The papers fell from the attorney-general’s hands. He stood staring until astonishment began to yield to rage as he realized that a trap had been sprung upon him. The girl had risen instantly, and a smile played about her lips for a moment. She had vaguely surmised that Griswold would charge Bosworth with the loss of the papers, but her associate in the conspiracy had now given a turn to the matter that amused her.
“Barbara!” blurted the attorney-general, “what game is this—what contemptible trick is this stranger playing on you? Don’t you understand that your father’s absence is a most serious matter, and that in the present condition of this Appleweight affair it is likely to involve him and the state in scandal?”
Barbara regarded him steadily for a moment with a negative sort of gaze. She took a step forward before she spoke, and then she asked quickly and sharply,—
“What have you done, Mr. Bosworth, to avert these calamities, and what was in your mind when you pried open the drawer and took out those papers?”
“I was going to use the requisition——”
“How?”
“Why, I expected——”
“Mr. Bosworth expected to effect a coup for his own glory during the governor’s absence,” suggested Griswold.
“How?” and Barbara’s voice rang imperiously and her eyes flashed.
“Send this unknown person, this impostor and meddler away, and I will talk to you as old friends may talk together,” and he glared fiercely at Griswold, who stood fanning himself with his hat.