“Up by the stone wall in the back field,” Mr. Bailey half whispered, staring at the package that he was holding. “Mr. Seymour, Mrs. Seymour, marm, something terrible must have been going on this past night.”
Ann was tremendously impressed by his attitude; he was so tense and earnest. Never had she seen any grown person so moved and anxious. She looked at Ben and saw that he shared her own feeling, while Helen’s face was white with excitement.
But the assurance of Mr. Seymour’s calm reply steadied the children and they turned with relief to watch him while he spoke. “Why are you so sure it was taken during the night? Why not in the afternoon? Much more likely then, I think, for if it had been lying on this bench all the afternoon and evening somebody would have noticed it and taken it into the pantry.”
Just then Jo came across from the barnyard and stood beside his father, listening. Ann could tell from his drawn face and wide eyes that he was as seriously upset as was Mr. Bailey.
“I’ll admit that I’m puzzled,” said Mr. Seymour, “though your theory, Bailey, is perfect nonsense. Who in the name of reason would have carried off a great chunk of cheese?”
“Not one of your hens, I suppose?” asked Mrs. Seymour.
At that the children laughed, even Jo; the cheese was nearly as big as a hen. The Seymours all liked cheese, plain and in rarebits, and as they went to the village for groceries only twice a week Mrs. Seymour had ordered what might have seemed an overgenerous supply.
“What have you missed at other times?” asked Mr. Seymour.
“Milk, first of all,” Fred answered. “I put a pail down in the yard and turned my back on it a minute to go into the house and when I looked at it again it was lowered a couple of inches. Next time, they tipped a pail over and spilled the whole of it. And then they took a piece of meat—walked off with Jo’s and my Sunday dinner.”
“Who could have done it?” exclaimed Mrs. Seymour, and Ann felt a shiver of excitement running down her spinal cord; her thought flashed back to that shushing noise on the wreck.