They had been far out into the country for eggs and fresh vegetables, to the farm, in fact, of Mr. Bob Buckham, the strawberry king and the Corner House girls very good friend. In these times of very high prices for food, Ruth Kenway considered it her duty to save money if she could by purchasing at first cost for the households needs.
Otherwise, this very capable young housewife asked, how shall we excuse the keeping of an automobile when the up-keep and everything is so high?
Oh, do , begged Agnes, the flyaway sister, do let us have something impractical, Ruth. I just hate the man who wrote the first treatise on political economy.
I fancy it is household economy you mean, Aggie, returned her sister, smiling. And I warrant the author of the first treatise on that theme was a woman.
Mrs. Eva Adam, I bet! chuckled Neale ONeil, hearing this controversy from the drivers seat. It has always been in my mind that the First Lady of the Garden of Eden was tempted to swipe those apples more because the price of other fruit was so high than for any other reason.
Then Adam was stingy with the household money, declared Agnes.
I really wish you would not use such words as swipe before the children, Neale, sighed Ruth who, although she was no purist, did not wish the little folk to pick up (as they so easily did) slang phrases.
She stepped out of the car when Neale had halted it within the garage and Agnes handed her the egg basket. Tess and Dot immediately began dancing about their elder sister, both shouting at once, the smallest girl with the green and yellow basket and Tess with the silver bracelet in her hand.
Oh, Ruthie, what do you think?
See how pretty it is! And they never missed it.
Cant we keep it, Ruthie? This from Dot. We paid those Gypsy ladies for the basket and all that was in it. Sammy says so.
Then it must be true of course, scoffed Agnes. What is it?
Well, I guess I know some things, observed Sammy, bridling. If you buy a walnut you buy the kernel as well as the shell, dont you? And that bracelet was
inside that covered basket, like the kernel in a nut.
Listen! exclaimed Neale likewise getting out of the car. Sammys a very Solomon for judgment.
Now dont you call me that, Neale ONeil! ejaculated Sammy angrily. I aint a pig.
Wha what! Who called you a pig, Sammy?
Well, thats what Mr. Con Murphy calls his pig Solomon. You neednt call me by any pig-name, so there!
I stand reproved, rejoined Neale with mock seriousness. But, see here: Whats all this about the basket and the bracelet a two-fold mystery?
It sounds like a thriller in six reels, cried Agnes, jumping out of the car herself to get a closer view of the bracelet and the basket. My! Where did you get that gorgeous bracelet, children?
The beauty of the family, who loved gew-gaws of all kinds, seized the silver circlet and tried it upon her own plump arm. Ruth urged Tess to explain and had to place a gentle palm upon Dots lips to keep them quiet so that she might get the straight of the story from the more sedate Tess.
And so, thats how it was, concluded Tess. We bought the basket after borrowing Sammys twenty-five cent piece, and of course the basket belongs to us, doesnt it, Ruthie?
Most certainly, my dear, agreed the elder sister.
And inside was that beautiful fretted silver bracelet. And that
Just as certainly belongs to the Gypsies, finished Ruth. At least, it does not belong to you and Dot.
Aw shu-u-cks! drawled Sammy in dissent.
Even Agnes cast a wistful glance at the older girl. Ruth was always so uncompromising in her decisions. There was never any middle ground in her view. Either a thing was right, or it was wrong, and that was all there was to it!
Well, sighed Tess, that Gypsy lady said she knew we were honest.
I think, Ruth observed thoughtfully, that Neale had better run the car out again and look about town for those Gypsy women. They cant have got far away.
Say, Ruth! its most supper time, objected Neale. Have a heart!
Anyway, I wouldnt trouble myself about a crowd of Gypsies, said Agnes. They may have stolen the bracelet.
Oh! gasped Tess and Dot in unison.
You know what June Wildwood told us about them. And she lived with Gypsies for months.
Gypsies are not all alike, the elder sister said confidently in answer to this last remark by Agnes. Remember Mira and King David Stanley, and how nice they were to Tess and Dottie? she asked, speaking of an incident related in The Corner House Girls on a Tour.
I dont care! exclaimed Agnes, pouting, and still viewing the bracelet on her arm with admiration. I wouldnt run my legs off chasing a band of Gypsies.
They were all, however, bound to be influenced by Ruths decision.
Well, Ill hunt around after supper, Neale said. Ill take Sammy with me. Youll know those women if you see them again, wont you, kid?
Sure, agreed Sammy, forgiving Neale for calling him kid with the prospect of an automobile ride in the offing.
But but, breathed Tess in Ruths ear, if those Gypsy ladies dont take back the bracelet, it belongs to Dot and me, doesnt it, Sister?