There was an air of modest swagger about Miles as he spoke, for he rather prided himself on his business acumen and general smartness, so Katherine’s next words were a terrible blow to his pride.

“My dear boy, you had better have let him have his two cents twice over, and then winked at the money, than have given him such a chance as he must have made for himself last night,” she said bitterly.

“What do you mean?” he demanded, with the offended air he always displayed when his pride was wounded.

“I mean that Oily Dave or some of his precious companions walked off with two whole buckets of that lard from under your nose last night, unless indeed you took the trouble to carry it into the cellar again.”

“It would not have been possible for anyone to do that, for I was here all the time,” he answered stiffly.

“Quite all the time, or did you have to leave for anything; some silly little thing, perhaps?” she said in a coaxing tone, anxious to win him from his show of bad temper, and at the same time get some clue to the disappearance of the stuff.

“I don’t think I went away at all,” Miles began, then caught himself up in a sudden recollection.  “Oh yes, I did!  I remember I took a ten-dollar bill, that Jean Doulais brought, indoors for Father to give me change.”

“Then while you were indoors the thief stepped into the store and walked off with our two pails of lard.  Well, I hope the stuff will make him very sick indeed!” exclaimed Katherine, in a tone of disgust.

“I wonder who it was?  It couldn’t possibly have been Jean,” said Miles, “for he was sitting on the counter and banging his heels.  When I went into the kitchen I heard him thumping away all the time I was there, and he was sitting and banging when I came back.”

“Was it Jean Doulais who made all that noise?” said Katherine.  “I was demonstrating on the blackboard, and had to write my explanations, because I could not make myself heard.  One of the boys volunteered to go and punch the noisy one’s head, but this I forbade for prudent reasons.”

“Pity you didn’t let the fellow come.  He might have happened on the thief,” growled Miles.  “If Jean didn’t take the things, he must know pretty well who did.  Will you tackle him about it?”

“I think not,” replied Katherine, after a pause for consideration.  “He might think we suspected him, which would be bad from a business point of view.  Then he would be certain to tell the thief, and that would lessen our chances of detecting him.”

“What a desperately light-fingered lot they are here this winter!” Miles exclaimed in a petulant tone.  “Just see what a rush we had to save the stores from your cache the night Father had his accident.”

“But we did save them,” replied Katherine with a ripple of laughter.  “And incidentally we also saved the lives of a noble pair of men.”

Miles gave a grunt of disgust.  “A regular pity they didn’t get killed, I think; and I shouldn’t wonder if they are at the bottom of this piece of thieving also.”