Mrs. Raffles: Being the Adventures of an Amateur Crackswoman

by John Kendrick Bangs

"I want you during her absence to go with me to her room—"

The situation began to dawn on me.

"Yes!" I cried, breathlessly. "And search her trunks?"

"HER SLIGHT LITTLE FIGURE CONVULSED WITH GRIEF"

"No, Bunny, no—the eaves," whispered Henriette. "I gave her that room in the wing because it has so many odd cubby-holes where she could conceal things. I am inclined to think—well, the moment she leaves the city let me know. Follow her to the station, and don't return till you know she is safely out of town and on her way to Providence. Then our turn will come."

Oh, that woman! If I had not adored her before I—but enough. This is no place for sentiment. The story is the thing, and I must tell it briefly.

I followed out Henriette's instructions to the letter, and an hour later returned with the information that Fiametta was, indeed, safely on her way.

"Good," said Mrs. Raffles. "And now, Bunny, for the Gaster jewels."