“But suppose something should happen?” persisted Shirley.
“What do you mean?” asked Jimmy, plainly startled.
“Oh, nothing,” said Shirley, and changed the subject abruptly.
“Jimmy,” she said a few moments later, “I wish you would go up in the loft and see how much hay there is up there.”
“All right, Miss,” said the boy, and reached for his coat, which hung over the stall door.
“You don’t need the coat,” said Shirley. “Hurry up, please. Dad is anxious to know right away.”
Without another word, but with a sidelong glance at the coat, Jimmy hastened to obey. He clambered up the ladder quickly.
Hardly had his hand disappeared when Shirley stepped quickly forward and took up the coat. Rapidly she explored the pockets, one after another, and, at last, drawing forth a small piece of paste-board, she gave a little cry of triumph.
“I have it,” she whispered to Mabel.
She slipped the card into her dress, and hastily put the coat back where she had found it. She was leaning over the stall door talking to Gabriel when Jimmy came down the ladder.