Barbara and Ruth both awoke with a feeling that a light had flashed over
their faces, but neither of them spoke nor moved. How long they had
slept they could not know. It seemed almost morning, but not a ray of
daylight came through the closed blinds.
Across the room the flash shone for an instant, then darted on like a
will-o'-the-wisp. Both girls dimly saw the outline of a man crouching in
the shadow along the wall. His hand slid cautiously up the sides of the
bureau, fingering, for a moment, the toilet articles on the dresser.
Then the search-light for an instant darted along the mantel and turned
to the bed again. The girls were nearly fainting with terror. Ruth
remembered that, for once, she had locked her money and her jewels in
her trunk.
The man stood absolutely still and listened. Not a sound!
So quiet lay both girls that neither one knew the other had wakened.
The man continued his search, but plainly this was not the room he
sought. Still moving, his feet making absolutely no sound, the dark
figure with the lantern crept out of the girls' room, to the front of
the corridor, and turned down the narrow, private hallway.
"Aunt Sallie!" Ruth thought with a gasp. She had said she would leave
her door open, so she might hear if the girls called her in the night.
And Aunt Sallie carried a large sum of money for the expenses of the
trip, and her own jewelry as well.
It may be that Ruth made a sound, anyway Barbara knew that her roommate
was awake. Both had the same thought at just the same instant.
Noiselessly, without a word, on bare feet, both girls sped down the hall
to Miss Sallie's open door. What they would do when they got there
neither of them knew. It was time for action, not for thought! At the
open door they paused and knelt in the shadow. Black darkness was about
them, save in Aunt Sallie's room, where a dark lantern flashed its
uncanny light. The girls were alert in every faculty. Now they could see
more distinctly the form of the man who carried the lantern. He was of
medium height and slender. Over his face he wore a black mask through
which gleamed his eyes, narrowed to two fine points of steel.
Should the girls cry out? The man was armed and it might mean death to
Aunt Sallie or themselves.
Evidently the burglar meant to make a thorough search of the room before
he went to the bed, where, he guessed, the valuables were probably kept;
but he must know first. The room was bare of treasure. He walked
cautiously to where Miss Sallie still slept in complete unconsciousness,
this time holding his lantern down, that its light should not waken the
sleeping woman.
As he drew near her Ruth could bear the suspense no longer. She saw him
drag out a bag from under Miss Sallie's head and could not refrain from
uttering a low cry. It was enough. The man dashed the lantern to the
ground and made a rush for the door.
There was no time for Ruth and Barbara to plan. They were only girls;
but as the man ran toward them in the darkness, striking out fiercely,
Barbara seized one of his legs, Ruth the other. Together, the three of
them went down in the blackness. The girls had not the robber's
strength, but they had taken him by surprise and they meant to fight it
out.
He kicked violently to free himself, then turned and tore at Barbara's
hands, but she clung to him. He raised the butt end of his pistol and
struck with all his force. As the blow fell with a terrific thud,
Barbara relaxed her hold, and tumbled over in the darkness.
By this time Miss Sallie realized what was happening. Yet, in the
darkness, she could only cry for help, and moan: "Let him alone, girls!
Let him go!"
With one leg free it seemed a simple task to get away. The noises were
arousing the sleeping hotel guests. Another minute, and the burglar knew
that he would be lost! With a violent wrench he tore himself away, and
started down the hall, Ruth after him. If she could delay him a few
seconds help would come!
The outside door leading from their private hall into the main one was
nearly closed; in reaching to open it there was a second's delay. Ruth
flung herself forward, caught the man's coat and clung desperately, but
the burglar was too clever for her. In less than a second he slipped out
of his coat, ran quickly to the window leading to the fire escape, and
was gone! When assistance arrived, Ruth was standing in the front hall
holding a man's coat in her hand.
"Oh, come!" she said in horror. "A light, please! Aunt Sallie has been
robbed, and I am afraid Barbara has been killed!"
Ten or twelve people came running down the hall. The hotel proprietor
and several servants made for the fire escape. Grace and Mollie, clad in
kimonos, had joined Ruth in the hall, and were shaking with terror.
Neither of them had spoken a word, but Grace silently handed Ruth her
bath robe.
They turned and the three girls followed the rescuers, who were
hastening toward Aunt Sallie's room. That elderly woman had already
risen, struck a light and was in her kimono.
Barbara was leaning against a chair, white as a sheet, but unhurt!
"O Bab!" said Ruth, flying toward her, forgetting everything else in her
relief, "I thought you were killed!"
"I thought so, too," nodded Barbara, calmly smiling, as she reached for
one of the blankets and wrapped herself in its folds, "but I wasn't.
When the burglar raised the end of his pistol to strike me, I knew what
was coming and ducked. He struck the side of the chair, and I tumbled
over under it."
The hotel proprietor came into the room carrying a chamois bag.
"Madam," he asked, "is this your property? I found it outside here.
Evidently the man dropped it in trying to make his escape. I cannot
understand what has happened. The hotel is securely locked. The fire
escape goes down into a closed court. The man could not have made his
way down five stories, without being seen when we reached the window. It
is incredible!"
By this time the halls were swarming with frightened visitors.
Grace had gone out to speak to them, and came in holding the burglar's
coat in her hand. "How curious!" she said, handing the garment to the
proprietor. "This is a gentleman's coat. I can tell by the lining and
the whole appearance of it. It was not worn by a common thief!"
"Ruth, my child, and Barbara," said Aunt Sallie, when everyone had left
their apartments, "I shall never forgive you!"
"Why not, Aunt Sallie?" both girls exclaimed, at once.
"Because, my dears, you didn't just scream and let the wretch escape at
once. In my day girls would never have behaved as you did!"
"But, Aunt Sallie," protested Ruth, "the jewels and money are both safe,
and neither Barbara nor I am hurt. I don't see how we could have done
any better, even in your day."
"Kiss me," said Aunt Sallie, "and go back to bed at once. It is nearly
morning."
When Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright drew up in front of the New Haven hotel, at
a little after two o'clock next day, they found Miss Sallie and the four
girls surrounded by a circle of college boys. With them stood a
policeman.
"What has happened?" said Mrs. Cartwright in astonishment, jumping out
of her car, as Donald Cartwright, Hugh Post and Ralph Ewing came down to
meet her. "Are those my girls, to whom I am to introduce you to-day?"
"Goodness!" demanded Hugh. "Did you think we would wait twelve hours for
an introduction! Do come and hear all that has happened."
Miss Stuart, looking a good deal shaken by her adventures, came forward
to meet Mrs. Cartwright. "Listen!" she said dramatically, for Barbara
was talking to the policeman.
"No, we would neither of us know him, because neither my friend nor I
ever saw him before. It was dark and he was masked. But he was
slight--not a big, rough kind of man--and his hands were soft, but strong
as steel. I don't believe," she leaned over and whispered, "he could
have been a servant, or an ordinary burglar."
"We have discovered, miss, that no entrance was made from the outside.
Any guests who left the hotel this morning will be followed and
examined. The chief will report to you later," the policeman said, with
a low bow to Miss Sallie.
"Well, is this the way you see a nice, quiet, old college town?" Mrs.
Cartwright inquired. "I suppose you mean to take the next train for
home."
"No such thing!" retorted Ruth, smiling, and looking as bright and fresh
as ever. "We don't mind a few weeny adventures, do we, Aunt Sallie?"
Miss Sallie held up her hands in horror. "Weeny adventures! What shall
we expect next! However, I've promised the girls to go on. I think we
need the trip, now, more than ever, and I want to ask Mr. Cartwright to
keep the matter as quiet as possible. I do not wish my brother to know."
"Do please come on," said Hugh Post, turning to Ruth. "We are going," he
explained, "out to the athletic grounds in our motor cars. The girls
came to see the university, and we haven't shown them a blooming thing."
"We are going to the dance to-night, just the same," announced Mollie to
Mrs. Cartwright. "Aunt Sallie is to rest this afternoon, so she will be
equal to it. We wouldn't miss it for anything."
Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright joined the party, and, in a few minutes, the two
motor cars had covered the two miles between the college campus and the
thirty acres Yale devotes to college sports. The visitors saw the
athletic grounds thoroughly; here the football champions of the world
had been trained, and there was the baseball diamond.
"Ralph's the crack oarsman of the lot," said Donald Cartwright;
"but--great Scott! We can't show these girls anything, after the way they
tackled the burglar last night."
"We'll get up a regatta in your honor, if you'll come again next year,
Miss Thurston," said Ralph.
Barbara only laughed at him. "Look out," she warned. "I may make you
keep your promise."
"Barbara," said Mollie that night, as they were getting ready for the
dance which was to take place in the Old Alumni Hall, "are you sure you
feel well enough for the ball to-night?"
"Nonsense, child, why shouldn't I? I feel as fine as a fiddle. It isn't
doing things that uses one up, even tackling a burglar; it is thinking
about them. Ruth and I didn't have any time to think about our burglar."
"Well," said Mollie, a little wistfully, smoothing the folds of her
muslin dress, "I don't believe I am as anxious to go to the dance as I
thought I was. Does this dress look _very_ shabby? I wouldn't go, now,
only it seems kind of hateful of me to refuse Mrs. Cartwright's
invitation."
"Now, Molliekins," Barbara answered quite seriously, "it's your dress,
isn't it? Of course, I have thought about mine, too. These are just
simple muslins that we have worn before; but, when we left home, we
neither of us dreamed we would go to a party in them. Let's just make
the best of things. Anyhow, I've made up my mind to one thing, and I
wish you would, too. You and I must not worry about being poor while we
are on this trip. Let us not pretend that we are rich, because everybody
we meet seems to be. Ruth knows we are poor, knows about our little
cottage and not keeping a servant, and she doesn't mind. I don't believe
really nice people care whether young girls are rich or poor, if they
happen to like them. I don't mean to preach." Barbara put her arm around
Mollie and waltzed her around the room. "Let us pretend we are both
Cinderellas before the arrival of the fairy godmother."
Mollie didn't answer; but she tucked some pink roses in her belt. "It
doesn't really matter about me, anyway," she decided. "I can't expect
these grown-up boys to dance with me. I will just stay by Miss Sallie."
"All right, little Miss Wall-flower," laughed Bab, as she pinned on a
knot of blue that Ralph Ewing had asked her to wear, as a tribute to the
Yale colors.
It was Mollie, after all, who was the belle of the party. Perhaps this
was because the other girls whispered to their partners that Mollie was
afraid nobody would dance with her; or, perhaps, because she was the
youngest, and the best dancer among them all.
"I am going to take this little lady under my special protection at
Newport," Mrs. Cartwright said to Miss Stuart, late that evening. "I
don't mean my 'butterfly girl' to be losing her beauty sleep."
Mollie looked at her "lovely lady" with eyes as blue as myrtle blossoms.
Mrs. Cartwright was so exquisite, so young and so wealthy, she seemed to
Mollie to have stepped out of a book.
Miss Sallie was vainly trying to collect her four charges all at once,
in order to take them home.
"Aunt Sallie," Hugh Post said roguishly, as that lady made a last
determined stand, and gathered her girls together, "you know, from your
experience yesterday, that Miss Ruth can't handle a motor car, even
though she can tackle a burglar. So we are going to follow you in my
automobile to-morrow and see that you get to New London all right."
"Oh, no, you're not," protested Ruth. "This I will have you know is an
automobile girls' excursion and nary a man allowed."
"This one time, kindly permit us to follow you at a respectful distance,
won't you?" Hugh urged. "It's only a short trip to New London. To tell
you the truth, the governor's yacht is over there and I hope to be able
to persuade you to go aboard. It is not disrespectful of me, Miss
Stuart, to speak so of my father; he was once governor of the state, and
he rather likes to be reminded of it. Mother has a number of friends on
board the yacht, and we shall be cruising up to Newport in a few days. I
think it would be jolly for father and mother to know you."