"You brave little soul!"
"Oh, I'd risk anything for father," she said simply. "Once the box was back in its place, he would be safe from one horror, at any rate. The stones, though they are imitation, are worth several thousand pounds. Even if Caw found me out, I don't think he'd do anything terrible."
"But why should Caw suspect your—"
"He doesn't suspect—he knows! There are things about it I can't understand, but this morning my plan seemed the best possible. Before we went to bed father and I got slips of wood and jammed the box so tightly shut that you would have said it was locked—there was no key, you understand. Then—it was my idea—I got a little earth from a plant in the dining-room and made a few dirty marks on the carpet and window-sill. And I took the decanter and poured a lot of the whiskey out of the window, which I left open; and I put a soiled tumbler on the floor. And we broke the door of the cabinet where the box had been, and then we went up to bed, and I took the box with me."
Teddy stood up. "You perfect brick!" he cried; "I feel like cheering!"
She smiled the ghost of a smile. "And now you've guessed that there was a fuss about burglars in the morning, and Father 'phoned Mr. Bullard that the box was gone—which was not quite true, but as true as Mr. Bullard deserved—and Mr. Bullard came furious to the house, and left vowing vengeance on the dreadful-looking man who had unlocked the box the night before. So you see my poor little plan worked so far—only so far."
"What you mean," said the young man softly, "is that Alan must not know—"
"Caw is bound to tell Alan, has probably told him already. Don't you see how hideous the situation has become for father—and Alan, too?"
"I do see it. But now—you know there's not a bigger-hearted chap in the world than Alan Craig—suppose your father were simply to tell him everything—"
"Oh, never!" she exclaimed. "That would mean betraying Mr. Bullard, and father is—no, I can't tell you more. And I'm terrified that Mr. Bullard may yet discover that the box was not stolen last night after all—he's so horribly clever."