And then 'Phemie, understanding her, and realizing that she had almost given her secret away, burst into a hysterical giggle, which nothing but Lyddy's shaking finally relieved.
"You're just as twittery as a sparrow," declared Lyddy. "I never _did_ see such a girl. First you're squealing as though you were hurt, and then you laugh in a most idiotic way. Come! do behave yourself and go to bed!"
But even after 'Phemie obeyed she could not go to sleep.
Suppose somebody picked up that key? She had no idea, of course, where it had been dropped. Certainly not on the floor of her bedroom. Some time during the day, inside, or outside of the house, the key, with its little brass tag stamped with the words "East Wing," had slipped to the ground.
'Phemie got out of bed quietly, slipped on her slippers and shrugged herself into her robe. Somebody might be down there in old Dr. Phelps's offices right now.
And that somebody, of course, in 'Phemie's mind, meant just one person--Professor Lemuel Judson Spink.
Why had he come to Hillcrest to board, anyway? And why hadn't he gone away when he had been made the topic of many a joke about old Bob Harrison's treasure trove?
For nearly a fortnight now the professor had stood grimly the jokes and laughing comments aimed at him by the other boarders. The presence of Mrs. Harrison, too, in the house, was a constant reminder to the breakfast food magnate of how his own acquisitiveness had made him over-reach himself.
'Phemie went downstairs, taking a comforter with her, and went into the long corridor leading from the west wing entry to the green door. The girls had never taken the old davenport out of this wide hall, and 'Phemie curled up on this--with its hard, hair-cloth-covered arm for a pillow--spread the quilt over her, and tried to compose her nerves here within sight and sound of the east wing entrance.
Suppose somebody was already in the offices?
The thought became so insistent that, after ten minutes, she was forced to creep along to the green door and try the latch.
With her hand on it, she heard a sudden sound from the room nearby. Was somebody astir in the Colesworth quarters?
This was late Saturday night--almost midnight, in fact; and of course Harris Colesworth was in the house. Sometimes he read until very late.