" said Anne indignantly, preparing to go, "if I didn't
know you girls so well, I would think you were crazy. And now, just to
offset this, I can tell you something. Flannigan told me this morning
not to worry; that he has my pearl collar spotted, and that YOUNG LADIES
WILL HAVE THEIR JOKES!"

Yes, as I said before, it was a cheerful, joy-producing situation.

I sat and thought it over after Anne's parting shot, when Leila had
flounced downstairs. Things were closing in; I gave the situation
twenty-four hours to develop. At the end of that time Flannigan would
accuse me openly of knowing where the pearls were; I would explain my
silly remark to him and the mine would explode--under Aunt Selina.

I was sunk in dejected reverie when some one came on the roof. When he
was opposite the opening in the tent, I saw Mr. Harbison, and at that
moment he saw me. He paused uncertainly, then he made an evident effort
and came over to me.

"You are--better today?"

"Quite well, thank you."

"I am glad you find the tent useful. Does it keep off the wind?"

"It is quite a shelter"--frigidly.

He still stood, struggling for something to say. Evidently nothing came
to his mind, for he lifted the cap he was wearing, and turning away,
began to work with the wiring of the roof. He was clever with tools; one
could see that. If he was a professional gentleman-burglar, no doubt he
needed to be. After a bit, finding it necessary to climb to the parapet,
he took off his coat, without even a glance in my direction, and fell to
work vigorously.

One does not need to like a man to admire him physically, any more than
one needs to like a race horse or any other splendid animal. No one
could deny that the man on the parapet was a splendid animal; he looked
quite big enough and strong enough to have tossed his slender bridge
across the gulf to the next roof, without any difficulty, and coordinate
enough to have crossed on it with a flourish to safety.

Just then there was a rending, tearing sound from the corner and a
muttered ejaculation. I looked up in time to see Mr. Harbison throw up
his arms, make a futile attempt to regain his balance, and disappear
over the edge of the roof. One instant he was standing there, splendid,
superb; the next, the corner of the parapet was empty, all that stood
there was a broken, splintered post and a tangle of wires.

I could not have moved at first; at least, it seemed hours before the
full significance