“Yes, and you must be careful not to say anything about having seen us. If you do, we may not be able to come.”
“I won’t tell,” Etta promised solemnly.
Hastily saying goodbye, the girls slipped out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the second floor. As they entered their own room they could hear Cora and Henry Sully moving about on the floor below.
“They certainly finished their housecleaning quickly enough,” Kitty observed.
Doris took care to close the door and then, dropping down on the bed beside her chum, regarded her soberly.
“It’s my candid opinion that was only an excuse, Kit. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were hunting for something in the Misses Gates’s rooms.”
“But what?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. Say! You don’t suppose it could have been those two envelopes he put in his suitcase?”
“It might have been.”
“Why didn’t we look in the suitcase when we were there? If Cora and Henry are stealing, we ought to know it!”
“We wouldn’t have discovered much if we had looked,” Kitty declared. “I noticed those envelopes were sealed.”
“Yes, that’s so. We really haven’t any excuse for opening sealed envelopes. If we did, it would be just our luck that whatever it was belonged to Henry after all.”
“He was up to some mischief today, Dory. You remember how guilty he looked when we met him on the stairs. And he’s the laziest man alive. It isn’t likely he’d start out to clean house unless he had been told to do it.”
“No, he was hunting for something, all right. I wonder if it could have been—”
She did not finish, for Kitty caught her by the hand and dragged her from the bed.
“The ruby ring!” she exclaimed. “Maybe that was what they were after!”
Anxiously she felt under the mattress and when her hand failed to touch the box, began to paw frantically at the blankets to get them out of the way.
“Here, don’t tear that bed to pieces,” Doris scolded. “Let me find the ring.”
She ran her hand under the mattress and to Kitty’s intense relief, brought forth the tiny box.
“I wish the Misses Gates had taken their ring,” she sighed. “I’ve lost five pounds since we started looking after it.”
“The ring is the least of my troubles just now,” Doris told her. “I’m convinced that Henry and Cora are involved in a plot against the Misses Gates, but just what it is I haven’t been able to fathom.”
“Hadn’t we better tell the ladies everything?”
“We’re in rather a delicate position, Kit. The Sullys are trusted servants and Azalea and Iris might believe them before they would us.”
“Then what are we going to do?”
“Let’s keep close watch of Cora and Henry and wait for them to show their hand. If they try to get away, we can expose them, and then if they’re caught red-handed, the Gates sisters will have to believe us.”
“That’s probably the best way,” Kitty agreed. Replacing the ring under the mattress, they went downstairs. They were just in time to see Ronald Trent driving away from the mansion after depositing the old ladies at their door.
Entering the living room, Azalea and Iris sank down into the nearest chairs without bothering to remove their hats. They appeared agitated and exhausted but offered no explanation for their condition. Doris and Kitty guessed that Ronald had wheedled money from them and perhaps had abused them for not giving him more.
“Ronald is coming back tomorrow,” Iris said presently, speaking to Doris. “You are quite sure your messenger will be here with the money?”
“Why, yes, I feel sure Jake will come. I sent word several days ago.”
“I am so glad,” Iris murmured in relief. “Ronald is leaving tomorrow and we must have the money ready for him or lose the inheritance.”
“I see,” murmured Doris thoughtfully.
“We probably won’t have his company much longer, then,” surmised Kitty, winking coyly at Doris.
Azalea stroked her forehead as if perplexed and perhaps a bit worried.
“I never dreamed that money need cause us such concern. We cannot afford to lose this inheritance now. I have so much faith in the son of John Trent. I want him to go away happy and satisfied that we have not failed him.”
Doris pricked up her ears at this bit of information. So Ronald was leaving, too! It seemed that affairs certainly were destined to come to a climax on the following day. How glad she was that she had asked Jake to come. If only he did not fail her!
CHAPTER XXIII
An Accusation
On the following morning Doris and Kitty arose earlier than usual. They wandered about the grounds until time for breakfast, but when they were called to the dining room by Cora, the Misses Gates had not put in their appearance.
“You may as well sit down,” the housekeeper told them. “Things are getting cold and I’m in a hurry to get around this morning.”
“Really, we’d prefer to wait,” Doris told her. “It’s so unusual for the Misses Gates to be late. We’re usually the guilty ones.”
They were about to go outside again when they heard some one coming down the stairs. It was Azalea and the girls saw at once that she was dreadfully agitated. Iris came after her and she, too, was excited.
“Some one has been tampering with our things!” Azalea cried. “We have separate desks in our rooms. A few minutes ago when I went to get a check book from the pigeon hole, I found that everything had been rifled!”
“My desk is the same way,” Iris declared angrily.
“Was anything taken?” Doris questioned quietly.
“Yes, several important papers.”
Doris and Kitty, not greatly surprised at this news, glanced significantly at each other. The twins, observing them, regarded the girls rather sharply.
“Was any one here yesterday while we were gone?” Azalea questioned Cora who had remained in the room.
“No, ma’am. There wasn’t any one in that wing all day—except of course the young ladies.”
“What do you mean?” Doris demanded. “We never set foot in that part of the house.”
The housekeeper merely stared at them in feigned astonishment and shrugged her shoulders.
“I can’t understand who would want the papers,” Iris said quietly, but she looked queerly at Doris and Kitty. “Of course, the bonds may be more valuable than we thought.”
“In all the time I’ve been at the mansion nothing like this ever happened,” Cora murmured.
Kitty and Doris cast irritated glances at the housekeeper. They realized all too well that she was trying to build up an alibi for herself by calling attention to her past service.
“Perhaps it would clear up matters if you girls would tell the housekeeper what you were doing yesterday,” Azalea suggested in her gentle voice.
“Why—we weren’t doing much—of anything,” Kitty stammered.
The question embarrassed her. She could not very well tell the Misses Gates that she and Doris had taken it into their heads to explore every nook and cranny of the old mansion. It would appear to the ladies that they had