"Oh let him rest, Auntie Gibbs," said Bob. "Phil and I will take his place. We'll be sort of Uncle Nat twins!"
And the old lady commanded them energetically. "Here Phil, you take these bones to Smiley Jim and let him out! That poor dog has been neglected badly. The girls have been so busy lately!"
"Yes, busy and worried like the rest of us. Isn't it great that they found the fan? It means a lot to me, for I had it last. And then Amos Longworth has been dogging my steps like a stage detective. I couldn't move without being watched."
"Yes, and that man came here and questioned Uncle Nat and me. Showed he even suspicioned us! What do you know about that?" exclaimed Auntie Gibbs indignantly.
"I'm wondering where he is to-day! We're apt to see him peering in one of the windows," laughed Phil.
"We haven't notified Chief Baldwin. Bet wants to get the fan into her father's hands before anyone else knows about it, and I don't blame her."
Long before train time the house was in perfect order, the table gleamed with crystal and silver. Everything of the best was displayed to welcome home the "Lord of the Manor" as Bet called him.
"I'm going to meet your Dad, Bet!" announced Bob. "Want to come along?"
"I'd like to go but I can't. I'll meet him here." In an aside to Kit she added: "There might be an accident or a hold-up. Anything is apt to happen! I feel fairly safe when I'm here in the house with you girls around me."
So while Phil finished up some odd jobs for Uncle Nat, and the girls fluttered here and there at Auntie Gibbs' command Colonel Baxter arrived.