Jane stopped and listened. Granny’s room was directly over the dining room, and sounds carried easily through the thin walls of the old house.
“I don’t know, Granny,” said Jane. “Nobody in particular, I guess.”
But the old lady felt nervously for her stick.
“Heavens! It couldn’t be—Janey, just run to the head of the stairs and see. Minie, darling, do you see Granny’s stick? Run, Janey—just peep over.”
But the door of the dining room was half closed, and Janey, hanging over the bannister, had to wait several moments before she caught a glimpse of the stranger, whose low voice occasionally interrupted her father’s eloquent talk.
“My dear boy, we will go into this at length, later this evening. I see that you are tired now. You say you walked from Allenboro?”
“It was necessary. I did not discover that my money had been stolen until after I left the ship.”
“Did Mr. Morse know of your misfortune?”
“No. I did not tell him.”
Then Jane caught her first glimpse of the speaker, as he took a step back toward the fireplace, and into her line of vision through the half opened door.