She did not dare to ask any questions.

"Is anything the matter, my dear child?" asked Mrs Vallance. "You look
frightened, and so pale."

Mary murmured something about being tired, and crept into her place at
the table.

"I never like those expeditions to Maskells," continued Mrs Vallance;
"you all run about so wildly and excite yourselves so much."

"Morris says," said Mr Vallance, turning round from the window, "that
all his finest pullets are gone, too, and some of his ducks."

Morris was the poultry-man at the White House.

"Do you hear that, Mary?" said Mrs Vallance. "Morris has just been
down to tell your father that the poultry-yard was robbed yesterday."

"And your old enemy the great turkey gobbler was found dead on the
ground," added Mr Vallance.

Mary breathed again. If it were _only_ the turkey gobbler.

"Was anything else killed?" she asked in a trembling voice.

"How they managed it I can't think," repeated Mr Vallance; "and they
appear to have got clear off with their spoil, there's no trace of
them."

"Except the poor turkey gobbler," said Mrs Vallance.

"Did they get into the house?" Mary now ventured to ask.

"No, my dear, no; they were not so daring as that. This sort of tramps
is not too fond of going where there are likely to be dogs and pistols."

"We must take warning by this, Mary," said Mrs Vallance, "and be
careful about our fowl-house; it would not do to lose my cochin-chinas
or your pretty white bantams in the same way."

"I don't suppose there's much fear of their attempting a second robbery
in the same place," said Mr Vallance. "They're probably far enough
away by this time; still, I'm sorry we've no dog now. Poor old Brutus!
We miss him, don't we?"

While all this was going on Mary felt as guilty as if she had stolen the
fowls and killed the turkey gobbler. She knew where the thieves were,
safely hidden in the old house, and no doubt planning some other
dreadful deed. If she could only have spoken! Her food tasted like dry
chips in her mouth, she swallowed it with the utmost difficulty, and it
was only by taking great gulps of tea that she could get on at all.
Mrs Vallance noticed her disturbed looks.

"I think you ran about in the sun too much yesterday, Mary," she said at
last. "I will send up to Fraulein and ask her to excuse your lessons
this morning. You will be better for a quiet day at home with me."

Mary was relieved not to go to the White House, f