Dick sat down in the cool kitchen while Aunt Abbie scurried about getting his lunch. She kept up a running fire of chatter as she worked, it being mostly about the missing Ruth. She wanted to know what news any of the boys had, and what they were doing to find her.
“Garry has some sort of a clue that he has a lot of faith in, and has gone to look it up. You needn’t worry, Aunt Abbie. If she’s to be found, Garry is the boy to do the trick.”
Dick did not want to tell her that Ruth was in the power of Jean LeBlanc, for he knew that she would worry even more. Then he asked how the grandfather was.
“Land sakes, he’s still asleep; just played out, and it looks as though he will sleep till night anyway, maybe more. I’ve kept everything quiet about the house so as not to disturb him. There, now, eat your lunch, it’s all ready. What are you going to do this afternoon?”
“I am keeping my eyes on Lafe Green for awhile, and then I thought I’d go back to our place in the woods and see what luck I had with a little experiment that I’m trying out,” answered Dick as he tackled the luscious food set before him.
“Well, you better get into the woods pretty soon and get back again, for it’s going to rain great guns before night. Not a storm that will last long, just a good shower that will wet things down right and set the gardens growing again.”
Dick looked out through the open window at the cloudless sky, and asked in surprise:
“Why, the sky is as clear as crystal. What makes you think it’s going to rain?”
“Lots o’ signs say it’s going to, but there’s one that never fails,” answered the old lady. “My cat’s been washing her face all morning and bringing her paw over her right ear every time, and further she’s been outdoors eating the tops off the grass for the last hour.”
Dick laughed heartily at this as a weather sign, until he saw that he was in danger of offending the old lady. So he muffled his laughter and said: