hasted away and shut himself in the telephone closet, as the servants, marshaled by Dixon and Elspeth, entered in a scared group. They had been taking tea in their own dining room when Elspeth burst in with the direful news. Eight of them were old employees—had been years in Mrs. Janney's service. Hannah, the cook, had been with her nearly as long as Dixon; Isaac, the footman, was her nephew. Dixon's large, heavy-jowled face was stamped with aghast concern; the kitchen maid was in tears. 

 Mrs. Janney addressed them like what she was—a general in command of her forces: 

 "My jewels have been stolen. Some time last night the safe was opened and they were taken. It is my order that every one of you stay in the house, not holding communication with any one outside, until the police have been here and made a thorough investigation. Your rooms and your trunks will have to be searched and I expect you to submit to it willingly with no grumbling." 

 Dixon answered her: 

 "It's what we'd expect, Madam. Me and Isaac both know the combination and we'd want to have our own characters cleared as much as we'd want you to get back your valuables." 

 Hannah spoke: 

 "We'd welcome it, Mrs. Janney. There's none of us wants any suspicion restin' on 'em." 

 Delia, the housemaid with the inflamed eye, took it up. She was a newcomer in the household, and in her fright her brogue acquired an unaccustomed richness: 

 "God knows I was in my room at nine, and not a move out of me till sivin the nixt mornin' and that's to-day." 

 Mr. Janney, issuing from the telephone closet, here interrupted them. He addressed his wife: 

 "It's all right. I got Kissam himself. He'll be here on the 5:30." 

 She answered with a nod and was turning for further instructions to Dixon when Suzanne entered from the balcony. Up to that moment Mr. Janney had forgotten all about his nocturnal vision; now it came back upon him with a shattering impact. 

 He felt his knees turn to water and his heart sink down to inner, unplumbed depths in his anatomy. He grasped at the back of a chair and for once his manners deserted him, for he dropped into it though his wife was standing. 

 "What's all 

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