Then he gave it up as a hopeless case and led the way back into the other room.
CHAPTER XVIII.
SADIE BECOMES A CONSPIRATOR.
“Ah! Be careful! Don’t go out there!” was the warning that had stopped Sadie Burton in full flight for the treasure room into which her cousin and Travers Gladwin had vanished.
She was more than half way to the door in obedience to Helen’s command when Whitney Barnes spoke. He was sitting on the arm of one of the great upholstered chairs in a gracefully negligent attitude twirling his gold key chain about his finger. He spoke softly but with a mysterious emphasis that took hold and held the retreating miss fast in her tracks. She turned with a frightened:
“Why?”
“Because I would be all alone,” he said solemnly. Then as Sadie took another hurried step forward: “Oh, no, you wouldn’t desert me––you wouldn’t be so cruel! How would you like to have some one desert you?”
This mystic remark caused Sadie to turn around and take a step toward him. She said timidly: