“But, Mrs. Heard! what have politics to do with your nephew’s auto being stolen?” cried Ruth.
“Oh! it wasn’t any ordinary thief, or perhaps thieves, who took his car. He is sure of that. You see, there are some politicians who want the plans and maps of the new road surveys his office has been making.”
“What sort of maps are those?” asked Tess, who was listening. “Like those we have to outline in the geography?”
“They are not like those, chicken,” laughed Ruth. “They are outlines—drawings. They show the road levels and grades. I guess you don’t understand. Don’t you remember those men who came the other day and looked through instruments on our sidewalk and measured with a long tape line, and all that?”
“Oh, yes,” confessed Tess. “I saw them.”
“Well, they were surveyors. And they were working for Mr. Collinger, I suppose,” said Ruth.
“Oh!”
“I saw them, too,” proclaimed Dot. “I thought they were photo—photographers. I went out there and stood with my Alice-doll right in front of one of those things on the three sticks.”
“You did?” cried Agnes, who heard this. “What for, Dottums?”
“To get our picture tooken,” said Dot, gravely. “And then I asked the man when it would be done and if we could see a picture.”