to believe he's a product of the Gray family."

"He has such shifty eyes," said Anne, "and I had a feeling that his
dislike for America was all put on to shock us. I feel so warm and
sleepy," she continued drowsily when the lights were put out and they
had snuggled down in the soft, comfortable beds.

"I heard him drop an 'h' once," whispered Grace, in a sleepy voice.

But there was no reply. Anne was already dreaming of her four beautiful
new dresses.

It might have been midnight, perhaps a little later when Grace awoke
with a start. Not a sound disturbed the peace of the old house except
the ticking of the clock on the mantel and the occasional crackling of
dying embers in the fireplace. Yes; there was one sound and it aroused
her. A loose board creaked in the floor, or was it a door which opened
and closed softly? Perhaps it was nothing after all. And she closed her
eyes and drew the eiderdown quilt close about her shoulders.

No; there it was again. A distinct footfall. She raised herself on her
elbow and peered into the shadows. Far over at the other side of the
chamber--it seemed an infinite distance just then--stood a figure. Grace
looked at it calmly. She had never been a coward and she was not
frightened now, only she wondered who could be invading their room at
this hour. Perhaps Mrs. Gray; perhaps one of the servants. No, it was
neither; of course it couldn't be because it was the figure of a man.
She saw him now plainly enough hovering over the dressing table.

A small, cold hand slipped into hers. Anne was awake too. She had seen
the figure and lay quite still watching it. Grace silently returned the
pressure; then the two lay watching the man's stealthy motions for a
moment, while Grace's mind was busy devising a plan by which the robber
might be caught.

Oakdale was a quiet, prosperous place, and burglars were unusual.
Occasionally the hands in the silk mills made a disturbance, and there
had been a few highway robberies, but an actual house-breaker seldom
troubled the law-abiding town. The two girls, as they lay watching him
from under the covers, guessed that this man was a real burglar. He wore
a black soft hat and carried a small electric lantern, while, with a
practised hand, he picked the lock of a small drawer in the dressing
table where the girls had put their purses. Once he turned the light
toward the beds. Instantly the girls' eyelids dropped and they lay as
still as mice. Having satisf