Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville
"
"I do not think so," Ethel answered, thoughtfully. "The smile is
habitual, and dominates any other expression his features might be
capable of; but that it is assumed I do not believe. Thomas is a
simple-minded, honest-hearted old fellow, and to face the world
smilingly is a part of his religion. I am sure he has nothing to
conceal, and his devotion to his blind wife is very beautiful."
"But Nora--how long has she been blind?"
"Perhaps all her life; I cannot tell how long. Yet it is wonderful how
perfectly she finds her way without the aid of sight. Captain Wegg used
to say she was the best housekeeper he ever knew."
"Did not his wife keep house for him, when she was alive?"
"I do not remember her."
"They say she was most unhappy."
Ethel dropped her eyes and did not reply.
"How about Cap'n Wegg?" asked Uncle John. "Did you like him? You see,
we're mighty curious about the family, because we've acquired their old
home, and are bound to be interested in the people that used to
live there."
"That is natural," remarked the little school teacher, with a sigh.
"Captain Wegg was always kind to me; but the neighbors as a rule thought
him moody and bad-tempered." After a pause she added: "He was not as
kind to his son as to me. But I think his life was an unhappy one, and
we have no right to reprove his memory too severely for his faults."
"What made him unhappy?" asked Louise, quickly.
Ethel smiled into her eager face.
"No one has solved that problem, they say. The Captain was as silent as
he was morose."
The detective instinct was alive in Louise. She hazarded a startling
query:
"Who killed Captain Wegg?" she demanded, suddenly.
Another smile preceded the reply.
"A dreadful foe called heart disease. But come; let me show you my
garden. There are no such roses as these for miles around."
Louise was confident she had made progress. Ethel had admitted several
things that lent countenance to the suspicions already aroused; but
perhaps this simple country girl had never imagined the tragedy that had
been enacted at her very door.
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In a village there lived two men who had the self-same name. Both were named Claus. But one of them owned four horses, and the other owned only one horse; so to distinguish between them people called the man who had four horses Big Claus, and the man who had only one horse Little Claus. Now I'll tell you what happened to these two, for this is a true story.
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