There were no fragments of china, but where the grove began I picked up a silver spoon.  So far Rosie’s story was borne out:  I began to wonder if it were not indiscreet, to say the least, this midnight prowling in a neighborhood with such a deservedly bad reputation.  Then I saw something gleaming, which proved to be the handle of a cup, and a step or two farther on I found a V-shaped bit of a plate.  But the most surprising thing of all was to find the basket sitting comfortably beside the road, with the rest of the broken crockery piled neatly within, and a handful of small silver, spoon, forks, and the like, on top!  I could only stand and stare.  Then Rosie’s story was true.  But where had Rosie carried her basket?  And why had the thief, if he were a thief, picked up the broken china out of the road and left it, with his booty?

It was with my nearest approach to a nervous collapse that I heard the familiar throbbing of an automobile engine.  As it came closer I recognized the outline of the Dragon Fly, and knew that Halsey had come back.

Strange enough it must have seemed to Halsey, too, to come across me in the middle of the night, with the skirt of my gray silk gown over my shoulders to keep off the dew, holding a red and green basket under one arm and a black cat under the other.  What with relief and joy, I began to cry, right there, and very nearly wiped my eyes on Beulah in the excitement.

CHAPTER IX

JUST LIKE A GIRL

“Aunt Ray!” Halsey said from the gloom behind the lamps.  “What in the world are you doing here?”

“Taking a walk,” I said, trying to be composed.  I don’t think the answer struck either of us as being ridiculous at the time.  “Oh, Halsey, where have you been?”

“Let me take you up to the house.”  He was in the road, and had Beulah and the basket out of my arms in a moment.  I could see the car plainly now, and Warner was at the wheel—­Warner in an ulster and a pair of slippers, over Heaven knows what.  Jack Bailey was not there.  I got in, and we went slowly and painfully up to the house.

We did not talk.  What we had to say was too important to commence there, and, besides, it took all kinds of coaxing from both men to get the Dragon Fly up the last grade.  Only when we had closed the front door and stood facing each other in the hall, did Halsey say anything.  He slipped his strong young arm around my shoulders and turned me so I faced the light.

“Poor Aunt Ray!” he said gently.  And I nearly wept again.  “I—­I must see Gertrude, too; we will have a three-cornered talk.”

And then Gertrude herself came down the stairs.  She had not been to bed, evidently:  she still wore the white negligee she had worn earlier in the evening, and she limped somewhat.  During her slow progress down the stairs I had time to notice one thing:  Mr. Jamieson had said the woman who escaped from the cellar had worn no shoe on her right foot.  Gertrude’s right ankle was the one she had sprained!