“Very well, sir,” Mrs. Peters answered. “Is that all?”
“Yes.”
Despite Green Eye’s eagerness to get at the safe, he remembered Prince’s alarming behavior, and narrowly watched the housekeeper’s face. He felt sure she could not deceive him. If she had the slightest suspicion that all was not as it should be, her face and manner would be sure to reveal the fact.
“No, she hasn’t tumbled to me,” he assured himself, as Mrs. Peters left the room. “It was not to be supposed that she would, but she must have thought the beast’s actions very peculiar. Thank Heaven, all of Carter’s assistants are away. I’ll have to keep the butler at a distance, too, as much as possible. I don’t believe he’s capable of seeing through the deception, but he’s a man, and he’s been with Carter for a good while. His eyes may be sharper than I think.”
He turned the key in the lock hurriedly, took off his coat, and began to roll up his sleeves.
“Now, where, does he keep the outfit?” he muttered, his pale, keen eyes darting about the room.
With quick steps he crossed to the cabinet and tried that, but, obviously, he did not find there what he sought, for he turned away from it with a snarl of impatience.
The desk was the next thing he examined, but it was not until he had picked the lock of one of the hitherto unopened drawers that he found what he sought—a small black bag.
When he had opened the latter, his lips curled into an ugly grin.