to the devil, either. He'd spent a lifetime on
his machine and just when he was getting it patented, some smart thief in
Chicago takes it away from him. That's what I call tough luck."

"They're hard up, you say?" pursued Grogan.

Harvey, unconscious that he had said nothing of the sort, admitted that
the Welcomes were in financial straits. "Their mother has to take in
washing," he said, "and both the girls work. It's too bad, for they ought
to be getting an education."

The roan colt came to an abrupt stop. They were in front of a small
cottage. Grogan surveyed the place for a moment and then turned to his
jehu. "And what might you be stopping here for?" he inquired.

Harvey paused with one foot on the step of the wagon and looked up at
Grogan gravely.

"This is Tom Welcome's cottage," he said.

CHAPTER III

ENTER A DETECTIVE

While Harvey Spencer was climbing down from his wagon Mr. Michael Grogan,
who was not exactly the guileless soul Millville took him to be,
permitted himself rather a close inspection of the Welcome premises.
There was nothing imposing about them. The cottage was old and obviously
in need of repair. The fence which surrounded it had been repaired in
places, apparently by someone who had small interest in the job. The
little patch of ground in front, however, was decorated with a neatly
kept vegetable garden bordered with flowers. The stone step at the
cottage entrance was immaculate. Mr. Grogan was shrewd enough to indulge
himself in the speculation that whatever Tom Welcome might be his wife
was a careful housekeeper.

Mrs. Welcome was standing in her open door and Grogan studied her with a
curiosity not entirely disinterested. Her figure was frail and slightly
bowed. Her hair, as it showed in the deepening dusk was almost white. Her
features had delicacy like those of the daughter Grogan had just met. She
was wiping her hands on a gingham apron. They were hands of a hard
working woman.

"Hello, Mrs. Welcome, nice day, ain't it?" called Harvey as he came
through the gate.

"Yes, it is nice, isn't it, Harvey?" replied Martha Welcome. "I hadn't
noticed it before, I've been so busy with the washing."

The woman's voice, Mr. Grogan noted, held a note of sadness.

"Seems to me," said Harvey, dropping his voice and speaking with the
assurance of an old family friend, "that if I had two girls like your
Elsie and Patience