The conversation did not lag during the two hours or more the boys remained near about the garden, waiting for aunt Dorcas to summon them after the interview with the amateur detective should have come to an end. Now that there was no longer any mystery concerning the advertisement, it seemed strange they had not understood why the attorneys wished to see Joe. "We must be awful chumps, to let Dan Fernald frighten us as he did," Joe said, thoughtfully, after they had discussed the matter in all its different phases. "Why we didn't see that it was the princess they was after, beats me! Perhaps it might have come 'round to it if I'd been alone; but that imitation detective seemed to have it down so fine, that I didn't stop to think of anything but what he said." "Anyhow, he did us a good turn, 'cause if we hadn't skipped we'd never found out there was a woman like aunt Dorcas." "That's a fact, Plums, an', come to look at it that way, I ain't so certain but we ought'er let up on the duffer. Say, it'll be mighty tough to go back an' live in that shanty of your'n after bein' out here, won't it?" "Do you s'pose we've got to leave this place?" and Master Plummer looked alarmed. "Course we have. You don't count on spongin' a livin' out of a poor little woman like aunt Dorcas, I hope?" "I wouldn't reg'larly do her up for my board; but I was thinkin' perhaps she'd have work enough so's we could pay our way. You come pretty near squarin' things when you tackled the burglar." "I didn't do so much as a flea-bite. If aunt Dorcas had been alone an' heard the man sneakin' 'round, she'd been prayin' with him in less'n five minutes, an' he'd gone away a good deal more sore than he did." "I guess that's straight enough," Plums replied, with a sigh, for as it was thus proven that the little woman did not stand in need of their services, his heart grew sad. "She can take care of herself, you bet, an' come up bright an' smilin' every time. We've got to go back to-morrow, Plums, an' hustle for five-cent stews." "I don't want any more of it, after knowin' how aunt Dorcas can cook. Are you goin' into the paper business ag'in?" "I guess I'll have to, after I pick up enough cash to start in with. I'll tackle the _de_pot, for that job was pannin' out mighty well till I found the princess," Joe replied, and then he relapsed into silence, for the thought that the child was no longer dependent upon him brought more sorrow to his heart than had come to Plums because of being forced to go to work again. Then came the summons for which the boys had been waiting, and when they entered the house, expecting to find aunt Dorcas alone, a disagreeable surprise awaited them. The amateur detective was in the kitchen regaling himself with a quarter section of custard pie, while the little woman fluttered to and fro between the table and the pantry, as if bent on tempting his appetite to the utmost.