“Would you like a horse or an automobile?”

“Your man may drive me to the town, sir, if it is convenient.”

Kenneth gave the required order, and then Mr. Burke asked: 

“How far are you prepared to go in this matter, sir?”

“In what way?”

“In expending money.”

“Will any large expenditure be required?”

“I cannot say.  But we may require the services and advice of an expert physician—­a specialist in brain diseases.”

“Do you know of one?” asked Kenneth.

“Yes; but he must be brought from Buffalo.  It will be expensive, sir.  That is why I ask if your interest in the girl warrants our going to the limit to save her.”

Kenneth was thoughtful, while the girls looked at him expectantly and Tom Gates with visible anxiety.

“My original idea was merely to find the missing girl in order to relieve the anxiety of her blind mother,” said young Forbes.  “To accomplish that I was willing to employ your services.  But, as a matter of fact, I have never seen the girl Lucy Rogers, nor am I particularly interested in her.”

“I am,” declared Beth.

“And I!”

“And I!” repeated Patsy and Louise.

“I think,” said Uncle John, who had been a quiet listener until now, “that Kenneth has assumed enough expense in this matter.”

“Oh, Uncle!” The remonstrance was from all three of the girls.

“Therefore,” continued Mr. Merrick, “I propose that I undertake any further expense that may be incurred, so as to divide the burden.”

“That’s better!” declared Patsy.  “But I might have known Uncle John would do that.”

“You have my authority to wire the physician, if necessary, or to go to any expense you deem advisable,” continued Mr. Merrick, turning to the detective.  “We seem to have undertaken to unravel an interesting mystery, and we’ll see it through to the end.”

“Very good, sir,” said Mr. Burke, and left them with a brief nod of farewell.

“Somehow,” said Beth, “I’ve a lot of confidence in that little man.”

“Why, he’s a detective,” replied Uncle John, with a smile, “and the chief business of detectives is to make mistakes.”

CHAPTER XVII

MRS. HOPKINS GOSSIPS

The home of Representative Hopkins was not a very imposing edifice.  It was a modest frame building standing well back in a little yard at the outskirts of the village, and Mrs. Hopkins did the housework, unaided, to save the expense of a maid.  It never occurred to the politician, who had risen from the position of a poor stable-boy to one of affluence, to save his wife from this drudgery.  To him poor Mary was merely one of his possessions, and it would have astonished him to know that her sharp tongue and irritable temper were due to overwork and neglect.  The Honorable Erastus was not averse to champagne