove
+valuable assistants in the capacity of lieutenants. She had great
+respect for Beth's calm judgment and keen intuitions, and Patsy had a
+way of accomplishing difficult things with ease.
+
+The two girls listened to Louise with expressions of mingled wonder and
+amusement while she confided to them her first suspicions that Captain
+Wegg had been murdered, and then the bits of information she had
+gathered to strengthen the surmise and assure her she was justified in
+her efforts to untangle the web of mystery.
+
+"You see, my dears," she explained, impressively, as the three lounged
+upon the grass in the shade of the right wing of the house, "there is a
+very interesting story about these people that ought to guide us
+directly to a solution of the puzzle. A roving sea captain marries a
+girl of good family in spite of the opposition of her relatives. His
+boatswain, a confidential servant, marries the girl's maid. The next
+thing we know is that a 'great trouble' causes them to flee--doubtless
+some crime committed by the captain. It may have been robbery, or
+perhaps piracy on the high seas; who knows? Anyhow, he steals away to
+this forsaken spot, far from the sea or the railroads, and builds a fine
+house on a worthless farm, showing that he has money, but that
+retirement is his main object. Here the Weggs make no friends: but the
+wife cries her eyes out until she dies miserably, leaving a son to the
+tender mercies of a wicked father. So fearful is he of discovery that he
+will not allow the boy to go to school, but tries to educate
+him himself."
+
+"Probably the captain's real name was not Wegg, at all," suggested
+Patsy, entering into the spirit of the relation.
+
+"Probably not, dear. He would assume some name, of course, so that it
+might be more difficult to trace him," answered Louise. "But now--mark
+me well, girls!--a Nemesis was on the track of this wicked sinner. After
+many years the man Captain Wegg had wronged, or stolen from, or
+something, discovered his enemy's hiding place. He promptly killed the
+Captain, and probably recovered the money, for it's gone. Old Thompson,
+Ethel's grandfather, happened to be present. The murderer also took his
+money, and--"
+
+"Oh, Louise! That isn't reasonable," objected Beth, who had been
+following the story carefully.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because you are making the wronged party as wicked as the man who
+wronged him. When the avenger found his enemy he might force him to give
+up his ill-gotten gains; I agree with you there; but he wouldn't be
+liable to rob old Thompson, I'm sure."
+
+"Beth is right," said Patsy, stoutly.
+
+"But old Thompson lost his money at the same time, you know; at least
+his money could never be found afterward. And I'm sure he was dealt some
+blow on the head that made him crazy," answered Louise, positively.
+
+They thought that over.
+
+"I believe I can explain it, girls," said Beth, presently. "The avenger
+found Captain Wegg, all right--just as Louise has said--and when he
+found him he demanded a restitution of his money, threatening to send
+the criminal to jail. That would be very natural, wouldn't it? Well,
+Captain Wegg had spent a good deal of the money, and couldn't pay it all
+back; so Ethel's grandfather, being his friend, offered to makeup the
+balance himself rather than see his friend go to prison. That accounts
+for the disappearance of all the money."
+
+"If that is so," observed Patsy, "I don't see why the man, having got
+his money back, should murder one and knock the other on the head."
+
+It way a puzzle, they all acknowledged, and after discussing the matter
+from every conceivable standpoint they were no nearer an explanation.
+That's the way with mysteries; they're often hard to understand.
+
+"The only thing that occurs to me as being sensible," said Louise,
+finally, "is that after the money was paid over they got into a quarrel.
+Then the avenger lost his temper and committed the murders."
+
+"This talk about an avenger is all guess work," asserted Beth, calmly.
+"I don't believe the facts point to an avenger at all."
+
+"But the old crime--the great trouble--"
+
+"Oh, we'll allow all that," returned Beth; "and I don't say that an
+avenger wouldn't be the nicest person to exact retribution from the
+wicked captain. But avengers don't always turn up, in real life, when
+they ought to, girls; so we mustn't be too sure that one turned up in
+this case."
+
+"But now else can you account for the captain's murder?" objected
+Louise.
+
+"Well, some one else might know he had money, and that Ethel's
+grandfather had money, too," was the reply. "Suppose the robbery and
+murder had nothing to do with the old crime at all, but that the
+murderer knew this to be a deserted place where he could make a good
+haul without being discovered. The two old men sat in the right wing,
+quite unsuspicious, when----"
+
+"When in walks Mr. Murderer, chokes the captain, knocks his friend on
+the brain-box, and makes off with the money!" continued Patsy,
+gleefully. "Oh, girls, I'm sure we've got it right this time."
+
+Louise reflected a moment.
+
+"This country is almost a wilderness," she mused, aloud, "and few
+strangers ever come here. Besides, a stranger would not know positively
+that these two men had money. If we abandon the idea of an avenger, and
+follow Beth's clue, then the murderer is still right here in Millville,
+and unsuspected by any of his neighbors."
+
+"Oh, Louise!" with startled glances over their shoulders.
+
+"Let us be sensible, reasoning girls; not silly things trying to figure
+out possible romances," continued Louise, with a pretty and impressive
+assumption of dignity. "Do you know, I feel that some angel of
+retribution has guided us to this lonely farmhouse and put the idea into
+my head to discover and expose a dreadful crime."
+
+"Succotash!" cried Patsy, irrelevantly. "You're romancing this minute,
+Louise. The way you figure things out I wouldn't be surprised if you
+accused me, or Uncle John, any time during the next half hour. Adopting
+your last supposition, for the sake of argument, I'm interested to know
+what inhabitant of sleepy old Millville you suspect."
+
+"Don't get flighty, Patricia," admonished Beth. "This is a serious
+matter, and Louise is in earnest. If we're going to help her we mustn't
+talk rubbish. Now, it isn't a bad suggestion that we ought to look
+nearer home for the key to this mystery. There's old Hucks."
+
+"Hucks!"
+
+"To be sure. No one knew so well as he the money affairs of the two men
+who were robbed."
+
+"I'm ashamed of you," said Patsy.
+
+"And the man's smile is a mask!" exclaimed Louise.
+
+"Oh, no!" protested Patsy.
+
+"My dear, no person who ever lived could smile every minute, winter and
+summer, rain or shine, day and night, and always have a reason for
+the smile."
+
+"Of course not," agreed Beth. "Old Hucks is a curious character. I
+realized that when I had known him five minutes."
+
+"But he's poor," urged Patsy, in defense of the old man. "He hasn't a
+penny in the world, and McNutt told me if we turned Thomas and Nora away
+they'd have to go to the poorhouse."
+
+"That is no argument at all," said Louise, calmly. "If we consider the
+fact that Old Hucks may be a miser, and have a craving for money without
+any desire to spend it, then we are pretty close to a reason why he
+should bide his time and then murder his old master to obtain the riches
+he coveted. Mind you, I don't say Hucks is guilty, but it is our duty to
+consider this phase of the question."
+
+"And then," added Beth, "if Hucks should prove to be a miser, it is easy
+to guess he would hide his wealth where he could secretly gloat over it,
+and still continue to pose as a pauper."
+
+"I don't believe it," said Patsy, stoutly.
+
+"You'll never make a successful detective if you allow your personal
+feelings to influence you," returned Louise. "I, too, sincerely hope
+that Thomas is innocent; but we are not justified in acquitting him
+until we have made a careful investigation and watched his actions."
+
+"I'm quite sure he's connected with the mystery in some way," said Beth.
+"It will do no harm to watch Old Hucks, as Louise suggests."
+
+"And you might try to pump him, Patsy, and see if you can get him to
+talk of the murder. Some careless remark might give us just the clue we
+need and guide us to the real criminal. That would free Thomas from all
+suspicion, you see."
+
+"But why do you ask me to do this?" demanded Patsy. "Thomas and I are
+good friends, and I'd feel like a traitor to try to get him to confess
+a murder."
+
+"If he is innocent, you have done no harm," said her eldest cousin; "and
+if he is guilty you don't want him for your friend."
+
+"He likes you, dear," added Beth, "and perhaps he will tell you frankly
+all we want to know. There's another person, though, Louise, who might
+tell us something."
+
+"Who is that?"
+
+"The little man with the golf-ball eyes; McNutt."
+
+"Now, there's some sense in suspecting him," exclaimed Patsy. "We know
+he's a robber, already, and a man who is clever enough to sell Uncle
+John three 'Lives of the Saints' would stick at nothing, I'm sure."
+
+"He hasn't enough courage to commit a great crime," observed Beth.
+
+"But he may be able to give us some information," Louise asserted; "so I
+propose we walk over to the town tomorrow morning and interview him."
+
+This was promptly agreed to, for even Patsy, the least enthusiastic
+detective of the three, was eager to find some sort of a solution of the
+Wegg mystery. Meantime they decided to watch Old Hucks very carefully.
+
+Beth happened to be present when Uncle John paid Thomas his weekly wage
+that evening, and was interested to notice how the old man's hand
+trembled with eagerness as he took the money.
+
+"How much are you accustomed to receive?" Uncle John had asked.
+
+"Nothing 'tall, sir, since Cap'n Wegg died," was the reply. "We was glad
+enough to have a home, Nora an' me, 'thout 'spectin' wages."
+
+"And there was no one here for you to serve," mused Uncle John. "But in
+Captain Wegg's day, how much did he give you?"
+
+Thomas hesitated, and his smile wavered an instant.
+
+"My old master was also my old friend," said he, in a low voice; "an' I
+ast him fer little money because my needs were little."
+
+"Well, the conditions are now different," remarked Uncle John,
+carelessly; "and while you are in my employ you shall have your wages
+regularly. Will ten dollars a week be satisfactory?"
+
+"Oh, sir!"
+
+"And five for Nora."
+
+"You are too good, sir. I--I--"
+
+"Never mind, Thomas. If you want more at any time let me know."
+
+It was then, as the old man took the fifteen dollars extended to him,
+that Beth noted a flash in the mild blue eyes and a trembling of the
+horny hands. Hucks was very glad to get the money; there was little
+doubt of that.
+
+She spoke of this incident to Louise, and the following morning they
+tested the man again. All three girls being present, Beth tendered Old
+Hucks two dollars, saying it was intended as a slight mark of her
+appreciation of his attention. Thomas demurred at first, but on being
+urged took the money with the same eager gesture he had before
+displayed. Louise followed with a donation of a like sum, and Patsy gave
+the old man still another two dollar bill. This generosity so amazed him
+that tears stood in his eyes as he tried to thank them all. It was
+noticed that the smile did not give way even to the tears, although it
+was tinged with a pathetic expression that proved wonderfully affecting.
+He concealed the offerings with a stealthy motion, as if ashamed of his
+weakness in accepting them, and then hurried away to his work.
+
+"Well," said Louise, when they were alone, "is Thomas a miser or not?"
+
+"He clutched the money almost as if he loved it," observed Beth, in a
+musing and slightly regretful tone.
+
+"But think how poor he has been," pleaded Patsy, "and how destitute both
+he and Nora are yet. Can we blame him for being glad to earn something
+substantial at last?"
+
+Somehow that did not seem to explain fully the old man's behavior, and
+the girl who had championed him sighed and then gave a sudden shiver as
+she remembered the awful suspicion that had fallen upon this strange
+individual. If the proof must be accepted that Hucks had miserly
+instincts, had not Beth accidentally stumbled upon a solution of the
+whole mystery?
+
+But Patsy would not believe it. If Thomas' open countenance lied, it was
+hard to put faith in any one.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE BAITING OF PEGGY M'NUTT.
+
+By this time the three nieces were so thoroughly impressed with the
+importance of the task they had undertaken that more ordinary things
+failed to interest them. Louise longed to solve the mystery. Beth wanted
+to punish the wrongdoers. Patsy yearned to exonerate the friends whom
+she imagined unjustly accused. Therefore the triple alliance for
+detective purposes was a strong one.
+
+By mutual agreement they kept the matter secret from Uncle John, for
+they realized what a triumph it would be to surprise the old gentleman
+with proofs of their cleverness. To confide in him now would mean to
+invite no end of ridicule or good natured raillery, for Uncle John had
+not a grain of imagination or romance in his nature and would be unable
+to comprehend the delights of this secret investigation.
+
+Because he was in the dark the significant looks and unnatural gravity
+of his nieces in the succeeding days puzzled the poor man greatly.
+
+"What's wrong, girls?" he would ask. "Aren't you happy here? Do you miss
+anything you'd like? Is it too quiet and dull at Millville to suit you?"
+
+"Oh, no!" they would exclaim. "We are having a splendid time, and would
+not leave the farm for anything."
+
+And he often noticed them grouped in isolated places and conversing in
+low, eager tones that proved "something was up." He felt somewhat
+grieved that he was not their confidant, since these girls and their
+loyal affection for him constituted the chief joy of his life. When he
+put on his regulation fishing costume and carried his expensive rod and
+reel, his landing net and creel to the brook for a day's sport, he could
+no longer induce one of his girls to accompany him. Even Patsy pleaded
+laughingly that she had certain "fish to fry" that were not to be found
+in the brook.
+
+Soon the three nieces made their proposed visit to McNutt, their idea
+being to pump that individual until he was dry of any information he
+might possess concerning the Wegg mystery. They tramped over to the
+village after breakfast one morning and found the agent seated on the
+porch before his little "office," by which name the front room of his
+cottage was dignified. He was dressed in faded overalls, a checked shirt
+and a broad-brimmed cheap straw hat. His "off foot," as he called it
+with grim humor, was painted green and his other foot was bare and might
+have been improved in color. Both these extremities rested on the rail
+of the porch, while McNutt smoked a corncob pipe and stared at his
+approaching visitors with his disconcerting, protruding eyes.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. McNutt," said Louise, pleasantly. "We've come to see
+if you have any books to sell."
+
+The agent drew a long breath. He had at first believed they had come to
+reproach him for his cruel deception; for although his conscience was
+wholly dormant, he had at times been a bit uneasy concerning his
+remarkable book trade.
+
+"Uncle is making a collection of the 'Lives of the Saints.'" announced
+Patsy, demurely. "At present he has but three varieties of this work,
+one with several pages missing, another printed partly upside down, and
+a third with a broken corner. He is anxious to secure some further
+variations of the 'dee looks' Lives, if you can supply them."
+
+Peggy's eyes couldn't stare any harder, so they just stared.
+
+"I--I hain't got no more on hand," he stammered, fairly nonplussed by
+the remarkable statement.
+
+"No more? Oh, how sad. How disappointed we are," said Beth.
+
+"We were depending so much on you. Mr. McNutt," added Louise, in a tone
+of gentle reproach.
+
+McNutt wiggled the toes of his good foot and regarded them reflectively.
+These city folks were surely the "easiest marks" he had ever
+come across.
+
+"Ef ye could wait a few days," he began, hopefully, "I might----"
+
+"Oh, no; we can't possibly wait a single minute," declared Patsy.
+"Unless Uncle can get the Saints right away he will lose interest in the
+collection, and then he won't care for them at all."
+
+McNutt sighed dismally. Here was a chance to make good money by fleecing
+the lambs, yet he was absolutely unable to take advantage of it.
+
+"Ye--ye couldn't use any duck eggs, could ye?" he said, a sudden thought
+seeming to furnish him with a brilliant idea.
+
+"Duck eggs?"
+
+"I got the dum-twistedest, extry fine lot o' duck eggs ye ever seen."
+
+"But what can we do with duck eggs?" inquired Beth, wonderingly, while
+Patsy and Louise tried hard not to shriek with laughter.
+
+"W'y, set 'em under a hen, an' hatch 'em out."
+
+"Sir," said Beth, "I strongly disapprove of such deceptions. It seems to
+me that making a poor hen hatch out ducks, under the delusion that they
+are chickens, is one of the most cruel and treacherous acts that
+humanity can be guilty of. Imagine the poor thing's feelings when her
+children take to water! I'm surprised you could suggest such a wicked
+use for duck eggs."
+
+McNutt wiggled his toes again, desperately.
+
+"Can't use any sas'frass roots, can ye?"
+
+"No, indeed; all we crave is the 'Lives of the Saints.'"
+
+"Don't want to buy no land?"
+
+"What have you got to sell?"
+
+"Nuth'n, jest now. But ef ye'll buy I kin git 'most anything."
+
+"Don't go to any trouble on our account, sir; we are quite content with
+our splendid farm."
+
+"Shoo! Thet ain't no good."
+
+"Captain Wegg thought it was," answered Louise, quickly seizing this
+opening. "Otherwise he would not have built so good a house upon it."
+
+"The Cap'n were plumb crazy," declared the agent, emphatically. "He
+didn't want ter farm when he come here; he jest wanted to hide."
+
+The girls exchanged quick glances of intelligence.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Why?" repeated McNutt. "Thet's a thing what's puzzled us fer years,
+miss. Some thinks Wegg were a piret; some thinks he kidnaped thet pretty
+wife o' his'n an' took her money; some thinks he tried to rob ol' Will
+Thompson, an' Will killed him an' then went crazy hisself. There's all
+sorts o' thinks goin' 'round; but who _knows_?"
+
+"Don't you, Mr. McNutt?"
+
+The agent was flattered by the question. As he had said, the Weggs had
+formed the chief topic of conversation in Millville for years, and no
+one had a more vivid interest in their history than Marshall McMahon
+McNutt. He enjoyed gossiping about the Weggs almost as much as he did
+selling books.
+
+"I never thought I had no call to stick my nose inter other folkses
+privit doin's," he said, after a few puffs at the corncob pipe. "But
+they kain't hide much from Marsh McNutt, when he has his eyes open."
+
+Patsy wondered if he could possibly close them. The eyelids seemed to be
+shy and retiring.
+
+"I seen what I seen," continued the little man, glancing impressively at
+his attentive audience. "I seen Cap'n Wegg livin' without workin', fer
+he never lifted a hand to do even a chore. I seen him jest settin'
+'round an' smokin' his pipe an' a glowerin' like a devil on ev'ryone
+thet come near. Say, once he ordered me off'n his premises--me!"
+
+"What a dreadful man," said Patsy. "Did he buy any 'Lives of the
+Saints?'"
+
+"Not a Life. He made poor Ol' Hucks fetch an' carry fer him ev'ry
+blessid minnit, an' never paid him no wages."
+
+"Are you sure?" asked Louise.
+
+"Sure as shootin'. Hucks hain't never been seen to spend a cent in all
+the years he's been here."
+
+"Hasn't he sold berries and fruit since the Captain's death?"
+
+"Jest 'nough to pay the taxes, which ain't much. Ye see, young Joe were
+away an' couldn't raise the tax money, so Ol' Hucks had to. But how they
+got enough ter live on, him an' Nora, beats me."
+
+"Perhaps Captain Wegg left some money," suggested Patsy.
+
+"No; when Joe an' Hucks ransacked the house arter the Cap'n's death they
+couldn't find a dollar. Cur'ous. Plenty o' money till he died, 'n' then
+not a red cent. Curiouser yet. Ol' Will Thompson's savin's dis'peared,
+too, an' never could be located to this day."
+
+"Were they robbed, do you suppose?" asked Louise.
+
+"Nat'rally. But who done it? Not Ol' Hucks, fer he's too honest, an'
+hasn't showed the color of a nickel sense. Not Joe; 'cause he had to
+borrer five dollars of Bob West to git to the city with. Who then?"
+
+"Perhaps," said Louise, slowly, "some burglar did it."
+
+"Ain't no burglers 'round these parts."
+
+"I suppose not. Only book agents," remarked Beth.
+
+McNutt flushed.
+
+"Do ye mean as I did it?" he demanded, angrily. "Do ye mean as I killed
+Cap'n Wegg an' druv 01' Will crazy, an' robbed the house?"
+
+His features were fairly contorted, and his colorless eyes rolled
+fearfully.
+
+"If you did," said Beth, coolly, "you would be sure to deny it."
+
+"I kin prove a alybi," answered the little man, calming down somewhat.
+"I kin prove my ol' woman had me locked up in the chicken-coop thet
+night 'cause I wouldn't split a lot o' cordwood thet were full o'
+knots." He cast a half fearful glance over his shoulder toward the
+interior of the cottage. "Next day I split 'em," he added, mildly.
+
+"Perhaps," said Louise, again, "someone who knew Captain Wegg in the
+days before he came here followed him to his retreat and robbed and
+murdered him."
+
+"Now ye've hit the nail on the head!" cried the agent, slapping his fat
+thigh energetically. "Thet's what I allus claimed, even when Bob West
+jest shook his head an' smiled sort o' superior like."
+
+"Who is Bob West?" asked Louise, with interest.
+
+"He's our implement man, an' hardware dealer. Bob were the on'y one o'
+the Millville folks thet could git along with Cap'n Wegg, an' even he
+didn't manage to be any special friend. Bob's rich, ye know. Rich as
+blazes. Folks do say he's wuth ten thousan' dollars; but it don't set
+Bob up any. He jest minds his business an' goes on sellin' plows an'
+harvesters to the farmers an' takin' notes fer 'em."
+
+"And you say he knew Captain Wegg well?" inquired Patsy.
+
+"Better 'n' most folks 'round here did. Once er twicet a year the Cap'n
+'d go to Bob's office an' set around an' smoke his pipe. Sometimes Bob
+would go to the farm an' spend an' ev'nin'; but not often. Ol' Will
+Thompson might be said to be the on'y friend the Cap'n really
+hankered fer."
+
+"I'd like to meet Mr. West," said Louise, casting a shrewd look at her
+cousins. For here was another clue unearthed.
+
+"He's in his store now." remarked McNutt, "Last buildin' on the left. Ye
+can't miss it."
+
+"Thank you. Good morning, sir."
+
+"Can't use any buttermilk er Dutch cheese?"
+
+"No, thank you."
+
+McNutt stared after them disconsolately. These girls represented so much
+money that ought to be in his pockets, and they were, moreover,
+"innercent as turtle doves"; but he could think of no way to pluck their
+golden quills or even to arrest their flight.
+
+"Well, let 'em go," he muttered. "This thing ain't ended yit."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+BOB WEST, HARDWARE DEALER.
+
+A few steps down the little street brought the girls to the hardware
+store, quite the most imposing building in town. They crossed the broad
+platform on which stood samples of heavy farm machinery and entered a
+well-stocked room where many articles of hardware and house furnishings
+were neatly and systematically arranged.
+
+The place seemed deserted, for at that time of day no country people
+were at Millville; but on passing down the aisle the visitor approached
+a little office built at the rear of the store. Behind the desk Bob West
+sat upon his high stool, gravely regarding his unusual customers over
+the rims of his spectacles.
+
+"Good morning," said Louise, taking the lead. "Have you a stew pan?"
+
+The merchant left the office and silently walked behind the counter.
+
+"Large or small, miss?" he then asked.
+
+The girls became interested in stew pans, which they were scarcely able
+to recognize by their official name. Mr. West offered no comment as they
+made their selection.
+
+"Can you send this to the Wegg farm?" asked Louise, opening her purse to
+make payment.
+
+West smiled.
+
+"I have no means of delivering goods," said he; "but if you can wait a
+day or two I may catch some farmer going that way who will consent
+to take it."
+
+"Oh. Didn't Captain Wegg purchase his supplies in the village?" asked
+the girl.
+
+"Some of them. But it is our custom here to take goods that we purchase
+home with us. As yet Millville is scarcely large enough to require a
+delivery wagon."
+
+The nieces laughed pleasantly, and Beth said:
+
+"Are you an old inhabitant, Mr. West?"
+
+"I have been here thirty-five years."
+
+"Then you knew Captain Wegg?" Louise ventured.
+
+"Very well."
+
+The answer was so frank and free from embarrassment that his questioner
+hesitated. Here was a man distinctly superior to the others they had
+interviewed, a man of keen intellect and worldly knowledge, who would be
+instantly on his guard if he suspected they were cross-examining him. So
+Louise, with her usual tact, decided to speak plainly.
+
+"We have been much interested in the history of the Wegg family," she
+remarked, easily; "and perhaps it is natural for us to speculate
+concerning the characters of our predecessors. It was so odd that
+Captain Wegg should build so good a house on such a poor farm."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And he was a sea captain, who retired far from the sea, which he must
+have loved."
+
+"To be sure."
+
+"It made him dissatisfied, they say, as well as surly and unsociable;
+but he stuck it out even after his poor wife died, and until the day of
+the murder."
+
+"Murder?" in a tone of mild surprise.
+
+"Was it not murder?" she asked, quickly.
+
+He gave his shoulders a quiet shrug.
+
+"The physician pronounced it heart disease, I believe."
+
+"What physician?"
+
+"Eh? Why, one who was fishing in the neighborhood for trout, and staying
+at the hotel. Old Dr. Jackson was in Huntington at the time, I
+remember."
+
+The girls exchanged significant glances, and West noted them and smiled
+again.
+
+"That murder theory is a new one to me," he said; "but I see now why it
+originated. The employment of a strolling physician would give color to
+the suspicion."
+
+"What do you think, sir?" asked Patsy, who had been watching the man's
+expression closely.
+
+"I? What do I think? Why, that Captain Wegg died from heart disease, as
+he had often told me he was sure to do in time."
+
+"Then what made old Mr. Thompson go mad?" inquired Beth.
+
+"The shock of his friend's sudden death. He had been mentally unbalanced
+for some time previous--not quite mad, you understand, but showing by
+his actions at times that his brain was affected."
+
+"Can you explain what became of their money?" asked Louise, abruptly.
+
+West gave a start, but collected himself in an instant and covered the
+action with another shrug.
+
+"I cannot say what become of their money," he answered.
+
+It struck both Beth and Louise that his tone indicated he would not,
+rather than that he could not say. Before they had time to ask another
+questioned he continued:
+
+"Will you take the saucepan with you, then, or shall I try to send it in
+a day or so?"
+
+"We will take it, if you please," answered Louise. But as he wrapped it
+into a neat parcel she made one more effort.
+
+"What sort of a young man was Joseph Wegg?"
+
+"Joe? A mere boy, untried and unsettled. A bright boy, in his way, and
+ambitious to have a part in the big world. He's there now, I believe."
+
+He spoke with an air of relief, and handed Louise the parcel.
+
+"Thank you, young ladies. Pray call again if I can be of service to
+you," he added, in a brisker tone.
+
+They had no recourse but to walk out, which they did without further
+words. Indeed, they were all three silent until they had left the
+village far behind and were half way to the farm.
+
+Then Patsy said, inquiringly:
+
+"Well, girls?"
+
+"We have progressed," announced Louise, seriously.
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"Several things are impressed upon my mind," replied the girl. "One is
+McNutt's absurd indignation when he thought we hinted that he was the
+murderer."
+
+"What do you make of that?" queried Patsy.
+
+"It suggests that he knows something of the murder, even if he is
+himself wholly innocent. His alibi is another absurdity."
+
+"Then that exonerated Old Hucks," said Patsy, relieved.
+
+"Oh, not at all. Hucks may have committed the deed and McNutt knows
+about it. Or they might have been partners in the crime."
+
+"What else have you learned, Louise?" asked Beth.
+
+"That the man West knows what became of the money."
+
+"He seems like a very respectable man," asserted Patsy.
+
+"Outwardly, yes; but I don't like the cold, calculating expression in
+his eyes. He is the rich man of this neighborhood. Do you suppose he
+acquired a fortune honestly in this forsaken district, where everyone
+else is poor as a church mouse?"
+
+"Seems to me," said Patsy, discontentedly, "that the plot thickens, as
+they say in novels. If we interview many more people we shall find
+ourselves suspecting an army."
+
+"Not at all, my dear," replied Louise, coldly. "From our present
+knowledge the murder lies between the unknown avenger and Hucks, with
+the possibility that McNutt is implicated. This avenger may be the
+stranger who posed as a physician and said Captain Wegg died of heart
+disease, in order to prevent the simple people from suspecting a murder.
+His fishing was all a blind. Perhaps McNutt was his accomplice. That
+staring scarecrow would do anything for money. And then we come to the
+robbery. If Hucks did the murder he took the money, and perhaps West,
+the hardware dealer, knows this. Or West may have arrived at the house
+after the mysterious stranger committed the deed, and robbed the two
+men himself."
+
+"And perhaps he didn't," said Patsy, skeptically. "Do you know, girls,
+I'd like to find Joe Wegg. He could put us right, I'm sure."
+
+"Joe!"
+
+"Yes. Why don't we suspect him of something? Or Ethel; or old Nora?"
+
+"Do be sensible, Patsy," said Beth, impatiently.
+
+But Louise walked on a way in silence. Presently she remarked:
+
+"I'm glad you mentioned Joe Wegg. The boy gives me an idea that may
+reconcile many conflicting suspicions."
+
+"In what way, Louise?"
+
+"I'll tell you when I've thought it out," she replied.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE MAJOR IS PUZZLED.
+
+Ethel came frequently to visit the girls at the Wegg farm, and at such
+times Uncle John treated her with the same affectionate consideration he
+bestowed upon his nieces, and made her so cordially welcome that the
+little school teacher felt entirely at her ease. The girls did not
+confide to Ethel their investigation of the Wegg mystery, but in all
+other matters gave her their full confidence. Together they made
+excursions to the Falls, to the natural caves on the rocky hill called
+Mount Parnassus, or rowed on the lake, or walked or drove, as the mood
+seized them. But mostly they loved the shade of the pines and the broad
+green beside the quaint mansion Captain Wegg had built, and which now
+contained all the elements of a modern summer home.
+
+Once Louise asked Ethel, casually, if she knew what "great trouble" had
+come to Hucks and his wife in their early life, but the girl frankly
+answered that the old people had never referred to anything of the kind
+in her presence.
+
+Finally a telegram announced the arrival of Major Doyle to join the
+party at the farm. Patsy was in the seventh heaven of delight, and drove
+Joe over to the Junction to meet her father on the arrival of the
+morning train.
+
+The Major was a prime favorite with all the party and his coming infused
+new life into the household. He was the type of educated, polished,
+open-hearted Irish gentleman it is always a delight to meet, and Uncle
+John beamed upon his brother-in-law in a way that betokened a hearty
+welcome. It was a source of much satisfaction to lug the Major over the
+farm and prove to him how wise Mr. Merrick had been in deciding to spend
+the summer on his own property; and the Major freely acknowledged that
+he had been in error and the place was as charming as anyone could wish.
+It was a great treat to the grizzled old warrior to find himself in the
+country, away from every responsibility of work, and he promised himself
+a fortnight of absolute rest, with the recreation of beholding his
+beloved Patsy as often as he pleased.
+
+Of course, the girl would tell her father about the Wegg mystery, for
+Patsy had a habit of telling him everything; therefore the cousins
+decided to take the Major freely into their confidence, so as to obtain
+the benefit of his opinion. That could not be done the first day, of
+course, for on that day Uncle John insisted on displaying the farm and
+afterward carrying the Major a willing prisoner to watch him fish in the
+brook. But on the following morning the girls surrounded Patsy's father
+and with solemn faces recounted their suspicions, the important clues
+they had unearthed, and their earnest desire to right the great wrong
+that had been done by apprehending the criminal.
+
+The Major smoked his after breakfast cigar and listened attentively. The
+story, told consecutively, was quite impressive. In spite of his long
+experience in buffeting the world, the old soldier's heart was still as
+simple as that of a child, and the recital awakened his sympathies
+at once.
+
+"'Tis evident, me children," said he, in his quaint way, "that you've
+shtumbled on the inside of a crime that doesn't show on the outside.
+Many of the things you mention are so plain that he who runs may read;
+but I've remarked that it's just the things ye don't suspect in real
+life that prove to be the most important."
+
+"That is true, Major," commented Louise. "At first it was just to amuse
+ourselves that we became amateur detectives, but the developments are so
+startling and serious that we now consider it our duty to uncover the
+whole dreadful crime, in the interests of justice."
+
+"Just so," he said, nodding.
+
+"But I'm sure Old Hucks is innocent!" declared Patsy, emphatically.
+
+"Then he is," asserted the Major; "for Patsy's always right, even when
+she's wrong. I've had me eye on that man Hucks already, for he's the
+merriest faced villain I ever encountered. Do you say he's shy with
+you girls?"
+
+"He seems afraid of us, or suspicious, and won't let us talk to him,"
+answered Beth.
+
+"Leave him to me," proposed the Major, turning a stern face but
+twinkling eyes upon the group. "'Twill be my task to detect him. Leave
+him to me, young women, an' I'll put the thumb-screws on him in
+short order."
+
+Here was the sort of energetic confederate they had longed for. The
+Major's assurance of co-operation was welcome indeed, and while he
+entered heartily into their campaign he agreed that no mention of the
+affair ought to reach Uncle John's ears until the case was complete and
+they could call upon the authorities to arrest the criminal.
+
+"It's me humble opinion," he remarked, "that the interesting individual
+you call the 'avenger' was put on the trail by someone here--either
+Thomas Hucks, or the timber-toed book agent, or the respectable hardware
+man. Being invited to come and do his worst, he passed himself as a
+docther on a fishing excursion, and having with deliberate intent
+murthered Captain Wegg, got himself called by the coroner to testify
+that the victim died of heart disease. A very pretty bit of
+scoundrelism; eh, me dears?"
+
+"But the robber--who do you think he was?" asked Louise.
+
+"That I've still to discover. You inform me that Hucks is eager for
+money and acts like a miser. I've seen the time I was eager for money
+meself, and there's not a miserly hair on me bald head. But exceptions
+prove the rule. I'll watch our smiling Thomas and make a report later."
+
+Within half an hour he was telling Hucks a funny story and slapping the
+old man upon the back as familiarly as if he had known him for years. He
+found an opportunity that same day to give Thomas a dollar in return for
+a slight service, and was amazed at the eagerness with which the coin
+was clutched and the earnestness of the thanks expressed. It really did
+seem as if the man was fond of money. But when the Major tried to draw
+Hucks into speaking of his past history and of Captain Wegg's singular
+life and death, the old fellow became reserved at once and evaded the
+inquiries most skillfully.
+
+That night, as the Major strolled in the orchard to smoke his last cigar
+after all the others had retired to bed, he noticed Hucks leave the back
+door of the lean-to with a parcel under his arm and pass hurriedly
+around the barn. After a little hesitation he decided to follow the man,
+and crept stealthily along in the shadow of the trees and buildings
+until he found himself at the edge of the berry-patch that was in the
+rear of the outbuildings. But there he paused irresolutely, for Thomas
+had completely disappeared.
+
+The Major was puzzled, but decided to watch for the man's return. So he
+took a position where he could watch the rear door of the house and
+smoked patiently for nearly an hour before Hucks returned and let
+himself quietly in.
+
+He said nothing to the girls next day of this mysterious proceeding, but
+on the following night again took his station in the orchard to watch.
+
+Sure enough, as soon as the house was quiet the old servant came out
+with a bundle underneath his arm; but this time he led his blind wife by
+the other hand.
+
+The Major gave a low whistle and threw away his cigar. The night was so
+dark that he had little difficulty in following the aged pair closely
+enough to keep their shadowy forms in sight, without the risk of being
+discovered. They passed around the barn and along a path that led
+through the raspberry bushes back of the yard. There were several acres
+of these bushes, and just now they were full-leaved and almost shoulder
+high. The path wound this way and that, and branched in several
+directions. Twice the Major thought he had lost his quarry, but was
+guided aright by their soft footfalls. The ground dipped here and there,
+and as they entered one of the hollows Major Doyle was startled to
+observe the twinkle of a dim light ahead. A minute later he saw the
+outlines of a little frame building, and within this Old Hucks and Nora
+presently disappeared.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE MAN IN HIDING.
+
+Cautiously the Major approached the cabin, which seemed to have been
+built as a place for the berry pickers to assemble and pack their fruit.
+It was constructed of rough boards and had a little window in the side
+nearest the dwelling house and a door on the opposite side.
+
+Creeping near to the window the Major obtained a clear view of the
+interior. Upon a dilapidated wicker settee, which had one end propped
+with a box, partially reclined the form of a man whose right arm was in
+splints and supported by a sling, while his head was covered with
+plasters and bandages. The man's back was toward the window, but from
+his slender form and its graceful poise the Major imagined him young.
+
+Old Nora held the left hand of this mysterious person in a warm clasp,
+bending now and then to press a kiss upon it, while Hucks busied himself
+opening the parcel he had brought and arranging various articles of food
+on a rickety stand at the head of the couch. The old man's smile was
+more benevolent and cheery than ever, and his actions denoted that
+strange, suppressed eagerness the Major had marked when he had taken
+the money.
+
+The three spoke little, and in tones so low that the spy outside the
+window failed to catch them. Soon the injured man began to eat, feeding
+himself laboriously with his left hand. But his hunger was quickly
+satisfied, and then he lay back wearily upon his pillows, while Nora
+tenderly spread a coverlet over him.
+
+After this the old couple did not linger long. Hucks poured some water
+from a jug into a tumbler, glanced around the little room to see that
+everything was in order, and then--after he and Nora had both kissed the
+bandaged forehead--blew out the candle and retired.
+
+The Major crouched low in the berry bushes until the couple had passed
+by; then he rose and thoughtfully followed after them.
+
+Whatever Patsy's father might have thought of the Wegg farm mystery
+before, this adventure convinced him that the girls were not altogether
+foolish in imagining a romance connected with the place. And,
+notwithstanding Patsy's loyal defense of Old Hucks, he was evidently
+tangled up in the affair to a large extent, and could explain if he
+chose much that was now puzzling the girl detectives.
+
+After careful thought the Major decided to confide in Uncle John, at
+this juncture, rather than in the nieces; since the latest developments
+were more fitted for a man's interference.
+
+By good fortune the girls had an engagement the next day, and set out
+together in the surrey to visit Ethel Thompson and lunch with her in the
+rose bower, which was the pride of the little school teacher's garden.
+As soon as they were gone the Major hunted up Uncle John and said:
+
+"Come with me, sir."
+
+"I won't," was the brisk reply; "I'm going fishing, and whoever wishes
+my society must come with me."
+
+"You'll not catch anything fishing, but you're very liable to catch
+something if you follow my lead," said the Major, meaningly.
+
+"What's up, Gregory?"
+
+"I'm not sure what it is, John." And then he carefully explained his
+discovery that an injured man was occupying the cabin in the berry
+patch, and seemed to be the object of the Hucks' tender care.
+
+"It's the secrecy of the thing that astounds me most, sir," he added.
+"If all was open and above board, I'd think little enough of it."
+
+Uncle John's kindly interest was at once aroused, and he proposed that
+they go directly to the cabin and interview the man in hiding. Hucks
+being at the time busy in the barn, the two men sauntered into the berry
+patch without being observed, and then walked briskly along the winding
+paths until they sighted the building.
+
+Pausing at the window, they saw the man still reclining upon his cot,
+and holding in his left hand a book--one of Patsy's, the Major
+observed--which he was quietly engaged in reading. Then they moved
+around to the door, which Uncle John pushed open.
+
+Without hesitation, the two men entered and stood gazing down upon the
+strange occupant of the place.
+
+"Good morning," said Mr. Merrick, while the Major nodded a greeting.
+
+The man half arose, moving stiffly.
+
+"Pardon me, sirs," he said, rather startled at the interruption; "I
+regret that I am physically unable to receive you with more courtesy."
+
+The Major gazed into the partially bandaged face with a glimmer of
+awakening recognition.
+
+"H-m! Ha! If I'm not mistaken," said he, "it's Joseph Wegg."
+
+"Oh; is it?" asked Uncle John, looking upon the young man curiously.
+"What's happened to you, Joseph?"
+
+"Just an automobile accident, sir. The steering gear broke, and we went
+over an embankment."
+
+"I see."
+
+"Are you Mr. Merrick, sir."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I owe you an apology for intruding upon your premises in this way, and
+beg you to forgive the seeming impertinence. But I've been rather
+unlucky of late, sir, and without this refuge I don't know what would
+have become of me. I will explain, if you will permit me."
+
+Uncle John nodded.
+
+"After I had squandered the money you paid me, through Major Doyle, for
+this farm, in a vain endeavor to protect a patent I had secured, I was
+forced to become a chauffeur to earn my livelihood. I understand
+automobiles, you know, and obtained employment with a wealthy man who
+considered me a mere part of his machine. When the accident occurred,
+through no fault of mine, I was, fortunately, the only person injured;
+but my employer was so incensed over the damage to his automobile that
+he never even sent to inquire whether I lived or died. At a charity
+hospital they tried to mend my breaks and tinker up my anatomy. My
+shoulder-blade was shattered, my arm broken in three places, and four
+ribs were crashed in. The wounds in my head are mere abrasions of the
+scalp, and not serious. But it has taken me a long time to mend, and the
+crowded, stuffy hospital got on my nerves and worried me. Being
+penniless and friendless, I wrote to Thomas and asked him if he could
+find a way to get me to the old farm, for I never imagined you would
+yourself take possession of the deserted place you had bought.
+
+"Thomas and Nora have cared for me since I was born, you know, and the
+old man was greatly distressed by the knowledge of my sad condition. He
+did not tell me you were here, for fear I would hesitate to come, but he
+sent me the money you had given him and Nora for wages, together with
+all that the young ladies had kindly given him. I was thus enabled to
+leave the hospital, which I had come to detest, and journey to my old
+home. I arrived at the Junction on a night train, and Thomas met me with
+your surrey, drove me here under cover of darkness, and concealed me in
+this out-of-the-way place, hoping you would not discover me.
+
+"I regret that I was thus foisted upon you, believe me, sir; but, being
+here, I have no means of getting away again. Thomas Hucks has had little
+worldly experience, and cannot realize the full extent of the imposition
+he has practiced. He feeds me from your table, and is hoarding up his
+money for me against the time I shall have recovered sufficiently to
+leave. I think that is the full explanation, Mr. Merrick."
+
+Again Uncle John nodded.
+
+"How are you?" he asked.
+
+"Doing finely, sir. I can walk a little, and my appetite is improving.
+The doctors said my shoulder would never be very strong again, but I'm
+beginning to hope they were mistaken. My ribs seem all right, and in
+another ten days I shall remove the splints from my arm."
+
+"You have no medical attendance?"
+
+"Not since I left the hospital. But I imagine this pure, bracing air is
+better for me than a dozen doctors," was the cheerful reply.
+
+"And what are your future plans?"
+
+The young man smiled. He was little more than a boy, but his questioner
+noticed that he had a fine manly face and his eye was clear and
+steadfast.
+
+"Nothing further than to get to work again as soon as I am able to
+undertake it," he said.
+
+Uncle John looked thoughtfully, and drummed with his finger upon the
+little table.
+
+"Joseph," he remarked, presently, "I bought this farm at a price
+altogether too small, considering its value."
+
+The boy flushed.
+
+"Please do not say that!" he exclaimed, hastily. "I am well aware that I
+virtually robbed you, and my only excuse is that I believed I would win
+my fight and be able to redeem the place. But that is over now, and you
+must not think that because I am ill and helpless I am an object
+of charity."
+
+"Phoo!" said the little man; "aren't you accepting charity from Old
+Hucks?"
+
+"But he stands as a second father to me. He is an old retainer of my
+family, and one of my ambitions is to secure a home for him and Nora in
+their old age. No; I do not feel at all embarrassed in accepting money
+or assistance from Thomas."
+
+"Young man," said Uncle John, sternly, "one of the follies of youth is
+the idea of being independent of the good-will of your fellow-creatures.
+Every person who lives is dependent on some other person for something
+or other, and I'll not allow you to make a fool of yourself by refusing
+to let me take you in hand. Your brain is affected--"
+
+"It is not!"
+
+"You are mentally unbalanced, and need a guardian. That's me. You are
+helpless and cannot resist, so you're my prisoner. Dare to defy me, dare
+to oppose my wishes in any way, and I'll have you put in a
+straight-jacket and confined in a padded cell. Understand me, sir?"
+
+Joseph Wegg looked into the little man's round face until the tears
+filled his own eyes and blurred his vision.
+
+"Won't you protect me, Major Doyle?" he asked, weakly.
+
+"Not I," said the Major, stoutly. "This brother-in-law of mine, who
+connected himself with me without asking permission, is a perfect demon
+when 'roused, and I'll not meddle with any opposition to his desires. If
+you value your life and happiness, Joseph Wegg, you'll accept Mr.
+Merrick as a guardian until he resigns of his own accord, and then it's
+likely you'll wish he hadn't."
+
+"I don't deserve----" began the young man, brokenly; but Uncle John
+quickly interrupted him.
+
+"No one deserves anything," said he; "but everyone gets something or
+other, nevertheless, in this vale of tears. If you'll kindly remember
+that you've no right to express an opinion in the presence of your
+guardian, we'll get along better together. Now, then, you're going to
+leave here, because the place is not comfortable. My guests fill every
+room in my house, so you can't go there. But the hotel in Millville is a
+cheerful-looking place, and I've noticed some vine-covered windows that
+indicate pleasant and sunny rooms. Major, go and tell Hucks to hitch
+that groaning, balky Daniel to the ancient buggy, and then to drive this
+young man over to the hotel. We'll walk."
+
+The Major started at once, and Uncle John continued: "I don't know
+whether this arrangement suits you or not, Joseph, but it suits me; and,
+as a matter of fact, it's none of your business. Feel able to take
+a ride?"
+
+The boy smiled, gratefully.
+
+"Yes, indeed, Mr. Merrick," said he, and was shrewd enough not to
+venture a word of thanks.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+A MATTER OF SPECULATION.
+
+Old Hucks, still smiling, but dreadfully nervous over the discovery of
+Joe, and Mr. Merrick's sudden activity in the boy's behalf, speedily
+harnessed Daniel and induced the reluctant steed to amble down the path
+to the cabin. Leaning on Uncle John's arm, the invalid walked to the
+buggy and was assisted to mount to the seat beside Thomas. Then away
+they started, and, although Dan obeyed Hucks more willingly than any
+other driver, the Major and Uncle John walked 'cross-lots and reached
+the hotel a good fifteen minutes in advance of the equipage.
+
+The Millville Hotel depended almost entirely for patronage upon the
+commercial travelers who visited the place periodically to sell goods to
+the merchants, and these did not come too often, because trade was never
+very energetic and orders never very large. Bob West boarded at the
+hotel, and so did Ned Long, a "farm hand," who did sundry odd jobs for
+anyone who needed him, and helped pay his "keep" by working for Mrs.
+Kebble when not otherwise engaged.
+
+Mrs. Kebble was the landlady, and a famous cook. Kate Kebble, a
+slatternly girl of sixteen, helped her mother do the work and waited on
+the table. Chet Kebble, the landlord, was a silent old man, with
+billy-goat whiskers and one stray eye, which, being constructed of
+glass, usually assumed a slanting gaze and refused to follow the
+direction of its fellow. Chet minded the billiard-room, which was mostly
+patronized Saturday nights, and did a meager business in fire insurance;
+but he was "so eternal lazy an' shifless," as Mrs. Kebble sharply
+asserted, that he was considered more a "hanger-on" of the establishment
+than its recognized head.
+
+The little rooms of the hotel were plainly furnished but maintained with
+exceptional neatness.
+
+The one in the east corner of the second floor met with the approval of
+Uncle John and the Major, and was promptly engaged. It was cheerful and
+sunny, with outlooks on the lake and the village, and contained a lounge
+as well as the bed.
+
+When the invalid arrived, he was assisted to this apartment and
+installed as its permanent occupant.
+
+"Any baggage?" asked Mr. Merrick.
+
+"There's a small trunk lying at the Junction," said Joe; "but it
+contains little of importance."
+
+"Well, make yourself at home, my boy, and get well at your leisure,"
+remarked Uncle John. "Mrs. Kebble has promised to look after you, and
+the Major and I will stop in now and then and see how you progress."
+
+Then he went out, engaged Nick Thorne to go to the Junction for the
+boy's trunk, and selected several things at the store that he thought
+might be useful to the invalid. Afterward he marched home again beside
+the Major, feeling very well pleased with his morning's work.
+
+When the girls reached home late in the afternoon, they were thrown into
+a state of great excitement by the news, briefly related by their uncle,
+that Joseph Wegg had returned to Millville "considerably smashed" by an
+automobile accident, and was now stopping at the village hotel
+for repairs.
+
+They refrained from making remarks upon the incident until they were
+alone, when the secret council of three decided to make Joe Wegg's
+acquaintance as soon as possible, to discover what light the young man
+might be able to throw upon the great mystery.
+
+"Do you know, girls," said Louise, impressively, "it almost seems as if
+fate had sent Joe Wegg here to be an instrument in the detection of the
+murderer and robber of his poor father."
+
+"If Joe knew about it, why didn't he track the villain down himself?"
+inquired Patsy.
+
+"Perhaps he hasn't suspected the truth," said Beth. "Often those who are
+closely concerned with such tragedies do not observe the evidences of
+crime as clearly as outsiders."
+
+"Where did you get that information?" demanded Patsy.
+
+"From one of Anna Doyle Oppenheim's detective stories," answered Beth,
+seriously. "I've been reading up on such things, lately."
+
+"Detective stories," said Louise, reflectively, "are only useful in
+teaching us to observe the evidences of crime. This case, for example,
+is so intricate and unusual that only by careful thought, and following
+each thread of evidence to its end, can we hope to bring the criminal
+to justice."
+
+"That seems to me conceited," observed Miss Doyle, composedly.
+"Detective stories don't have to stick to facts; or, rather, they can
+make the facts to be whatever they please. So I don't consider them as
+useful as they are ornamental. And this isn't a novel, girls; it's
+mostly suspicion and slander."
+
+"You don't seem able to be in earnest about anything," objected Beth,
+turning a little red.
+
+"But I try to be." said Patricia.
+
+"We are straying from the subject now under discussion," remarked
+Louise. "I must say that I feel greatly encouraged by the sudden
+appearance of the Wegg boy. He may know something of his father's former
+associates that will enable us to determine the object of the murder and
+who accomplished it."
+
+"Captain Wegg was killed over three years ago," suggested Miss Doyle,
+recovering easily from her rebuff. "By this time the murderer may have
+died or moved to Madagascar."
+
+"He is probably living within our reach, never suspecting that justice
+is about to overtake him," asserted Louise. "We must certainly go to
+call upon this Wegg boy, and draw from him such information as we can. I
+am almost certain that the end is in sight."
+
+"We haven't any positive proof at all, yet," observed Patsy, musingly.
+
+"We have plenty of circumstantial evidence," returned Beth. "There is
+only one way to explain the facts we have already learned, and the
+theory we have built up will be a hard one to overthrow. The flight of
+Captain Wegg to this place, his unhappy wife, the great trouble that old
+Nora has hinted at, the--"
+
+"The great trouble ought to come first," declared Louise. "It is the
+foundation upon which rest all the mysterious occurrences following, and
+once we have learned what the great trouble was, the rest will be
+plain sailing."
+
+"I agree with you," said Beth; "and perhaps Joseph Wegg will be able to
+tell us what the trouble was that ruined the lives of his parents, as
+well as of Old Hucks and his wife, and caused them all to flee here to
+hide themselves."
+
+It was not until the following morning that the Major found an
+opportunity to give the confederates a solemn wink to indicate he had
+news to confide to them. They gathered eagerly on the lawn, and he told
+them of the finding of Joe Wegg in the isolated cabin, and how old
+Thomas and Nora, loving the boy as well as if he had been their own
+child, had sacrificed everything to assist him in his extremity.
+
+"So ye see, my avenging angels, that ye run off the track in the Hucks
+matter," he added, smiling at their bewildered faces.
+
+Patsy was delighted at this refutation of the slanderous suspicions that
+Thomas was a miser and his smiling face a mask to hide his innate
+villainy. The other girls were somewhat depressed by the overthrow of
+one of their pet theories, and reluctantly admitted that if Hucks had
+been the robber of his master and old Will Thompson, he would not have
+striven so eagerly to get enough money to send to Joe Wegg. But they
+pointed out that the old servant was surely hiding his knowledge of
+Captain Wegg's past, and could not be induced to clear up that portion
+of the mystery which he had full knowledge of. So, while he might be
+personally innocent of the murder or robbery, both Beth and Louise were
+confident he was attempting to shield the real criminal.
+
+"But who is the real criminal?" inquired Patsy.
+
+"Let us consider," answer Louise, with the calm, businesslike tone she
+adopted in these matters. "There is the strolling physician, whom we
+call the Unknown Avenger, for one. A second suspect is the man McNutt,
+whose nature is so perverted that he would stick at nothing. The third
+suspicious individual is Mr. Bob West."
+
+"Oh, Louise! Mr. West is so respectable, and so prosperous," exclaimed
+Patsy.
+
+"It's a far jump from McNutt to West," added Beth.
+
+"Leaving out Hucks," continued Louise, her eyes sparkling with the
+delightful excitement of maintaining her theories against odds, "here
+are three people who might have been concerned in the robbery or murder.
+Two of them are under our hands; perhaps Joseph Wegg may be able to tell
+us where to find the third."
+
+They pleaded so hard with the Major to take them to call upon the
+injured youth that very day, that the old gentleman consented, and,
+without telling Uncle John of their plans, they drove to Millville in
+the afternoon and alighted at the hotel.
+
+The Major went first to the boy's room, and found him not only very
+comfortable, but bright and cheerful in mood.
+
+"At this rate, sir," he said, smilingly, "I shall be able to discharge
+my guardian in quick time. I'm twice the man I was yesterday."
+
+"I've brought some young ladies to call upon you," announced the Major.
+"Will you see them?"
+
+Joe flushed at first, remembering his plastered skull and maimed
+condition. But he could not well refuse to receive his callers, whom he
+guessed to be the three girls Old Hucks had praised to him so highly.
+
+"It will give me great pleasure, sir," he replied.
+
+An invalid is usually of interest to women, so it is no wonder that the
+three young ladies were at once attracted by the bright-faced boy, who
+reclined upon his couch before the vine-covered windows. They thought of
+Ethel, too, and did not marvel that the girl grieved over the loss of
+this friend of her childhood.
+
+Joe had to recount the adventure with the automobile, which led to his
+injuries, and afterward give an account of his life at the hospital.
+That led, naturally, to the timely assistance rendered him by the
+faithful Thomas, so that Louise was able to broach the subject nearest
+her heart.
+
+"We have been greatly interested in your old servants--whom we acquired
+with the farm, it seems--and all of us admire their simplicity and
+sincerity," she began.
+
+"Nora is a dear," added Beth.
+
+"And Thomas is so cheerful that his smile is enough to vanquish any
+attack of the blues," said Patsy.
+
+"The Hucks are the right sort, and no mistake," declared the Major,
+taking his cue from the others.
+
+This praise evidently delighted the boy. They could have found no more
+direct way to win his confidence.
+
+"Nora was my mother's maid from the time she was a mere girl," said he;
+"and Thomas sailed with my father many years before I was born."
+
+They were a little surprised to hear him speak so frankly. But Louise
+decided to take advantage of the opening afforded her.
+
+"Nora has told us that some great trouble came to them years ago--a
+trouble that also affected your own parents. But they do not wish to
+talk about it to us."
+
+His face clouded.
+
+"No, indeed," said he. "Their loving old hearts have never recovered
+from the blow. Would you like to know their history? It is a sad story,
+and pitiful; but I am sure you would understand and appreciate my old
+friends better after hearing it."
+
+Their hearts fairly jumped with joy. Would they like to hear the story?
+Was it not this very clue which they had been blindly groping for to
+enable them to solve the mystery of the Wegg crime? The boy marked their
+interest, and began his story at once, while the hearts of the three
+girls sang-gladly: "At last--at last!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+JOE TELLS OF "THE GREAT TROUBLE."
+
+"As a young man, my father was a successful sea captain," said the boy,
+"and, before he was thirty, owned a considerable interest in the ship he
+sailed. Thomas Hucks was his boatswain,--an honest and able seaman in
+whom my father became much interested. Hucks was married, and his wife
+was an attendant in the employ of Hugh Carter, a wealthy ship chandler
+of Edmunton, the port from which my fathers ship sailed. Thomas had some
+difficulty in enjoying his wife's society when on shore, because old
+Carter did not want him hanging around the house; so Captain Wegg
+good-naturedly offered to intercede for him.
+
+"Carter was a gruff and disagreeable man, and, although my father had
+been a good customer, he refused his request and threatened to discharge
+Nora, which he did. This made Captain Wegg angry, and he called upon
+Mary Carter, whose especial attendant Nora had been, to ask her to take
+the girl back. Mary was a mild young lady, who dared not oppose her
+father; but the result of the interview was that the sea captain and
+Mary Carter fell mutually in love. During the next two or three years,
+whenever the ship was in port, the lovers frequently met by stealth at
+the cottage of Mrs. Hucks, a little place Thomas had rented. Here my
+father and mother were finally married.
+
+"Meantime Nora had a son, a fine young chap, I've heard; and presently
+my mother, who had a little fortune of her own, plucked up enough
+courage to leave her father's roof, and took up her abode in a pretty
+villa on the edge of a bluff overlooking the sea. Nora came to live with
+her again, bringing her child, and the two women were company for one
+another while their husbands were at sea.
+
+"In course of time my mother had two children, a girl and a boy, and
+because the Hucks boy was considerably older than they, he took care of
+them, to a great extent, and the three youngsters were always together.
+Their favorite playground was on the beach, at the foot of the bluff,
+and before young Tom was ten years old he could swim like a duck, and
+manage a boat remarkably well. The Wegg children, having something of
+their mother's timid nature, perhaps, were not so adventurous, but they
+seldom hesitated to go wherever Tom led them.
+
+"One day, while my mother was slightly ill and Nora was attending to
+her, Tom disobeyed the commands that had been given him, and took his
+younger companions out on the ocean for a ride in his boat. No one knows
+how far they went, or exactly what happened to them; but a sudden squall
+sprang up, and the children being missed, my mother insisted, ill as she
+was, in running down to the shore to search for her darlings. Braving
+the wind and drenched by rain, the two mothers stood side by side,
+peering into the gloom, while brave men dared the waves to search for
+the missing ones. The body of the girl was first washed ashore, and my
+mother rocked the lifeless form in her arms until her dead son was laid
+beside her. Then young Tom's body was recovered, and the horror
+was complete.
+
+"When my father arrived, three days later, he not only found himself
+bereaved of the two children he had loved so tenderly, but his young
+wife was raving with brain fever, and likely to follow her babies to the
+grave. During that terrible time, Nora, who could not forget that it was
+her own adventurous son who had led all three children to their death,
+went suddenly blind--from grief, the doctors said.
+
+"My father pulled his wife back to life by dint of careful nursing; but
+whenever she looked at the sea she would scream with horror; so it
+became necessary to take her where the cruel sound of the breakers could
+never reach her ears. I think the grief of Thomas and Nora was scarcely
+less than that of my own parents, and both men had suffered so severely
+that they were willing to abandon the sea and devote their lives to
+comforting their poor wives. Captain Wegg sold all his interests and his
+wife's villa, and brought the money here, where he established a home
+amid entirely different surroundings. He was devoted to my mother, I
+have heard, and when she died, soon after my birth, the Captain seemed
+to lose all further interest in life, and grew morose and unsociable
+with all his fellow-creatures.
+
+"That, young ladies, is the story of what Thomas and Nora call their
+'great trouble'; and I think it is rightly named, because it destroyed
+the happiness of two families. I was born long after the tragedy, but
+its shadow has saddened even my own life."
+
+When the boy had finished, his voice trembling with emotion as he
+uttered the last words, his auditors were much affected by the sad tale.
+Patsy was positively weeping, and the Major blew his nose vigorously and
+advised his daughter to "dry up an' be sinsible." Beth's great eyes
+stared compassionately at the young fellow, and even Louise for the
+moment allowed her sympathy to outweigh the disappointment and chagrin
+of seeing her carefully constructed theory of crime topple over like the
+house of cards it was. There was now no avenger to be discovered,
+because there had been nothing to avenge. The simple yet pathetic story
+accounted for all the mystery that, in her imagination, enveloped the
+life and death of Captain Wegg. But--stay!
+
+"How did your father die?" she asked, softly.
+
+"Through a heart trouble, from which he had suffered for years, and
+which had obliged him to lead a very quiet life," was the reply. "That
+was one of the things which, after my mother's death, helped to sour his
+disposition. He could not return to the sea again, because he was told
+that any sudden excitement was likely to carry him off; and, indeed,
+that was exactly what happened."
+
+"How is that, sir?" asked the Major.
+
+"It is more difficult to explain than the first of the story," replied
+the boy, thoughtfully gazing through the window; "perhaps because I do
+not understand it so well. Our simple life here never made much of an
+inroad into my father's modest fortune; for our wants were few; but
+Captain Wegg was a poor man of business, having been a sailor during all
+his active life. His only intimate friend--an honest, bluff old farmer
+named Will Thompson--was as childish regarding money matters as my
+father, but had a passion for investments, and induced my father to join
+some of his schemes. Mr. Thompson's mind was somewhat erratic at times,
+but keen in some ways, nevertheless. Fearing to trust his judgment
+entirely, my father chose to lean upon the wisdom and experience of a
+shrewd merchant of Millville, named Robert West."
+
+"The hardware dealer?" asked Louise, impulsively.
+
+"Yes; I see you have met him," replied Joseph Wegg, with a smile at the
+eager, pretty face of his visitor. "Bob West was a prosperous man and
+very careful about his own investments; so he became a sort of business
+adviser to my father and Mr. Thompson, and arbitrated any differences of
+opinion they might have. For several years, due to West's good offices,
+the two oddly mated friends were successful in their ventures, and added
+to their capital. Finally West came to them himself with a proposition.
+He had discovered a chance to make a good deal of money by purchasing an
+extensive pine forest near Almaquo, just across the border in Canada.
+West had taken an option on the property, when he found by accident that
+the Pierce-Lane Lumber Company was anxious to get hold of the tract and
+cut the timber on a royalty that would enable the owners to double their
+investment."
+
+"Howld on a jiffy!" cried the Major, excitedly. "Did I understand you to
+say the Pierce-Lane Lumber Company?"
+
+"That was the firm, sir. I used to overhear my father and Will Thompson
+talking about this matter; but I must admit my knowledge is somewhat
+imperfect, because I never was allowed to ask questions. I remember
+learning the fact that West had not enough money to swing his option,
+and so urged his friends to join him. Relying upon West's judgment, they
+put all their little fortunes into the deal, although Thompson grumbled
+at doing so, because he claimed he had another investment that was
+better, and this matter of West's would prevent him from undertaking it.
+The Almaquo tract was purchased, and a contract made with the lumber
+company to cut the timber and pay them a royalty of so much a thousand
+feet. Yet, although the prospects for profit seemed so good, I know that
+for some reason both my father and Thompson were dissatisfied with the
+deal, and this may be accounted for by the fact that every penny of
+their money was tied up in one investment. West used to come to the
+house and argue with them that the property was safe as the Bank of
+England, and then old Will would tell him how much more he could have
+made out of another investment he had in mind; so that a coolness grew
+up between West and the others that gradually led to their estrangement.
+
+"I can well remember the evening when Bob West's pretty financial bubble
+burst. Thompson and my father were sitting together in the right wing,
+smoking solemnly, and exchanging a few words, as was their custom, when
+West arrived with a while face, and a newspaper under his arm. I was in
+the next room, lying half asleep upon the sofa, when I heard West cry
+despairingly: 'Ruined--ruined--ruined!' I crept to the half-opened
+door, then, and looked in. Both men were staring, open-mouthed and
+half-dazed, at West, who was explaining in a trembling voice that a
+terrible forest fire had swept through the Almaquo section and wiped out
+every tree upon the property. He had the full account in the newspaper,
+and had begun reading it, when my father uttered a low moan and tumbled
+off his chair to the floor.
+
+"Will Thompson gave a wild cry and knelt beside him.
+
+"'My God! he's dead, Bob,--he's dead!--and you've killed him with your
+good news!' he screamed, already raving; and then Old Hucks ran in just
+in time to prevent the madman from throttling West, for his fingers were
+even then twined around Bob's throat. There was a desperate struggle,
+and I remember that, scared as I was, I joined Thomas in trying to pull
+Thompson off his prey. But suddenly old Will threw up his arms and
+toppled backward, still raving like a demon, but unable to move his body
+from the waist downward. West helped us to put him in bed, and said he
+was paralyzed, which afterward proved to be the truth. Also, his mind
+was forever gone; and I think it was father's death that did that,
+rather than the loss of his money."
+
+They were all staring, white-faced, at the speaker. Most of the mystery
+was being cleared away; indeed, there was now little of mystery
+remaining at all.
+
+"West hurried after a doctor," continued Joe, who was almost as much
+absorbed in his story as were his listeners, and spoke in a reflective,
+musing way, "and he succeeded in finding one who was stopping for a few
+days at the hotel. Poor Bob was very kind to us in our trouble, and I
+never heard him mention a word about his own losses, which must have
+been severe. After the funeral was over, and I found I had nothing to
+inherit but the farm, I decided to go to the city and make my way there,
+as I had long wished to do. West gave me a little money to start me on
+my way, and the rest of my story is not very interesting to anybody.
+Major Doyle knows something of it, after the time when I got through my
+technical school by working as a servant to pay for my instruction. I'm
+a failure in life, so far, young ladies; but if you'll not bear that
+against me I'll try to do better in the future."
+
+"Good!" cried the Major, approvingly, as he took the boy's left hand in
+both his own and pressed it. "You're developing the right spirit,
+Joseph, me lad, and we'll think no more about the sadness of the past,
+but look forward to the joy of your future."
+
+"Of course," said Patsy, nodding gravely; "Joe Wegg is bound to be a
+great man, some day."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE LOCKED CUPBOARD.
+
+Louise and Beth returned to the farm in dismal silence. Every prop had
+been knocked from beneath their carefully erected temple of mystery. Now
+there was no mystery at all.
+
+In a few words, Joe Wegg had explained everything, and explained all so
+simply and naturally that Louise felt like sobbing with the bitterness
+of a child deprived of its pet plaything. The band of self-constituted
+girl detectives had been "put out of business," as Patsy said, because
+the plain fact had developed that there was nothing to detect, and never
+had been. There had been no murder, no robbery, no flight or hiding on
+the part of the Weggs to escape an injured enemy; nothing even
+mysterious, in the light of the story they had just heard. It was
+dreadfully humiliating and thoroughly disheartening, after all their
+earnest endeavor to investigate a crime that had never been committed.
+
+Uncle John rallied his nieces on their somber faces at the dinner table,
+and was greatly amused when the Major, despite the appealing looks
+directed at him, gave Mr. Merrick a brief resume of the afternoon's
+developments.
+
+"Well, I declare!" said the little man, merrily; "didn't I warn you,
+Louise, not to try to saddle a murder onto my new farm? How you foolish
+girls could ever have imagined such a carnival of crime in connection
+with the Weggs is certainly remarkable."
+
+"I don't know about that, sir," returned the Major, seriously. "I was
+meself inoculated with the idea, and for a while I considered meself and
+the girls the equals of all the Pinkertons in the country. And when ye
+come to think of it, the history of poor Captain Wegg and his wife, and
+of Nora and Thomas as well, is out of the ordinary entirely, and,
+without the explanation, contained all the elements of a
+first-class mystery."
+
+"How did you say the Weggs lost their money?" inquired Uncle John,
+turning the subject because he saw that it embarrassed his nieces.
+
+"Why, forest fires at Almaquo, in Canada, burned down the timber they
+had bought," replied the Major. "And, by the way, John, you're
+interested in that matter yourself, for the Pierce-Lane Lumber Company,
+in which you own a lot of stock, had contracted to cut the timber on
+a royalty."
+
+"How long ago?"
+
+"Three years, sir."
+
+"Well, we've been cutting timber at Almaquo ever since," said Mr.
+Merrick.
+
+Louise dropped her fork with a clatter, disclosing, in this well-bred
+young lady, an unusual degree of excitement.
+
+"Then there _is_ something to detect!" she cried.
+
+"Eh? What do you mean?" inquired her uncle.
+
+"If you've been cutting timber at Almaquo for three years, the trees
+couldn't have burned down," Louise declared, triumphantly.
+
+"That is evident," said the Major, dryly. "I've had it in me mind,
+Louise, to take that matter up for investigation; but you are so imbued
+with the detective spirit that there's no heading you off a trail."
+
+"Before the dessert comes on," announced Uncle John, impressively, "I
+want to make a statement. You folks have tried your hands at the
+detective business and made a mess of it. Now it's my turn. I'll be a
+detective for three days, and if I don't succeed better than you did,
+young women, we'll mingle our tears in all humility. Eh, Major?"
+
+"Put me in the bunch, sir," said the old soldier, "I was as bad as any
+of them. And go ahead in your own way, if ye like. It's me humble
+opinion, John, that you're no Sherlock Holmes; but ye won't believe it
+'til ye satisfy yourself of the fact."
+
+Next morning the loungers around Sam Cotting's store were thrown into a
+state of great excitement when "the nabob" came over from the Wegg farm
+and held the long-distance telephone for more than an hour, while he
+talked with people in New York. The natives knew that their telephone,
+which was built into a small booth at one end of the store--next the
+post-office boxes--was part of a system that made it possible for one to
+talk to those in far away cities. Often the country people would eye the
+mysterious-looking instrument with awe and whisper to each other of its
+mighty powers; but no one had ever before used it to telephone farther
+than the Junction, and then only on rare occasions.
+
+"It'll cost a heap o' money, Sam," said McNutt, uneasily, while Uncle
+John was engaged in his remarkable conversation. They could see him in
+the booth, through the little window.
+
+"It will, Mac," was the solemn reply. "But the fool nabob may as well
+spend it thet way as any other. It's mighty little of his capital er
+surplus gits inter _my_ cash-drawer; 'n' thet's a fact."
+
+Uncle John came from the booth, perspiring, but smiling and happy. He
+walked across the street to see Joe Wegg, and found the youth seated in
+a rocking-chair and looking quite convalescent. But he had company. In a
+chair opposite sat a man neatly dressed, with a thin, intelligent face,
+a stubby gray moustache, and shrewd eyes covered by horn-rimmed
+spectacles.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Merrick," said Joe, cheerily; "this is Mr. Robert
+West, one of the Millville merchants, who is an old friend of
+our family."
+
+"I've heard of Mr. West, and I'm glad to meet him," replied Uncle John,
+looking at the other calmly, but not offering to shake hands. "I believe
+you are the president and treasurer of the Almaquo Timber Tract Company,
+are you not?"
+
+Joseph looked startled, and then embarrassed, as he overheard the
+question. West, without altering his position of careless ease, glanced
+over the rims of his glasses at the speaker.
+
+"I am the humble individual you refer to, Mr. Merrick," he said,
+briefly.
+
+"But the Almaquo timber all burned down." remarked Joe, thinking an
+explanation was needed.
+
+"That's a mistake," returned Mr. Merrick. "My company has paid Mr. West,
+as treasurer of his company, more than fifty thousand dollars during the
+last three years."
+
+West's jaw dropped.
+
+"Your company!" he exclaimed, as if mystified.
+
+"Yes; I own the controlling interest in the Pierce-Lane Lumber Company,
+which has the contract to cut your timber," answered Mr. Merrick.
+
+The hardware dealer slowly arose and glanced at his watch.
+
+"I must get back to my store," he said. "You are somewhat in error about
+your company, Mr. Merrick; but I suppose your interests are so large and
+varied that you cannot well keep track of them. Good morning, sir. I'll
+see you again soon, Joe. Glad you're improving so rapidly. Let me know
+if I can do anything to help you."
+
+With these quiet words, he bowed and left the room, and when he had
+gone, Joe said, in a deprecating tone:
+
+"Poor Bob must be very unhappy about having lost my father's money in
+that speculation, for he advocated the plan very strongly, believing it
+was a good investment. I'm afraid your mistake about paying him all that
+money upset him. Don't mind if he was a little brusque, sir. Bob West is
+a simple, kindly man, whom my father fully trusted. It was he that
+loaned me the money to get away from here with."
+
+"Tell me," said Uncle John, thoughtfully, "did your father receive stock
+in the Almaquo Timber Tract Company in exchange for his money?"
+
+"Oh, yes; I have seen it in the steel cupboard," replied Joe.
+
+"Where is that?"
+
+"Why, it is the cupboard in the right wing of our house, which was the
+Captain's own room. It was one of his whims, when he built, to provide
+what he called his 'bank.' You may have noticed the wooden doors of a
+cupboard built into the stone wall, sir?"
+
+"Yes; I occupy the room."
+
+"Behind the wooden doors are others of steel. The entire cupboard is
+steel-lined. Near the bottom is a sliding-plate, which, when pushed
+aside, discovers a hidden drawer--a secret my father never confided to
+anyone but me. He once told me that if his heart trouble earned him off
+suddenly I ought to know of the existence of this drawer; so he showed
+me how to find it. On the day after his death I took the keys, which he
+always carried on a small chain around his neck and concealed underneath
+his clothing, and opened the cupboard to see if I could find anything of
+value. It is needless to say, I could not discover anything that could
+be converted into a dollar. The Captain had filled the cupboard with old
+letters and papers of no value, and with relics he had brought from
+foreign lands during his many voyages. These last are mere rubbish, but
+I suppose he loved them for their association. In the secret drawer I
+found his stock in the timber company, and also that of old Will
+Thompson, who had doubtless left it with my father for safekeeping.
+Knowing it was now worthless, I left it in the drawer."
+
+"I'd like to see it," announced Uncle John.
+
+Joe laughed.
+
+"I've lost the keys," he said.
+
+"How's that, my lad?"
+
+"Why, on the day of the funeral the keys disappeared. I could never
+imagine what became of them. But I did not care to look in the cupboard
+a second time, so the loss did not matter."
+
+Mr. Merrick seemed thoughtful.
+
+"I suppose I own that cupboard now," he remarked.
+
+"Of course," said Joe. "But without the keys it is not serviceable. If
+you drill through the steel doors you destroy their security."
+
+"True; but I may decide to do that."
+
+"If you do, sir, I'd like you to clear out the rubbish and papers and
+send them to me. They are family matters, and I did not intend to sell
+them with the place."
+
+"You shall have them, Joe."
+
+"Just underneath the left end of the lower shelf you will find the
+sliding steel plate. It slides toward the front. In the drawer you will
+find the worthless stock and a picture of my mother. I'd like to keep
+the picture."
+
+"You shall, Joseph. How are you getting on?"
+
+"Why, I'm a new man, Mr. Merrick, and today I'm feeling as strong as a
+buffalo--thanks to your kind guardianship."
+
+"Don't overdo, sir. Take it easy. There's a young lady coming to see you
+today."
+
+"Ethel!" the boy exclaimed, his face turning crimson.
+
+"Yes," returned Uncle John, tersely. "You've treated that girl
+shamefully, Joseph Wegg. Try to make proper amends."
+
+"I never could understand," said Joe, slowly, "why Ethel refused to
+answer the letter I wrote her when I went away. It explained
+everything, yet--"
+
+"I'll bet the farm against your lame shoulder she never got your
+letter," declared Uncle John. "She thought you left her without a word."
+
+"I gave it to McNutt to deliver after I was gone. But you say she's
+coming today?"
+
+"That is her intention, sir."
+
+Joe said nothing more, but his expressive face was smiling and eager.
+Uncle John pressed the boy's hand and left him, promising to call
+again soon.
+
+"Now, then," muttered the little millionaire, as he walked down the
+street, "to beard the lion in his den."
+
+The den proved to be the hardware store, and the lion none other than
+Robert West. Mr. Merrick found the merchant seated at his desk in the
+otherwise deserted store, and, with a nod, helped himself to the only
+other chair the little office contained.
+
+"Sir," said he, "I am here to demand an explanation."
+
+"Of what?" asked West, coldly.
+
+"Of your action in the matter of the Almaquo Timber Tract Company. I
+believe that you falsely asserted to Captain Wegg and Mr. Thompson that
+the timber had burned and their investment was therefore worthless. The
+news of the disaster killed one of your confiding friends and drove the
+other mad; but that was a consequence that I am sure you did not intend
+when you planned the fraud. The most serious thing I can accuse you of
+is holding the earnings of the Wegg and Thompson stock--and big earnings
+they are, too--for your own benefit, and defrauding the heirs of your
+associates of their money."
+
+West carefully balanced a penholder across his fingers, and eyed it with
+close attention.
+
+"You are a queer man, Mr. Merrick," he said, quietly. "I can only excuse
+your insults on the grounds of ignorance, or the fact that you have been
+misinformed. Here is the newspaper report of the Almaquo fire, which I
+showed my friends the night of Captain Wegg's sudden death." He took a
+clipping from a drawer of the desk and handed it to Uncle John, who read
+it carefully.
+
+"As a matter of fact," continued West, "you are not cutting that portion
+of the Almaquo tract which this fire refers to, and which Thompson and
+Wegg were interested in, but the north half of the tract, which they had
+never acquired any title to."
+
+"I suppose the stock will show that," suggested Mr. Merrick.
+
+"Of course, sir."
+
+"I will look it up."
+
+West smiled.
+
+"You will have some trouble doing that," he said.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Wegg and Thompson had transferred their entire stock to me before one
+died and the other went mad," was the quiet reply.
+
+"Oh, I see." The lie was so evident that Uncle John did not try to
+refute it.
+
+"I am rather busy, Mr. Merrick. Anything more, sir?"
+
+"Not today. Bye and bye, Mr. West."
+
+He marched out again and climbed into his buggy to drive home. The
+interview with Bob West had made him uneasy, for the merchant's cold,
+crafty nature rendered him an opponent who would stick at nothing to
+protect his ill-gotten gains. Uncle John had thought it an easy matter
+to force him to disgorge, but West was the one inhabitant of Millville
+who had no simplicity in his character. He was as thoroughly imbued with
+worldly subtlety and cunning as if he had lived amid the grille of a
+city all his life; and Mr. Merrick was by no means sure of his own
+ability to unmask the man and force him to make restitution.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE COURT'N OF SKIM CLARK.
+
+By this time the summer was well advanced, and the rich people at the
+Wegg farm had ceased to be objects of wonder to the Millville folk. The
+girls were still regarded with curious looks when they wandered into the
+village on an errand, and Mr. Merrick and Major Doyle inspired a certain
+amount of awe; but time had dulled the edge of marvelous invasion and
+the city people were now accepted as a matter of course.
+
+Peggy McNutt was still bothering his head over schemes to fleece the
+strangers, in blissful ignorance of the fact that one of his neighbors
+was planning to get ahead of him.
+
+The Widow Clark was a shrewd woman. She had proven this by becoming one
+of the merchants of Millville after her husband's death. The poor man
+had left an insurance of five hundred dollars and the little frame
+building wherein he had conducted a harness shop. Mrs. Clark couldn't
+make and repair harness; so she cleared the straps and scraps and
+wax-ends out of the place, painted the interior of the shop bright
+yellow, with a blue ceiling, erected some shelves and a counter and
+turned part of the insurance money into candy, cigars, stationery, and a
+meager stock of paper-covered novels.
+
+Skim, her small son, helped her as far as he was able, and between them
+they managed things so frugally that at the end of eight years the widow
+still had her five hundred dollars capital, and the little store had
+paid her living expenses.
+
+Skim was named after his uncle, Peter Skimbley, who owned a farm near
+Watertown. The widow's hopeful was now a lank, pale-faced youth of
+eighteen, whose most imposing features were his big hands and a long
+nose that ended in a sharp point. The shop had ruined him for manual
+labor, for he sat hunched up by the stove in winter, and in summer hung
+around Cotting's store and listened to the gossip of the loungers. He
+was a boy of small conversational powers, but his mother declared that
+Skim "done a heap o' thinkin' that nobody suspected."
+
+The widow was a good gossip herself, and knew all the happenings in the
+little town. She had a habit of reading all her stock of paper-covered
+novels before she sold them, and her mind was stocked with the mass of
+romance and adventure she had thus absorbed. "What I loves more'n eat'n'
+or sleep'n'," she often said, "is a rattlin' good love story. There
+don't seem to be much love in real life, so a poor lone crittur like me
+has to calm her hankerin's by a-readin' novels."
+
+No one had been more interested in the advent of the millionaire at the
+Wegg farm than the widow Clark. She had helped "fix up" the house for
+the new owner and her appreciative soul had been duly impressed by the
+display of wealth demonstrated by the fine furniture sent down from the
+city. She had watched the arrival of the party and noticed with eager
+eyes the group of three pretty and stylishly dressed nieces who
+accompanied their rich uncle. Once or twice since the young ladies had
+entered her establishment to purchase pens or stationery, and on such
+occasions the widow was quite overcome by their condescension.
+
+All this set her thinking to some purpose. One day she walked over to
+the farm and made her way quietly to the back door. By good fortune she
+found blind Nora hemming napkins and in a mood to converse. Nora was an
+especially neat seamstress, but required some one to thread her needles.
+Mary the cook had been doing this, but now Mrs. Clark sat down beside
+Nora to "hev a little talk" and keep the needles supplied with thread.
+
+She learned a good deal about the nieces, for old Nora could not praise
+them enough. They were always sweet and kind to her and she loved to
+talk about them. They were all rich, too, or would be; for their uncle
+had no children of his own and could leave several millions to each one
+when he died.
+
+"An' they're so simple, too," said the old woman; "nothin' cityfied ner
+stuck-up about any on 'em, I kin tell ye. They dresses as fine as the
+Queen o' Sheba, Tom says; but they romp 'round just like they was borned
+in the country. Miss Patsy she's learnin' to milk the cow, an' Miss Beth
+takes care o' the chickens all by herself. They're reg'lar girls, Marthy
+Clark, an' money hain't spiled 'em a bit."
+
+This report tended to waken a great ambition in the widow's heart. Or
+perhaps the ambition had already taken form and this gossip confirmed
+and established it. Before she left the farm she had a chance to
+secretly observe the girls, and they met with her full approval.
+
+At supper that evening she said to her hopeful:
+
+"Skim, I want ye to go courtin'."
+
+Skim looked up in amazement.
+
+"Me, ma?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, you. It's time you was thinkin' of gittin' married."
+
+Skim held his knife in his mouth a moment while he thought over this
+startling proposition. Then he removed the cutlery, heaved a deep sigh,
+and enquired:
+
+"Who at, ma?"
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"Who'll I go courtin' at?"
+
+"Skim, you 'member in thet las' book we read, 'The Angel Maniac's
+Revenge,' there was a sayin' that fate knocks wunst on ev'ry man's door.
+Well, fate's knockin' on your door."
+
+Skim listened, with a nervous glance toward the doorway. Then he shook
+his head.
+
+"All fool fancy, ma," he remarked. "Don't ye go an' git no rumantic
+notions out'n books inter yer head."
+
+"Skim, am I a fool, er ain't I?"
+
+"'Tain't fer me ter say, ma."
+
+"Fate's knockin', an' if you don't open to it, Skim, I'll wash my hands
+o' ye, an' ye kin jest starve to death."
+
+The boy looked disturbed.
+
+"What's aggrivatin' of ye, then?" he enquired, anxiously.
+
+"A millionaire is come right under yer nose. He's here in Millville,
+with three gals fer nieces thet's all got money to squander an's bound
+to hev more."
+
+Skim gave a low whistle.
+
+"Ye don't mean fer me to be courtin' at them gals, do ye?" he demanded.
+
+"Why not? Yer fambly's jest as respectible as any, 'cept thet yer Uncle
+Mell backslided after the last revival, an' went to a hoss race. Yer
+young, an' yer han'some; an' there's three gals waitin' ready to be won
+by a bold wooer. Be bold, Skim; take fate by the fetlock, an' yer
+fortun's made easy!"
+
+Skim did not reply at once. He gulped down his tea and stared at the
+opposite wall in deep thought. It wasn't such a "tarnal bad notion,"
+after all, and so thoroughly impressed was he with his own importance
+and merit that it never occurred to him he would meet with any
+difficulties if he chose to undertake the conquest.
+
+"Peggy says marri'ge is the mark of a fool; an' Peggy married money,
+too," he remarked slowly.
+
+"Pah! money! Mary Ann Cotting didn't hev but a hundred an' forty
+dollars, all told, an' she were an old maid an' soured an' squint-eyed
+when Peggy hitched up with her."
+
+"I hain't seen nuthin' o' the world, yit," continued Skim, evasively.
+
+"Ner ye won't nuther, onless ye marry money. Any one o' them gals could
+take ye to Europe an' back a dozen times."
+
+Skim reflected still farther.
+
+"Courtin' ought to hev some decent clothes," he said. "I kain't set in
+the nabob's parlor, with all thet slick furnitur', in Nick Thorne's
+cast-off Sunday suit."
+
+"The cloth's as good as ever was made, an' I cut 'em down myself, an'
+stitched 'em all over."
+
+"They don't look like store clothes, though," objected Skim.
+
+The widow sighed.
+
+"Tain't the coat that makes the man, Skim."
+
+"It's the coat thet makes decent courtin', though," he maintained,
+stubbornly. "Gals like to see a feller dressed up. It shows he means
+business an' 'mounts to somethin'."
+
+"I give Nick Thorne two dollars an' a packidge o' terbacker fer them
+clotlies, which the on'y thing wrong about was they'd got too snug fer
+comfert. Nick said so himself. But I'll make a bargain with ye, Skim. Ef
+you'll agree to give me fifty dollars after yer married, I'll buy ye
+some store clothes o' Sam Cotting, to do courtin' in."
+
+"Fifty dollars!"
+
+"Well, I've brung ye up, hain't I?" "I've worked like a nigger, mindin'
+shop." "Say forty dollars. I ain't small, an' ef ye git one o' them city
+gals, Skim, forty dollars won't mean no more'n a wink of an eye to ye."
+
+Skim frowned. Then he smiled, and the smile disclosed a front tooth
+missing.
+
+"I'll dream on't," he said. "Let ye know in the mornin', ma. But I won't
+court a minite, mind ye, 'nless I git store clothes."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+A LOST CAUSE.
+
+The boy's musings confirmed him in the idea that his mother's scheme was
+entirely practical. He didn't hanker much to marry, being young and
+fairly satisfied with his present lot; but opportunities like this did
+not often occur, and it seemed his bounden duty to take advantage of it.
+
+He got the "store clothes" next day, together with a scarlet necktie
+that was "all made up in the latest style," as Sam Cotting assured him,
+and a pair of yellow kid gloves "fit fer a howlin' swell." Skim wasn't
+sure, at first, about the gloves, but capitulated when Sam declared they
+were "real cityfied."
+
+In the evening he "togged up," with his mother's help, and then walked
+over to the Wegg farm.
+
+Beth answered the knock at the door. The living room was brightly
+lighted; Uncle John and the Major were playing checkers in a corner and
+Patsy was softly drumming on the piano. Louise had a book and Beth had
+been engaged upon some fancy-work.
+
+When the door opened Skim bobbed his head and said:
+
+"Evenin', mom. I've come a-visitin'."
+
+Beth conquered an inclination to smile.
+
+"Won't you come in?" she said, sweetly.
+
+"Thankee; I will. I'm Skimbley Clark, ye know; down t' the village. Ma
+keeps a store there."
+
+"I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Clark. Allow me to introduce to you my
+uncle and cousins," said the girl, her eyes dancing with amusement.
+
+Skim acknowledged the introductions with intense gravity, and then sat
+down upon a straight-backed chair near the piano, this being the end of
+the room where the three girls were grouped. Uncle John gave a chuckle
+and resumed his game with the Major, who whispered that he would give a
+dollar for an oil painting of Mr. Clark--if it couldn't be had for less.
+
+Louise laid down her book and regarded the visitor wonderingly. Patsy
+scented fun and drew a chair nearer the group. Beth resumed her
+embroidery with a demure smile that made Skim decide at once that "he
+picked the pretty one."
+
+Indeed, the decision did justice to his discretion. Beth De Graf was a
+rarely beautiful girl and quite outshone her cousins in this respect.
+Louise might be attractive and Patsy fascinating; but Beth was the real
+beauty of the trio, and the most charming trait in her character was her
+unconsciousness that she excelled in good looks.
+
+So Skim stared hard at Beth, and answered the preliminary remarks
+addressed to him by Patsy and Louise in a perfunctory manner.
+
+"Won't you take off your gloves?" asked Louise, soberly. "It's so warm
+this evening, you know."
+
+The boy looked at his hands.
+
+"It's sech a tarnal job to git 'em on agin," he replied.
+
+"Don't put them on, then," advised Patsy. "Here in the country we are
+allowed to dispense with much unnecessary social etiquette."
+
+"Air ye? Then off they come. I ain't much stuck on gloves, myself; but
+ma she 'lowed that a feller goin' courtin' orter look like a sport."
+
+A chorus of wild laughter, which greeted this speech, had the effect of
+making Skim stare at the girls indignantly. He couldn't find anything
+funny in his remark; but there they sat facing him and uttering
+hysterical peals of merriment, until the tears ran down their cheeks.
+
+Silently and with caution he removed the yellow gloves from his hands,
+and so gave the foolish creatures a chance "to laugh out their
+blamed giggle."
+
+But they were watching him, and saw that he was disconcerted. They had
+no mind to ruin the enjoyment in store for them by offending their
+guest, so they soon resumed a fitting gravity and began to assist the
+youth to forget their rudeness.
+
+"May I ask," said Patsy, very graciously, "which one of us you intend to
+favor with your attentions?"
+
+"I ain't much used to sech things," he replied, looking down at his big
+hands and growing a little red-faced. "P'raps I hadn't orter tell,
+before the rest o' ye."
+
+"Oh, yes; do tell!" pleaded Louise. "We're so anxious to know."
+
+"I don't s'pose it's right clever to pick an' choose when ye're all by,"
+said Skim, regaining confidence. "But ma, she 'lowed thet with three
+gals handy I orter git one on 'em, to say the least."
+
+"If you got more than one," remarked Beth, calmly, "it would be
+illegal."
+
+"Oh, one's enough," said Skim, with a grin. "Peggy says it's too many,
+an' a feller oughtn't to take his gal out'n a grab-bag."
+
+"I should think not, indeed," returned Patsy. "But here are three of us
+openly displayed, and unless you turn us all down as unworthy, it will
+be necessary for you to make a choice."
+
+"What foolishness are you girls up to now?" demanded Uncle John,
+catching a stray word from the other corner while engaged in a desperate
+struggle with the Major.
+
+"This is a time for you to keep quiet, Uncle," retorted Patsy, merrily.
+"We've got important things to consider that are none of your affairs,
+whatever."
+
+Skim reflected that he didn't want this one, except as a last resort.
+She was "too bossy."
+
+"When I started out," he said, "I jest come a-courtin', as any feller
+might do thet wasn't much acquainted. But ef I've got to settle down to
+one o' ye--"
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"Oh, you must really take one at a time, you know," asserted Louise.
+"It's the only proper way."
+
+"Then I'll start on thet dark-eyed one thet's a sewin'," he said,
+slowly.
+
+Beth looked up from her work and smiled.
+
+"Go ahead, Mr. Clark," she said, encouragingly. "My name is Beth. Had
+you forgotten it?"
+
+"Call me Skim," he said, gently.
+
+"Very well, Skim,--Now look here, Patsy Doyle, if you're going to sit
+there and giggle you'll spoil everything. Mr. Clark wants to court, and
+it's getting late."
+
+"P'raps I've went fur enough fer tonight," remarked Skim, uneasily.
+"Next time they'll leave us alone, an' then----"
+
+"Oh, don't postpone it, please!" begged Beth, giving the boy a demure
+glance from her soft brown eyes. "And don't mind my cousins. I don't."
+
+"These things kain't be hurried," he said. "Si Merkle courted three
+weeks afore he popped. He tol' me so."
+
+"Then he was a very foolish man," declared Patsy, positively. "Just look
+at Beth! She's dying to have you speak out. What's the use of waiting,
+when she knows why you are here?"
+
+By this time Skim had been flattered to the extent of destroying any
+stray sense he might ever have possessed. His utter ignorance of girls
+and their ways may have been partly responsible for his idiocy, or his
+mother's conviction that all that was necessary was for him to declare
+himself in order to be accepted had misled him and induced him to
+abandon any native diffidence he might have had. Anyway, the boy fell
+into the snare set by the mischievous young ladies without a suspicion
+of his impending fate.
+
+"Miss Beth," said he, "ef yer willin', I'll marry ye; any time ye say. I
+agreed t' help Dick Pearson with the harvestin', but I'll try to' git
+Ned Long to take my place, an' it don't matter much, nohow."
+
+"But I couldn't have you break an engagement," cried Beth, hastily.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Oh, it wouldn't be right, at all. Mr. Pearson would never forgive me,"
+she asserted.
+
+"Can't ye--"
+
+"No; not before harvest, Skim. I couldn't think of it."
+
+"But arterward--"
+
+"No; I've resolved never to marry after harvest. So, as you're engaged,
+and I don't approve of breaking engagements, I must refuse your
+proposition entirely."
+
+Skim looked surprised; then perplexed; then annoyed.
+
+"P'raps I didn't pop jest right," he murmured, growing red again.
+
+"You popped beautifully," declared Patsy. "But Beth is very peculiar,
+and set in her ways. I'm afraid she wouldn't make you a good
+wife, anyhow."
+
+"Then p'raps the gal in blue----"
+
+"No;" said Louise. "I have the same prejudices as my cousin. If you
+hadn't been engaged for the harvest I might have listened to you; but
+that settles the matter definitely, as far as I am concerned."
+
+Skim sighed.
+
+"Ma'll be mad as a hornet ef I don't get any of ye," he remarked, sadly.
+"She's paid Sam Cotting fer this courtin' suit, an' he won't take back
+the gloves on no 'count arter they've been wore; an' thet'll set ma
+crazy. Miss Patsy, ef yo' think ye could----"
+
+"I'm sure I couldn't," said Patsy, promptly. "I'm awfully sorry to break
+your heart, Skim, dear, and ruin your future life, and make you
+misanthropic and cynical, and spoil your mother's investment and make
+her mad as a hornet. All this grieves me terribly; but I'll recover from
+it, if you'll only give me time. And I hope you'll find a wife that will
+be more congenial than I could ever be."
+
+Skim didn't understand all these words, but the general tenor of the
+speech was convincing, and filled him with dismay.
+
+"Rich gals is tarnal skeerce in these parts," he said, regretfully.
+
+Then they gave way again, and so lusty was the merriment that Uncle John
+and the Major abandoned their game and came across the room to discover
+the source of all this amusement.
+
+"What's up, young women?" asked their Uncle, glancing from their
+laughing faces to the lowering, sullen one of the boy, who had only now
+begun to suspect that he was being "poked fun at."
+
+"Oh, Uncle!" cried Patsy; "you've no idea how near you have been to
+losing us. We have each had an offer of marriage within the last
+half hour!"
+
+"Dear me!" ejaculated Uncle John.
+
+"It shows the young man's intelligence and good taste," said the Major,
+much amused. "But is it a Mormon ye are, sir, to want all three?"
+directing a keen glance at Skim.
+
+"Naw, 'tain't," he returned, wholly disgusted with the outcome of his
+suit. "All three got as't 'cause none of 'em's got sense enough t' know
+a good thing when they seen it."
+
+"But I do," said the Major, stoutly; "and I maintain that you're a good
+thing, and always will be. I hope, sir, you'll call 'round and see me in
+Baltimore next year. I'll not be there, but ye can leave your card, just
+the same."
+
+"Please call again, sir," added Uncle John; "about October--just before
+snow flies."
+
+The boy got up.
+
+"I don't keer none," he said, defiantly. "It's all ma's fault, gittin'
+me laughed at, an' she won't hear the last of it in a hurry, nuther."
+
+"Be gentle with her, Skim," suggested Beth, softly. "Remember she has to
+face the world with you by her side."
+
+Having no retort for this raillery, which he felt rather than
+understood, Skim seized his hat and fled. Then Patsy wiped the tears
+from her eyes and said:
+
+"Wasn't it grand, girls? I haven't had so much fun since I was born."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE TRAP IS SET.
+
+Uncle John was forced to acknowledge to his nieces that his boast to
+unmask Bob West within three days was mere blustering. If he
+accomplished anything in three weeks he would consider himself
+fortunate. But he had no wish to conceal anything from the girls, so he
+told them frankly of his interview with the hardware merchant, and also
+what Joe Wegg had said about the stock in the locked cupboard. They
+were, of course, greatly interested in this new phase of the matter and
+canvassed it long and eagerly.
+
+"The man is lying, of course," said Patsy, "for Captain Wegg and poor
+Mr. Thompson could not transfer their stock to West after that fatal
+night when he brought to them the news of the fire."
+
+"I believe the stock is still in this cupboard," declared Uncle John.
+
+"Unless West stole the keys and has taken it away," suggested Louise.
+
+"I'm sure he did not know about the secret drawer," said her uncle.
+"Probably he stole the keys and searched the cupboard; if he had found
+the stock he would have left the keys, which would then be of no further
+use to him. As he did not find the stock certificates, he carried the
+keys away, that he might search again at his leisure. And they've never
+yet been returned."
+
+"Why, John, ye're possessed of the true detective instinct," the Major
+remarked, admiringly. "Your reasoning is at once clever and
+unassailable."
+
+"I wonder," mused Beth, "if we could tempt Mr. West to come again to
+search the cupboard."
+
+"He will scarcely venture to do that while we are here," replied Uncle
+John.
+
+"I said 'tempt him,' Uncle."
+
+"And what did you mean by that expression, Beth?"
+
+"I'll think it over and tell you later," she returned, quietly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ethel Thompson would have shown Joe Wegg how much she resented his
+leaving Millville without a word to her, had she not learned from Mr.
+Merrick the boy's sad condition. Knowing her old friend was ill, she
+determined to ignore the past and go to him at once, and Uncle John knew
+very well there would be explanations to smooth away all the former
+misunderstandings.
+
+Joe was now aware of the fact that his letter to Ethel had never reached
+its destination, so, as soon as the girl had arrived and the first
+rather formal greetings were over, he sent Kate Kebble to McNutt's to
+ask the agent to come over to the hotel at once.
+
+The girl returned alone.
+
+"Peggy says as he can't come," she announced.
+
+"Why not?" asked Joe.
+
+"Says he's jest painted his off foot blue an' striped it with red, an'
+it hain't dried yit."
+
+"Go back," said Joe, firmly. "Tell Peggy he's in trouble, and it's
+likely to cost him more than a new coat of paint for his foot if he
+doesn't come here at once."
+
+Kate went back, and in due time the stump of McNutt's foot was heard on
+the stairs. He entered the room looking worried and suspicious, and the
+stern faces of Ethel and Joe did not reassure him, by any means. But he
+tried to disarm the pending accusation with his usual brazen
+impertinence.
+
+"Nice time ter send fer me, this is, Joe," he grumbled. "It's gittin' so
+a feller can't even paint his foot in peace an' quiet."
+
+"Peggy," said Joe, "when I went away, three years ago, I gave you a
+letter for Miss Ethel. What did you do with it?"
+
+Peggy's bulging eyes stared at his blue foot, which he turned first one
+side and then the other to examine the red stripes.
+
+"It's this way, Joe," he replied; "there wa'n't no postige stamp on the
+letter, an' Sam Cotting said it couldn't be posted no way 'thout
+a stamp."
+
+"It wasn't to be sent through the post-office," said the boy. "I gave
+you a quarter to deliver it in person to Miss Ethel."
+
+"Did ye, Joe? did ye?"
+
+"Of course I did."
+
+"Cur'ous," said McNutt, leaning over to touch the foot cautiously with
+one finger, to see if the paint was dry.
+
+"Well, sir!"
+
+"Well, Joe, there's no use gittin' mad 'bout it. Thet blamed quarter ye
+giv me rolled down a crack in the stoop, an' got lost. Sure. Got lost as
+easy as anything."
+
+"Well, what was that to me?"
+
+"Oh, I ain't blamin' you," said Peggy; "but 'twere a good deal to me, I
+kin tell ye. A whole quarter lost!"
+
+"Why didn't you take up a board, and get it again?"
+
+"Oh, I did," said McNutt. cheerfully. "I did, Joe. But the money was all
+black an' tarnished like, by thet time, an' didn't look at all like
+silver. Sam he wouldn't take it at the store, so my ol' woman she 'lowed
+she'd polish it up a bit. Ye know how sort o' vig'rous she is, Joe. She
+polished that blamed quarter the same way she jaws an' sweeps; she
+polished it 'til she rubbed both sides smooth as glass, an' then Sam
+wouldn't take it, nuther, 'n' said it wasn't money any more. So I
+drilled two holes in it an' sewed it on my pants fer a 'spender butt'n."
+
+"But why didn't you deliver the letter?"
+
+"Did ye 'spect I'd tramp way t' Thompson's Crossing fer nuthin'?"
+
+"I gave you a quarter."
+
+"An' it turned out to be on'y a 'spender butt'n. Be reason'ble, Joe."
+
+"Where is the letter?"
+
+"'Tain't a letter no more. It's on'y ol' fambly papers by this time.
+Three years is----"
+
+"Where is it? By thunder, Peggy, if you don't answer me I'll put you in
+jail for breach of trust!"
+
+"Ye've changed, Joe," sadly. "Ye ain't no more like----"
+
+"Where is it?"
+
+"Behind the lookin'-glass in my sett'n-room."
+
+"Go and get it immediately, sir!"
+
+"Ef I hev to cross thet dusty road twic't more, I'll hev to paint all
+over agin, an' thet's a fact."
+
+"Ethel," said Joe, with the calmness of despair, "you'll have to
+telephone over to the Junction and ask them to send a constable here
+at once."
+
+"Never mind," cried McNutt, jumping up hastily; "I'll go. Paint don't
+cost much, nohow."
+
+He stumped away, but on his return preferred to let Kate carry the
+soiled, torn envelope up to the young folks. The letter had palpably
+been tampered with. It had been opened and doubtless read, and the flap
+clumsily glued down again.
+
+But Ethel had it now, and even after three years her sweet eyes dimmed
+as she read the tender words that Joe had written because he lacked the
+courage to speak them. "My one great ambition is to win a home for us,
+dear," he had declared, and with this before her eyes Ethel reproached
+herself for ever doubting his love or loyalty.
+
+When she rode her pony over to the Wegg farm next day Ethel's bright
+face was wreathed with smiles. She told her girl friends that she and
+Joe had had a "good talk" together, and understood each other better
+than ever before. The nieces did not tell her of their newly conceived
+hopes that the young couple would presently possess enough money to
+render their future comfortable, because there were so many chances that
+Bob West might win the little game being played. But at this moment
+Ethel did not need worldly wealth to make her heart light and happy, for
+she had regained her childhood's friend, and his injuries only rendered
+the boy the more interesting and companionable.
+
+Meantime Uncle John had been busily thinking. It annoyed him to be so
+composedly defied by a rascally country merchant, and he resolved, if he
+must fight, to fight with all his might.
+
+So he wired to his agent in New York the following words:
+
+"What part of the Almaquo timber tract burned in forest fire three years
+ago?"
+
+The answer he received made him give a satisfied grunt.
+
+"No forest fires near Almaquo three years ago. Almadona, seventy miles
+north, burned at that time, and newspaper reports confounded the names."
+
+"Very good!" exclaimed Uncle John. "I've got the rascal now."
+
+He issued instructions to the lumber company to make no further payments
+of royalties to Robert West until otherwise advised, and this had the
+effect of bringing West to the farm white with rage.
+
+"What do you mean by this action, Mr. Merrick?" he demanded.
+
+"We've been paying you money that does not belong to you for three
+years, sir," was the reply. "In a few days, when my investigations are
+complete, I will give you the option of being arrested for embezzlement
+of funds belonging to Joseph Wegg and the Thompsons, or restoring to
+them every penny of their money."
+
+West stared.
+
+"You are carrying matters with a high hand, sir," he sneered.
+
+"Oh, no; I am acting very leniently," said Uncle John.
+
+"Neither Joe nor the Thompsons own a dollar's interest in the Almaquo
+property. It is all mine, and mine alone."
+
+"Then produce the stock and prove it!" retorted Mr. Merrick,
+triumphantly.
+
+At that moment Louise interrupted the interview by entering the room
+suddenly.
+
+"Oh, Uncle," said she, "will you join us in a picnic to the Falls
+tomorrow afternoon? We are all going."
+
+"Then I won't be left behind," he replied, smiling upon her.
+
+"We shall take even Thomas and Nora, and come home late in the evening,
+by moonlight."
+
+"That suits me, my dear," said he.
+
+West stood silent and scowling, but as the girl tripped away she saw him
+raise his eyes and glance slyly toward the cupboard, for they were in
+the right wing room.
+
+"Mr. Merrick," he resumed, in a harsh voice; "I warn you that if your
+company holds up the payment of my royalties it will break the contract,
+and I will forbid them to cut another tree. You are doubtless aware that
+there are a dozen firms willing to take your place and pay me higher
+royalties."
+
+"Act as you please, sir," said Uncle John, indifferently. "I believe you
+are face to face with ruin, and it won't matter much what you do."
+
+West went away more quietly than he had come, and the girls exclaimed,
+delightedly:
+
+"The trap is set, Uncle!"
+
+"I think so, myself," he rejoined. "That picnic was a happy thought,
+Louise."
+
+Early the next afternoon they started out with hammocks and baskets and
+all the paraphernalia of a picnic party. The three girls, Nora and Uncle
+John squeezed themselves into the surrey, while the Major and Old Hucks
+rode after them in the ancient buggy, with Dan moaning and groaning
+every step he took. But the old horse moved more briskly when following
+Joe, and Hucks could get more speed out of him than anyone else; so he
+did not lag much behind.
+
+The procession entered Millville, where a brief stop was made at the
+store, and then made its exit by the north road. West was standing in
+the door of his hardware store, quietly observing them. When they
+disappeared in the grove he locked the door of his establishment and
+sauntered in the direction of the Pearson farm, no one noticing him
+except Peggy McNutt, who was disappointed because he had intended to go
+over presently and buy a paper of tacks.
+
+When the village was left behind, Uncle John drove swiftly along,
+following the curve of the lake until he reached a primitive lane that
+he had discovered formed a short cut directly back to the Wegg farm. Old
+Thomas was amazed by this queer action on the part of the picnic party,
+but aside from blind Nora, who had no idea where they were, the others
+seemed full of repressed eagerness, and in no way surprised.
+
+The lane proved very rocky though, and they were obliged to jolt slowly
+over the big cobble stones. So Beth and Patsy leaped out of the surrey
+and the former called out:
+
+"We will run through the forest, Uncle, and get home as soon as you do."
+
+"Be careful not to show yourselves, then," he replied. "Remember our
+plans."
+
+"We will. And don't forget to tie the horses in the thicket, and warn
+Thomas and Nora to keep quiet until we come for them," said Patsy.
+
+"I'll attend to all that, dear," remarked Louise, composedly. "But if
+you girls are determined to walk, you must hurry along, or you will keep
+us waiting."
+
+The nieces had explored every path in the neighborhood by this time, so
+Beth and Patsy were quite at home in the pine forest. The horses started
+up again, and after struggling along another quarter of a mile a wheel
+of the surrey dished between two stones, and with a bump the axle struck
+the ground and the journey was promptly arrested.
+
+"What shall we do now?" asked Uncle John, much annoyed, as the party
+alighted to examine the wreck.
+
+"Send Thomas back to the village for another wheel" suggested the Major.
+
+"Not today!" cried Louise. "We mustn't appear in the village again this
+afternoon, on any account. It is absolutely necessary we should keep out
+of sight."
+
+"True," agreed Uncle John, promptly. "Thomas and Nora must picnic here
+all by themselves, until nearly midnight. Then they may drive the buggy
+home, leading Daniel behind them. It will be time enough tomorrow to get
+a new buggy wheel, and the broken surrey won't be in anybody's way until
+we send for it."
+
+If Old Hucks thought they had all gone crazy that day he was seemingly
+justified in the suspicion, for his master left the baskets of good
+things to be consumed by himself and Nora and started to walk to the
+farm, the Major and Louise accompanying him.
+
+"We mustn't loiter," said the girl, "for while West may wait until
+darkness falls to visit the farm, he is equally liable to arrive at any
+time this afternoon. He has seen us all depart, and believes the house
+deserted."
+
+But they were obliged to keep to the lane, where walking was difficult,
+and meantime Patsy and Beth were tripping easily along their woodland
+paths and making much better progress.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+CAUGHT.
+
+"We're early," said Beth, as they came to the edge of the woods and
+sighted the farm house; "but that is better than being late."
+
+Then she stopped suddenly with a low cry and pointed to the right wing,
+which directly faced them. Bob West turned the corner of the house,
+tried the door of Uncle John's room, and then walked to one of the
+French windows. The sash was not fastened, so he deliberately opened it
+and stepped inside.
+
+"What shall we do?" gasped Patsy, clasping her hands excitedly.
+
+Beth was always cool in an emergency.
+
+"You creep up to the window, dear, and wait till you hear me open the
+inside door," said she. "I'll run through the house and enter from the
+living-room. The key is under the mat, you know."
+
+"But what can we do? Oughtn't we to wait until Uncle John and father
+come?" Patsy asked, in a trembling voice.
+
+"Of course not. West might rob the cupboard and be gone by that time.
+We've got to act promptly, Patsy; so don't be afraid."
+
+Without further words Beth ran around the back of the house and
+disappeared, while Patsy, trying to control the beating of her heart,
+stole softly over the lawn to the open window of Uncle John's room.
+
+She could not help looking in, at the risk of discovery. Bob West--tall,
+lean and composed as ever--was standing beside the cupboard, the doors
+of which were wide open. The outer doors were of wood, panelled and
+carved; the inner ones were plates of heavy steel, and in the lock that
+secured these latter doors were the keys that had so long been missing.
+Both were attached to a slender silver chain.
+
+As Patsy peered in at the man West was engaged in deliberately examining
+packet after packet of papers, evidently striving to find the missing
+stock certificates. He was in no hurry, believing he would have the
+house to himself for several hours; so he tumbled Captain Wegg's
+souvenirs of foreign lands in a heap on the floor beside him, thrusting
+his hand into every corner of the cupboard in order that the search
+might be thorough. He had once before examined the place in vain; this
+time he intended to succeed.
+
+Presently West drew a cigar from his pocket, lighted it, and was about
+to throw the match upon the floor when the thought that it might later
+betray his presence made him pause and then walk to the open window. As
+he approached, Patsy became panic-stricken and, well knowing that she
+ought to run or hide, stood rooted to the spot, gazing half appealingly
+and half defiantly into the startled eyes of the man who suddenly
+confronted her.
+
+So for a moment they stood motionless. West was thinking rapidly. By
+some error be had miscounted the picnic party and this girl had been
+left at home. She had discovered his intrusion, had seen him at the
+cupboard, and would report the matter to John Merrick. This being the
+case, it would do him no good to retreat without accomplishing his
+purpose. If once he secured the stock certificates he could afford to
+laugh at his accusers, and secure them he must while he had the
+opportunity.
+
+So clearly did these thoughts follow one another that West's hesitation
+seemed only momentary. Without a word to the girl he tossed the match
+upon the grass, calmly turned his back, and started for the
+cupboard again.
+
+But here a new surprise awaited him. Brief as had been his absence,
+another girl had entered the room. Beth opened the door even as West
+turned toward the window, and, taking in the situation at a glance, she
+tiptoed swiftly to the cupboard, withdrew the keys from the lock and
+dropped them noiselessly into a wide-mouthed vase that stood on the
+table and was partially filled with flowers. The next instant West
+turned and saw her, but she smiled at him triumphantly. "Good afternoon,
+sir," said the girl, sweetly; "can I do anything to assist you?"
+
+West uttered an impatient exclamation and regarded Beth savagely.
+
+"Is the house full of girls?" he demanded.
+
+"Oh, no; Patsy and I are quite alone," she replied, with a laugh. "Come
+in, Patsy dear, and help me to entertain our guest," she added.
+
+Patsy came through the window and stood beside her cousin. The man
+stared at them, bit his lip, and then turned again to the cupboard. If
+he noted the absence of the keys he did not remark upon the fact, but
+with hurried yet thorough examination began anew to turn over the
+bundles of papers.
+
+Beth sat down and watched him, but Patsy remained standing behind her
+chair. West emptied all the shelves, and then after a pause took out his
+pocket knife and began tapping with its end the steel sides of the
+cupboard. There was no doubt he suspected the existence of a secret
+aperture, and Beth began to feel uneasy.
+
+Slowly the man worked his way downward, from shelf to shelf, and began
+to sound the bottom plates, wholly oblivious of the fascinated gaze of
+the two young girls. Then a sudden gruff ejaculation startled them all,
+and West swung around to find a new group of watchers outside the
+window. In the foreground appeared the stern face of John Merrick.
+
+The scene was intensely dramatic to all but the singular man who had
+been battling to retain a fortune. West knew in an instant that his
+attempt to secure the certificates was a failure. He turned from the
+cupboard, dusted his hands, and nodded gravely to the last arrivals.
+
+"Come in, Mr. Merrick," said he, seating himself in a chair and removing
+his hat, which he had been wearing. "I owe you an apology for intruding
+upon your premises in your absence."
+
+Uncle John strode into the room angry and indignant at the fellow's cool
+impertinence. The Major and Louise followed, and all eyes centered upon
+the face of Bob West.
+
+"The contents of this cupboard," remarked the hardware merchant, calmly,
+"belong to the estate of Captain Wegg, and can scarcely be claimed by
+you because you have purchased the house. You falsely accused me the
+other day, sir, and I have been searching for proof that the Almaquo
+Timber Tract stock is entirely my property."
+
+"Have you found such proof?" inquired Mr. Merrick.
+
+"Not yet."
+
+"And you say the stock was all issued to you?"
+
+West hesitated.
+
+"It was all transferred to me by Captain Wegg and Will Thompson."
+
+"Does the transfer appear upon the stock itself?"
+
+"Of course, sir."
+
+"In that case," said Uncle John, "I shall be obliged to ask your pardon.
+But the fact can be easily proved."
+
+He walked to the open cupboard, felt for the slide Joe had described to
+him, and drew it forward. A small drawer was behind the orifice, and
+from this Mr. Merrick drew a packet of papers.
+
+West gave a start and half arose. Then he settled back into his chair
+again.
+
+"H-m. This appears to be the stock in question," said Uncle John. He
+drew a chair to the table, unfolded the documents and examined them with
+deliberate care.
+
+The nieces watched his face curiously. Mr. Merrick first frowned, then
+turned red, and finally a stern, determined look settled upon his
+rugged features.
+
+"Take your stock, Mr. West," he said, tossing it toward the man; "and
+try to forgive us for making fools of ourselves!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+MR. WEST EXPLAINS.
+
+A cry of amazed protest burst from the girls. The Major whistled softly
+and walked to the window.
+
+"I find the stock properly transferred," continued Uncle John, grimly
+conscious that he was as thoroughly disappointed as the girls. "It is
+signed by both Wegg and Thompson, and witnessed in the presence of a
+notary. I congratulate you, Mr. West. You have acquired a fortune."
+
+"But not recently," replied the hardware dealer, enjoying the confusion
+of his recent opponents. "I have owned this stock for more than three
+years, and you will see by the amount endorsed upon it that I paid a
+liberal price for it, under the circumstances."
+
+Uncle John gave a start and a shrewd look.
+
+"Of course you did," said he. "On paper."
+
+"I have records to prove that both Captain Wegg and Will Thompson
+received their money," said West, quietly. "I see it is hard for you to
+abandon the idea that I am a rogue."
+
+There could be no adequate reply to this, so for a time all sat in moody
+silence. But the thoughts of some were busy.
+
+"I would like Mr. West to explain what became of the money he paid for
+this stock," said Louise; adding: "That is, if he will be so courteous."
+
+West did not answer for a moment. Then he said, with a gesture of
+indifference:
+
+"I am willing to tell all I know. But you people must admit that the
+annoyances you have caused me during the past fortnight, to say nothing
+of the gratuitous insults heaped upon my head, render me little inclined
+to favor you."
+
+"You are quite justified in feeling as you do," replied Uncle John,
+meekly. "I have been an ass, West; but circumstances warranted me in
+suspecting you, and even Joseph Wegg did not know that the Almaquo stock
+had been transferred to you. He merely glanced at it at the time of his
+father's death, without noticing the endorsement, and thought the fire
+had rendered it worthless. But if you then owned the stock, why was it
+not in your possession?"
+
+"That was due to my carelessness," was the reply. "The only notary
+around here is at Hooker's Falls, and Mr. Thompson offered to have him
+come to Captain Wegg's residence and witness the transfer. As my
+presence was not necessary for this, and I had full confidence in my
+friends' integrity, I paid them their money, which they were eager to
+secure at once, and said I would call in a few days for the stock. I did
+call, and was told the notary had been here and the transfer had been
+legally made. Wegg said he would get the stock from the cupboard and
+hand it to me; but we both forgot it at that time. After his death I
+could not find it, for it was in the secret drawer."
+
+"Another thing, sir," said Uncle John. "If neither Wegg nor Thompson was
+then interested in the Almaquo property, why did the news of its
+destruction by fire shock them so greatly that the result was Captain
+Wegg's death?"
+
+"I see it will be necessary for me to explain to you more fully,"
+returned West, with a thoughtful look. "It is evident, Mr. Merrick, from
+your questions, that some of these occurrences seem suspicious to a
+stranger, and perhaps you are not so much to be blamed as, in my
+annoyance and indignation, I have imagined."
+
+"I would like the matter cleared up for the sake of Ethel and Joe," said
+Mr. Merrick, simply.
+
+"And so would I," declared the hardware dealer. "You must know, sir,
+that Will Thompson was the one who first led Captain Wegg into investing
+his money. I think the Captain did it merely to please Will, for at that
+time he had become so indifferent to worldly affairs that he took no
+interest in anything beyond a mild wish to provide for his son's future.
+But Thompson was erratic in judgment, so Wegg used to bring their
+matters to me to decide upon. I always advised them as honestly as I was
+able. At the time I secured an option on the Almaquo tract, and wanted
+them to join me, Will Thompson had found another lot of timber, but
+located in an out-of-the-way corner, which he urged the Captain to join
+him in buying. Wegg brought the matter to me, as usual, and I pointed
+out that my proposed contract with the Pierce-Lane Lumber Company would
+assure our making a handsome profit at Almaquo, while Thompson had no
+one in view to cut the other tract. Indeed, it was far away from any
+railroad. Wegg saw the force of my argument, and insisted that Thompson
+abandon his idea and accept my proposition. Together we bought the
+property, having formed a stock company, and the contract for cutting
+the timber was also secured. Things were looking bright for us and
+royalty payments would soon be coming in.
+
+"Then, to my amazement, Wegg came to me and wanted to sell out their
+interests. He said Thompson had always been dissatisfied because they
+had not bought the other tract of timber, and that the worry and
+disappointment was affecting his friend's mind. He was personally
+satisfied that my investment was the best, but, in order to sooth old
+Will and prevent his mind from giving way, Wegg wanted to withdraw and
+purchase the other tract.
+
+"I knew there was a fortune in Almaquo, so I went to New York and
+mortgaged all I possessed, discounting a lot of notes given me by
+farmers in payment for machinery, and finally borrowing at a high rate
+of interest the rest of the money I needed. In other words I risked all
+my fortune on Almaquo, and brought the money home to pay Wegg and
+Thompson for their interest. The moment they received the payment they
+invested it in the Bogue tract--"
+
+"Hold on!" cried Uncle John. "What tract did you say?"
+
+"The Bogue timber tract, sir. It lies--"
+
+"I know where it lies. Our company has been a whole year trying to find
+out who owned it."
+
+"Wegg and Thompson bought it. I was angry at the time, because their
+withdrawal had driven me into a tight corner to protect my investment,
+and I told them they would bitterly regret their action. I think Wegg
+agreed with me, but Will Thompson was still stubborn.
+
+"Then came the news of the fire at Almaquo. It was a false report, I
+afterward learned, but at that time I believed the newspapers, and the
+blow almost deprived me of reason. In my excitement I rushed over to
+Wegg's farm and found the two men together, whereupon I told them I
+was ruined.
+
+"The news affected them powerfully because they had just saved
+themselves from a like ruin, they thought. Wegg was also a sympathetic
+man, in spite of his reserve. His old heart trouble suddenly came upon
+him, aggravated by the excitement of the hour, and he died with scarcely
+a moan. Thompson, whose reason was tottering long before this, became
+violently insane at witnessing his friend's death, and has never since
+recovered. That is all I am able to tell you, sir."
+
+"The Bogue tract," said Uncle John, slowly, "is worth far more than the
+Almaquo. Old Will Thompson was sane enough when insisting on that
+investment. But where is the stock, or deed, to show they bought that
+property?"
+
+"I do not know, sir. I only know they told me they had effected the
+purchase."
+
+"Pardon me," said the Major. "Have you not been through this cupboard
+before?"
+
+West looked at him with a frown.
+
+"Yes; in a search for my own stock," he said. "But I found neither that
+nor any deed to the Bogue property. I am not a thief, Major Doyle."
+
+"You stole the keys, though," said Louise, pointedly.
+
+"I did not even do that," said West. "On the day of the funeral Joe
+carelessly left them lying upon a table, so I slipped them into my
+pocket. When I thought of them again Joe had gone away and I did not
+know his address. I came over and searched the cupboard unsuccessfully.
+But it was not a matter of great importance at that time if the stock
+was mislaid, since there was no one to contest my ownership of it. It
+was only after Mr. Merrick accused me of robbing my old friends and
+ordered my payments stopped that I realized it was important to me to
+prove my ownership. That is why I came here today."
+
+Again a silence fell upon the group. Said Uncle John, finally:
+
+"If the deed to the Bogue tract can be found, Joe and Ethel will be
+rich. I wonder what became of the paper."
+
+No one answered, for here was another mystery.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+PEGGY HAS REVENGE.
+
+Joe Wegg made a rapid recovery, his strength returning under the
+influence of pleasant surroundings and frequent visits from Ethel and
+Uncle John's three nieces. Not a word was hinted to either the invalid
+or the school teacher regarding the inquiries Mr. Merrick was making
+about the deed to the Bogue timber lands, which, if found, would make
+the young couple independent. Joe was planning to exploit a new patent
+as soon as he could earn enough to get it introduced, and Ethel
+exhibited a sublime confidence in the boy's ability that rendered all
+question of money insignificant.
+
+Joe's sudden appearance in the land of his birth and his generally
+smashed up condition were a nine days' wonder in Millville. The gossips
+wanted to know all the whys and wherefores, but the boy kept his room in
+the hotel, or only walked out when accompanied by Ethel or one of the
+three nieces. Sometimes they took him to ride, as he grew better, and
+the fact that Joe "were hand an' glove wi' the nabobs" lent him a
+distinction he had never before possessed.
+
+McNutt, always busy over somebody else's affairs, was very curious to
+know what had caused the accident Joe had suffered. Notwithstanding the
+little affair of the letter, in which he had not appeared with especial
+credit, Peggy made an effort to interview the young man that resulted in
+his complete discomfiture. But that did not deter him from indulging in
+various vivid speculations about Joe Wegg, which the simple villagers
+listened to with attention. For one thing, he confided to "the boys" at
+the store that, in his opinion, the man who had murdered Cap'n Wegg had
+tried to murder his son also, and it wasn't likely Joe could manage to
+escape him a second time. Another tale evolved from Peggy's fertile
+imagination was that Joe, being about to starve to death in the city,
+had turned burglar and been shot in the arm in an attempt at
+housebreaking.
+
+"Wouldn't be s'prised," said the agent, in an awed voice, "ef the p'lice
+was on his track now. P'raps there's a reward offered, boys; let's keep
+an eye on him!"
+
+He waylaid the nieces once or twice, and tried to secure from them a
+verification of his somber suspicions, which they mischievously
+fostered.
+
+The girls found him a source of much amusement, and relieved their own
+disappointment at finding the "Wegg Mystery" a pricked bubble by getting
+McNutt excited over many sly suggestions of hidden crimes. They knew he
+was harmless, for even his neighbors needed proof of any assertion he
+made; moreover, the investigation Uncle John was making would soon set
+matters right; so the young ladies did not hesitate to "have fun" at the
+little agent's expense.
+
+One of McNutt's numerous occupations was raising a "patch" of
+watermelons each year on the lot back of the house. These he had
+fostered with great care since the plants had first sprouted through the
+soil, and in these late August days two or three hundreds of fine, big
+melons were just getting ripe. He showed the patch with much pride one
+day to the nieces, saying:
+
+"Here's the most extry-fine melling-patch in this county, ef I do say it
+myself. Dan Brayley he thinks he kin raise mellings, but the ol' fool
+ain't got a circumstance to this. Ain't they beauties?"
+
+"It seems to me," observed Patsy, gravely, "that Brayley's are just as
+good. We passed his place this morning and wondered how he could raise
+such enormous melons."
+
+"'Normous! Brayley's!"
+
+"I'm sure they are finer than these," said Beth.
+
+"Well, I'll be jiggered!" Peggy's eyes stared as they had never stared
+before. "Dan Brayley, he's a miser'ble ol' skinflint. Thet man couldn't
+raise decent mellings ef he tried."
+
+"What do you charge for melons, Mr. McNutt?" inquired Louise.
+
+"Charge? Why--er--fifty cents a piece is my price to nabobs; an' dirt
+cheap at that!"
+
+"That is too much," declared Patsy. "Mr. Brayley says he will sell his
+melons for fifteen cents each."
+
+"Him! Fifteen cents!" gasped Peggy, greatly disappointed. "Say,
+Brayley's a disturbin' element in these parts. He oughter go to jail fer
+asking fifteen cents fer them mean little mellings o' his'n."
+
+"They seem as large as yours," murmured Louise.
+
+"But they ain't. An' Brayley's a cheat an' a rascal, while a honester
+man ner me don't breathe. Nobody likes Brayley 'round Millville. Why,
+on'y las' winter he called me a meddler--in public!--an' said as I shot
+off my mouth too much. Me!"
+
+"How impolite."
+
+"But that's Dan Brayley. My mellings at fifty cents is better 'n his'n
+at fifteen."
+
+"Tell me," said Patsy, with a smile, "did you ever rob a melon-patch,
+Mr. McNutt?"
+
+"Me? I don't hev to. I grow 'em."
+
+"But the ones you grow are worth fifty cents each, are they not?"
+
+"Sure; mine is."
+
+"Then every time you eat one of your own melons you eat fifty cents. If
+you were eating one of Mr. Brayley's melons you would only eat
+fifteen cents."
+
+"And it would be Brayley's fifteen cents, too," added Beth, quickly.
+
+Peggy turned his protruding eyes from one to the other, and a smile
+slowly spread over his features.
+
+"By jinks, let's rob Brayley's melling-patch!" he cried.
+
+"All right; we'll help you," answered Patsy, readily.
+
+"Oh, my dear!" remonstrated Louise, not understanding.
+
+"It will be such fun," replied her cousin, with eyes dancing merrily.
+"Boys always rob melon-patches, so I don't see why girls shouldn't. When
+shall we do it, Mr. McNutt?"
+
+"There ain't any moon jest now, an' the nights is dark as blazes. Let's
+go ternight."
+
+"It's a bargain," declared Patsy. "We will come for you in the surrey at
+ten o'clock, and all drive together to the back of Brayley's yard and
+take all the melons we want."
+
+"It'll serve him right," said Peggy, delightedly. "Ol' Dan called me a
+meddler onc't--in public--an' I'm bound t' git even with him."
+
+"Don't betray us, sir," pleaded Beth.
+
+"I can't," replied McNutt, frankly; "I'm in it myself, an' we'll jest
+find out what his blame-twisted ol' fifteen-cent mellings is like."
+
+Patsy was overjoyed at the success of her plot, which she had conceived
+on the spur of the moment, as most clever plots are conceived. On the
+way home she confided to her cousins a method of securing revenge upon
+the agent for selling them the three copies of the "Lives of
+the Saints."
+
+"McNutt wants to get even with Brayley, he says, and we want to get even
+with McNutt. I think our chances are best, don't you?" she asked.
+
+And they decided to join the conspiracy.
+
+There was some difficulty escaping from Uncle John and the Major that
+night, but Patsy got them interested in a game of chess that was likely
+to last some hours, while Beth stole to the barn and harnessed Joe to
+the surrey. Soon the others slipped out and joined her, and with Patsy
+and Beth on the front seat and Louise Inside the canopy they drove
+slowly away until the sound of the horse's feet on the stones was no
+longer likely to betray them.
+
+McNutt was waiting for them when they quietly drew up before his house.
+The village was dark and silent, for its inhabitants retired early to
+bed. By good fortune the sky was overcast with heavy clouds and not even
+the glimmer of a star relieved the gloom.
+
+They put McNutt on the back seat with Louise, cautioned him to be quiet,
+and then drove away. Dan Brayley's place was two miles distant, but in
+answer to Peggy's earnest inquiry if she knew the way Beth declared she
+could find it blind-folded. In a few moments Louise had engaged the
+agent in a spirited discussion of the absorbing "mystery" and so
+occupied his attention that he paid no heed to the direction they had
+taken. The back seat was hemmed in by side curtains and the canopy, so
+it would be no wonder if he lost all sense of direction, even had not
+the remarks of the girl at his side completely absorbed him.
+
+Beth drove slowly down the main street, up a lane, back by the lake road
+and along the street again; and this programme was repeated several
+times, until she thought a sufficient distance had been covered to
+convince the agent they had arrived at Brayley's. They way was pitch
+dark, but the horse was sensible enough to keep in the middle of the
+road, so they met with no accident more than to jolt over a stone
+now and then.
+
+But now the most difficult part of the enterprise lay before them. The
+girls turned down the lane back of the main street and bumped over the
+ruts until they thought they had arrived at a spot opposite McNutt's own
+melon patch.
+
+"What's wrong?" asked the agent, as they suddenly stopped with a jerk.
+
+"This ought to be Brayley's," said Beth; "but it's so dark I'm not
+certain just where we are."
+
+McNutt thrust his head out and peered into the blackness.
+
+"Drive along a little," he whispered.
+
+The girl obeyed.
+
+"Stop--stop!" said he, a moment later. "I think that's them contwisted
+fifteen-cent mellings--over there!"
+
+They all got out and Beth tied the horse to the fence. Peggy climbed
+over and at once whispered:
+
+"Come on! It's them, all right."
+
+Through the drifting clouds there was just enough light to enable them
+to perceive the dark forms of the melons lying side by side upon their
+vines. The agent took out his big clasp knife and recklessly slashed one
+of them open.
+
+"Green's grass!" he grumbled, and slashed another.
+
+Patsy giggled, and the others felt a sudden irresistible impulse to join
+her.
+
+"Keep still!" cautioned McNutt. "Wouldn't ol' Dan be jest ravin' ef he
+knew this? Say--here's a ripe one. Hev a slice."
+
+They all felt for the slices he offered and ate the fruit without being
+able to see it. But it really tasted delicious.
+
+As the girls feasted they heard a crunching sound and inquired in low
+voices what it was.
+
+McNutt was stumping over the patch and plumping his wooden foot into
+every melon he could find, smashing them wantonly against the ground.
+The discovery filled them with horror. They had thought inducing the
+agent to rob his own patch of a few melons, while under the delusion
+that they belonged to his enemy Brayley, a bit of harmless fun; but here
+was the vindictive fellow actually destroying his own property by the
+wholesale.
+
+"Oh, don't! Please don't, Mr. McNutt!" pleaded Patsy, in frightened
+accents.
+
+"Yes, I will," declared the agent, stubbornly. "I'll git even with Dan
+Brayley fer once in my life, ef I never do another thing, by gum!"
+
+"But it's wrong--it's wicked!" protested Beth.
+
+"Can't help it; this is my chance, an' I'll make them bum fifteen-cent
+mellings look like a penny a piece afore I gits done with 'em."
+
+"Never mind, girls," whispered Louise. "It's the law of retribution.
+Poor Peggy will be sorry for this tomorrow."
+
+The man had not the faintest suspicion where he was. He knew his own
+melon patch well enough, having worked in it at times all the summer;
+but he had never climbed over the fence and approached it from the rear
+before, so it took on a new aspect to him from this point of view, and
+moreover the night was dark enough to deceive anybody.
+
+If he came across an especially big melon McNutt would lug it to the
+carriage and dump it in. And so angry and energetic was the little man
+that in a brief space the melon patch was a scene of awful devastation,
+and the surrey contained all the fruit that survived the massacre.
+
+Beth unhitched the horse and they all took their places in the carriage
+again, having some difficulty to find places for their feet on account
+of the cargo of melons. McNutt was stowed away inside, with Louise, and
+they drove away up the lane. The agent was jubilant and triumphant, and
+chuckled in gleeful tones that thrilled the girls with remorse as they
+remembered the annihilation of McNutt's cherished melons.
+
+"Ol' Dan usu'lly has a dorg," said Peggy, between his fits of laughter;
+"but I guess he had him chained up ternight."
+
+"I'm not positively sure that was Brayley's place," remarked Beth; "it's
+so very dark."
+
+"Oh, it were Brayley's, all right," McNutt retorted. "I could tell by
+the second-class taste o' them mellings, an' their measley little size.
+Them things ain't a circumstance to the kind I raise."
+
+"Are you sure?" asked Louise.
+
+"Sure's shootln'. Guess I'm a jedge o' mellings, when I sees 'em."
+
+"No one could see tonight," said Beth.
+
+"Feelin's jest the same," declared the little man, confidently.
+
+After wandering around a sufficient length of time to allay suspicion,
+Beth finally drew up before McNutt's house again.
+
+"I'll jest take my share o' them mellings," said Peggy, as he alighted.
+"They ain't much 'count, bein' Brayley's; but it'll save me an' the ol'
+woman from eatin' our own, or perhaps I kin sell 'em to Sam Cotting."
+
+He took rather more than his share of the spoils, but the girls had no
+voice to object. They were by this time so convulsed with suppressed
+merriment that they had hard work not to shriek aloud their laughter.
+For, in spite of the tragic revelations the morrow would bring forth,
+the situation was so undeniably ridiculous that they could not resist
+its humor.
+
+"I've had a heap o' fun," whispered McNutt. "Good night, gals. Ef ye
+didn't belong to thet gum-twisted nabob, ye'd be some pun'kins."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. McNutt. Good night."
+
+And it was not until well on their journey to the farm that the girls
+finally dared to abandon further restraint. Then, indeed, they made the
+grim, black hills of the plateau resound to the peals of their
+merry laughter.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+GOOD NEWS AT LAST.
+
+It was on the morning following this adventure that Uncle John received
+a bulky envelope from the city containing the result of the
+investigation he had ordered regarding the ownership of the Bogue tract
+of pine forest. It appeared that the company in which he was so largely
+interested had found the tract very valuable, and had been seeking for
+the owners in order to purchase it or lease the right to cut the timber.
+But although they had traced it through the hands of several successive
+owners the present holders were all unknown to them until Mr. Merrick's
+information had furnished them with a clue. A year ago the company had
+paid up the back taxes--two years overdue--in order to establish a claim
+to the property, and now they easily succeeded in finding the record of
+the deed from a certain Charles Walton to Jonas Wegg and William
+Thompson. The deed itself could not be found, but Uncle John considered
+the county record a sufficient claim to entitle the young folks to the
+property unless the ownership should be contested by others, which was
+not likely.
+
+Uncle John invited Ethel and Joe to dine with him that evening, and Mary
+was told the occasion merited the best menu she could provide. The young
+folks arrived without any idea of receiving more than a good dinner and
+the pleasure of mingling with the cordial, kindly household at the farm;
+but the general air of hilarity and good fellowship pervading the family
+circle this evening inspired the guests with like enthusiasm, and no
+party could be merrier than the one that did full justice to Mary's
+superior cookery.
+
+One of the last courses consisted of iced watermelon, and when it
+appeared the three girls eyed one another guiltily and then made frantic
+attempts to suppress their laughter, which was unseemly because no one
+but themselves understood the joke. But all else was speedily forgotten
+in the interest of the coming ceremony, which Mr. Merrick had carefully
+planned and prepared.
+
+The company was invited to assemble in the room comprising the spacious
+right wing, and when all were seated the little gentleman coughed to
+clear his throat and straightway began his preamble.
+
+He recited the manner in which Captain Wegg and Will Thompson, having
+money to invest, were led into an enterprise which Bob West had
+proposed, but finally preferred another venture and so withdrew their
+money altogether from the Almaquo tract.
+
+This statement caused both Joe and Ethel to stare hard, but they said
+nothing.
+
+"Your grandfather, Ethel," continued the narrator, "was much impressed
+by the value of another timber tract, although where he got his
+information concerning it I have been unable to discover. This piece of
+property, called the Bogue tract, was purchased by Wegg and Thompson
+with the money they withdrew from Almaquo, and still stands in
+their name."
+
+Then he recounted, quite frankly, his unjust suspicions of the hardware
+dealer, and told of the interview in which the full details of this
+transaction were disclosed by West, as well as the truth relating to the
+death of Captain Wegg and the sudden insanity and paralysis of old
+Will Thompson.
+
+Joe could corroborate this last, and now understood why Thompson had
+cried out that West's "good news" had killed his father. He meant, of
+course, their narrow escape from being involved in West's supposed ruin,
+for at that time no one knew the report of the fire was false.
+
+Finally, these matters being cleared up, Uncle John declared that the
+Pierce-Lane Lumber Company was willing to contract to cut the timber on
+the Bogue property, or would pay a lump sum of two hundred thousand
+dollars for such title to the tract as could be given. He did not add
+that he had personally offered to guarantee the title. That was an
+unnecessary bit of information.
+
+You may perhaps imagine the happiness this announcement gave Joe and
+Ethel. They could scarcely believe the good news was true, even when the
+kindly old gentleman, with tears in his eyes, congratulated the young
+couple on the fortune in store for them. The Major followed with a happy
+speech of felicitation, and then the three girls hugged the little
+school teacher rapturously and told her how glad they were.
+
+"I think, sir," said Joe, striving to curb his elation, "that it will be
+better in the end for us to accept the royalty. Don't you?"
+
+"I do, indeed, my boy," was the reply. "For if our people make an offer
+for the land of two hundred thousand you may rest assured it is worth
+much more. The manager has confided to me in his letter that if we are
+obliged to pay royalties the timber will cost us nearly double what it
+would by an outright purchase of the tract."
+
+"In that case, sir," began Joe, eagerly, "we will--"
+
+"Nonsense. The company can afford the royalty, Joe, for it is making a
+heap of money--more than I wish it were. One of my greatest trials is to
+take care of the money I've already made, and--"
+
+"And he couldn't do it at all without my help," broke in the Major.
+"Don't ye hesitate to take an advantage of him, Joseph, if ye can get
+it--which I doubt--for Mr. Merrick is most disgracefully rich already."
+
+"That's true," sighed the little millionaire. "So it will be a royalty,
+Joe. We are paying the same percentage to Bob West for the Almaquo
+tract, but yours is so much better that I am sure your earnings will
+furnish you and Ethel with all the income you need."
+
+They sat discoursing upon the happy event for some time longer, but Joe
+had to return to the hotel early because he was not yet strong enough to
+be out late.
+
+"Before I go, Mr. Merrick," he said, "I'd like you to give me my
+mother's picture, which is in the secret drawer of the cupboard. You
+have the keys, now, and Ethel is curious to see how my mother looked."
+
+Uncle John went at once to the cupboard and unlocked the doors. Joe
+himself pushed the slide and took out of the drawer the picture, which
+had lain just beneath the Almaquo stock certificates.
+
+The picture was passed reverently around. A sweet-faced, sad little
+woman it showed, with appealing eyes and lips that seemed to quiver even
+in the photograph.
+
+As Louise held it in her hand something induced her to turn it over.
+
+"Here is some writing upon the back," she said.
+
+Joe bent over and read it aloud. It was in his father's handwriting.
+
+"'Press the spring in the left hand lower corner of the secret drawer.'"
+
+"Hah!" cried Uncle John, while the others stared stupidly. "That's it!
+That's the information we've been wanting so long, Joseph!"
+
+He ran to the cupboard, even as he spoke, and while they all thronged
+about him thrust in his hand, felt for the spring, and pressed it.
+
+The bottom of the drawer lifted, showing another cavity beneath. From
+this the searcher withdrew a long envelope, tied with red tape.
+
+"At last, Joseph!" he shouted, triumphantly waving the envelope over his
+head. And then he read aloud the words docketed upon the outside:
+"'Warranty Deed and Conveyance from Charles Walton to Jonas Wegg and
+William Thompson.' Our troubles are over, my boy, for here is the key to
+your fortune."
+
+"Also," whispered Louise to her cousins, rather disconsolately, "it
+explains the last shred of mystery about the Wegg case. Heigh-ho! what a
+chase we've had for nothing!"
+
+"Not for nothing, dear," replied Patsy, softly, "for we've helped make
+two people happy, and that ought to repay us for all our anxiety
+and labor."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A knock was heard at the door, and Old Hucks entered and handed Mr.
+Merrick a paper.
+
+"He's waiting, sir," said he, ambiguously.
+
+"Oh, Tom--Tom!" cried Joe Wegg, rising to throw his arms around the old
+man's neck, "I'm rich, Tom--all my troubles are over--and Mr. Merrick
+has done it all--for Ethel and me!"
+
+The ever smiling face of the ancient retainer did not change, but his
+eyes softened and filled with tears as he hugged the boy close to
+his breast.
+
+"God be praised. Joe!" he said in a low voice. "I allus knew the
+Merricks 'd bring us luck."
+
+"What the devil does this mean?" demanded Uncle John at this juncture,
+as he fluttered the paper and glared angrily around.
+
+"What is it, dear?" inquired Louise.
+
+"See for yourself," he returned.
+
+She took the paper and read it, while Patsy and Beth peered over her
+shoulder. The following was scrawled upon a sheet of soiled stationery:
+
+
+"John Merrak, esquare, to
+  Marshall McMahon McNutt, detter.
+
+"To yur gals Smashin' 162 mellings at 50 cents a one
+  .....................$81.00
+    Pleas remitt & save trouble."
+
+The nieces screamed, laughing until they cried, while Uncle John
+spluttered, smiled, beamed, and then requested an explanation.
+
+Patsy told the story of the watermelon raid with rare humor, and it
+served to amuse everybody and relieve the strain that had preceded the
+arrival of McNutt's bill.
+
+"Did you say the man is waiting, Thomas?" asked Uncle John.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Here--give him five dollars and tell him to receipt the bill. If he
+refuses, I'll carry the matter to the courts. McNutt's a rascal, and a
+fool in the bargain; but we've had some of his melons and the girls have
+had five dollars' worth of fun in getting them. But assure him that this
+squares accounts, Thomas."
+
+Thomas performed his mission.
+
+McNutt rolled his eyes, pounded the floor with his stump to emphasize
+his mingled anger and satisfaction, and then receipted the bill.
+
+"It's jest five more'n I 'spected to git, Hucks," he said with a grin.
+"But what's the use o' havin' nabobs around, ef ye don't bleed 'em?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This story is one of the delightful "Aunt Jane Series" in which are
+chronicled the many interesting adventures in the lives of those
+fascinating girls and dear old "Uncle John." The other volumes can be
+bought wherever books are sold. A complete list of titles, which is
+added to from time to time, is given on page 3 of this book.
+
+(_ Complete catalog sent free on request._)
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUNT JANE'S NIECES AT MILLVILLE***
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