“I’m in trouble,” she told us, a worried look on her face. “And some one that I think a great deal of is in deeper trouble than me. We’re likely to be cheated. It’s the soap man. Sure,” and her eyes flashed, “I know the ould villain! He’s Mr. Matson’s twin brother. And he’s here to git the ould gintleman’s money.”
“What?” cried Scoop, jumping up. “Money? What money do you mean?”
“For two years I’ve kept to myself what I [[102]]know, wantin’ to carry out the ould gintleman’s last wishes. And now, at the last moment, the shyster brother turns up! Sure, ’tis enough to drive me crazy.”
Scoop was dancing in front of her.
“What do you mean, Mrs. Kelly, in saying that the soap man is here to get old Mr. Matson’s money?”
Instead of answering, the disturbed woman went to a door that opened into a back bedroom.
“Come out, Frances,” she called in a quiet voice. “These boys are your friends.”
Scoop excitedly clutched my arm.
“That’s the kid, Jerry,” he hissed in my ear.
I suddenly wondered if my chum was crazy. For he had told me that the strange kid was a boy. And here was a girl!