“Why, old Mr. Mason lives there,” was the answer.
“Mr. Mason?”
“Yes. He’s a very old man—’most ninety years old, so they say.”
“Does he live there alone?”
“Yes—that is, all the rest of his family are dead. He has a housekeeper, Mrs. Sobber.”
“Mrs. Sobber!” exclaimed Dick.
“Yes, sir.”
“How old is she?”
“Oh, I don’t know—maybe forty or fifty. She’s been Mr. Mason’s housekeeper for three or four years. If you call on her, you want to look out. She don’t buy from agents.”
“Why?” asked Dick, innocently. He did not mind that the little girl took him to be an agent.