She had no idea what danger threatened, but she knew from Helen’s voice that it must be something grave, and that the packet must be safely concealed.
It was a thick parcel,—an envelope so full of folded papers that it was too bulky to place between the leaves of a book, which was Patty’s first impulse.
She looked thoughtfully about. She mustn’t stand holding it! The danger, whatever it was, might come at any minute. Helen’s tone commanded instant action.
A photograph album lay on a side table. This was not usually in evidence, but Patty and Helen had brought it from an old storeroom to look at the old-fashioned portraits in it. It was a large volume, holding pictures of “cabinet size.”
In response to a sudden inspiration, Patty opened the album and extracted six of the photographs. This left a hollow space quite big enough to admit the insertion of the envelope.
She put it in, clasped the big brass fastenings of the old plush album, and laid it back on the table, with two more books carelessly on top of it.
She heard a ring at the door, and suspecting trouble, she quickly tossed the six pictures she held in a desk drawer, under some old papers. She heard a few words in the hall, and then Jane ushered in a man in khaki uniform.
“Good morning,” he said, pleasantly, “Miss Fairfield?”
“Yes,” said Patty, with a courteously inquiring glance.
“Sorry to intrude on your time; won’t detain you but a minute. I’m Sergeant Colton, and I’m sent by Captain Farnsworth for the packet he left with you for me.”