The rest in bed had done Mary Louise good. She felt quite herself again and was now able to get up and be about. The shop had remained closed for several days, days that all of the girls had enjoyed. It seemed the minute the public found out it was impossible to enter the Higgledy Piggledy Shop, enter it must.

Mary Louise had said nothing more about her telephone call from the spirit world. She was sure she had been dreaming and, although the doctor and Josie gave her every opportunity to bring up the subject if she felt so inclined, she hesitated to do it.

“They will think I am foolish,” she said to herself. A strange unreasonable hope began to take possession of her, however. She could not explain it, but there it was.

Very early in the morning, the same morning that had found Danny telling his story to Chief Charley Lonsdale, the girls of the Higgledy Piggledy were stirring. Josie was dressed and starting to cook breakfast, and Mary Louise was just pinning into place her white organdie collar and settling her cuffs when there was a double knock on the door.

“It must be a telegram or something—too early for customers. Go to the door like a duck, Mary Louise. The bacon is sure to burn if I leave it a minute.”

Mary Louise tripped across the floor and opened the door. There was not a sound and Josie kept on frying bacon, turning it carefully and patting it down to get the twists out of it.

“What is it, Mary Louise?” There was no answer and so she turned around to see what was the occasion of such silence and there was her little partner wrapped in the arms of a tall young man in a shabby serge suit.

“Well, of all the—Mary Louise, have you gone nuts? What do you mean by such behavior, you scamp?” She came to the conclusion that Mary Louise was being murdered by a tramp, and seizing the rolling pin with which she had just been rolling out biscuit she rushed to the defense of her friend. Before she struck, however, she recognized Danny. Then she dropped the rolling pin and began to hug him herself with almost as much enthusiasm as Mary Louise.

Explanations could not be made in a moment. Danny must tell over and over how he wasn’t dead and Mary Louise must tell how she had been making her living and about Grandpa Jim. Then Danny put in a word concerning the gold pieces that had come tumbling from the old tire. The finding of the fortune did not seem to be nearly so important to those young people as some other things. Danny’s being so hungry was much more important to Mary Louise. Even Josie seemed to think the fact that she had just laid in a supply of sliced bacon and had a dozen eggs in the refrigerator and had cut out enough biscuit for two meals, which might make enough for one for Danny, was of great import.

“I could kick myself for missing the treasure,” cried Josie. “I thought I had looked everywhere. Those stupid policemen too! I’m glad they didn’t get ahead of me. Some one else had been in there too. You noticed how the cushions were all pulled to pieces didn’t you, Danny?”

“Yes, and I bet I know who had been looking for the money,” said Danny. “Hortense Markle!”

He then told of hearing the familiar voice and of his trying to place it and, finally, how it had come to him.

“I am sure it was she,” he declared.

“But it is a blind gentleman and his son,” faltered Mary Louise, who did not like to have a bad opinion even of persons whom she had never met. She had seen them once and the helplessness of the poor blind man had appealed to her.

“Yes, so they said, but I’ll wager anything the poor blind man is Markle himself—”

“But the Chinaman! Who is he?” asked Mary Louise.

“I’m not prepared to state, but my opinion of him is he is no better than he should be either.”

“They are guarding the house, aren’t they?” asked Josie excitedly.

“Oh yes, but that Slater is an awful dub,” said Danny.

“I hope they won’t let them get away,” said Josie with an unusual animosity in her tone. “Those Markles have done enough damage and they were evidently at the Hathaway house hoping to find the Colonel’s gold mine. They would have carried off every coin if they could have got their hooks on it.”

“I shouldn’t have cared,” said Mary Louise dreamily. “Money doesn’t mean a thing to me.”

Danny felt for her hand under the little cutting out table that served as a dining table for the Higgledy Piggledy girls.

“I wish they would get away. The poor things!” she continued. “Just think how long it has been since Hortense has seen her Felix.”

Danny looked at his Mary Louise as though she were plenty good enough to eat. If she wanted the Markles to get away, he was willing that they should, although he could but consider them great rascals. As for the gold mine, they were welcome to it. He could take care of his little wife himself and wasn’t dependent on anybody’s money. He was almost sorry he had found it but, of course, since he had, he agreed with Chief Lonsdale and Mr. Peter Conant that it must be carefully guarded and taken to the bank and reinvested for his Mary Louise.

After Mary Louise’s wedding when Hortense Markle had tripped away and disappeared off the face of the earth, as far as Dorfield could ascertain (all of which is told in our last book concerning the fortunes and misfortunes of Mary Louise), she had donned male attire, had cut off her pretty hair and changed her appearance by the many artifices known to the underworld. She had eked out a miserable existence, picking up a living where she could find it. But she had been able to keep in touch with her dearly beloved Felix and he knew all about how his Pet was faring. Finally, when he escaped from the penitentiary, he had joined her and disguised himself as a blind gentleman. She, continuing in her role of fifteen-year-old boy, had posed as his son. Wink Lee, whose real name was George Parker, was a confederate, old in crime. Having a peculiarly oriental face, he could disguise himself as a Chinaman and pass muster anywhere as one of that nation.

Of course, having an ear ever to the ground for chances to acquire wealth, they had heard of the rumor of Colonel Hathaway’s having concealed piles of gold or securities somewhere about his home. After having made repeated unsuccessful attempts to enter the house and search for the treasure they had finally rented the place.

When Danny clamored for admittance, Hortense had no idea of its being a person whom she had known. She had heard Danny was dead and thought, when the persistent person continued to ring the bell after Wink Lee shut the door in his face, that he was, of course, intoxicated. Her Felix had not been well since his stay in the penitentiary and she was anxious not to have his rest broken. Hence her peremptory dismissal of the intruder. Something told her a moment afterwards that she had made a mistake. She had suddenly recognized Danny’s voice. Perhaps he had recognized hers.

The Hathaway house was no longer safe for them. She roused Felix, called Wink Lee and, even more quietly than they made their entrance, the tenants made their exit. The poor blind gentleman could see now and Wink Lee left his Chinaman’s wig hanging behind the kitchen door. He went off in a perfectly good suit of Danny’s he had found packed away in the attic and Hortense once more was a woman, but this time she made herself look quite middle-aged by a judicious use of padding to her charmingly slender figure. She found a dress that had belonged to Mary Louise’s mother also packed away in the attic. It was of black bombazine. A thick black veil helped the disguise wonderfully. Swiftly and silently the trio dressed and made ready to depart.

While Danny and Slater were interviewing the chief, the tenants of the Hathaway house were already on their way to the next town. They had stopped just long enough to borrow an automobile which was to convey them thither. They borrowed without asking, a detail they must have overlooked. They regretted exceedingly that the old rattle trap in the garage was too far gone to take.

All during the early morning the detectives watched the house, back and front. There was no sign of life in the mansion, but they understood from the neighbors that the inmates were seldom seen. Finally, word came from the chief to go in and arrest the occupants. The bell was rung even harder than Danny had rung it. The back door was beaten on violently. They decided to force an entrance.

The birds had flown. When the flitting had occurred no man could say. Josie was sure it was almost immediately after Danny’s talk with Mrs. Markle.

“Of course that idiot Slater should have stayed when you told him to, but these male detectives are the limit for stupidity and pigheadedness,” she declared.

Mary Louise was happy that they had escaped and Danny was glad because she was glad. If any of the ones interested could have seen a middle aged couple in rather old fashioned clothes on a train that was headed for the west on the afternoon following the getaway, he would have been sorry enough for the woman. She was reading a Chicago paper and came upon a glaring headline:

GOLD MINE FOUND IN
OLD AUTO TIRES
AT DORFIELD

She burst into tears.

“What is it, Pet?”

She handed him the paper.

“Well, well! We missed it that time. Next time maybe we will have better luck. Don’t cry, darling. We have each other anyhow. Money isn’t everything.” And in that sentiment, Danny and Mary Louise were of one mind with Felix and Hortense Markle.

Transcriber’s Note:

Spelling, dialect and hyphenation have been retained as published in the original publication. Changes have been made as follows:

• Page 30
  Fate was working of the changed to
  Fate was working on the
• Page 40
  I wonder if you felt funny changed to
  I wondered if you felt funny
• Page 56
  they too seem to have lost changed to
  they too seemed to have lost
• Page 60
  grandfather and go with him, changed to
  grandfather and go with him.
• Page 91
  down the quiet city strees changed to
  down the quiet city streets
• Page 112
  was such as astute business changed to
  was such an astute business
• Page 130
  of our household gods changed to
  of our household goods
• Page 136
  when she starts to houskeeeping changed to
  when she starts to housekeeping
• Page 154
  the garage as been entered changed to
  the garage has been entered
• Page 187
  “Somebody and that body with small feet! changed to
  “Somebody and that body with small feet!”
• Page 187
  straight to where May Louise changed to
  straight to where Mary Louise
• Page 195
  Chinee speaking to me in that changed to
  Chinese speaking to me in that
• Page 197
  side next to the Conant’s changed to
  side next to the Conants’
• Page 202
  back to the United Stats changed to
  back to the United States
• Page 204
  raised some cain changed to
  raised some Cain