三个淘气的女孩决定捉弄一下曾经以卑鄙手段卖给她们三本书的佩吉。她们告诉佩吉丹的瓜比他的瓜便宜得多，以此激起佩吉的嫉妒之火，然后提议他去“打劫”丹的瓜地。在漆黑的晚上，三个女孩驾着马车偷溜出来，拉着佩吉在附近绕了几圈来到佩吉自己的瓜地。在夜幕的遮掩下，不明就里的佩吉误以为是丹的瓜地，毫不留情地用刀将一个个瓜全都破坏掉。
Joe Wegg made a rapid recovery，his strength returning under the in？uence of pleasant surroundings and frequent visits from Ethel and Uncle John's three nieces.Not a word was hinted to either the invalid or the school teacher regarding the inquiries Mr.Merrick was making about the deed to the Bogue timber lands，which，if found，would make the young couple independent.Joe was planning to exploit a new patent as soon as he could earn enough to get it introduced，and Ethel exhibited a sublimea con？dence in the boy's ability that rendered all question of money insigni？cant.
Joe's sudden appearance in the land of his birth and his generally smashed up condition were a nine days'wonderb in Millville.The gossips wanted to know all the whys and wherefores，but the boy kept his room in the hotel，or only walked out when accompanied by Ethel or one of the three nieces.Sometimes they took him to ride，as he grew better，and the fact that Joe "were hand an'glove wi'c the nabobs"lent him a distinction he had never before possessed.
McNutt，always busy over somebody else's affairs，was very curious to know what had caused the accident Joe had suffered.Notwithstandingd the little affair of the letter，in which he had not appeared with especial credit，Peggy made an effort to interview the young man that resulted ihis complete discom？turea.But that did not deterb him from indulging in various vivid speculations about Joe Wegg，which the simple villagers listened to with attention.For one thing，he confided to "the boys"at the store that，in his opinion，the man who had murdered Cap'n Wegg had tried to murder his son also，and it wasn't likely Joe could manage to escape him a second time.Another tale evolved from Peggy's fertile imagination was that Joe，being about to starve to death in the city，had turned burglar and been shot in the arm in an attempt at housebreaking.
"Wouldn't be s'prised，"said the agent，in an awedvoice，"ef the p'lice was on his track now.P'raps there's a reward offered，boys；let's keep an eye on him！"He waylaidc the nieces once or twice，and tried to secure from them a veri？cation of his somber suspicions，which they mischievously fostered.
The girls found him a source of much amusement，and relieved their own disappointment at finding the "Wegg Mystery"a pricked bubble by getting McNutt excited over many sly suggestions of hidden crimes.They knew he was harmless，for even his neighbors needed proof of any assertion he made；moreover，the investigation Uncle John was making would soon set matters right；so the young ladies did not hesitate to "have fun"at the little agent's expense.
One of McNutt's numerous occupations was raising a "patch"of watermelons each year on the lot back of the house.These he had fostered with great care since the plants had ？rst sprouteda through the soil，and in these late August days two or three hundreds of fine，big melons were just getting ripe.He showed the patch with much pride one day to the nieces，saying：
"Here's the most extry—？ne melling—patch in this county，ef I do say it myself.Dan Brayley he thinks he kin raise mellings，but the ol'fool ain't got a circumstance to this.Ain't they beauties？""It seems to me，"observed Patsy，gravely，"thatBrayley's are just as good.We passed his place this morning and wondered how he could raise such enormous melons.""'Normous！Brayley's！""I'm sure they are ？ner than these，"said Beth.
"Well，I'll be jiggered！"Peggy's eyes stared as they had never stared before."Dan Brayley，he's a miser'ble ol'skin？intb.Thet man couldn't raise decent mellings ef he tried.""What do you charge for melons，Mr.McNutt？"inquiredLouise.
"Charge？Why—er—fifty cents a piece is my price to nabobs；an'dirt cheap at that！""That is too much，"declared Patsy."Mr.Brayley says he will sell his melons for ？fteen cents each.""Him！Fifteen cents！"gasped Peggy，greatly disappointed."Say，Brayley's a disturbin'element in these parts.He oughter go to jail fer asking ？fteen cents fer them mean little mellings o'his'n.""They seem as large as yours，"murmured Louise.
"But they ain't.An'Brayley's a cheat an'a rascal，while a honester man ner me don't breathe.Nobody likes Brayley 'round Millville.Why，on'y las'winter he called me a meddlera—in public！—an'said as I shot off my mouth too much.Me！""How impolite.""But that's Dan Brayley.My mellings at ？fty cents is better 'n his'n at ？fteen.""Tell me，"said Patsy，with a smile，"did you ever rob amelon—patch，Mr.McNutt？""Me？I don't hev to.I grow 'em.""But the ones you grow are worth fifty cents each，are they not？""Sure；mine is.""Then every time you eat one of your own melons you eat ？fty cents.If you were eating one of Mr.Brayley's melons you would only eat ？fteen cents.""And it would be Brayley's fifteen cents，too，"addedBeth，quickly.
Peggy turned his protruding eyes from one to the other，and a smile slowly spread over his features.
"By jinks，let's rob Brayley's melling—patch！"he cried."All right；we'll help you，"answered Patsy，readily."Oh，my dear！"remonstrated Louise，not understanding."It will be such fun，"replied her cousin，with eyesdancing merrily."Boys always rob melon—patches，so I don't see why girls shouldn't.When shall we do it，Mr.McNutt？""There ain't any moon jest now，an'the nights is dark as blazes.Let's go ternight.""It's a bargain，"declared Patsy."We will come for you inthe surrey at ten o'clock，and all drive together to the back of Brayley's yard and take all the melons we want.""It'll serve him right，"said Peggy，delightedly."Ol'Dancalled me a meddler onc't—in public—an'I'm bound t'git even witha him.""Don't betray us，sir，"pleaded Beth.
