Page:The Van Roon (IA thevanroon00snaiiala).pdf/153

 "You've been at my box," she stormed.

He looked at her with a kind of calm pensiveness over the top of his spectacles.

"If you lock away things, my girl, that don't belong to you, I'm afraid you'll have to stand the racket." So lofty, so severe was the old man's tone that for the moment June was staggered.

"It's stealing," she cried, returning hectic to the attack.

Uncle Si waggled a magisterial finger in her face. "Niece," he said, with a quietude which put her at a disadvantage, "I must ask you not to make an exhibition of yourself. Have the goodness to hold your tongue."

June maintained the charge. "The picture's mine. William gave it me. You've broken open my box and stolen it."

S. Gedge Antiques, after a mild side glance in the direction of William, proceeded to fix a glacial eye upon his niece. "What I have to say is this." His tone was more magisterial than ever. "At present, my girl, you are under age, and as long as you live with me the law regards me as your guardian. And, as I have told William already, in my opinion you are not a fit and proper person to have the care of a thing so valuable as this picture may prove to be. Mind you,"—the old fox gave William a meaningful look—"I don't go so far as to say that it is valuable, but I say that it might be. And, in that case, I can't allow a mere ignorant girl from the country who, in a manner of speaking, doesn't know the letter A from a pig's foot to accept it from you, my boy. It's very generous of you, and I hope she's thanked you properly, but if I allow her