“Not so very far,” she replied lightly; “Aunty doesn’t come to see us often, so I run up to see her.”
“I am not as young as she is,” replied the elder, “and she is kind enough to come to see me, though not half as often as I should like to have her come.”
“How long have you been here?” asked Harvey.
“I left home yesterday morning; bus’ness is dull with paw just now and he let me come up to Aunty’s for a day or two. I shall have to go back to-morrow or next day. Now, how is it you are here when I thought you had gone to your home in New Jersey?”
The visitor had considered this question before it was asked. He decided that the best course was to be frank with the woman. So in a few words he told them that Professor Morgan had taken the colored lad with him, and since the aviator was known to be unbalanced in mind, Harvey was doing his utmost to get his friend away before it was too late. The story was so absorbing that Aunty ceased her sewing while she and her niece listened.
“I did go to my home,” added Harvey, “but came back as soon as I could.”
“Did you stay at our hotel last night?” asked Ann.
“No, your father likes the Professor better than he does me and I thought it best not to let any one know I was in the neighborhood.”
“I guess you did right, for what you say is true. The night of the day you went away, the Professor stayed a good while at the hotel after supper and he and paw had a long talk. I was in and out of the room most of the time, so I heard nearly all they said. Paw told him you had gone off and we’d never see you agin; the Professor said it was lucky for you that you’d done so, for if you come round poking your nose into other people’s bus’ness, you wouldn’t live to try it a second time.”
“Mercy!” exclaimed the shocked Aunty; “why did he say that?”