"Old Witham," she repeated, "I don't know who you mean. I don't know any Old Witham."
"Oh, yes you do," urged Tim; and he described the unmistakable figure and appearance of the corpulent colonel, together with the time and night of his visit. The woman's eyes lit with amusement. She remembered how the colonel had parted with his money painfully.
"Oh, he didn't want much," she said. "Somebody had hidden some papers in a factory or mill of some sort—that's what I thought, anyway—and he wanted me to tell him where they were."
"Oh," replied Tim, in a tone of disappointment. "Is that all?" He had really fancied the colonel might have a love affair, and that it would be great fun to reveal it to the boys.
"Why, what business is it of yours, what he wanted?" inquired the woman.
"It ain't any," answered Tim. "Guess I'll go now;" and he made his escape through the door.
"Oh, she didn't tell me anything," said Little Tim, as the boys surrounded him a moment later. "Said I could catch fish, though. How do you suppose she knew that?"
Mr. Bangs seemed much amused. "She's a real witch," he exclaimed. "Well, good-bye, boys. Come again next year."
They said good-bye and started off.
"Say, Jack," said Little Tim, as they walked along together, "that's the fortune-teller that was down to Benton with the circus. Remember I told you we caught Witham coming out of the tent? Well, I asked her what he was there for, and it wasn't anything at all. He was only hunting for some papers that somebody had hidden—"