ong to him, or her, and generally has no use
for them after stealing the same? It's really a disease, I've read.
Some very rich people are affected by it, particularly queer old
ladies."

"You're jumping ahead too fast, Thad," remonstrated Hugh, chidingly.
"I haven't admitted yet that I suspect Owen more than I did before. In
fact, these occurrences, such as his being in the house each time a
spoon vanishes, may turn out to simply be coincidences."

"That sounds just like you, Hugh. You're the best kind of a friend
anybody ever could have. Perhaps now you've got a clue of some sort
that you wouldn't mind telling me about?"

"I've been wondering whether the culprit is a human being after all,"
remarked Hugh, to the utter astonishment of his comrade, who burst out
with:

"Whew! you're aiming high, I must say, old chap. If not a human being,
what sort of a creature could the clever thief be? I've heard of
monkeys stealing things and hiding the same away in a spirit of
covetousness; but then the old lady doesn't happen to have a simian for
a household pet, that I know of."

"No, but she has got a poll-parrot, as I told you, Thad!" observed
Hugh, calmly.

"Oh! do you suspect that a silly bird could go and carry off not only
one spoon but three of them?" gasped the other boy. "What would a
parrot want of such objects, and where would she hide them?"

"Remember, this is only guess work on my part, because, so far, I
haven't any positive evidence that it's so. But I remembered once
reading an article about some birds having a weakness that way.
Generally it was a raven that did it, and hidden away in a dark corner
they would find trinkets and spoons and all sorts of things that were
of no possible use to any bird. In every instance they seemed to be
bright and tempting, as if the bird had no eye for dingy things. Well,
these spoons have recently been scoured and cleaned so that they shine
splendidly!"

"Oh! now that you mention it, Hugh," broke out Thad, "I remember that
several years ago, before I knew you, with another boy I climbed a tall
tree to peek in at the nest of a pair of crows. Well, sir, besides the
young ones, what did we find but three strange things. One was a key,
pretty rusty at that; another seemed to be a piece of metal that might
have fallen off a motor car on the road; it was made of brass, and
still shone fairly well. The third I've forgotten about, though I've
still got them all at