MELINDA MAKES MISCHIEF
"Where did you hear this, Melinda?" asked Mrs. Larkin.
"I called on Mrs. Duncan just now--I was doing some work for
her--and she told me. Isn't it awful?"
"Was the bank broken open last night, Miss Sprague?" asked Luke.
"I don't know when it was entered."
"I don't understand it at all," said Luke, looking puzzled.
"All I know is that, on examining the safe, the box of bonds
was missing."
"Then it might have been taken some time since?"
"Yes, it might."
The same thought came to Luke and his mother at once. Was the
mysterious stranger the thief, and had he robbed the bank and
transferred the tin box to Luke? It might be so, but, as this
happened more than a fortnight since, it would have been strange in
that case that the box had not been missed sooner at the bank. Luke
longed to have Miss Sprague go, that he might confer with his mother
on this subject. He had been told to keep the possession of the box
secret, and therefore he didn't wish to reveal the fact that he had
it unless it should prove to be necessary.
"Were any traces of the robber discovered?" he added.
"Not that I heard of; but I pity the thief, whoever he is,"
remarked Melinda. "When he's found out he will go to jail,
without any doubt."
"I can't understand, for my part, how an outside party could
open the safe," said Mrs. Larkin. "It seems very mysterious."
"There's many things we can't understand," said Melinda,
shaking her head sagely. "All crimes are mysterious."
"I hope they'll find out who took the bonds," said the widow.
"Did they belong to the bank?"
"No, they belonged to a gentleman in Cavendish, who kept them in
the bank, thinking they would be safer than in his own house. Little
did he know what iniquity there was even in quiet country places
like Groveton."
"Surely, Melinda, you don't think any one in Groveton robbed the
bank?" said Mrs. Larkin.
"There's no knowing!" said Miss Sprague, solemnly. "There's those
that we know well, or think we do, but we cannot read their hearts
and their secret ways."
"Have you any suspicions, Miss Sprague?" asked Luke, considerably
amused at the portentous solemnity of the visitor.
"I may and I may not, Luke," answered Melinda, with the air of one
who knew a great deal more than she chose to tell; "but it isn't
proper for me to speak at present."
Just then Miss Sprague saw some one passing who, she thought, had
not heard of the robbery, and, hastily excusing herself, she left
the house.
"What do you think, Luke?" asked his mother, after the spinster had
gone. "Do you think the box we have was taken from the bank?"
"No, I don't, mother. I did think it possible at first, but it
seems very foolish for the thief, if he was one, to leave the box
in the same village, in the charge of a boy. It would have been
more natural and sensible for him to open it, take out the bonds,
and throw it away or leave it in the woods."
"There is something in that," said Mrs. Larkin, thoughtfully. "There
is certainly a mystery about our box, but I can't think it was
stolen from the bank."
Meanwhile, Miss Sprague had formed an important resolve. The more
she thought of it, the more she believed the missing box was the one
of which she had caught a glimpse of in Mrs. Larkin's trunk. True,
Luke and the widow had not betrayed that confusion and embarrassment
which might have been anticipated when the theft was announced, but
she had noticed the look exchanged between them, and she was sure it
meant something. Above all, her curiosity was aroused to learn how
it happened that a woman as poor as the Widow Larkin should have a
tin box in her trunk, the contents of which might be presumed to be
valuable.
"I don't like to get Luke and his mother into trouble," Melinda said
to herself, "but I think it my duty to tell all I know. At any rate,
they will have to tell how the box came into their possession, and
what it contains. I'll go to the bank and speak to Squire Duncan."
Prince Duncan had called an extra meeting of the directors to
consider the loss which had been discovered, and they were now
seated in the bank parlor. There were three of them present, all
of whom resided in Groveton--Mr. Manning, the hotelkeeper; Mr.
Bailey, a storekeeper, and Mr. Beane, the Groveton lawyer.
Miss Sprague entered the bank and went up to the little window
presided over by the paying-teller.
"Is Squire Duncan in the bank?" she asked.
"Yes, Miss Sprague."
"I would like to speak with him."
"That is impossible. He is presiding at a directors' meeting."
"Still, I would like to see him," persisted Melinda.
"You will have to wait," said the paying-teller, coldly. He had no
particular respect or regard for Miss Sprague, being quite familiar
with her general reputation as a gossip and busybody.
"I think he would like to see me," said Melinda, nodding her head
with mysterious significance. "There has been a robbery at the bank,
hasn't there?"
"Do you know anything about it, Miss Sprague?" demanded the teller,
in surprise.
"Maybe I do, and maybe I don't; but I've got a secret to tell to
Squire Duncan."
"I don't believe it amounts to anything," thought the teller. "Well,
I will speak to Squire Duncan," he said aloud.
He went to the door of the directors' room, and after a brief
conference with Prince Duncan he returned with the message, "You
may go in, Miss Sprague."
She nodded triumphantly, and with an air of conscious importance
walked to the bank parlor.
Prince Duncan and his associates were sitting round a mahogany table.
Melinda made a formal curtsy and stood facing them.
"I understand, Miss Sprague, that you have something to communicate
to us in reference to the loss the bank has just sustained," said
the squire, clearing his throat.
"I thought it my duty to come and tell you all I knew, Squire Duncan
and gentlemen," said Melinda.
"Quite right, Miss Sprague. Now, what can you tell us?"
"The article lost was a tin box, was it not?"
"Yes."
"About so long?" continued Miss Sprague, indicating a length of
about fifteen inches.
"Yes."
"What was there in it?"
"Government bonds."
"I know where there is such a box," said Miss Sprague, slowly.
"Where? Please be expeditious, Miss Sprague."
"A few days since I was calling on Mrs. Larkin--Luke's mother--just
happened in, as I may say, and, not finding her downstairs, went up
into her chamber. I don't think she heard me, for when I entered the
chamber and spoke to her she seemed quite flustered. She was on her
knees before an open trunk, and in that trunk I saw the tin box."
The directors looked at each other in surprise, and Squire Duncan
looked undeniably puzzled.
"I knew the box was one such as is used to hold valuable papers and
bonds," proceeded Melinda, "and, as I had always looked on the widow
as very poor, I didn't know what to make of it."
"Did you question Mrs. Larkin about the tin box?" asked Mr. Beane.
"No; she shut the trunk at once, and I concluded she didn't want
me to see it."
"Then you did not say anything about it?"
"No; but I went in just now to tell her about the bank being robbed."
"How did it seem to affect her?" asked Mr. Bailey.
"She and Luke--Luke was there, too--looked at each other in dismay.
It was evident that they were thinking of the box in the trunk."
Melinda continued her story, and the directors were somewhat impressed.
"I propose," said Mr. Manning, "that we get out a search-warrant and
search Mrs. Larkin's cottage. That box may be the one missing from
the bank."