"No sir!—to-morrow night—I must look my best—so early to bed for me. But Henry, do be careful. What is the trouble down there?" she asked in her most professional tone of voice.
"Oh, he wants me to come! and this is the first time since—you know what I mean," he concluded.
"Take my advice, and have one of the men along," continued the girl. "I'd feel easier, Henry."
"Very well, I'll do it to please you."
And that was the last word she heard from him until the next day at noon.
When Updyke reached Dreamy Hollow everything was in turmoil. Parkins had been there and the master lay in a comatose condition, and perhaps dying.
At seven o'clock Jacques, the chauffeur, carried a tray of light food to his master who now ate alone in his private office. An hour later he would return for the tray, which had become the nightly habit. As Jacques opened the door, on his return for the tray the muzzle of a revolver was shoved in his face.
"Hands up!" whispered a man with a mask over his nose and forehead, a growth of black whiskers concealing the rest of his face.
Frightened beyond ability to shout the servant held up his hands, and was gagged in a jiffy and his hands tied behind his back. At the point of a revolver he was motioned to lie down on the deep cushioned lounge, and by the look of the man who held the weapon, he was convinced that he must obey or be killed.