So he"s all right, if he only behaves."
"How far is it to Captain Skinner"s?" asked Jill suddenly, having listened, with her sharp eyes on Frank, as he tinkered away at his model, since he was forbidden all other indulgence in his beloved pastime.
"It"s four miles to Hill District, but the Captain lives this side of the school-house. About three from here, I should say."
"How long would it take a boy to walk up there?" went on the questioner, with a new idea in her head.
"Depends on how much of a walkist he is."
"Suppose he was lame and it was sloshy, and he made a call and came back. How long would that take?" asked Jill impatiently.
"Well, in that case, I should say two or three hours. But it"s impossible to tell exactly, unless you know how lame the fellow was, and how long a call he made," said Frank, who liked to be accurate.
"Jack couldn"t do it in less, could he?"
"He used to run up that hilly road for a breather, and think nothing of it. It would be a long job for him now, poor little chap, for his leg often troubles him, though he hates to own it."
Jill lay back and laughed, a happy little laugh, as if she was pleased about something, and Frank looked over his shoulder to ask questions in his turn.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Can"t tell."
"Why do you want to know about Hill District? Are you going there?"
"Wish I could! I"d soon have it out of him."
"Who?"
"Never mind. Please push up my table. I must write a letter, and I want you to post it for me to-night, and never say a word till I give you leave."
"Oh, now _you_ are going to have secrets and be mysterious, and get into a mess, are you?" and Frank looked down at her with a suspicious air, though he was intensely curious to know what she was about.
"Go away till I"m done. You will have to see the outside, but you can"t know the inside till the answer comes;" and propping herself up, Jill wrote the following note, with some hesitation at the beginning and end, for she did not know the gentleman she was addressing, except by sight, and it was rather awkward:--
"Robert Walker.
"Dear Sir, I want to ask if Jack Minot came to see you last Friday afternoon. He got into trouble being seen with Jerry Shannon. He paid him some money. Jack won"t tell, and Mr. Acton talked to him about it before all the school. We feel bad, because we think Jack did not do wrong. I don"t know as you have anything to do with it, but I thought I"d ask. Please answer quick. Respectfully yours,
"Jane Pecq"
To make sure that her despatch was not tampered with, Jill put a great splash of red sealing-wax on it, which gave it a very official look, and much impressed Bob when he received it.
"There! Go and post it, and don"t let any one see or know about it," she said, handing it over to Frank, who left his work with unusual alacrity to do her errand. When his eye fell on the address, he laughed, and said in a teasing way,--
"Are you and Bob such good friends that you correspond? What will Jack say?"
"Don"t know, and don"t care! Be good, now, and let"s have a little secret as well as other folks. I"ll tell you all about it when he answers," said Jill in her most coaxing tone.
"Suppose he doesn"t?"
"Then I shall send you up to see him. I _must_ know something, and I want to do it myself, if I can."
"Look here; what are you after? I do believe you think----" Frank got no farther, for Jill gave a little scream, and stopped him by crying eagerly, "Don"t say it out loud! I really do believe it may be, and I"m going to find out."
"What made you think of him?" and Frank looked thoughtfully at the letter, as if turning carefully over in his mind the idea that Jill"s quick wits had jumped at.
"Come here and I"ll tell you."
Holding him by one b.u.t.ton, she whispered something in his ear that made him exclaim, with a look at the rug,--
"No! did he? I declare I shouldn"t wonder! It would be just like the dear old blunder-head."
"I never thought of it till you told me where Bob was, and then it all sort of burst upon me in one minute!" cried Jill, waving her arms about to express the intellectual explosion which had thrown light upon the mystery, like sky-rockets in a dark night.
"You are as bright as a b.u.t.ton. No time to lose; I"m off;" and off he was, splashing through the mud to post the letter, on the back of which he added, to make the thing sure, "Hurry up. F.M."
Both felt rather guilty next day, but enjoyed themselves very much nevertheless, and kept chuckling over the mine they were making under Jack"s unconscious feet. They hardly expected an answer at noon, as the Hill people were not very eager for their mail, but at night Jill was sure of a letter, and to her great delight it came. Jack brought it himself, which added to the fun, and while she eagerly read it he sat calmly poring over the latest number of his own private and particular "Youth"s Companion."
Bob was not a "complete letter-writer" by any means, and with great labor and much ink had produced the following brief but highly satisfactory epistle. Not knowing how to address his fair correspondent he let it alone, and went at once to the point in the frankest possible way:--
"Jack did come up Friday. Sorry he got into a mess. It was real kind of him, and I shall pay him back soon. Jack paid Jerry for me and I made him promise not to tell. Jerry said he"d come here and make a row if I didn"t cash up. I was afraid I"d lose the place if he did, for the Capt.
is awful strict. If Jack don"t tell now, I will. I ain"t mean. Glad you wrote.
"R.O.W."
"Hurrah!" cried Jill, waving the letter over her head in great triumph.
"Call everybody and read it out," she added, as Frank s.n.a.t.c.hed it, and ran for his mother, seeing at a glance that the news was good. Jill was so afraid she should tell before the others came that she burst out singing "Pretty Bobby Shafto" at the top of her voice, to Jack"s great disgust, for he considered the song very personal, as he _was_ rather fond of "combing down his yellow hair," and Jill often plagued him by singing it when he came in with the golden quirls very smooth and nice to hide the scar on his forehead.
In about five minutes the door flew open and in came Mamma, making straight for bewildered Jack, who thought the family had gone crazy when his parent caught him in her arms, saying tenderly,--
"My good, generous boy! I knew he was right all the time!" while Frank worked his hand up and down like a pump-handle, exclaiming heartily,--
"You"re a trump, sir, and I"m proud of you!" Jill meantime calling out, in wild delight,--
"I told you so! I told you so! I did find out; ha, ha, I did!"
"Come, I say! What"s the matter? I"m all right. Don"t squeeze the breath out of me, please," expostulated Jack, looking so startled and innocent, as he struggled feebly, that they all laughed, and this plaintive protest caused him to be released. But the next proceeding did not enlighten him much, for Frank kept waving a very inky paper before him and ordering him to read it, while Mamma made a charge at Jill, as if it was absolutely necessary to hug somebody.
"Hullo!" said Jack, when he got the letter into his own hand and read it. "Now who put Bob up to this? n.o.body had any business to interfere--but it"s mighty good of him, anyway," he added, as the anxious lines in his round face smoothed themselves away, while a smile of relief told how hard it had been for him to keep his word.
"I did!" cried Jill, clapping her hands, and looking so happy that he could not have scolded her if he had wanted to.
"Who told you he was in the sc.r.a.pe?" demanded Jack, in a hurry to know all about it now the seal was taken off his own lips.
"You did;" and Jill"s face twinkled with naughty satisfaction, for this was the best fun of all.
"I didn"t! When? Where? It"s a joke!"