"See here, I'm not crazy—"
"You bet you're not," said the burglar, edging towards the door and changing the key.
"Hold up!" I cried in alarm, "don't be a fool. What I want is for you to get everything—everything, do you hear?"
"All right, I'll just go down and speak to him."
"Hold up—"
"I'll tell him."
"Wait," I cried, jumping out of bed in my desire to retain him.
At that moment a whistle came from below and with an exclamation of relief our burglar slammed the door and locked it. We heard him go down three steps at a time and rush out of the house.
"Now you've scared them away," said Clara, "with your idiotic humor."
I felt contrite and alarmed.