The girls swept to the window in time to see a small man running down the drive, closely pursued by Walter Pennington. And, as the man fled, he dropped a valise from which trailed a length of lace. The girl, Inez, caught a reflection of the scene in a mirror of the bedroom.
"Zat is him—ze mysterious man!" she cried.
"Oh, if he has taken my papairs!" and she seemed about to leap from the bed.
CHAPTER VII
NEW PLANS
"You mustn't do that!" cried Cora. "Hold her, girls!"
"But ze man—my papairs!" fairly screamed the Spanish visitor.
"He has nothing—Walter is after him—he doesn't seem to have taken anything," said Belle, soothingly, as Mrs. Kimball pressed back on the pillow the frail form of the eager girl. Inez struggled for a moment, and then lay quiet.
But she murmured, over and over again:
"Oh, if he has—if he has—my father—he may never see ze outside of ze prison again!"