In the sky were a few stars and the slim crescent of a new moon,
affording sufficient light to guide her steps. Crickets chirped and
frogs in the marshes sang their hoarse love songs, but otherwise an
intense stillness pervaded the countryside. You must not consider Josie
O'Gorman an especially brave girl, for she had no thought of fear in
such solitary wanderings. Although but seventeen years of age, she had
been reared from early childhood in an atmosphere of intrigue and
mystery, for her detective father had been accustomed to argue his
cases and their perplexities with his only child and for hours at a
time he would instruct her in all the details of his profession. It was
O'Gorman's ambition that his daughter might become a highly proficient
female detective.

"There are so many cases where a woman is better than a man," he would
say, "and there is such a lack of competent women in this important and
fascinating profession, that I am promoting the interests of both my
daughter and the public safety by training Josie to become a good
detective."

And the girl, having been her father's confidant since she was able to
walk and talk, became saturated with detective lore and only needed
practical experience and more mature judgment fully to justify
O'Gorman's ambition for her.

However, the shrewd old secret service officer well knew that the girl
was not yet ready to be launched into active service. The experience
she needed was only to be gained in just such odd private cases as the
one on which she was now engaged, so he was glad to let her come to
Cragg's Crossing, and Josie was glad to be there. She was only content
when "working," and however the Cragg mystery developed or resulted,
her efforts to solve it were sure to sharpen her wits and add to her
practical knowledge of her future craft.

When she reached the town she found it absolutely deserted. Not a light
shone anywhere; no watchman was employed; the denizens of Cragg's
Crossing were all in bed and reveling in dreamland.

Josie sat on the bottom stair of the flight leading to the store and
removed her shoes. Upstairs the family of Sol Jerrems and Miss Huckins
the dressmaker were sleeping and must not be disturbed. The girl made
no sound as she mounted the stairs and softly stole to the door of H.
Cragg's real estate office. Here it was dark as could be, but Josie
drew some skeleton keys from her pocket and slid them, one by one, into
the lock. The