“It’s true, Mother!” exclaimed Teddy. “Miss Ransom’s store was robbed, and the burglars took some money and a queer box and—and——”
“Yes, it’s true,” said Dr. Whitney, nodding his head as Mrs. Martin looked at him. “I heard something about it as I was coming here just now, but I didn’t pay much attention. I didn’t hear anything about Tom Taylor’s house being robbed, though, Teddy.”
“Well, maybe Tom’s isn’t,” answered the Curlytop lad. “He’s gone home to find out about it.”
“Oh,” said Mrs. Martin with a smile. “Well, there haven’t been any burglars here, I’m glad to say. Now, Teddy, you go and get washed and put on clean clothes. Then you go out and help Jan take care of Baby William.”
“Yes’m,” said Teddy. But he made up his mind that as soon as he could he would see Tom and find out if any burglars had been at his friend’s house.
That afternoon nearly everybody in Cresco knew about Mrs. Ransom’s store having been robbed. But that was the only place in the town that had been entered. Much to the disappointment of Ted and Tom, no burglars had been at the Taylor house. And the story of the robbery at Mrs. Ransom’s was very simple. As a matter of fact no one knew anything about it.
The woman who kept the store counted up the money in the drawer and she found that some had been taken. Then she looked around her house and shop and found that some silver spoons were gone, and also some things from the store.
“But what I miss most of all,” she said to Mrs. Martin, when she came over to talk about her loss, “is a queer box my brother, who used to be a sailor, brought me from a far-off land. The box was made in Japan, and if you didn’t know how to open it you could try all night and never get the cover off or the little drawer out.”
“Was anything in the box?” asked Mrs. Martin.
“Yes, there was a picture of my brother and some other things I wanted very much to keep to remember my brother by.”