Hetty laughed. "Well," she said, "it"s a very cold night, and Lou can get you some more supper. She is, however, not to stay here a minute after she has given it you."
She went out with Miss Schuyler, and the two stood very silent by a window in the corridor. One of them fancied she saw a shadowy object slip round the corner of a barn, but could not be sure, and for five very long minutes they stared at the faintly shining snow. Nothing moved upon it, and save for the maid"s voice in the hall, the great building was very still. Hetty touched Miss Schuyler"s arm.
"He has got away," she said. "Come back with me. I don"t feel like standing up any longer."
They sat down limply when they returned to the little room, and though Miss Schuyler did not meet her companion"s gaze, there was something that did not seem to please the latter in her face.
"Flo," she said, "one could almost fancy you felt it as much as I did. It was awfully nice of you."
Miss Schuyler smiled, though there was a tension in her voice. "Of course I felt it," she said. "Hetty, I"d watch that maid of yours. She"s too clever."
Hetty said nothing for a moment, then, suddenly crossing the room, she stooped down and kissed Miss Schuyler.
"I have never met any one who would do as much for me as you would, Flo,"
she said. "I don"t think there is anything that could come between us."
There was silence for another moment, and during it Miss Schuyler looked steadily into Hetty"s eyes. "No," she said, "although you do not seem quite sure, I don"t think there is."
It was early the next morning when Christopher Allonby arrived at the Range. He smiled as he glanced at the packet Hetty handed him.
"I have never seen your father anything but precise," he said.
"Has anything led you to fancy that he has changed?" asked Hetty.
Allonby laughed as he held out the packet. "The envelope is all creased and crumpled. It might have been carried round for ever so long in somebody"s pocket. Now, I know you don"t smoke, Hetty."
"There is no reason why I should not, but, as it happens, I don"t," said Miss Torrance.
"Then, the packet has a most curious, cigar-like smell," said Allonby, smiling. "Now, I don"t think Mr. Torrance carries loose cigars and letters about with him together. I wonder what deduction one could make from this."
Hetty glanced at Miss Schuyler. "You could never make the right one, Chris," she said.
Allonby said nothing further and went out with the letter; a day or two later he handed it to the Sheriff.
"I guess you know what"s inside it?" said the latter.
"Yes," said the lad. "I want to see you count them now."
The Sheriff glanced at him sharply, took out a roll of bills and flicked them over.
"Yes," he said, "that"s quite right; but one piece of what I have to do is going to be difficult."
"Which?" said Allonby.
"Well," said the Sheriff, "I guess you know. I mean the getting hold of Larry."
XVII
LARRY"S PERIL
One afternoon several days later, Christopher Allonby drove over to Cedar Range, and, though he endeavoured to hide his feelings, was evidently disconcerted when he discovered that Miss Schuyler and Hetty were alone.
Torrance had affairs of moment on hand just then, and was absent from Cedar Range frequently.
"One could almost have fancied you were not pleased to see us, and would sooner have talked to Mr. Torrance," said Miss Schuyler.
The lad glanced at her reproachfully.
"Hetty knows how diffident I am, but it seems to me a lady with your observation should have seen the gratification I did not venture to express."
"It was not remarkably evident," said Miss Schuyler. "In fact, when you heard Mr. Torrance was not here I fancied I saw something else."
"I was thinking," said Allonby, "wondering how I could be honest and, at the same time, complimentary to everybody. It was quite difficult. People like me generally think of the right thing afterwards, you see."
Hetty shook her head. "Sit down, and don"t talk nonsense, Chris," she said. "You shouldn"t think too much; when you"re not accustomed to it, it isn"t wise. What brought you?"
"I had a message for your father," said the lad, and Flora Schuyler fancied she saw once more the signs of embarra.s.sment in his face.
"Then," said Hetty, "you can tell it me."
"There"s a good deal of it, and it"s just a little confusing," said Allonby.
Flora Schuyler glanced at Hetty, and then smiled at the lad. "That is certainly not complimentary," she said. "Don"t you think Hetty and I could remember anything that you can?"
Allonby laughed. "Of course you could. But, I had my instructions. I was told to give Mr. Torrance the message as soon as I could, without troubling anybody."
"Then it is of moment?"
"Yes. That is, we want him to know, though there"s really nothing in it that need worry anybody."
"Then, it is unfortunate that my father is away," said Hetty.
Allonby sat silent a moment or two, apparently reflecting, and then looked up suddenly, as though he had found the solution of the difficulty.
"I could write him."
Hetty laughed. "That was an inspiration! You can be positively brilliant, Chris. You will find paper and special envelopes in the office, as well as a big stick of sealing-wax."
Allonby, who appeared unable to find a neat rejoinder, went out; and when he left Flora Schuyler smiled as she saw the carefully fastened envelope lying on Torrance"s desk, as well as something else. Torrance was fastidiously neat, and the blotting pad from which the soiled sheets had been removed bore the impress of Christopher Allonby"s big, legible writing. It was, however, a little blurred, and Miss Schuyler, who had her scruples, made no attempt to read it then. It was the next afternoon, and Torrance had not yet returned, when a mounted man rode up to the Range, and was shown into the room where the girls sat together.
"Mr. Clavering will be kind of sorry Mr. Torrance wasn"t here, but he has got it fixed quite straight," he said.
"What has he fixed?" said Hetty.
"Well," said the man, "your father knows, and I don"t, though I"ve a kind of notion we are after one of the homestead-boys. Any way, what I had to tell him was this. He could ride over to the Cedar Bluff at about six this evening with two or three of the boys, if it suited him, but if it didn"t, Mr. Clavering would put the thing through."