out of sight.

"Well?" demanded Amos Bangs, as soon as he and his wife were together.

"Oh, Amos!" the woman cried, and could not go on.

"Is that all you can say, Viola?" demanded the husband, harshly.

"I can do nothing with the girl."

"And she knows where the papers are?"

"She does."

"How did it happen?"

"When Mr. Tuller called upon me she played the eavesdropper. She saw us
open the safe and take out the papers, and when I went and hid the
papers she followed me."

"But you said you were sure nobody knew where the papers were."

"I thought so at the time, but I was mistaken."

"How did it come out?"

"The girl did not sweep and dust the parlor to suit me, and I took her
to task about it. She threw down her broom and said she would take no
words from me. Then I told her to pack her trunk and leave the house.
She grew more impertinent than ever, and said she would go, but I would
have to pay her her wages regularly anyway. I asked what she meant.
Then she told me to go and look for the papers I had hidden."

"And they were gone?"

"Yes. I was so overcome I nearly fainted," and Mrs. Bangs's face showed
her deep concern.

"What next?"

"I went back to the girl and told her she must give the papers up or I
would have her arrested. She laughed in my face. Oh, Amos, think of
that horrid creature doing that!"

"She knew she had you," growled the rich manufacturer. "What did you do
then?"

"Why--I--broke down, I couldn't help it. I asked her what she wanted
for the papers. She wouldn't tell, and I said I would give her five
dollars. Then she laughed in my face again. I wanted to drive her from
the house, but I didn't dare."

"Did she say what she was going to do?"

"At last she said she would make a bargain--think of it--a bargain with
a servant girl! She wants me to pay her wages regularly and also twelve
dollars a month for her board."

"Will she work for you?"

"No, indeed, she says she will go and live with her married sister."

"Humph! Let me see, her name is Jackson, isn't it?"

"Yes, Mamie Jackson. Her sister lives over in Oakdale."

"Did she go to Oakdale?"

"I suppose she did."

"She must have the papers with her."

"No, I think she hid them, for she said we wouldn't find the papers
even if we searched her and her trunk."

"I will have to go to Oakdale and see her," said Amos Bangs, after a
pause in which he rubbed his chin reflectively.

The rich manufacturer and his wif