“It was all right, wasn’t it, Sister?” the newly arrived Miss Davis, the other twin, was asking Miss Isabel Davis, “I was too proud to have our heirloom shown to a—mob,” she stated. “But I was wrong. You were right,” she admitted to her sister. “It would have been an honor to have had our Santa Maria among those other heirlooms. And there was no common crowd. I’ve read the papers every day and I hope we can get our ship in before it closes. I’d love to have it there.”
“You can,” said Dr. Hale. “I’ll see about that. I’m on the final committee.”
“But where did you hide it?” asked the dazed Miss Isabel, addressing her sister.
“I didn’t hide it at all,” the sister replied. “I put it just where it belonged, in the cabinet.”
“In the cabinet!” exclaimed Babs. “And they were blaming Nicky——”
“In the cabinet!” repeated Miss Isabel, breathlessly, making straight for the tall mahogany desk that had a glass compartment at the top.
“You could have found it if you had looked, Sister,” the other twin told her. “And you didn’t even ask me about it.”
“I didn’t dare to, I was so worried.” Miss Isabel stood looking at the vague lines of the ship model behind the glass door. “Well! Well! And that was there all the time! What a foolish old woman I am!”
“But you see, Nicky was wise after all,” put in Babs. “He got that precious five dollars——”
“And here’s five more.” Miss Isabel ran her hand in her pocket and soon held out a bill. “He deserves it. I owe it to him. Take it, son, and you’re a fine little man.” She couldn’t just think of anything more complimentary to say, and her eyes were swimming.