Radnor's step sounded on the stair as he came running down—whistling I noted.
"Ah—Rad," the Colonel called from the office doorway. "You're a good sleeper."
Radnor stopped his whistle as his eye fell upon our faces, and his own took on a look of anxiety.
"What's the matter?" he asked. "Has anything happened?"
"It appears the ha'nt has robbed the safe."
"The ha'nt?" Rad's face went visibly white, and then in a moment it cleared; his expression was divided between relief and dismay.
"Oh!" he said, "you've missed the money? I meant to get down first and tell you about it, but overslept. I took a hundred dollars out of the safe last night because I wanted the cash—you had gone to bed so I didn't say anything about it. I will ride into the village this morning and get it out of the bank in time to pay the men."
"You took a hundred dollars," the Colonel repeated. "And did you take the securities also and the bag of coin?" He waved his hand toward the safe. Radnor's eye followed and his jaw dropped.
"I didn't touch anything but the roll of bills in the cash drawer. What's missing?"
"Five thousand dollars in bonds, a couple of insurance policies and one or two deeds—also the bag of coin. Mose saw the ha'nt in the night, and Arnold and I came down to investigate; we unfortunately neglected the office in our search, or we might have cornered him. Do you happen to remember whether or not you closed the safe after you took out the money, and would you mind telling me why you needed a hundred dollars in such a hurry that you couldn't wait until the bank opened?"