A RAY OF LIGHT.
The amateur detective was a boy who had but little faith in the honesty of his fellows, perhaps because he himself could not be trusted implicitly, and even though Joe Potter had solemnly promised he would say nothing in his disfavour, Dan entertained grave suspicions that the little woman was being prejudiced against him.
Therefore it was he had been loitering near the cottage since early morning, in the hope of gaining speech with Plums, and, when that young gentleman finally appeared, Master Fernald came out from his hiding-place amid a clump of bushes.
"What's up, now?" he cried, suspiciously.
"You're to come right in, an' see aunt Dorcas," Plums replied, with no little show of excitement.
"What's wrong? Has Joe been tellin' her not to take me in?"
"Look here, Dan, I may not like his threatenin' to leave 'cause you was comin', an' perhaps I said a good many hard things against him, when I talked with you yesterday; but I won't let anybody accuse him of lyin'. When Joe promised not to tell aunt Dorcas anything 'bout you, he meant to keep his word, an' he'll do it. I told her he'd paid you seventy-five cents to stay away till this afternoon."
"What did you do that for? Are you turnin' sneak, Plums? 'Cause if you are, I'll break your jaw!"
"Perhaps you could do it; but I ain't so certain. Anyway, I told the story, 'cause Joe gave the advertisement business dead away last night, when he got thumped."
"Did he have a row?"