the
open space which fronts the market.

Berry climbed out of the dickey, and Adele and Daphne got out of the
car.

As I followed them--

"Sally, my dear," said Daphne, "I never knew you were back."

"I wasn't, till this morning," panted Sally. "I only arrived at eight.
For the last three hours I've been----"

"Before you tell us anything," said Daphne, "we want to thank you.
Since you've been away, Planchet's been. He's sold us the most lovely
things I've ever seen. We're so grateful to you, we don't know what to
do."

"Well, for goodness' sake," rejoined Sally, "insure them to-day. I've
just been cleaned out of everything I've got."

"Cleaned out?" cried Daphne. "D'you mean to say you've been robbed?"

"That's right," said Sally. "Peter and I got back this morning to find
the Marats gone and the place stripped. Of course, the furniture
belonging to the flat's there, but the only decent things were what I'd
added, and those have vanished."

"Not all the things you got from Planchet?"

"Rather," said Sally. "Shawl and everything. Jolly, isn't it?"

"What an awful shame!" cried Adele. "But who's taken them? Not the
Marats?"

"Must be," said Mrs. Featherstone. She nodded over her shoulder.
"I've just been to the police about it, but you know how hopeless they
are."

"If I can do anything," said Berry, "you know I'd only be too happy..."

"Thanks awfully," was the reply, "but to tell you the truth, I don't
see what there is to be done. As far as I can make out, they left
before Christmas, so they've got a pretty good start."

"I'm terribly sorry," said I. "Of course I never saw the goods, but,
if they were anything like the things we bought, it's a cruel shame."

Mrs. Featherstone laughed.

"I do feel sore," she admitted. "The maddening part of it is, I meant
to take the shawl home to show George, and then, in the rush at the
last, I left it out." She turned to my sister. "And you know I
trusted that couple implicitly."

"I know you did."

"The queer thing is, they seem to have suffered one solitary pang of
remorse. Did I show you those Chinese mats I was so crazy about?
Well, after they'd gone, I suppose, their hearts smote them, because
they did the three up and sent them back."

For a moment we looked at one another.

Then--

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Sally," said Daphne gently, "but you
mustn't give the brutes that credit. We sent you the mats as a
Christmas present