"No," she said, on her return, "it isn't on my dress. I knew it couldn't be,—I should have seen it when I undressed. Besides, I know I took it off here, only a moment after I tried it on. I merely looked at it an instant, and then I unhooked it and laid it on this table."

"But at first, you weren't sure that you did place it on that table, Miss Fayre," came the insinuating voice of Fenn once more.

"Yes, I did, I'm sure of it now," and Dolly's white face was drawn with anxiety.

"Think again." counselled the secretary.

"Maybe you took it off, and absent-mindedly slipped it in your pocket."



CHAPTER XIII

SUSPICIONS

Dotty turned on Fenn like a little fury. "What do you mean?" she cried. "Are you accusing Dolly of stealing that thing?"

"There, there," said Mr. Forbes, placatingly, "Of course, Fenn didn't mean that. Not intentionally, that is. But without thinking, couldn't—"

"No, she couldn't!" stormed Dotty. "Dolly Fayre doesn't go around pocketing people's jewels unconsciously! She isn't a kleptomaniac, or whatever you call it! She did exactly as she says she did. She laid that earring on that table."

"Then why isn't it there now?" asked Fenn.

"Because somebody else moved it. Oh, don't ask me who. I don't KNOW who! And I don't CARE who! But Dolly put it there, and whoever took it away from there can find it! Perhaps YOU, can, Mr. Fenn!"

The secretary looked at the angry girl with an irritating smile.

"I wish I might, Miss Rose. But I've searched the room thoroughly, as you all have, too. It can't be HERE, you know."

"I'll tell you," said Alicia, eagerly, and then she described how in her home a photograph had slipped down behind the mantel and had been lost for years.

"Let us see," and Mr. Forbes went to the mantel in the room. But there was not the least mite of a crack between the shelf and the wall. Alicia's suggestion was useless.

"But," she said, "there might be that sort of a hiding-place somewhere else. Let's look all over."

The girls tried hard to find some crack or crevice in any piece of furniture, into which the trinket might have slipped, but there was none. They felt down between backs and seats of chairs, looked behind cases of treasures, moved every book and paper that lay on the tables, even turned up the edges of rugs, and peeped under.

"It doesn't make any difference how much we look," Dotty declared, "we've just got to look more,—that's all. Why, that earring is in this room, and that's all there is about that! Now, it's up to us to find it. You know, after you search all the possible places, you have to search the impossible ones."

"I admire your perseverance," said Mr. Forbes, "but I can't hope it will be rewarded. It isn't as if we were hunting for a thing that somebody had purposely concealed, that would mean an exhaustive search. But we're looking for something merely mislaid or tossed aside, and if we find it, it will be in some exposed place, not cleverly hidden."

"Oh, I don't know, Uncle Jeff," said Bernice, "you know when Alicia's photograph slipped behind the mantel, that was deeply hidden, although not purposely."

"Yes, that's so," and Uncle Jeff looked questioningly from one girl to another.

It was impossible to ignore the fact that he deemed one of them responsible for the disappearance of the jewel, and until the matter was cleared up, all felt under suspicion. Fenn, too, was studying the four young faces, as if to detect signs of guilt in one of them.

At last he said, "Let us get at this systematically. Who took the earring first, when Mr. Forbes handed it out from the case?"

"I did," said Dotty, promptly. "I stood nearest to Mr. Forbes and he handed it to me. After I looked at it, I passed it to Alicia."

"No, you didn't," contradicted Alicia. "I didn't touch it."

"Why, yes, 'Licia," Dotty persisted, "you took it and said—"

"I tell you I didn't! I never handled the things at all! It was Bernice."

"I did have it in my hands," said Bernice, reflectively, "but I can't remember whether I took it from Dot or Alicia."

"I didn't touch it, I tell you!" and Alicia frowned angrily.

"Oh, yes, you did," said Dolly, "it was you, Alicia, who passed it on to me. And I took it—"

"You didn't take it from me, Dolly," and Alicia grew red with passion. "I vow I never touched it! You took it from Bernice."

"No," said Dolly, trying to think. "I took it from you, and I held it up and asked you how it looked."

"No, Doll, you asked me that," said Bernice, "and I said it was very becoming."

"You girls seem decidedly mixed as to what you did," said Mr. Fenn, with a slight laugh. "I think you're not trying to remember very clearly."

"Hold on, Fenn," said Mr. Forbes, reprovingly. "It's in the girls' favour that they don't remember clearly. If they tossed the thing aside carelessly, they naturally wouldn't remember."

"But, Mr. Forbes," and the secretary spoke earnestly, "would these young ladies toss a valuable gem away carelessly? They are not ignorant children. They all knew that the earring is a choice possession. I'm sure not one of them would toss it aside, unheeding where it might fall!"

This was perfectly true. None of the four girls could have been so heedless as that! They had carefully handled every gem or curio shown them, and then returned it to Mr. Forbes as a matter of course.

Fenn's speech was rather a facer. All had to admit its truth, and the four girls looked from one to another and then at Mr. Forbes. He was studying them intently.

Bernice and Dolly were crying. Alicia and Dotty were dry-eyed and angry-faced. If one of the four had a secret sense of guilt, it was difficult to guess which one it might be, for all were in a state of excitement and were well-nigh hysterical.

"Much as I regret it," Mr. Forbes began, "I am forced to the conclusion that one or more of you girls knows something of the present whereabouts of my lost jewel. I do not say I suspect any of you of wilful wrong-doing, it might be you had accidentally carried it off, and now feel embarrassed about returning it. I can't—I won't believe, that any of you deliberately took it with intent to keep it."

"We thank you for that, Mr. Forbes," and Dotty's tone and the expression of her face denoted deepest sarcasm. "It is a comfort to know that you do not call us thieves! But, for my part, I think it is about as bad to accuse us of concealing knowledge of the matter. I think you'd better search our trunks and suitcases! And then, if you please, I should like to go home—"

"No doubt you would, Miss Rose!" broke in Fenn's cold voice. "A search of your belongings would be useless. If one of you is concealing the jewel, it would not be found in any available place of search. You would have put it some place in the house, not easy of discovery. That would not be difficult."

"Be quiet, Fenn," said Mr. Forbes. "Girls, I'm not prepared to say I think one of you has hidden the jewel, but I do think that some of you must know something about it. How can I think otherwise? Now, tell me if it is so. I will not scold,—I will not even blame you, if you have been tempted, or if having accidentally carried it off, you are ashamed to own up. I'm not a harsh man. I only want the truth. You can't be surprised at my conviction that you DO know something of it. Why, here's the case in a nutshell. I handed that earring to you, and I never received it back. What can I think but that you have it yet? It is valuable, to be sure, but the money worth of it is as nothing to the awfulness of the feeling that we have an untrustworthy person among us. Can it be either of my two nieces who has done this wrong? Can it be either of their two young friends? I don't want to think so, but what alternative have I? And I MUST know! For reasons which I do not care to tell you, it is imperative that I shall discover who is at fault. I could let the whole matter drop, but there is a very strong cause why I should not do so. I beg of you, my dear nieces,—my dear young friends,—I beseech you, tell me the truth, won't you?"

Mr. Forbes spoke persuasively, and kindly.

Alicia burst into a storm of tears and sobbed wildly. Bernice, her face hidden in her handkerchief, was crying too.

Dotty sat stiffly erect in her chair, her little hands clenched, her big, black eyes staring at Mr. Forbes in a very concentration of wrath.

Dolly was limp and exhausted from weeping.

With quivering lips and in a shaking voice, she said:

"Maybe one of us is a kleptomaniac, then, after all."

"Ah, a confession!" said Mr. Fenn, with his cynical little smile. "Go on, Miss Fayre. Which one has the accumulating tendency?"

"You do make me so mad!" exclaimed Dotty, glaring at him. "Uncle Forbes, can't we talk with you alone?"

"Oh, no, little miss," said Fenn, "Mr. Forbes is far too easy-going to look after this affair by himself! He'd swallow all the stories you girls would tell him! I'll remain, if you please. Unless you have something to conceal, you can't object to my presence at this interesting confab."

Dolly came to Dotty's aid. She looked at the secretary with a glance of supreme contempt.

"It is of no consequence, Mr. Fenn," she said, haughtily, "whether you are present or not. Uncle Forbes, I agree with Dotty. You said yourself, you have an acquaintance who can't help taking treasures that are not his own. It may be that one of us has done this. But, even so, the jewel must be in the house. None of us has been out of the house since we were in this room yesterday afternoon. So, if it is in the house, it must be found."

"Ha! You HAVE hidden it securely, to be willing to have a thorough search of the house made!" and Fenn looked unpleasantly at her. "Own up, Miss Fayre; it will save a lot of trouble for the rest of us."

Dolly tried to look at the man with scorn, but her nerves gave way, and again she broke down and cried softly, but with great, convulsive sobs.

Dotty was furious but she said nothing to Fenn for she knew she would only get the worst of it.

"Come now, Dolly," said Mr. Forbes, in a gentle way, "stop crying, my dear, and let's talk this over. Where did you lay the earring when you took it from your dress?"

"On—on—the t-table," stammered Dolly, trying to stop crying. But, as every one knows, it is not an easy thing to stem a flood of tears, and Dolly couldn't speak clearly.

"Yes; what table?"

"This one," and Dotty spoke for her, and indicated the table by the south window.

"Where,—on the table?" persisted Uncle Jeff.

Dolly got up and walked over to the light stand in question.

"About here, I think," and she indicated a spot on the surface of the dull finished wood.

"Why didn't you hand it back to me?" queried Mr. Forbes, in a kind tone.

"I d-don't know, sir," Dolly sobbed again. "I'm sure I don't know why I didn't."

"I know," put in Dotty. "Because just then, Mr. Forbes showed us a bracelet that had belonged to Cleopatra, and we all crowded round to look at that, and Doll laid down the earring to take up the bracelet. We didn't suppose we were going to be accused of stealing!"

"Tut, tut," said Mr. Forbes. "Nobody has used that word! I don't accuse you of anything,—except carelessness."

"But when it comes to valuable antiques," interrupted Fenn, "it is what is called criminal carelessness."

"It WAS careless of Dolly to lay the earring down," said Mr. Forbes, "but that is not the real point. After she laid it down, just where she showed us, on that small table, somebody must have picked it up. Her carelessness in laying it there might have resulted in its being brushed off on the floor, but not in its utter disappearance."

"Maybe it fell out of the window," suggested Bernice, suddenly, "that window was open then, you know."

Mr. Forbes waited over to the table. "No," he said, "this stand is fully a foot from the window sill. It couldn't have been unknowingly brushed as far as that."

"Of course, it couldn't," said Fenn, impatiently. "You're making no progress at all, Mr. Forbes."

"Propose some plan, yourself, then," said Dotty, shortly; "you're so smart, suppose you point your finger to the thief!"

"I hope to do so, Miss Rose," and Fenn smirked in a most aggravating way. "But I hesitate to accuse anyone before I am quite sure."

"A wise hesitation!" retorted Dotty. "Stick to that, Mr. Fenn!"

She turned her back on him, and putting her arm round Dolly, sat in silent sympathy.

Suddenly Bernice spoke. She was not crying now, on the contrary, she was composed and quiet.

"Uncle Jeff," she said, "this is a horrid thing that has happened. I feel awfully sorry about it all, but especially because it is making so much trouble for Dolly and Dotty, the two friends that I brought here. Alicia and I belong here, in a way, but the others are our guests, as well as your guests. It is up to us, to free them from all suspicion in this thing and that can only be done by finding the earring. I don't believe for one minute that any one of us four girls had a hand, knowingly, in its disappearance, but if one of us did, she must be shown up. I believe in fairness all round, and while I'm sure the jewel slipped into some place, or under or behind something, yet if it DIDN'T,—if somebody did,—well,—steal it! we must find out who. I wouldn't be willing, even if you were, Uncle, to let the matter drop. I want to know the solution of the mystery, and I'm going to find it!"

"Bravo! Bernie, girl," cried her uncle, "that's the talk! As I told you I must know the truth of this thing,—never mind why, I MUST find it out. But how?"

"First," said Bernice, speaking very decidedly, but not looking toward the other girls, "I think all our things ought to be searched."

"Oh, pshaw, Bernie," said Alicia, "that would be silly! You know if any of us wanted to hide that earring we wouldn't put it in among our clothes."

"Why not?" demanded Bernice. "I can't imagine any of us having it, but if we have, it's by accident. Why, it might have caught in any of our dresses or sashes, and be tucked away there yet."

"That's so," and Dotty looked hopeful. "It could be, that as one of us passed by the table, it got caught in our clothing. Anyway, we'll all look."

"But don't look in your own boxes," objected Fenn. "Every girl must search another's belongings."

"I wonder you'd trust us to do THAT!" snapped Dotty, and Fenn immediately replied:

"You're right! It wouldn't be safe! I propose that Mrs. Berry search all your rooms."

"Look here, Fenn, you are unduly suspicious," Mr. Forbes remonstrated, mildly.

"But, sir, do you want to get back your gem, or not? You asked for my advice and help in this matter, now I must beg to be allowed to carry out my plans of procedure."

It was plain to be seen that Mr. Forbes was under the thumb of his secretary. And this was true. Lewis Fenn had held his position for a long time, and his services were invaluable to Jefferson Forbes. It was necessary that the collector should have a reliable, responsible and capable man to attend to the duties he required of a secretary, and these attributes Fenn fully possessed. But he was of a small, suspicious nature, and having decided on what course to pursue regarding the lost curio, he was not to be swerved from his path.

"Well, well, we will see," Mr. Forbes said, an anxious look wrinkling his forehead as he looked at the girls. "Run away now, it's nearly luncheon time. Don't worry over the thing. Each one of you knows her own heart. If you are innocent, you've no call to worry. If you are implicated, even in a small degree in the loss of my property, come to me and tell me so. See me alone, if you like. I will hear your confession, and if it seems wise, I will keep it confidential. I can't promise this, for as I hinted, I have a very strong reason for probing this affair to the very core. It is a mystery that MUST be cleared up!"



CHAPTER XIV

AT THE TEA ROOM

The girls went to their rooms to tidy up for luncheon, though there was some time before the meal would be announced.

By common consent the door was closed between the rooms, and on one side of it the two D's faced each other.

"Did you ever see such a perfectly horrid, hateful, contemptible old thing as that Fenn person?" exclaimed Dotty, her voice fairly shaken with wrath. "I can't see how Mr. Forbes can bear to have him around! He ought to be excommunicated, or whatever they do to terrible people!"

"He IS awful, Dotty, I don't wonder you gave it to him! But you mustn't do it. He's Mr. Forbes' right hand man, and whatever Uncle Jeff tells him to do, he'll do it. The idea of searching our trunks! I won't allow them to touch mine, I can tell you that!"

"Oh, Dolly, now don't be stubborn. Why, for you to refuse to let them look over your things would be the same as saying you had the thing hidden."

"Dorothy Rose! What a thing to say to me!"

"I'm not saying it to you! I mean, I am saying it to you, just to show you what other people would say! You know it, Dolly. You know Fenn would say you had the earring."

"But, Dotty, it must be somewhere."

"Of course, it must be somewhere,—look here, Dollyrinda, you don't know anything about it, do you? Honest Injun?"

"How you talk, Dot. How should I know anything about it?"

"But do you?"

"Don't be silly."

"But, DO you?"

"Dotty, I'll get mad at you, if you just sit there saying, 'But do you?' like a talking machine! Are you going to change your dress for luncheon?"

"No, I'm not. These frocks are good enough. But, Dolly, DO you? do you know anything, ANYTHING at all, about the earring?"

Dolly was sitting on the edge of her little white bed. At Dotty's reiteration of her query, Dolly threw her head down on the pillow and hid her face.

"Do you?" repeated Dotty, her voice now tinged with fear.

Dolly sat upright and looked at her. "Don't ask me, Dotty," she said, "I can't tell you."

"Can't tell me," cried Dotty, in bewilderment, "then who on earth COULD you tell, I'd like to know!"

"I could tell mother! Oh, Dotty, I want to go home!"

"Well, you can't go home, not till day after to-morrow, anyway. What's the matter with you, Dolly, why can't you tell me what you know? How can I find the thing, and clear you from suspicion if you have secrets from me?"

"You can't, Dotty. Don't try."

Dolly spoke in a tense, strained way, as if trying to preserve her calm. She sat down at their little dressing-table and began to brush her hair.

A tap came at the door, and in a moment, Bernice came in.

"Let me come in and talk to you girls," she begged. "Alicia is in a temper, and won't say anything except to snap out something quarrelsome. What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Bernie," and Dotty looked as if at her wits' end. "It's bad enough to put up with that old Fenn's hateful talk, but now Dolly's gone queer, and you say Alicia has,—what ARE we to do?"

"Let's talk it all over with Mrs. Berry at lunch, she's real sensible and she's very kind-hearted."

"Yes, she is. And there's the gong now. Come on, let's go down. Come on, Dollikins, brace up, and look pretty! Heigho! come on, Alicia!"

Alicia appeared, looking sullen rather than sad, and the quartette went downstairs.

Mrs. Berry listened with interest to their story. Interest that quickly turned to deep concern as the story went on.

"I don't like it," she said, as the girls paused to hear her comments. "No carelessness or thoughtlessness could make that valuable earring disappear off the face of the earth! I mean, it couldn't get LOST, it must have been taken."

"By us?" flared out Alicia.

"Maybe not meaningly, maybe for a joke, maybe unconsciously; but it was carried out of that room by some one, of that I'm certain."

"The idea of thinking we'd do it as a joke!" cried Bernice.

"But you told me about the joke Mr. Forbes played on you about the B. C. image, why mightn't one of you have taken this to tease him? Oh, girls, if any of you did,—give it back, I beg of you! Mr. Forbes is a kind man, but a very just one. If you give it back at once, and explain, he will forgive you, fully and freely. But if you delay too long he will lose patience. And, too, you must know he wants to—"

"Wants to what, Mrs. Berry?" asked Dotty, for the lady had stopped speaking very suddenly.

"Never mind. I forgot myself. But Mr. Forbes has a very strong reason for wishing to sift this matter to the bottom. Don't, girls,—oh, DON'T deceive him!"

"What makes you think we're deceiving him?" cried Dotty. "That's the way old Fenn talks! Isn't he a disagreeable man, Mrs. Berry?"

"Mr. Fenn is peculiar," she admitted, "but it isn't nice for you to criticise Mr. Forbes' secretary. He is a trusted employee, and of great use in his various capacities."

"But he was very rude to us," complained Alicia. "He was positively insulting to Dolly and me."

"Don't remember it," counselled Mrs. Berry. "The least you have to do with him the better. Forget anything he may have said, and keep out of his way all you can."

Mr. Forbes' housekeeper was a tactful and peaceable woman, and she well knew the temperament and disposition of the secretary. She herself disliked him exceedingly, but it was part of her diplomacy to avoid open encounter with him. And she deemed it best for the girls to follow her course.

"I think," she said finally, "the best thing for you to do, is to go for a nice motor ride in the park. It is a lovely day, and the ride will do you good and make you feel a heap better. Then on your return, stop at a pretty tearoom, and have some cakes and chocolate, or ices; and while you're gone, I'll have a little talk with Mr. Forbes, and, who knows, maybe we might find the earring!"

"You're going to search our boxes!" cried Alicia. "Well, I won't submit to such an insult! I shall lock mine before I go out."

"So shall I," declared Dolly. "I think we all ought to. Really, Mrs. Berry, it's awful for you to do a thing like that!"

"Mercy me! girls, how you do jump at conclusions! I never said a word about searching your rooms. I had no thought of such a thing! You mustn't condemn me unheard! You wouldn't like that, yourselves!"

"Indeed, we wouldn't, Mrs. Berry," cried Dolly, smiling at her. "I apologise for my burst of temper, I'm sure. But I hate to be suspected."

"Be careful, Dolly, not to be selfish. Others hate to be suspected too—"

"Yes, but I'm innocent!" cried Dolly, and as soon as she had spoken she blushed fiery red, and her sweet face was covered with confusion.

"Meaning somebody else ISN'T innocent!" spoke up Alicia; "who, please?"

"Me, probably," said Dotty, striving to turn the matter off with a laugh. "Dolly and I always suspect each other on principle—"

"Oh, pooh! This is no time to be funny!" and Alicia looked daggers at the smiling Dotty.

"You're right, Alicia, it isn't!" she flashed back, and then Mrs. Berry's calm voice interrupted again.

"Now, girlies, don't quarrel among yourselves. There's trouble enough afoot, without your adding to it. Take my advice. Go and put on some pretty dresses and then go for a ride, as I told you, and get your tea at the 'Queen Titania' tearoom. It's just lately been opened, and it's a most attractive place. But promise not to squabble. Indeed, I wish you'd promise not to discuss this matter of the earring. But I suppose that's too much to ask!"

"Yes, indeed, Mrs. Berry," and Bernice smiled at her. "I'm sure we couldn't keep that promise if we made it!"

"Well, don't quarrel. It can't do any good. Run along now, and dress."

The cheery good-nature of the housekeeper helped to raise the girls' depressed spirits, and after they had changed into pretty afternoon costumes and donned their coats and furs, they had at least, partially forgotten their troubles of the morning.

But not for long. As they sped along in the great, comfortable car, each found her thoughts reverting to the sad episode, and oh, with what varied feelings!

Suddenly, Bernice broke out with a new theory.

"I'll tell you what!" she exclaimed; "Uncle Jeff hid that thing himself, to see how we would act! Then he pretended to suspect us! That man is studying us! Oh, you needn't tell ME! I've noticed it ever since we came. He watches everything we do, and when he says anything especial, he looks closely, to see how we're going to take it."

"I've noticed that, too," agreed Dolly. "But it's silly, Bernie, to think he took his own jewel."

"Just to test us, you know. I can't make out WHY he wants to study us so, but maybe he's writing a book or something like that. Else why did he want not only Alicia and me but two of our friends to come for this visit? He studies us, not only as to our own characters, but the effect we have on each other."

Dotty looked at Bernice with interest.

"You clever thing!" she cried; "I do believe you're right! I've caught Uncle Forbes frequently looking at one or another of us with the most quizzical expression and listening intently for our answers to some question of right or wrong or our opinions about something."

"I've noticed it," said Dolly, though in an indifferent tone, "but I don't think he's studying us. I think he's so unused to young people that everything we do seems strange to him. Why any of our fathers would know what we're going to say before we say it. Mine would anyhow and so would Dot's. But Mr. Forbes is surprised at anything we say or do because he never saw girls at close range before. I think we interest him just like his specimens do."

"That's it," cried Dotty, "you've struck it, Doll. We're just specimens to him. He's studying a new kind of creature! And, maybe he did want to see what we'd do in given circumstances,—like an unjust accusation, and so he arranged this tragic situation."

"No," said Dolly, still in that unnerved, listless way, "no, that won't do, Dotty. If it were true, he'd never let Mr. Fenn be so rude to us. Why, this morning, I'm sure,—I KNOW,—Mr. Forbes was just as uncertain of what had become of that earring as—as any of us were."

"Well, have it your own way," and Dotty smiled good-naturedly at her chum, "but here's my decision. That thing is lost. Somehow or other, for some ridiculous reason, blame seems to be attached to my Dollyrinda. I won't stand it! I hereby announce that I'm going to find that missing gimcrack before I go back to my native heath,—if I have to take all summer!"

"Aren't you going home on Wednesday?" cried Dolly, looking aghast at the idea.

"Not unless that old thing is found! I'll telephone my dear parents not to look for me until they see me. I'll hunt every nook and cranny of Mr. Forbes' house, and when I get through, I'll hunt over again. But find the thing, I will! So there, now!"

"Why do you say Dolly is suspected?" asked Alicia.

"Oh, you all know she is, just because she hooked the foolish thing into her lace. She put it on the table after that, and every one of us probably handled it, but no, it is laid to Dolly! Just because she's the only one of us incapable of such a thing,—I guess!"

"Why, Dot Rose, what a speech!" and Dolly almost laughed at the belligerent Dotty. "None of us would take it wrongly, I'm sure—but—"

"Well, but what?" demanded Alicia, as Dolly paused.

"Oh, nothing, Alicia, but the same old arguments. Mistake,— unintentional,—caught in our dresses,—and all that." Dolly spoke wearily, as if worn out with the subject.

"Well, I've a new theory," said Dotty, "I believe that Fenn man stole it!"

The other three laughed, but Dotty went on. "Yes, I do. You see, he's never had a chance to take any of the treasures before, 'cause Uncle Forbes would know he was the thief. But now he has all us four to lay it on, so he made the most of his chance."

"Oh, Dotty, I can't believe it!" said Bernice. "He didn't act like a thief this morning. He was more like an avenging justice."

"That's just his smartness! Make it seem as if we did it, you know."

"Nothing in it," and Dolly smiled at Dotty's theory. "He wasn't here yesterday, at all. He didn't know that I hooked the old thing on my waist,—oh, I WISH I hadn't done that!"

"Never you mind, Dollums," Dotty said, endearingly. "If he did do it, we'll track him down. Because, girls, I tell you I'm going to find that earring. And what Dorothy Rose says, goes! See?"

Dotty's brightness cheered up the others, and as they drove through the park, there were many sights of interest, and after a time the talk drifted from the subject that had so engrossed them.

And when at last they stopped at the new tea room and went in, the beauty and gaiety of the place made them almost forget their trouble.

"I'll have cafe parfait," said Dotty, "with heaps of little fancy cakes. We can't get real FANCY cakes in Berwick, and I do love 'em!"

The others were of a like mind, and soon they were feasting on the rich and delicate confections that the modern tea room delights to provide.

While they sat there, Muriel Brown came in, accompanied by two of her girl friends.

"Oh, mayn't we chum with you?" Muriel cried, and our four girls said yes, delightedly.

"How strange we should meet," said Dolly, but Muriel laughed and responded, "Not so very, as I'm here about four or five days out of the seven. I just simply love the waffles here, don't you?"

And then the girls all laughed and chattered and the New Yorkers invited the other four to several parties and small affairs.

"New York is the most hospitable place I ever saw!" declared Dotty. "We seem to be asked somewhere every day for a week."

"Everybody's that," laughed Muriel. "But you must come to these things we're asking you for, won't you?"

"I don't believe we can promise," said Bernice, suddenly growing serious. "You see, we may go home on Wednesday."

"Day after to-morrow? Oh, impossible! Don't say the word!" And with a laugh, Muriel dashed away the unwelcome thought. "I shall depend upon you," she went on, "especially for the Friday party. That's one of the best of all! You just MUST be at it!"

"If we're here, we will," declared Alicia, carried away by the gay insistence. "And I'm 'most sure Bernice and I will be here, even if the others aren't."

"I want you all," laughed Muriel, "but I'll take as many as I can get."

Then into the limousine again, and off for home.

"Oh," cried Dolly, "that horrid business! I had almost forgotten it!"

"We can't forget it till it's settled," said Dotty, and her lips came tightly together with a grim expression that she showed only when desperately in earnest.



CHAPTER XV

DOLLY'S RIDE

It was Tuesday morning that Lewis Fenn came to Dolly and asked her to give him a few moments' chat.

A little bewildered, Dolly followed Fenn into the reception room, and they sat down, Fenn closing the door after them.

"It's this way, Miss Fayre," he began. "I know you took the gold earring. It's useless for you to deny it. It speaks for itself. You are the only one of you girls especially interested in antiques, and moreover, you are the one who handled the jewel last. Now, I don't for a moment hold you guilty of stealing. I know that you thought the thing of no very great intrinsic value, and as Mr. Forbes has so many such things in his possession you thought one more or less couldn't matter to him. So, overcome by your desire to keep it as a souvenir, and because of its antique interest you involuntarily took it away with you. Of course, searching your boxes is useless, for you have concealed it some place in the house where no one would think of looking. Now, I come to you as a friend, and advise you to own up. I assure you, Mr. Forbes will forgive you and he will do so much more readily if you go to him at once and confess."

Dolly sat rigidly, through this long citation, her face growing whiter, her eyes more and more frightened, as she listened. When Fenn paused, she struggled to speak but couldn't utter a sound. She was speechless with mingled emotions. She was angry, primarily, but other thoughts rushed through her brain and she hesitated what attitude to assume.

The secretary looked at her curiously.

"Well?" he said, and there was a threatening tone in his voice.

Dolly looked at him, looked straight into his accusing eyes, began to speak, and then, in a burst of tears, she cried out, "Oh, how I HATE you!"

Dotty flung open the door and walked in.

"I've been listening," she announced, "listening at the keyhole, to hear what you said to my friend! I heard, and I will answer you. Dolly Fayre no more took that earring, than you did, Mr. Fenn, and I'm inclined to think from your manner, that you stole it yourself!"

"What!" shouted Fenn, surprised out of his usual calm. "What do you mean, you little minx?"

"Just what I say," repeated Dotty, but Dolly had already fled from the room. She went in search of Mrs. Berry, and found her in her own bedroom.

"Please, Mrs. Berry," said Dolly, controlling her sob-shaken voice, "I want to go out, all by myself, a little while. May I?"

"Goodness, child, what do you mean? Where? I'll go with you."

"No; I want to go alone. I have to think something out all by myself. Nobody can help me, and if I'm here, all the girls will butt in and bother me."

"Where are you going? For a walk?"

"No, please. I want to ride on the top of a Fifth Avenue stage. I want to go alone, and then, sitting up there, with the fresh air blowing around me, I can think something out. I may go, mayn't I, Mrs. Berry? I know all about the stages."

"Why, yes, child, of course, you can go, if you really want to. You can't come to any harm just riding on top of a bus. Run along. But I'd rather you'd let me help you. Or go with you."

"No, please; I must be alone. I don't want even Dotty. I have something very serious to decide. No one can help me. My mother could, but she isn't here."

"I wish you'd try me," and the kind lady smiled endearingly.

"I would if I could, and you're a dear to ask me. But this is a special matter, and it troubles me awfully. So, I'll go off by myself for an hour or so, and when I come back, I'll be all decided about it."

Dolly got her hat and coat, without seeing the other girls at all. She went out at the front door of the big Fifth Avenue house, and walked a few blocks before she stopped to wait for a stage.

"I don't care which way I go," she thought to herself, "I'll take the first bus that comes along."

The first one chanced to be going down-town, and signalling the conductor, Dolly climbed the little winding stairs to the top.

There were only half a dozen passengers up there, and Dolly sat down near the front.

It was a clear, crisp morning. The air was full of ozone, and no sooner had Dolly settled herself into her seat, than she began to feel better. Her mind cleared and she could combat the problems that were troubling her. But she was in a dilemma. Should she go to Mr. Forbes and tell him where the jewel was,—or, should she not?

She wanted to be honest, she wanted to do right, but it would be a hard task. The more she thought it over, the more she was perplexed, and though her spirits were cheered by the pleasant ride, her troubles were as far as ever from a solution.

Down she went, down the beautiful Avenue, past the Sherman statue and the Plaza fountain. On, past the Library, down through the shopping district, and then Dolly concluded she would go on down to the Washington Arch, and stay in the same bus for the return trip.

But, before she realised it, she found the bus she was in had turned East on Thirty-second Street, and was headed for the Railroad Station. She started up, to get off the stage, but sat down again.

"What's the use?" she thought. "I can just as well go on to the station, and come back again. I only want the ride."

So she went on, and at the station, she was asked to take another stage. Down the stairs she climbed, and as she glanced at the great colonnade of the building she realised that from there trains went home! Home,—where mother was!

Unable to resist, Dolly obeyed an impulse to enter the station.

The warm, pleasant atmosphere of the arcade, soothed her nerves, and she walked along, thinking deeply.

She came to the stairs that led down to the waiting rooms, and a great wave of homesickness came over her.

She would go home! She had money with her, she would buy a ticket, and go straight to Berwick! She couldn't, she simply COULD NOT face Uncle Jeff and the girls, with her secret untold, and she would not tell it!

Anyway, she couldn't go back to the house where that horrid Fenn was! That was certain.

She looked in her pocket-book, and tucked away in its folds was the return half of her Berwick ticket! She had forgotten that she had it with her. It seemed a finger of Fate pointing the way.

"I will," she decided. "I will go back to Berwick. I'll ask about the trains."

Inquiry at the Information Department told her that there would be a train for Berwick in half an hour, and Dolly went in and sat down in the waiting room.

Suddenly it struck her that the people at Mr. Forbes' would be alarmed at her non-appearance, and would be very anxious for her safety.

That would never do. She had no wish to disturb kind Mrs. Berry or to scare Dotty half to death.

She saw the telephone booths near by, and realised how easy it would be to communicate with the house.

She asked the operator for the number of Jefferson Forbes' residence and in a moment was in the booth.

The butler responded to her call, and Dolly did not ask for any one else.

"That you, McPherson?" she said, speaking as casually as she could.

"Yes, Miss Fayre. Will you speak with Mrs. Berry?"

"No; I'll give you a message. Please say to Miss Rose that I have gone to Berwick."

"To Berwick, miss?"

"Yes; and tell Mrs. Berry the same. That's all, McPherson; no message for any one else."

"Yes, Miss Fayre. When will you be back, Miss Fayre?"

"Not at all. Or, that is,—never mind that. Just say I have gone to Berwick. I'll write to Miss Rose as soon as I get there."

"Yes, Miss Fayre," and the butler hung up his receiver. It was not his business if the ladies came or went.

In obedience to orders, McPherson went to Mrs. Berry and delivered the message.

"The dear child," said the housekeeper, and the tears came to her eyes. Of course, she knew about the earring episode, and until now she hadn't suspected that Dolly really took it. But to run away practically proved her guilt. So she had meant to go when she asked permission to go on the bus! Mrs. Berry's heart was torn, for she loved Dolly best of the four, and it was a blow to be thus forced to believe her guilty. She quizzed the butler, but he had no further information to give.

"She only said she was going, ma'am, and said for me to tell you and Miss Rose. That's all."

"I will tell Miss Rose," said Mrs. Berry, and dismissed the man.

She thought deeply before going to find Dotty. She wondered if she might yet stay Dolly's flight and persuade her to return. She looked up a timetable, and found that the train for Berwick would leave in ten minutes. Doubtless Dolly was already in the car.

However, being a woman of energetic nature, Mrs. Berry telephoned to the Railroad Station. She asked for a porter, and begged him to try to find Dolly, whom she described, and ask her to come to the telephone.

"I remember seeing that girl," said the negro porter. "She was walking around sort of sad-like, and sort of uncertain. But I don't see her now."

"Look on the Berwick train," commanded Mrs. Berry, "and do it quickly. If she's on the train, ask her to get off and answer my call. I think she'll do it. Go quickly! I'll hold the wire."

But it was within a few minutes of starting time; the train was crowded, and after a short search the porter came back with the word that he couldn't find her. "I could of," he said, "if I'd 'a' had a minute more. But the Train Despatcher put me off, and they started. Sorry, ma'am."

"I'm sorry, too," and Mrs. Berry sighed as she realised how near she had come to success, only to fail.

She thought a few moments longer, then she went to find Dotty.

That young person, she discovered, to her astonishment, was up in Mr. Forbes' own study, on the fourth floor. Dotty had insisted on an interview with her host after the stormy time she had with his secretary.

Mr. Forbes had received her, not at all unwillingly, for he wanted to get at the truth of the unpleasant matter.

"Dolly never took it!" Mrs. Berry heard Dotty, declare, as she approached the door. "Either it's just lost, or else Mr. Fenn stole it,—or else—"

"Or else what?" asked Mr. Forbes, as Dotty paused.

"I don't like to say," and Dotty twisted her finger nervously; "I do suspect somebody,—at least, I fear maybe I do, a little bit, but I won't say anything about it, unless you keep on blaming Dolly. Then I will!"

"I have something to tell you," said Mrs. Berry, entering. "Dolly has gone home."

"What!" cried Mr. Forbes and Dotty simultaneously. Lewis Fenn smiled.

"Yes," continued Mrs. Berry, "she has gone home to Berwick. She came to me and asked if she might go for a ride on top of a Fifth Avenue stage, to think things out by herself,—she said. Then, a little later, she telephoned from the Pennsylvania Station that she was just taking the train for Berwick."

"I don't believe it!" cried Dotty. "Who told you?"

"McPherson. He took the message. Dolly said to tell you, Dotty, and to tell me, but she sent no word to any one else."

"Looks bad," said Mr. Forbes, shaking his head.

"I told you so!" said Lewis Fenn, nodding his. "I knew when I flatly accused Miss Fayre this morning of taking the earring, that she was the guilty one. Understand me, she didn't mean to steal. She didn't look upon it as theft. She only took a fancy to the bauble, and appropriated it without really thinking it wrong. As a child would take a worthless little trinket, you know."

Dotty looked stunned. She paid no attention to Fenn's talk; she stared at Mrs. Berry, saying, "Has she really gone?"

"Yes, dear," answered the sympathetic lady, "she has. Perhaps it's the best thing. She'll tell her mother all about it, and then we'll know the truth."

"Yes, she'll confess to her mother," said Fenn, and he grinned in satisfaction.

"Shut up, Fenn," said Mr. Forbes. "I'm not at all sure Dolly is the culprit. If I know that girl, she wouldn't run away if she were guilty,—but she might if she were unjustly accused."

"That's generous of you, sir," said the secretary, "but you know yourself that when I taxed Miss Fayre definitely with the deed, she immediately went off, pretending that she was just going for a ride, and would return. That piece of deception doesn't look like innocence, I think you must admit!"

"No, no, it doesn't. Dotty, did you say you had some other suspicion? What is it?"

"I can't tell it now. I can't understand Dolly. I know, oh, I KNOW she never took the earring, but I can't understand her going off like that. She never pretends. She's never deceitful—"

"She surely was this time," and Fenn seemed to exult in the fact.

"Maybe she changed her plan after she started," suggested Dotty delorously.

"Not likely," mused Mr. Forbes. "It was unprecedented for her to go alone for a bus ride, but if it was because she wanted to get off home secretly, it is, of course, very plausible. She didn't want any of you girls to know she was going, lest you persuade her not to. She didn't want to go in my car alone, as that would seem strange. But to take a bus, that was really a clever way to escape unnoticed!"

"I'm surprised that she telephoned back at all," said Mr. Fenn.

"Of course, she would!" said Dotty, indignantly. "She didn't want us to think she was lost or worry about her safety."

"She was most considerate," said Fenn, sarcastically.

"Oh, stop!" cried Dotty, at the very end of her patience with the man. "You're enough to drive any one distracted!"

"Let the child alone, Fenn," said Mr. Forbes; "your manner IS irritating."

"The whole affair is irritating," returned the secretary, "but it is now in a way to be cleared up, I think. We shall hear from Miss Fayre's parents, I'm sure."

"What IS going on?" spoke up Alicia from the doorway, and she and Bernice came into the room. "I know we're forbidden up here, but Dotty's here, so we came, too. What's the matter?"

"Dolly's gone home," said Mr. Forbes, looking at his nieces.

"Dolly has!" exclaimed Bernice. "What for?"

"Because she was persecuted!" Dotty replied, "and unjustly accused, and suspected, and her life made generally miserable! I don't blame her for going home! I'm going, too."

"When did she go? Who took her?" Alicia asked.

"She went alone," said Mrs. Berry, and she gave them the details of Dolly's departure.

"Well, I am surprised," said Bernice, but Alicia began to cry softly.

"Yes, cry, Alicia!" said Dotty, turning on her.

"I should think you WOULD! YOU made Dolly go! YOU know where that earring thing is!"

"I do not!" and Alicia stared at Dotty.

"Well, you know something more than you've told!"



CHAPTER XVI

WAS IT ALICIA?

"What do you mean by that speech Dotty?" asked Bernice, as Alicia kept on crying.

"I mean just what I say. Alicia knows where the earring is, or, if she doesn't know that, she knows something about it that she won't tell us."

"What is it, Alicia?" said her uncle, kindly. "If you know anything at all, tell us, won't you?"

"I don't, Uncle. I don't know ANYTHING about it!" and Alicia wept more than ever.

"Well, the thing to do is to find it," said Fenn gazing closely at Alicia. "Where we find it will disclose who took it."

"I agree with you, Mr. Fenn," said a voice from the doorway, and there stood Dolly Fayre!

"Oh," cried Dotty, "I knew you wouldn't run away!"

"I did," returned Dolly, looking very sober. "I couldn't stand things here, and I was tempted to go home."

"Did you start out with that idea?" asked Dotty.

"No; never thought of such a thing when I went out. But I took a bus that turned around and went to the station, so that made me think of Berwick and I got homesick for mother, and I just couldn't help wanting to go to her. And I telephoned back here that I was going. Then, I had no sooner done that, than it seemed to me a cowardly thing to do, after all, and I changed my mind quick and came right back here. I rode up on top of a stage, and the trip in this lovely bright air made me feel a heap better. Now then, I want to say, once for all, that I didn't take that earring, but I'm going to find out who DID, and also I'm going to find the jewel. I don't know which I'll find first, but one means the other."

"Just what I said, Miss Fayre," exclaimed Fenn. "I'll join forces with you, and we'll see about this thing. We'll find the missing jewel and we'll find out who took it, but we'll have to put up a search."

"All my things are at your disposal," said Dolly; "look through all my cupboards and bureau drawers as you like. I'm not afraid."

"Of course not," said Fenn, "after your absence this morning! You had a fine opportunity to dispose of the jewel!"

"How dare you!" cried Dolly, turning white with rage. "I have told you truthfully where I went and why."

"Let her alone, Fenn," said Mr. Forbes, sharply. "You talk too much. Run along now, girls; we'll let the matter rest for to-day. I'll consult with Mr. Fenn, and I don't think we'll search your belongings. I can't think any one of you has intentionally concealed the jewel. It's lost but not stolen, that's what I think."

"You dear old thing!" and Bernice impulsively threw her arms around her uncle's neck. "I think you're right. But it must be found!"

"It must be found!" repeated Dolly. "Otherwise suspicion will always rest on me."

"Not on you any more than the rest of us," declared Dotty, "but there's no use in hunting any more in this room. It simply isn't here."

They had searched the room in which the jewel had been kept, thoroughly and repeatedly. So the girls went off to their own rooms to talk it all over again.

"You're too hard on them, Fenn," said Mr. Forbes to his secretary, when they were alone.

"But it's a clear case, sir. That Fayre girl took it. She got scared and tried to run home, then decided it would be better to face the music, so she returned. She's the one, of course. She adores those old trinkets; the others don't care two cents for them. She put it on her dress,—probably she took it off again, but after that the temptation to possess the thing was too strong for her. She thought you'd not miss it, and she carried it off. Then, when she was out this morning, she either threw it away, or secreted it somewhere. Perhaps she took it to some friend for safe keeping."

"I don't believe it, Fenn. I've studied the four girls pretty closely and Dolly Fayre is, I think, the most frank and honest and conscientious of them all. Why, I'd suspect either of my own nieces before I Would Dolly."

"You're generous, sir. But you're mistaken. Miss Fayre is the culprit, and we'll fasten the theft on her yet."

"I hope not,—I sincerely hope not. But it's a queer business, Fenn, a very queer business."

"It's all of that, Mr. Forbes, but we'll get at the truth of it yet."

Meantime the four girls were talking over the matter. But not all together. The two D's, in their own room, and the other two girls in theirs were having separate confabs.

"Now, Dolly Fayre," Dotty was saying, "you tell me EVERYTHING you know about this thing! I don't want any holding back or concealing of any suspicions or doubts you may have."

"It isn't really a suspicion, Dotty, but I—will tell you. It's only that just as we left the room, the museum room I call it, yesterday afternoon, we were all out, and Alicia ran back. She said she had left her handkerchief on the table. And she went straight to that very table where I had laid the earring. Now, I can't suspect Alicia, but that's what she did."

"Well, Dolly," and Dotty looked thoughtful, "that's enough to cast suspicion on her. She went to that very table?"

"Yes. Of course, I didn't think anything about it at the time, but now I remember it distinctly. That's why I wanted to go home and tell Mother all about it, and ask her if I ought to tell Mr. Forbes about Alicia."

"I see. I don't know myself what you ought to do. I've been thinking it might be Alicia all the time. I hate to suspect her, as much as you do. But if she ran back, and went to that table, and then the jewel that laid there was gone, it certainly looks queer. Decidedly queer."

"Well, what shall I do?"

"I suppose you'll have to keep still, unless you're actually accused of taking it. You can't very well tell on Alicia."

"That's what I think."

"But if they really accuse you,—and Mr. Fenn has already done so."

"Oh, Fenn! I don't care what he says. If Mr. Forbes doesn't think I took it, I don't want to say anything about Alicia."

"Well, let's wait and see. After what you've just told me, I think she did take it. But I don't WANT to think that."

Now, in the next room, Alicia and Bernice were talking confidentially and in low tones.

"Of course, Dolly must have taken it," Alicia said, slowly.

"I can't believe that," said Bernice. "I know Dolly Fayre awfully well, and I just about 'most KNOW she couldn't do such a thing."

"I daresay she never was tempted before. You can't tell what you may do until there's a sudden temptation. She might have thought it was no harm, when Uncle Jeff has so many of such trinkets. She might have thought he'd never miss it—"

"No," dissented Bernice. "Dolly never thought out those things. If she did take it, it was just on the spur of the moment, and, as you say, because of a sudden irresistible temptation. And the minute after she was doubtless sorry, but then she was ashamed to confess or return it."

It was luncheon time then, and the girls went downstairs together, with no disclosures of their suspicions of each other.

At the luncheon table the subject was freely discussed.

Dolly explained to Mrs. Berry that, after she had telephoned she was going home, she felt that it was a cowardly thing to do, and that she ought to remain and see the matter through.

"You see," Dolly said, smiling, "it was a sudden temptation, when I got to the station, to go home. Just the sight of the ticket office, and the train gates, gave me a wave of homesickness and I wanted to see Mother so terribly, that I thought I'd just go. But as soon as I'd telephoned, I realised that I oughtn't to do it, so I came right back here. I didn't telephone I'd changed my mind, for I thought I'd be here so soon. Mrs. Berry, what do you think became of the earring?"

"I don't know, I'm sure, my dear. I don't think I could ever believe that any one of you girls took it with any wrong intent. Did one of you just borrow it? To study it as a curio or anything like that?"

"No!" cried Bernice. "That's absurd. If I'd wanted to do that I should have asked Uncle's permission."

"Of course you would," and good Mrs. Berry sighed at the undoubted fallacy of her theory.

It was during luncheon that the telephone bell rang, and Geordie Knapp invited the girls to a matinee at the Hippodrome.

"They must come," he said to Mrs. Berry, who had answered his call. "Please let them. It's a big party. We've three boxes; my mother is going with us, and all the rest are young people. I know your girls will like it."

"Of course they will," Mrs. Berry replied. "I'll be glad to have them go. Wait; I'll ask them."

The invitation was heard with delight, and Bernice answered Geordie for the others that they'd all be glad to go.

"Good!" cried Geordie. "We'll call for you in our big car. Be ready on time."

They promised and hastened through luncheon to go to dress.

"I'm glad you're going," kind Mrs. Berry said; "it'll take your minds off this old earring business. Have a real good time, and don't even think of anything unpleasant."

So the girls started off in gay spirits, resolved not to worry over the lost jewel.

During the intermission at the matinee Dotty chanced to be talking to Geordie alone, and she told him about the mystery, and asked him what he thought. The boy was greatly interested, and asked for all the details. So Dotty told him all, even of Dolly's seeing Alicia return to the room and go to the table by the window.

"Jiminy crickets!" said Geordie, "that looks bad! But I can't believe Alicia would take it, nor any of you others. Let me talk to Alicia; I won't accuse her, you know, but maybe I can gather something from the way she talks."

So by changing of seats Geordie found opportunity to talk to Alicia about the matter. To his surprise, she willingly discussed it, and, moreover, she made no secret of the fact that she suspected Dolly of taking it. She said she felt sure that Dolly did it, meaning no great harm, but probably being over-tempted. "Why," said Alicia, "she said only at luncheon that when she was at the Railroad Station she was so tempted to go home to her mother that she very nearly went. So, you see, she is given to sudden temptations and I suppose she can't always resist them."

Geordie considered. "I don't believe she took it, Alicia," he said; "either it's slipped behind something, or else somebody else got in and took it. It never was one of you four girls! I'm SURE it wasn't If I could be over there for an hour or so, I'll bet I could find it. I'm pretty good at such things. S'pose I go home with you after the show; may I?"

"Oh, I wish you would! If you could find that thing, you would be a joy and a blessing!"

And so, after the performance was over, Geordie Knapp and Ted Hosmer both went to Mr. Forbes' house with the four girls.

Alicia asked her uncle's permission for them all to go up to the museum rooms, and he gave it. He was not entirely willing, for he rarely allowed visitors to his collections, but Alicia coaxed until he gave in.

"It can't be that Alicia took it," Dotty whispered to Dolly, "for she is so willing to have Geordie investigate."

Ted Hosmer was as anxious as Geordie to hunt for the earring, but when he reached the rooms of the collections he was so interested in looking at the specimens that he nearly forgot what they came for.

"Look at the birds!" he cried, as they passed through the Natural History room on the way to the antiques.

"You like birds?" asked Dolly, as she saw his eyes brighten at the sights all round him. "Yes, indeed! I've a small collection myself, but nothing like this! I study about birds every chance I get. Oh, see the humming birds! Aren't they beautiful?"

But Dolly persuaded him to leave the birds and butterflies and go on to the antique room.

Here the girls told their two visitors all about the earring and its disappearance. Mr. Fenn was not present, for which Dolly was deeply grateful.

Mr. Forbes watched the two boys quizzically. Then he said,

"Go to it, Geordie. Do a little detective work. If any of my four visitors took it, make them own up. I won't scold them; I'm anxious only to know which one it was."

"You don't really think it was any of them, I know, Mr. Forbes, or you wouldn't speak like that," said Ted. "I know you think as I do, that some queer mischance or accident is responsible for the disappearance. But WHAT was that accident, and WHERE is the jewel?"

The two boys searched methodically. They did not look into cupboards or drawers; they asked questions and tried to think out some theory.

"Could any one have come in at the window?" asked Ted.

"No chance of that," said Mr. Forbes, "considering the window is in the fourth story, and no balcony, or any way of reaching it from the ground."

Geordie stuck his head out of the window in question.

"Who lives next door?" he said, looking across the narrow yard to the next house.

"People named Mortimer," replied Mr. Forbes. "But they're all away from home. They're somewhere down South."

"There's somebody over there. I see a light in one of the rooms."

"A caretaker, maybe. But don't be absurd. It's all of ten or twelve feet across to that house from our back extension to theirs. Are you thinking somebody could spring across, take the jewel and spring back again?"

"That ISN'T very likely, is it?" Ted laughed, "but there's some explanation, somewhere," and the boy shook his head. "You see, Mr. Forbes, somebody might have made entrance to this room after the girls left it Sunday afternoon, and before you discovered your loss."

"Somebody might," agreed Mr. Forbes, "but I can't quite see how. Surely no intruder came up by way of the stairs; I can't believe any one came in by the window, and what other way is there?"

"Suppose," said Geordie, earnestly, "suppose the caretaker, or whoever is next door, saw you people examining the earring by the light from the window,—you were by the window, weren't you?"

"Yes," said Dolly, to whom he had put the question. "Yes, it was growing dusk, and I stepped to the window to look at the gold work."

"Well, suppose this caretaker person saw you, and realised the jewel was valuable. Then suppose after you all went out and left the earring on this little table, which is only ten or twelve inches from the window, suppose the caretaker leaned out of his window, and, with a long pole, with a hook on the end, fished the thing over to himself."

"Ridiculous!" cried Mr. Forbes. "Nobody could do such a thing as that! Absurd, my boy! Why, even a long fishpole would scarcely be long enough, and he couldn't get purchase enough on the end—"

"I admit it sounds difficult, sir, but they do pretty clever things that way."

"And, too, I can't suspect my neighbour's servants! Why, I've not the slightest cause for such suspicion!"

"Oh, no, I can't think it's that way, either," said Dolly. "Why, that caretaker is a nice old man. I've heard Mrs. Berry tell about him. His room is just opposite hers, two floors beneath this very room we're in now. He has a parrot that chatters and annoys Mrs. Berry, but the old man is honest, I'm sure. And he's too old to be agile enough to do such an acrobatic thing as you suggest."



CHAPTER XVII

A CLEVER IDEA

Ted Hosmer looked at Dolly as she spoke, and a sudden light came into his eyes.

"By Jiminy!" he said, and he drew a sharp little whistle. "I say, Dolly, where is your Mrs. Berry?"

"Oh, no, Ted," Dolly laughed, "you can't connect Mrs. Berry with this matter any more than you can the Mortimers' servants. Mrs. Berry didn't do it."

"I didn't say she did," returned Ted, smiling at her. "But where is she, that's all."

"I don't know. Probably in her room."

"Take me there, will you? I must see her at once. Why, I've got an idea!"

"Goodness, Ted!" exclaimed Geordie. "What a strange piece of news!"

"Don't be funny!" said Ted; "I say, Dolly, take me to speak to Mrs. Berry, won't you?"

"Why, of course, if you like,—come on."

Dolly led the way and Ted followed. The others paid little attention, for Geordie was thinking out a new theory of how somebody could get across from the next house, by means of scuttles to the roofs on the front part of the houses. Of course, in front the houses were attached, but the back extensions were only one room wide, thus giving ground space for tiny back yards.

A tap on Mrs. Berry's door was answered, and the two were admitted.

"What is it?" and the housekeeper looked a little surprised at her visitors.

"May we look out of your window?" asked Ted, politely.

"Surely," was the reply. "But what for?"

Ted, however, already had raised the window and was looking out. It was dark, or nearly, and the house next door showed a dim light in the room opposite the one they were in.

The shade was down at the window, so they saw nothing of the room but a few indistinct shadows.

"Tell us something about the old caretaker next door, won't you?" begged Ted, and Mrs. Berry responded: "Now, don't suspect him! Why, old Joe is the most honest man in the city! I've known him for years, and I'm sure he wouldn't steal a pin! Mr. Mortimer trusts him absolutely."

"But tell us a little about him."

"There's nothing to tell, only that he stays there alone when the family go away. He lives, practically, in the two rooms; that room opposite and the kitchen. He has no company but his parrot; he makes a great pet of that."

"A nice Polly?"

"A handsome bird, yes. But a nuisance with its continual squawking and chattering."

"Thank you, Mrs. Berry; I believe that's all. Pardon our intrusion. We'll go now. Come along, Dolly."

Dolly followed Ted from the room, and he said, "Don't go back upstairs yet. Come along with me."

"Where?"

"Never mind. Come on," and, making a gesture for her to be silent, Ted piloted her down the main staircase and out of the front door.

"Gracious! I won't go another step till you tell me where we're going!"

"Of course I'll tell you. We're going next door. Come on; you don't need wraps; it's just a step."

Taking her hand, Ted led her down the Forbes' steps and up those of the house next door. He rang the bell and they waited. In a moment, shuffling steps were heard and an old man opened the door.

"That you, Joe?" said Ted, pleasantly. "Let us come in for a moment, please."

"I don't know you, young sir, but if I'm not mistaken, this is one of the little ladies from next door."

"Quite right. We intend no harm, I assure you. Let us come in for a minute or two."

The old man let them enter and closed the door behind them.

"How's your parrot?" asked Ted, conversationally.

Old Joe looked surprised, but he answered courteously, "Polly is well, as usual."

"What kind of a bird is he?"

"A parrot, sir."

"I don't mean that. Is he honest or—or gives to thievery?"

"Oh, sir, he's the thievingest beast in the world, that he is! I don't dare leave a thing around I'm not willing for him to take if he wants it."

"Yes, just so. And does he ever go out of this house?"

"No,—oh, no."

Ted's face fell. Dolly's, too, for she began to see what Ted had in mind. But if Polly never left the Mortimer house, surely he didn't fly over and steal the earring.

"Could I go up to the room where the bird is?" said Ted, trying to conceal his disappointment at the collapse of his theory.

"Yes, sir, if you like, or I'll bring the bird down here."

"We'll go up, please," and Dolly and Ted followed the old man to the room on the second floor, which was opposite Mrs. Berry's.

They looked in and saw the bird in his cage, hanging from a bracket near the window.

"Pretty Polly," said Ted, walking toward the cage. "Nice Polly. Polly want a cracker?"

The bird cocked his head on one side, but said nothing.

"And you're sure he never leaves his cage?" said Ted, examining the fastening on the cage door.

"Well, sir, he does leave his cage. I said he doesn't leave this house. That is,—not often. So seldom as to call it never."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, a few days ago,—I'm thinking it was Sunday,—the bird let himself out of his cage. The latch broke, do you see, and he could push the door open with his claw. I came into the room, and there he was stalking up and down the floor with a knowing look. I soon found how he got out of the cage and I fixed the latch so he can't do it again. I let him out often, but I'm not going to have him letting himself out."

"Sunday, was it?" and Dolly's eyes brightened as Ted went on with his questions. "And you weren't here when he got out of his cage?"

"No, sir. But I came in soon and he was marching along the floor, winking at me."

"And was the window open?"

Old Joe stopped to think. "No," he said, finally, and Dolly gave a sigh of despair. If the window had been open, there was a possibility that Polly had been the thief.

"Can he fly?" she put in.

"Fly? Yes, that he can. That's why I'm careful to keep him shut up here. I wouldn't like him to fly over and annoy Mrs. Berry. He did that once a year ago, and the lady was right down mad about it."

"Think again, Joe. Couldn't this window have been open Sunday, when Polly got out of his cage?"

"Well, now, I do believe it was! Wasn't Sunday that warm, pleasant day? Yes? Well, then, come to think of it, this here window WAS open! My! it was a good thing Mr. Polly didn't walk out of it!"

"But that's just what he did do,—I believe!"

"What, sir? What do you mean?"

"Well, I'll tell you. A small article has disappeared from the house next door, from a room on this side, just above Mrs. Berry's room. It's a hard matter to find out what became of the thing, a small trinket of jewellery, and I'm in hopes that your bird flew over and took it, because that will let out certain very much worried human beings!"

"Oh, I can't think Polly did that!"

"Can he fly as far as to go up to that window two stories higher than this? You say he can fly, but would he be likely to fly UP?"

"If so be that window was open he might. He's a born thief, that bird is. But in that case, what did he do with it? A jewel, you say?"

"Yes, an old, very old earring."

"Ah!" and Joe started; "of fine work, but all broken and bent?"

"I don't know. How about that, Dolly?"

"It was old, and it was fine gold work. But it wasn't bent or broken."

"Then it's not the same," said Joe. "Polly has a lot of playthings, and some old imitation jewellery that Mrs. Mortimer lets him have because he loves such things. And it was Monday, yes, yesterday, he had an old piece of stuff that I didn't remember seeing before, but I paid little attention to it. And it was that bent and twisted it can't have been the thing you're searching for. No, that it couldn't."

"I suppose not," said Ted, but Dolly said, "Let us see it, anyway, can't you? Maybe Polly bent it up himself."

Old Joe went and searched through a lot of broken bits of metal tilings in a box on the table.

"Here it is," he said. "You see how it's worn out!"

"That's it!" cried Dolly. "Oh, Ted, THAT'S the earring! Hooray!"

"Is it? Hooray!" shouted Ted. "REALLY, oh, it's too good to be true! Polly MUST have taken it, Joe."

"Yes, he must have done so, if Miss, here, says it's the one. But let me figger it out. I s'pose when Polly opened his cage door, the open window attracted him, and he flew out. Then as the other windows in the Forbes house were closed, he made for that one that was open. Was nobody in the room?"

"No," said Dolly, "not when the jewel was taken. I left it on a table, near the window, and—"

"Yes, Miss, I see! Polly was tempted by the glittering thing; he loves glitter, and he snatched it up and flew right back home with it. He hid it somewhere; that's his thievish nature, and when I came in here he was walking up and down the floor as innocent appearin' as a lamb! Oh, you wicked Polly!"

"Wick-ed Polly!" screeched the bird. "Naughty Polly!"

"Yes, very naughty Polly!" said Ted. "But a good Polly, after all, to get us out of our troubles!"

"Then, you see," continued Old Joe, "that villainous bird, he hid his treasure, and when I let him out yesterday, just to fly around the room, he found it out again, and he hent and broke it all up."

"Well, never mind!" Dolly cried, "as long as we have it! Oh, Ted, how clever of you to think of it! I'm so glad! Come, let's hurry home and tell about it! My, won't they all rejoice!"

"Shall I go over and make my apologies to Mr. Forbes?" asked Joe, anxiously.

"No; at least, not now. Mr. Forbes won't hold you at all to blame. It was merely coincidence that the bird happened to get out of his cage, just when the jewel lay there unprotected," said Ted.

"And, he'd taken something else if he hadn't found that. Anything glittering or sparkling catches his eye, and he steals it. But 'tis seldom he gets a chance outside the house."

"Why do you keep such a bird?" asked Dolly.

"He isn't mine. I wouldn't care to have him. He belongs to Mrs. Mortimer, and she only laughs at his thievin' traits. She thinks they're cunning. So, I must needs take good care of him. 'Twas careless of me to leave the window open, and him here alone. But I didn't think he could break loose from his cage. I'm thinkin' the door was ajar."

"Well, we're much obliged to you and to Polly. Oh, just think if you hadn't reasoned it out, Ted, we never would have known the truth! You see, Joe thought the earring was one of Polly's own belongings, so, of course, he never would have paid any attention to it."

"That I wouldn't, Miss. I supposed it was some of the trinkets the missus gave him. She buys 'em for him at the five-and-ten. He breaks 'em as fast as he gets 'em!"

"I hope this can be straightened out, and I think it can," said Dolly, as she looked at the bent gold work.

"I'm sure it can," agreed Ted, "but anyway, it solves the mystery and clears you girls! Hooray! Hurroo!! Come on, let's go and tell them all."

The two dashed into the Forbes house next door, and found the rest of them down in the drawing room, wondering what had become of Dolly and Ted.

With a beaming face and dancing eyes, Dolly went straight to Mr. Forbes and dangled the bent and twisted earring before his surprised countenance.

"Bless my soul!" he cried, as he saw it. "Did you—where did you find it?"

Dolly realised that he had been about to say, "Did you decide to own up?" or something like that, and she was glad that he changed his sentence.

"Next door!" she exclaimed, for Ted stood back and let her have the pleasure of telling. "That old parrot came and stole it!"

"Oh! the parrot!" cried Mr. Forbes. "Why, of course! I see it all! Why didn't I think of that? Once before, I saw that bird light on my window sill and I shooed him off. Strange I didn't think of that solution!"

"Tell us more!" cried Dotty; "who thought of a parrot? Whose parrot is it? How did he get in? When?"

"Wait a minute, Dot," said Dolly, laughing, "and I'll tell you all about it. You tell some, Ted, I'm all out of breath!"

So Ted told the whole story of their visit to the next house.

"And I thought it was n. g. when the old chap said the window in his room wasn't open. Also, when he said the bird never left that house, I thought again we were off the track. But when we went on to discuss the matter, and he said the bird was a born thief, and also he finally remembered that his window was open on Sunday afternoon, why I felt sure we had found the culprit. Then, the old fellow produced the earring, which he had seen, but had scarcely noticed, thinking it was some of the bird's own junk. It seems Polly also collects antiques!"

"Well, well, Hosmer, my boy, you did well to think of such a solution to our mystery! What put you on the track in the first place?"

"I think it was the birds of your collection, sir. I'm very fond of birds and bird study, and I know a lot about parrots, and their ways. Well, seeing all your stuffed birds, put birds in my head, I suppose; any way, when Dolly spoke of a parrot next door that annoyed Mrs. Berry, I thought right away of how that Polly bird would like to grab a gold trinket if he had a good chance. So I looked up his chances, and I began to realise that if your window was open, the one in the other house might have been too. Sunday was such a warm, pleasant day. So, I looked into matters a little, and concluded we'd better go over there. I didn't say what we were going for, because it might easily have turned out a wild goose chase—"

"Instead of a wild parrot chase!" said Alicia. "Oh, isn't it just fine that it's found!"

"I guess old Fenn will be surprised," said Dotty, with an angry shake of her dark head. "He tried his best to fasten it on Dolly—"

"Fasten the earring on?" asked Geordie Knapp, laughing.

"No; I did that myself," rejoined Dolly. "Oh, Uncle Forbes, you didn't think I took it, did you?"

"I didn't know what to think. No thought of that bird came into my mind. And so I had to cudgel my brain to think how it did disappear. For I HAD to know! Yes, I positively HAD to know!"

"Of course," agreed Bernice. "You didn't want to lose that jewel."

"It wasn't only that, there was another reason, a reason that I'll tell you some day."



CHAPTER XVIII

FOUR CELEBRATIONS

Next morning at breakfast, each of the four girls found a note at her plate. The notes were all alike, and they read:

Mr. Jefferson Forbes, because of his great delight over the discovery of his lost piece of property, invites you to a celebration occasion, to-morrow, Thursday evening. Mr. Forbes would say, also, that he has obtained the consent of all interested parents, that you may stay till Saturday. Mr. Jefferson Forbes will be glad of suggestions as to what form said celebration shall assume.

They all laughed at the formal style and stilted language of the notes, and were amazed at the information that they were to make a longer visit than they had thought.

Mrs. Berry smiled at the shower of questions that followed the reading of the notes, but she only said, "Don't ask me, my dears. After breakfast, Mr. Forbes will meet you in the reception room and discuss it."

So a merry group of four awaited the coming of their host in the pretty little reception room.

"Good morning," he said, cheerily, as he entered, "What an attractive bunch of humanity! Four smiling faces and eight bright eyes! I greet you all."

With an old-fashioned bow, he took a seat near them, and asked, "Did you receive certain important documents?"

"We did," replied Bernice. "May we have further enlightenment?"

"You may, and first I will remove that anxious look from Dolly's face, by saying that her mother is perfectly willing that she should stay here the rest of the week."

"Oh, goody!" cried Dolly. "How did you ask her? By telephone?"

"Yes. So pleased was I over the developments of last evening, that I telephoned all the powers that be, and arranged for an extension to our house party. Are you glad?"

"Indeed we are," chorused the girls, and Uncle Jeff went on.

"Now, our celebration is to be just whatever you want. And if you don't all want the same thing, you can all have different things. So just state your preferences."

"I know mine," said Alicia. "it is to go to Muriel Brown's party on Friday night. She asked us, and I'd love to go."

"That's one," said her uncle. "Of course you can all go to the party. Now, Bernice, what do you choose?"

"I'd like to go to the opera," said Bernice. "Grand opera, I mean. I've never been but once, and I'd love to go."

"Good! We'll go to-night. If you all agree?"

They certainly did agree to that, and then Mr. Forbes asked the two D's to choose.

"I want to go to the Metropolitan Museum,—with you!" said Dolly, half afraid to ask such a boon. But Mr. Forbes seemed pleased, and declared he would be delighted to go with her, and explain the exhibits and the others could go or not, as they liked. All decided in favour of going, and then Dotty was asked to choose.

"Don't laugh at me," said Dotty, "but I'd like to have a party. Only, not a big one. Just us four girls, and the four boys, that we know the best; Geordie, Ted, Marly Turner and Sam Graves. I like that sort of a party better than the big, dressy ones."

"Why, Dot Rose!" exclaimed Alicia, "I thought you liked the big dances."

"So I do, if I knew the people. But I think it would be lots of fun to have a few, and have a less formal party. I'd like to ask Muriel Brown, and two or three of those girls we met with her, the other day, and then, have a few more boys; but not a hundred, like Muriel had."

"A good plan," said Mr. Forbes, "because you couldn't invite a large party on such short notice. So, make out your list, Dotty, and invite them by telephone at once. Mrs. Berry will help you, and will arrange all details. Let me see, you can have that party to-morrow night; go to the opera to-night; go to Muriel's party on Friday night, and go home on Saturday. The museum we can visit any afternoon. I thank you for your kind attention."

"Oh, Uncle Jeff, we thank YOU for your kindness, all of it," cried Alicia. "You have been so very good to us, and now you are doing a lot more for our pleasure."

"Have you enjoyed it all, so far, Alicia?" and her uncle looked at her inquiringly.

"Oh, yes, sir, indeed I have! I was troubled about the lost earring, but that was not your fault."

"Nor the fault of any of you girls," said Mr. Forbes. "As I have hinted to you, I have a reason for this visit you are making me, beside a desire to give you pleasure. I am considering a serious matter and this stay of yours in my house is helping me to a decision."

"What can it be, Uncle?" cried Bernice. "Tell us, so we can help you more, and more intelligently."

"I will tell you Saturday morning," he returned with a smile. "Perhaps in that time other developments may occur that will alter my final decision in the matter."

"It sounds most mysterious," laughed Dolly, "can't we guess what it's all about?"

"You may guess, if you like, but I don't promise to tell you if you guess correctly. And I don't mind adding, that I feel pretty sure you couldn't guess correctly, if you tried!"

"No use trying, then!" said Alicia, gaily. "Oh, I'm so glad we're going to stay longer. I want to do a lot of things beside the celebrations we've just planned. I do think you're the best and kindest uncle in the whole world! I've got a secret, too, and some day I'm going to tell it to you all."

"Secrets seem to be the order of the day," laughed Dolly; "we'll have to scrape up one, Dot."

"Well, it's no secret that we're having one grand, glorious, good time!" said Dotty. "What's on for this morning?"

Mr. Forbes went off to his own room then, and the girls planned out all they should do for the rest of their stay in the city.

There was some shopping, some sight-seeing and some errands yet undone but they at last agreed on a programme that would suit everybody.

Dotty's party, as they called it, took place on Thursday night, and she had her way about having it a small gathering. There were about twenty in all, and according to Dotty's wishes it was not only a dancing party. There were games as well as dances, for Dotty loved games.

Some of the city young people were at first inclined to laugh at the idea of games, but when they began to take part in these that Dotty had planned they became exceedingly interested.

One was an "Observation Test," up in Mr. Forbes' museum.

At Dotty's request, he had allowed the collection rooms to be opened to the guests, and this very special dispensation was so appreciated by all that they were most exceedingly careful not to handle the rare specimens or touch the exhibits.

This state of things lent itself beautifully to the game. Each player was asked to walk about for half an hour and look at the curios and treasures, and at the expiration of the time, to return to the drawing room, and spend ten minutes writing down the names of such objects as could be remembered.

This game, most of them had played before, with a table full of less interesting exhibits. But in the wonderful museum rooms of Mr. Forbes it was quite another story.

So eagerly did the young people observe and examine the things, that the half hour allotted for that purpose slipped away all too soon.

And then they sat down to write their lists, and that too proved an absorbing occupation.

Our four girls wrote lists, just for fun, but did not compete for the prizes, as, knowing the exhibit so well, that would not have been fair.

Muriel Brown took the first prize, and the hostesses were glad of it for it was pleasant to have Muriel so honoured.

The prize was a gold penholder, and the boys' prize, which Marly Turner won, was a similar gift.

After it was over, another game was played. This was ribbon cutting.

Girls and boys, stood at either end of the long drawing-room. To each girl was given the end of a piece of long, narrow ribbon, and a pair of scissors. The other end of each ribbon was held by a boy, who likewise had a pair of scissors.

At a signal, each player started cutting the ribbon straight through the middle. If the scissors slipped and cut through the selvage, the player was out of the game. It was not easy, for the ribbon was narrow, and there was a strong impulse to hurry, which made for crooked cutting. The middle of each piece of ribbon was marked by a knot, and whoever reached the knot first, was the winner of that pair. The one who finished first of all, received a special prize.