Under the Lilacs (21 page)

So vacation was not all play, and the girls found their picnics, berry parties, and “goin’ a visitin’,” all the more agreeable
for the quiet hour spent with Miss Celia. Thorny had improved wonderfully, and was getting to be quite energetic, especially
since his sister’s accident; for while she was laid up he was the head of the house, and much enjoyed his promotion. But Ben
did not seem to flourish as he had done at first. The loss of Sancho preyed upon him sadly, and the longing to go and find
his dog grew into such a strong temptation that he could hardly resist it. He said little about it; but now and then a word
escaped him which might have enlightened anyone who chanced to be watching him. No one was, just then, so he brooded over
this fancy, day by day, in silence and solitude, for there was no riding and driving now. Thorny was busy with his sister,
trying to show her that he remembered how good she had been to him when he was ill, and the little girls had their own affairs.

Miss Celia was the first to observe the change, having nothing to do but lie on the sofa and amuse herself by seeing
others work or play. Ben was bright enough at the readings, because then he forgot his troubles; but when they were over and
his various duties done, he went to his own room or sought consolation with Lita, being sober and quiet, and quite unlike
the merry monkey all knew and liked so well.

“Thorny, what is the matter with Ben?” asked Miss Celia, one day, when she and her brother were alone in the “green parlor,”
as they called the lilac-tree walk.

“Fretting about Sanch, I suppose. I declare I wish that dog had never been born! Losing him has just spoilt Ben. Not a bit
of fun left in him, and he won’t have anything I offer to cheer him up.”

Thorny spoke impatiently, and knit his brows over the pressed flowers he was neatly gumming into his herbal.

“I wonder if he has anything on his mind. He acts as if he was hiding a trouble he didn’t dare to tell. Have you talked with
him about it?” asked Miss Celia, looking as if
she
was hiding a trouble
she
did not like to tell.

“Oh, yes, I poke him up now and then, but he gets peppery, so I let him alone. Maybe he is longing for his old circus again.
Shouldn’t blame him much if he was; it isn’t very lively here, and he’s used to excitement, you know.”

“I hope it isn’t that. Do you think he would slip away without telling us, and go back to the old life again?”

“Don’t believe he would. Ben isn’t a bit of a sneak; that’s why I like him.”

“Have you ever found him sly or untrue in any way?” asked Miss Celia, lowering her voice.

“No; he’s as fair and square a fellow as I ever saw. Little bit low, now and then, but he doesn’t mean it, and wants to be
a gentleman, only he never lived with one before, and it’s all new to him. I’ll get him polished up after a while.”

“Oh, Thorny, there are
three
peacocks on the place, and you are the finest!” laughed Miss Celia, as her brother spoke in his most condescending way with
a lift of the eyebrows very droll to see.

“And
two
donkeys, and Ben’s the biggest, not to know when he is well off and happy!” retorted the “gentleman,” slapping a dried specimen
on the page as if he were pounding discontented Ben.

“Come here and let me tell you something which worries me. I would not breathe it to another soul, but I feel rather helpless,
and I daresay you can manage the matter better than I.”

Looking much mystified, Thorny went and sat on the stool at his sister’s feet, while she whispered confidentially in his ear:
“I’ve lost some money out of my drawer, and I’m
so
afraid Ben took it.”

“But it’s always locked up and you keep the keys of the drawer and the little room.”

“It is gone, nevertheless, and I’ve had my keys safe all the time.”

“But why think it is he any more than Randa, or Katy, or me?”

“Because I trust you three as I do myself. I’ve known the girls for years, and you have no object in taking it since all I
have is yours, dear.”

“And all mine is yours, of course. But, Celia, how
could
he do it? He can’t pick locks, I know, for we fussed over my desk together, and had to break it after all.”

“I never really thought it possible till today when you were playing ball and it went in at the upper window, and Ben climbed
up the porch after it: you remember you said, ‘If it had gone in at the garret gable you couldn’t have done that so well’;
and he answered, ‘Yes, I could, there isn’t a
spout I can’t shin up, or a bit of this roof I haven’t been over.’”

“So he did; but there is no spout near the little room window.”

“There is a tree, and such an agile boy as Ben could swing in and out easily. Now, Thorny, I
hate
to think this of him, but it has happened twice, and for his own sake I must stop it. If he is planning to run away, money
is a good thing to have. And he may feel that it is his own; for you know he asked me to put his wages in the bank, and I
did. He may not like to come to me for that, because he can give no good reason for wanting it. I’m so troubled I really don’t
know what to do.”

She looked troubled, and Thorny put his arms about her as if to keep all worries but his own away from her.

“Don’t you fret, Cely, dear; you leave it to me. I’ll fix him — ungrateful little scamp!”

“That is not the way to begin. I am afraid you will make him angry and hurt his feelings, and then we can do nothing.

“Bother his feelings! I shall just say, calmly and coolly: ‘Now, look here, Ben, hand over the money you took out of my sister’s
drawer, and we’ll let you off easy,’ or something like that.”

“It wouldn’t do, Thorny; his temper would be up in a minute, and away he would go before we could find out whether he was
guilty or not. I wish I knew how to manage.

“Let me think,” and Thorny leaned his chin on the arm of the chair, staring hard at the knocker as if he expected the lion’s
mouth to open with words of counsel then and there.

“By Jove, I do believe Ben took it!” he broke out suddenly; “for when I went to his room this morning to see
why he didn’t come and do my boots, he shut the drawer in his bureau as quick as a flash, and looked red and queer, for I
didn’t knock and sort of startled him.”

“He wouldn’t be likely to put stolen money there. Ben is too wise for that.”

“He wouldn’t
keep
it there, but he might be looking at it and pitch it in when I called. He’s hardly spoken to me since, and when I asked him
what his flag was at half-mast for, he wouldn’t answer. Besides, you know in the reading this afternoon he didn’t listen,
and when you asked what he was thinking about, he colored up and muttered something about Sanch. I tell you, Celia, it looks
bad — very bad,” and Thorny shook his head with a wise air.

“It does, and yet we may be all wrong. Let us wait a little and give the poor boy a chance to clear himself before we speak.
I’d rather lose my money than suspect him falsely.”

“How much was it?”

“Eleven dollars; a one went first, and I supposed I’d miscalculated somewhere when I took some out; but when I missed a ten,
I felt that I ought not to let it pass.”

“Look here, sister, you just put the case into my hands and let me work it up. I won’t say anything to Ben till you give the
word; but I’ll watch him, and now that my eyes are open, it won’t be easy to deceive
me
.”

Thorny was evidently pleased with the new play of detective, and intended to distinguish himself in that line; but when Miss
Celia asked how he meant to begin, he could only respond with a blank expression: “Don’t know! You give me the keys and leave
a bill or two in the drawer, and maybe I can find him out somehow.”

So the keys were given, and the little dressing room where the old secretary stood was closely watched for a day
or two. Ben cheered up a trifle, which looked as if he knew an eye was upon him, but otherwise he went on as usual, and Miss
Celia, feeling a little guilty at even harboring a suspicion of him, was kind and patient with his moods.

Thorny was very funny in the unnecessary mystery and fuss he made; his affectation of careless indifference to Ben’s movements
and his clumsy attempts to watch every one of them; his dodgings up and down stairs, ostentatious clanking of keys, and the
elaborate traps he set to catch his thief, such as throwing his ball in at the dressing-room window and sending Ben up the
tree to get it, which he did, thereby proving beyond a doubt that he alone could have taken the money, Thorny thought. Another
deep discovery was, that the old drawer was so shrunken that the lock could be pressed down by slipping a knife blade between
the hasp and socket.

“Now it is as clear as day, and you’d better let me speak,” he said, full of pride as well as regret at this triumphant success
of his first attempt as a detective.

“Not yet, and you need do nothing more. I’m afraid it was a mistake of mine to let you do this; and if it has spoiled your
friendship with Ben, I shall be very sorry; for I do not think he is guilty,” answered Miss Celia.

“Why not?” and Thorny looked annoyed.

“I’ve watched also, and he doesn’t act like a deceitful boy. Today I asked him if he wanted any money, or should I put what
I owe him with the rest, and he looked me straight in the face with such honest, grateful eyes, I could not doubt him when
he said: ‘Keep it, please, I don’t need anything here, you are all so good to me.’”

“Now, Celia, don’t you be softhearted. He’s a sly little dog, and knows my eye is on him. When
I
asked him what
he saw in the dressing room, after he brought out the ball, and looked sharply at him, he laughed, and said: ‘Only a mouse,’
as saucy as you please.”

“Do set the trap there; I heard the mouse nibbling last night, and it kept me awake. We must have a cat or we shall be overrun.”

“Well, shall I give Ben a good blowing up, or will you?” asked Thorny, scorning such poor prey as mice, and bound to prove
that he was in the right.

“I’ll let you know what I have decided in the morning. Be kind to Ben, meantime, or I shall feel as if I had done you harm
by letting you watch him.”

So it was left for that day, and by the next, Miss Celia had made up her mind to speak to Ben. She was just going down to
breakfast when the sound of loud voices made her pause and listen. It came from Ben’s room, where the two boys seemed to be
disputing about something.

“I hope Thorny has kept his promise,” she thought, and hurried through the back entry, fearing a general explosion.

Ben’s chamber was at the end, and she could see and hear what was going on before she was near enough to interfere. Ben stood
against his closet door looking as fierce and red as a turkey-cock; Thorny sternly confronted him, saying in an excited tone,
and with a threatening gesture: “You are hiding something in there, and you can’t deny it.”

“I don’t.”

“Better not; I insist on seeing it.”

“Well, you won’t.”

“What have you been stealing now?”

“Didn’t steal it — used to be mine — I only took it when I wanted it.”

“I know what that means. You’d better give it back or I’ll make you.”

“Stop!” cried a third voice, as Thorny put out his arm to clutch Ben, who looked ready to defend himself to the last gasp.
“Boys, I will settle this affair.
Is
there anything hidden in the closet, Ben?” and Miss Celia came between the belligerent parties with her one hand up to part
them.

Thorny fell back at once, looking half ashamed of his heat, and Ben briefly answered, with a gulp as if shame or anger made
it hard to speak steadily:

“Yes ’m, there is.”

“Does it belong to you?”

“Yes ’m, it does.”

“Where did you get it?”

“Up to Squire’s.”

“That’s a lie!” muttered Thorny to himself.

Ben’s eye flashed, and his fist doubled up in spite of him, but he restrained himself out of respect for Miss Celia, who looked
puzzled, as she asked another question, not quite sure how to proceed with the investigation: “Is it money, Ben?”

“No ’m, it isn’t.”

“Then what
can
it be?”

“Meow!” answered a fourth voice from the closet; and as Ben flung open the door a gray kitten walked out, purring with satisfaction
at her release.

Miss Celia fell into a chair and laughed till her eyes were full; Thorny looked foolish, and Ben folded his arms, curled up
his nose, and regarded his accuser with calm defiance, while pussy sat down to wash her face as if her morning toilette had
been interrupted by her sudden abduction.

“That’s all very well, but it doesn’t mend matters much, so you needn’t laugh, Celia,” began Thorny, recovering himself, and
stubbornly bent on sifting the case to the bottom, now he had begun.

“Well, it would, if you’d let a feller alone. She said she wanted a cat, so I went and got the one they gave me when I was
at the Squire’s. I went early and took her without asking, and I had a right to,” explained Ben, much aggrieved by having
his surprise spoiled.

“It was very kind of you, and I’m glad to have this nice kitty. We will shut her up in my room to catch the mice that plague
me,” said Miss Celia, picking up the little cat, and wondering how she would get her two angry boys safely downstairs.

“The dressing room, she means;
you
know the way, and
you
don’t need keys to get in,” added Thorny, with such sarcastic emphasis that Ben felt some insult was intended, and promptly
resented it.

“You won’t get me to climb any more trees after
your
balls, and my cat won’t catch any of
your
mice, so you needn’t ask me.”

“Cats don’t catch thieves, and they are what I’m after!”

“What do you mean by that?” fiercely demanded Ben.

“Celia has lost some money out of her drawer, and you won’t let me see what’s in yours; so I thought, perhaps, you’d got it!”
blurted out Thorny, finding it hard to say the words, angry as he was, for the face opposite did not look like a guilty one.