human
Those were never Hessie's 'feetprints,' for, big as her feet are, she never wears boots like _those_!
gpt
He was a shuffler--that fellow, said Jess.
human
See how blurred the marks are at the heel?
gpt
And he shuffled right up to this window--And how do you suppose he opened it, if, as Mr. Jackway says, it was locked on the inside?
human
Mystery!
gpt
Give it up, added Jess.
human
What do you say, Mother Wit?
gpt
That is the way he opened it,
human
What's that?
gpt
Why--I hear you talking, but you don't say anything! laughed Bobby.
human
From the inside,
gpt
Why, Laura! gasped Nellie.
human
You do not distrust Mr. Jackway?
gpt
Hush! Of course not,
human
No, I do not distrust him,
gpt
What do you mean, then, by saying that the fellow opened the window from the inside?
human
And that's ridiculous, Laura! cried Jess.
gpt
He walked up to the window from across the field--you can see he did. And there's no mark showing how he went away. He did not leave by the window. He could not have been inside when he came from outside----
human
Hold on! Hold on! warned Bobby.
gpt
You're getting dreadfully mixed, Jess.
human
But I don't see what Laura's driving at,
gpt
Why, said Mother Wit, calmly,
human
Well! cried Nellie Agnew.
gpt
That explains without explaining. The mystery is deeper than ever.
human
Why is it?
gpt
Don't you see? Before, we thought we knew how the fellow got in. It seems to be an easier thing to get out of the gym. than into it. But now Laura knocks that in the head. The mystery is: How did he get in?
human
Oh, don't! cried Bobby.
gpt
It makes my head buzz. And Laura is a regular lady detective. She's always finding out things that 'it would be better, far, did we not know!'
human
Say! do you know how Laura explained that canoe tipping over with Purt Sweet and Lily Pendleton?
gpt
I didn't know that they had an accident, laughed Nellie.
human
Those canoes are awfully ticklish, I know.
gpt
I should say they were! Well, Purt and Lil borrowed Hessie's canoe and they no more than got started before they went head first into the water--and Lil, of course, helpless as usual, had to be 'rescued.' The number of times that girl has been 'rescued' this season is a caution!
human
I do admire your elegant language, said Nellie, reprovingly.
gpt
But what did Laura say?
human
She explained it all for them. Both Purt and Lil were trying to tell how such a wonderful thing chanced to happen as an overturn, when Laura said she could explain it satisfactorily to all hands. She said that Purt had made a mistake and parted his hair too far on one side, and that had overbalanced the canoe!
gpt
Well, they do swamp awfully easy, laughed Nellie.
human
I guess Laura has found the right explanation of how the villain left the gym. But there is one explanation that I would like to have--a much more important one,
gpt
What's that?
human
I thought that was pretty well understood,
gpt
No girl could have climbed over that fence, that's sure!
human
Oh, I grant you that! cried Bobby.
gpt
But she paid to have it done. There are plenty of tough fellows from down at the 'Four Corners' who work at the slaughter house. They could be hired to do it.
human
Hush, Bobby! commanded the doctor's daughter.
gpt
I feel terribly condemned. I am afraid we are accusing Hester wrongfully. A girl couldn't have two such very opposite sides to her character,
human
Gee! that was some jump, wasn't it? demanded the admiring Bobby. Then she shook her head slowly.
gpt
Well, she remarked,
human
I don't care, said Nellie, slowly.
gpt
I fear we went too far when we asked Mrs. Case to take her off the team. And I'm _sure_ it isn't right for us to accuse her of being the cause of the trouble at the gym.--without further and better evidence.
human
Oh, dear, Nell! you're a great fuss-budget! cried the effervescent Bobby.
gpt
Are you sure that your Daddy Doctor saw quite straight when he saw Hester save the kid? You know, he's getting awfully absent-minded.
human
I know father is absent-minded, she admitted.
gpt
But not as bad as all that.
human
I don't know, returned Bobby, with apparent seriousness.
gpt
The other day when he put the stethoscope to me before practice, I expected to see him take the receiver away from his ear and holler 'Hello, Central!' into it.
human
I'll tell him that!
gpt
All right. Do your worst, giggled Bobby.
human
It will be a month old before he gets around to sound my heart action again, and he will have forgotten all about it by then.