A New Miss Coolidge

"Oh, I see," a bit sarcastically. "So you have been amusing yourself questioning the neighbours, have you?"

"To a very small extent," West confessed, keeping his temper. "One of the players chased a stray ball under the automobile, and I asked him a question or two. The cottage appeared so deserted, and you were absent for such a length of time, I became somewhat curious."

"And what did he tell you?"

"Only that the occupants had moved in within a few days, and that he had seen no kids about; no one in fact but a middling old woman."

"Did he mention any names?"

"No; I didn't ask. It was nothing to me."

"I should say it was not. So the kid told you there were no children, did he? Well, you heard what Natalie said just now--which are you going to believe?"

"The lady, of course," smilingly. "Surely this is no matter to quarrel over."

"No, Captain West," she broke in, leaning forward in the seat, and speaking again in the peculiar strained voice. "The boy was merely mistaken. He had not seen the children because they were kept closely in the house. They were turned out of their former home, and have absolutely nothing; no furniture even; only straw to sleep on. It was most pitiful."

"Do not think of it any longer, Natalie," Coolidge insisted rather gruffly. "They are all right now. I shall telephone for a doctor as soon as we get back, and attend to the rent the first thing tomorrow."