Page:Chipperfield--Unseen Hands.djvu/73

Rh She broke off as a light but determined step came along the hall from the direction of the servants' staircase. Odell, too, glanced curiously out through the open drawing-room door just as a tiny, fairy-like figure with masses of golden hair beneath a small black hat walked quickly past and toward the entrance door.

"Cissie!" Miss Meade rose and slipped out into the hall. "Cissie, where are you going?"

"Away! Anywhere!" A girlish treble as clear and cold as a mountain brook fell upon the detective's ears. "I told you all last night that I was going, and then we really didn't know anything, we only felt it. If you think I'm going to stay in this house a minute longer—"

"But, but my dear—"

"Oh, you needn't worry, Aunt Effie. I sha'n't go to any of our friends and tell them of the terrible things that are going on in the sacred Meade house. I wouldn't disgrace any of them by being on their hands when the notoriety starts; and I'm not going to stay here to be murdered either. I don't know about poor mamma and Jule, but I do know about father and what so nearly happened to Gene, and I don't intend to be the next one. You've had your way in spite of everything, but I won't live another day in the same house with a—"

To the listening detective it seemed that the clear voice was snuffed out like a flame; and then there came, low but startlingly distinct, in Miss Meade's usually colorless tones:

"Silence, Christine! I wish to heaven that it had been you!"