Mr. Clymer; good night,"
and Clymer's echoing, "Good night" sounded faintly as he hung up the
receiver.

"Drew blank," he announced, turning to Ferguson. "Confound you,
Ferguson; you had no right to touch the papers in my safe. If harm comes
from it, I'll make you suffer," and not waiting for the detective's
jumbled apologies and explanations, he hurried from the building. But
once on the sidewalk he paused for thought. McIntyre must have picked
up the white envelope, there was no other feasible explanation of its
disappearance. But what had attracted his attention to the envelope--the
red seal with the big letter "B" was its only identifying mark. If Helen
had only told him the contents of the envelope!

Kent struck his clenched fist in his left hand in wrath; something must
be done, he could not stand there all night. Although it was through no
fault of his own that he had lost the envelope entrusted to his care, he
was still responsible to Helen for its disappearance. She must be told
that it was gone, however unpleasant the task.

Kent walked hastily along Pennsylvania Avenue until he came to a drug
store still open, and entered the telephone booth. He had recollected
that the twins had a branch telephone in their sitting room; he would
have to chance their being awake at that hour.

Barbara McIntyre turned on her pillow and rubbed her sleepy eyes; surely
she had been mistaken in thinking she heard the telephone bell ringing.
Even as she lay striving to listen, she dozed off again, to be rudely
awakened by Helen's voice at her ear.

"Babs!" came the agitated whisper. "The envelope's gone."

"Gone!" Barbara swung out of bed.

"Gone where?"

"Father has it."

Downstairs in the library Mrs. Brewster paused on her entrance by the
side of a piece of carved Venetian furniture and laying her coronation
scarf on it, she examined a white envelope--the red seal was intact.

At the sound of approaching footsteps she raised a trap door in the
piece of furniture and only her keen ears caught the faint thud of
the envelope as it dropped inside, then with a happy, tender smile she
turned to meet Colonel McIntyre.

CHAPTER XII. THE ECHO OF A LAUGH

Colonel McIntyre tramped the deserted dining room in exasperation.
Nine o'clock and the twins had not come to breakfast, nor was there any
evidence that Mrs. Brewster intended taking that meal downstairs.

"Will you wait any longer, sir?" inquired Grimes, who hover