The Four Pools Mystery by Jean Webster Read Free Book Online Page B

was somewhat cursory. We both overlooked the little office that opened off the dining-room. In spite of my manoeuvres the Colonel entered the library first and discovered that the French window was open; he laid no stress on this however, supposing that Mose was the guilty one. He bolted it with unusual care, and I with equal care slipped back and unbolted it. I finally persuaded him that Mose's ha'nt was merely the result of a fevered imagination fed on a two weeks' diet of ghost stories, and succeeded in getting him back to bed without discovering Radnor's absence. I lay awake until I heard the sound of carriage wheels returning across the lawn, and, a few minutes later, footsteps enter the house and tip-toe upstairs. Then as daylight was beginning to show in the east I finally fell asleep, worn out with puzzling my head for an explanation which should cover at once Rad's nocturnal drive and Mose's ha'nt.
    CHAPTER VI
    WE SEND FOR A DETECTIVE
    I slept late the next morning, and came down stairs to find the Colonel pacing the length of the dining-room, his head bent, a worried frown upon his brow. He came to a sudden halt at my appearance and regarded me a moment without speaking. I could see that something of moment had happened, but I could fathom nothing of its nature from his expression.
    "Good morning, Arnold," he said with a certain grim pleasantness. "I have just been making a discovery. It appears that Mose's ha'nt amounted to more than we gave him credit for. The safe was robbed during the night."
    "The safe robbed!" I cried. "How much was taken?"
    "Something over a hundred dollars in cash, and a number of important papers."
    He threw open the door of the little office, and waved his hand toward the safe which occupied one end. The two iron doors were wide open, the interior showing a succession of yawning pigeon holes with the cash drawer, half pulled out and empty. Several papers were spilled on the floor underneath.
    "He evidently had no use for my will nor for Kennisburg street railway stock--I don't blame him; it wouldn't sell for the paper it's written on."
    Radnor's step sounded on the stair as he came running down--whistling I noted.
    "Ah--Rad," the Colonel called from the office doorway. "You're a good sleeper."
    Radnor stopped his whistle as his eye fell upon our faces, and his own took on a look of anxiety.
    "What's the matter?" he asked. "Has anything happened?"
    "It appears the ha'nt has robbed the safe."
    "The ha'nt?" Rad's face went visibly white, and then in a moment it cleared; his expression was divided between relief and dismay.
    "Oh!" he said, "you've missed the money? I meant to get down first and tell you about it, but overslept. I took a hundred dollars out of the safe last night because I wanted the cash--you had gone to bed so I didn't say anything about it. I will ride into the village this morning and get it out of the bank in time to pay the men."
    "You took a hundred dollars," the Colonel repeated. "And did you take the securities also and the bag of coin?" He waved his hand toward the safe. Radnor's eye followed and his jaw dropped.
    "I didn't touch anything but the roll of bills in the cash drawer. What's missing?"
    "Five thousand dollars in bonds, a couple of insurance policies and one or two deeds--also the bag of coin. Mose saw the ha'nt in the night, and Arnold and I came down to investigate; we unfortunately neglected the office in our search, or we might have cornered him. Do you happen to remember whether or not you closed the safe after you took out the money, and would you mind telling me why you needed a hundred dollars in such a hurry that you couldn't wait until the bank opened?"
    The troubled line on Radnor's brow deepened.
    "I think I closed the safe," he said, "but I don't remember. It's barely possible that I didn't lock it; you know we haven't always kept it locked, especially when there wasn't money in it.--It never occurred to me that anyone would steal the bonds. I