“And you ain’t going to see me for another, if that man is going to chase us off your place, Miss Jessie,” said the sharp little voice. “We wasn’t doing anything.”
“Of course you weren’t, Henrietta,” agreed Jessie. “And Chapman did not understand.”
“Oh, I understand all right, Miss Jessie,” the chauffeur said. “I know those Dogtown kids.”
“Be careful!” commanded Jessie, warmly. “You know I am fond of Henrietta, Chapman.”
“Well, maybe she is all right,” said the man grudgingly. “But those others——”
“Ain’t nobody here but Charlie Foley and the Costello twins and Montmorency Shannon, and me,” declared Henrietta promptly. “Who does he think is a thief, I’d like to know?”
“Now, Henrietta!” admonished Jessie. “That isn’t nice, and you know it. You mustn’t meddle with any part of the broken aeroplane, for the man who owns it is going to come for it to-morrow and will want all the parts.”
“They were poking around in the ruins all right,” grumbled Chapman, moving away.
“If he thinks I took anything, he can search me,” said one of the Dogtown boys.
Jessie did not know which one spoke. She never had been able to distinguish between them. But by this time she should have been pretty well acquainted with Henrietta Haney and her friends.