ly the Major approached the cabin, which seemed to have been
built as a place for the berry pickers to assemble and pack their fruit.
It was constructed of rough boards and had a little window in the side
nearest the dwelling house and a door on the opposite side.

Creeping near to the window the Major obtained a clear view of the
interior. Upon a dilapidated wicker settee, which had one end propped
with a box, partially reclined the form of a man whose right arm was in
splints and supported by a sling, while his head was covered with
plasters and bandages. The man's back was toward the window, but from
his slender form and its graceful poise the Major imagined him young.

Old Nora held the left hand of this mysterious person in a warm clasp,
bending now and then to press a kiss upon it, while Hucks busied himself
opening the parcel he had brought and arranging various articles of food
on a rickety stand at the head of the couch. The old man's smile was
more benevolent and cheery than ever, and his actions denoted that
strange, suppressed eagerness the Major had marked when he had taken
the money.

The three spoke little, and in tones so low that the spy outside the
window failed to catch them. Soon the injured man began to eat, feeding
himself laboriously with his left hand. But his hunger was quickly
satisfied, and then he lay back wearily upon his pillows, while Nora
tenderly spread a coverlet over him.

After this the old couple did not linger long. Hucks poured some water
from a jug into a tumbler, glanced around the little room to see that
everything was in order, and then--after he and Nora had both kissed the
bandaged forehead--blew out the candle and retired.

The Major crouched low in the berry bushes until the couple had passed
by; then he rose and thoughtfully followed after them.

Whatever Patsy's father might have thought of the Wegg farm mystery
before, this adventure convinced him that the girls were not altogether
foolish in imagining a romance connected with the place. And,
notwithstanding Patsy's loyal defense of Old Hucks, he was evidently
tangled up in the affair to a large extent, and could explain if he
chose much that was now puzzling the girl detectives.

After careful thought the Major decided to confide in Uncle John, at
this juncture, rather than in the nieces; since the latest developments
were more fitted for a man's interference.

By good fortune the girls had an engagement the nex