o make some money, too."

"If we only had the bazaar money that was stolen," said Anne
regretfully.

"Strange that no trace of the thief was ever found," remarked David. "I
know that my wrist was lame for a week from the twist that rascal gave
it."

"I have always had a curious conviction that the man who took that money
had been traveling around in the hall all evening," said Anne
thoughtfully. "Whoever it was, he must have seen Grace deposit the money
in the box, and he also knew the exact location of the switch."

"One would imagine the box too heavy to have been spirited away so
easily," said Tom Gray. "The weight of all that silver must have been
considerable."

"Yes, it did weigh heavily," replied Grace. "Still, we had a great many
bills, too. In spite of the weight the thief did make a successful get
away, and we owe Judge Putnam a heavy debt of gratitude for making good
our loss."

"'Look not mournfully into the past,'" quoted Hippy, "but rather turn
your attention to the important matter of refreshing the inner man."

"You fixed your attention on that matter years ago, Hippopotamus," said
Reddy, "and since then you've never turned it in any other direction."

"Which proves me to be a person of excellent judgment and unqualified
good taste," answered Hippy with a broad grin.

"More taste than judgment, I should say," remarked David.

"This conversation is becoming too personal," complained Hippy. "Excuse
me, Nora, use that Irish wit of yours and lay these slanderers low."

"I am neither a life preserver nor a repairer of reputations," replied
Nora cruelly. "Fight your own battles."

"All right, here goes," said Hippy. "Now Reddy Brooks and David Nesbit,
I said, that what you said, and formerly have said to have said, was
said, because you happened to have said something that I formerly was
said to have said that never should have been said. What I really
said--"

But what Hippy really did say was never revealed, for David and Reddy
laid violent hands upon their garrulous friend and, escorting him to the
kitchen door, shoved him outside and calmly locking the door, left him
to meditate in the back yard, until Nora suddenly remembering that she
had set the fudge on the steps to cool, opened the door in a hurry to
find Hippy seated upon the lower step, a piece of fudge in either hand,
looking the picture of content.

[Illustration: Hippy Sat With A Piece of Fudge in Either Hand]

The party broke