"I thought he just wanted a bit of Wyn.'s writing," she said, her lip curling a little. "It may be there was something deeper in it."
"But the paper was perfectly blank; there was nothing on it but two or three lines I had written when General Kafuro came in," said Wynnie, who had joined them.
"Did you look on the other side of the sheet?" demanded Colonel Selborne.
"Not once! And it may have been the very document they miss! Oh, what a foolish, foolish girl I was! I saw the paper lying there on a heap of other sheets, and supposed—oh, the General must have turned it over so that no one would see it when he was called out, expecting to return in a minute! That was it, I know it was—and it's all my fault!" Wynnie hid her face on her uncle's shoulder.
"There, there, dear, it was a natural enough mistake, and you really meant to do a kind and courteous thing in writing our regrets," said the Colonel, patting the brown head.
"Do you know what the missing paper was, sir?" asked Edith.
"It was a sketch of a portion of the fortifications at Sasebo, with specifications below—all in very fine handwriting and pale ink. I must see the officials at once," added Colonel Selborne, looking for his hat.
"Why not hunt up Señor Bellardo first?" suggested Edith eagerly. "Now I think of it, he must have left us just as you were first notified, and he didn't come near us the whole evening."
"I noticed that," said Wynnie, "and was glad of it. I can't bear him, and never could."