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"It is so important, child; more important, I fear, than many of them guess. This will be a desperate war, and without the money to fight " "Oh, the money'll come, Gran'pa; I'm sure of that. If Dorfield doesn't do it's duty, the rest of the country will, so you mustn't feel badly about our failure. In fact, we haven't failed, as yet. How much did they subscribe last night?"
That would look pretty black to a stranger, and it made even Mary Louise feel very uncomfortable and oppressed, but against the accusation the girl placed these facts, better known to her than the others: Gran'pa Jim was a good man, kind and honest. Since she had known him his life had been blameless. Mamma Bee, who knew him best of all, never faltered in her devotion to him.
The colonel and Mary Louise were both a little awed, but as Kasker accompanied them to the door, they strove to express their sympathy and approval. As they parted, however, the man leaned over and whispered: "Just the same, I hate the war. But, if it has to be, let's stand together to fight and win it!" "Gran'pa Jim," said Mary Louise, when they were on the street again, "I'm ashamed.
"You must be the silent partner, then," said her grandfather, smiling at her vexed expression. "Josie is also worthy of confidence. She may blunder, but if so, she'll blunder cleverly. I advise you to be patient with her." "Well, I'll try, Gran'pa. When we see her again she will probably know something important," said Mary Louise resignedly.
He wasn't my gran'pa, though; if he had 'a' been he wouldn't 'a' 'bused me so. I don't know where he got me, but he treated me very bad; an' when I wouldn't do bad things for him, he whipped me, he whipped me awful, an' he shet me up in the dark all day an' all night, 'an didn't give me nothin' to eat; an' I'm dreadful 'fraid o' the dark; an' I wasn't more'n jest about so high, neither.
"That proves, of course, that Gran'pa Jim and mother are in California, But how did the detective know that?" she asked wonderingly. "He didn't know it," answered Peter Conant. "On the contrary, this message proves to me that they are not there at all." "But the telegram says " "Otherwise," continued the lawyer, "the telegram would not have come from that far-away point on the Pacific coast.
The little fellow took the jeweled toy from his bosom and made for the door, proud of being possessed of a talisman, which he had seen so often made useful. "There are wolves at Southampton," he said, with rather a triumphant nod to Robert Audley. "My gran'pa says when he takes my watch that he does it to keep the wolf from the door. Are there wolves where you live?"
His face and voice must have been rather terrible, for the scare in their faces brought him to sudden consciousness of his own violence, and he dropped his hands. In two seconds they were at the corner. They stopped there for a second; one of them shouted "Gran'pa"; then they vanished.
That realization might come to her later, but just now she was happy in the vindication of Gran'pa Jim a triumph that overshadowed all else. "I'll take this letter for our files," said Officer O'Gorman, folding it carefully before placing it in his pocketbook.
"Gran'pa, do you know there's something in this fellow Stevens that don't altogether please me? I'm not satisfied with him." "Ah, indeed! what do you see to find fault with?" "Well, you see, he comes here pretending to study. Now, in the first place, why should he come here to study? why didn't he stay at home with his friends and parents?" "Perhaps he had neither. Perhaps he had no home.
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