and the
other servants in the background, and said: `Ladies! I advise you to go
back to your rooms as quickly as possible. There is not the slightest
danger, but it might be just as well to look after your jewellery!'

"You should have heard them shriek! They turned and rushed like
rabbits, and the maids rushed after them, shrieking too, but that was
nothing to the noise two minutes after, when they got back to their
rooms and found their jewels gone! They were laid out ready to be put
on, on the dressing-tables, and the alarm had been cleverly timed to
give the ladies enough time to get half dressed, but not enough to have
put on their jewellery. Only one out of all the party had put on her
necklace. She _was_ pleased!

"Well, they shrieked, and shrieked, and some of the men left the fire
and came upstairs to the rescue. Captain Beverley was the smartest, and
he just tore along the corridor to a dressing-room over the billiard-
room, and there was a man letting himself drop out of the window, and
scrambling over the billiard-room roof to the ground! Captain Beverley
gave the alarm, and the servants rushed out to give chase. It was very
dark, and they could not tell how many men there were, for they kept
dodging in and out among the trees. Some people said there were only
two, and some said they saw four, but only one was caught that night--an
idle, loafing young fellow who had been staying at the village inn for a
few weeks, pretending to be a city clerk convalescing after an illness.
The worst of it was that he had only a few of the smaller things in his
pockets, none of the really big, valuable pieces."

"Goodness!" Darsie's eyes sparkled with animation. "That _was_ an
excitement. I wish I'd been here. Go on! What happened after that?"

"Oh, my dear, the most awful evening! The visitors had all brought
their very _best_ things, as the Hunt Ball is a great occasion, and they
almost all cried, and one poor lady went into hysterics. Her father had
been an ambassador and had all sorts of wonderful orders and things
which she had had made into brooches and pendants, and they could never
be replaced, no matter how much money she spent. Dinner was the most
weepy meal you can imagine, and only one or two of the sensible ones
went on to the ball. The others stayed at home and moped, and mother
had to stay, too. Poor dear! she had to keep calm, and comfort every
one else, when she'd lost all her own pet