The nieces laughed pleasantly, and Beth said:
"Are you an old inhabitant, Mr. West?"
"I have been here thirty-five years."
"Then you knew Captain Wegg?" Louise ventured.
"Very well."
The answer was so frank and free from embarrassment that his questioner hesitated. Here was a man distinctly superior to the others they had interviewed, a man of keen intellect and worldly knowledge, who would be instantly on his guard if he suspected they were cross-examining him. So Louise, with her usual tact, decided to speak plainly.
"We have been much interested in the history of the Wegg family," she remarked, easily; "and perhaps it is natural for us to speculate concerning the characters of our predecessors. It was so odd that Captain Wegg should build so good a house on such a poor farm."
"Yes."
"And he was a sea captain, who retired far from the sea, which he must have loved."
"To be sure."