"Pardon grant," said O'Haru. "Mees Brown arriving at morning. Mees Brown within."
"I think not, O'Haru," said Billie.
"Her honorable rainy coat," said Onoye, pointing to the fated blue mackintosh.
"Mary, what shall I say?" asked Billie in a low voice. "I don't know what to do."
"Ask them questions," said Mary.
From Onoye they gathered that Miss Brown had arrived soon after Mr. Campbell had left the house, and had gone straight to her room. She was very tired, she said, and would lie down until lunch time. Then she had gone to the library. Just before the storm they had tried to go in and close the shutters, but had found the door locked.
Billie formed a resolution to protect Nancy no matter what was to pay.
"It wasn't the real Miss Brown," she announced firmly. "It was some one dressed like her. The real Miss Brown is far away from here in the mountains."
The two Japanese women withdrew presently, and if they felt any curiosity about Nancy's strange appearance at the villa, they were careful to hide it.
The storm lasted all night and many times the two girls lying side by side on Billie's bed were prepared for the house to fall on top of them or to be carried away on the wind like chips of wood. But toward morning the wind died down and while the rain continued to flood the earth, they knew the worst was over. Billie drew back the bolts of their storm shutters and the fresh air came pouring in to revive their drooping spirits.