s what it is! I just wish she could catch the Croppers once."

"You haven't any proof that it is really them, Mary," objected her
husband, "and you shouldn't make reckless accusations before folks."

"I know very well it is them," retorted Mrs. Baxter, "and so do you,
Adoniram. And Mrs. Charley knows it too, although she can't prove
it--more's the pity! I don't say Isaac Cropper steals those plums with
his own hands. But he knows who does--and the plums go into Mehitable
Cropper's preserving kettle; there's nothing surer."

"You see, Miss Maxwell, it's this way," explained Mr. Baxter, turning
to Esther. "Mrs. Charley Cropper's husband was Isaac's brother. They
never got on well together, and when Charley died there was a
tremendous fuss about the property. Isaac acted mean and scandalous
clear through, and public opinion has been down on him ever since. But
Mrs. Charley is a pretty smart woman, and he didn't get the better of
her in everything. There was a strip of disputed land between the two
farms, and she secured it. There's a big plum tree growing on it
close to the line fence. It's the finest one in Maitland. But Mrs.
Charley never gets a plum from it."

"But what becomes of them?" asked Esther.

"They disappear," said Mr. Baxter, with a significant nod. "When the
plums are anything like ripe Mrs. Charley discovers some day that
there isn't one left on the tree. She has never been able to get a
scrap of proof as to who took them, or she'd make it hot for them. But
nobody in Maitland has any doubt in his own mind that Isaac Cropper
knows where those plums go."

"I don't think Mr. Cropper would steal," protested Esther.

"Well, he doesn't consider it stealing, you know. He claims the land
and says the plums are his. I don't doubt that he is quite clear in
his own mind that they are. And he does hate Mrs. Charley. I'd give
considerable to see the old sinner fairly caught, but he is too deep."

"I think Mr. Baxter is too hard on Mr. Cropper," said Esther to
herself later on. "He has probably some private prejudice against
him."

* * * * *

But a month later she had changed her opinion. During that time the
Cropper boys had come to school.

At first Esther had been inclined to like them. They were handsome
lads, with the same smooth way that characterized their father, and
seemed bright and intelligent. For a few days all went well, and
Esther felt decidedly relieved.

But