le you to tend to your own affairs in the future!" With which
crushing rejoinder she marched away, dragging the unhappy Leslie after
her.

"All right! Just you wait! I'll dig out your little secret!" he called
after them.

"And he will, too!" muttered Phyllis. "That is, if we don't use the
greatest caution. Isn't it unfortunate that that wretched dog led him
right here! However, I've settled him for the present, and now let's
think about other things."

But it was not so easy for Leslie to forget the unpleasantness of the
recent encounter and the implication that she had been caught
trespassing. But Phyllis settled down to steady talk about their
investigations and she presently forgot the impression.

"It's mighty strange that in all our careful search we didn't find a
single thing that would indicate a recent visitor," mused Phyllis.

"Didn't you see anything--any _least_ little thing?" questioned Leslie.

Phyllis stared at her in some surprise. "Why, you _know_ I didn't! What
makes you ask?"

"Because I _did_!" Leslie quietly returned.

CHAPTER VI

LESLIE MAKES SOME DEDUCTIONS

"Well, of all things!" ejaculated the astonished Phyllis. "And you never
said a word! What was it?"

"I didn't say anything," explained Leslie, "because there was hardly a
chance. It was just before we came out. And--"

"But what was it? Never mind how it happened!" cried Phyllis impatiently.

"Well, this is part of it. In that southwest bedroom (the one facing our
house), I saw a tiny string of beads lying under the bureau, just by the
front leg of it. The string was just a thread about three inches long,
with some little green beads on it. A few of the beads had come off it
and rolled farther away. I picked one of them up, and here it is." She
held out a little bead to Phyllis.

"But what on earth is there to _this_?" exclaimed Phyllis, staring at it
disappointedly. "I don't see what an insignificant little object like
this proves. It was probably left by the Danforths, anyway."

"No, I don't think it was," returned Leslie, quietly, "because the
Danforths seem to have cleaned the place very thoroughly. The rest of the
floor was spick and span as could be. I think the string of beads was
part of a fringe, such as they wear so much nowadays to trim nice
dresses. It probably caught in the leg of that bureau and was pulled off
without its owner realizing it. Now did a