school?"

"The teacher sent us down to get some green branches to put over the clock. We are going to have some visitors in school this afternoon," replied Fanny, promptly.

"Did she send the other girl, too?"

"Yes; she sent both of us."

"I want to see you, Fanny; come with me," continued the terrible constable, beckoning her to follow him up the pier.

"What do you want of me?"

"I wish to speak with you a moment."

"I can't stop long, for we must hurry back with the boughs," added Fanny, who had no relish for a confidential conversation with such a man, for she at once surmised its topic.

"Are you looking for green boughs out on the end of that pier?" said he.

"We only went out there for a moment," pleaded Fanny, as she followed Mr. Long, but it was with the intention of darting away from him at a favorable moment.

But the constable stopped before he reached the head of the pier, which effectually prevented her retreat unless she jumped into the water.

"What do you want of me, Mr. Long?" she asked, with increasing boldness.

"Fanny, you have been very bad again," began the tormentor.

"No, I haven't."

"Yes, you have; and you needn't attempt to deny it."

"What have I done?"

"You know what you have done."

"I haven't done anything," protested she, speaking for the sake of speaking, rather than because she had any confidence in the impression her words would produce upon the mind of her tormentor, and all the while thinking how she could break away from the constable.

"'Thou shalt not steal,'" said Mr. Long, impressively.

"What do you mean by that?" demanded Fanny. "Do you mean to say that I steal? If you do, you are very much mistaken."

"Fanny, if you didn't steal anything, it was only because you did not find anything to steal."

What could he mean by that? She was perplexed, but she began to hope that he did not know what she had done.

"I do not want to steal," said she; and now she spoke for the purpose of drawing out her accuser, to ascertain how much he did know.

"You have been guilty of stealing several times," continued the constable, assuming a very stern and virtuous aspect.

"I never meant to steal anything."

"But you meant to steal this time: the cat is out of the bag."

The constable's stern features relaxed a little, and there was something like a smile playing upon his face, as if in faint appreciation of a joke.

"The cat is out of the drawer, if that is what you mean," said Fanny, laughing, and now greatly encouraged by the new aspect of the case.

"That is what I mean."

"But I didn't let the cat out," protested Fanny.

"Who did?"

"Mrs. Green."

"Fanny, you are lying to me, and you know you are," added Mr. Long, sternly.

"I hope to die if it isn't just as I say!" persisted the wicked girl, earnestly. "Mrs. Green let the cat out of the drawer, and I had a good laugh over it."

Fanny began to laugh very heartily. The constable was staggered, and it was evident that he was not smart enough to deal with one so shrewd and clever as the wayward girl.

"What are you laughing at?" asked Mr. Long.

"I was laughing to think of the poor cat as she jumped out of the drawer and ran away. What did you put her in there for? Were you afraid she would steal the meat or the milk? Could that cat read, Mr. Long? Were you trying to teach her one of the ten commandments?"

"Do you mean to tell me, Fanny, that Mrs. Green let the cat out of the drawer?"

"Yes, she did. Poor pussy mewed awfully in the drawer, where you put her. Perhaps she was saying over the commandment you gave her to learn; but Mrs. Green didn't understand her lingo, and let her out."

"Fanny, I am going up to see Mrs. Green, and if you have told me a lie, it will be all the worse for you," said Mr. Long.

"You can ask Mrs. Green herself."

"I will ask her. You meant to steal: you were seen watching Mr. Grant when he had the key of the drawer."

"And you set a trap to catch me; but you caught Mrs. Green!" laughed Fanny.

"I don't believe a word of your story; but I am willing to be sure before I do anything."

"What are you going to do?"

"I shall take care of you; you will know what I mean when I have proved the case."

"You ought to have told Mrs. Green where you put the cat, for the poor creature would have starved to death before I let her out."

"We shall see. Mr. Grant told me to take care of you if you did not behave yourself while the family were away. I will go up and ask Mrs. Green about this matter, and if I find you have not told me the truth,—and I don't believe you have,—I shall take care of you."

"When shall I see you again?" asked Fanny, with the most brazen impudence.

"You will see me sooner than you will want to see me, if you have been doing wrong."

"But I shall not be here when you come back. We are going right up to school now."

"I can find you, wherever you are," replied the constable, confidently, as he walked away towards the mansion.

Fanny was entirely relieved of all her fears; she was even jubilant over her success in cheating her persecutor. Her conscience did not trouble her now. She readily comprehended the details of the plan by which she was to be detected, if she attempted to steal from the library. Of course, the constable would soon find out that she had not told the truth, and that Mrs. Green knew nothing about the cat in the drawer.

After the announcement that the family were to be absent a week, had been made, it was observed that Fanny was in unusually good spirits. Miss Fanny had detected her in the act of looking through one of the library windows, while her father was paying a bill in the room. Mr. Grant, wealthy as he was, had always been very methodical in his business affairs. He kept a sum of money in a drawer for household expenses, to which Mrs. Green and his daughters had access. When anything was paid out by any member of the family, the amount was put down on a paper in the drawer. After the advent of Fanny Jane, and after she had been detected in some small pilfering, the key of this drawer was concealed as we have described.

Miss Fanny at once suspected the motive of her wayward charge, and told her father of the fact, on the day before the departure of the family for Hudson. Mr. Grant, more desirous of reforming the wicked girl than of anything else, consulted Mr. Long. Mrs. Green was told where she might find money for the payment of the household bills, and admonished to be very careful in concealing the keys; but nothing was said to her about the cat and the commandment. If Fanny did attempt to steal, the case was to be managed by the constable, who had been instructed to take her to his own house, and keep her in close subjection until the return of the family.

The cat belonged to Mr. Long, who was confident that the animal, when released by the act of the thief, would run home, when her presence would inform him of the culprit's deed. The cat—true to her domestic instinct—had run home; but the constable had not immediately seen her. As soon as he discovered the tell-tale pussy, he hastened over to Woodville, expecting to find Fanny penitently studying the commandment, which was the moral of Mr. Grant's stratagem; but before he reached the house he saw two girls on the pier, and recognized Fanny as one of them.

Willing to be entirely fair, and deeming it possible that Mr. Grant's plan had failed, he went up to the house to consult Mrs. Green, while Fanny rushed down the pier to join her companion in mischief.

CHAPTER IV.

FANNY THE SKIPPER.

"What did he want of you, Fan?" asked Kate Magner, with a curiosity not unmixed with anxiety, as her leader in mischief joined her at the foot of the pier.

"O, never mind that," exclaimed Fanny, in reply. "We have no time to