Josie smiled, knowing full well that the said female creatures would buy their bonnets where they chose regardless of the masculine verdict.
True to his word, the chief put a guard over the old Hathaway home. Irene, from next door, noticed a man across the street who seemed quite interested in the big house and later on, when Aunt Hannah went to the kitchen to see that the back windows were securely fastened for the night, she spied a man in the alley, “snooping around” as she expressed it.
“It is nothing, mother,” shouted her husband. “We have nothing he could want and Irene tells me Mary Louise has sent all of her valuables to the bank for safe keeping.”
“We have a perfectly new garbage pail and an ash can without a break in it and, since the war, ash cans are most expensive,” grumbled Aunt Hannah. “A large one with a close fitting top costs several dollars.”
“Well, I can’t think the man in the alley is after our ash can but, if he is, he is welcome to it. I have been carrying burglar insurance for years and years and I must say I’d like to get back a little of my money.”
So Aunt Hannah was reassured and left the mysterious man in the alley to his possibly evil devices.
In the morning the ash can and garbage pail were safe and in their accustomed places, somewhat to Aunt Hannah’s disappointment.
“There is a bent place in the bottom of the ash can,” she confessed. “The ash men are so rough with one’s things. I’d be very glad if somebody would steal the old one and we could have a brand new seven dollar one. I am sure that bent place will soon come into a hole.”