Then they spoke with their aunt, Mrs.Lupin, and went to their papa.

The rapacity of those Tinleys for anything extraordinary was known to them, but they would not have conceived that their own discovery, their own treasure, could have been caught up so quickly.

If the Tinleys got possession of her, the defection of Mr.Pericles might be counted on, and the display of a phenomenon would be lost to them.
They decided to go down to Wilson's farm that very day, and forestall their rivals by having her up to Brookfield.

The idea of doing this had been in a corner of their minds all the morning: it seemed now the most sensible plan in the world.

It was patronage, in its right sense.