Twenty-two miles!"
"It is quite a stretch," said Mr. Blackford.
He helped Grace put away the alcohol stove, and the cups in which the
chocolate had been served. They were washed in the little stream, and
would be cleansed again at the house of Betty's cousin.
"You haven't asked us when we are going to give you that five hundred
dollar bill," said Mollie, as they started for Judgeville.
"Well," spoke Mr. Blackford, with a laugh, "I didn't want to seem too
anxious. I knew that it was safe where you had put it, Miss Nelson," and
he looked at Betty. "Besides, I have been without it so long now that it
seems almost as if I never had it. And from all the good it is going to
do me, perhaps I might be better off without it now."
"We didn't exactly understand what you meant by the note you wrote,"
said Betty.
"Well, I'll tell you how that was," he said, frankly. "You see, I was
left considerable money by a rich relative, but I had bad luck. Maybe I
didn't have a good business head, either. Anyhow, I lost sum after sum in
investments that didn't pan out, and in businesses that failed. I got
down to my last big bill, and then I heard of this little business I
could get control of in New York.
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