The big girl walked to the fireplace where a pile of kindling and firewood lay waiting. Having touched a match to this pile, she stood back to watch it break into a slow blaze, and then go roaring up the chimney.
“See!” she exclaimed. “How cozy we shall be in just a moment.”
“Ah, yes, yes, mon ami!” The slight one patted her cheek. “We shall indeed. But anon—”
The private door to the right closed with a slight rush of air. The slim one had vanished.
The stout girl’s gown revealed a powerful chest. Every curve of her well-formed body suggested strength, while the blonde-haired one, with all her slender shapeliness, seemed little more than a child—and a girl, at that. Yet, one cannot fully forget the dress suit that at this moment must rest upon a hanger somewhere behind that closed door.
“Well, now tell me about it,” said the stout one, as, some moments later, the blonde one reappeared in a heavy dressing gown and sat down before the fire.
“A pearl necklace was stolen,” the slight one said in a quiet tone. “It was worth, oh, untold sacks of gold. Mon Dieu! How is one to say how much? Since I was near, I was suspected. Who can doubt it? I bolted. In the darkness I concealed myself in the drapes that seemed to hide a window and did not.”
“But why did you run? You could not have done worse.”
“But, mon Dieu! There was talk of searching us. Could I be searched?”
“No.” A broad smile overspread the stout girl’s face. “No, you could not.”