Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville
Hucks was very glad to get the money; there was little
doubt of that.
She spoke of this incident to Louise, and the following morning they
tested the man again. All three girls being present, Beth tendered Old
Hucks two dollars, saying it was intended as a slight mark of her
appreciation of his attention. Thomas demurred at first, but on being
urged took the money with the same eager gesture he had before
displayed. Louise followed with a donation of a like sum, and Patsy gave
the old man still another two dollar bill. This generosity so amazed him
that tears stood in his eyes as he tried to thank them all. It was
noticed that the smile did not give way even to the tears, although it
was tinged with a pathetic expression that proved wonderfully affecting.
He concealed the offerings with a stealthy motion, as if ashamed of his
weakness in accepting them, and then hurried away to his work.
"Well," said Louise, when they were alone, "is Thomas a miser or not?"
"He clutched the money almost as if he loved it," observed Beth, in a
musing and slightly regretful tone.
"But think how poor he has been," pleaded Patsy, "and how destitute both
he and Nora are yet. Can we blame him for being glad to earn something
substantial at last?"
Somehow that did not seem to explain fully the old man's behavior, and
the girl who had championed him sighed and then gave a sudden shiver as
she remembered the awful suspicion that had fallen upon this strange
individual. If the proof must be accepted that Hucks had miserly
instincts, had not Beth accidentally stumbled upon a solution of the
whole mystery?
But Patsy would not believe it. If Thomas' open countenance lied, it was
hard to put faith in any one.
CHAPTER XII.
THE BAITING OF PEGGY M'NUTT.
By this time the three nieces were so thoroughly impressed with the
importance of the task they had undertaken that more ordinary things
failed to interest them. Louise longed to solve the mystery. Beth wanted
to punish the wrongdoers. Patsy yearned to exonerate the friends whom
she imagined unjustly accused.
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There was once an honest journeyman tailor, by name Labakan, who learned his trade with an excellent master in Alexandria. It could not be said that Labakan was unhandy with the needle; on the contrary, he could make excellent work: moreover, one would have done him injustice to have called him lazy. Nevertheless, his companions knew not what to make of him, for he would often sew for hours together so rapidly that the needle would glow in his hand, and the thread smoke, and that none could equal him.
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