CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE STRANGE CLOUD.
Jack's call on the Peakslows was brief and unsatisfactory. He returned to the "castle" without his compass, and looking flushed and disturbed.
"I didn't accuse Zeph of stealing," said Jack, fearful of being blamed by Vinnie. "They were at supper; and I just said, 'Zeph, my boy, what did you do with my compass?' He denied having touched it. I explained. Great commotion. Mamma Peakslow looked frightened out of her wits, and papa blazed away at me like a seventy-four-gun ship. In short, you will have to wait for your noon-mark, Mrs. Betterson. So will Mrs. Peakslow. I didn't tell her I was going to make her one, if Zeph hadn't stolen my compass."
"But you don't know he stole it," said Vinnie.
"We don't know that he and Dud put rubbish in our spring," Rufe made answer for Jack, "and yet we know it as well as we know anything we don't know."
"I can't tell what I was thinking of," said Jack, "to leave any property of mine unguarded, within reach of the Peakslows. Lion was up in the woods with me before I knew it."
"Where are you going now?" Vinnie asked.
"To look for my compass in the bushes. Zeph must have hid it somewhere, for he didn't have it when we saw him."
"Wait till after supper, and I will go with you," said Rufe. "Father is here now."