三个“小侦探”在得知乔回到农场的消息后又展开了激烈的辩论。道尔将哈克斯老夫妇俩竭尽所能帮助乔的事情告诉了孩子们。她们决定拜访一下乔。乔会将哈克斯的过去讲给孩子们听吗？
Old Hucks，still smiling，but dreadfully nervous over the discovery of Joe，and Mr.Merrick's sudden activity in the boy's behalf，speedily harnessed Daniel and induced the reluctant steed to amble down the path to the cabin.Leaning on Uncle John's arm，the invalid walked to the buggy and was assisted to mount to the seat beside Thomas.Then away they started，and，although Dan obeyed Hucks more willingly than any other driver，the Major and Uncle John walked 'cross—lots and reached the hotel a good ？fteen minutes in advance of the equipagea.
The Millville Hotel depended almost entirely for patronageb upon the commercial travelers who visited the place periodically to sell goods to the merchants，and these did not come too often，because trade was never very energetic and orders never very large.Bob West boarded at the hotel，and so did Ned Long，a "farm hand，"who did sundryc odd jobs for anyone who needed him，and helped pay his "keep"by working for Mrs.Kebble when not otherwise engaged.
Mrs.Kebble was the landlady，and a famous cook.Kate Kebble，a slatternlyd girl of sixteen，helped her mother do the work and waited on the table.Chet Kebble，the landlord，was a silent old man，with billy—goat whiskers and one stray eye，which，being constructed of glass，usually assumeda slanting gaze and refused to follow the direction of its fellow.Chet minded the billiard—room，which was mostly patronized Saturday nights，and did a meagera business in fire insurance；but he was "so eternal lazy an'shifless，"as Mrs.Kebble sharply asserted，that he was considered more a "hanger—onb"of the establishment than its recognized head.
The little rooms of the hotel were plainly furnished but maintained with exceptional neatness.
The one in the east corner of the second floor met with the approval of Uncle John and the Major，and was promptly engaged.It was cheerful and sunny，with outlooks on the lake and the village，and contained a lounge as well as the bed.
When the invalid arrived，he was assisted to this apartment and installed as its permanent occupant.
"Any baggage？"asked Mr.Merrick.
"There's a small trunk lying at the Junction，"said Joe；"but it contains little of importance.""Well，make yourself at home，my boy，and get wellat your leisure，"remarked Uncle John."Mrs.Kebble has promised to look after you，and the Major and I will stop in now and then and see how you progress."Then he went out，engaged Nick Thorne to go to theJunction for the boy's trunk，and selected several things at the store that he thought might be useful to the invalid.Afterward he marched home again beside the Major，feeling very wellapleased with his morning's work.
When the girls reached home late in the afternoon，they were thrown into a state of great excitement by the news，brie？y related by their uncle，that Joseph Wegg had returned to Millville "considerably smashed"by an automobile accident，and was now stopping at the village hotel for repairs.
They refrained from making remarks upon the incident until they were alone，when the secret council of three decided to make Joe Wegg's acquaintance as soon as possible，to discover what light the young man might be able to throw upon the great mystery.
"Do you know，girls，"said Louise，impressively，"it almost seems as if fate had sent Joe Wegg here to be an instrument in the detection of the murderer and robber of his poor father.""If Joe knew about it，why didn't he track the villain downhimself？"inquired Patsy.
"Perhaps he hasn't suspected the truth，"said Beth."Often those who are closely concerned with such tragedies do not observe the evidences of crime as clearly as outsiders.""Where did you get that information？"demanded Patsy.
"From one of Anna Doyle Oppenheim's detective stories，"answered Beth，seriously."I've been reading up on such things，lately.""Detective stories，"said Louise，reflectively，"are only useful in teaching us to observe the evidences of crime.Thiscase，for example，is so intricate and unusual that only by careful thought，and following each thread of evidence to its end，can we hope to bring the criminal to justice.""That seems to me conceited，"observed Miss Doyle，composedly."Detective stories don't have to stick to facts；or，rather，they can make the facts to be whatever they please.So I don't consider them as useful as they are ornamental.And this isn't a novel，girls；it's mostly suspicion and slander.""You don't seem able to be in earnest about anything，"objected Beth，turning a little red.
"But I try to be."said Patricia.
"We are straying froma the subject now under discussion，"remarked Louise."I must say that I feel greatly encouraged by the sudden appearance of the Wegg boy.He may know something of his father's former associates that will enable us to determine the object of the murder and who accomplished it.""Captain Wegg was killed over three years ago，"suggestedMiss Doyle，recovering easily from her rebuff."By this time the murderer may have died or moved to Madagascar.""He is probably living within our reach，never suspectingthat justice is about to overtake him，"asserted Louise."We must certainly go to call upon this Wegg boy，and draw from him such information as we can.I am almost certain that the end is in sight.""We haven't any positive proof at all，yet，"observedPatsy，musingly.
