"Ghastly!"
"A light! A light!"
Another match sputtered, and one candle caught the flame and flung its expanding circles of light around them.
"It must have rolled to the floor," said Majendie's voice, among the first.
"Nonsense!" broke in Slade's powerful bass. "There are no carpets; we would have heard it. There is a second thief here. Every one must be searched. Mrs. Kildair, if you wish I'll call up my detective agency."
"No," said Mrs. Kildair instantly, and her voice had regained its calm. "I will attend to that myself."
She went quickly to the door into the bedroom, unlocked it, passed through, and locked it again. A moment later the impatient ring of a telephone was heard.
In the ill-lit studio the greatest confusion prevailed. Every one seemed, by a common impulse, to desire to escape to the farthest ends of the room, stumbling and bumping against one another in the obscurity. Some instinct impelled Beecher to Nan Charters' side. He took her arm with a strong, reassuring grip, expecting to find her still shaken with emotion; but, to his amazement, he found her entirely collected.
"Thank you, I am all right," she said, releasing herself, with a little smile.
"Are you sure?" he said doubtfully.