she stayed in bed most of the time), and the three cats, "John Darcy and
Mary Darcy and old Yellownose." That's the way the old man always spoke
of them. He called them his family.

Georgina was glad that the minister's wife was a newcomer in the town and
asked to have it explained. Everybody contributed a scrap of the story,
for all side conversations stopped at the mention of Dan Darcy's name,
and the interest of the whole room centered on him.

It was years ago, when he was not more than eighteen that it happened. He
was a happy-go-lucky sort of fellow who couldn't be kept down to steady
work such as a job in the bank or a store. He was always off a-fishing or
on the water, but everybody liked him and said he'd settle down when he
was a bit older. He had a friend much like himself, only a little older.
Emmett Potter was his name. There was a regular David and Jonathan
friendship between those two. They were hand-in-glove in everything till
Dan went wrong. Both even liked the same girl, Belle Triplett.

Here Georgina's needle gave her another jab. She laid down her hemming to
listen. This was bringing the story close home, for Belle Triplett was
Tippy's niece, or rather her husband's niece. While that did not make
Belle one of the Huntingdon family, Georgina had always looked upon her
as such. She visited at the house oftener than anyone else.

Nobody in the room came right out and said what it was that Dan had done,
but by putting the scraps together Georgina discovered presently that the
trouble was about some stolen money. Lots of people wouldn't believe that
he was guilty at first, but so many things pointed his way that finally
they had to. The case was about to be brought to trial when one night Dan
suddenly disappeared as if the sea had swallowed him, and nothing had