“Perhaps he came for the blue candlestick,” Lucile suggested.
“How could he?” demanded Florence. “How would he know we had it? What would he want of it? It’s only a curio. Belongs to the museum, I guess. Anyway, I’ll see to-morrow. I’m going to take it to the new museum and show it to one of the curators, a Mr. Cole. I met him at a party on the campus a short while ago.”
Suddenly Lucile sprang to her feet, then rushed to the other end of the room.
“Wha—what’s the matter?” demanded Marian.
“Going to prepare some more gas,” Lucile called back over her shoulder. “Nothing like having a little chemist in the family these days. Gas is almost as useful in times of peace as it was in the days of war.”
Next morning Marian showed the ladder to the aged dry dock keeper.
“No,” he said after examining it carefully, “I never saw that before. It’s new and not very heavy. Probably bought for the purpose and carried here. You say you didn’t see the man’s face?”
“Not much of it.”
“Wouldn’t recognize him?”
“Probably not.”