"I'd like to."
She led the way up a narrow stairway from the front hall to a rear room on the second floor. She opened the door with a key which she took from her pocket, and stepped inside.
"Land sakes!" she exclaimed.
The reason was clear. The room was all upset. The contents of a trunk, which stood in one corner, were scattered upon the floor, the drawers of the bureau were open, and a writing desk near the window had evidently been thoroughly searched. Every drawer was open, and papers were scattered upon the floor.
"Land sakes!" she repeated. "Gertie, come here."
Gertie came, and swept the room with the unsurprised and comprehending eye of the practical young woman of to-day.
"Someone got in through the window," she said briefly. "You know that clasp doesn't catch, Anybody could get in. Well, I hope they are satisfied now!" From her tone I understood that she hoped just the opposite.
"We might all have been murdered in our beds!" exclaimed the mother.
"Oh, it wasn't us they were after," said Gertie carelessly. "It was him! I tell you,--" She stopped suddenly and bit her lip.
"But who could ever have known that the catch didn't work?" demanded the mother in a baffled manner.