ould
throw no light on the subject. Jo Williams consoled them greatly by
saying:
"Don't worry about Judy Kean. She is the kind to light on her feet."
So she was, but worry they did. Elise reproached herself for not going
with her. Pierce wished his uncle had come back as he had half hoped he
would that afternoon. They were a very disconsolate crowd. It was seven
o'clock and no clue to their beloved friend. A knock on the door: "_Une
depeche pour Madame Brune!_"
"A telegram, a telegram!" Mrs. Brown's hands trembled so that Pierce had
to open it for her.
"Why, it is from Uncle Tom! 'Miss Judy Kean safe in Chartres with me.
Will arrive in Paris at midnight. T. Kinsella.' That's all."
"Well, of all things! What is Judy doing in Chartres?" exclaimed Molly
and her mother in one breath.
Elise, her face crimson and eye flashing, burst out with: "Lighting on
her feet, evidently, like the cat she is!" She covered her face with her
hands and fled to her room.
Pierce looked mystified, the Browns both distressed, and Jo Williams
snorted: "So that's what is the matter!"
In the meantime, Judy was having a splendid time. Knowing her friends in
Rue Brea were no longer worrying about her, she gave herself up to
enjoyment. Mr. Kinsella dined with the three ladies and Judy kept them
in a gale with the description of her day of adventure. That young woman
never did things by halves, and she was now engaged in fascinating
Frances and her grandmother with as much spirit as she had formerly
exercised in insulting them. The old lady was completely won over and
Frances was too glad to have Molly's friends like her not to want to let
bygones be bygones.
After dinner Mr. Kinsella redeemed the sketching kit, paying twenty per
cent. interest for the loan. He saw the Corot in the window, where it
looked very genuine in its old gilt frame. He offered the man forty
francs for it, including the frame and the bargain was clinched in short
order. They made very merry over this, and Judy descanted on the genius
that could paint a picture that looked just as well upside down as
rightside up.
"You see the bit of sky in the upper right corner makes very good water
when turned over, and the water in the lower right corner makes a dandy
sky."
Mr. Kinsella wrapped his prize up very carefully and said he intended to
fool Pierce with his find of a genuine old master.
CHAPTER XV.
MR. KINSELLA'S INDIAN SUMMER.
The next morni
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