"No, you haven't!" said Alexander promptly. "What about that half of the diary that we found in the beam! Put us wise to that!"
"Well, of course, that's one of the things we can't be absolutely certain about, but can only guess at. The steward had gone off with that half, and Alison never saw it again. She always wondered what became of it. We think, though, that the steward must have come back that night looking for the slip of paper that he had forgotten or lost. He evidently thought it might be left in his hiding-place, and was on the way to hunt it up. Then he had the encounter with Alison, and got hold of that half of her diary. He must have taken it to the cellar, examined it hurriedly, written on it that mysterious sentence, and thrown it into the opening where he hid his things. Probably he looked for his paper, and, not finding it, thought he'd dropped it elsewhere. We think likely he didn't suspect that any one had discovered the place in the beam. That's the only explanation that seems possible."
"Yes," objected Alexander, still unconvinced, "but how came it to remain there all that time untouched? Didn't they go and search the beam afterward? Didn't any one else ever know about it?"
"No, it seems that Phœbe and Alison, in their hurry that morning, did not think to tell Washington where they had found the paper. They didn't have time—everything had to be done so quickly. They just gave it to him and told who the conspirators were. Then Phœbe was sent right off, and Alison went away, too, and, of course, nobody else ever knew about it or suspected it. So it lay through all the years till Alexander unearthed it! Isn't it too wonderful!"
"Then that gink of a steward must have beat it out for keeps!" commented Alexander. "Guess he didn't think it'd be healthy for him to shine about those parts again, after he'd got away with all the swag! He was some pippin, he was!"
"Well," ended Margaret, "now you know all the mystery and the history of Alison Trenham, and I hope you're satisfied!"
"Satisfied!" ejaculated Bess, sitting up very straight. "When you haven't said one word about the sapphire signet—the most important thing of all? I guess not!"
"I was wondering when you'd begin to be curious about that," commented Margaret, with her tantalizing smile. "Since you seem a little anxious on the subject, I'll go on with the second half of the story. Well, as I've hinted, we didn't say a word about the signet to the old lady, and she didn't mention it in her account either. But when she had finished, Corinne asked her if there was anything else she knew of that had troubled Alison's mind—whether she'd ever heard her grandmother speak of something she'd lost. And at that Mrs. Jewell looked awfully surprised, and said no, her grandmother had never spoken of anything else, and what did we mean?