“But, daughter! How did I know we were to be frightened to death by—burglars!”
“Burglars!” chorused the boys.
“Yes,” put in Miss Steel, “we distinctly heard them in the dining room, and when I had the courage to attempt to go in they—blew out the lamp!”
“Mercy!” exclaimed Belle, recoiling from the window she had been leaning against.
“It might have been—a draft of wind,” suggested Walter.
“But a draft could not knock over a chair,” Miss Steel told him, somewhat indignantly. “We would have gone over to the hotel if we could have left any word for you, but, you see, we could not go inside, even to write a note.”
A thought flashed through Cora’s mind. The mention of “note” had inspired it. She drew Bess and Belle aside.
“I wouldn’t wonder if these runaway girls came back,” she whispered. “We must go inside and see if they—left a note.”
“Go inside!” repeated Belle. “I guess not.”
“Come on, boys! Let’s investigate,” said Walter to the others, opening the hall door and striking a match as he did so. He lighted the hanging lamp in the little hall, while the women, with Bess and Belle, actually left the porch and went out on the sidewalk to be at a safe distance.