"Well, it seems to me now that I was pretty lucky," the girl said soberly. "But poor little Claude couldn't possibly have found such good friends." "'Claude'!" repeated Hiram in surprise. "How do you know his name is Claude?" "I don't--really. Sometimes I call him 'Marvin.' I like both names," replied Sister. "It doesn't really matter what I call him till I know what his really, truly name is, does it?" "Well, for goodness' sake! don't call him 'Claude.' If he is a real boy, that will make him sick! And how do you know he is so much younger than you?" "Why--" "Did the lawyer say so?" "No, he didn't. He didn't say how old--er--Marvin was. But, of course, he must be only a little boy to run away and get lost." "Pshaw! He may be older than you are." "Why, how you talk! Of course he isn't, Hi Strong. How could my little brother be older than I am? Why, that is ridiculous!" "You have a mighty hazy idea of your brother, I do believe," Hiram chuckled. "If he was arrested and sent to the reform school--" "Hiram! How can you? My brother arrested?" "How do you suppose he got into the reform school?" demanded her friend. "Oh! Do they have to be bad to get to reform schools?" "He'd have to be sent by the Court to such an institution. He must have been old enough to be arrested for doing something, Sister. It needn't have been anything very bad--swiping apples, or throwing stones, or something like that." "But, Hiram!" murmured Sister, almost in tears. "I know it sounds hard. Sometimes a committing magistrate is pretty harsh. They don't have Children's Courts everywhere. And sometimes there isn't any other place to send kids but to the reform school." "Oh, my dear, you make my heart ache," declared Sister, sighing. "Well, he was some size to have been sent to such an institution instead of to an orphanage, as you were." "I--I suppose so." "How long was he in the reform school before he broke out?" Hiram asked. "That lawyer did not tell us." "Then, when did he run away?" "I guess it was some time ago, come to think of it," the girl admitted. "Seems to me you and Mother Atterson didn't ask many questions of that man," said Hiram. "We were so stirred up!" cried Sister. "And he was only at the house a few minutes. He told me to be sure and let him know if I went anywhere else. I wrote to him when I was coming out here. But he never replied." "I'd like to ask him a few things," muttered Hiram thoughtfully. Then: "So you have no idea when your brother ran away?" "It must have been some time before the lawyer found me last year. He said he had been hunting for both of us, and he wanted to make sure of me, so that I would not run away and make trouble. For the property my Grandmother Cheltenham left us cannot be divided till both heirs are found. That is just the way he put it." "Humph! A nice way to fix it, I must say. Your grandmother must have been a pretty cranky old tea-party."