LETTING THE CAT OUT.
"Pooh! I shall not give it up so!" exclaimed Fanny, when it was certain
that Tom Magner did not intend to join the party.
"What will you do?" asked Kate.
"Go to Pennville, of course."
"How will you get there?"
"In the boat; we will take the Greyhound."
"You know we can't do anything of the kind, Fanny Grant."
"I know we can," replied the resolute girl.
"But who will manage her?"
"I will manage her myself."
"You?"
"Yes; I know how to manage a boat as well as any of them. I have sailed
enough to understand the whole thing," added Fanny, as she led the way
to the pier, off which the sail-boat was moored.
"Do you think I will risk my life in a boat with no one but you to
manage it?"
"But I know how to handle the boat as well as any one," persisted
Fanny. "There isn't much wind, and I'm sure there is no danger."
Kate Magner had a great many doubts, but the vision of cakes and candy,
lemonade and ice-cream, which her companion's money would purchase,
tempted her to yield. The breeze was apparently very light, and it
seemed hardly possible that the boat could be upset. She wavered, and
Fanny saw the advantage she had gained.
"If we don't get along very well, we can hire some boy or man to manage
the boat for us," continued the resolute girl, pressing the point upon
her yielding companion. "There are some men and boys fishing over
there, and they will be very glad to make some money."
"That will be the best way. If you will get one of those men to manage
the boat, I will go with you; for there isn't any fun in being drowned,
or in being run over by a steamboat."
"Very well, I will do that," replied Fanny, her black eyes snapping
with renewed vigor.
Ben, the boatman, who usually haunted the pier and the boat-house like
a familiar spirit, had added many infirmities to his burden of cares
during the eight years which have intervened since we first knew him,
and he was now confined to his house by an attack of rheumatism. There
was no one near, therefore, to interfere with the execution of Fanny's
plan. The Greyhound was moored a short distance from the pier, at which
the small skiff, which served as her tender, was fastened. The two
girls were about to embark in the little boat, when footsteps were
heard at the upper end of the pier.
Fanny started, released her hold of the painter of the skiff, and at
once realized that her brilliant project was in imminent danger of
being defeated. She turned to observe who the intruder was, and to her
horror and consternation, discovered that it was Mr. Long, the
constable, the greatest bugbear in the world to her on ordinary
occasions, and especially so in the present instance, when her
conscience accused her of a very wicked deed.
There was no opportunity to retreat, for the enemy was between her and
the main land. She had been so intent upon the argument with her more
cautious companion, that she had not noticed the approach of the
constable until his feet struck upon the planking of the pier. The
money she had stolen was in her pocket, and it felt just like a coal of
fire, which was soon to create a conflagration that might burn her up.
She very much desired, just then, to get rid of this evidence of her
crime, and she would have dropped the roll of bills into the water if
it would have sunk to the bottom, and disappeared from the sight of the
terrible man who was approaching.
Fanny did not doubt that the loss of the money had been discovered by
Mrs. Green, and that she had sent for the constable to arrest her and
put her in prison--a threat which the housekeeper had injudiciously
made on a former occasion, when the naughty girl had been guilty of a
similar fault, but a threat which Mr. Grant would not have permitted to
be carried out. This terrible punishment appalled Fanny, but she did
not entirely lose her self-possession. She had done a very great wrong;
she had staked everything upon the success of the present venture. She
was entirely satisfied that Mr. Grant, on his return, would send her to
her uncle in Minnesota, and she had prepared herself for the worst. Her
object, therefore, was to escape present defeat, and she hoped,
cornered as she was by the constable, that some means of getting out of
the dilemma might be presented to her.
"We are caught," said Kate, as Mr. Long moved down the pier.
"Not yet," replied Fanny, with more confidence than she actually felt.
The consciousness of being the leader in the enterprise led her to put
on a bold face in order to inspire her friend with confidence, if for
no other purpose.
"What shall we do?" demanded Kate, nervously.
"Keep still; don't you say a word."
"What are you doing here, Fanny, at this time of day?" asked Mr. Long,
as he approached the girls.
"I'm not doing anything," replied Fanny, boldly.
"Why are you not at school?"
"The teacher sent us down to get some green branches to put over the
clock. We are going to have some visitors in school this afternoon,"
replied Fanny, promptly.
"Did she send the other girl, too?"
"Yes; she sent both of us."
"I want to see you, Fanny; come with me," continued the terrible
constable, beckoning her to follow him up the pier.
"What do you want of me?"
"I wish to speak with you a moment."
"I can't stop long, for we must hurry back with the boughs," added
Fanny, who had no relish for a confidential conversation with such a
man, for she at once surmised its topic.
"Are you looking for green boughs out on the end of that pier?" said
he.
"We only went out there for a moment," pleaded Fanny, as she followed
Mr. Long, but it was with the intention of darting away from him at a
favorable moment.
But the constable stopped before he reached the head of the pier, which
effectually prevented her retreat unless she jumped into the water.
"What do you want of me, Mr. Long?" she asked, with increasing
boldness.
"Fanny, you have been very bad again," began the tormentor.
"No, I haven't."
"Yes, you have; and you needn't attempt to deny it."
"What have _I_ done?"
"You know what you have done."
"I haven't done anything," protested she, speaking for the sake of
speaking, rather than because she had any confidence in the impression
her words would produce upon the mind of her tormentor, and all the
while thinking how she could break away from the constable.
"'Thou shalt not steal,'" said Mr. Long, impressively.
"What do you mean by that?" demanded Fanny. "Do you mean to say that I
steal? If you do, you are very much mistaken."
"Fanny, if you didn't steal anything, it was only because you did not
find anything to steal."
What could he mean by that? She was perplexed, but she began to hope
that he did not know what she had done.
"I do not want to steal," said she; and now she spoke for the purpose
of drawing out her accuser, to ascertain how much he did know.
"You have been guilty of stealing several times," continued the
constable, assuming a very stern and virtuous aspect.
"I never meant to _steal_ anything."
"But you meant to steal this time: the cat is out of the bag."
The constable's stern features relaxed a little, and there was
something like a smile playing upon his face, as if in faint
appreciation of a joke.
"The cat is out of the drawer, if that is what you mean," said Fanny,
laughing, and now greatly encouraged by the new aspect of the case.
"That is what I mean."
"But I didn't let the cat out," protested Fanny.
"Who did?"
"Mrs. Green."
"Fanny, you are lying to me, and you know you are," added Mr. Long,
sternly.
"I hope to die if it isn't just as I say!" persisted the wicked girl,
earnestly. "Mrs. Green let the cat out of the drawer, and I had a good
laugh over it."
Fanny began to laugh very heartily. The constable was staggered, and it
was evident that he was not smart enough to deal with one so shrewd and
clever as the wayward girl.
"What are you laughing at?" asked Mr. Long.
"I was laughing to think of the poor cat as she jumped out of the
drawer and ran away. What did you put her in there for? Were you afraid
she would steal the meat or the milk? Could that cat read, Mr. Long?
Were you trying to teach her one of the ten commandments?"
"Do you mean to tell me, Fanny, that Mrs. Green let the cat out of the
drawer?"
"Yes, she did. Poor pussy mewed awfully in the drawer, where you put
her. Perhaps she was saying over the commandment you gave her to learn;
but Mrs. Green didn't understand her lingo, and let her out."
"Fanny, I am going up to see Mrs. Green, and if you have told me a lie,
it will be all the worse for you," said Mr. Long.
"You can ask Mrs. Green herself."
"I will ask her. You meant to steal: you were seen watching Mr. Grant
when he had the key of the drawer."
"And you set a trap to catch me; but you caught Mrs. Green!" laughed
Fanny.
"I don't believe a word of your story; but I am willing to be sure
before I do anything."
"What are you going to do?"
"I shall take care of you; you will know what I mean when I have proved
the case."
"You ought to have told Mrs. Green where you put the cat, for the poor
creature would have starved to death before I let her out."
"We shall see. Mr. Grant told me to take care of you if you did not
behave yourself while the family were away. I will go up and ask Mrs.
Green about this matter, and if I find you have not told me the
truth,--and I don't believe you have,--I shall take care of you."
"When shall I see you again?" asked Fanny, with the most brazen
impudence.
"You will see me sooner than you will want to see me, if you have been
doing wrong."
"But I shall not be here when you come back. We are going right up to
school now."
"I can find you, wherever you are," replied the constable, confidently,
as he walked away towards the mansion.
Fanny was entirely relieved of all her fears; she was even jubilant
over her success in cheating her persecutor. Her conscience did not
trouble her now. She readily comprehended the details of the plan by
which she was to be detected, if she attempted to steal from the
library. Of course, the constable would soon find out that she had not
told the truth, and that Mrs. Green knew nothing about the cat in the
drawer.
After the announcement that the family were to be absent a week, had
been made, it was observed that Fanny was in unusually good spirits.
Miss Fanny had detected her in the act of looking through one of the
library windows, while her father was paying a bill in the room. Mr.
Grant, wealthy as he was, had always been very methodical in his
business affairs. He kept a sum of money in a drawer for household
expenses, to which Mrs. Green and his daughters had access. When
anything was paid out by any member of the family, the amount was put
down on a paper in the drawer. After the advent of Fanny Jane, and
after she had been detected in some small pilfering, the key of this
drawer was concealed as we have described.
Miss Fanny at once suspected the motive of her wayward charge, and told
her father of the fact, on the day before the departure of the family
for Hudson. Mr. Grant, more desirous of reforming the wicked girl than
of anything else, consulted Mr. Long. Mrs. Green was told where she
might find money for the payment of the household bills, and admonished
to be very careful in concealing the keys; but nothing was said to her
about the cat and the commandment. If Fanny did attempt to steal, the
case was to be managed by the constable, who had been instructed to
take her to his own house, and keep her in close subjection until the
return of the family.
The cat belonged to Mr. Long, who was confident that the animal, when
released by the act of the thief, would run home, when her presence
would inform him of the culprit's deed. The cat--true to her domestic
instinct--had run home; but the constable had not immediately seen her.
As soon as he discovered the tell-tale pussy, he hastened over to
Woodville, expecting to find Fanny penitently studying the commandment,
which was the moral of Mr. Grant's stratagem; but before he reached the
house he saw two girls on the pier, and recognized Fanny as one of
them.
Willing to be entirely fair, and deeming it possible that Mr. Grant's
plan had failed, he went up to the house to consult Mrs. Green, while
Fanny rushed down the pier to join her companion in mischief.