Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville

"

The blind woman shook her head.

"There's no comfort but in forgettin'," she said; "an' the way to forgit

ain't to talk about it."

The unsatisfactory result of this conversation did not discourage

Louise, although she was sorry to meet with no better success. Gradually

she was learning the inside history of the Weggs. When she discovered

what that "great trouble" had been she would secure an important clue in

the mystery, she was sure. Nora might some time be induced to speak more

freely, and it was possible she might get the desired information from

Old Hucks. She would try, anyway.

A dozen theories might be constructed to account for this "great

trouble." The one that Louise finally favored was that Captain Wegg had

been guilty of some crime on the high seas in which his boatswain, Old

Hucks, was likewise implicated. They were obliged to abandon the sea and

fly to some out-of-the-way corner inland, where they could be safely

hidden and their whereabouts never discovered. It was the knowledge of

this crime, she conjectured, that had ruined sweet Mrs. Wegg's life and

made her weep day after day until her guilty husband became surly and

silent and unsociable.

Louise now began to cultivate Thomas, but her progress was slow. Patsy

seemed to be the old man's favorite, and for some reason he became glum

and uncommunicative whenever Louise was around. The girl suspected that

Nora had told her husband of the recent conversation, in spite of her

assertion that she wished to avoid all reference to their great trouble.

CHAPTER XI.

THREE AMATEUR DETECTIVES.

Puzzling her brain what to do next, Louise suddenly decided to confide

her secret to her two cousins. Not that she considered them capable of a

greater success than she could herself accomplish, but they might prove

valuable assistants in the capacity of lieutenants. She had great

respect for Beth's calm judgment and keen intuitions, and Patsy had a

way of accomplishing difficult things with ease.

The two girls listened to Louise with expressions of mingled wonder and

amusement while she confided to them her first suspicions that Captain

Wegg had been murdered, and then the bits of information she had

gathered to strengthen the surmise and assure her she was justified in

her efforts to untangle the web of mystery.