But after that, should Brutus be invited to the old lady's house, his actions would be carefully watched lest his acquisitive propensities again get the better of his honesty.
Thad was highly delighted with the result of their "raid" on Brutus' playhouse.

On the way to Madame Pangborn's, he boldly accused his chum of having set up a little game.
"Now I wouldn't be at all surprised, Hugh," he went on to say, "if you dropped your knife in that cabin on purpose when we were looking around this afternoon; own up and tell me if that isn't true." "Yes, I did," admitted the other, laughingly.

"Now that the thing has turned out even better than I dared hope, I'm willing to confess that a sudden suspicion gripped me about that time.

When I saw what an astonishing assortment of old junk that boy had collected, I knew he had a mania for picking up things.

And the idea struck me that since he sometimes was allowed to stay for an afternoon with his mother at Madame Pangborn's house, what if the temptation came to him to take one of those pretty spoons to add to his assortment?
Why, the more I thought of the idea the stronger it hit me.