Two Little Women on a Holiday Part 36

"Then, you see," continued Old Joe, "that villainous bird, he hid his treasure, and when I let him out yesterday, just to fly around the room, he found it out again, and he hent and broke it all up."

"Well, never mind!" Dolly cried, "as long as we have it! Oh, Ted, how clever of you to think of it! I'm so glad! Come, let's hurry home and tell about it! My, won't they all rejoice!"

"Shall I go over and make my apologies to Mr. Forbes?" asked Joe, anxiously.

"No; at least, not now. Mr. Forbes won't hold you at all to blame. It was merely coincidence that the bird happened to get out of his cage, just when the jewel lay there unprotected," said Ted.

"And, he'd taken something else if he hadn't found that. Anything glittering or sparkling catches his eye, and he steals it. But 'tis seldom he gets a chance outside the house."

"Why do you keep such a bird?" asked Dolly.

"He isn't mine. I wouldn't care to have him. He belongs to Mrs.

Mortimer, and she only laughs at his thievin' traits. She thinks they're cunning. So, I must needs take good care of him. 'Twas careless of me to leave the window open, and him here alone. But I didn't think he could break loose from his cage. I'm thinkin' the door was ajar."

"Well, we're much obliged to you and to Polly. Oh, just think if you hadn't reasoned it out, Ted, we never would have known the truth! You see, Joe thought the earring was one of Polly's own belongings, so, of course, he never would have paid any attention to it."

"That I wouldn't, Miss. I supposed it was some of the trinkets the missus gave him. She buys 'em for him at the five-and-ten. He breaks 'em as fast as he gets 'em!"

"I hope this can be straightened out, and I think it can," said Dolly, as she looked at the bent gold work.

"I'm sure it can," agreed Ted, "but anyway, it solves the mystery and clears you girls! Hooray! Hurroo!! Come on, let's go and tell them all."

The two dashed into the Forbes house next door, and found the rest of them down in the drawing room, wondering what had become of Dolly and Ted.

With a beaming face and dancing eyes, Dolly went straight to Mr. Forbes and dangled the bent and twisted earring before his surprised countenance.

"Bless my soul!" he cried, as he saw it. "Did you--where did you find it?"

Dolly realised that he had been about to say, "Did you decide to own up?" or something like that, and she was glad that he changed his sentence.

"Next door!" she exclaimed, for Ted stood back and let her have the pleasure of telling. "That old parrot came and stole it!"

"Oh! the parrot!" cried Mr. Forbes. "Why, of course! I see it all! Why didn't _I_ think of that? Once before, I saw that bird light on my window sill and I shooed him off. Strange I didn't think of that solution!"

"Tell us more!" cried Dotty; "who thought of a parrot? Whose parrot is it? How did he get in? When?"

"Wait a minute, Dot," said Dolly, laughing, "and I'll tell you all about it. You tell some, Ted, I'm all out of breath!"

So Ted told the whole story of their visit to the next house.

"And I thought it was n. g. when the old chap said the window in his room wasn't open. Also, when he said the bird never left that house, I thought again we were off the track. But when we went on to discuss the matter, and he said the bird was a born thief, and also he finally remembered that his window was open on Sunday afternoon, why I felt sure we had found the culprit. Then, the old fellow produced the earring, which he had seen, but had scarcely noticed, thinking it was some of the bird's own junk. It seems Polly also collects antiques!"

"Well, well, Hosmer, my boy, you did well to think of such a solution to our mystery! What put you on the track in the first place?"

"I think it was the birds of your collection, sir. I'm very fond of birds and bird study, and I know a lot about parrots, and their ways.

Well, seeing all your stuffed birds, put birds in my head, I suppose; any way, when Dolly spoke of a parrot next door that annoyed Mrs.

Berry, I thought right away of how that Polly bird would like to grab a gold trinket if he had a good chance. So I looked up his chances, and I began to realise that if your window was open, the one in the other house might have been too. Sunday was such a warm, pleasant day. So, I looked into matters a little, and concluded we'd better go over there.

I didn't say what we were going for, because it might easily have turned out a wild goose chase--"

"Instead of a wild parrot chase!" said Alicia. "Oh, isn't it just fine that it's found!"

"I guess old Fenn will be surprised," said Dotty, with an angry shake of her dark head. "He tried his best to fasten it on Dolly--"

"Fasten the earring on?" asked Geordie Knapp, laughing.

"No; I did that myself," rejoined Dolly. "Oh, Uncle Forbes, you didn't think I took it, did you?"

"I didn't know what to think. No thought of that bird came into my mind. And so I had to cudgel my brain to think how it did disappear.

For I HAD to know! Yes, I positively HAD to know!"

"Of course," agreed Bernice. "You didn't want to lose that jewel."

"It wasn't only that, there was another reason, a reason that I'll tell you some day."

CHAPTER XVIII

FOUR CELEBRATIONS

Next morning at breakfast, each of the four girls found a note at her plate. The notes were all alike, and they read:

Mr. Jefferson Forbes, because of his great delight over the discovery of his lost piece of property, invites you to a celebration occasion, to-morrow, Thursday evening. Mr. Forbes would say, also, that he has obtained the consent of all interested parents, that you may stay till Sat.u.r.day. Mr. Jefferson Forbes will be glad of suggestions as to what form said celebration shall a.s.sume.

They all laughed at the formal style and stilted language of the notes, and were amazed at the information that they were to make a longer visit than they had thought.

Mrs. Berry smiled at the shower of questions that followed the reading of the notes, but she only said, "Don't ask me, my dears. After breakfast, Mr. Forbes will meet you in the reception room and discuss it."

So a merry group of four awaited the coming of their host in the pretty little reception room.

"Good morning," he said, cheerily, as he entered, "What an attractive bunch of humanity! Four smiling faces and eight bright eyes! I greet you all."

With an old-fashioned bow, he took a seat near them, and asked, "Did you receive certain important doc.u.ments?"

"We did," replied Bernice. "May we have further enlightenment?"

"You may, and first I will remove that anxious look from Dolly's face, by saying that her mother is perfectly willing that she should stay here the rest of the week."

"Oh, goody!" cried Dolly. "How did you ask her? By telephone?"

"Yes. So pleased was I over the developments of last evening, that I telephoned all the powers that be, and arranged for an extension to our house party. Are you glad?"

"Indeed we are," chorused the girls, and Uncle Jeff went on.

"Now, our celebration is to be just whatever you want. And if you don't all want the same thing, you can all have different things. So just state your preferences."