The car stopped in front of the door and Madame stepped out. She was in rare ill-humor, that was plain, and she stood talking long with the chauffeur. Then she went into the house. The chauffeur sprang into the car and drove off at a furious pace in the same direction from which they had come.

The three crouching at the edge of the woods watched it all with bitter disappointment and alarm.

"What shall I do?" shuddered Virginie. "It is now too late to carry out our plan. It can never be done. Oh, I fear that I shall never be free from her power."

"Now, just cut out all that!" said Chet, brusque, but well-meaning. "You could be 185quit of her this very minute if we wanted to beat it and take to the auto. But what we're trying to do is to save that there Crimson Patch, if possible. Perhaps we can't do it just the way we meant to first, but there certain is some way if we can just work it out. How about this? Suppose you go back to the house, just casual like, an' see what the fuss is all about. We will stay put right here. It's perfectly safe, an' we can stay here all the rest of the day if necessary. Then, later, perhaps after you've had your lunch, you'll find some chance of gettin' that sketch an' wanderin' off here to the woods again, an' then it will just be heigho, an' beatin' the speed-limit back to the city for us all! How about it?"

Virginie thought it over carefully. "I think perhaps that is a good idea. I will tell you why. After luncheon Madame always goes to her room to rest and sleep. Melanie will be busy in the kitchen, and if the chauffeur does not come back, it will all be quite safe. I 186think he will not come back. I have a feeling that he has gone to New York to consult with—with the rest of them. But Madame may not leave the sketch in her desk. She may lock it in her safe, but I will go back, though she is terrible when she is angry."

"But remember this, always, Virginie," Patricia assured her; "she can do nothing now to harm you personally. Things have changed since you thought yourself completely in her power. We are here, and, if things get too bad, call to us, or make some outcry, and you'll have help there before you know it. You are not alone any more."

Thus cheered and comforted, Virginie took her book, murmured an inarticulate farewell, and stepped into the open. The two who remained watched her breathlessly as she crossed the lawn and ascended the steps of the little porch. Then the door closed behind her and they heard and saw no more.

A nerve-racking period of suspense followed. 187When it was plain that she would not, in all probability, reappear for two or three hours, Chet suggested that they go back to where the others were waiting, lest Delia become anxious and try to hunt them up.

"We might as well as have some lunch, while we can," he added. "You can tell her that the little mam'selle will join us later, if she asks any questions. There's no telling how long we have to wait, and you'll feel better for some eats. Ted and I will keep watch. But be ready to beat it, any minute, if we give the signal."

They found Delia happily absorbed in arranging the lunch and very little concerned about Patricia's absence and the non-appearance of the Belgian girl. She had struck up a friendship with the inarticulate Ted, and the two were busily occupied in transforming the rear seat of the jitney into a luncheon table.

The food restored Patricia's courage and revived her hopes, which had begun to wane with 188the disappearance of Virginie. When the meal was over, she told Delia she was going to fetch Virginie. Then she and Chet went back to their post and resumed their long vigil.

Meanwhile, what was happening in the house of the green shutters?

The wrath of Madame at the failure of her plan was all that Virginie had expected it would be, and the girl had to bear the brunt of it when she ventured in at last. Madame had called at the hotel and asked for Patricia. She was not in and had not been seen since breakfast, nor had they, the hotel authorities, any information as to her whereabouts. Neither did they know when she would be back. Madame had waited in the lounge for over an hour, but no Patricia had appeared. Then, fearing to be seen there any longer, she had come away. Where had the little idiot flown to, she inquired in a violent temper? Could it be possible she had joined her father? All her 189plans were now upset by this unaccountable action of her intended victim.

Virginie, compelled to listen to it all, and fearful of betraying some knowledge of the matter,............