Tranquillity House/Chapter 10

T must have been the middle of the night when Connie suddenly woke me up out of a sound sleep. I felt her shaking and pushing me, and I jumped up with a start.

“What’s the matter now?” I shuddered.

“Hush! don’t speak so loud!” she whispered. “I’ve just had an awful idea.”

“For pity’s sake, what is it?” I demanded, for by this time everything was getting on my nerves so that I would get all jumpy at the slightest provocation.

“Why, I couldn’t sleep, and I’ve been thinking of this,” she explained. “You know that letter mentioned a jewel-case, and you know there was one among the things in the chest. I wanted to open it, but you, of course, said you thought we’d better not, so we didn’t. But in the letter it spoke about dividing some family jewels, so they must be the same ones, and they probably are worth a lot of money.” She stopped there, impressively.

“Well, what of it?” I replied, rather unpleasantly, I’m afraid, for I was very cross and sleepy.

“Just this: We have gone to work and carelessly left those things shut up in a bureau drawer over at our house, where any one is liable to break in at any time—and steal them!” she announced dramatically.

“What absolute nonsense!” I cried. “The bureau drawer is locked; and why are they any more unprotected there than here?”

“You never use your head a bit!” she retorted, not very amiably. “Can’t you see that a simple lock on a bureau is no protection? But it’s worse than that. You know perfectly well that our house is left alone a good deal during the day, when Daddy and you and I are away and Mother takes Ralph out for his airing. What’s to prevent any one getting in then and cleaning out the whole place?”

There certainly was something in that, I had to admit. The house was left alone considerably. It had never bothered any of us before, as we never had anything specially valuable to part with. But with those Benham jewels on the premises, quite unprotected, it was another matter.

“We’d find it a pretty difficult thing to explain, if any of them disappeared,” went on Connie, “and we’d feel pretty bad about it and so would Daddy and Mother, if they knew.”

“But what ought we to do about it?” said I. “At this time of night it would be ridiculous to go over there. And I don’t know what in the world to do with them if we do take them away from there. They are certainly not safe here, with old Cookson prowling around.”

“They simply must be brought back here,” declared Connie, “and it can’t be done too quickly. They’re not safe over there a minute. You’ve got to get up and dress, Elspeth, and run over and get them. It’s bright moonlight, and nothing can hurt you!”

“Constance Curtis, do you think I’m crazy? I shall do nothing of the sort! It’s one o’clock in the morning. What would they think here, and what would they think over at our house, if I did such an insane thing? Mother and Daddy would be sure to hear me and ask what it was all about!”

“You could tell them you were getting something for me,” she insisted. “It would be quite true; you are! And just think! There might be a fire or something over there to-night and they’d be completely lost!”

“Once for all, Connie Curtis, I tell you I am not going to do anything so insane and ridiculous. We’ll have to take the risk of fire and burglars to-night, and I promise to get them first thing in the morning. Though where we can keep them here, after I get them, is a puzzle I warrant not even you have solved!”

“Well, I have!” she announced triumphantly. “I thought of it while I was lying awake here, planning this all out, and you were still asleep. Yesterday I discovered something while I was sitting up in the chair near the bed and Miss Carstair had the bed all stripped and airing and was turning the mattress over. It was only a slight hole or rip in the silk ticking that covers the box-spring. I didn’t think anything special of it at the time, and I don’t believe Miss Carstair even noticed it. But to-night when I was trying to plan where we could hide that jewel-case, I suddenly thought of the rip in the ticking. We can put the case in there and then you can get a needle and thread and sew up the hole. No one will ever think of it in the world, for the spring is too heavy for Miss Carstair to lift and she never touches it. So how about that, Miss Elspeth Curtis?”

I had to admit that it was a clever idea,—and just like Connie to think of it,—but still I was firm on the subject of not getting the case till morning, so Connie was finally compelled to give up her scheme about that and let me go to sleep. But she declared she would wake me up at daylight—and she did!

“Oh, I simply can’t get up just yet!” I moaned, as she shook me violently in the first chilly dawn. “This is the first quiet time we’ve had in an age. Do let me sleep a little longer, Con!”

“You mustn’t. Those things are on my mind every minute,” she urged. “Do get them right away, Elspeth dear! You’d feel as badly as I should, if anything happened to them before we could hand them over to Uncle.”

So I got up, shivering, and dressed as quickly as I could, and as noiselessly. And I astonished Beulah by trying to hurry out quietly through the kitchen as she was lighting her morning fire. And it was impossible to slip into our own house unperceived, for, though I had a latch-key, Daddy had set the night lock, and I had to ring and wake him up to come down and open the door.

Immediately the whole house was aroused by my ridiculously early entrance, and all demanded to know what was the matter and if we’d had any bad news, or if anything was wrong with Connie. I felt remarkably foolish as I tried to assure them that everything was all right and that I’d just come over early to get something for Connie that she wanted at once. Naturally Mother hurried right into our room with me and tried to help while I sorted out a few clean clothes for Connie that I’d made the excuse of getting. She never left me alone a minute and I had finally to go downstairs with her without getting the case and then pretend I’d forgotten some thing and hurry back for it alone, before I could get a chance to slip it into my bundle of things.

When I got back, Miss Carstair was up and fussing around, and our troubles with that terrible jewel-case began. I had to hide the thing behind the bookcase in Connie's room, during a moment while Miss Carstair was not there, till we could get some chance to put it where we had planned. I knew it was anything but safe there, for Miss Carstair was very thorough in her dusting and she would get at that task directly after breakfast. So I decided to let her go down and breakfast alone while I stayed with Connie so we could dispose of it then. But she was never very long at her breakfast, as she ate very little in the mornings and, to our dismay, announced that she had had a glass of milk, which was all she wanted, and would dust now, while I went downstairs to mine!

Here was a fresh predicament. Connie and I glanced at each other and gasped. And, as usual, I was quite at loss, but Connie saved the situation by asking, very sweetly:

“Miss Carstair, I wonder if you’d mind giving me my bath right away, so that I can get up and sit in the chair to eat my breakfast. I’m so tired of lying in bed and of eating in bed, too. Would it be too much trouble?”

“Why, not at all!” Miss Carstair said. “I know just how you feel. I’ll go and get the things ready right now." And she hurried away to the bath-room, while Connie and I hugged each other in relief.

“Quick!” whispered Connie. “She will be several minutes fussing in there, and I want to have a glimpse of those things before we hide them away!”

I hurriedly snatched them from their nook behind the bookcase and, sitting on the side of the bed by Connie, I opened the case, which had a rather complicated catch. When we threw back the faded velvet lid and saw what lay before us on the white satin lining, we both drew in a long breath and uttered a startled “Oh!”

I think we had both expected to see some pretty, even handsome jewelry, but nothing like the sight that lay before us. For there, on the white satin, sparkled the most wonderful pair of emerald ear-rings,—each a big, beautiful stone set around with lovely diamonds,—a pair of bracelets set with emeralds all around, two immense emeralds set in rings, and a necklace of the same stones most beautifully matched and finished with a diamond clasp. The whole thing must have been worth hundreds and hundreds of dollars, if not more!

The unexpected sight so took our breath away that we forgot everything and just gazed and gazed at the sparkling mass of gems spread out before us.

“I never dreamed of such a thing!” breathed Connie, after a while. “It seems all the more strange because Uncle is a Quaker and they have never gone in much for jewelry and that sort of thing. I don’t quite understand it. These are handsome enough for a court lady to wear! How came they to be his?”

“I think I know the explanation,” I said. “I remember Uncle telling me once that his father went over to England for a long visit, at one time, and there met and married a very wealthy English lady and brought, her back here. She wasn’t titled, but her father had a great estate there, and Uncle said he gave her many handsome presents, family heirlooms and things, at the time of her wedding. Probably this was the most important one. He said she too became a Quaker after she got here, so she probably didn’t wear her jewels much in this country and they have just been kept put away ever since. But look! Here’s a note or something pinned on the inside of the cover! I didn’t notice it before. I don’t suppose we ought to read it, and yet it might give us some hint of what these are for and what we ought to do about them.”

“Certainly we’ll read it!” declared Connie, scornfully unpinning the note as she spoke. “It’s no time now to fuss about such matters. We must know something about what to do.”

The little note only said, in faint and faded and very precise writing; “To the wives of my sons on their wedding-day.” And it was signed with the initials “J. B.”

But we knew that Uncle’s mother’s name was “Julia” for her portrait in Quaker costume hung in the living-room, and her name was engraved on the bottom of the golden frame. There could be no doubt about it. These were her most valuable jewels, and we held them now in our keeping, by a strange chance, and were responsible for their safety.

Suddenly Connie realized what we had to do and exclaimed:

“Good gracious, hurry! Miss Carstair will be in here any minute now. We must get these things into that hole in the springs. Did you bring the needle and thread, as I told you?”

“Oh, me! I didn’t!” I moaned at the awful thought. “Mother was around so much and got me so confused this morning that I clean forgot it!”

“Then it isn’t safe to hide it in there without!” declared Connie. “Miss Carstair would certainly see it. And we can’t borrow her sewing-things without arousing suspicions and causing questions. We’ve just got to think of something else!”

But before we could, we heard her coming down the hall with Connie's bath arrangements and knew that the opportunity was past.

“There’s no use! You’ll have to carry them around with you to-day!” groaned Connie. “Don’t you dare lay them down or let them out of your sight a minute! Quick! Stuff them into your blouse!”

And at that moment Miss Carstair entered the room, carrying towels and soap and humming a cheerful tune. And from that instant my troubles began!