Aunt Jane's Nieces out West

  CHAPTER XIX

  MAUD MAKES A MEMORANDUM

  My mother used to say to me: "Never expect to find brains in a prettygirl." Perhaps she said it because I was not a pretty girl and shewished to encourage me. In any event, that absurd notion of the ancientsthat when the fairies bestow the gift of beauty on a baby they withholdall other qualities has so often been disproved that we may welldisregard it.

  Maud Stanton was a pretty girl--indeed, a beautiful girl--but shepossessed brains as well as beauty and used her intellect to advantagemore often than her quiet demeanor would indicate to others than her mostintimate associates. From the first she had been impressed by the notionthat there was something mysterious about A. Jones and that his romanticexplanation of his former life and present position was intended to hidea truth that would embarrass him, were it fully known. Therefore she hadsecretly observed the young man, at such times as they were together, andhad treasured every careless remark he had made--every admission orassertion--and made a note of it. The boy's arrest had startled herbecause it was so unexpected, and her first impulse was to doubt hisinnocence. Later, however, she had thoroughly reviewed the notes she hadmade and decided he was innocent.

  In the quiet of her own room, when she was supposed to be asleep, Maudgot out her notebook and read therein again the review of all she hadlearned concerning A. Jones of Sangoa.

  "For a boy, he has a good knowledge of business; for a foreigner, he hasan excellent conception of modern American methods," she murmuredthoughtfully. "He is simple in little things; shrewd, if not wise, inimportant matters. He proved this by purchasing the control of theContinental, for its shares pay enormous dividends.

  "Had he stolen those pearls, I am sure he would have been too shrewd tohave given a portion of them to us, knowing we would display them openlyand so attract attention to them. A thief so ingenious as Andrews, forinstance, would never have done so foolish a thing as that, I ampositive. Therefore, Jones is not Andrews.

  "Now, to account for the likeness between Andrews, an Americanadventurer, and Jones, reared and educated in the mysterious island ofSangoa. Ajo's father must have left some near relatives in this countrywhen he became a recluse in his far-away island. Why did he become arecluse? That's a subject I must consider carefully, for he was a man ofmoney, a man of science, a man of affairs. Jones has told us he has norelatives here. He may have spoken honestly, if his father kept him inignorance of the family history. I'm not going to jump at the conclusionthat the man who calls himself Jack Andrews is a near relative of ourAjo--a cousin, perhaps--but I'll not forget that that might explain thelikeness between them.

  "Ajo's father must have amassed a great fortune, during many years, fromhis pearl fisheries. That would explain why the boy has so much money athis disposal. He didn't get it from the sale of stolen pearls, that iscertain. In addition to the money he invested in the Continental, he hasenough in reserve to expend another million or so in Patsy Doyle's motionpicture scheme, and he says he can spare it easily and have plenty left!This, in my opinion, is a stronger proof of Jones' innocence than LawyerColby seems to consider it. To me, it is conclusive.

  "Now, then, where is Sangoa? How can one get to the island? And,finally, how did Jones get here from Sangoa and how is he to return, ifhe ever wants to go back to his valuable pearl fisheries, his people andhis home?"

  She strove earnestly to answer these questions, but could not with herpresent knowledge. So she tucked the notebook into a drawer of her desk,put out her light and got into bed.

  But sleep would not come to her. The interest she took in the fate ofyoung Jones was quite impersonal. She liked the boy in the same way shehad liked dozens of boys. The fact that she had been of materialassistance in saving his life aroused no especial tenderness in her. Onhis own account, however, Jones was interesting to her because he was sounusual. The complications that now beset him added to this interestbecause they were so curious and difficult to explain. Maud had thefeeling that she had encountered a puzzle to tax her best talents, and soshe wanted to solve it.

  Suddenly she bounded out of bed and turned on the electric light. Thenotebook was again brought into requisition and she penciled on its pagesthe following words:

  "What was the exact date that Jack Andrews landed in America? Whatwas the exact date that Ajo landed from Sangoa? The first questionmay be easily answered, for doubtless the police have the record.But--the other?"

  Then she replaced the book, put out the light and went to sleepvery easily.

  That last thought, now jotted down in black and white, had effectuallycleared her mind of its cobwebs.