I just wish she could catch the Croppers once . '' `` You have n't any proof that it is really them , Mary , '' objected her husband , `` and you should n't make reckless accusations before folks . '' `` I know very well it is them , '' retorted Mrs. Baxter , `` and so do you , Adoniram . And Mrs. Charley knows it too , although she ca n't prove it -- more 's the pity ! I do n't say Isaac Cropper steals those plums with his own hands . But he knows who does -- and the plums go into Mehitable Cropper 's preserving kettle ; there 's nothing surer . '' `` You see , Miss Maxwell , it 's this way , '' explained Mr. Baxter , turning to Esther . `` Mrs. Charley Cropper 's husband was Isaac 's brother . They never got on well together , and when Charley died there was a tremendous fuss about the property . Isaac acted mean and scandalous clear through , and public opinion has been down on him ever since . But Mrs. Charley is a pretty smart woman , and he did n't get the better of her in everything . There was a strip of disputed land between the two farms , and she secured it . There 's a big plum tree growing on it close to the line fence . It 's the finest one in Maitland . But Mrs. Charley never gets a plum from it . '' `` But what becomes of them ? '' asked Esther . `` They disappear , '' said Mr. Baxter , with a significant nod . `` When the plums are anything like ripe Mrs. Charley discovers some day that there is n't one left on the tree . She has never been able to get a scrap of proof as to who took them , or she 'd make it hot for them .
But nobody XXXXX Maitland has any doubt in his own mind that Isaac Cropper knows where those plums go . ''
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