'I'd have had the cellar dug up,' cried Jessie excitedly; I'd have had the paper taken off the walls, and the flooring taken away bit by bit. I am certain the money was hidden somewhere.'
I shook my head.
'Or Jane Painter stole it,' she continued. 'I sha'n't sleep to-night for thinking of it. I do so like to find out things! And I'd like to find out this thing more than any other.'
'Why, Jessie?'
'Such a lot of money, Chris! Hundreds and hundreds of pounds there must have been hidden away, or stolen. Hundreds and hundreds of pounds!'
'Would you like to be rich, Jessie?'
'Chris,' she replied, looking at me seriously, 'I think I would do anything in the world for money.'
A miserable feeling came over me, and for the first time in my life I repined at my lot. What would I not have sacrificed at that moment if I could have filled her lap with money! All this time Jessie had been playing with the stone monkey figure, and now she suddenly uttered an exclamation of surprise.
'Look!' she cried. 'The head comes off. It isn't broken; here's the wire it hangs upon. Why, Chris----'
She seized my hand in uncontrollable excitement, and hid the figure in her lap.