Mr. Janney squared round, stared at her, and ejaculated in feeble denial: "Oh no!" "Oh yes," she answered with the same note of grim control, "Come and see." When he saw, his old veined hands shaking as they dropped the rifled cases, he turned and blankly faced his wife who was watching him with a level scrutiny. "Mary!" was all he could falter. "Mary, my dear!" "Last night," she nodded, "when we were out. The place was almost empty. I'll call the servants." She went to the foot of the stairs and called Elspeth, old Sam, bewildered by this sudden catastrophe, emerging from the safe, as pale and shaken as if he was the burglar. "Last night, of course last night," he murmured, trying to think. "They were here at eight. I saw them, we saw them, anybody could have seen them." Elspeth appeared on the stairs and came running down, Mrs. Janney's orders delivered like pistol shots upon her advance: "I've been robbed. The safe's been opened and all the jewels are gone. Go and call the servants, every one of them. Tell them to come here at once." Elspeth knew enough to make no reply, and, with a terrified face, scudded past her mistress to the kitchen. Mrs. Janney, her attention attracted by sounds of distracted amazement from her husband, mobilized him: "Go and get Miss Maitland. We'll have to send for detectives. She can do it—she doesn't lose her head." Mr. Janney, too stunned to be anything but meekly obedient, trotted off down the hall to Miss Maitland's study, then stopped and came back: "She's in town; she hasn't got back yet." "Tch!" Mrs. Janney gave a sound of exasperation. "I'd forgotten it. How maddening! You'll have to do it. Go in there to the 'phone"—she indicated the telephone closet at the end of the hall. "Call up the Kissam Agency—that's the best. We had them when the bell boy at Atlantic City stole my sables. Get Kissam himself and tell him what's happened and to take hold at once—to come now, not to waste a minute. And don't you either—hurry!—" Mr. Janney
Prev.
Back
Top