you are going to use the silks
you might as well take the jewels too," sighed Mrs. Butler.

"Thank you," returned her niece, bending to kiss the older woman's
cheek, then she walked quietly from the room, her cheerful face
unusually sober.

"Madge is always sad after a visit to her mother's trunk," remarked
Eleanor, after her cousin had gone.

Mrs. Butler nodded, her own face saddened as she went back over the
years. Some day she would tell Madge the truth concerning her father
and why he had never returned to the homestead, but not now. She did
not wish to cast the slightest shadow upon her niece's joyous
anticipations of the coming trip.

Once in her room Madge took the little key from the pocket of her middy
blouse and laid it on her dressing table. Drawing up a chair, she sat
down, and opening the jewel box, began taking out the ornaments,
spreading them on the table before her. To her eyes, unaccustomed to
the sight of jewelry, they made an imposing array. When the last
trinket was out she turned her attention to the box itself. Empty, it
was larger and deeper than she supposed. Despite the fact that the
jewelry had been removed it was still heavy.

"It must be the weight of the wood that makes it feel heavy," she
reflected. "Why, it has a keyhole! I never noticed that before, it is
so far down, and, besides, the box has been unlocked ever since I can
remember."

She carefully examined the keyhole, then, with a swift rush of
disappointment, came the thought that the mysterious key was merely
that of the sandalwood box. To be sure, there were two little brass
catches which fastened the box tightly together. The lock had been put
on, no doubt, as an extra security, and rarely, if ever, used. But if
such were the case, why had the key been secreted in the sleeve of the
black velvet coat? After all, it might not fit the lock on the box. If
it did, then her secret was not really a secret after all. Madge
reached for the object of her cogitations and inserted it in the lock.
It fitted. She gave it one quick turn, then endeavored to pull it out.
It stuck. Madge held the back of the box with one hand to keep it from
slipping and pulled hard. She felt the box itself give. Then to her
astonishment she saw that the lower part of the box formed a drawer,
the existence of which was cunningly hidden by the carving, and it now
stood open before her. In it lay a small black leather book, and under
the book was a single en