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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-23 14:09:59 -0800 |
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diff --git a/old/64430-h/64430-h.htm b/old/64430-h/64430-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 5035731..0000000 --- a/old/64430-h/64430-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6757 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - Josie O'Gorman and the Meddlesome Major, by Edith Van Dyne—A Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; page-break-after: always;} -div.titlepage p {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 2em;} - - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - - - -.tdr {text-align: right;} - -.pagenum { - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - font-variant: normal; -} - - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.ph1 {text-align: center; font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;} -.ph2 {text-align: center; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;} - -.u {text-decoration: underline;} - -.xxlarge {font-size: 175%;} -.xlarge {font-size: 150%;} -.large {font-size: 125%;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold; text-align: center;} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; - page-break-inside: avoid; - max-width: 100%; -} - -.poetry-container {text-align: center;} -.poetry {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} -.poetry .verse {text-indent: -2.5em; padding-left: 3em;} -.poetry .first {text-indent: -2.5em; padding-left: 2.5em;} - -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; - padding: 1em 1em 1em 1em; - margin-bottom: 5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Josie O'Gorman and the Meddlesome Major, by Emma Speed Sampson</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Josie O'Gorman and the Meddlesome Major</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Emma Speed Sampson</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: Isabel Bush Mack</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 31, 2021 [eBook #64430]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Mary Glenn Krause, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Library of Congress)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSIE O'GORMAN AND THE MEDDLESOME MAJOR ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" width="40%" alt="" /></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<h1> -Josie O’Gorman<br /> -and the<br /> -Meddlesome Major</h1> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_frontispiece.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<p class="caption">The package tore and disclosed a mass of filmy -lace.—Chapter VII</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_titlepage.jpg" alt="" /></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<p><span class="xxlarge">Josie O’Gorman</span><br /> - -<span class="large">and the</span><br /> - -<span class="xlarge">Meddlesome Major</span></p> - - -<p>By<br /> - -<span class="large">Edith Van Dyne</span><br /> -Author of<br /> - -The Mary Louise Stories,<br /> -and Josie O’Gorman</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_titlepage-detail.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<p>Frontispiece by<br /> -Isabel Bush Mack</p> - -<p><span class="large">The Reilly & Lee Co.<br /> -Chicago</span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"><span class="u"><i>Printed in the United States of America</i></span><br /> -<br /> - -<i>Copyright, 1924<br /> -by</i><br /> -The Reilly & Lee Co.<br /> -<br /> -<i>All Rights Reserved</i><br /> - -<br /> -<i>Josie O’Gorman and the Meddlesome Major</i></p></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="table"> - -<tr><td class="tdr"><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td> </td><td class="tdr"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">I</td><td> <span class="smcap">Josie Becomes a Sales Girl</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_7"> 7</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">II</td><td> <span class="smcap">The New Home on Meadow Street</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_19"> 19</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">III</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Neighbors in Apartment 3</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_31"> 31</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">IV</td><td> <span class="smcap">Josie’s Little Black Book</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_44"> 44</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">V</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Major Takes Up a Trail</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_54"> 54</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VI</td><td> <span class="smcap">Too Many Detectives</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_67"> 67</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VII</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Meddlesome Major Calls</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_79"> 79</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VIII</td><td> <span class="smcap">Mary Keeps the Faith</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_87"> 87</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">IX</td><td> <span class="smcap">Who Is Miss Fauntleroy?</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_98"> 98</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">X</td><td> “<span class="smcap">The Watermelons Have Come</span>”</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_109"> 109</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XI</td><td> <span class="smcap">Mrs. Leslie Won to the Cause</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_118"> 118</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XII</td><td> <span class="smcap">A Boarding House Hero</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_129"> 129</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIII</td><td> <span class="smcap">Jimmy Blaine Gets a Scoop</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_141"> 141</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIV</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Quarrel Next Door</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_151"> 151</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XV</td><td> <span class="smcap">Josie Sets a Trap</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_160"> 160</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVI</td><td> <span class="smcap">Mrs. Leslie Turns Detective</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_171"> 171</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVII</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Girl in the Red Tam</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_182"> 182</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVIII</td><td> <span class="smcap">Josie O’Gorman’s Victory</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_191"> 191</a></td></tr> -</table> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span> - -<p class="ph1">Josie and the Meddlesome<br /> -Major</p> -</div> - -<p> </p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br /> - -<small>JOSIE BECOMES A SALES GIRL</small></h2> - - -<p>“Not much on looks!”</p> - -<p>“Who?”</p> - -<p>“That new girl the boss has just hired. Got -no style to speak of. I reckon they’ll begin her -at the notion counter. It don’t take much looks -to hold down a job there.”</p> - -<p>“Brains, perhaps!” suggested a trim looking -girl with twinkling grey eyes and wavy brown -hair, noticeable in that it was not so elaborately -coiffured as her companions’. “My opinion is, -Gertie Wheelan, that Mr. Burnett thinks more -about brains than beauty where his business is -concerned.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you fool yourself, Jane Morton. He -may hire a plain one now and then because the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span> -good lookers give out, but take it from me, there -ain’t a man livin’ that don’t fall for beauty.”</p> - -<p>“Well, since you are already so pretty, Gertie, -suppose you give us folks that run to brains a -chance to doll up a bit. You’ve been standing in -front of that looking glass for ten minutes and -lunch hour’s most up,” said a stylish little black-eyed -girl who might have laid claim to beauty as -well as wit.</p> - -<p>“Stop shoving me, Min,” begged Gertie. -“Here, get in front of me. I can see over your -head, you are such a little thing.”</p> - -<p>“I’m young yet,” snapped back Min. “By -the time I am as old as you are I may grow -some.”</p> - -<p>Age was Gertie’s tender point and Min’s sally -drew a delighted laugh from the girls assembled -in the employees’ room of the department store -of Burnett & Burnett.</p> - -<p>While they were talking and laughing and -primping a young girl quietly entered the room, -so quietly that she had removed her hat and -wrap and put them away in the locker room before -the group around the mirror was even aware of -her presence. It was the new girl and Gertie -Wheelen was right—she was not much on looks,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span> -even less than that according to the standards of -the employees of Burnett & Burnett. She was -small, sandy haired, and her features, while not -displeasing, were without distinction; eyes pale -blue and nose more or less shapeless. Her mouth -showed character and her teeth were white and -even. Her complexion was good, being clear and -healthy with a sprinkling of freckles over the -formless nose.</p> - -<p>Gertie was wrong about the lack of style. Josie -O’Gorman, while not modish, had style; a style -that was all her own. She managed by arrangement -of hair and cut of gown to look enough like -other persons to pass unnoticed in a crowd, and -yet Josie’s dress changed but little with the passing -fashions and her intimate friends declared -that the only alteration of hair dressing she ever -indulged in was to show her ears or not show her -ears according to the latest decree of fashion. -Her dress was always immaculate and always the -same—in the winter, blue serge with white collars -and cuffs for the day, and white canton crepe -trimmed with lace for evening; in the summer -blue linen took the place of the blue serge and -the canton crepe gave way to white linen or organdy. -Her immaculate state was due to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> -fact that she had many gowns of the same model -and innumerable collars and cuffs which she always -laundered herself.</p> - -<p>“That’s her now,” said Gertie as she caught -a glimpse of the new girl in the mirror over Min’s -head.</p> - -<p>“She!” corrected Jane Morton. “The last -lecture on salesmanship laid especial stress on the -importance of good English.”</p> - -<p>Josie bowed politely and smiled pleasantly but -impersonally at the girls.</p> - -<p>“How do you do?” said Jane. “I hope you -will like Burnett & Burnett’s. It is really a great -place to work. I want to introduce you to the -girls.”</p> - -<p>“Glad to meet all of you—my name’s Josie -O’Gorman.”</p> - -<p>“Where are you to begin?” asked Gertie.</p> - -<p>“Tapes, darning cotton and the like.”</p> - -<p>“What did I tell you?” Gertie whispered audibly -to Min.</p> - -<p>“It is a good counter,” said Min. “It’s in the -middle of the store where you can see everything -that goes on. I tell you a lot is going on here -lately—more ‘kleps’ have been busy. I’ve been -working for Burnett & Burnett ever since I was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span> -a kid and I know they have lost more in the last -month than they have since I was a cash girl. -Seems like things just vanish. It certainly made -me hot when that box of point lace just disappeared -off the face of the earth. I wish Mr. Burnett -would take me away from the lace counter -and put me over with the safety pins. Nobody -ever bothers to steal safety pins from a shop but -just borrows them from friends.”</p> - -<p>Josie laughed and decided she was going to -like little Min and Jane Morton.</p> - -<p>“Do you think somebody stole the whole box -of point lace?” Josie asked.</p> - -<p>“No I don’t think it—I <i>know</i> it. One minute -it was there and the next minute it wasn’t there. -I reported it the second that I missed it and Major -Simpson, the detective, got busy right off but -it was remnant day and the store was packed and -jammed with bargain hunters and that lace was -gone and gone for good. I sure did feel bad about -it. I had to go up to the office and answer a million -questions and before they got through with -me I felt like I had swallowed the stuff and it was -choking me. There was about five hundred dollars -worth of lace in that box.”</p> - -<p>“Well how’d you like to be me and have some<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span> -woman walk off with a whole bottle of perfume at -ten dollars an ounce?” asked Gertie. “Old Burnett -was sniffin’ around me so any body’d a -thought I’d taken a bath in the stuff. I just -howled and cried to beat the band. I made so -much racket it took six floor walkers and the boss -to pacify me and they finally sent me home in a -taxi. I reckon the next time a thief gets busy at -the toilet goods counter they won’t call on me -to testify.”</p> - -<p>“Your tears cost ten dollars an ounce, do -they?” laughed Josie.</p> - -<p>“Exactly!”</p> - -<p>“I fawncy the thief is someone from the outside,” -drawled a girl who had hitherto been silent -and who had been introduced to Josie as Miss -Fauntleroy either because Jane Morton did not -know her first name or did not care to use it. Miss -Fauntleroy was a very striking looking young -woman, tall, slender, and broad shouldered; a decided -brunette with wonderfully arched brows and -lashes long enough to marcel, at least so her co-workers -at Burnett & Burnett’s declared. Her -blue-black hair was done after the latest mode, -with waves and puffs and ringlets galore and -never a lock out of place even after the strenuous<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span> -ordeal of bargain day. Her voice was a deep -contralto with a slightly foreign intonation, -although she had divulged to Min that she was -born in Hoboken, New Jersey, and intimated that -she had cultivated the drawl and accent because -she considered it elegant.</p> - -<p>Of course Min had handed this information -on to her best friends and it had become common -property at the department store that Miss -Fauntleroy was not near so mysterious as she -would have one think. Her hands and feet were -large but her shoes were stylishly cut and her -nails showed much care and attention. She -walked with a slow swinging gait and seemed -never to be in a hurry, even when closing hour -was approaching. She had proven herself an efficient -saleswoman in the jewel and novelty department.</p> - -<p>Josie O’Gorman’s ostensible business at Burnett -& Burnett’s was the selling of tapes and -darning cotton, and so ably did she play the part -of shop girl that no one but her employers -dreamed she was there for any other purpose. -There was nothing in the girl’s appearance to indicate -that she was the cleverest detective of her -age and sex in the United States.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span>Shoplifting had developed into a serious matter -in the department store of Burnett & Burnett, -so serious that they had found it necessary to call -in outside help on their detective force. Up to -this time the detective force had been more or -less of a farce since it was what the younger -member of the firm, Mr. Theodore Burnett, designated -as an inherited failing, one handed down -from father to son to grandsons. The “force” -consisted of one old gentleman known as Major -Simpson.</p> - -<p>“I’m not saying poor old Simpson is not a -good man, as good as they make them,” Mr. Theodore -Burnett said to Josie when she reported to -the firm in regard to entering their employ.</p> - -<p>“Good man but poor detective,” put in the -elder brother, Mr. Charles Burnett. “See here, -Miss O’Gorman, we’ve got you over here from -Dorfield because Captain Lonsdale has recommended -you so highly. I fancy there are detectives -right here in our own city of Wakely that -could do the business for us but you understand -we don’t want poor old Simpson to know we are -employing outside help. He is very touchy—”</p> - -<p>“And very conceited!” interrupted Mr. Theodore.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span>“Be that as it may, we don’t want to hurt his -feelings as he has been with the firm from the beginning. -My grandfather stated in his will that -Major Simpson should have a job with us as long -as he wanted it and after that was to be pensioned.”</p> - -<p>“But the old duck refuses to be pensioned although -we offered to pay him more for not working -than for working,” laughed Mr. Theodore.</p> - -<p>“I rather like that in him,” said Josie. “But -now to come down to what you want me to do. As -I understand it I am to be employed by you secretly -and you are to turn me loose, giving me -carte blanche as to my methods.”</p> - -<p>“Ahem!” hesitated Mr. Charles, who had his -own idea about how everything connected with -the department store should be run. “N-n-ot exactly.”</p> - -<p>“Of course you are to work it your own way,” -put in Theodore. “My brother just means he’d -take it as a favor if you report to us now and -then.”</p> - -<p>“Naturally! Well then, in the first place perhaps -I had better have another name to start with -as somebody may know my true name. Not because -of my own reputation as a detective—I have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span> -none to speak of—but because of my father’s. -Perhaps you are aware of the fact that my father -was one of the most able detectives in America, -and that means the world, because we are up with -the French and ahead of the Russians in the detective -business.”</p> - -<p>The Burnetts did not know it but they had the -tact to pretend they did, so Josie’s one tender -point was spared a jab. Mary Smith was agreed -upon as a good working name and the notion -counter as a fair vantage point from which to -view the comings and goings of possible shoplifters.</p> - -<p>“I should like a list of the names and addresses -of all your employees,” suggested Josie.</p> - -<p>“Certainly, Miss O’Gorman,” agreed the -brothers.</p> - -<p>“Smith! Just forget my name is O’Gorman, -please.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, sure! Miss Smith!”</p> - -<p>At this juncture there came a light knock on the -door and without waiting for permission a dapper -little old gentleman entered the private office of -the president. Josie decided that the new comer -was as pompous in the back as he was in the front -and when he seated himself stiffly in a high backed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> -chair she came to the conclusion that he had -achieved something which she had hitherto considered -impossible—for a person to be as pompous -sitting down as standing up. Evidently there -was no doubt in the old gentleman’s mind that he -was a more important personage than either the -president or vice-president of Burnett & Burnett’s. -As for the little sandy haired shop girl, -who was no doubt being employed by the firm—she -was of no importance whatsoever.</p> - -<p>“I wish to speak with you alone, Mr. Charles. -Of course Mr. Theodore may remain if he so desires, -but—” he looked meaningly at Josie, -“others may retire. New girl, I presume.”</p> - -<p>“Yes—let me introduce you to Miss O’Gorman, -Major Simpson,” said the senior member -of the firm.</p> - -<p>“Smith,” hastily corrected the junior member. -Major Simpson did not hear the correction and -Josie was registered on the tablets of the old gentleman’s -memory as O’Gorman and O’Gorman -she was forced to remain, since it was deemed -wiser not to take the present incumbent of house -detective into their confidence and being introduced -by one name and employed by another -would certainly have caused suspicion.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span>“I am sorry Brother Charles made the break,” -Theodore said as he accompanied Josie to the elevator, -leaving his brother alone with Major Simpson.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s all right,” laughed Josie. “I’m -not much on aliases anyhow and really prefer -working in my own name. Please let me have the -list of employees and their addresses as soon as -possible.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER II<br /> - - -<small>THE NEW HOME ON MEADOW STREET</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>Wakely classed itself as a city, while Dorfield -was content to be listed as a mere town that might -someday grow up. In spite of its size, Wakely -seemed to our young detective to be a very lonesome -place on that first Sunday she was compelled -to spend away from all her dear friends in Dorfield, -where she had lived since her father’s death. -There were plenty of people in Wakely, too many -people, in fact, making the housing problem a -serious one. But nobody knew Josie and nobody -cared to know her. Nobody paid the least attention -to her at the beautiful old church where she -had gone to worship in the morning; nobody -spoke to her at the clean little restaurant where -she had eaten her Sunday dinner; and now as -she sat on a bench in the city park, nobody in all -the surging throngs out for the usual Sunday -stroll even so much as glanced her way.</p> - -<p>Josie was not inclined to be lonesome. She was -too interested in people and things to think very<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> -much of her own aloneness, but there were times -when in spite of herself she felt a crying need for -a real home of her own; something more than the -partitioned off rear end of a shop, which was -where she had been living for some time before -coming to Wakely. The place was called The -Higgledy Piggledy Shop, conducted by Josie and -her friends Elizabeth Wright and Irene Mae Farlane, -and they had managed it to their profit and -to the delectation of the citizens of Dorfield, who -found in it a long felt want.</p> - -<p>If the Higgledy Piggledies did not have what -you wanted they would get it for you, and if they -could not do what you wished done they would -see to it that someone else did do it. For Josie -the shop was in reality a side line of the detective -business, but it was of great interest to her -and she missed the gay chatter of the partners, -the daily visits of her dear Mary Louise—young -Mrs. Danny Dexter—and she sorely missed the -kindly interest and advice of Captain Charlie -Lonsdale, the Chief of Police of Dorfield. He it -was who had so highly recommended Josie to Burnett -& Burnett.</p> - -<p>“I almost wish he hadn’t,” sighed Josie as -she sat on the park bench in the wintry sunshine<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> -and watched the people of Wakely swarm past. -“I don’t care much who steals the stupid old dry-goods. -It’s a dull job and I’d be glad to be out -of it.”</p> - -<p>“Hello! There’s somebody I know—but who -on earth is it? Where have I seen that boy before? -Certainly I don’t remember ever having -laid eyes on his companions, rare birds that they -are!”</p> - -<p>Many persons pride themselves on never forgetting -a face, but Josie might have patted herself -on the back for never forgetting a pair of -shoulders, a set of head, a contour of cheek or -chin. However, she was completely baffled by the -youth who had passed her as she sat on the hard, -cold bench. Our little detective was irritated that -she could not remember where she had seen that -turn of cheek and line of shoulder, so irritated -that she decided the seat in the park was very uncomfortable -and she would trail along behind the -trio and find out something about them. Her -curiosity was idle but was it not Sunday afternoon? -Why not let curiosity be idle as well as -persons?</p> - -<p>The man and woman walking with the youth -appeared too young to be the father and mother<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> -of the boy and too old to be brother and sister, -yet there was an intangible resemblance to both -that led Josie to conclude they were his parents. -The man was swarthy, black-eyed, and flashily -dressed in a checked suit, gray spats and a brown -derby. He walked with a slight swagger, twirling -a slender cane in his lemon colored gloved hand.</p> - -<p>The woman was small, inclined to be stout, and -a great mop of henna colored hair elaborately -dressed in waves and puffs defied oversight and -invited scrutiny. She wore a handsome fur cloak -and a purple velvet hat. Her cheeks and lips were -tinted a bright coral and her nose was powdered -like a marshmallow. In spite of the paint and -powder there was something youthful and attractive -about the woman. She walked with a light -step and had a gay bird-like manner.</p> - -<p>The younger man, or boy—he looked about -eighteen, Josie decided—had an elegance that his -companions lacked, although they would have been -greatly astonished had they been told that the -quiet unimportant little person, whom they had -passed in the park and who later had passed them -on the sidewalk, considered them anything but the -last cry of elegance and fashion. Josie was able -to get a good look at the trio at a crossing. Undoubtedly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span> -the boy was the son of the bizarre -couple. He had his father’s bold black eyes and -his mother’s delicate tilted nose and softly -rounded cheek.</p> - -<p>“Where—where have I seen him before?” -Josie asked herself. “Never mind, I’ll remember -someday. In the mean time I think I’ll find -out where they live—not that it is any of my business—but -one never can tell when information -will come in handy in this business of detecting -criminals. Anyhow I don’t trust those two, although -I reckon the boy is all right. He looks too -young to be anything else but all right and he -looks honest, at least he looks honest in contrast -to his father. My opinion is that the old one is in -checks now but has been in stripes, or should have -been. I wonder what they do. People, I’ll bet -anything, and they do them brown while they are -about it.”</p> - -<p>Josie stopped to look in a window in order to -let the trio get ahead of her and then nonchalantly -followed them at a safe distance. They -talked animatedly and their gestures were decidedly -foreign-like in their swift and jerky repetition. -It was impossible for Josie to catch what -they were saying without seeming too interested<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span> -in them, but it was easy to see that both man and -woman were endeavoring to pacify the youth and -persuade him to do something to which he was -opposed. Once he stopped short on the sidewalk -and Josie came within earshot as the boy said -in a tone of suppressed violence:</p> - -<p>“I tell you I’m sick of the whole game. I’m -going to quit!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Roy, darling, not just now,” purred the -woman, and Josie noted that the R in Roy and -darling was softly rolled, giving a slightly foreign -accent. “Not now when—” but the woman whispered -the rest and the listener could not hear what -was the big reason for not quitting just yet, nor -could she gather what the game was that Roy -wanted to quit.</p> - -<p>The man said nothing, merely stood gnawing -his moustache in a manner highly melodramatic -and cut the air viciously with his slender cane. -Josie loitered after them, wondering what part -of the city they lived in, what they did for a living, -and in the back of her brain was always the -question: “Where have I seen the boy before?”</p> - -<p>Josie was stopping for the time being at a -hotel, though she realized it would never do for -it to be known that a shop girl was living so extravagantly.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span> -Early in life Josie O’Gorman had -learned from her illustrious father that in the detective -business no detail was too small to be -overlooked. If one was supposed to be a shop -girl then one must live, eat, dress, act and talk -like a shop girl. After three days at Burnett & -Burnett’s Josie had come to the conclusion that -shop girls were like any other wage earning girls, -some silly, some clever; some educated, some ignorant; -some inclined to put all their earnings on -their backs, some saving up for a rainy day; but -none of them were able to live in hotels. So, to -play the part, she must bestir herself and find -other quarters. The firm was paying her handsomely -for her time and she could well afford to -keep her comfortable room and bath. She was -tempted to do it and give a false address if any -of the girls should ask her where she lived but -she remembered one of her father’s favorite -sayings:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“Oh, what a tangled web we weave</div> -<div class="verse">When first we practice to deceive.”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>This old saying had decided the matter for her -and on that Sunday afternoon she had armed herself -with clippings from the “Boarders Wanted” -column in the morning paper and was determined<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> -to go the rounds and settle herself as soon as -possible. The trio she was following turned the -corner. Josie turned after them. Glancing at -the street sign she read that she was on Meadow -Street. Several of the ads were on Meadow -Street. She ran quickly through them.</p> - -<p>The man, woman and youth went in at No. 11. -It was a shabby, drab looking apartment house. -Yes, there was a room for rent in that very -house—“Widow and daughter wish to rent room -to young business woman. 11 East Meadow, -apartment 4.”</p> - -<p>Josie had liked the ad from the beginning. -“They don’t flaunt their own refinement in their -ad and they say business woman instead of business -lady. They delicately inform the public that -there is no brute of a husband around. On the -whole I believe I’ll rent a room at 11 East Meadow. -I can keep my eye on those flashy folk if -I do. I suppose it’s none of my business—but -one never can tell.”</p> - -<p>Josie noticed that the interesting trio went in -the house without ringing one of the bells displayed -in the lobby. “That means they either -live here or are intimate with someone who does,” -was her conclusion.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span>Apartment 4 proved to be one of the back ones -on the lower floor. The family who had so interested -Josie had entered the one marked 3. After -ringing the bell of No. 4, Josie had peered into -the dark hall and had plainly seen the fur coat -of the henna haired woman disappear through the -door after the man in the checked suit had opened -it with a latch key.</p> - -<p>“That settles me,” thought Josie. “I’ll take -this room if the widow and her daughter turn out -to be most undesirable landladies in Wakely.”</p> - -<p>Fortunately they turned out to be pleasant folk -who had seen better days, to which the refinement -and taste in the furnishings of their living room -gave mute evidence. The tiny bedroom advertised -for rent suited Josie perfectly; suited also the -part she must play as a new shop girl at Burnett -& Burnett’s with but little money to spend on -sleeping quarters.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie did hemstitching and fine embroidery -to eke out the salary her daughter made as a -stenographer. The home was neat, and while -Josie’s room had only one very small window, it -did not open on a court but had a view of a small -back yard which Mrs. Leslie informed her would -later prove a great pleasure to them all.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span>“It is really quite sweet, and the janitor says -that in the spring we may plant all the seeds there -we want to. Mary and I will be much happier if -we have a place where we can dig. We never -quite get over longing for the country.”</p> - -<p>Everything being satisfactory, Josie moved in -that very evening, the question of references being -waived because Mrs. Leslie had a feeling when -she looked in Josie’s honest face that she was going -to like her; and since one of the trusted employees -of Burnett & Burnett’s came from her -county that fact was enough to guarantee the -goodness of any one of his fellow employees.</p> - -<p>“We are sorry not to give you your meals,” -said Mrs. Leslie, “but Mary and I live so simply.”</p> - -<p>“You couldn’t live too simply for me,” declared -Josie, “but I wouldn’t be any trouble to -you for worlds. I can easily get my meals at one -of the many restaurants near here.”</p> - -<p>“Oh Mother, couldn’t we?” asked Mary. -“Anyhow just breakfast—” and Mrs. Leslie decided -they could manage breakfast and dinner -too. So Josie was installed as a lodger and -boarder and soon the lonesome feeling departed -as she began to think that perhaps Wakely was -not such a dismally lonely city after all.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span>The Leslies were a gentle, pleasant, kindly pair, -and Josie was sorely tempted to tell them all -about herself; how she happened to be in Wakely -and what her real profession was. But she remembered -in time what her father used to say, -holding up a forefinger in impressive fashion:</p> - -<p>“You know and I know and that makes eleven.”</p> - -<p>So Josie held her tongue. She was such an -“eloquent listener” that persons were inclined -to tell her all about themselves and to forget to -ask for the story of her life. The Leslies were -like most others and found themselves chatting -away to their new lodger with little or no restraint. -She found out they were strangers in Wakely, -having lived there only two months, knowing very -few people in the town and none of the fellow -tenants.</p> - -<p>“We don’t even know the people who live right -next to us,” said Mary. “Mother says she is -glad we don’t but I must confess I’d rather like -to know the boy. He is so handsome and kind of -sad looking. I can’t say much for the sister, -though. She is handsome enough but at times a -little coarse and rough. The boy is at home only -on Saturday afternoons and Sunday. I have an -idea he and his sister are not on very good terms.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span> -I have never yet seen them go anywhere together. -I can’t see why, because if I had a brother I’d be -tagging on after him all the time.”</p> - -<p>“Especially if he were such a good looking -brother as you say this young man next door -is,” laughed Josie.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER III<br /> - - -<small>THE NEIGHBORS IN APARTMENT 3</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>Josie reported for work bright and early Monday -morning, so early that she was able to have -a private interview with Mr. Theodore Burnett -before the business of selling notions was booked -to begin. He had the list of employees and their -addresses all neatly typed, also in what department -of the store each one worked.</p> - -<p>“I may not be able to keep up the farce of -selling notions for very long,” Josie explained to -him. “You may have to pretend to suspend me -or something so I can have time to be a detective -but I’d like to hang on there for a few days so I -can get the run of things.”</p> - -<p>“Suit yourself, young lady! We are in your -hands. By the way, old Major Simpson was -rather curious about you. I do not understand -why he wanted to know so much about you.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t either. Perhaps he met my father in -days gone by.”</p> - -<p>Whatever the reason, Josie could but notice<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span> -that the pompous old detective spent a great deal -of time hanging around the notion counter. He -seemed to be vastly interested in what she was -doing and was constantly bumping into her whenever -she left her department. She even fancied -he dogged her footsteps when she went out to -lunch, and was sure that he followed her all the -way home.</p> - -<p>“It can’t be my beauty that is attracting him, -because there is no such thing; and it can’t be my -wit, for he has not heard me say a word. It must -be that I look like my father and somewhere in -his profession as detective he met my father.”</p> - -<p>It was a well known fact that Detective O’Gorman -had been one of the homeliest men in the -service, but such was his little daughter’s admiration -for him that she never could get a compliment -that pleased her so much as for someone to -say she resembled him in the slightest degree.</p> - -<p>“Old Major Simpson would have been a joke -to him, but there may be some intelligence in the -old fellow after all. There certainly is if he admired -my father.” So thought Josie as she -walked through the streets of Wakely, conscious -that a bombastic old gentleman was dogging her -footsteps. In her work of selling notions she was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> -sure that never a paper of pins was sold by her -without the house detective’s knowledge. At first -it irritated her, but in the end she found it an -amusing game to elude his watchful eye.</p> - -<p>By carefully studying the list of employees she -soon was able to fit name to face over the whole -store and place each person in his or her proper -department. Then came the job of finding the -address of each employee.</p> - -<p>“It seems to me important to know if any of -them are living beyond their means,” she explained -to Mr. Theodore when he asked her why -she went to work in such a systematic manner. -“When persons begin to do that, then it’s time -to look out. They have a motive for getting-rich-quick, -and sometimes when there is a motive the -action follows fast.”</p> - -<p>Poor old Major Simpson had a hard time keeping -up with Josie. Every evening after the store -was closed the girl made it her business to check -off a certain number of fellow workers, quietly -rounding up their homes, sometimes walking with -them under a pretext of having business in their -neighborhoods, sometimes merely following them. -The panting and puffing detective lost the scent -continually, and then Josie felt sorry for him and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span> -made it easier for him the next time. Gradually -she made friends with the employees, careful always -to be the listener and for that reason universally -popular. So completely did she efface -herself when she happened to make one of a crowd -that the girls would actually forget her presence.</p> - -<p>Miss Fauntleroy, the tall handsome girl at the -jewel counter, was one person to whom Josie -found it difficult to make up. She had a cold manner -and attended strictly to business. The address -given on the list was a suburban one, 10 Linden -Row, Linden Heights, and Josie was forced to -put off looking into her surroundings until the -winter weather abated somewhat in its ferocity.</p> - -<p>“Not that I mind the weather,” she said to -herself, “but it would be too bad to take the old -Major out where there are no paved streets while -snow is up to one’s knees. He might catch his -death.”</p> - -<p>There was a let up in the shoplifting, no trouble -having occurred since Josie entered the employ -of Burnett & Burnett. She had been with them -two weeks and except for the fact that she proved -to be an able saleswoman of notions, she had accomplished -nothing.</p> - -<p>“You had better dismiss me and let me go<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> -back home,” she said to Mr. Theodore. “You -certainly have no need of me here, and the Higgledy -Piggledy Shop is missing me sorely.”</p> - -<p>“Not at all!” declared the junior member of -the firm. “We have plenty of need of you. It -may be that there is no shoplifting because the -thief is afraid of you.”</p> - -<p>“But how could he know I was here?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps others know of the fame of your -father as well as old Simpson.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps—but after all I am not supposed to -be so much a watchdog as a blood hound. If detectives -were simply preventives they would lose -all their cunning and skill from disuse. I am sure -you could find a cheaper watchdog than I am.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we are not kicking about the price so -why need you?”</p> - -<p>Josie had had many interviews with the members -of the firm and felt they were her friends -and respected her. She especially liked Mr. Theodore, -who seemed somewhat more progressive than -his brother, but both of them were kindly and -courteous. Mr. Theodore, who was an old bachelor, -had invited Josie to dine with his family; insisting -that his mother and sisters would come -and call on her and that they would be delighted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span> -to make her acquaintance, but Josie had firmly -refused.</p> - -<p>“Not while I am selling notions,” she had -laughed. “It would leak out in the store somehow -and then someone would suspect immediately -that I was not what I seem to be. Major Simpson -is already worried about me and my job. I’ll -wager he is standing outside of this door right -now and his moustache and goatee are both bristling -with curiosity concerning what the business -is that brings me to your private office before -opening hours. He would have his ear at the key -hole if he dared and if his sense of dignity didn’t -forbid. Why don’t you take him into your confidence? -It doesn’t seem quite fair somehow.”</p> - -<p>“Fair enough! If he wasn’t so conceited we -might have you work with him but he is so cock -sure of his own ability. I give you my word, Miss -O’Gorman, he has never yet landed a shoplifter. -Sometimes they have been caught by clerks or -floor walkers, but old Simpson can’t see beyond -his own embonpoint. Of course if you want his -help—”</p> - -<p>“Heavens, no!” laughed Josie, “but I should -like to know what he knows about me and my being -here, and why he doesn’t come out and say so if<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span> -he does know who I am. Is he at all peeved with -you and Mr. Burnett, your brother?”</p> - -<p>“Not at all. In fact, he seems especially delighted -with us as well as himself. I can always -tell when he is pleased by the way he smiles on me -and strokes his goatee.”</p> - -<p>Three weeks had passed and Josie felt she was -not earning her salt. Carefully she watched the -lower floor of the store from the vantage ground -of the notion counter. Two bargain Fridays had -come and gone and as far as Burnett & Burnett -could tell not one single person had left their emporium -without either paying or promising to pay -for the goods carried off.</p> - -<p>The evenings with the Leslies were quiet and -peaceful. The neighbors at No. 3 left early and -returned late. Josie occasionally caught a -glimpse of the man and his wife but she had not -seen the girl. The youth, she had encountered -twice in the street and still his appearance puzzled -her. She was more certain than ever that -she had seen him before, but where?</p> - -<p>“I believe they are kind and charitable, anyhow,” -said Mary. “I met a terrible looking -old beggar in the hall coming from their -apartment and I am sure they had given him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span> -something because the lady spoke to him in such -a gentle tone and he answered her gently and—”</p> - -<p>“What did they say?” asked Josie.</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t make out, but it sounded kind of -foreign. That made me think maybe the woman -has found out there is someone of her nationality -here in Wakely and she is kind to him because he -is from her own country.” Mary was the type -that always made the best of everything and -everybody.</p> - -<p>“Well, for my part, I think it is a great mistake -to encourage tramps and beggars,” said Mrs. -Leslie. “Now in the country we never could do -it. If we even so much as fed one tramp we had -a swarm of them coming to us for years. My husband -once gave one an old suit of clothes and some -shoes and after I had fed him Mr. Leslie told him -he could spend the night in the barn because it -was coming up to snow. After that a week never -passed that some disreputable old bum didn’t -come whining to my back door. It kept up until -we had the road gate painted, posts and all, and -then they let up on us and we began to think that -the first one had put the tramp’s mark on our gate -and all the others read it and knew we were kind -hearted. Of course the paint destroyed the mark.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span>“What a wonderful mark to have on your -gate!” exclaimed Mary. “I wish I knew what it -was and could put one on our door.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps one is there,” suggested Josie, -“and I saw it and ventured in.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t want any real tramps around here,” -insisted Mrs. Leslie. “You, Josie, are less like -a tramp than any one I ever saw. I felt safe with -you from the moment you entered the door and I -never have felt safe with any tramp. I don’t like -to think that tramps might be coming in and out -of this house and if I ever see or hear of another -one being in the hall I am going to complain to -the landlord.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mother, please don’t! What would our -neighbors think of us?”</p> - -<p>“It makes mighty little difference what they -think. People who don’t speak our language and -have tramps calling on them have no business -thinking.”</p> - -<p>Josie laughed. Mrs. Leslie’s feeling in regard -to tramps and foreigners was a common one with -persons born and raised in the country. They encouraged -neither tramping nor immigration.</p> - -<p>“We have two beggars at Burnett & Burnett’s,” -said Josie, “one at the front entrance<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span> -and one at the back. It is against my principles -to give to street beggars but I have a hard time -getting by those two. The Associated Charities -are constantly asking the public not to encourage -beggars but send them to the A. C. so that they -can look into their cases. I am sure they are -right, and good citizens should uphold them; but -beggars such as we have at our front and back -entrances seem to be able to appeal against reason -and I am sure they reap a substantial harvest. -When charitable ladies get up tag days for -their pet concerns they should man the stations -with just such beggars instead of attractive young -girls.”</p> - -<p>“I thought begging on the street was against -the city ordinances,” said Mrs. Leslie.</p> - -<p>“Oh, they get around all laws by pretending -to sell something. This beggar man at the front -door sells lead pencils and the woman at the back -goes through the motions of selling newspapers. -She never has the last edition and always whines -if anyone wants change. She is a husky looking -person and I believe is well fed, in spite of the -pretext she makes of dining off crusts.”</p> - -<p>“Poor thing!” exclaimed Mary. “I’m sorry -for her even though she may be a fraud.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span>“Of course there is no easy way of making -an honest living,” laughed Josie, “whether it -be pounding a typewriter or—selling notions.” -It was on the tip of Josie’s tongue to say lying -in wait for shoplifters. “Begging is not such -a bad way to spend your time if you are interested -in human nature. Of course it must be -rather hard on the man at the front entrance -because he wears a patch over one eye and part -of his game is to keep the other one half shut. -That means he can’t see all that is going on, but -who knows? He may be able to see more with -half an eye than many persons can with two wide -open ones.”</p> - -<p>“The beggar I saw in the hall had a patch -over his eye. I noticed it particularly, and felt -sorrier than ever for him. I’d have given him -something if he hadn’t hurried away so fast when -I came in.”</p> - -<p>“A great many beggars seem to be minus one -eye,” said Josie. “I remember reading once -of a great French detective who captured a -notorious criminal, who was operating as a -blind beggar with a patch over his eye, because -the <i>pseudo</i>-beggar inadvertently changed -blind eyes. The detective had passed him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span> -many times on the Pont Neuf in Paris, where -the beggar had stood for weeks and weeks -whining a pitiful tale. Now this detective, like -all good ones, let nothing escape him, and he had -noticed that the blind beggar wore a patch over -his right eye. One morning the patch had moved -to the left one. That set Mr. Detective to thinking -and he watched the man. When darkness -came the man stopped begging for the day, hobbled -from the bridge into a nearby crooked street -and there he straightened up, took off the telltale -patch and walked briskly along the side walk. -Then it was an easy matter to track him to his -luxurious lair. Begging was merely a side line, -as burglary on a large scale was his real profession. -He was attempting to conceal his identity -under the cloak of a mendicant.”</p> - -<p>“I still say, poor fellow,” said Mary.</p> - -<p>“And I say,” said Mrs. Leslie shrewdly, “that -if I were a detective I’d wonder what on earth -made you, Josie, go into being a shop girl. I -begin to think it is nothing but a side line with -you.”</p> - -<p>Josie, being completely off her guard, hardly -knew how to answer Mrs. Leslie. She did not -deem it wise to take mother and daughter into<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span> -her confidence concerning her true business in -Wakely. She blushed and stammered like a veritable -novice at the game of concealment and falteringly -assured Mrs. Leslie that she had been -forced into selling notions because of reverses in -her family fortunes.</p> - -<p>“To be sure the wages are not so very high,” -she continued, “but Burnett & Burnett’s is a -pleasant place in which to work. Then, too, it is -so nice to be here with you and Mary that I don’t -mind being in a store all day.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie expressed herself as satisfied concerning -her lodger’s profession but she afterwards -said to her daughter: “She has a kind of -high-brow way with her at times that makes me -doubt her being just a poor girl; and her clothes, -while they are simple, are made of such good -material. You can’t fool me on dry-goods. I -tell you, Mary, Josie’s dresses are made out of -stuff that cost five dollars a yard.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IV<br /> - - -<small>JOSIE’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>“Now I’ve talked too much!” Josie took herself -to task after retiring to her room. “Mrs. -Leslie has some kind of suspicion concerning me -and it is all my own fault. I wonder what my -father would have done under the circumstances.”</p> - -<p>She took from her top drawer a little leather -book; her most valued possession and without -which she never traveled. It was a chunky little -book, evidently home made. The pages were covered -with neatly written lines which, to the uninitiated, -looked like so much Greek script. It -was in reality a cryptic shorthand invented by -Detective O’Gorman and known only to him and -his daughter and one other—a certain criminal, -Felix Markham. How he came to know this family -code is another story altogether. At any rate, -in the United States Josie was the only person -who could make heads or tails of this writing, -as her dear father had gone to that far country<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span> -where detectives find no work to do, and Markham -had fled to China after having executed a -daring escape from the penitentiary.</p> - -<p>In this little book the detective had inscribed -many homely sayings, some original but most of -them borrowed from Poor Richard’s Almanac, -the Proverbs of Solomon and other like sources. -Josie often amused her friends by quoting these -bits of wisdom as though her dear father had -been responsible for all of them. Also in this -book was written much that was interesting and -valuable concerning criminals with whom O’Gorman -had come in contact; descriptions of their -appearance, habits and peculiarities, as well as the -lists of their aliases and professions engaged in -as blinds.</p> - -<p>All of this was interesting reading and Josie -never tired of conning over the difficult script. -Reading between the lines she caught hints of successes -which the noted criminologist was too modest -even to put in his diary, although it was written -in a shorthand known only to himself and -his daughter and was meant for no other eyes.</p> - -<p>On this night it was not her father’s successes -that interested Josie, but his failures. The last -twenty pages of the little book were filled with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span> -his failures and analyses of why he had failed, -also admonitions to his daughter as to what she -should avoid in the way of pitfalls for a detective.</p> - -<p>“When you find you have aroused suspicion -in the mind of someone as to your real business -which it is perhaps expedient to conceal, do not -be too quick to allay those suspicions as the person -concerned will no doubt be on the lookout -to trap you. If, in the course of time, you quietly -do or say again the same thing that first aroused -the suspicion in the mind of the person and then, -being on your guard, make some casual explanation, -it will be more convincing than changing -too quickly and appearing for that reason rather -unnatural. For instance, if, the better to catch -a criminal, you have been taking the part of a -lowly person, say a dishwasher in a restaurant, -and inadvertently you show yourself to be educated—do -not immediately revert to slang and -double negatives to throw the person to whom -you have revealed your culture off the scent, but -rather show other bits of learning and then have -a plausible story ready to account for a dishwasher -knowing something beyond hot suds and -drainers and tea towels.”</p> - -<p>“There I am!” exclaimed Josie. “I am not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span> -sure just what it was that started Mrs. Leslie -but I think it was the free and easy gabble about -Paris bridges and luxurious lairs. Now I must -bring up the subject again and talk some more -about the same thing and then give her some kind -of song and dance that will sound plausible -enough to throw her off the scent. Then I’ll -jump back to the subject of bone buttons and -linen tape and maybe haul in something about a -handsome floor walker at Burnett & Burnett’s.”</p> - -<p>Satisfied with the plan, Josie devoutly closed -her little book and went peacefully to sleep, wickedly -hoping that somebody would do a little shoplifting -the next day to keep her from dying of -ennui.</p> - -<p>Breakfast was hurried and she had little time -to talk to Mrs. Leslie. One could not be very -tactful nor use much finesse with a mouth full -of hot oatmeal porridge. To talk about the crime -wave in Paris so early in the morning would be -ridiculous. It must keep until evening. Perhaps -she was mistaken about Mrs. Leslie having any -suspicion of her. Mary was as gentle and lovely -as ever and her mother was certainly most considerate -and cordial in her insistence that Josie -should have another cup of coffee. After all, she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> -had nothing to conceal—that is, nothing that -would be to her discredit. It was only that she -deemed it wiser to keep to herself her real business -in Wakely. Of course if Mrs. Leslie became -too suspicious it would be a simple matter to tell -her the whole truth.</p> - -<p>That morning the girls started to town a little -earlier than was their custom. It was Saturday -and a half holiday. Mary had some extra typing -on hand she was anxious to finish and Josie -wanted to interview Mr. Theodore Burnett before -the store opened. As they stepped into the public -hall of the apartment house they ran into -the same beggar of whom Mary had spoken the -evening before. The hall was unlighted except -for a pale streak of sun that tried to find its way -through the dingy glass of the street door but -Josie did not need much light to recognize the -man as the beggar who sat at the main door of -Burnett & Burnett’s. The man began a pleading -beggar’s whine and held out his hand to the girls. -Unfortunately for him Mrs. Leslie opened her -door at that moment to call a last good bye to -her daughter and to remind her of some promised -errand. The sight of the beggar angered -her and she spoke sharply to him:</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span>“Begone sir!” she cried. “It is against all -rules of the house to have beggars in the hall.”</p> - -<p>“Excuse! Excuse!” and the man bowed humbly, -shuffling off with bent back and palsied head. -As he passed the irate lady, Josie caught the -flash of resentment that glowed in his one eye.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mother, the poor fellow!” said Mary. -“I feel so sorry for him and you hurt his feelings -terribly.”</p> - -<p>“He’d no business in the hall. Perhaps I was -a bit hasty. Here, run after him, Mary, and give -him this penny. But tell him he mustn’t come -back here.”</p> - -<p>Mary added a small sum to her mother’s penny -and hastening after the man pressed it in his -hand. Josie, who was close behind, again caught -an expression on the man’s face—a leer of admiration -for the pretty young girl with her fresh -rosy face and kind blue eyes.</p> - -<p>A view of him in broad daylight convinced Josie -that he really was the beggar who had the desirable -stand at the front entrance to Burnett & -Burnett’s and also the realization came to her -that she had seen the man before and that it was -not as a mendicant.</p> - -<p>For the second time since Josie came to Wakely<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> -she puzzled her brains over where before she had -seen or known a man, this time an old one. She -was still in doubt as to the identity of the young -man who evidently lived in the apartment next to -the Leslies, and now a palsied old beggar was -adding to her perplexity.</p> - -<p>“I’ll keep an eye on him during the morning -and perhaps I’ll remember,” she promised herself.</p> - -<p>It was a busy morning but between sales Josie -managed to get an occasional glimpse of the one-eyed -beggar at the gate. He, too, was doing a -thriving business. Josie wondered if the woman -at the rear entrance was playing in such good -luck as her rival in the front. Once during the -morning she had occasion to pass by the back -door and could look out at the female newsie. -Straggling iron gray hair was blown by the -wintry breezes across a round, plump face which -Nature had doubtless intended to be wreathed in -perpetual smiles and which seemed with difficulty -to assume an expression of misery and woe. Her -comfortable, well rounded body was arrayed in -pitiful rags. Josie determined to study her more -closely and accordingly when the store closed she -made her exit by the rear door.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span>“Pa-a-perrr! Pa-a-perr!” quavered the -woman in a tone that spoke of utter misery and -dejection.</p> - -<p>A genial gentleman stopped to buy one.</p> - -<p>“Is it the last edition?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Ye-e-ss sirr!” she whined, “the very latest.”</p> - -<p>He handed her a quarter of a dollar.</p> - -<p>“I haven’t an-y ch-aa-nge, sirr.”</p> - -<p>“No change? Well then keep it!” he exclaimed -with a note of irritation in his voice.</p> - -<p>Saturday was a short day for the employees of -Burnett & Burnett’s and Josie determined to use -the afternoon in looking up some more residences -of her fellow workers. The day was pleasant, -with a hint of premature spring in the air; an -excellent day for checking up on some of the -suburban addresses.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if Major Simpson will follow me. -Anyhow, I have chosen a balmy afternoon for -his jaunt if he decides to take it,” she laughed. -“I have a great mind to give him the slip.”</p> - -<p>By the simple expedient of going up one elevator -and down another Josie eluded the old detective, -who was evidently on the lookout for her. -She then quickly made her way to the rear exit -and was out on the street before the old gentleman<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> -realized that the young person in whom he -was taking such an unaccountable interest had -flown the coop.</p> - -<p>“Ding bust it!” he remarked eloquently, “I’ll -come up with her yet.”</p> - -<p>Miss Fauntleroy was immediately in front of -Josie, moving with her accustomed slow grace. -The girl was well proportioned and Josie had -not realized before how very tall she was. Being -of rather a diminutive statute herself, she seemed -almost a dwarf by the side of the stately young -woman.</p> - -<p>“Pa-a-perr, pa-a-perr,” quavered the old -woman in an irritating whine.</p> - -<p>Miss Fauntleroy stopped and holding out a -dime asked for a newspaper. Her voice was singularly -hard and cold but the old beggar seemed -rather amused as she answered:</p> - -<p>“Yes, my prr-r-ty! Here’s your Jou-r-rnal.”</p> - -<p>“Give me my change,” demanded the girl -haughtily.</p> - -<p>“Change? Sur-r-ely you know an old woman -like me can’t make change.”</p> - -<p>“Well you’ll make it for me or give me back -my dime,” said the girl angrily, her voice breaking -hoarsely. She snatched the money from the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span> -old woman’s hand and rudely twisting and rumpling -the paper so that it would be difficult to -sell to another customer, she threw it into the -basket at the beggar’s feet and then walked -proudly away.</p> - -<p>While Josie held no brief for beggars of any -sort, neither those who begged outright nor those -who begged under the guise of selling back number -papers or pencils made of scrap lead, still -her heart was kind and it tried her sorely to witness -the rudeness and direct unkindness of the -inconsiderate Miss Fauntleroy.</p> - -<p>“Here! I’ll take that rumpled paper,” she -said gently, handing the correct change to the -old woman. “I can smooth it out and read it on -the trolley.” She stooped swiftly and picked -up the twisted Wakely Journal.</p> - -<p>“No, no, lady! I’ll give you a nice clean pa-perr,” -insisted the newsie, reaching eagerly for -the one that Miss Fauntleroy had thrown so disdainfully -in her basket. But Josie clutched it -tightly and was soon lost in the crowd, while the -old woman sat dazed and disconsolate, forgetting -to cry her wares as the employees trooped -forth from Burnett & Burnett’s.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER V<br /> - - -<small>THE MAJOR TAKES UP A TRAIL</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>Josie jammed the rumpled paper in the big -patch pocket of her sport coat and thought no -more about it. She boarded the interurban trolley -which passed through Linden Heights, wondering -if Miss Fauntleroy could be on it and -doubtful whether it were better for her to get -off at Linden Row with that haughty and evidently -bad tempered young woman or to ride on -for several blocks. The crowded car thinned out -as they approached the suburbs. Josie was soon -able to make sure that the girl was not on board.</p> - -<p>“Let me off at Linden Row, please,” she asked -the conductor.</p> - -<p>“Sure, miss, an’ the sign was put up only -yesterday so I know where it is. The streets out -here ain’t marked reg’lar.”</p> - -<p>Linden Heights presented the appearance of -much suburban property aspiring to become urban; -streets and avenues named, sidewalks laid -out, curbing placed, everything ready to make a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span> -thriving, prosperous, homelike neighborhood—everything -but the homes and the neighbors. The -houses were few and far between and Linden -Row, though boasting a brand new name on a -brand new corner and a brand new row of spindling -linden trees, had not a house to its name. -Josie walked north until the sad young street -lost itself in a corn field; then she retraced her -steps, crossed the car tracks and walked south -until a swamp interrupted her progress, and still -no habitation. Bullfrogs were singing their -spring song in the swamp so Josie felt repaid -for her long ride on the trolley.</p> - -<p>“It means spring is almost here,” she said -to herself, “is here, in fact. It’s a surer sign -than thunder and lightning; surer than the robin’s -whistle or trailing arbutus blossoms. How -my dear father did love to hear the bullfrogs!”</p> - -<p>So far as Josie could ascertain Linden Heights -was nothing more than a real estate map. At -any rate there was not a single house in the place -with the exception of an old farm house, the mansion -of the original owners of the tract, and when -Josie knocked on the door with a trumped up -plea that she was hunting a place to board, she -was met without much encouragement by an old<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span> -man with a tousled beard and mane who gave her -to understand that he couldn’t abide women and -wouldn’t let one of them stay on his place for -five minutes. At least she had found out what -she wanted to know: Miss Fauntleroy did not -live there.</p> - -<p>“Very puzzling!” she mused. “Why did she -give a fictitious address to her employers? The -first interesting thing that has happened since -I came to this town. I hope it will lead to something. -Anyhow I’ll watch this strange girl and -find out something more about her. She certainly -was very rude to the old beggar.”</p> - -<p>On the way back to the city Josie decided to -read the paper she had bought from the old -woman, but at that moment she became engrossed -in the conversation of some of her fellow passengers -and the Wakely Journal remained in the -patch pocket of her sport coat.</p> - -<p>“The only thing I regret about my fruitless -trip to Linden Heights is that I didn’t have the -company of old Major Simpson,” Josie amused -herself by thinking. “I shouldn’t call it fruitless, -however, as it may lead to something. Anyhow, -I’m wondering what the dear Major did in -my absence.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span>Had Josie realized what the dear Major was -doing in her absence she would not have been -quite so nonchalant in her idle surmises. No -doubt his actions would have amused her but -certainly they would have irritated her as well.</p> - -<p>In the first place, Josie had hardly made her -escape by the rear entrance of the department -store when Min, whose surname was Tracy, gave -a hurry call from the lace counter that in putting -up her goods she had discovered the loss of many -yards of the filmiest and finest lace in stock. -The counter next to her reported missing a very -expensive imported gold mesh bag. A hue and -cry was raised by the excited Major Simpson -and after much pompous blustering he had rushed -to the office of the chief executives where he not -only reported the theft but demanded Josie -O’Gorman’s address.</p> - -<p>“So you have a suspicion of who she is then, -this Miss O’Gorman?” asked Mr. Theodore Burnett.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I’ve had my eye on her for days. I -have not been in the detective business for all -of these years without being able to distinguish -a girl of her type from a simple saleslady of -buttons and what not.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span>“Well, you are pretty clever, Major. I hope -you two can get together. You say she has gone -for the day? Do you think she can clear up this -shoplifting mystery?”</p> - -<p>“Of course she can if anyone can. Give me -her address and maybe I can overtake her.”</p> - -<p>“Eleven, East Meadow, Apartment 4, is her -address. It is remarkable that a girl as young -as she is can be so successful. She is very clever -I think.”</p> - -<p>“Yes—altogether too clever!” muttered Major -Simpson. “But she will find there are -others,” he intimated darkly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes!” said Mr. Burnett uneasily, “but -for goodness sake don’t be short with her. I -am sure that through her we may be able to track -down the whole gang of shoplifters.”</p> - -<p>“Trust me, my dear Theodore, trust me!” -said the Major, patting his white vest comfortably. -“I will use all the finesse that my long -service in this establishment has fostered. You -need never fear that Silvester Simpson will be -anything but a diplomat.”</p> - -<p>“Oh sure! Sure!” added Mr. Burnett quickly. -“I’ll leave it to you but I beg of you that you -communicate with Miss O’Gorman at once.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span>“Immediately!” and the Major strutted from -the office.</p> - -<p>“Eleven, East Meadow,” he mused. “That -is the right address. I have followed her home -often enough to know, but I asked Theodore just -to see if the person had the temerity to give her -real address.” And the old gentleman, not trusting -his short legs to carry him to number eleven -fast enough, hastily called a taxi.</p> - -<p>When Major Simpson rang a bell he did not -simply touch a button, he pressed it, and that -with no light finger but with the end of his -walking stick, leaning heavily against it until -the bell was answered or broken.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie answered it quickly and somewhat -indignantly. She had a sponge cake in the oven -and the noise of the bell was enough to make -it fall.</p> - -<p>“What is it, sir?” but her tone of asperity -quickly changed when she saw who was responsible -for the clamor. “Well if it isn’t Major -Sylvester Simpson. Sakes alive, Major Simpson, -how did you find me out? I’ve been telling myself -every day for two months that I ought to -let you know I was in Wakely because of our -families being kind of hereditary friends, but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span> -Mary and I are living in such a small way, -and—”</p> - -<p>Major Simpson—Major by courtesy only—made -up in gallantry what he lacked in finesse. -Not for worlds would he inform Mrs. Leslie that -he was not looking her up at all and was quite -as astonished to see her as she was to see him. -He remembered her quite well as little Polly Bainbridge, -whose grandfather’s farm was just across -the creek from the Simpson’s farm. She had -been a little girl when he was a grown man spending -his yearly holidays in the country. He remembered -faintly once having made her a present -of a pink parasol on one of those visits. She -was a very small girl and he was even then a -floor walker at Burnett & Burnett’s. Perhaps -that was how he happened to know the appeal -a pink parasol has for a little girl.</p> - -<p>Now that he had found her he must come in -and see her. Of course it could not be that the -person of whom he was really in search could -possibly be living with Polly Bainbridge—now -Mrs. Leslie—who came from his county and was -of honest and respectable parentage as had also -been her husband, people of good blood and reputation.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span>The Leslies’ living room was homelike, pleasant, -and spotlessly clean, but with a certain feminine -disorder in the way of a work basket open -on the table, a scarf thrown over the back of a -chair, a bit of embroidery on the sofa. This made -an irresistible appeal to Major Simpson who, -though a bachelor, was a great admirer of “the -ladies” unless they happened to be “sales-ladies.” -These he always regarded with suspicion -as being either incipient shoplifters or, worse -than that even, designing females who aspired -to become Mrs. Simpson.</p> - -<p>He settled himself in a comfortable overstuffed -chair, conveniently low enough to allow him to -cross his plump legs, and sniffed the pleasing -odors emanating from the tiny kitchen.</p> - -<p>“You must excuse me a minute,” blushed Mrs. -Leslie, “but I have a cake in the oven.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, that sounds like home!” declared the gallant -Major. “And when I say home I mean the -country. I fear me the city ladies trust to the -bakers for such—” But Mrs. Leslie could not -wait to find out what the city ladies trusted to the -bakers as her cake had been in the prescribed -number of minutes and the gas must be turned -off and the cake turned out of the pan.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span>The major sniffed again. “Coffee!” was the -verdict of his olefactory nerves. Like the Raggedy -Man: “His old nose didn’t tell no lies,” -for in a few minutes Mrs. Leslie returned with a -tray of coffee and some hot doughnuts she had -just finished frying when her bell pealed so loudly -and persistently.</p> - -<p>The guest <i>ummed</i> and <i>ahhed</i> with appreciation. -He was self congratulatory that the little girl to -whom he had once presented a pink parasol had -grown into such a fine woman. He always had -been a person of discernment and from the beginning -he had known that little Polly Bainbridge -was of the right sort. It was a pleasant thing to -feel that a pink parasol cast on the waters might -after some thirty odd years—or was it forty—be -returned to one in the shape of fragrant coffee -and hot doughnuts.</p> - -<p>First, all the county news must be retailed and -a bit of mild gossip concerning old neighbors be -whispered. Major Simpson had long ago given -up the habit of spending his holidays back home -since the old folks had all died off and his ancestral -halls passed into the hands of strangers. But -his interest in all pertaining to his county was as -strong as ever.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span>“I only go back for funerals, now,” said the -old man sadly. Mrs. Leslie thought of the last -funeral she had attended in that part of the -world, that of Mr. Leslie, and her eyes filled with -tears. The gay little coffee and doughnut party -seemed in danger of becoming as sad as a wake -but Mrs. Leslie brushed away her tears and smiled -on her guest, filling his cup and pressing upon -him another doughnut. So by simple grace happiness -and good cheer were restored.</p> - -<p>“Now tell me of your daughter. It seems -strange for little Polly Bainbridge to have a -grown daughter. Do you two ladies live here all -alone?”</p> - -<p>“Oh no! We have a lodger—Miss O’Gorman. -By the way, Major Simpson, she <i>says</i> she is employed -at Burnett & Burnett’s.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie could not resist a slight emphasis -on the “says” although she had promised Mary -to try and forget the strange suspicions that had -arisen in her mind concerning her gentle little -lodger.</p> - -<p>“She says right!” declared the Major shortly, -suddenly remembering that he was a detective -out on a scent. “What do you know of the -young person?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span>“Nothing—nothing at all! She came here in -answer to an advertisement my daughter and I -put in a Sunday paper. We took her in without -references. Come to think of it, her saying she -had a position with Burnett & Burnett seemed to -me all the reference I needed since you were -one of the firm.”</p> - -<p>“No, no, dear lady—not yet—merely a trusted -officer of the company. But tell me more of this -Miss O’Gorman. How does she impress you? Do -you feel that she is not—er—er exactly what she -pretends to be?”</p> - -<p>“Oh Major Simpson, it seems wrong to doubt -the girl but—”</p> - -<p>“But what?”</p> - -<p>“She is a nice girl—a lady, in fact, but I can’t -believe she is exactly what she says she is—I -mean a girl with a job selling bone buttons and -things. Not that there aren’t a great many ladies -in shops—I don’t mean that there aren’t—and -elegant gentlemen, too, but there is something -about her and her clothes—”</p> - -<p>“Ah! Her clothes! She seems to me to be -simply dressed, more so than most of her fellow -employees.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly, but have you felt of them?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span>“Not exactly!” answered the detective with -dignity.</p> - -<p>“I mean the material is so good, it would take -almost a month’s salary to pay for one of her -dresses, unless she makes a great deal more than -girls just beginning usually make. And she has -all of her dresses duplicated.”</p> - -<p>“Was it only her clothes that made you think -she was different?”</p> - -<p>“Oh no, it was the way she talks. I hadn’t -really had a positive suspicion of her being something -she said she wasn’t, or rather not being what -she said she was, until last night when we were -sitting around the table reading and sewing. Josie -got to talking about noted criminals and what they -did and how detectives caught them—”</p> - -<p>“Just stuff she had read in cheap magazines, -I presume.”</p> - -<p>“No, not fiction but facts.”</p> - -<p>The Major became as eager as a hound on -trail. Here were facts—excellent things for a -detective to know—and in the possession of a -woman. How easy it would be for him, with -his years of experience, to wheedle this artless -soul into telling all she knew.</p> - -<p>“Ah, facts! Now, er-er-my dear neighbor,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> -just what do you mean by facts?” asked the -Major, making a great effort to appear unconcerned.</p> - -<p>“Well, she spoke kind of familiarly of Paris -and her accent sounded like our teacher’s used -to—not at all like pupils. I always have my -doubts about anybody who has too good an -accent in French. I think she felt I was suspicious -of her because she shut up all of a -sudden. Please tell me, Major Simpson, have -you also some suspicion concerning our lodger?”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VI<br /> - - -<small>TOO MANY DETECTIVES</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>Major Simpson looked at his hostess with blinking -eyes. Although he had spoken scornfully of -cheap magazine fiction that had no doubt put melodramatic -notions in Josie’s head, the truth of the -matter was that the old gentleman devoured them -himself in private, especially the ones dealing -with crime and clever sleuths. How often in these -stories unsuspecting women, landladies and lodging -house keepers, were unconscious means of -tracking desperate criminals. The detective -came to a sudden conclusion. He determined to -take into his confidence this gentle lady from his -own county. Anyone who had such a light hand -at doughnuts and could brew such clear rich coffee -must have finesse. She was the one of all -others to help him in his business of determining -a difficult point in his profession. He leaned -forward and grasping the widow’s plump hand, -patted it tenderly.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Leslie—Miss Polly—er-er-Polly, little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span> -Polly Bainbridge, I wonder if you will help an old -neighbor and friend in a most important matter.”</p> - -<p>“Help you, Major Simpson! How can a woman -like me serve such a gentleman as you?”</p> - -<p>“Know then, my dear Mrs. Les—I mean Polly—I -may call you Polly I hope—”</p> - -<p>“Certainly, Major Simpson!”</p> - -<p>“Well then, my dear Polly, you have under -your roof a character that is under suspicion. I -serve at Burnett & Burnett’s in a confidential -capacity as their trusted private detective.”</p> - -<p>“Land’s sakes!” cried Mrs. Leslie, who had -an inborn respect for the law and all persons appointed -to uphold it. But according to plays she -had seen and the movies, a detective always wore -a shabby brown derby and box-toed shoes. Here -was her visitor, an acknowledged detective, in -the smallest and neatest of polished oxfords, and -from her chair she could plainly see a silk hat -on the marble topped table in the reception hall, -the kind of hat that might have been worn with -impunity by presidents of republics or prime ministers -of monarchies.</p> - -<p>Having under her roof, or rather under her -ceiling—because Mrs. Leslie had never felt that -the roof of the apartment house belonged to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span> -her in the least—having under her ceiling a -suspicious character was not nearly so exciting -to that lady as harboring a live detective. -She reasoned that Major Simpson must be an -excellent detective since he had never divulged -that it was in that capacity he served Burnett -& Burnett, the opinion being in his county that -he was a “kind of partner” in the firm.</p> - -<p>Tales of mystery had always been Mrs. Leslie’s -dissipation—it might be truthfully said her only -dissipation—and now it was a delightful thing -that what had hitherto been a dissipation should -be put upon her as a duty. Surely everybody -would consider it her duty to assist an old neighbor -and family friend in any way possible.</p> - -<p>“Help you! Indeed I will. Tell me what I -must do first.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me something of the life and habits of -this young person, who has so imposed upon -you.”</p> - -<p>“Well, she is quiet, gentle, considerate and unassuming. -I certainly have to give her that. She -is never a mite of trouble but always helps Mary -and me about any household tasks that come up, -very much as though she were a daughter of the -house.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span>“Um-hum! Sly, very sly!” puffed the major.</p> - -<p>“She is orderly and regular in her habits. -Keeps her room as neat as a pin and never leaves -anything lying around.”</p> - -<p>“Afraid of giving a clue to her carryings-on. -She is no doubt a hardened adventuress.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie thrilled with excitement. She felt -delightful cold chills running up and down her -backbone and her eyes were snapping and her -cheeks glowing as though under the spell of no -less a person than Anna Katherine Green or Mary -Roberts Reinhart. “The Bat” himself had not -been able to make her shudder more happily. For -the moment she lost all feeling for Josie, of whom -she was really very fond, but thought of her only -as a character in fiction and herself as the astute -heroine who would track her to her lair.</p> - -<p>“She is very much interested in Mary and me -and encourages us to tell her all kinds of things -about our home in the country. I am afraid we -have told her many family secrets, nothing of -grave importance because we have led quiet, sheltered -lives up to the last few months, but just -stories of the farm and Mary’s childhood and my -girlhood. She is such a good listener and we have -talked to her very freely.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span>“Of course you have. That’s part of her -game; to get information of all kinds about neighborhoods -and then work some kind of fraud on -them. She is more than likely to go down to our -county and get in with folks there and steal the -spoons and the registered letters or something. I -tell you, Polly, I know their game—these slick -ones. I’ll be bound she has talked mighty little -about herself. Do you know any more about her -home life, where she came from, what she did before -she started to ‘do you’ than you did when -she first came to you?”</p> - -<p>“No, I’m afraid we don’t.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly!”</p> - -<p>“But tell me what you think the poor girl has -done?” asked Mrs. Leslie, who could but feel -sorry for criminals even though they spoke French -with a French accent.</p> - -<p>“Done! Why I have my suspicions that she -had stolen from Burnett & Burnett many hundreds -of dollars worth of real lace as well as a -gold mesh bag that is easily worth a hundred. -She is suspected by Mr. Burnett, too, but we are -to go easy with her as we hope to track to their -lair others who were able to get away with thousands -of dollars worth of goods a few weeks ago.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span>“What makes you think she has done it?” -gasped Mrs. Leslie, her backbone continuing to -tingle deliciously over such expressions as “Track -to their lair.”</p> - -<p>“Many things have led me to suspect her,” -said the Major with impressive gravity. “She -has studiously avoided my scrutiny and when I -have attempted to follow her on the street she -has with great ingenuity evaded my pursuit—given -me the slip, as we say in the profession.”</p> - -<p>“Then you have followed her?”</p> - -<p>“Repeatedly! No doubt you have noticed that -she seldom comes home immediately after closing -hours, but walks around town, up one street and -down another. Now is not that in itself a peculiar -way for a nice young woman to behave?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps!”</p> - -<p>“To my way of thinking it is very peculiar. -Another thing is that she has ingratiated herself -into the good will of many of the clerks at Burnett -& Burnett’s. She has followed the same method -with them that she has with you; always inviting -confidence and never revealing anything concerning -her own life and affairs. I have questioned -some of them closely and all have nothing but good -to say of Miss Josie O’Gorman. Now that in itself<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> -is unnatural and shows she has a sinister influence.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, Major Simpson, I fear you are sarcastic.”</p> - -<p>“Not at all, my dear Miss Polly! Young women -in business are just like young women in society -and are chary of expressions of admiration -for members of their own sex.”</p> - -<p>“But why do you think that my lodger has -stolen these valuable articles? What proof have -you?”</p> - -<p>“None as yet—but that is where you are to -help me. When the clerks reported the theft to -me, immediately my instinct was to find this -O’Gorman. It was within a minute of closing -time and I would have gotten her but she seemed -to divine that I was on her heels and jumped into -an elevator. I followed in the next but she came -up as I went down. You may imagine, my dear -madam, how annoying it was to one of my years—and -I may add, dignity—to be see-sawing up -and down an elevator shaft in pursuit of a -wretched little sandy haired girl. I give you my -word I went up and down three times, always -missing her like a foolish scene in a motion picture -comedy. Then I took my stand at the front -door, hoping to catch up with her in that way<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span> -but she evidently slipped out the back door and -once more gave me the slip. Now, however, I -have tracked her to her lair—if such a charming -parlor as yours could be called a lair—and with -your able assistance I am sure I can catch up with -her.”</p> - -<p>“You have not told me yet how I am to assist -you.”</p> - -<p>“Simply by keeping your eyes open and reporting -to me at every turn. I want to know every -detail in regard to the movements of this O’Gorman -person. I should like very much to see her -room. I might gather some information that -would escape the notice of a novice.”</p> - -<p>“It seems kind of underhand—I mean on my -part, but I’ll take you to her room and if I get out -of this mess I never intend to advertise again for -lodgers. Mary and I will have to manage somehow. -I know Mary will be greatly put out when -she hears of my helping you. She has taken a -great fancy to Josie. You see, we both call her -Josie by now.”</p> - -<p>“It just shows your kind heart and your daughter’s -loving disposition. If I were you, Mrs. Leslie—Polly—I -would not mention the matter to -Miss Mary. She might feel it her duty to warn<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span> -the young woman that we are on to her tricks and -she might escape. The fewer who are taken into -a plot the better. But show me the young person’s -room—I might say lair or den, because all criminals -are more or less like animals and those -terms are very appropriate. To call your sweet -homelike parlor by such an epithet was criminal -in itself.”</p> - -<p>Josie’s room was as neat as a hospital, not a -thing out of place. Mrs. Leslie opened the closet -where hung the several dresses of the suspiciously -good material.</p> - -<p>“Just feel of them,” she demanded, and since -they were merely hanging in a closet the Major -did not deem it too familiar to comply with her -request. It was not as though they were on the -young woman’s person.</p> - -<p>“Yes, very fine quality,” was his verdict, his -memory harking back to early days at Burnett & -Burnett’s When he stood behind the counter and -measured cloths. “And look at the shoes!”</p> - -<p>Josie’s one vanity being her feet, she was very -particular about her shoes. Feet being one of -the many vanities Major Simpson possessed he -was a better judge of shoes than materials for -dresses. On the floor of the closet was a neat row<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span> -of shoes all on shoe trees and all highly polished.</p> - -<p>“Don’t tell me! A girl standing behind a counter -couldn’t afford to wear such shoes as these. -Look at the cut! Look at the leather! Every -heel as straight as a die and the ties of the finest -grosgrain. Her shoes would give her away as -masquerading if nothing else would.”</p> - -<p>The inquisitive visitor must then have a peep -in the bureau drawers. All was neat as a pin. The -Major, being an old bachelor and extremely fussy -about his personal belongings, could but be impressed -by the exquisite order of the youthful -criminal’s bureau.</p> - -<p>“Such a pity! Such a pity!” he muttered. -“But no doubt there is some good in the worst -of them. And what is this little book?”</p> - -<p>He took from the back of the top drawer Josie’s -precious little homemade book filled with her father’s -notes.</p> - -<p>“Ah,” he said with an air of finality, “Greek! -Now tell me, my dear lady, what a salesgirl wants -with Greek. It is proof positive. I need look no -farther. Of course I had no notion that I would -find any of the purloined goods here in her room. -Those, no doubt, she has taken to the home of confederates. -Now my task will be to find where<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span> -those persons live and recover the stolen articles -and place the criminals behind bars.”</p> - -<p>“How terrible! I can’t think of Josie in such -surroundings.”</p> - -<p>“Remember, you are to help me, dear Polly. -I can’t tell you what your assistance in this matter -will mean to me. You need have no compunctions -in the matter. Remember that this girl is -false as sin to have palmed herself off on you and -your innocent daughter. She has not considered -you in the slightest. Now promise that you will -telephone me if the least thing arises to increase -your suspicion, or better than that, get a taxi and -come to me immediately. Burnett & Burnett will -reimburse you for any expenses incurred. Here -is my card with my home address and telephone -number in case something should occur of import -between now and Monday. You promise?”</p> - -<p>“We-e-ll ye-e-s—but somehow I—”</p> - -<p>“Of course you have compunctions. That is -your kind heart. All of the Bainbridges were -kind hearted—but all of them were also noted for -being law abiding. Now it is the duty of every -citizen to help the law to track criminals. It is -kinder to get them while they are young than -wait until they are hardened to crime. Now this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> -young person may be saved if she is cut off from -evildoing while she is yet soft and tender. She -will be placed in a home of correction and taught -a useful trade, while if she is allowed to escape -and pursue her wicked ways she may even end on -the gallows. One crime leads to another and -shoplifting may develop into arson and murder.”</p> - -<p>“All right! all right!” cried the poor distracted -Mrs. Leslie. “I promise to do what you -ask of me—but somehow it seems mighty inhospitable. -I wish my suspicions had never been -aroused.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly! But now that they are aroused I -am sure you will live up to the traditions of your -excellent family and do your duty in spite of any -gentle feminine compunctions you may have.”</p> - -<p>The major had read his hostess aright. His -appeal to the traditions of her family were too -much for her, and although her sympathy could -but be enlisted with the supposedly desperate -young criminal lodging with her, she felt she must -uphold law and order, and before her guest took -his pompous departure she had promised him -faithfully to communicate with him if the slightest -suspicious action on the part of Josie evinced -itself.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VII<br /> - - -<small>THE MEDDLESOME MAJOR CALLS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>The jaunt to Linden Heights had consumed a -good part of Josie’s afternoon but it had given -her food for thought and cheered her up. Nothing -so cheered Josie as a problem to solve. Why -should the handsome, chilly Miss Fauntleroy give -a fictitious address? Why should she be so cross -and heartless in her manner with the fraudulent -old beggar woman? Not that the beggar women -had seemed to mind; on the contrary she had -seemed highly amused by the tongue lashing from -the proud beauty. Rather a pleasant old beggar -woman she seemed. It was rather nice of her -not to want to sell Josie the rumpled newspaper. -She had seemed really distressed that she should -have taken it. That was because she, Josie, had -been decent to her. Josie smiled and patted the -bulging pocket of her neat sport coat which still -held the rumpled journal. No doubt the old woman -was a fraud but she was at least a kindly, -goodnatured one.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span>As Josie turned the corner at Meadow Street -she could plainly see two persons coming down -the steps at No. 11. She was sure that one of -them was Major Simpson and the other one the -youth who lived in apartment 3, and whose identity -was still a mystery to her. However, the -problem of who the young man might be troubled -Josie very little at that moment. What occupied -her thoughts was why should Major Simpson be -coming from that apartment house. Could he -have been trying to find her whereabouts? If so, -had the Burnetts disclosed the fact that she was -employed by them, over his head as it were?</p> - -<p>Josie had thought for a moment that Major -Simpson and the youth were together, but in this -she was mistaken. They had merely happened -to come down the steps at the same time. The -old man proceeded down the street while the -young one came towards Josie. He was evidently -unaware of her approach, Josie as usual wearing -an aura of inconspicuousness that enabled her to -pass persons without being noticed. But it so -happened that as the young man got within a few -feet of the girl he caught her eye. Josie was sure -that for the flick of an eyelash there was recognition -in his glance. Of course it might have been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span> -that he was aware of the fact that she lived in an -apartment next to the one occupied by his family. -But no! That glance of recognition had something -furtive in it. Again she was sure that she -had seen the youth before. Something about the -spacing of his features was strangely familiar, -something about his chin, the contour of his olive -cheek.</p> - -<p>“Well, time will tell, as Father used to say,” -Josie mused, “and in the mean time I must get -busy about other things.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie’s manner was, to say the least, -highly artificial when she greeted Josie on her -return. The lady flushed and fluttered, treating -Josie more like a guest than a member of the -family.</p> - -<p>“Let me take your coat, do,” she insisted.</p> - -<p>“No, indeed.”</p> - -<p>“Would you like a cup of coffee and some fresh -doughnuts?”</p> - -<p>“I certainly should! But let me come to the -kitchen and attend to myself.”</p> - -<p>“Oh no, I’ll bring a tray for you.” So the -hostess burdened Josie with attentions, all the -time with a strained excitement in her manner.</p> - -<p>“I thought I saw Major Simpson coming from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span> -this house, just as I came around the corner. -Could it have been he? He is Burnett & Burnett’s -private detective.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie was not a good dissembler but remembering -the policy laid out for her by Major -Simpson, she at first pretended she had burnt her -hand on the coffee pot and must run put some soda -on it and then when Josie repeated her question -she feigned not to hear aright.</p> - -<p>“Simpkins? Nobody has been here of that -name.”</p> - -<p>“No, Simpson—Major Simpson—perhaps he -has acquaintances in the building. There was no -reason why I should jump to the conclusion that -he had been here, certainly no personal reason.”</p> - -<p>Josie did not push her inquiry because she -realized that for some reason or other Mrs. Leslie -was concealing something from her in regard -to Major Simpson. What it was she could not -divine, but the lady’s heightened color and -strained, artificial manner meant something besides -the usual Saturday baking. Her deliberate -misunderstanding of the name of Simpson was -too apparent to fool the astute Josie. She came -to the conclusion that the old detective had been -calling on Mrs. Leslie and for some reason she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span> -had been told by him to keep the matter a secret.</p> - -<p>“Mysteries and more mysteries!” thought -Josie. “I wonder what Father would have said -to this.”</p> - -<p>As soon as she finished her luncheon of coffee -and doughnuts she went to her room, determined -to read a little in her leather bound book. She -opened the top drawer. A sudden consciousness -came to her that someone had been meddling there -during her absence. In the first place her beloved -book was not as she had placed it—close in the -corner, back out—but had evidently been examined -by someone and then tossed carelessly back -into the drawer.</p> - -<p>“Don’t be such an old maid!” Josie admonished -herself. “It doesn’t mean a thing. Perhaps -Mrs. Leslie had some curiosity about my -belongings. It is pardonable for a poor lady who -has mighty little to occupy her mind to open up a -lodger’s drawer and snoop around a little.”</p> - -<p>Wait, what was that? Certainly Mrs. Leslie did -not wear heavy gold cuff links, in fact Josie had -noted particularly that her landlady’s house -dresses were all made with sleeves cut a little below -the elbow and that she never wore cuffs. She, -then, was not the meddler who had left evidence<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span> -of his or her presence in Josie’s top drawer in -the shape of part of a heavy gold cuff link. Josie -picked it up gingerly. There was a large heavily -engraved letter S on the flat button.</p> - -<p>“If he had left a visiting card for me I could -not be more certain that old Major Simpson has -been calling,” laughed Josie to herself. “But -why? And why is Mrs. Leslie so silent about it? -And above all, how am I to act now? One thing -sure, I must not let the poor dear lady know that -I am on to the fact that she is concealing something -from me. I don’t believe Mary is in on this -mystery, whatever it is, but I’ll wait until she -comes home and test it.”</p> - -<p>Josie put the broken link carefully away in -her purse and then sat down to do a little necessary -mending on her coat, a button loose here -and a tiny rip in one of the pockets. She drew -forth the twisted afternoon paper, throwing it -carelessly on the bed and again she thought of -the proud Miss Fauntleroy and her rudeness -to the old beggar woman. She heard Mary come -in and her mother’s question:</p> - -<p>“Did you bring an afternoon paper?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I forgot! I’ll run get you one immediately. -I’m so sorry, Mother.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span>Josie smiled. Mary always forgot the paper -on Saturday afternoon and Mrs. Leslie never -forgot to ask her about it.</p> - -<p>“I have the early edition,” Josie called from -her room. “Don’t go out again, Mary. It’s -rather rumpled but I guess I can smooth it out.”</p> - -<p>Josie reached for the afternoon paper and began -straightening it out just as Mrs. Leslie appeared -at the half opened door of the bed -room. The girl was astonished to find that there -was a parcel of some sort wrapped within the -folds of the paper. It dropped out on the bed -and then slipped to the floor. Mrs. Leslie stepped -forward and stooped to pick it up but Josie, ever -quick and agile, was before her. The tissue paper -package tore and disclosed a crumpled mass -of filmy lace and, gleaming through its folds, a -golden mesh purse.</p> - -<p>“What is that?” demanded Mrs. Leslie -sharply.</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I don’t know. It seemed to be -wrapped up in the afternoon paper which has -been reposing in my pocket all afternoon,” said -Josie, coolly. “How it got there I’ll leave you -to find out. I must hurry out again as I find I -have an important matter to attend to.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span>Josie’s quick eye had recognized a Burnett & -Burnett tag on the purse and her quicker mind -had traveled like lightning back to the time Miss -Fauntleroy had angrily twisted the paper and -cast it in the old beggar’s basket. Then she remembered -how loath the old woman had been -to let her buy that particular paper.</p> - -<p>She stuffed the parcel of lace in her pocket, -placed the delicately wrought mesh bag in her -own purse, and without waiting to hear what Mrs. -Leslie had to say she hurried into the street and -hailed a passing taxi.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VIII<br /> - - -<small>MARY KEEPS THE FAITH</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>“Stop her! Stop her!” Mrs. Leslie called -to Mary. “She’s a thief—an out and out -thief!”</p> - -<p>“Mother! You must be demented!” exclaimed -Mary. “Do calm yourself. You can’t mean -Josie O’Gorman.”</p> - -<p>“I do mean Josie O’Gorman and I rue the -day we ever took her in. I thought all the time -her French accent was too good to be true. Now -I have seen what she has stolen—seen it with -my own eyes. Her clothes are of too good material -for a girl who can’t make very large wages -and her shoes are too fine for one who rents a -little room from us—”</p> - -<p>“Mother, Mother! Please calm yourself and -tell me what you are talking about. What has -Josie seemed to have stolen, because I am sure -she has only seemed to have. I could swear she -is honest—swear it on the Bible.”</p> - -<p>“Major Simpson was right—horribly right—and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span> -now I must get hold of him immediately—I -promised—Oh, but I also promised not to let -you know anything about it and here I have -blurted it out.” Mrs. Leslie was walking up and -down the living room like a caged tigress, literally -tearing her hair.</p> - -<p>“Now, Mother, take this dose of aromatic spirits -of ammonia and then sit down and tell me -quietly all that is troubling you.”</p> - -<p>“Here, give me the ammonia, but I haven’t -time to sit down. I must phone to Major Simpson -as soon as possible. Thank goodness we have -had a phone put in. Only suppose we did not -have one. What a time I would have. I’d have -to dress myself and go out on the street and -maybe wait in line at a public booth.”</p> - -<p>“Major Simpson! Who on earth? Is he the -old gentleman from our county you used to know -when you were a little girl—the one who gave -you a pink parasol once?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, the same—and he has been here to see -me—so kind and courtly—so anxious for our -welfare—so pleased to see me and anxious to -meet you. He is Burnett & Burnett’s private -detective and is on the track of this Josie O’Gorman. -I promised to help him and now that I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span> -have actually seen her with the stolen goods in -her pocket I am going to tell him about it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mother, you surely cannot bring yourself -to shame a dear girl like Josie. She can explain -it I am sure. She is a member of the family and -our duty is to protect her.”</p> - -<p>“Not at all! Our duty is to bring her to justice. -The law is the law and we have no right -to take it in our own hands. I am not saying -I am not fond of Josie—I cannot help liking -her although I have seen, with my own eyes, -stuff in her coat pocket; a great bunch of lace -that Major Simpson says is worth hundreds of -dollars and a gold mesh purse, imported and -worth I don’t know how much. She saw I saw -too, and when I asked her what she meant by -having the things she said she was sure she didn’t -know but would leave me to find out and then -she hurried out as cool as you please. Major -Simpson had just told me, not fifteen minutes -before, that those identical things had been stolen -from the shop and he had a kind of idea from -various things that had occurred that Josie was -the shoplifter they have been trying to catch for -months. Indeed I think he is a marvelously clever -gentleman to track her as he did. I promised<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span> -him I would help if the slightest thing that looked -suspicious should turn up, and now I must keep -my word.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie took down the receiver of the recently -installed telephone and consulting the card -Major Simpson had left with her, called a number.</p> - -<p>“Mother, Mother!” cried Mary. “The only -reason I can bear your doing this is that I know -dear Josie can explain. Perhaps it is best to -give her a chance rather than to go on suspecting -her of a heinous crime. As soon as she comes -in I shall quite frankly ask an explanation of -her and I am sure she will be as anxious to clear -her name of this charge as I am to have it -cleared.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie could not answer her daughter as -at that moment she heard Major Simpson on the -line.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Major, it is Mrs. Leslie—Polly Bainbridge -that was. That girl has come in and with -my own eyes I have seen a package of lace that -looked as fine as fine can be and a beautiful little -gold mesh purse.</p> - -<p>“Where is she, you say? Gone! Gone in the -twinkling of an eye. Up and out before I could say<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span> -‘boo’ to her. She just stuffed the things in her -pocket when she realized I had seen them and -without endeavoring to make the least explanation, -but feigning a kind of stupid ignorance of -what she was doing with them, she clapped on -her hat, pulled on her coat, and was gone.</p> - -<p>“Will she come back, you say? I don’t know -Major Simpson, I am sure. She has left all her -things here, but I should think she would be afraid -to come back when she knows I know she has -stolen those things. I have no idea where she -went. She just said she had urgent business to -attend to and was gone.</p> - -<p>“Could I swear to the things? Well, Major -Simpson, I should hate to have to, but if the -worst comes to the worst I certainly can put my -hand on the Bible and swear that I saw Josie -O’Gorman put in her pocket a parcel from which -had fallen a gold mesh purse with one of Burnett -& Burnett’s tags on it and that the parcel certainly -contained a great deal of filmy lace. How -much I could not say as it was twisted up into a -tight package. I am sorry, Major, but my daughter -was in the apartment at the time and I was -forced to tell her of what I had learned about -our lodger. Yes, she is very sad over it and says<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span> -she will ask the girl all about it as soon as she -returns. Mary is just like her father, so kind -that she thinks nobody in the world is wicked.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you say she must not mention the matter -to Miss O’Gorman. All right, Major Simpson! -Mary is a good girl and I am sure she will -obey me, but she is so fond of this Miss O’Gorman -that it will go hard with her to help trap -the poor thing. Yes, of course I understand it -is our duty to aid the law where criminals are -concerned. I’ll do all I can, but it goes against -the grain somehow. Yes, she was right down -brazen about the things being in her room. Of -course she didn’t know I knew anything about -them—in fact, I pretended I didn’t hear her -when she asked if you had been here. She -thought she saw you coming out of the house as -she turned the corner. Of course that shows she -has a guilty conscience to think you had been -here. Well, Major Simpson, I’ll do my best, not -only because it is my duty but because you are -an old neighbor. I’ll call you if she comes back. -Oh, of course I must pretend it is some other -matter and not call your name because she could -hear me phoning. Perhaps I’d better go out to -a public booth. That would be best.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span>“You say just call your number and ask for -Mr. Silvester and say ‘The lemons have come’ -and you will understand? That will be fine. Well, -good bye!”</p> - -<p>Mary had listened to the foregoing harangue -with a sinking heart. It was easy to gather from -her mother’s part in the conversation what the -old gentleman’s share had been. She well knew -her mother’s failing, if failing it was, a love of -a mystery and how she had always flattered herself -that she knew human nature. She also knew -that her mother’s kind heart always got the better -of what she was pleased to call ‘her better -judgment,’ and if matters should come to a showdown -that she would probably expend more energy -in her endeavor to protect a criminal than -in convicting one. Mary was sure that her friend -was innocent and it was sorely against her will -that she was made to promise that in the event -of Josie’s return to the apartment she would say -nothing to her about lace, mesh bags, shoplifting -or portly old private detectives.</p> - -<p>“Just be perfectly natural in your manner,” -commanded her mother. “Behave as I do—not -that I think she will return. It would be -entirely too dangerous now that she suspects Major<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span> -Simpson has been here. She certainly realizes -that I saw the purloined articles.”</p> - -<p>“But her clothes! What will she do without -her clothes?”</p> - -<p>“Why, my dear, criminals of that sort never -stop for clothes. She may have rooms all over -the city as far as we know and as many aliases -as she has rooms. There is no telling how long -she has been living in Wakely. Major Simpson -says these robberies have been going on ever so -long at Burnett & Burnett’s and he rather thinks -this girl may be responsible for all of them.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mother! I can’t believe this is really -you talking this way. Why, Josie is almost like -a sister to me I have grown so fond of her, and -I am sure she loves you dearly. If we should -have suspicion cast on us she would not believe -we were wicked but would do her best to help -us. After all, you have not a thing to go on but -what a silly old man says.”</p> - -<p>“Major Silvester Simpson is far from being -a silly old man. He is an elegant, courtly gentleman,” -Mrs. Leslie retaliated with some heat. -“He is not only from our county but from the -very best blood in the county, and what he says -and thinks has much more weight with me than<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> -protestations of innocence from a little Miss Nobody.”</p> - -<p>Mary felt that silence was the only thing with -which to combat her mother’s argument, so with -a sad face, and wiping away a few tears that she -could not keep back, she endeavored to lose herself -in a book until Josie should return, for certain -she was that their little lodger would return.</p> - -<p>Mary and her mother were usually in accord -and both of them felt exceedingly uncomfortable -that a disagreement had arisen. Mrs. Leslie -busied herself with her embroidery, looking up -every now and then at her daughter and sighing -involuntarily. Mary endeavored to read but tears -would dim her eyes which necessitated a furtive -use of her handkerchief. Both of them missed -the gay intimate chatter that it was their custom -to indulge in. Mary was the first to break the -silence.</p> - -<p>“By the way, Mother, I saw another beggar -in the hall. This time it was an old woman, at -least her hair was gray, though she certainly -could step along at a lively rate. I saw her actually -running up the steps exactly as though a -mad dog was after her. I was coming in our -door and my impression was that she was going<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span> -in No. 3, but it looked kind of prying for me to -wait and see. That Mrs. Kambourian must be -a very charitable lady with the tramp mark on -her door.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well! What have we come to? I think -you and I had better go back to the country, Mary, -what with beggars and shoplifters right in the -same house with us. Now in the country we never -had such things happen.”</p> - -<p>Mary laughed.</p> - -<p>“But, Mother, remember how the Taylor’s dog -killed our sheep; and weasels slit the throats of -the chickens; and the turtles in the branch got -our ducklings; and the crows ate the corn before -it had time to sprout; and the city man shot your -prize gobbler thinking it was a wild turkey; and -old Uncle Eben’s pipe burnt up the tobacco barn.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, but none of those things were human -beings doing wrong, not even Uncle Eben’s -pipe. Here in the city it is human beings that -worry a poor woman to death.”</p> - -<p>“Are you so worried, Mother? I thought you -were rather enjoying yourself.”</p> - -<p>“Well, Mary, I believe you are right. I am -enjoying myself and feel that I am living in the -pages of an exciting detective story.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span>“If only it has a happy ending!” sighed Mary. -“In detective tales the one you think did the -crime never is the right one and I believe this -tale will work out that way. I am sure my dear -Josie will prove to be as good as we have thought -she was all the time.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you are right, Mary. Anyhow we -must read the story to the end and not skip any. -If Josie is innocent it will all come out in the -last chapter.”</p> - -<p>Then mother and daughter kissed and were -happy again as they sat and waited for the detective -story to develop.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IX<br /> - - -<small>WHO IS MISS FAUNTLEROY</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>Josie’s taxi carried her quickly to the home -of Mr. Theodore Burnett. Fortunately she found -him in. The old colored butler who answered -the bell seemed greatly astonished that a young -lady should be calling on the master of the house -and not on his mother and sisters.</p> - -<p>“You mean Ol’ Miss, don’t you lady, I mean -Mrs. Burnett and Miss Lily an’ Miss May? -They’s all to home an’ I wouldn’t be ’stonished -if they ain’t ’spectin’ of you ’case they done tol’ -me tea in the settin’ room at five sharp.”</p> - -<p>“No, Uncle,” laughed Josie, “this is a business -call and I must see Mr. Burnett immediately. -Please give him my card.”</p> - -<p>“All right, lady, but—well all right! I reckon -I mought jes’ as well take you right off in ter the -liberry if you air so ’termined lak ter see the -boss. He ain’t so partial ter doin’ business of -a Sat’day. Don’t you reckon you mought prospone -it ’til Monday?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span>“No, I must see him now. If you take him -my card I am sure he will see me.”</p> - -<p>“Yassum, but I hate ter pester him so. He’s -worrited enough what with sneak thieves a liftin’ -goods off’n the sto’ right under the nose of these -here detecertives he done pay out so much money -to. I hearn him a tellin’ Ol’ Miss sumpen ’bout -it at lunch time.”</p> - -<p>“Where is the library?” asked Josie, determination -in her voice.</p> - -<p>“Well, lady, it air right back yonder—”</p> - -<p>“What is the matter, Uncle Abe?” The question -was asked by a pleasant looking young -woman whose likeness to Mr. Theodore Burnett -gave Josie the assurance that she was his sister. -She had overheard sounds of an altercation from -the upper hall and leaning over the bannisters -spied Josie.</p> - -<p>“I must see Mr. Burnett immediately,” said -the girl. “It is important and I beg of you to -inform him that I am here. I am Miss O’Gorman -from the store.”</p> - -<p>“O-O-h! Are you really?” and Miss Lily -Burnett sailed down the stairs rapidly. “My -brother has told us a lot about you and we have -been anxious to meet you. Uncle Abe, you must<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span> -tell Mr. Teddy immediately that Miss O’Gorman -is here. Please come in, and when you and -Brother Teddy get through your business talk -we will be so glad if you will have tea with us. -Now don’t say ‘no.’”</p> - -<p>There was a sweet frankness about Miss Lily -Burnett’s voice and manner that appealed to -Josie but she felt that for the time being she -must forego the pleasure of tea with the family -of her employer.</p> - -<p>“I am very sorry, but I am too busy to stop -with you to-day,” she said.</p> - -<p>“Well then, promise another day!” and Josie -promised and was at last shown into the library -where the master of the house and the junior -partner of the firm sat in some dejection, attempting -to read but evidently restless and preoccupied.</p> - -<p>“Miss O’Gorman!” Mr. Theodore exclaimed, -jumping up. “I have been wondering how I -could get hold of you. Of course I had your -address but no telephone number. I have wanted -very much to have a talk with you ever since -Major Simpson told me he was going to hunt -you up. He found you, did he not? I don’t know -how the old fellow happened to catch on to your<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span> -being what you are. He is more astute than we -thought. Perhaps calling himself a detective for -so many years has finally made him one.”</p> - -<p>Josie began to laugh.</p> - -<p>“He has found out where I live and as far -as I can make out he has sworn my landlady to -secrecy in regard to his having tracked me. He -has a mystery up his sleeve and for the life of -me I cannot make it out. But I am not here to -discuss Major Simpson and you have not told -me why you wanted to talk to me. First let me -ask you if a shoplifter has been at work again -and carried off several yards of exquisite lace and -a gold mesh bag?”</p> - -<p>“How did you find that out? Major Simpson -must have had a leakage somewhere. Ah, perhaps -you have seen one of the sales-ladies?”</p> - -<p>“Worse and more of it! I have found the -goods in my own pocket.” Josie produced the -stolen articles and laid them on the library table. -“It seems almost too good to be true that my -pocket was the one chosen, and it also convinces -me that my father was right when he declared -truth to be stranger than fiction. A real detective -tale would never sell with such a thing as -this happening in it.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span>She then recounted in detail the story of how -Miss Fauntleroy bought the paper and then twisting -it up angrily returned it to the old newsie, -and how the woman seemed genuinely distressed -that she, Josie, should take the rumpled paper.</p> - -<p>“Of course these two are the ones to watch -now—Miss Fauntleroy and the old beggar -woman at your back entrance. Miss Fauntleroy -does not live at the address she gave Burnett & -Burnett.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure? How do you know?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am sure, and I know because this afternoon -I went out to the address she gave and -there is nothing but a frog pond at that number -on Linden Row, Linden Heights. In fact, there -are no houses at all on Linden Row. It has but -recently been put on the market—a half-hearted -attempt at a real estate boom, I fancy, and the -houses are all ‘castles in Spain.’ The question -now is: Where does Miss Fauntleroy live and -what connection has she with the beggar at the -gate? We must go very quietly so as not to scare -her off. I am a little uneasy now that you tell -me Major Simpson is to cooperate with me.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, but I did not say that! Merely that he -seems to be aware of the fact that you are not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span> -just a shop girl. He came to the office in great -excitement a little while after the theft was reported -and wanted your address. He seemed to -think that through you he might track the whole -gang, if gang there is, of shoplifters.”</p> - -<p>“That being the case, why should he be so -secret about it when once he found my address? -Why should he not wait until I got home and -talk the thing over with me? Why should he -persuade Mrs. Leslie, the dear lady with whom -I am boarding, to keep so dark about his having -been there? Why, Mr. Burnett, he has even -snooped around my bedroom and peeped in my -bureau drawers.”</p> - -<p>“Surely not, Miss O’Gorman! How do you -know?”</p> - -<p>“I know because a little book, of which I am -very fond, had been moved.”</p> - -<p>“Taken away?”</p> - -<p>“Oh no, just turned around with the edges -out instead of in. I always put it in the corner -of my drawer, turning the back out.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burnett laughed. “Heaven’s above! What -an inventory taker you would make—or housekeeper -for Sherlock Holmes. But, my dear young -lady, why should you think that poor old Sylvester<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span> -Simpson was guilty of such—such sacrilege? -Could not your nice landlady have done that? -Did he leave finger prints on the book and have -you examined it with a magnifying glass?”</p> - -<p>“No doubt he did and I would have examined -it and perhaps photographed the finger prints -had it been necessary, but the deft detective did -worse things than leave finger prints,” answered -Josie, good naturedly accepting her employer’s -banter.</p> - -<p>“What could be worse?”</p> - -<p>“His cuff link broke in my drawer,” she said, -producing the telltale bit of gold. “Would you -like to see Major Simpson when I supply the -missing link?”</p> - -<p>“I should, above all things. But seriously, -what do you make of his behavior?”</p> - -<p>“What do you?”</p> - -<p>“Answered like an Irishman! You know an -Irishman always answers an unanswerable question -by asking another,” laughed Mr. Burnett. -“Frankly, I don’t know; but then, I am a plain -merchant and not a young lady detective. If I -had to answer your question off hand I think -I should say that the old man has gone a little -crazy and thinks you are the shoplifter—”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span>“Exactly!” cried Josie. “You have hit the -nail on the head, Mr. Burnett, and I give you -all credit for solving the mystery of ‘The Major -and the Maiden.’ I find very often in my work -that the sane opinion of a sensible business man -who makes no pretense of being able to unscrew -the inscrutable is worth more than all the sleuthing -in the world. I don’t know why I did not -think of that myself. Of course he thinks I am -responsible for all thefts past, present and future. -That is the reason he has been following me -around so much. And just think, I thought it -was because he knew about my father.”</p> - -<p>Then Josie laughed heartily at her own stupidity, -and Mr. Burnett joined in. At that moment -his sister Lily put her head in the library door -and the other sister, May, looked in over Lily’s -shoulder and they laughed, too. Although they -hadn’t the slightest idea what it was all about, -they were sure it was a good joke that was bringing -forth such spontaneous merriment from their -much admired brother.</p> - -<p>“Now, Brother Teddy, you need not pretend -you and Miss O’Gorman are discussing private -business matters if you are laughing like that. -There could not possibly be anything about business<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span> -that would be so funny,” declared Lily. “I -met Miss O’Gorman in the hall. Now I want -May to meet her and I want both of you to come -on in the living room and have some tea.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed we will,” declared Mr. Burnett. “I -have been wanting Miss O’Gorman to let you call -on her ever since she has been here, but she is -such a stickler in a way for business etiquette -that she has refused. Now, Sister Lily, we have -her in spite of herself.”</p> - -<p>Josie did not mind at all being had in spite -of herself. The day had been a trying one and -it was pleasant to sit by the cheerful grate fire -in the comfortable, homelike living room and have -Lily and May serve the tea while she talked to -Mr. Burnett and his charming old mother, who -was a delightfully witty old lady in voluminous -skirts and a dainty lace cap—a veritable “Ol’ -Miss.”</p> - -<p>“Now, Miss O’Gorman, I want you to tell the -ladies of my family all about it. They are very -remarkable women and know when to keep secrets. -I am sure what you tell them will go no -farther. My mother is a great reader of mystery -tales and she will be vastly interested in what -you have to say.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span>So Josie told all the happenings since she had -come to Wakely—not that much had happened -except Major Simpson’s dogging of her every -move—until that very day when things had -moved fast and furiously.</p> - -<p>“And you actually have the stolen things right -here in this house?” asked the mother.</p> - -<p>“Right here,” said the son, and he went to -the library and brought back the purloined articles. -“Of course the ridiculous part of it all -is that Major Simpson thinks Miss O’Gorman is -a clever shoplifter instead of being about the -most successful female detective we have anywhere.”</p> - -<p>“Oh please—” blushed Josie.</p> - -<p>“Well, you know you are, at least that is what -your Captain Lonsdale says. I am wondering -what old Simp will say when he finds out the -goods have been returned.”</p> - -<p>“Of course he will say that he knew all the -time I had the things and I brought them back -because I was afraid of your sending me to jail. -By the way, if I had been a thief it would certainly -have been a dramatic move to bring the -things to you. It would have disarmed you completely, -would it not?”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span>“I guess it would.”</p> - -<p>“And now I must go,” said Josie. “I am -wondering all the time what my dear friends the -Leslies are thinking about me. Mrs. Leslie saw -the lace and gold bag as soon as I did and she -expressed her astonishment. Heavens! Do you -think Major Simpson could have informed her of -the theft this afternoon? Of <i>course</i> he did and -now Mary and her mother think I am the guilty -party.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER X<br /> - - -<small>“THE WATERMELONS HAVE COME”</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Burnett would not hear of Josie’s leaving -until he had ordered his car.</p> - -<p>“I’ll take you myself,” he insisted.</p> - -<p>“But suppose Major Simpson sees us,” -laughed Josie.</p> - -<p>“Oh, won’t that be delicious?” from May. -“Do you fancy he will think Brother Teddy is -shoplifting from himself?”</p> - -<p>“Of course, if he sees me driving around with -a bunch of lace and a gold mesh bag he could -come to no other conclusion.”</p> - -<p>“Well! I have been called many things, but -never before a bunch of lace and a gold mesh -bag,” said Josie, buttoning her neat sport coat. -“Wait, let me see that there is nothing in my -pockets that does not belong to me, because if -I don’t look out I’ll be arrested yet.”</p> - -<p>“Now, my dear,” said Mrs. Burnett, “I am -going to make you promise to come and dine with -us very soon. I want to hear some of the many<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> -tales of the criminals you have caught up with. -I know you think that is a strange taste for an -old lady like me, but I simply dote on detective -stories and I am sure you know interesting things -that don’t get in books.”</p> - -<p>“Please do! Please do!” chorused the sisters, -and Josie promised, although she had her -doubts about the advisability of accepting such -an invitation, certainly not until the shoplifting -plot was unraveled.</p> - -<p>Mr. Theodore Burnett’s car was a new one, -large and elegant, with silver mountings, and -painted a midnight blue. Josie could not resist a -sly smile at herself when the owner helped her in -so carefully. She wondered what Min and Gertie -and Jane would say could they see her riding -around in such luxury.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you had better let me out at the -corner and not take me all the way to my door,” -she suggested.</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” insisted Mr. Burnett. “I am -not accustomed to dumping young ladies at the -corner.”</p> - -<p>As it was a well known fact that Mr. Theodore -Burnett was not accustomed to driving young -ladies around at all, and since young ladies must<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span> -be driven before they can be dumped, no doubt -he was speaking the truth. Nevertheless, Josie -insisted on being dumped, if not at the corner, -at least not in front of the shabby apartment -house. He compromised by bringing the car to -a standstill four doors from No. 11.</p> - -<p>Had Josie not been so occupied in bidding Mr. -Burnett good bye she would have seen that Mrs. -Leslie was on the stoop of the apartment house, -peering anxiously into the winter twilight. She -had seen the handsome car pass and drive up to -the curb and then her little lodger alight with -the courteous assistance of a very good looking -gentleman verging onto middle age.</p> - -<p>As the afternoon wore on Mrs. Leslie’s concern -for Josie had outweighed her suspicions. -Suppose she did not come back—what then -would happen to her? She regretted exceedingly -that she had permitted herself to be drawn into -Major Simpson’s plot to entrap the young girl. -Who could tell what temptations she had had? -She thought of her own Mary. Her life had been -sheltered, her rearing, careful, her training, -Christian. Perhaps Josie O’Gorman had never -known a mother’s and father’s care. Was it the -part of a Christian woman with a daughter of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span> -her own to try to catch and bring to justice a -poor young thing who trusted her—she might -even say loved her? How much better it would -be to warn the girl and try to reform her than -betray her and have her sent to prison where no -doubt she would be taught a lesson but in the -teaching might become a hardened criminal. Certainly -Josie was no hardened criminal yet. Criminal -she might be but there was something very -kind and sweet about the poor thing.</p> - -<p>“If only I had not promised Major Simpson!” -she said to herself over and over. “If only I -had not told him about the lace and the gold mesh -bag! He is started now and there is no stopping -him. It would be different if Josie was the kind -of girl that flirted or ran around with men. -There is nothing like that about her at all. She -is so refined, so circumspect. She may be a kleptomaniac, -poor little thing, and not be able to -resist stealing. I have a great mind to go in -the house this minute and phone the Major that -I will no longer aid and abet him in this cruel -pursuit of the poor young thing.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie had come out on the stoop for the -third time, hoping and yet fearing to see Josie -returning. Just as she had come to the conclusion<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span> -to give her old neighbor and friend an ultimatum -concerning her lodger—since she was so -refined and was not the kind of girl to flirt or -go joy riding with strange men—the large blue -car came rolling up the street past No. 11 and -stopped a few doors off.</p> - -<p>Meadow was a quiet street, shabby and unpretentious. -Few handsome automobiles passed -that way and if they did they seldom stopped. -Mrs. Leslie was attracted by its new and shining -splendor and when it came to a full stop close -to the curb and no less a person than her abused -lodger alighted and stood for a moment talking -gaily with the handsome, well dressed owner of -the car, Mrs. Leslie’s heart hardened again and -she hurried into the house to inform the Major -that the prodigal had returned.</p> - -<p>“What number? What number?” was all the -satisfaction Mrs. Leslie could get from her new -telephone. Of course this was most irritating -when she wanted to get the message over to Major -Simpson before Josie should get in the apartment. -The operator was stupid or the line was -crossed or something, at any rate Josie was in -the hall before the connection was made. Then -the distracted lady was sure that Major Simpson<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> -at the other end bellowed quite loud enough -for Josie to hear him, although she was all the -way across the room from the telephone.</p> - -<p>“Well! Well! This is Sylvester Simpson—Major -Simpson of Burnett & Burnett’s. What -is it? Who are you? What do you want?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie could hardly refrain from calling -him an old idiot. If he had not come from her -county and belonged to such a highly respectable -family she would have done so. As it was she -merely said: “Hello! Hello!” all the time -trying to remember what she was to say if Josie -got back. She knew it was something connected -with picnics, but the major’s bellowing and stupidity -had driven it from her mind. She did -not know why she had connected the cryptic code -with picnics—she couldn’t remember that or -anything else. She only knew that Josie O’Gorman -had come driving up in a very handsome -blue car and had been standing chatting very -intimately with a handsome stranger when, so -far as she knew, her lodger had no acquaintances -in Wakely. Why had the car not stopped in -front of the apartment house? That in itself was -shady. She also knew that she had promised -Major Silvester Simpson to let him know when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> -Josie returned if she ever did return. She was -to name no names but merely say that something -that was in some way connected with picnics had -come. She tried to think, but the Major’s impatient -“Well! Well!” at the other and drove -all coherency from her thoughts. She must say -something or she was sure the impatient old man -would pull his telephone out by the roots.</p> - -<p>“The watermelons have come!” she gasped. -“They just came—the watermelons!” and then -she heard a great spluttering at the other end -of the line and a faint: “Is that you Polly?”</p> - -<p>“Yes sir!” she said, and hung up the receiver.</p> - -<p>“Watermelons! This time of the year?” -questioned Josie curiously, and then realized that -something had happened and was still happening. -Mrs. Leslie’s cheeks were burning and her -usually tidy hair had escaped from its net and -was standing out in a far from respectable manner. -She looked at Josie with sad, unfriendly -eyes, and her mouth trembled as she said:</p> - -<p>“Good evening!”</p> - -<p>“Good evening!” returned Josie. “I—I -hope nothing is the matter, Mrs. Leslie.”</p> - -<p>“Matter! Nothing that I know of.” But Mrs. -Leslie was too honest to dissemble and suddenly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> -she lost all control of herself and sinking into a -chair, burst into tears.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dear, my dear!” cried Josie kneeling -by her side. “Please, please, Mrs. Leslie, -tell me if anything is the matter. Where is -Mary?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie pointed to the closed bedroom door.</p> - -<p>“Not ill?”</p> - -<p>She shook her head in mute denial.</p> - -<p>“Is it something connected with me—with -me and Major Simpson that has upset you so?”</p> - -<p>The lady did not speak, but a tightening of the -hand which Josie held gave the girl to understand -that it was something to do with her and -the old detective that was making her weep.</p> - -<p>“And the watermelons—are they a private -dish or am I to have a slice? Come now, my -dear friend, for you are dear friends—both you -and Mary—please tell me what it is all about. -I feel you are angry with me about something -and distrust me in some way. I must -have a talk with you and Mary.”</p> - -<p>Mary, whose door was not so tightly closed -that she could not hear her name mentioned, came -quickly into the living room. She, too, had been -weeping, but her mother’s wild message concerning<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span> -watermelons had brought on a fit of uncontrollable -laughter and now she was verging on -hysterics. She tried to speak but could only giggle -helplessly.</p> - -<p>Josie looked at mother and daughter with a -quizzical expression as much as to say: “Well -what next?” Then she drew Mary to a seat and -standing in the middle of the room she spoke in -a tone of patient gentleness and humility.</p> - -<p>“I feel sure that something has arisen to make -you doubt and distrust me. I am to blame for -this because I have been concealing something -from you that no doubt I should have told you -long ago, but my profession is such that it is -wiser and safer to keep my own counsel.”</p> - -<p>“Oh—hh!” shuddered Mrs. Leslie. “Don’t -tell us anything that you will regret. You can -get away now if you go immediately and wild -horses will not drag from me where you have -gone. Indeed, you need not even tell me where -you are going—but go quickly, poor child.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sending me away?”</p> - -<p>“Not sending you, just allowing you to go before -it is too late. I may get into trouble for -warning you but I don’t care. I cannot see you -put behind bars.” Mrs. Leslie wept afresh.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XI<br /> - - -<small>MRS. LESLIE WON TO THE CAUSE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>“No doubt I deserve it,” said Josie solemnly.</p> - -<p>“Even if you do I cannot bear to think of -your being there and, although it is not quite -honorable of me to do so, I am going to assist -you to run away. Honor isn’t everything. A -woman must be human first and a human being -could not stand by and see a poor young thing -like you branded as a criminal with a terrible -jail sentence staring you in the face.”</p> - -<p>“But, my dear lady, I have not confessed to -being a real criminal—only not quite honest -in that—”</p> - -<p>“But there is no line to draw where honesty -is concerned. That is what you shall have to -learn. One is either honest or dishonest—but -you are so young—”</p> - -<p>“But, Mrs. Leslie, what do you and Mary think -I have done?”</p> - -<p>“Not me!” cried Mary. “I am sure of you,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span> -Josie. I simply <i>know</i> you have done nothing -wrong.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Mary! Then what does your -mother think I have done?”</p> - -<p>“Think—why, you poor dear child, I know -you are a thief—at least a shoplifter,” blurted -out Mrs. Leslie. “Major Simpson has been keeping -his eye on you for weeks and weeks and he -has at last rounded you up. Oh, why do we stand -here and talk? You must be leaving before he -gets here. I have telephoned him that you have -come back.”</p> - -<p>“Ah—then I am the watermelons,” laughed -Josie.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I meant lemons but I got so mixed because -I was excited. I knew it was something -people take to picnics and watermelons are good -to take although they are only the shipped Georgia -melons we get for the Fourth of July. All -the time it was lemonade I was thinking about. -Anyhow watermelons was nearer to it than sandwiches -would have been. I know you think I -am crazy but I’m not.”</p> - -<p>“No, I know very well you are exceedingly -sane,” said Josie gently. “You are simply overwrought -and are thinking aloud. But now tell<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span> -me what it is. You mean you have telephoned -Major Simpson that I have come back and he -will be along soon with the handcuffs?”</p> - -<p>“Oh-h-h! Not that!”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps not,” smiled Josie, “but I think -you had better let me make a clean breast of the -whole affair and then we will decide what is to -be done. In the first place, I am not a shop girl -at all—”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t I tell you?” Mrs. Leslie said to Mary.</p> - -<p>“Please don’t interrupt, Mother,” begged -Mary.</p> - -<p>“But I am a detective brought here from Dorfield -by Burnett & Burnett to find out who has -been shoplifting so successfully,” Josie continued.</p> - -<p>“Another detective!” gasped Mrs. Leslie.</p> - -<p>“Yes, although I must say that poor old Major -Simpson hardly deserves to be called one. -I have thought it best not to tell anyone what -brought me to Wakely since both Mr. Charles and -Mr. Theodore Burnett were opposed to letting -Major Simpson know they had employed someone -over his head, as it were. It seems he has -never yet detected a thing about anybody, and -while they do not want to hurt his feelings they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span> -are determined to track the thieves if possible. I -was recommended to the firm as a capable person -and was employed by them. We felt I could -accomplish more if I had a job in the store and -that is how I came to tell you that I was a shop -girl. I have never liked having to conceal my -real profession from you and Mary but it had -to be done. Major Simpson from the first seemed -to have a peculiar interest in me and I thought -it was because he had heard of my father. Perhaps -you have never heard of him, but he was -one of the greatest and cleverest of detectives.”</p> - -<p>“Not Detective O’Gorman?” cried Mrs. Leslie. -“Not the man who found Margaret Carson, -the millionaire baby! Not the one who tracked -down the famous counterfeiters at Dempsey’s -Mill by hiding in a meal sack for a whole day -and night! Not the one who proved the old maid -sister had put rat poison in the chicken salad at -the wedding just to get even with the young man -who was marrying her sister all because one time -he had shot her cat for stealing chickens! Oh, -Josie, to think of my having you right here under -my—my ceiling for all these weeks and not -knowing you were Detective O’Gorman’s daughter. -Why, my husband and I never missed a thing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span> -he did in the way of detecting crime and we followed -every inch of his work if we could just -get hold of it. Of course I knew he lived in Washington -and if you had ever mentioned Washington -I might have guessed, but you see, you never -did.”</p> - -<p>“No, I never did,” said Josie, whose eyes were -full of tears. How often she had mentioned her -father, expecting him to be known and remembered, -and how often she had been mortified at -the ignorance of other persons. Now, here was -this quiet country woman who had not even -known how to punch on an electric light until -she came to Wakely to live, yet she knew all -about the great O’Gorman and gave him all honor -and praise.</p> - -<p>“Go on, Josie! I did not mean to interrupt, -but I just had to. I wish my dear husband could -have met you. He was the one that got me so -interested in detective tales. But go on!”</p> - -<p>“I believe I left off where I realized Major -Simpson took an interest in me. This interest -manifested itself in a peculiar way but I did not -realize until this afternoon what the poor old -man thought. I was so sure he was trying to -find out O’Gorman methods of detecting that I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span> -went blindly on my way. The fact is, I teased -the old fellow. He used to follow me around the -street and I’d keep him guessing and then lose -him. It is a very easy thing to do.”</p> - -<p>“The Sylvester Simpsons are very good people,” -murmured Mrs. Leslie, but Mary gave her -a beseeching glance and she desisted from further -interruptions.</p> - -<p>“I have been walking the streets of Wakely -a great deal because I have been determined to -find out where the many employees of Burnett -& Burnett’s live, as well as something about their -habits. You see, Mr. Charles Burnett had a suspicion -that the shoplifting was done from the -inside. So while Major Simpson was under the -impression that I was playing hide and seek with -him I have really been on my job, which did not -stop with closing time at the store. This afternoon -I went out to Linden Heights to track down -a young person and found she has given a fictitious -address.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, how exciting!” exclaimed Mrs. Leslie. -“Why do you suppose—?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know but I am going to find out. A -whole lot of things have happened this afternoon -that I have to find out about. In the first place,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span> -there was a theft of some priceless lace and a -mesh bag—”</p> - -<p>“Oh—h! I forgot that!” cried Mrs. Leslie. -“And what were you doing with those things? -That is what has been worrying me sick.”</p> - -<p>“I told you I did not know when you asked -me before, and I told you the truth. Since then -a gleam of light has been shed on how I got those -things but it is such a faint gleam that I feel it -best not to say anything more about it until I -can see more clearly myself. I am going to ask -you and Mary to trust me a little longer in so -far as the lace and gold bag being found in my -pocket is concerned.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed I have always trusted you, Josie,” -declared Mary.</p> - -<p>“Well I must say I haven’t,” said Mrs. Leslie, -stoutly, “and I’d like to know now where those -things are. Major Simpson will be coming along -here before you know it and I am not willing for -him to find them in my apartment. Where are -they, Josie?”</p> - -<p>“They are where they belong—with Mr. -Theodore Burnett. I took them to him the moment -I was aware of the fact that they were in -my possession.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span>“Mr. Theodore Burnett! Then was he the -man who came home with you, the one who -stopped three doors up?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, that was Mr. Theodore Burnett, the junior -member of the firm.”</p> - -<p>“Heavens above! And I took him to be one -of your confederates!”</p> - -<p>“So he is, and we happen to be working on -an inside job. It was never my idea to be so -secretive about my being a detective, at least -so far as Major Simpson was concerned, but the -Burnetts were sure he would not know how to -cooperate with me and that if a clue was found -he would bungle because he is so—so—I might -say, old fashioned, though that is hardly the word -because the business of detecting crime is as old -as crime itself, and what new wrinkles have been -discovered do not amount to a row of pins.”</p> - -<p>“There now, it was that kind of talk that made -me say you were not a notion counter girl,” said -Mrs. Leslie. “But you will tell Major Simpson -now, surely.”</p> - -<p>“No, not yet! I am afraid he would bungle -things. Mr. Burnett and I have decided to keep -him in the dark as to my business until the real -thieves are caught.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span>“Of course if you catch the shoplifters you -want the glory of it and if you took him in on it -he might get half,” said Mrs. Leslie. “That’s -human nature.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care a snap for the glory,” laughed -Josie. “It may be human nature, but it is not -mine and it was not my father’s. I know you -think this will sound smug, but honestly and truly -the doing of the work is what interests me and -anybody who wants to can walk off with the laurel -wreath. Of course the laborer is worthy of his -hire and I want the hard cash for delivering the -goods. Not that I do the work for money either—that -is, I don’t think about the money and of -it while I am doing it. After it is all over it is -rather pleasant to deposit a fat check in the -bank.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I reckon it is, and it takes money to -dress as you do,” said Mrs. Leslie.</p> - -<p>“As I do?” laughed Josie. “Why, Mrs. Leslie, -I don’t believe there is a girl at Burnett & -Burnett’s so simply dressed as I am.”</p> - -<p>“Simply but elegantly!” insisted Mrs. Leslie. -“I know dress goods when I see it—and shoes—there -is nothing simple about your shoes.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you are right, my dear lady. I do get<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span> -good material for my frocks and I do wear good -shoes. By the way, what did Major Simpson -think of my shoes?”</p> - -<p>“Your shoes!” and Mrs. Leslie blushed furiously. -“What do you mean, Josie? But I’m -not going to lie about it. The Major did go in -your room, but he made me feel it was in the -cause of the upholding of the law that I should -take him there. He did not meddle with anything -however—except—”</p> - -<p>“Except my little book in the top drawer,” -teased Josie.</p> - -<p>“Yes—” faltered the much embarrassed hostess, -“but how did you know that?”</p> - -<p>“I knew it in the first place because the book -was not quite in the corner and the back turned -in instead of out. But if I had not known it already -this would have been proof that someone -had been in my drawer.” Josie produced the -broken cuff link.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dear, I am so mortified that I let that -bigoted old man make such a fool of me,” wailed -Mrs. Leslie. “He doesn’t know the first thing -about the detective business, either. And I -thought he was so clever. You see he is the first -one I ever knew and he talked so knowingly. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span> -idea of his leaving a cuff link in the drawer! And -to think of his spending all this time tracking -down a detective! Anybody could see with half -an eye that you are as honest as the day is long. -Josie, I am going to do anything you tell me to -keep your identity concealed from old Major -Simpson. I don’t care if he does belong to one -of the most respectable families in our county, -with his ancestral home right next to mine—and -I don’t care if he did give me a pink parasol when -I was a little girl. He is a poor detective and -that is what I am interested in.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the way to talk,” said Josie, and the -girls laughed so merrily that Mrs. Leslie joined -in. “But what line of subterfuge are we to decide -on? It is really very important to keep the -poor man fooled for a few days yet.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll phone him again and tell him the watermelons -are to be with me for some time—I mean -lemons—and he need have no fear of losing -them.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XII<br /> - - -<small>A BOARDING HOUSE HERO</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>When Major Simpson received the frantic message -from Mrs. Leslie informing him the watermelons -had come, for a moment he stood aghast, -not knowing at all what she meant. Slowly a -wary smile overspread his rotund countenance -and he exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“By golly! There’s a woman for you! I’ll -bet my gold-headed cane that somebody had -caught on to the lemons and she realized I would -have intelligence enough to grasp her meaning if -she substituted watermelons. Of course—of -course—picnics back in the grove behind the -church—ice cold watermelons—ice cold lemonade. -Even had she said fried chicken I should -have been wise. Well, well! I must not neglect -my digestion for this little shoplifter. Since she -is safe in the hands of my good friend Polly Bainbridge -I can eat my dinner in peace. I wonder -whether or not the stolen goods are still on the -wretch. I fancy not, but once we get our clutches<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span> -on her she will divulge where she has hidden the -loot.”</p> - -<p>Major Simpson was star boarder in the very -select house run by Mrs. Celeste White. The place -was called “Maison Blanche”. Mrs. White seemed -to think that her name Celeste gave her sufficient -reason for assuming a French air. For that reason -at Maison Blanche the bill of fare was always -the menu. The baking dishes were casseroles, -the napkins, serviettes. She made desperate efforts -to have old Aunt Maria called the chef but -that worthy person objected.</p> - -<p>“No’m! I ain’t no shelf an’ I ain’t gonter be -laid on none fer many a day yit. I’m a plain cook -as fer as what you call me is consarned but I’m -plain an’ fancy as fer as cookin’ is consarned. -An’ what I cook air a gonter be called by the -right name s’long as it air in my kitchen. When -it gits as fer as the precinct of the butler’s pantry -it kin begin ter change its name an’ not befo’. I -cooks maccaroni an’ cheese in a bakin’ dish but -Miss White she make a pass over it an’ by the -time the boa’ders gits settled in they seats my -maccaroni an’ cheese air fergetti O’ Gratty Ann. -I don’t know who this here Gratty Ann is but she -sho mus’ a been a great one fer the eatin’s since<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span> -she got so many things named after her. They -even got pertatters named her name only Miss -White, she calls ’em pums. This Gratty Ann an’ -that there Cassy Roll got they patent hitched on -ter mos’ eve’y thing these days. In ol’ times -Sally Lum an’ Brown Betty wa’ the onlies oomans -what got they names in the cook book an’ now -them two has ter take a back seat. The times air -sho quare. Miss White she don’t even let cawfy -be plain cawfy, that is when they dishes it up in -them little doll baby cups, but she got ter name -it after some low flung pusson called Demmy -Task. I don’t know who Demmy Task is but she -mus’ be a stingy one.”</p> - -<p>In the kitchen Aunt Maria ruled supreme, while -in the parlor Major Simpson was monarch of all -he surveyed—from the great Mrs. Celeste White -herself down to the humble little Miss Willie -Watts who rented Mrs. White’s attic room which -she pleased to call a studio. Here Miss Willie -made crayon portraits of the living and the dead -for a living, and for pleasure she painted fancy -pictures illustrating striking bits in mythology -as well as her favorite songs. These pictures -painted merely for the love of what the poor little -woman called “her art” she never sold, because<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span> -nobody ever bought them. But she was very generous -with them at Christmas and on birthdays -and weddings. According to Miss Willie Watts -everything must be decorated—no space go to -waste. Art abhorred a bare space as much as -Nature did a vacuum.</p> - -<p>Major Simpson was the recipient of several -of Miss Willie’s efforts. “The Lovers’ Tryst,” -painted in a wooden mixing bowl, was touching -indeed. Of course the poor man never did know -what he was expected to do with a wooden bowl -so he did nothing with it—just had it around. -The small rolling pin tastefully decorated in -new born cupids and suspended by silken cords -and tassels attached to the handles, he guessed -was meant for a cravat holder and so the vivid -pink cupids peeped out from behind the old gentleman’s -sober ties, constantly reminding him -that the fool that the cynics tell us is born every -minute may also be a lover.</p> - -<p>On this evening Major Simpson was in his -glory. The paying lady guests at Maison Blanche -were gathered together in the parlor, listening in -wrapt admiration while the star boarder recounted -with becoming modesty the almost superhuman -intelligence he had exercised in tracking down the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span> -desperate criminal, little Josie O’Gorman. Of -course he named no names for fear that by some -means the terrible truth might be conveyed to -his victim and she might escape.</p> - -<p>“How thrilling!” trilled a sweet young thing -of some forty summers. “Oh, Major, you are -wonderfully clever! I wish I might see you work. -How will you proceed now? Will you swear out -a warrant and go and arrest the wicked creature?”</p> - -<p>“No, no, not yet! It is most important to -round up all of the girl’s confederates. In the -mean time she is safe in the apartment of my -friend, the widow from my county—”</p> - -<p>“A widow!” exclaimed Miss Willie Watts. -“So she is a widow?”</p> - -<p>Miss Willie was a contented little woman and -envied no woman anything except a dead husband. -In her heart she had always longed to -be a widow. Her imagination could not picture -for her a live husband but she could easily -see herself in a widow’s ruche with a long -crepe veil. Her imagination even carved a name -on the tombstone marking the grave over which -she mourned so piteously. It was not always -the same name, for Miss Willie allowed herself<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span> -to be fickle in regard to her imaginary dead -husbands; but for many months now she had -thought how blissful it would be to be called -the Widow Simpson and how handsome the -name Major Sylvester Simpson would look -on an imposing marble shaft—“beloved husband -of Willie Watts”—or should it be Wilhelmina? -Willie would look so boyish on a tombstone.</p> - -<p>Had Major Simpson realized the little artist -was regarding him in “that bony light” no -doubt he would have refused to let his cravats -hang over the cupid covered rolling pin, but he -merely counted her as one of the many lovely -ladies who did him homage at the Maison Blanche, -listening to his stories and applauding his cleverness.</p> - -<p>“Burnett & Burnett could hardly get along -without you,” murmured Miss Willie, thinking -of herself as cruel even to imagine the efficient -righthand man of the department store as carved -on a tombstone.</p> - -<p>“Well, they won’t have to. I could retire to-morrow -if I chose, but the work of a detective is -so engrossing that once one has engaged in it, it -is impossible to relinquish it.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span>“Have you always been one?” asked the sweet -young thing.</p> - -<p>“Not officially—but at heart, always.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder you did not get in Government Secret -Service. You would have been invaluable,” -cooed one of the ladies.</p> - -<p>“Ahem! Yes, but Burnett & Burnett needed -me.”</p> - -<p>“Of course—but how noble of you to stay in -Wakely when the logical place for you to be was -Washington,” declared Miss Willie. Then she -asked vaguely: “Do they bury Secret Service -agents in Arlington?” Nobody knew, so nobody -answered, and Miss Willie blushed furiously, fearing -that Major Simpson might guess the foolish -thing that was in her mind when she asked the -seemingly inconsequent question. Miss Willie had -a way of breaking into a conversation following -her own train of thought rather than the subject -under discussion, and the guests at Maison -Blanche were accustomed to her peculiarity and -paid little attention to it. One solemn looking -old lady, who said little but missed nothing, gave -a deep gurgling chuckle. This old lady’s name -was Mrs. Trescott. She had occupied a small -back bedroom at Mrs. Celeste Waite’s for as many<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span> -years as Major Simpson had occupied the large -front one.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Trescott’s chuckle was fortunately -drowned by the dinner gong. The boarders -trooped in and fell on the <i>purree de pois</i> with the -same gusto they would have employed had it -been called plain pea soup. As soon as the first -pangs of hunger were satisfied the conversation -of the parlor was resumed.</p> - -<p>“But, Major Simpson, you haven’t told us -what this naughty girl looks like,” said one of -the ladies. “Of course she is beautiful and -charming and very chic.”</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t think she is any of these things,” -said the Major. “She is quite insignificant looking -and her clothes are not of the latest style, -though they are of very rich material. Her shoes -are quite good and she is intellectual and well -educated; speaks French with a good accent and -reads Greek. Those high-brow crooks are the worst -of all and the hardest to catch.”</p> - -<p>“<i>Boeuf a la mode</i> to-day,” said Mrs. White -by way of informing the assembled company that -French with an accent was eaten at her table -if not spoken. And one of the young men at -the far end of the room said in a hoarse whisper:</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span>“That means biled beef.” But Mrs. Celeste -White never heard anything she did not want to -hear.</p> - -<p>There were three persons at Maison Blanche -that might have been called thorns in the flesh -or flies in the amber. They were two frivolous -young men and one young woman who utterly refused -to play the game of its being a French -<i>pension</i> and who openly made game of Major -Simpson, calling him Sherlocko and asking him -where Dr. Watsonia was. They had all their fun -to themselves, however, as the other inmates -loved to look upon their dinner as table d’hote -and were sure that Major Simpson in flesh and -blood was much cleverer than Conan Doyle’s fictitious -detective. Mrs. Trescott was the only person -who derived any amusement from the bad -manners of the three young persons and she -could not help giving her famous gurgling -chuckle when any of their witty remarks -touched her risibles.</p> - -<p>“Did you say pois meant cat?” one of the men -asked.</p> - -<p>“No, peas! Why?” from the girl.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I thought it must mean cat or maybe -kitten because it’s called purry and it sure does<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span> -purr as it is taken in out of the cold. Listen!”</p> - -<p>Everybody involuntarily stopped eating and -listened except one deaf old lady who was drinking -her pea soup with such gusto that the noise -she made did sound ridiculously like the purring -of a cat.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Trescott chuckled and the three naughty -ones giggled.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mrs. White, you should hear the thrilling -things Major Simpson has been telling us about -a wicked shoplifter at Burnett & Burnett’s,” said -one of the ladies as the soup dishes were removed -and there was a lull in the business of -eating.</p> - -<p>“Shoplifter?” asked one of the young men -known as Jimmy Blaine. Jimmy was a cub reporter -on a morning paper and his life was lived -with his ear cocked for news. “Do tell us about -it Sher—Major Simpson.”</p> - -<p>The Major, forgetting all about Jimmy’s profession -and glad of the chance to entertain a new -audience, one that had heretofore been a scoffing -one, plunged again into the tale of how he -had run down Josie O’Gorman to her lair. He -waxed eloquent over the account of Mrs. Leslie -and her doughnuts and coffee, even mentioning<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span> -the pink parasol he had given that lady in her -childhood.</p> - -<p>“And now all we have to do is round up the -whole gang through this slip of a girl. She thinks -she is clever but she is no match for Sylvester -Simpson.” The Major sat back and beamed on -his listeners, visibly swelling with pride.</p> - -<p>“Hope he don’t bust on me,” Jimmy’s side -partner, Kit Williams, whispered to the naughty -young woman who was always ready to giggle.</p> - -<p>“Tell us the name of this awful young person,” -begged Jimmy.</p> - -<p>“Oh no, young man! When you get to be as -old as I am and as experienced you will realize -that one mustn’t tell names and tales too.”</p> - -<p>At this juncture Aunt Maria poked her head -in the dining room door and announced:</p> - -<p>“Miss Celeste, Major Simpson’s phone air a -ringin’ lak sompen wa’ on fiah. I’d go up an’ -answer it myse’f if it would do any good—but -when folks wants Major Simpson they wants -him an’ I reckon they couldn’t use no substerchute.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, no doubt a development!” said the Major -as he hurried to his room to quiet the persistent -ringing of the telephone bell.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span>He returned before the next course of the -table d’hote was served. His genial pink face -was beaming and like Kilmansegg, father of the -immortal one of the golden leg:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“Seem’d washing his hands with invisible soap</div> -<div class="verse">In imperceptible water.”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>“Just as I said—a development,” he declared. -“It was Mr. Theodore Burnett on the -telephone. He informs me that the articles, purloined -from his establishment this forenoon, have -been returned.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, how thrilling! Did he say by whom?” -asked the coy one.</p> - -<p>“That was not necessary. I did not even ask -him who returned them. I knew.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIII<br /> - - -<small>JIMMY BLAINE GETS A SCOOP</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>There were two morning newspapers in Wakely; -one pink and one yellow. On week mornings -half of the town read the pink journal and the -other half the yellow one. On Sunday mornings -the whole town read both. Jimmy Blaine worked -for the yellow one.</p> - -<p>It was Jimmy Blaine’s regular business to go -out on any consignment the powers that be might -send him. It was his irregular business to make -news if there was no news, thereby adding to his -fame and bulging out his weekly pay envelope. -While the Major was telling his tale Mrs. Trescott -was the only one to notice how shiny Jimmy’s -eyes were and how quick and almost feverish was -his breathing. Before the last course was served -Jimmy jumped from his seat.</p> - -<p>“’S’cuse me, but I must be a-hustling. No, -Miss Celeste, no <i>souffle aux pruneaux</i> for me this -evening,” in answer to the hostess’s proffer of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span> -prune whip. “S’long everybody! See you in the -morning.” Jimmy was gone.</p> - -<p>Several chuckles bubbled up from the depths of -Mrs. Trescott’s satin bodice. That evening, when -Mrs. Trescott made her usual weekly pilgrimage -to the kitchen to speak to Aunt Maria and slip -her the customary Saturday night tip she gave -her an extra five cents, commissioning her to purchase -the Sunday morning yellow journal for her.</p> - -<p>“Moughty ’stravagant Mis’ Trescott when -they’s allus pufectly good Sunday papers a goin’ -ter waste ’roun’ here. All you is got ter do is -jes’ wait a while. Major Simpson has one, an’ -Miss Celeste has one an’ Mr. Jimmy Blaine is -mo’n apt ter have two or three. I allus say ’taint -no trouble ter start Monday mornin’ fiah at this -here Mason Bluemange. If you want ter save -yo’ nickel I’ll see that you gits the very fust -paper that anybody gits through with.”</p> - -<p>“That’s very kind, Maria, but I want one all -to myself to-morrow morning, and want it before -anybody has pawed over it and mixed it up. I -have an idea there will be something of especial -interest to me.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Trescott was right. Jimmy Blaine had -not foregone the pleasures of prune whip for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span> -nothing. He had rushed pell mell to the office -and frantically pounded out on an extra typewriter -the whole story of Major Simpson and the -shoplifter. He had named no names, thereby -carefully sidestepping any chance for a libel suit, -but he had so accurately described Burnett & Burnett’s -that the whole of Wakely could but guess -the department store mentioned in the story. The -stage setting was realistic, the local color perfect, -but the young journalist had let his fancy run -riot where description of characters were concerned.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Trescott received her private Sunday -morning newspaper, literally damp from the press. -Aunt Maria was what she called “an early stirrer”, -and the first newsboy that shouted his -wares in the neighborhood of Maison Blanche was -nabbed and made to deliver by the intrepid old -cook, who patiently climbed the two flights of -steps to Mrs. Trescott’s third-floor-back hall bedroom -and poked the paper in her door.</p> - -<p>“Here you am, Mis Trescott, an’ a cup er cawfy -ter tide you over come brekfus time. You mus’ -be ’spectin’ of some funeral notice ter make you -so besirous of a private paper.”</p> - -<p>Aunt Maria well knew that Mrs. Trescott had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span> -to watch her pennies very closely and the extravagance -of five cents spent for first peep at a -newspaper could mean little short of a death and -a funeral.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps!” chuckled the lady, “but I’ll come -read the news to you after while, Maria. I am -more than obliged to you for your kindness. No -doubt the coffee will help me bear up,” and then -the old lady gave another deep soul-satisfying -gurgle as she unfolded the damp newspaper and -ran her eyes eagerly over the news columns.</p> - -<p>There it was, just as she knew it would be, but -better, so much better!</p> - -<p>“Oh, the rascal, the young rascal! He has -made a romance of that old fool Major’s finding -the widow from his own part of the country and -her helping him to track the criminal. He even -has in the doughnuts and coffee and the pink -parasol.”</p> - -<p>It might be said that Mrs. Trescott stopped -chuckling and chortled. What difference did it -make if one was poor and old and condemned to -spend one’s days in a third-floor-back hall bedroom -if one had a sense of humor equal to Mrs. -Trescott’s. Her humor was the type that needed -no second person with whom to enjoy the ridiculousnesses<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span> -of life. Her solemn countenance gave -no inkling to the outside world of the riot of fun -going on within. The gurgling laughter that -sought an outlet was to the uninitiated no more -mirthful than the bubble of air arising from an -old submerged mud turtle, appearing on the surface -of the water and breaking.</p> - -<p>“I’d like to hear what the Burnetts have to -say this morning,” she gasped. “Oh, that will -be unprintable I am sure, but our Jimmy Blaine -could make copy of it nevertheless. And the little -shoplifter—no doubt she is happy at being -put in the paper as beautiful beyond compare, -with a dark mysterious past that tugs against her -better nature—but the better nature prevails -and she returns the stolen goods. I wonder Jimmy -did not announce an engagement between her -and Mr. Theodore Burnett. I think I’ll suggest -it to him. A suggestion is all that is necessary -to our Jimmy. Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy!”</p> - -<p>In the mean time Jimmy was sleeping the sleep -of a cub reporter happy over a scoop and the fact -that he had cleared a neat little sum on the extra -columns of space he had filled so successfully. Kit -Williams, his friend and room mate, had seized -on the early edition Jimmie had brought home<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span> -with him and his mirth was loud and lusty over -what Jimmy had done to the Major.</p> - -<p>“Gee. Ain’t he the kid?” he cried. “I could -kiss him where he sleeps if he wasn’t so unshaved.”</p> - -<p>“You try it,” muttered Jimmy sleepily, having -come to life just enough to hear Kit’s ravings. -“You try it and you’ll never shave again.” He -then turned over and pulled the covers over his -tousled head, hoping to be lost to the world until -dinner time, breakfast offering no inducements -to one who had been up all night making news -for the greedy public.</p> - -<p>Miss Willie Watts was greatly excited over -the article. It seemed to her very astonishing -that the “paper” should know so much about -something that had only just happened. At first -she did not connect Jimmy Blaine with the story -but when she did all she could say was:</p> - -<p>“But how did he know so much about the appearance -of the poor wicked shoplifter when Major -Simpson did not tell him any more than he -did me? And how did he know the widow was -handsome and dashing, the one who made the -doughnuts and coffee? Major Simpson never -said so in so many words. Ah me! All widows<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span> -are handsome and dashing, it seems. I wonder -if this won’t make the poor Major sick. I hope -he won’t die—” and then she began dreaming -of his tombstone and how it would look:</p> - -<p>“Major Sylvester Simpson, beloved husband -of Wilhelmina—” etc.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Celeste White read the story and thought -Jimmy was pretty clever but wished he had mentioned -that the doughty hero lived at Maison -Blanche.</p> - -<p>“A very good chance for some free advertising -and I might just as well have had it,” she -grumbled. “Young people seem never to think -of such things.”</p> - -<p>The Major read the whole paper before he -came to the part of the magazine section which -carried his story. It was his custom to have -breakfast in his room on Sunday morning so that -he might take his ease before making the elaborate -toilet he felt to be necessary for one whose -duty and pleasure it was to pass the plate in -church.</p> - -<p>“What’s this? What’s this?” he cried, glaring -excitedly at Jimmy’s lurid headlines. “Story -of Seductive Shoplifter—dashing widow—doughnuts -and coffee—pink parasol—reunited<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span> -after years of sad separation—Ahem—handsome -detective—Tracked to her lair shop girl -returns purloined articles! All will be forgiven -and beautiful maiden will continue her labor at -large department store so popular in the city of -Wakely. Of course her identity will remain a -secret—no person but the wily detective and -the generous employer being aware of her identity.” -The poor man groaned aloud and let his -second cup of coffee get chilled.</p> - -<p>“Who, who can have done this? Ah—that -wretched Jimmy Blaine! I forgot he was connected -with the press. This vile sheet has always -disgusted me. I never intend to read it -again,” and then the old gentleman settled himself -to con every word of Jimmy’s scoop. He -found it rather pleasant to be written up as -handsome and gallant, and the romance between -himself and the Mrs. Leslie hinted at in the article -was on the whole quite gratifying.</p> - -<p>“But the Burnetts! What will they think?” -While no names were mentioned there could be -little doubt of the identity of the persons in the -story.</p> - -<p>“Let them think what they choose,” was Major -Simpson’s final decision. “It is not for me, Sylvester<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span> -Simpson, to account to the young Burnetts -for my method of tracking criminals.” And -then he proceeded to justify himself for having -talked too freely before a cub reporter and even -persuaded himself that the publicity given the -shoplifting episode was a stroke of finesse that -only a master mind, such as his, would have been -capable of originating.</p> - -<p>“I can manage Charles,” he said to himself, -“but I am not so sure of Theodore. He is an -opinionated youngster.”</p> - -<p>In the mean time the “opinionated youngster” -was doubled up with laughter over the magazine -section of the Sunday paper.</p> - -<p>“Just when we thought we could put our hands -on the criminals! Oh, Major Simpson, Major -Simpson, what a legacy our father and grandfather -left us in your portly person! And what -will the little O’Gorman say to this?”</p> - -<p>What the little O’Gorman thought we may never -know, but what she said was:</p> - -<p>“Oh, me, oh, my! As my father used to say; -‘The best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft -aglee.’”</p> - -<p>She then betook herself to the quiet and peace -of her own little bedroom, there to work out a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span> -plan and incidentally to read a few pages in her -book of books, hoping her clever father might -have left some words of wisdom bearing more directly -on misplaced publicity than on the schemes -of mice and men.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie’s indignation knew no bounds when -she read what the newspaper said about her.</p> - -<p>“Dashing widow indeed! I never dashed in -my life.”</p> - -<p>“And certainly you never widded,” said Mary, -trying not to laugh. “But, dearest, you should -be proud that your coffee and doughnuts got into -print, although anonymously. After all, nobody -will know whose they were unless you tell them.”</p> - -<p>“You may be sure I’ll not do that. But one -thing I am going to tell if I have to do it with my -dying breath: I shall tell Sylvester Simpson that -he is a pompous old idiot.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIV<br /> - - -<small>THE QUARREL NEXT DOOR</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>Josie was right; the song of the frogs meant -spring was on the way—in the air—in the -ground—in one’s bones. The Leslies’ apartment -was hot, hot to suffocation. The janitor, -following in the footsteps of most janitors, had -made up an extra hot fire in the furnace because -it was Sunday and because it was a warm Sunday. -When Josie sought the quiet of her own room to -escape the reiterated wailings of Mrs. Leslie and -to read her precious little book, she found the atmosphere -oppressively heavy. To escape it she -raised her window and leaned far out, drinking -deep of the soft spring air. The little back yard -was showing signs of coming to life. A brave little -daffodil had poked a green nose up through the -black earth and a foolish peach tree actually had -a few precocious buds on one of its slender -branches.</p> - -<p>“They’ll be nipped and deserve to be,” thought -Josie. “But I reckon they can’t help it any more<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span> -than I can resist almost falling out of the window -in search of air.”</p> - -<p>Someone else was evidently of the same mind, -as a window next to the one from which Josie -was leaning was raised with some vehemence and -an impatient voice, strangely familiar to Josie, -exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Gee, but it’s hot in this hole! I hate to think -of summer’s coming.”</p> - -<p>“And I—ah, how I long for warmth—” -drawled a woman’s voice with a foreign accent.</p> - -<p>Josie decided it was the Kambourians—mother -and son. Then a goodnatured growl from the interior -of the room gave evidence that Papa Kambourian -was not far off.</p> - -<p>“<i>Nom de Dieu</i>—close the window, Roy! Do -not you understand that Mamma and I have air -enough during the week days to last us over the -blessed Sabbath. That is the worst of these -United States and all who happen to be born here -as were you, <i>mon bon enfant</i>—air always air!”</p> - -<p>“And I! How about me being shut up in a -shop all week with a bunch of silly girls, working -like a dog—and when I do pull off a deal to have -Mamma fall down on her part? I can’t get over -it—losing the things.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span>“Now, now, boy!” and the goodnatured -growl bordered on anger. “Let Mamma be! It -was unavoidable. Has she not already wept -oceans of tears? What are a few yards of -wretched lace and a bit bauble of a gold bag to -poor Mamma’s feelings? Let be, <i>mon fils</i>, and try -again. A few more hauls and we will have enough -to set up a small shop in the great metropolis.”</p> - -<p>“Not for me! I’m through I tell you—through -for good and all. I’m sick of the whole -wretched business. You and Mamma can keep -on being foreigners all you want but I’m an -American boy—almost a man—and I want to -pull loose. I could make as much money walking -straight as I do crooked.” His voice rose -angrily and Josie felt that the boy was on the -verge of tears in spite of his assertion that he -was almost a man.</p> - -<p>“Shut the window!” roared the father. “Such -foolish babble is enough to start the whole -neighborhood talking!”</p> - -<p>“Now, now!” soothed the woman’s voice. -“Don’t you and Papa quarrel. I know my little -Roy will not what you call pull out yet and leave -poor Mamma before she gets enough pretty -things to start a little <i>boutique</i>. Shut the window<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span> -like a gentle boy because the air may make Papa -sick.”</p> - -<p>“How can air make one sick who sits all day -on a sidewalk?”</p> - -<p>“And now you reproach poor Papa and Mamma -because they sit all day and sell the pencils -and shoe strings and paperrs,” whined the woman, -though it was easy to grasp that the whine -in her voice was pure burlesque. “Was I made -for such a life? No, I tell you, nevaire!”</p> - -<p>At this juncture the window was closed with a -vigorous slam and the eavesdropper heard no -more. She had heard quite enough however to -set her steady little heart a thumping.</p> - -<p>“I am almost as big an idiot as my worthy -brother in arms, Major Simpson,” Josie took -herself to task. “Anybody with a grain of sense -would have known all along what I had to open -a window to find out. Thank goodness for the -over zealous janitor. I’ll give him a generous tip -to-morrow. But mercy on us, how carefully I -must go now. I can hardly trust myself not to -burst in on the Leslies and tell them the whole -thing. One thing I know, I must call in help from -the police department, as much as I hate to get -any clumsy folks mixed up in this. I know what<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span> -I’ll do—” She made a feverish dive for her hat -and jacket, and grabbing up her gloves rushed -through the living room, saying in passing:</p> - -<p>“Expect me back when you see me but know -that I am not running off for more than an hour -or so.”</p> - -<p>“There now!” gasped Mrs. Leslie. “What a -strange girl she is after all. What do you think -is the matter, Mary?”</p> - -<p>“I think she has a clue and is following it up. -All I am wondering is where she got it in such a -short time and if she will tell us all about it later -on. It is certainly interesting to have a person -like Josie to rent a room from us, isn’t it -Mother?”</p> - -<p>“I should say so; but I wish she wouldn’t be -so sudden,” sighed Mrs. Leslie. “I think she -ought to tell me what her clue is because I am -sure I could help her.”</p> - -<p>Mary smiled. She was not so sure. Up to the -present her mother had been more of a hinderance -than a help to their little lodger. As for suddenness; -nobody could have been more sudden -than that lady in accepting without question the -opinion of old Major Simpson merely because he -had come from her county and had presented<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span> -her with a pink parasol when she was quite a -tiny girl.</p> - -<p>To a clever girl like Josie, it was an easy matter -to find out the name of the reporter on the -yellow journal who had spread himself so lavishly -on the shoplifting story. First to the newspaper -office where, it being a morning paper, the -business of the day had not begun. The office was -open, however, and a janitor was lazily sweeping -the floor and grumbling because the one who took -care of a daily newspaper office had no Sunday to -speak of. The man at a desk agreed with him as -did also the telephone girl whose business it was -to handle the private switchboard.</p> - -<p>“May I speak with the city editor?” Josie -asked meekly.</p> - -<p>“Not in yet!” growled the man at the desk. -“Anything I can do?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, please, if you will be so kind—I want -the name and address of the reporter who had -the shoplifting story in the paper this morning.”</p> - -<p>“Whatcher want with it? It’s against the -policy of the paper to divulge names and addresses. -The management holds itself responsible -for all stories published in its columns and -the management has not come down yet.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span>“I merely wanted to give the man a chance on -another scoop, but since you are evidently not -desirous of scoops I’ll look up the other paper.”</p> - -<p>“How’s that? Scoop? Give it to me! I’ll get -hold of Jimmy Blaine in a minute. The truth -of the matter is, young lady, I am the management -but it’s policy to keep it dark when anybody -is on the war path. I was afraid you were -one of the wronged ladies in Jimmy’s story—but -I might have known you weren’t.”</p> - -<p>“Well, if you can get hold of this Jimmy I’d -be very much obliged.”</p> - -<p>“What is the nature of your story? Anything -like the one this morning?”</p> - -<p>“No, this one is a true story. There is mighty -little that is true in the scoop of the morning except -perhaps the pink parasol and the doughnuts. -Would it be against the policy of the paper for -you to divulge just what part of the management -you are?”</p> - -<p>“Ahem! I am part owner and managing editor.”</p> - -<p>“Then you’ll do, but please get this Jimmy -here as fast as you can so I can tell the tale to -both of you at once and save time and breath.”</p> - -<p>Jimmy Blaine was forced to uncover his head -and listen to his room mate.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span>“Boss wants you and wants you in a hurry. -He says never mind dolling up, but just come -along. He’s on the phone now and Miss Celeste -says it must be important because he sounds so -brisk.” Thus spake Kit Williams, going through -the operation on sodden Jimmy known as “cold -pigging”, that is, applying a wet sponge to a -sleeper’s face.</p> - -<p>“Don’t hide! Get up and go to the phone,” -insisted Kit as Jimmy snuggled down in the bed -clothes and again covered his tousled head.</p> - -<p>“Aw gee! Have a heart, cantcher? Don’t go -joking me, Kit, that’s a good boy.”</p> - -<p>“Well then, lose your job if you want to. -What’s it to me? You blooming idiot, didn’t you -hear me say that the boss himself is hollerin’ for -you. I reckon he’s got a mouthfull to say about -that lurid tale you pulled off in this morning’s -paper.”</p> - -<p>“He saw it before it went in,” growled Jimmy. -“If there is any trouble it is up to him. -Ain’t he the management?”</p> - -<p>“I thought that would wake you up. Now get -up and put on your dressing gown—here it is—here -are your slippers. Never mind your boudoir -cap, just slip along to the phone.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span>Jimmy meekly obeyed. There was no use in -grumbling when one’s boss was on the line.</p> - -<p>“Hello!” he said in a voice as sweet as honey.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir! Yes, sir! Be right down. Don’t -let her get away.”</p> - -<p>“Breakfast? No sir! What’s breakfast! Never -eat on Sunday, that is, breakfast. Be down in -a jiffy.”</p> - -<p>It was a wide awake Jimmy who, after turning -on a cold shower, tore back to his room and began -to throw on his clothes like a lightning change -vaudeville artist.</p> - -<p>“So long, Kit, old fellow. Something big is -up but I don’t know what. It’s got something to -do with Sherlocko Simpson, I think, but I’ll see -you later,” and the youngster was out on the -street and running for a trolley in less time than -it would have taken the fire department to answer -an alarm.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XV<br /> - - -<small>JOSIE SETS A TRAP</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>Jimmy Blaine did not now just what he was -expecting but he knew it was not a quiet, business-like -young person like Josie who showed no shyness -and at the same time no brazenness, but -with the utmost composure stated the case and -put it up to the management whether or not it -was worth while to pursue the scoop unearthed -by the cub reporter. As soon as Jimmy breezed -in, all on fire for more sensational news, Mr. Cox -introduced him to the visitor. Josie gave him a -boyish handshake and then plunged into the matter -in hand.</p> - -<p>“In the first place I am a detective, Josie -O’Gorman from Washington and late of Dorfield. -My father—”</p> - -<p>“Not the O’Gorman!” from Mr. Cox.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” beamed Josie. “I am here with Burnett -& Burnett to catch the shoplifters that have -been busy lately.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span>Jimmy surreptitiously produced a pencil and -endeavored to get hold of a linen cuff, but Josie -stopped him:</p> - -<p>“Please, Mr. Blaine, none of this is for publication -as yet. You can get the whole story in -good time and it will be a good one I am sure. I -have come to the newspaper for help because in -my experience the live wires are on newspapers -and not on the police force. I cannot say for -sure that the police of Wakely would bungle, but -I can say that the police of Dorfield would and -have. My father believed in the press as a great -detective power and I have had more help from -a young newspaper man in Dorfield than all the -police; in spite of the fact that Chief Lonsdale -of Dorfield is my very dear friend. But this -young Dulaney—”</p> - -<p>“Not Bob Dulaney of the —th Regiment?” -cried Jimmy.</p> - -<p>“Yes—Bob Dulaney!”</p> - -<p>“Gee! This is great! Shake again!” cried -Jimmy. “I’ve spent many a night lying in the -mud near Bob, over there.”</p> - -<p>“Then you know Danny Dexter, too?”</p> - -<p>“Know him? Know him like a book! Why -Danny was my Father Confessor. Many a time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span> -he’s told me what’s what. You see, I was the kid -of the regiment and some of the fellows seemed -to think it was up to them to make me walk chalk. -I walked it all right.”</p> - -<p>“We’ve no doubt you did,” twinkled Mr. Cox.</p> - -<p>“Well, Danny Dexter married my best friend; -but that’s another story and we’d better get back -to business. Please let me say that I’m glad I -came to the newspaper for cooperation as I’m -pretty sure a friend of Bob Dulaney and Danny -Dexter is going to be on the job and deliver the -goods,” said Josie.</p> - -<p>Jimmy Blaine grinned happily, proud that his -boss should hear him praised through his -friends.</p> - -<p>Josie plunged into a recital of the Kambourians -and how she had been mystified by them from the -moment she saw them on the street that first Sunday -in Wakely. She told of the baffling likeness -the youth had to someone she had seen before; of -her finding board in the same apartment house -with them, by chance as it were; of Miss Mary -Leslie’s encounter with a beggar in the hallway -and of her identification of this beggar as the -man whose habit it was to sit all day at the front -entrance of Burnett & Burnett’s. She then<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span> -touched on Major Simpson’s laughable mistake -concerning her own character.</p> - -<p>“He thinks I am the shoplifter and has had me -under surveillance ever since I have been employed -by his firm. I only grasped this fact yesterday. -I knew he was following me around but I -was conceited enough to fancy it was my methods -that interested him. I thought maybe he knew -I was my father’s daughter and was trying to -learn something.”</p> - -<p>Jimmy gasped:</p> - -<p>“Then you are the one he thinks he has trapped.”</p> - -<p>“The same! Thank you for making me such -an irresistible vamp.”</p> - -<p>“What! What! Is your story not true?” Mr. -Cox looked both alarmed and irritated.</p> - -<p>“It’s practically what old Simpson told right -out at the boarding house table. Of course I kind -of—er—er—embellished it a little, but the -story is almost as he gave it—doughnuts and coffee -and all.”</p> - -<p>“It is what Major Simpson thinks is true, but -suppose I go on with my tale. I am sure Mr. -Blaine wrote the matter up quite correctly according -to newspaper etiquette—certainly there is no<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span> -handle for legal trouble,” soothed Josie. “If -I don’t mind being called a beautiful criminal I -am sure Mrs. Leslie should not mind being published -as a fascinating widow. Anyhow, no -names were used, so what’s the difference?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you are right,” said Mr. Cox, -smoothing out his troubled brow. “Pray proceed. -Your story is most interesting.”</p> - -<p>“Please tell us—did you return the goods to -Mr. Burnett?” asked Jimmy.</p> - -<p>Then Josie told of the twisted newspaper and -her discovery of the lace and gold mesh bag and -her taking the articles to Mr. Burnett. She also -told of having tried to locate the haughty Miss -Fauntleroy.</p> - -<p>“And now—to sum up: Miss Fauntleroy is -a fake and wishes to conceal her address. The -newspaper I bought from the old woman who sits -at the rear entrance of Burnett & Burnett’s had -passed through the hands of Miss Fauntleroy and -she put the stolen goods in the paper and twisted -it up and returned it to the old woman.”</p> - -<p>“Golly!” was all Jimmy could say. “And -this Miss Fauntleroy?”</p> - -<p>“It came to me all of a heap this very day that -it was she to whom the young Kambourian had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span> -the haunting likeness. I had seen her in the store -and been rather interested in her because she -seemed different from the other employees. She -is evidently the daughter of the house and the -old beggar is none other than the mother, Madame -Kambourian. The father begs at the front -door, the mother at the back, and the daughter -takes what suits her fancy and deposits it now -with Mamma and now with Papa.”</p> - -<p>“But you said this Madame Kambourian was -handsome,” objected Mr. Cox. “Handsome and -not at all old—hardly old enough to be the -mother of the youth.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but age is easier to assume than youth. -She had on a clever make-up. I wonder how much -she takes in each day, selling papers and never -having the change.” Then Josie proceeded to -tell all that she had overheard through the open -window, and how this was made possible because -of the janitor’s having been too lavish with the -owner’s coal.</p> - -<p>“Now we must round up the whole bunch. The -boy is mixed up in it somehow, though he is still -a mystery to me. I could not gather just exactly -what he does to increase the family income -but I am sure it is something of which he is not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span> -proud. I feel rather sorry for the boy because -I am sure he’d like to cut the whole bunch and be -honest. The entire family is interesting to me. -The man and woman seem so fond of each other -and so considerate. I’ll give you my word they -are much more loving than many married couples -one sees.”</p> - -<p>“You have not seen this Miss Fauntleroy there, -have you?” asked Mr. Cox. “You are not really -sure that she belongs there.”</p> - -<p>“Not so sure that I could swear to it in a court -of justice, but so sure that I could safely say I’d -eat my hat if she is not,” laughed Josie. “I -think she must be twin sister to this boy. I don’t -want to brag, but when I get a hunch like this it is -apt to be right.”</p> - -<p>“Well then, let’s proceed on the assumption -that Miss Fauntleroy is in reality Miss Kambourian. -What next?”</p> - -<p>“Next we must plan a campaign of watchful -waiting. I will take charge of the interior of Burnett -& Burnett’s, keeping a never closing eye on -Miss Fauntleroy. I must have help to look after -the beggar at the front and the one at the back -as well as the Kambourian apartment, both front -and back.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span>After much thought and discussion Mr. Cox -and Josie, with the alert intelligence of Jimmy -Blaine to advise with them, decided the thing -was too big not to call in the assistance of the -police. The blue coats might bungle, but at least -they could be set to watch the alley behind the -apartment house and report anything out of the -way.</p> - -<p>“We’ve got a new chief here who is not so -hide bound as the old one was; in fact, he is very -down-to-date in his methods. I am sure he will -cooperate with us. Call him up, Jimmy, and -see if he is at his office. Sunday is no more of a -holiday to the police than to newspaper men.”</p> - -<p>The chief proved to be having a holiday in spite -of its being Sunday, but an alert young sergeant -answered the call and even expressed himself as -willing to come to the newspaper office instead of -having the newspaper office come to him. The -tale was quickly told. Sergeant Tanner agreed -with Josie on the plan of procedure.</p> - -<p>“Who am I, anyhow, to take issue with the -daughter of the great O’Gorman? I reckon you -are a chip off the old block, Miss, because if you -had not been you never would have caught that -Markle bunch. We know all about that here in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>[168]</span> -Wakely. We know how you tracked down that -chap in Atlanta, too, the one who had put his -step-sister-in-law in a bug house and was planning -to marry her and cop the fortune. We know -about the kidnapping case in Louisville, also. -You see we aren’t named Wakely for nothing. -Anyhow we are awake enough to keep up with -the detective news.”</p> - -<p>Josie could not help being flattered by Sergeant -Tanner’s recognition of merit but she -merely blushed a little and said:</p> - -<p>“It was all luck, absolutely nothing but luck -that made me successful in those cases.”</p> - -<p>“I hope your luck will keep up,” said Mr. -Cox.</p> - -<p>“Of course plain clothes men are what we will -need,” said the sergeant, “and I think I’ll be -one of them. Shall I take over the apartment -house and the entrances to Burnett & Burnett’s?”</p> - -<p>“All right!” agreed Jimmy ruefully, “but -what’ll I be doing? I want to get in on this somewhere.”</p> - -<p>“You might be an inside man and help me -in the shop,” said Josie. “Somebody must watch -Major Simpson or he’ll bungle things.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>[169]</span>Sergeant Tanner was much amused over the -poor Major and his bungling.</p> - -<p>“He’s a terrible dub at detecting. If he had -called us in on this shoplifting trouble we might -have helped him but old Simp thinks he knows -it all and he is as ignorant of the game as a new -born babe. Now, Miss O’Gorman, I’ll detail some -sharp men to keep an eye on the apartment house -to-night and others to look after it every minute -of the day to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“And I’ll come in the shop and buy things -and even make up to Miss Fauntleroy,” suggested -Jimmy.</p> - -<p>“Don’t get too much in evidence,” cautioned -Josie. “And Sergeant Tanner, be sure to keep -a watch over the blind beggar man in front. As -for the woman with papers, I have an idea she -will not come to work for a day or so, not in the -guise of an old woman, at least.”</p> - -<p>Josie felt it wise to see Mr. Burnett for a -moment before returning home to inform him -how matters were progressing and to ask his approval -of the move she had made in taking both -newspaper men and police force into her confidence.</p> - -<p>He approved highly. “Between the two you<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>[170]</span> -will be sure to get help. As for poor old Simpson, -I wish he would have a slight indisposition -that would keep him away from the store to-morrow. -Hasn’t he messed things up, though?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps not! Anyhow I am hoping the Kambourians -are so foreign they don’t read the American -newspapers. The chances are they know -nothing of the publicity given the matter.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>[171]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVI<br /> - - -<small>MRS. LESLIE TURNS DETECTIVE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>“How can anybody call Monday a blue day?” -asked Josie the next morning as Mrs. Leslie -served a dainty breakfast to the two girls. “It -seems to me to be the most wonderful morning -in the whole week. Even wash day holds no terrors -for me. It always has been the very best -day of all for me, a kind of weekly Easter, a -day in which the whole world can start afresh.”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad you like it,” said Mrs. Leslie, -grimly. “I’ve been brought up to feel differently.” -Mrs. Leslie was having a mental and -moral reaction from the excitement of the Saturday -and Sunday just passed. “Monday was -always a serious day with us in the country.”</p> - -<p>“But, Mother,” laughed Mary, “you surely -do not consider it your religious duty to be blue -on Monday.”</p> - -<p>“Not exactly religious—but—”</p> - -<p>“Now, Mrs. Leslie, please don’t be too down-hearted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>[172]</span> -or too busy because I have a task for you -that I am sure you can’t resist.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be too sure child, because I am planning -to clean beds to-day. The sun is shining -and it is a good thing to be beforehand with beds. -I can sun the things in the back yard—”</p> - -<p>“The very thing!” cried Josie delightedly. -“The more you are out in the back yard the better -because I do so want you to keep an eye on -those Kambourians from the rear. They will -not be the least suspicious of a busy housewife -engaged in the legitimate search connected with -beds and early spring.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie’s Monday gloom lifted a little. Being -a private detective was rather more interesting -than the usual humdrum of housekeeping. -She promised Josie to keep a sharp lookout on -the neighbors.</p> - -<p>“You never can tell about foreigners. They -are more than apt to be off color,” she declared. -“If they do anything peculiar while you are -away, how must I proceed, Josie?”</p> - -<p>“Proceed to call up Burnett & Burnett, phone -number, Preston 11, and ask for Mr. Theodore -Burnett—take no substitute. Tell him who you -are and what is happening. He will do the rest.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>[173]</span> -The Kambourians may be absent all day but the -chances are the woman will not leave the house. -The place is even now being watched by detectives. -But detectives do not always see everything -and I am depending on you to see what -they don’t see.”</p> - -<p>“Detectives watching the house now!” cried -Mrs. Leslie, “I should say this isn’t a blue Monday. -I am thrilled indeed to be in the midst of -a mystery. Hurry up and get off, girls, so I -can get out in the back yard and see what I see.”</p> - -<p>“Now, Mother, don’t overdo it,” cautioned -Mary.</p> - -<p>“Me overdo it!” said Mrs. Leslie, indignantly. -“I know exactly how to behave under the circumstances. -I am going to run in and out with -pillows and blankets and carry out one slat at a -time and put mattresses in the windows and let -them fall in the yard. I just wish you and Josie -could see me.”</p> - -<p>“I wish we could,” laughed Josie. “I am -sure you are going to do it splendidly and I am -so glad you are interested in it. I just know -you will beat all the police in Wakely in helping -to bring these crooks to justice.”</p> - -<p>The girls were hardly out of the house when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>[174]</span> -Major Simpson was calling Mrs. Leslie on the -telephone. The dear lady had not bargained for -such a development and it was with difficulty that -she commanded her voice to answer the smug -old man as she knew he must be answered. She -was sorry she had not asked instructions from -Josie on how to meet such an emergency, but -Major Simpson took matters in his own hands -and there was little for her to say but yes and -no.</p> - -<p>“And how is my one time neighbor this morning? -I hope she is well.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, thank you!”</p> - -<p>“Has that artful young person left your -house?”</p> - -<p>“Yes!”</p> - -<p>“And she is going to return to her labors at -Burnett & Burnett’s?”</p> - -<p>“Yes!”</p> - -<p>“What did she say concerning the article in -the paper yesterday? You saw it, did you not?”</p> - -<p>“Yes!”</p> - -<p>“It was unfortunate that it should have been -published but newspapers are ever on the alert -for just such stories; human interest, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Yes!”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>[175]</span>“Was the artful person angry at the publicity -given the matter?”</p> - -<p>“No!”</p> - -<p>“What did she say?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t remember exactly, but I think she -said ‘Gee.’”</p> - -<p>“Of course I shall be for dismissing the young -person, but Mr. Theodore Burnett evidently -thinks otherwise. These young men think they -know it all, but I have not dealt with crime all -these years without acquiring some knowledge of -the youthful criminals. There is no reforming -them. Well, Miss Polly, I thank you for cooperating -so wonderfully with me in this matter. -And you are not angry that the story—er—er—concerning -the coffee and doughnuts and er—er—the -pink parasol should have leaked out?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie’s: “Old idiot!” slipped out before -she knew it but Major Simpson’s: “What? -What?” brought her to her senses and she covered -her retreat with a cough and smoothed -things down by: “Old intimate friends,” hoping -that intimate and idiot might sound more or -less alike over a telephone.</p> - -<p>“Of course you will not let this young person -remain under your roof,” the Major proceeded.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>[176]</span> -“I feel in a measure er—er—responsible for -you, Miss Polly, and hope you will allow me to -dictate to you to some extent. This young woman, -even though Mr. Theodore Burnett is so soft -hearted as to keep her in the employ of his firm, -is hardly a fit person to associate with you or -your—er—er—charming daughter—because I -am sure she is charming if she is your daughter. -I wish you would promise me that this O’Gorman -person will not remain in your home another -night.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leslie hung up the receiver with a click. -She was possessed with a fury against the interfering -Major that made it impossible to continue -the conversation although all that it entailed at -her end was a monosyllabic reply. She could -well picture him at the other end of the line, indignantly -upraiding the telephone operator for -having so rudely cut him off. Her bell rang again -sharply but she scorned answering it and went -about her combined business of bed airing and -female sleuthing with added vigor.</p> - -<p>“Miserable old man that he is! Wants me -to turn a girl out in the street just because he -has made up his mind she is a thief. I don’t feel -bad any longer about hoodwinking the old idiot.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>[177]</span> -He is narrow and mean or he wouldn’t ask me -to do it.”</p> - -<p>Josie was right in her guess—Madame Kambourian -did not leave the house that day. She, -too, found many things to busy her on that bright -Monday. Much sorting and airing seemed to -be going on in the apartment next to the Leslies. -Several times Mrs. Leslie looked up from her labors -and saw the pleasant, plump countenance of -Mrs. Kambourian peering at her from the open -window. Once she nodded and a cheerful “Good -mor-r-rning,” was the response.</p> - -<p>“A nice day for preliminary spring cleaning,” -ventured Mrs. Leslie.</p> - -<p>“Ver-r-ry nice,” said the neighbor, placing a -silver fox scarf and a sealskin jacket on the window -sill where the sun could shine upon them.</p> - -<p>“You are not expecting moths this soon are -you?” queried Mrs. Leslie.</p> - -<p>“Moths? You mean the cr-r-eatures that feed -upon the fur-r and wool? Ah, Heaven forbid! -I merely sun my things because I love the sun -and then it is war-r-m and I may not need them -now for many months. I pack them up per-r-haps.”</p> - -<p>Through the open window Mrs. Leslie could<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span> -see a large packing box and a wardrobe trunk.</p> - -<p>“Getting ready to leave! It looks to me as -though Josie should know this,” she said to herself. -Preston 11 was immediately called for by -the eager amateur detective and Mr. Theodore -Burnett put on the line.</p> - -<p>“This is Mrs. Leslie, Mr. Burnett, Josie -O’Gorman’s friend. Please tell her the foreigners -next door to us are getting ready to move -and the woman is sunning a silver fox scarf and -a sealskin jacket, both of them too good for anybody -living in this house to use. I haven’t any -good furs of my own but I can tell them a mile -off.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Theodore Burnett smiled and made a note -of the fact that the amateur lady detective had -no furs but knew good ones a mile off. This -was the same lady of whose judgment in the matter -of dry goods Major Simpson had spoken so -highly, knowing from the first that Josie O’Gorman’s -clothes were of material too good to have -been bought from the salary of a novice at the -notion counter.</p> - -<p>“Clever lady!” he muttered in an aside, -“Must keep her in mind.” He thanked her profusely -for the information and begged her to keep<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>[179]</span> -a sharp lookout through the day. “The evidence -you have gathered is invaluable, my dear -lady,” he assured her.</p> - -<p>“The window is open and I can see a large -packing box and a wardrobe trunk and this Kambourian -woman is folding and packing as fast -as she can. I gossiped with her a moment, quite -casually, and she told me herself she was thinking -of moving. You’d best tell Josie right off.”</p> - -<p>“You are right! Thank you, and good bye!”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burnett had just hung up the receiver when -Major Simpson came bustling into the office.</p> - -<p>“Ah, Mr. Theodore, and how are you this nice -sunny morning? Spring in the air, my boy, -spring! I have come to see you concerning this -O’Gorman person. Singular case—quite singular! -She is actually working behind the notion -counter this morning quite as though nothing had -happened—not at all abashed—but meek withal, -meek and I must say modest. She dropped her -eyes when I passed and had occasion to stoop -and hide her head. Modest, quite modest! I feel -more inclined to deal gently with one who shows -becoming modesty.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burnett could not help a sly smile but he -controlled himself and said rather sternly:</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>[180]</span>“Major Simpson, I ask you to let me do what -dealing is necessary with Miss O’Gorman, in fact, -I ask you most emphatically.”</p> - -<p>This was as near as either of the Burnett -brothers had ever come to commanding the old -gentleman whom they had so unwillingly inherited -from their predecessors, but Mr. Theodore -Burnett had no intention of letting Major Simpson -mix himself up in the matter of Josie O’Gorman -and her methods any more than possible.</p> - -<p>“Certainly!” said the elderly detective, -stiffly. “I have never been one to overstep authority, -but I feel it is my duty to warn you, -young and untried, against the machinations of a -type like this O’Gorman person.”</p> - -<p>“All right, Major Simpson, I am warned—and -now I shall go and interview the young lady.”</p> - -<p>“Do not be too easy on her,” insisted the determined -Major. “I am—” But what he was saying -Mr. Burnett did not wait to hear. He felt that -Josie must be told immediately of the silver fox -scarf and fur coat sunning in the rear window -at Number 11 Meadow Street, and of the large -packing box and wardrobe trunk and of Mrs. -Leslie’s gossip. He was in the elevator and making<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>[181]</span> -for the street floor of the store before the -Major’s sentence was completed.</p> - -<p>All was as Major Simpson had reported. -There was Josie O’Gorman conducting herself -as though nothing had happened, selling tapes -and pins with as much industry as she would -have shown had her living depended upon it.</p> - -<p>At the jewel novelty counter across the aisle -Miss Fauntleroy moved with deliberate grace, -totally unconscious of the fact that the sandy -haired little person with the unimportant countenance, -who seemed so busy making unimportant -sales of bone buttons and shoe laces, never once -let the haughty beauty get out of her line of -vision.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>[182]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVII<br /> - - -<small>THE GIRL IN THE RED TAM</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>There was an undercurrent of excitement at -Burnett & Burnett’s on that sunny Monday morning. -Every clerk in the store had either read or -heard of the article in the Sunday paper. There -was much conjecture as to the identity of the -beauty who had purloined the goods and then returned -them to Mr. Burnett.</p> - -<p>“It sounds like they were talking about me,” -said Gertie Wheelan, patting her permanent wave -complacently. “That is, all but me being a thief. -Min knows I never took a bunch of lace off her -counter because when she missed it I was standing -right here by her.”</p> - -<p>“Of course I know you didn’t, Gertie,” laughed -Min, “but the fact that you were standing near -me when I missed it isn’t very good evidence -that you didn’t take it. I reckon your character -is about the best evidence that you didn’t take -it. You are a vain old goose, Gertie, but everybody<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>[183]</span> -knows you are as honest as you are vain, -and that is going some.”</p> - -<p>Gertie did not know whether to be complimented -or not, but since it was pleasanter to be -flattered than to be censured she decided to be -flattered.</p> - -<p>“I’ve a great mind to ask old Simp who it -was,” whispered Min.</p> - -<p>“I already did that,” put in Jane Morton, -“and he had the cheek to pretend he did not -know what I was talking about. You see no -names are mentioned in the paper. He hummed -and hawed and stuck out his chest and patted his -white waistcoat and said: ‘Really, my dear -young lady, I cannot conjecture er—er’ and he -swelled up a little more and went on: ‘Of course -I cannot deny that I know what is going on in -this establishment, but prudence compels me to -dissemble er—er—to dissemble.’”</p> - -<p>The girls all laughed at Jane’s droll mimicry.</p> - -<p>“Have you had a chance to ask Josie O’Gorman -what she thinks?” asked Min. “Josie is -a mighty wise little girl and I betcher she has -her own thinks on this subject just as she has -on every other.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I asked her,” replied Jane, “and she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>[184]</span> -just laughed and said maybe she was the wicked -beauty her own self. She said she might as well -be because old Simpson had never taken his eye -off her the whole morning. Sure enough, there -the old fellow was, circling around the notion -counter glaring all the time at Josie. I don’t -see how she stands it. I’d have to call him down -and either make him quit his foolishness or offer -some explanation. Josie went on making sales -and paid no attention to him except once when -he came close up to her she ducked under the -counter so she could relax into a giggle.”</p> - -<p>The girls had met for a moment near the cashier’s -desk. Similar groups were forming and -breaking through the entire building.</p> - -<p>“Who do you think it is?” was asked again -and again.</p> - -<p>Now and then some know-all would make a -positive assertion such as: “I know on good -authority who it is but I am not at liberty to -divulge the name.”</p> - -<p>“Look!” and Min nudged Jane Morton. -“There’s Mr. Theodore Burnett talking to Josie -O’Gorman. Old Simpson has left the floor. I -saw him going up on the elevator. I wonder what -our junior member wants with Josie. Look! She<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>[185]</span> -is evidently getting leave from the head of the -department. Jiminy crickets! If she isn’t leaving -with the boss!”</p> - -<p>Min was right. Josie was leaving the floor -with Mr. Theodore. The information Mrs. Leslie -had telephoned must be treated seriously and -without delay. The police must be warned and -Josie felt the time had come for a search warrant -to be issued on the Kambourians. She accompanied -Mr. Burnett to his office and soon had the -police station on the line.</p> - -<p>“Any report from the detectives watching 11, -Meadow Street?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Nothing doing there!” was the answer from -the man at the desk.</p> - -<p>“Well, I have inside information that the -woman is packing up, so you better get a search -warrant ready and keep a close watch on the -premises,” she commanded. “Don’t let the men -leave their post for a moment.”</p> - -<p>“Hump!” grumbled the police sergeant, -“anybody would think—” But what anybody -would think was lost on Josie who hung up the -receiver with a click.</p> - -<p>“Asleep at the switch as usual!” she exclaimed. -“But I must hurry back to my counter.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>[186]</span> -I wish that old Major Simpson would get busy -and help me instead of circling around me with -his eyes hanging out on his cheeks.”</p> - -<p>“Shall I make him stop?” asked Mr. Burnett.</p> - -<p>“Oh no, perhaps he is safer watching me than -he would be helping me. Anyhow that Jimmy -Blaine is on the job all right. He has been popping -in and out of the store all morning pretending -to buy socks and ties and matching ribbons -for his imaginary wife. He is a clever lad. I -have a notion I’d better give up selling things -for a while if you will supply a girl for my -counter.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed, yes!” agreed Mr. Theodore.</p> - -<p>When Josie did not return to her duties of -selling notions the girls at the neighboring counters -commented on it.</p> - -<p>“Do you reckon she’s been shipped?” wondered -one.</p> - -<p>“Hardly—she’s too good at the business and -as regular as clock work.”</p> - -<p>“It’s funny she went off with the boss and -has been gone an age and no sign of her. I do -hope she isn’t in any trouble. Look! There’s -a green girl at the button counter!”</p> - -<p>“Whatcher reckon is the matter? That old<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>[187]</span> -Simp is at the bottom of it I betcher. He’s been -bugging his eyes out at Josie for ever so long. -Look, there he is back again. He looks worried -over something.” Thus spoke Min, but her flow -of eloquence was cut short by a customer demanding -to see some Irish lace.</p> - -<p>“The best is none too good for me,” asserted -the customer sharply. She was a young woman -with bobbed black hair very much becurled, a -mouth so painted it gave one the impression that -she had been eating poke berries, cheeks to match -not only lips but a string of red, red beads twisted -several times around her throat and hanging to -her waist. In her hand she carried a bright red -swagger stick. Her hat—a red tam—was worn -far on one side. Brows and lashes were blackened -to match the blue-black hair.</p> - -<p>“Sure!” said Min demurely. “The best is -none too good but it may be too costly,” she -muttered under her breath.</p> - -<p>“Never mind the cost—that is my affair. Ah, -this is very sweet,” she said, pulling out a bunch -of the costly lace and spreading it out on the -counter. “But show me other widths and patterns. -Have you any point d’esprit?”</p> - -<p>“No, we have no point d’esprit,” said Min<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>[188]</span> -with ill concealed impatience. Her lunch hour -had struck and she felt it was hard lines to be -forced to show this painted flapper expensive -lace that she was sure she had no idea of buying.</p> - -<p>“Some duchesse, too,” demanded the determined -shopper. “Nothing better than that?”</p> - -<p>Poor Min was forced to produce more and better -lace. The counter was strewn with boxes of -the priceless merchandise. Miss Fauntleroy was -ready to go out for luncheon. She paused for a -moment to speak to Min. All she said was:</p> - -<p>“Is not the store clock slow?”</p> - -<p>Min looked up from the lace she was showing -the possible purchaser and compared her wrist -watch with the large time piece hanging on the -opposite wall.</p> - -<p>“I guess not,” she said, and resumed her labors.</p> - -<p>Miss Fauntleroy proceeded leisurely towards -the front door. The much made-up young person -who had been so intent on lace, without one word -to Min, turned and followed the haughty beauty. -The aisles were crowded with shoppers but the -bobbed haired, red mouthed flapper kept close -behind Miss Fauntleroy.</p> - -<p>Outside in the sunshine the dark beggar with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>[189]</span> -a patch over one eye sat and in a wheedling tone -besought the passers-by to buy his pencils.</p> - -<p>“Ver-r-y fine—ver-r-y sharp—” he quavered. -“Buy—sweet lady—buy.” His one eye -had appeal enough for two. Many persons -dropped coins in his outstretched hat.</p> - -<p>Miss Fauntleroy stopped in front of him.</p> - -<p>“Buy sweet lady—buy a pencil—” She -stooped to select one from the box of red, white -and blue pencils he held on his knees. From that -moment astonishing things began to happen, both -within and without the department store of Burnett -& Burnett’s.</p> - -<p>Within a sudden hue and cry was raised by -the distracted Min.</p> - -<p>“Catch her! Catch her quick!” she cried to -Major Simpson who was still walking curiously -and cautiously around the notion counter, as -though he expected Josie to bob up at any moment -from behind the counter.</p> - -<p>“Catch what? Catch whom?”</p> - -<p>“That girl with the bobbed black hair in a -red tam and red beads!” screamed Min. “She’s -‘klept’ a whole bunch of lace—two bunches—maybe -three—the finest in the shop. At least I -reckon she did it. Go after her and get her.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>[190]</span> -Don’t stand still. I can’t go myself because I’ve -got to keep an eye on all this stuff.”</p> - -<p>Major Simpson trotted obediently towards the -front entrance. This was a new turn of affairs—a -shoplifter and not the elusive Josie. He -bumped into Mr. Theodore Burnett in the aisle.</p> - -<p>“Another thief!” he spluttered. “Girl with -bobbed black hair and red beads. Lace again—front -entrance—better come with me!”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>[191]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVIII<br /> - - -<small>JOSIE O’GORMAN’S VICTORY</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>Outside the store even more stirring things -were being enacted. When Miss Fauntleroy -leaned over with the seeming intention of selecting -a pencil from the beggar’s box there had -been a quick exchange of glances between the -proud beauty and the one-eyed mendicant, an -exchange of glances and also the passing of a -parcel which was slid from the wide, bell shaped -sleeve of the young woman into the open breast -of the man’s shabby coat. The movement was -so rapid that no one who had not been on the -lookout could possibly have seen it. But someone -was on the lookout and that one was no other -than the flapper of the bobbed black hair and -the red, red mouth. She did a very remarkable -thing for a flapper.</p> - -<p>As quick as a flash she whipped out something -from the pocket of her tweed suit, which, when -one came to think of it, was of rather sober pattern -for one so flapperish and not at all in keeping<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>[192]</span> -with the red beads and startling tam. The -article she drew from her pocket flashed in the -sunlight for a moment and then—snap! snap! -and a pair of handcuffs gleamed on the wrists -of the one-eyed beggar before the astonished Miss -Fauntleroy could straighten up from the selection -of a pencil.</p> - -<p>“Don’t let him get away!” came in commanding -tones from the mysterious flapper. The remark -was addressed to none other than Jimmy -Blaine, who had been pretending to be a corner -masher during such moments as he could spare -from the business of shopping for a highly fictitious -family.</p> - -<p>“Trust me!” was his cheery rejoinder as he -laid a heavy hand on the shoulder of the beggar -who was now trembling like a leaf.</p> - -<p>The girl with the bobbed black hair then caught -Miss Fauntleroy by the wrist, at the same moment -producing another pair of handcuffs from -the capacious pockets of her tweed suit. She -endeavored to snap them on the wrists of the -struggling girl, but Miss Fauntleroy proved too -strong, and jerking free, started to run. Swift -as had been the action a crowd had gathered, as -crowds will, and closing around the struggling<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>[193]</span> -pair cut off all avenues of escape. The black -haired girl must have known something about -the game of football for she made a flying leap -and caught the taller girl in an iron grip. They -swayed together and fell.</p> - -<p>In the scrimmage that ensued more startling -things happened. Two hats came off, and with -them two heads of hair. A red tam and a bobbed -black wig were torn from the flapper, disclosing -the closely coiled sandy hair and well shaped -head of none other than Josie O’Gorman. The -elaborate coiffure belonging to Miss Fauntleroy -also came off with the stylish picture hat.</p> - -<p>The combatants staggered to their feet. When -Josie caught sight of her antagonist, standing -hot, sullen and ashamed, so hemmed in by the -crowd there was no escape, a wave of pity came -over her. The proud and haughty Miss Fauntleroy -was only a poor misguided boy. The marcelled -wig with all its puffs and coils had turned -a handsome lad into a beautiful young woman.</p> - -<p>“Gee!” was all Josie could say. “And I -thought you were your own sister all the time. -I hate to put handcuffs on you—won’t you come -along without them?”</p> - -<p>“Yes—I’m through. The game’s up and I’m<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>[194]</span> -glad of it. I’ll go along with you all right.”</p> - -<p>Major Simpson, closely followed by Mr. Burnett, -was trying to make his way through the -crowd. He knew something was going on and -his superior intelligence must be in demand. He -also knew that lace had been stolen and that a -person with black bobbed hair was the thief. It -was irritating that it was not Josie O’Gorman -who had been caught in the act, but then, any -thief was better than no thief at all.</p> - -<p>“Here, let me through! I am a detective.”</p> - -<p>The word detective was an open sesame for -him. The crowd divided and he and Mr. Burnett -passed through to the scene of the fray.</p> - -<p>“Some scene it was!” Mr. Burnett described -later on to his mother and sisters. “There was -little Miss O’Gorman, her suit all dusty and dishevelled, -her hat gone and her face made up in -the most absurd manner with blackened brows -and painted lips. She had by the hand a young -boy dressed as a girl. Handsome? Handsome -as Hermes! Shame and anger were both depicted -on his countenance, and his head, with its -dark, closely cropped curls, was hung in deep -dejection. On the pavement wigs and hats were -so much in evidence that one might have thought<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>[195]</span> -there had been a battle royal and both fighters -had been decapitated. I had no idea who the -youth was at first, not recognizing ‘Miss Fauntleroy’ -without her wig. Miss O’Gorman’s famous -string of red beads had broken and were -scattered all over the pavement. It looked to -me like a million beads, some of them as big as -bantam eggs.”</p> - -<p>Major Simpson, acting true to form, broke into -the ring blustering as usual.</p> - -<p>“What’s all this?” he demanded. Not recognizing -Josie with her bizarre make-up or Miss -Fauntleroy without her wig, the old gentleman -stood gazing at the pavement. He suddenly remembered -Min’s words: “Black bobbed hair -and red tam.” He stooped and picked up Josie’s -wig and hat. It looked as though a tragedy had -just been enacted at the front entrance of Burnett -& Burnett’s.</p> - -<p>“Who has done this thing?” he asked solemnly, -glaring all around.</p> - -<p>“I reckon I did,” laughed Josie.</p> - -<p>“I’ll say she did!” exclaimed Jimmy Blaine, -who was still clinging to the handcuffed beggar.</p> - -<p>At Josie’s words Major Simpson looked at her -more closely and through the paint recognized<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>[196]</span> -the dangerous criminal, Miss Josie O’Gorman. -Just then a policeman pushed his way through -the crowd.</p> - -<p>“Officer, arrest this woman,” commanded Major -Simpson officiously, pointing an accusing finger -at the grinning Josie. “I fancy, madam, -you will find this no laughing matter when you -are safely behind bars.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes! She is the culprit!” cried the -handcuffed beggar. “Good Mr. Officer, let me -loose. I have done nothing but sit here trying -in my poor-r way to make a living selling the -pencils—and see, I am a good American, because -I sell only the red, white and blue of our flag.”</p> - -<p>“Do your duty, officer,” insisted Major Simpson. -“Arrest this young woman. She is a shoplifter -and depraved beyond belief for one so er—er—young.”</p> - -<p>“And beautiful,” smirked the irrepressible -Josie. She then turned to the officer, all levity of -manner falling from her. “I am detective Josie -O’Gorman, Sergeant Fagan. I have just caught -this boy red-handed. Open his father’s coat and -you will find a heap of costly lace which has been -stolen from Burnett & Burnett within the last -few minutes. I’ll turn this youth over to you.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>[197]</span> -I am sure his case is one for the juvenile court -to deal with. The father, who goes by the name -of Kambourian and lives at 11 Meadow Street, -is the one to arrest.”</p> - -<p>The lace was found just as Josie had said, -three bunches of it hidden in the ragged coat of -the patch-eyed beggar. The patrol wagon was -called and father and son were carried off, Kambourian -loudly asserting his innocence in spite -of the lace found in his manly bosom. He declared -to the end that he had no idea how it had -got there.</p> - -<p>“I’ll follow as soon as I can wash my face,” -Josie whispered to Sergeant Fagan. “Keep a -close watch on the old bird. I believe the young -one, poor fellow, is glad the thing has broken -and I fancy you’ll have no trouble with him.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burnett had been a silent witness to the -encounter between Josie and Major Simpson—silent -and amused. He had promised Josie to let -her manage the affair and he had done so, although -he had been sorely tempted to step in and -interfere when the self satisfied old gentleman -had so peremptorily commanded the policeman -to arrest the little detective. Now he wondered -what stand Major Simpson would take and for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>[198]</span> -a moment felt sorry for the hereditary employee -of the firm of Burnett & Burnett. He need not -have wasted his sympathy, however, as that gentleman’s -self esteem was proof against any shock. -He immediately took possession of the stolen lace -as though he, and he alone, had been responsible -for its recovery.</p> - -<p>“Ah, yes, I was sure we could track down the -criminal. A little patience and eternal vigilance -and lo, the thief is caught!”</p> - -<p>“Exactly!” said Josie, “but not always the -right thief.”</p> - -<p>“Patience, I say, patience and astuteness will -unravel any mystery,” continued Major Simpson, -ignoring Josie’s remark. “You will remember, -Mr. Burnett, that I said from the beginning that -Miss O’Gorman was not what she seemed. You -will grant me that, eh?” And thus did the old -man talk on and on, seeming actually to feel that -it was his cleverness that had caught the shoplifters.</p> - -<p>The net had closed around the Kambourians—husband, -wife and son. The search warrant revealed -a great store of stolen articles, taken not -only from Burnett & Burnett’s but from almost -every shop in Wakely; dainty, choice articles, just<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>[199]</span> -the kind with which to stock a novelty shop, which -had been Madame Kambourian’s ambition.</p> - -<p>“We had only just acqui-r-r-ed enough -things,” she wailed after she and her husband -were sentenced to a term in the penitentiary. -“And I would have been all moved and away if -that bad, bad per-r-son had not warned the author-r-ities -that I was planning to flit. Such a -kind looking per-r-son too! But one nevair-r-e -can tell who is false.”</p> - -<p>Be it said in favor of Kambourian, the -man, that his deepest concern was for “poor -Mamma” and his chief regret that she should -not have escaped.</p> - -<p>“If she had only told us that the young lady -had bought the paper in which the articles of -value were twisted we would have been more careful,” -he said to Jimmy Blaine, who interviewed -him for the great soul stirring scoop. “She -merely said the lace and things had been lost. -We had no knowledge how and we did not question -poor Mamma too closely because we are always -so tender of her. She is so gay and we did -so hate to make her sad. This beggar’s life was -hard on poor Mamma—to sit all day and whine -for pennies when she loved so to live and be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>[200]</span> -happy. And clothes—ah <i>mon Dieu</i>, how poor -Mamma does love to dress up—yes—yes—I, -too, like the life. Ah me! All that is to be postponed—but -perhaps—some day—”</p> - -<p>The boy, Roy, was taken before the juvenile -court where the wise young judge listened to all -Josie had to tell him of the unfortunate environment -in which he had been raised. She told of -the conversation she had overheard through the -open window and of the boy’s evident reluctance -to proceed in the dishonest course mapped out -for him by his parents.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” the boy told the judge, “I have hated -it always, but because I had the knack of mimicry -and could pass myself off for a girl I was forced -to wear those fool clothes and pretend I was -‘Miss Fauntleroy.’ I despised myself all the -time, despised myself and began to despise them, -I mean my mother and father, although they did -love me and were always kind to me except that -they made a thief of me. Of course if I was going -to be a thief I determined to be the very cleverest -thief in the business, and if it had not been -for you, Miss O’Gorman, I believe I could have -been. Anyhow I am glad it is all over and I’m -going to be as straight now as I used to be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>[201]</span> -crooked. All I want is a chance. Gee, I’m glad -to be able to wear pants all the time! I never -have been a sissy, and many is the time I felt -like jumping in the river when I had to wear those -silly skirts and picture hats. It was poor Mamma’s -fault. Not that I blame her, for she did -so want to have a nice little shop of her own and -dress up in pretty things. She always said when -once we got together enough things we would go -into a real business and stop stealing. Poor -Mamma! I wish I could do something for her.”</p> - -<p>Josie thought that a prison term might do more -for poor Mamma than anything else. At least -it might teach her that honesty was the best policy -for her to pursue in the future.</p> - -<p>A chance was given Roy. The judge of the -juvenile court sent him to an industrial school -where it would be possible for him to work out -his own salvation. He was as a brand snatched -from the burning and, by God’s grace, snatched -in time. Josie was sorry for the youth and Mary -Leslie wept many tears in her pity.</p> - -<p>“He was so handsome,” she sobbed.</p> - -<p>“He still is,” consoled Josie, “and now it -can be ‘Handsome is as handsome does,’ as my -father used to say. This thing broke just in time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>[202]</span> -to save that poor boy from becoming a confirmed -criminal. As it is, I bet anything he’ll pull -through and come out of that school a good fellow -and a useful citizen. He is interested in the stage -and I hope he’ll do something big in the dramatic -line some day. The way he acted <i>Miss -Fauntleroy</i> was little short of genius.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he’ll come out all right,” said Mrs. -Leslie, “but I have my doubts about foreigners. -Anyhow I am glad we took you to board, Josie, -because it has made life much more interesting. -Just to think of Mr. Burnett’s writing me a letter -of thanks for the part I took in helping to -catch that woman! Of course I appreciate the -handsome check he sent me and the fur jacket -he sent Mary, but I think more of the letter than -I do of the check and the jacket. After all, the -detective tales I have read did something for -me, if only to make me keep my eyes open for -mix-ups.”</p> - -<p>Major Simpson decided after due consideration -to accept Burnett & Burnett’s offer of a pension -and he determined to retire from the active labors -of a detective.</p> - -<p>“Of course this is a good time to retire, while -I am yet in the hey-dey of my powers,” he was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>[203]</span> -heard to say to Miss Willie at Maison Blanche. -Mrs. Trescott was the person who heard him say -it and it was with difficulty that she controlled -her merriment. “I have just been the means -of tracking down for my firm a family of desperate -criminals and—er—er—out of gratitude -to me the Burnett Brothers have offered to -pension me on—er—er—full pay.”</p> - -<p>“How wonderful!” trilled Miss Willie. “But -you will remain in Wakely, surely?”</p> - -<p>“Ah, yes! In fact I should not like to go far -from Burnett & Burnett’s because they may need -my advice at any moment. My advice—er—er—is -most important.”</p> - -<p>Josie had made many friends at Burnett & -Burnett’s, and they were one and all very sorry -that she was leaving the notion counter and -Wakely.</p> - -<p>“We felt all the time that you were a little -different,” Jane Morton told her. “Min and -I used to talk about it, but we just thought you -had picked up more education than we had and -that was what made you different. If we had -ever known that you were a detective we might -have been a little shy. But we have learned that -a woman detective may also be a human being.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>[204]</span> -As for that ‘Miss Fauntleroy,’ my blood boils -when I think of her—him. Anyhow we never -did have much to do with him because we always -mistrusted her—er—him. She never did seem -natural and now since she has turned out to be -a boy, I see the reason. One thing to his credit, -he was a gentleman, even when masquerading as -a girl, and never tried to get chummy with us. -I feel a little sorry for him and hope he will turn -out all right.”</p> - -<p>That night Josie accepted Mr. Theodore Burnett’s -insistent invitation to take dinner at his -home. There was no longer any good reason -for refusal, though in truth she sought no such -reason.</p> - -<p>Never was there a gayer, livelier party. Mr. -Burnett’s sisters, May and Lily, vied with one -another in little acts of gracious hospitality, and -the aged mother, austerely garbed in a voluminous -black dress, gave the lie to her years and her -garb as fires kindled in her deep set eyes at the -retelling of the capture of the shoplifters. Mr. -Theodore was high in his praise and colorful in -his narration.</p> - -<p>Josie, vivacious enough in other matters, had -little to say concerning her latest exploit, having<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>[205]</span> -learned from her father that modesty and justifiable -pride are becoming handmaidens.</p> - -<p>“Now, Miss O’Gorman,” said Mr. Theodore -when the dinner was over, “let us come back to -a matter of business. You know how we appreciate -your efforts and how valuable your services -have been to our firm. However, it is hardly -to be hoped that this will definitely stop all shoplifting. -When the story has cooled, the whole -wretched business will flare up again. Through -diplomacy we have succeeded in influencing Major -Simpson to retire on full pay. No doubt he -deserves it, for as my brother Charles points out, -loyalty deserves reward, and the Major was certainly -loyal. Now we are in need of a house detective -and we are willing to substantially increase -the pay where results are as certain as -mere loyalty. A-hem, the—the place is yours, -Miss O’Gorman, if you will take it.”</p> - -<p>Before the astonished Josie could form a reply -the aged mother broke in:</p> - -<p>“I hope you will accept, and I want you to -come here to live. This is a big house, plenty -of room, and you will add a great deal of life to -our colorless world. I have reared four children -who have been successful in a matter-of-fact way.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>[206]</span> -I feel that I would like to mother you—you with -your startling ingenuity. Won’t you come?”</p> - -<p>“You simply <i>must</i>!” chorused Lily and May. -“Please do. Just think of the things we could -think up to do,” and they clapped their hands in -anticipation.</p> - -<p>Josie was troubled. She appreciated the kindness; -sensed its deep sincerity. But she knew -her own spirit—knew that dull routine could not -long hold her interest.</p> - -<p>“I am sorry,” she began simply, “but I must -get back to Dorfield and my work. The Higgledy -Piggledy Shop needs me, and somehow I seem -to need it. Then, too, Captain Lonsdale writes -me that there is work to do right away—a peculiar -case that he thinks I can handle. I—I -simply can’t tell you how I feel, but surely you -will understand.”</p> - -<p>“I do,” nodded the mother. “You are too -big a girl for a little place. We will miss you, -but I am glad that you are ambitious.”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t ambition,” answered Josie, and a -big tear stood in her eye. “It is a sort of trust, -the carrying on of my father’s work.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well,” boomed Mr. Theodore, vigorously<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>[207]</span> -blowing his nose, “you must not forget -us. Some day you may feel like accepting the -offer. It is an open one and may bring you back -to Wakely.”</p> - -<p>“Poof!” protested Lily. “As if she must -wait for <i>that</i> to bring her back. She is going -to visit us at least once every year and give us -a complete account of herself—won’t you, -Josie?”</p> - -<p>“I’d love to,” Josie answered quietly.</p> - -<p>She little realized what the coming year would -bring and how thrilling would be that first account. -Some hint of it came to her a few days -later when she reached Dorfield and called on -Captain Lonsdale. The task put before her called -for the best that was in her; an undertaking -worthy of the efforts of her illustrious father.</p> - -<p>Sobered by the importance of the coming quest, -she seemed to have lost some of her spontaneity -when her friends, Irene and Mary Louise, rapturously -greeted her return to the Higgledy Piggledy -Shop.</p> - -<p>“My dear,” said Mary Louise a little later -when the first warm gush of welcome was over, -“you have changed. You seem so quiet and—and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>[208]</span> -sort of sweetly pensive. I declare, Irene, I -believe she is in love.”</p> - -<p>“I am,” said Josie, comically wriggling her -nose in her old manner, “with my work.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="transnote"> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:</p> -</div> - - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p> - -<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.</p> -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSIE O'GORMAN AND THE MEDDLESOME MAJOR ***</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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