“No, dear,” he replied as he kissed her. “There’s a sort of lull in my work now, and I had expected to be home for several days. But now I am at your service. Your aunt arrived yesterday to be with your mother over the holidays, so they probably won’t miss me much. I want you to tell me everything that has happened so far. Max said your watch was stolen, and you were hit on the head by a stone. How is your head now?”
“It’s all right, Daddy. And I bought a cheap watch, so I can get along without my good one, though of course I was especially fond of it. But come into the dining room and let’s have lunch while we talk. At least, if you don’t mind being the only man with a lot of women. Max objected to that.”
“No, I don’t mind,” he said. “And I am hungry.”
When they were seated at one of the small tables and had given their orders, Mary Louise began to tell her story.
“I was robbed that very first night,” she said. “Of course, it was pretty dark in my room, but not terribly so, for the street lights show up quite well. Anyhow, I could see well enough to distinguish a small man, with a cap and a black mask.
“Well, we had a watchman on guard that night, and the police got here in no time, but nobody saw the burglar get away. I insisted he was hiding in the hotel, but Mrs. Hilliard had it searched thoroughly, and we couldn’t find a man in the place. I didn’t dream then that it was a girl masquerading as a man. But that is the explanation: a girl named Pauline Brooks, who lived right across the hall from me. Of course, it was the easiest thing in the world for her to slip back into her own room and take off her disguise.”
“Did you search for the burglar in her room too?”
“Yes, we went there the very first thing. Pauline made us wait a minute or two—she said she had just gotten in from a dance and was half undressed.”
“And you believed her?”
“Yes, indeed. We had become quite good friends at supper that night.”