"What brought you here?" she questioned. "Did you make the noise I heard a while ago?"
"No, miss. I—er—I just came," stammered our hero. He knew not what to say.
"But I heard a noise. It was that which brought me downstairs. What are you doing here?"
"I came to see if—if your home was safe."
"To see if it was safe?"
"Yes. I was on the street a while ago and a man sneaked in here. Is he around?"
"I saw nobody. But I heard a noise, as I said before. I guess I had better investigate. Did the man look like a thief?"
"He looked like lots of men," answered Nelson noncommittally.
It must be confessed that our hero's head was in a whirl. What had become of Sam Pepper? Was it possible that he had robbed the mansion and made his escape without discovery? And if he was gone, should he expose the man who, good or bad, had cared for him so many years?
Gertrude was looking around for a match, and now she lit the gas and turned it up full. She had scarcely done so when her eyes rested on a ten-dollar gold piece lying in front of the safe.