AUNT JANE'S NIECES AT MILLVILLE
BY
EDITH VAN DYNE (one of L. Frank Baum's pen names)
1908
Continued....
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.
"You see, my dears," she explained, impressively, as
the three lounged
upon the grass in the shade of the right wing of the
house, "there is a
very interesting story about these people that ought
to guide us
directly to a solution of the puzzle. A roving sea
captain marries a
girl of good family in spite of the opposition of
her relatives. His
boatswain, a confidential servant, marries the
girl's maid. The next
thing we know is that a 'great trouble' causes them
to flee--doubtless
some crime committed by the captain. It may have
been robbery, or
perhaps piracy on the high seas; who knows? Anyhow,
he steals away to
this forsaken spot, far from the sea or the
railroads, and builds a fine
house on a worthless farm, showing that he has
money, but that
retirement is his main object. Here the Weggs make
no friends: but the
wife cries her eyes out until she dies miserably,
leaving a son to the
tender mercies of a wicked father. So fearful is he
of discovery that he
will not allow the boy to go to school, but tries to
educate
him himself."
"Probably the captain's real name was not Wegg, at
all," suggested
Patsy, entering into the spirit of the relation.
"Probably not, dear. He would assume some name, of
course, so that it
might be more difficult to trace him," answered
Louise. "But now--mark
me well, girls!--a Nemesis was on the track of this
wicked sinner. After
many years the man Captain Wegg had wronged, or
stolen from, or
something, discovered his enemy's hiding place. He
promptly killed the
Captain, and probably recovered the money, for it's
gone. Old Thompson,
Ethel's grandfather, happened to be present. The
murderer also took his
money, and--"
"Oh, Louise! That isn't reasonable," objected Beth,
who had been
following the story carefully.
"Why not?"
"Because you are making the wronged party as wicked
as the man who
wronged him. When the avenger found his enemy he
might force him to give
up his ill-gotten gains; I agree with you there; but
he wouldn't be
liable to rob old Thompson, I'm sure."
"Beth is right," said Patsy, stoutly.
"But old Thompson lost his money at the same time,
you know; at least
his money could never be found afterward. And I'm
sure he was dealt some
blow on the head that made him crazy," answered
Louise, positively.
They thought that over.
"I believe I can explain it, girls," said Beth,
presently. "The avenger
found Captain Wegg, all right--just as Louise has
said--and when he
found him he demanded a restitution of his money,
threatening to send
the criminal to jail. That would be very natural,
wouldn't it? Well,
Captain Wegg had spent a good deal of the money, and
couldn't pay it all
back; so Ethel's grandfather, being his friend,
offered to makeup the
balance himself rather than see his friend go to
prison. That accounts
for the disappearance of all the money."
"If that is so," observed Patsy, "I don't see why
the man, having got
his money back, should murder one and knock the
other on the head."
It way a puzzle, they all acknowledged, and after
discussing the matter
from every conceivable standpoint they were no
nearer an explanation.
That's the way with mysteries; they're often hard to
understand.
"The only thing that occurs to me as being
sensible," said Louise,
finally, "is that after the money was paid over they
got into a quarrel.
Then the avenger lost his temper and committed the
murders."
"This talk about an avenger is all guess work,"
asserted Beth, calmly.
"I don't believe the facts point to an avenger at
all."
"But the old crime--the great trouble--"
"Oh, we'll allow all that," returned Beth; "and I
don't say that an
avenger wouldn't be the nicest person to exact
retribution from the
wicked captain. But avengers don't always turn up,
in real life, when
they ought to, girls; so we mustn't be too sure that
one turned up in
this case."
"But now else can you account for the captain's
murder?" objected
Louise.
"Well, some one else might know he had money, and
that Ethel's
grandfather had money, too," was the reply. "Suppose
the robbery and
murder had nothing to do with the old crime at all,
but that the
murderer knew this to be a deserted place where he
could make a good
haul without being discovered. The two old men sat
in the right wing,
quite unsuspicious, when----"
"When in walks Mr. Murderer, chokes the captain,
knocks his friend on
the brain-box, and makes off with the money!"
continued Patsy,
gleefully. "Oh, girls, I'm sure we've got it right
this time."
Louise reflected a moment.
"This country is almost a wilderness," she mused,
aloud, "and few
strangers ever come here. Besides, a stranger would
not know positively
that these two men had money. If we abandon the idea
of an avenger, and
follow Beth's clue, then the murderer is still right
here in Millville,
and unsuspected by any of his neighbors."
"Oh, Louise!" with startled glances over their
shoulders.
"Let us be sensible, reasoning girls; not silly
things trying to figure
out possible romances," continued Louise, with a
pretty and impressive
assumption of dignity. "Do you know, I feel that
some angel of
retribution has guided us to this lonely farmhouse
and put the idea into
my head to discover and expose a dreadful crime."
"Succotash!" cried Patsy, irrelevantly. "You're
romancing this minute,
Louise. The way you figure things out I wouldn't be
surprised if you
accused me, or Uncle John, any time during the next
half hour. Adopting
your last supposition, for the sake of argument, I'm
interested to know
what inhabitant of sleepy old Millville you
suspect."
"Don't get flighty, Patricia," admonished Beth.
"This is a serious
matter, and Louise is in earnest. If we're going to
help her we mustn't
talk rubbish. Now, it isn't a bad suggestion that we
ought to look
nearer home for the key to this mystery. There's old
Hucks."
"Hucks!"
"To be sure. No one knew so well as he the money
affairs of the two men
who were robbed."
"I'm ashamed of you," said Patsy.
"And the man's smile is a mask!" exclaimed Louise.
"Oh, no!" protested Patsy.
"My dear, no person who ever lived could smile every
minute, winter and
summer, rain or shine, day and night, and always
have a reason for
the smile."
"Of course not," agreed Beth. "Old Hucks is a
curious character. I
realized that when I had known him five minutes."
"But he's poor," urged Patsy, in defense of the old
man. "He hasn't a
penny in the world, and McNutt told me if we turned
Thomas and Nora away
they'd have to go to the poorhouse."
"That is no argument at all," said Louise, calmly.
"If we consider the
fact that Old Hucks may be a miser, and have a
craving for money without
any desire to spend it, then we are pretty close to
a reason why he
should bide his time and then murder his old master
to obtain the riches
he coveted. Mind you, I don't say Hucks is guilty,
but it is our duty to
consider this phase of the question."
"And then," added Beth, "if Hucks should prove to be
a miser, it is easy
to guess he would hide his wealth where he could
secretly gloat over it,
and still continue to pose as a pauper."
"I don't believe it," said Patsy, stoutly.
"You'll never make a successful detective if you
allow your personal
feelings to influence you," returned Louise. "I,
too, sincerely hope
that Thomas is innocent; but we are not justified in
acquitting him
until we have made a careful investigation and
watched his actions."
"I'm quite sure he's connected with the mystery in
some way," said Beth.
"It will do no harm to watch Old Hucks, as Louise
suggests."
"And you might try to pump him, Patsy, and see if
you can get him to
talk of the murder. Some careless remark might give
us just the clue we
need and guide us to the real criminal. That would
free Thomas from all
suspicion, you see."
"But why do you ask me to do this?" demanded Patsy.
"Thomas and I are
good friends, and I'd feel like a traitor to try to
get him to confess
a murder."
"If he is innocent, you have done no harm," said her
eldest cousin; "and
if he is guilty you don't want him for your friend."
"He likes you, dear," added Beth, "and perhaps he
will tell you frankly
all we want to know. There's another person, though,
Louise, who might
tell us something."
"Who is that?"
"The little man with the golf-ball eyes; McNutt."
"Now, there's some sense in suspecting him,"
exclaimed Patsy. "We know
he's a robber, already, and a man who is clever
enough to sell Uncle
John three 'Lives of the Saints' would stick at
nothing, I'm sure."
"He hasn't enough courage to commit a great crime,"
observed Beth.
"But he may be able to give us some information,"
Louise asserted; "so I
propose we walk over to the town tomorrow morning
and interview him."
This was promptly agreed to, for even Patsy, the
least enthusiastic
detective of the three, was eager to find some sort
of a solution of the
Wegg mystery. Meantime they decided to watch Old
Hucks very carefully.
Beth happened to be present when Uncle John paid
Thomas his weekly wage
that evening, and was interested to notice how the
old man's hand
trembled with eagerness as he took the money.
"How much are you accustomed to receive?" Uncle John
had asked.
"Nothing 'tall, sir, since Cap'n Wegg died," was the
reply. "We was glad
enough to have a home, Nora an' me, 'thout 'spectin'
wages."
"And there was no one here for you to serve," mused
Uncle John. "But in
Captain Wegg's day, how much did he give you?"
Thomas hesitated, and his smile wavered an instant.
"My old master was also my old friend," said he, in
a low voice; "an' I
ast him fer little money because my needs were
little."
"Well, the conditions are now different," remarked
Uncle John,
carelessly; "and while you are in my employ you
shall have your wages
regularly. Will ten dollars a week be satisfactory?"
"Oh, sir!"
"And five for Nora."
"You are too good, sir. I--I--"
"Never mind, Thomas. If you want more at any time
let me know."
It was then, as the old man took the fifteen dollars
extended to him,
that Beth noted a flash in the mild blue eyes and a
trembling of the
horny hands. 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.
AUNT JANE'S NIECES AT MILLVILLE
Continued....
 
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