"Humph!" he said. "I'd hate to have her take care of me, judgin' by the
way she looked just now. Say," hopefully, "do you suppose SHE was the
one fixed that chair?"

They heard Mrs. Hobbs on the floor above, shouting:

"Mary-'Gusta! Mary-'Gusta! Where are you? Answer me this minute!"

"Don't seem to be in that room she was talkin' about," grumbled
Shadrach. "Tut! Tut! What a voice that is! Got a rasp to it like a rusty
saw."

Mrs. Hobbs was heard descending the stairs. Her face, when she reentered
the sitting-room, was red and she looked more "put out" than ever.

"She ain't there," she answered, angrily. "She's gone."

"Gone?" repeated Zoeth and Shadrach in chorus.

"Gone?" repeated the Judge. "Do you mean she's run away?"

"No, no! She ain't run away--not for good; she knows better than that.
She's sneaked off and hid, I suppose. But I know where she is. I'll have
her here in a minute."

She was hurrying out again, but the Captain detained her.

"Wait!" he commanded. "What's that you say? You know where she is?"