“You girls needn’t stay up at all,” said Rex. “Roy and I will stand guard.”
“Oh, I couldn’t sleep if I went to bed,” declared Jess. “I don’t know as I can ever sleep again so long as we are in this house. Think how he must know all the ins and outs of it by this time!”
“How silly you talk, Jess,” interposed Eva. “One would think to hear you that Mr. Keeler was a common burglar. As Roy says, he didn’t plan to come here, and like as not he’ll go away in the morning without having disturbed us in the least.”
“You’re standing up for him, are you, Eva? Well, I thought his good looks were making an impression on you.”
“Jessie, you have no right to talk in that way. I’m not standing up for him at all. I’m only trying to get you to look at the facts of the case in a sensible way.”
“But there’s nothing sensible in inviting a jail bird to the house, and having him stay all night. It isn’t the sort of thing you can prepare yourself to bear up under in dignified fashion.”
“Shall I go up to town and get the constable to come down and arrest him?” asked Rex.
“You can’t do that!” returned Roy promptly. “He hasn’t committed any crime.”
“But if we wait till he does commit one, it will be like locking the stable door after the horse has been stolen.”
“You might go over to the Burtons’, Roy, and get Will to come and stay with us,” Eva suggested.