ade me feel easy
about the fellow being you."

"But you knew I was with Ben and the others on the sleigh-ride," broke
in Dave.

"Oh, I forgot to state that when he came in he explained that you were
all stormbound at the hotel in Lamont and that, as the telephone and
telegraph wires were all down, he had managed to get to Pepsico and
reach Crumville on a freight train, doing this so that we and the
Wadsworths would not worry, thinking the sleighing-party had been lost
somewhere on the road in this awful blizzard."

"And then you gave him the miniatures?" questioned Ben.

"I did. Oh, Ben, I know now how very foolish it was! But I was so
upset! At first I thought to ask your father about it; but I was
afraid that to disturb him would make him feel worse, and I knew he
was bad enough already. Then, too, I knew that Mr. Wadsworth was
expecting some art critics to look at the miniatures, so I concluded
it must be all right. I have always known the combination of your
father's safe, so it was an easy matter for me to open it and get the
miniatures out. I told the young man to be careful of them, and he
told me not to worry--that the miniatures would be perfectly safe, and
that Mr. Wadsworth had promised to get the critic to set a fair value
on each of them."

"Was this Ward Porton alone?" asked Laura. The girls, of course, had
listened with as much interest as the boys to what the lady of the
house had to relate.

"No, he came in a cutter driven by a man who was so bundled up because
of the cold that I could not make out who he was. As soon as I gave
him the cases containing the miniatures the young man hurried off in
the cutter, stating that the sooner the critic had a chance to see the
paintings the better."

"And what happened next?" questioned Dave, as Mrs. Basswood paused in
her recital.

"I went back to assist a nurse who had come in, and all that night we
had our hands full with my husband. We had to call in the doctor, and
he was really not out of danger until noon of the next day. I had
wanted to tell him about sending the miniatures over to the Wadsworth
house, but he was in no condition to be told anything, so I kept
silent."

"But didn't you get worried when noon came and the supposed Dave
didn't return with them?" questioned the son.

"Yes, as soon as the doctor said that your father was out of danger I
began to worry over the miniatures. I waited until the middle of the
afternoon, and then, althou