CHAPTER VI

 A strange envelope

I was sure that my sister’s cry could mean but one thing—­ that the tramp had made a raid on the house.  I was thoroughly alarmed, and ran with all possible speed in the direction of the dining-room, from whence the sound proceeded.

As I tore across the lawn, regardless of the bed of flowers which was Mrs. Canby’s pride, Kate’s cry was repeated, this time in a more intense tone.  An instant later I dashed across the porch and into the room through the door that, as I have said, stood wide open.

I found my sister standing in the middle of the floor, holding in her hand a heavy umbrella with which she had evidently been defending herself.  She was pale, and trembled from head to foot.

“What is it, Kate?” I exclaimed.  “Where is the fellow?”

“Oh, Roger!” she gasped.  “I’m so glad you’ve come.  A tramp was here—­ he robbed—­ robbed the desk—­ the window—­”

She pointed to the open window on the opposite side of the room.  Then her breast heaved, the umbrella slipped from her grasp, and she sank into a chair.

“Are you hurt?” I cried anxiously.

“No, no—­ but the money—­ it is gone!  What will Mrs. Canby say?”

And overcome with the dreadful thought, my sister fainted dead away.

As for myself I felt sick at heart.  John Stumpy had been there—­ the widow’s money had been stolen.  What could be done?

Meanwhile, Dick Blair had come in.  His common sense told him what had happened, and he set to work to restore my sister to consciousness.

“Will you stay here with Kate?” I asked.

“Certainly,” he returned promptly.  “But where are you going?  After that tramp?”

“Yes.”

“Be careful, for he may be a desperate character.”

“I’m not afraid of him.  I’m going to get that money back or know the reason why,” was my determined reply; and I meant every word I said.

To my mind it was absolutely necessary that I recover the stolen property.  It would have been bad enough to have had it taken when the Widow Canby was at home, but it had been stolen when left in my charge, and that was enough to make me turn Darbyville district up side down before letting the matter drop.

Besides, there was still another important factor in the case.  I knew well enough that if the money was not recovered, there would be plenty of people mean enough to intimate that I had had something to do with its disappearance.  The Strong honor was considered low by many, and they would not hesitate to declare that I was only following in my father’s footsteps.

To a person already suffering under an unjust accusation such an intimation is doubly stinging, and when I told Dick that I was not afraid of Mr. John Stumpy, I meant that I would rather face the robber now than the Darbyville people later on.