Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work
"
"Do you know of one?" asked Kenneth.
"Yes; but he must be brought from Buffalo. It will be expensive, sir.
That is why I ask if your interest in the girl warrants our going to the
limit to save her."
Kenneth was thoughtful, while the girls looked at him expectantly and
Tom Gates with visible anxiety.
"My original idea was merely to find the missing girl in order to
relieve the anxiety of her blind mother," said young Forbes. "To
accomplish that I was willing to employ your services. But, as a matter
of fact, I have never seen the girl Lucy Rogers, nor am I particularly
interested in her."
"I am," declared Beth.
"And I!"
"And I!" repeated Patsy and Louise.
"I think," said Uncle John, who had been a quiet listener until now,
"that Kenneth has assumed enough expense in this matter."
"Oh, Uncle!" The remonstrance was from all three of the girls.
"Therefore," continued Mr. Merrick, "I propose that I undertake any
further expense that may be incurred, so as to divide the burden."
"That's better!" declared Patsy. "But I might have known Uncle John
would do that."
"You have my authority to wire the physician, if necessary, or to go to
any expense you deem advisable," continued Mr. Merrick, turning to the
detective. "We seem to have undertaken to unravel an interesting
mystery, and we'll see it through to the end."
"Very good, sir," said Mr. Burke, and left them with a brief nod of
farewell.
"Somehow," said Beth, "I've a lot of confidence in that little man."
"Why, he's a detective," replied Uncle John, with a smile, "and the
chief business of detectives is to make mistakes."
CHAPTER XVII
MRS. HOPKINS GOSSIPS
The home of Representative Hopkins was not a very imposing edifice. It
was a modest frame building standing well back in a little yard at the
outskirts of the village, and Mrs. Hopkins did the housework, unaided,
to save the expense of a maid. It never occurred to the politician, who
had risen from the position of a poor stable-boy to one of affluence, to
save his wife from this drudgery.
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The Bird with the Golden Gizzard: The Story of Two Brothers
Category: Czechoslovak folktale
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Category: Czechoslovak folktale
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The Golden Spinning-Wheel: The Story of King Dobromil and the Good Dobrunka
Category: Czechoslovak folktale
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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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