“Blow me down!” he greeted her with a friendly chuckle.
“Captain Tarwell, the Brownies were at your cottage today!” Vevi informed him breathlessly. “We cleaned it for you.”
“Why, that’s fine, splendid, Vevi.”
“Someone had fed my pigeon, Captain Tarwell. Was it you?”
“Not I,” returned the captain. “Fact is, I haven’t been up to the cottage this day. On my way now.”
“Did you know someone slept in the cottage last night?”
“What makes you think that, Vevi?”
“Because the bunk had been used. And there were crumbs on the kitchen table. If you weren’t at the cabin, then it must have been—”
“Don’t give it any thought,” broke in the captain before Vevi could finish what she had intended to say. “Let me worry about the house.”
“Then you knew someone was staying there?” Vevi asked quickly. “You told him he could?”