“Just a minute, Miss,” he said, “I believe a message for you just came in. I’ll see if it has left the office.”
He returned a minute later, handing her a sheet of paper. Madge eagerly scanned the typewritten message which to her astonishment was from Jack French:
“LEARNED OF BURNETT KIDNAPPING THROUGH NEWSPAPERS. CAN I HELP? VACATION STARTS TWENTY-SEVENTH. FREE TO COME.”
“If that isn’t just like him!” she thought. “You can always depend on Jack when there’s trouble on hand. I do wish he were here! Well, why not? He said before I left he might come to Cheltham Bay, and surely this is the psychological time.”
She snatched up a form from the desk and after some difficulty composed a message which satisfied her. She paid for both telegrams, a rather large sum since she had not been sparing of words, and after inquiring the name of a reliable jeweler, left the office.
She walked slowly up the street and presently came to the firm of Dewitt and Prager, which she had been informed was the highest grade jewelry store in the city. The shop was nearly empty. As she entered, a clerk came at once to wait upon her.
Madge felt slightly embarrassed as she fished in her pocketbook for the jade pin. Now that she was in the jewelry shop her mission seemed somewhat silly.
Nevertheless, she placed the pin on the counter before the clerk.
“I’d like to find out if this has any value,” she said. “I suppose it’s only a cheap pin but I wanted to make sure.”
The man picked it up, and looked quickly at Madge who felt increasingly uncomfortable. She watched his face as he peered at the stone through a special eye glass.