"Then let it be a friendly game--just a little trial of skill, that's all."
To this Ben was not averse, and the two made their way as so often before to the billiard saloon.
In the mean time Mrs. Oakley returned home from her afternoon visit. She had not yet missed her keys, but on going up to her chamber, discovered them lying upon the table.
"How terribly careless I have been!" she said. "I hope they have not been seen."
Tolerably sure of this, she opened the upper bureau-drawer, and looked for the portemonnaie. It was in the same place. She opened it, and found it empty. Her eyes flashed with indignation.
"Some one has been to the drawer," she said.
She next thought of the will, and felt for it. _It was not there!_ She turned pale, and with nervous fingers took everything out of the drawer, hoping to find it misplaced. But her search was vain. The will was not to be found.
She sank back into a chair, and exclaimed with passionate regret:--
"Fool that I was! Why did I not make all sure by burning it?"
The sudden disappearance of the will struck Mrs. Oakley with dismay. It threatened her with the loss of two-thirds of her estate. But she was not a woman to bear it in silence. She possessed a fund of energy, and lost no time in seeking to determine the important question, "Who had taken it?"
She descended at once to the kitchen, where she found Hannah setting the table for supper.
"Hannah," she said, abruptly, "have you been upstairs to my chamber this afternoon?"
"Think a moment," said her mistress, sternly; "have you not been up?"
"No, ma'am, I haven't. I told you so once," said Hannah, not altogether pleased with the doubt implied by the second question.
"Has any one called here since I went away?" asked Mrs. Oakley.
"Then there has been no one in the house excepting yourself?"
"Ben!" repeated Mrs. Oakley, in a changed voice. "When did Ben come home?"
"About an hour ago,--maybe an hour and a half," said Hannah.
"Isn't he, ma'am? I suppose he went out, but I didn't hear him."
"You are quite sure no one else has been in the house?" inquired her mistress.
Mrs. Oakley went upstairs slowly. A new idea had forced its way into her mind. It must be that Ben had taken both the money and the will. That he should have taken the first didn't surprise her, for with all her love for her son, she had small confidence in his honesty. No doubt he had got into debt, and so was tempted to appropriate the bills. But why should he have taken the will? That was something she could not understand. For the money she cared little comparatively. But the loss of the will was ruin, if John or his friends found it, or, if not, she would live in perpetual fear of their discovering it.