CHAPTER XXII

A NARROW ESCAPE

Scarcely daring to breathe naturally lest they be discovered, Doris and Kitty crouched in the dark closet. In their haste to hide they had left the door a trifle ajar and though this added to the risk of being detected, it was too late to close it tightly.

Already they could hear some one in the outer sitting room and a moment later the bedroom door was thrown open. Henry Sully came in. He seemed strangely excited and was out of breath from hurrying up the stairs so rapidly.

Peeping out through the crack of the door, the girls saw that he was carrying two long, fat envelopes in his hand.

Rushing across the room, with scarcely a glance directed at Etta, Henry pulled a heavy suitcase from under the bed. Opening it, he placed the two envelopes carefully in the bottom and folded clothing over them.

“Thought we never would find ’em,” the girls heard him mutter.

As he bent over to fasten the suitcase again, Etta plucked at his coat sleeve to attract his attention.

“Father,” she murmured, “I just saw two beautiful angels. They came here to see me.”

Inside the closet, Kitty and Doris gripped each others’ hands nervously. They feared that Etta was about to expose them. What Henry would do if he found them hiding there, they dared not think.

However, the man paid scant attention to what the crippled girl was saying. Impatiently he jerked away from her.

“Stop that silly prattling,” he commanded. “I’m sick of it!”

The girls were shocked at this cruel speech, but what followed left them even more stunned.

“You might as well know it now as later,” Henry told Etta viciously. “We’re tired of looking after you night and day. All you’re good for is to eat and make up fancy fairy tales about angels and the like. This is a hard world and it’s time you learned its ways. Cora and I are going to git out of here pretty soon and, when we do, you can shift for yourself!”

Etta stared at her father as though unable to comprehend what he had said. Then as it slowly dawned upon her that she was to be left to a cruel fate, a shudder convulsed her body. With a frightened cry, she caught Henry by the arm.

“Oh, don’t leave me alone,” she begged piteously. “Don’t leave me to die!”

“Let go!” Henry snarled, pushing her back upon the bed as she endeavored to sit up. “I tell you we’re through with you and it won’t do any good to be squawking about it!”

Shoving the suitcase under the bed with his foot, he turned toward the door. Etta stretched out her thin little arms and entreated him to come back. Henry laughed harshly and slammed the door shut.

Etta became almost hysterical in her grief. She wailed and sobbed and beat upon the pillow with her puny fists, but, if Henry heard, he was not in the least affected. Doris and Kitty could hear him hurrying down the stairs to the second floor.

Satisfied that the coast was clear, they quickly came out of their hiding place. Filled with compassion for Etta, they rushed to her bedside. As the girl saw them, she tried to stifle her sobs.

“There, dear,” Doris tried to comfort her, “don’t cry. We’ll see that no harm comes to you.”

“You won’t let my father go away and leave me?”

“Not unless you want him to,” Doris assured her gently. Under her breath she said to Kitty: “It would almost be better for her if he did leave.”

“She couldn’t have any worse care,” Kitty agreed.

As soon as they had quieted Etta and had made her more comfortable against the pillows, the girls cast an appraising glance about the room. The scene which they had just witnessed made them wonder anew what mischief Henry and Cora Sully were plotting.

“They _are_ planning to get away from here,” Doris said to her chum in a low voice. “That suitcase under the bed was packed.”

“And everything has been taken from the closet,” Kitty added. “There’s Cora’s suitcase back of that couch.”

“It’s packed, too. That means they intend to leave soon. Kitty, we’ll have to keep our wits about us now. And the first thing to do is to get away from this room, before we’re caught.”

The girls had talked so rapidly and in such a low tone that Etta had not heard them, but now as she sensed that they were about to leave, she began to sob again. Doris dropped down on the bed and took her hand.

“You mustn’t cry,” she declared. “We’re only going away for a little while.”

“You’ll come back tomorrow?”

“Yes, and you must be careful not to say anything about having seen us. If you do, we may not be able to come.”

“I won’t tell,” Etta promised solemnly.

Hastily saying goodbye, the girls slipped out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the second floor. As they entered their own room they could hear Cora and Henry Sully moving about on the floor below.

“They certainly finished their housecleaning quickly enough,” Kitty observed.

Doris took care to close the door and then, dropping down on the bed beside her chum, regarded her soberly.

“It’s my candid opinion that was only an excuse, Kit. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were hunting for something in the Misses Gates’s rooms.”

“But what?”

“That’s what I’d like to know. Say! You don’t suppose it could have been those two envelopes he put in his suitcase?”

“It might have been.”

“Why didn’t we look in the suitcase when we were there? If Cora and Henry are stealing, we ought to know it!”

“We wouldn’t have discovered much if we had looked,” Kitty declared. “I noticed those envelopes were sealed.”

“Yes, that’s so. We really haven’t any excuse for opening sealed envelopes. If we did, it would be just our luck that whatever it was belonged to Henry after all.”

“He was up to some mischief today, Dory. You remember how guilty he looked when we met him on the stairs. And he’s the laziest man alive. It isn’t likely he’d start out to clean house unless he had been told to do it.”

“No, he was hunting for something, all right. I wonder if it could have been—”

She did not finish, for Kitty caught her by the hand and dragged her from the bed.

“The ruby ring!” she exclaimed. “Maybe that was what they were after!”

Anxiously she felt under the mattress and when her hand failed to touch the box, began to paw frantically at the blankets to get them out of the way.

“Here, don’t tear that bed to pieces,” Doris scolded. “Let me find the ring.”

She ran her hand under the mattress and to Kitty’s intense relief, brought forth the tiny box.

“I wish the Misses Gates had taken their ring,” she sighed. “I’ve lost five pounds since we started looking after it.”

“The ring is the least of my troubles just now,” Doris told her. “I’m convinced that Henry and Cora are involved in a plot against the Misses Gates, but just what it is I haven’t been able to fathom.”

“Hadn’t we better tell the ladies everything?”

“We’re in rather a delicate position, Kit. The Sullys are trusted servants and Azalea and Iris might believe them before they would us.”

“Then what are we going to do?”

“Let’s keep close watch of Cora and Henry and wait for them to show their hand. If they try to get away, we can expose them, and then if they’re caught red-handed, the Gates sisters will have to believe us.”

“That’s probably the best way,” Kitty agreed. Replacing the ring under the mattress, they went downstairs. They were just in time to see Ronald Trent driving away from the mansion after depositing the old ladies at their door.

Entering the living room, Azalea and Iris sank down into the nearest chairs without bothering to remove their hats. They appeared agitated and exhausted but offered no explanation for their condition. Doris and Kitty guessed that Ronald had wheedled money from them and perhaps had abused them for not giving him more.

“Ronald is coming back tomorrow,” Iris said presently, speaking to Doris. “You are quite sure your messenger will be here with the money?”

“Why, yes, I feel sure Jake will come. I sent word several days ago.”

“I am so glad,” Iris murmured in relief. “Ronald is leaving tomorrow and we must have the money ready for him or lose the inheritance.”

“I see,” murmured Doris thoughtfully.

“We probably won’t have his company much longer, then,” surmised Kitty, winking coyly at Doris.

Azalea stroked her forehead as if perplexed and perhaps a bit worried.

“I never dreamed that money need cause us such concern. We cannot afford to lose this inheritance now. I have so much faith in the son of John Trent. I want him to go away happy and satisfied that we have not failed him.”

Doris pricked up her ears at this bit of information. So Ronald was leaving, too! It seemed that affairs certainly were destined to come to a climax on the following day. How glad she was that she had asked Jake to come. If only he did not fail her!