“When the young man went to bed the burglars entered the room, not knowing that Bernice was watching at the door, of course. Anton was not sound asleep, and sprang up at the noise they made. He was instantly grappled with, and finally knocked down, though not rendered entirely unconscious, with a pair of iron knuckles. While he lay on the floor, fearing for his life, the men, who had seen him enter the closet with the diamonds, searched about and secured the gems.
“All this time Bernice was listening at the door, afraid to call out for fear of inviting her own death at the hands of the burglars, resolved not to leave her post of observation, for the reason that she had not entirely given up the notion of securing the diamonds. She is a quick-witted girl, this French maid, and her brain was busy with a plan as she stood at the door in the dark hall.
“She regarded the arrival of the burglars as opportune. Their presence in the house would account for the murder and for the disappearance of the diamonds. Besides, she had a plan for securing the diamonds. When the burglars left Anton’s room, she darted through it and climbed down the ladder in pursuit. Anton, though not fully recovered, knew who it was that was passing through without stopping to offer assistance, and at once decided that Bernice was in league with the robbers, and had brought them to the house.
“Bernice followed the burglars to the railroad station. Here they met a third man, the agent of a diamond merchant, and she saw the diamonds placed in charge of the third man, locked in a trunk, and finally checked for passage on the train. I am still at a loss to know why this was done, but I think the merchant considered the gems safer there than in the pocket of any one of the three men.
“Now, Bernice had a lover on the train which would carry the diamonds away, and that lover was no less a person than the baggageman in whose charge the diamonds were placed. When the train halted at the station she called him from his car, told him what was going on, and the two went to where the three men were still haggling over the disposition of the diamonds. On the way to New York this baggageman opened the trunk and stole the diamonds. The sailors believed that the agent stole them, the agent believed that the sailors gave him a counterfeit package, and Hartley, the merchant, sided with the agent. So, you see, it all made a pretty mess.
“Yesterday in New York,” continued Nick, “the baggageman stored the diamonds in a deposit vault on Broadway, and when the train came through here not long ago, he handed the key to the box to Bernice. I have it here now.”
“But the baggageman, he have escape!” cried Bernice. “I have nothing to do with it all! I am free—innocent!”
At that moment Nick was called to the telephone. Before leaving the room he turned to Anton and Bernice.
“I am going to leave you here,” he said, “although both are under arrest. I don’t know but you will try to escape. If you do it will be the worse for you both. Under the circumstances, if you behave well, I am inclined to be very lenient with you. Will you remain here until I return?”
They both promised. For the first time a gleam of hope shone in Anton’s eyes.